Chapter 42 The Lin Family Is Truly Extraordinary

Soon Lin Ziqing realized that her elder sister’s previous praise for Xiao Nan was not exaggerated at all.

Putting aside Xiao Nan’s character for the moment, his cooking skills were simply out of this world!

Lin Ziqing, who was already slightly full and had prepared to put down her bowl and chopsticks, took one bite of Xiao Nan’s sweet and sour fish, and instantly became unable to stop herself. In no time at all, she had devoured nearly half the fish.

After finishing, she stole a glance outside to see that Xiao Nan had not returned, and moved her chopsticks over to his other dish, Mapo Tofu.

Goodness gracious, it was just as delicious.

Seeing her younger sister like this, Lin Shuyun couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

By the time Lin Ziqing had wiped out the remaining Mapo Tofu in one go, Lin Shuyun looked at her meaningfully and said, "Ziqing, Xiao Nan is actually a really great person. Can you be nicer to him from now on?"

Lin Ziqing put down her chopsticks, rubbed her fully satisfied little belly, and pouted. "So he can cook a decent meal? If he were our family cook, I might be nicer to him, but he’s my fiancé now."

"My standards for a partner aren't as simple as just knowing how to cook."

Lin Shuyun shook her head. Knowing that her sister's preconceptions about Xiao Nan were deeply ingrained and not easily changed, she couldn't be bothered to say any more.

With Zhou Hailong personally coming to the Lin family to offer a formal apology, the concerns regarding the Hailong Gang were completely resolved.

A heavy burden was lifted from Lin Ziqing's heart, and she poured all her energy back into her work.

Not only Xie's Pharmaceuticals, which had posed the greatest threat to them in recent years, but even Li's Pharmaceuticals—long trailing far behind them—had recently announced that they would soon be releasing a new drug.

Meanwhile, the new drug research and development at Lin's Pharmaceuticals was still making virtually no progress.

Lin Ziqing was already so worried she couldn't sleep.

Lin's Pharmaceuticals was one of the core lifelines of the Lin family.

If the Lin family ultimately lost in this competition, the entire family's financial standing would suffer a devastating blow.

"One week. I can give you at most one more week. If there is still no visible progress in the new drug's development by then, you can all just pack your bags and go home."

Inside the conference room.

Lin Ziqing delivered an ultimatum directly to the company's research and development team.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

As Lin Ziqing prepared to join the R&D team for overtime work to supervise their progress, her phone suddenly rang.

Pulling it out, she saw it was a call from Lin Guodong.

"Hello, Dad, is something the matter?"

"Today is Mayor Xia's fiftieth birthday. I just received an invitation. Tonight, call Xiao Nan and we'll head over together."

Lin Ziqing felt a wave of annoyance. She was swamped with work and really had no mood to attend any birthday banquet.

However, she knew she could decline other people's banquets, but missing the mayor's birthday celebration was out of the question.

Still, she said into the phone, "A birthday banquet is fine, but why bring Xiao Nan?"

Sooner or later, she would find a way to break off her engagement with Xiao Nan.

During this period, she had no desire to parade Xiao Nan around in public.

"Xiao Nan is your fiancé. How can we not bring him to such an important gathering? Say no more, you must bring Xiao Nan with you. You know where Mayor Xia's house is; we'll meet there at five-thirty."

Lin Guodong spoke in an unquestionable tone.

His thoughts were the complete opposite of Lin Ziqing's.

In his heart, he had long since regarded Xiao Nan as his son-in-law.

Especially after that night when the Hailong Gang had forced their way to their doorstep.

Xiao Nan had stood righteously at the entrance of the Lin family villa, displaying an attitude of standing or falling together with the family.

That incident had made Lin Guodong approve of this son-in-law even more.

However, in his view, although Xiao Nan possessed extraordinary medical skills and a rather good character, he was still a young man from the mountains and needed to be taken out to see more of the world.

Today's birthday banquet for Mayor Xia was the golden opportunity for him.

Shengshi Longting.

Compared to the Emerald Mountain villa complex, where mostly wealthy merchants and tycoons resided, the Shengshi Longting villa complex in the northern suburbs of Luocheng was home to the heavyweights of Luocheng's political arena.

And the home of Xia Yunong, the current mayor of Luocheng, was right here.

At this moment.

Outside the most spacious and eye-catching five-story standalone villa in the Shengshi Longting complex, luxury cars were parked in rows, and the place was a buzz of activity and clamor.

The level of liveliness was easily on par with, if not surpassing, the recent engagement banquet of the Lin family's second daughter.

Because today was the fiftieth birthday celebration of Xia Yunong, the undisputed number one figure in all of Luocheng.

"Remember, once we get down, don't talk nonsense. Everyone who can come here today is Mayor Xia's friend—not just people from Luocheng, but many major figures from all over the country."

"You'd better watch your behavior. The Lin family cannot afford for you to pull another stunt like last time."

After parking the car, Lin Ziqing repeatedly instructed the person beside her, Xiao Nan.

There was no help for it; it was bad enough that this guy was good for nothing, but he also acted and spoke with such reckless abandon.

She had been a hundred times reluctant to bring Xiao Nan along today, but she couldn't stand her old man's strict orders and genuinely had no choice.

It wasn't just Lin Ziqing.

After getting out of the car and meeting up with Lin Guodong and his wife, Li Ailing also rushed over and lectured Xiao Nan endlessly.

She even spent the whole time blaming Lin Guodong for dragging this troublemaker Xiao Nan along today.

Was the lesson taught by the Hailong Gang last time not painful enough?

"Rest assured, Auntie, I'm not a three-year-old child." Xiao Nan offered a wry smile.

To be honest, a gathering of this scale barely registered in his eyes.

Wasn't it just a mayor's birthday party?

Back in the mountains, although the old man didn't care much for birthdays, whenever he reached a milestone age ending in zero, countless major figures from all across the country would arrive uninvited just to celebrate his birthday for him.

And any single one of those figures far outmatched Mayor Xia.

"Didn't I hear that the Hailong Gang, the largest underground force in Luocheng, mobilized in full force specifically to wipe out the Lin family? How is it that members of the Lin family are still able to show up here safe and sound?"

With the arrival of the Lin family, whispers immediately broke out among the crowd.

"Isn't that the truth? At the time, I thought the Lin family was finished, but who would have thought that the Hailong Gang's people would mysteriously retreat later on?"

"That doesn't sound like Zhou Hailong's style at all. Knowing Zhou Hailong, he rarely speaks idly; once he puts out a word, he never takes it back. This is truly bizarre."

"I even heard that after the Hailong Gang retreated that night, Zhou Hailong personally brought gifts to offer a formal apology to Lin Guodong."

"Really? Did that actually happen?"

"It seems this Lin family isn't as simple as they look on the surface!"

"To be able to make Zhou Hailong go to such lengths, there must be some powerful backing supporting the Lin family from behind the scenes."