After answering the phone, Yan Shiliang’s anger vanished without a trace, replaced by a deep fear.
He hadn’t expected that he would become a pawn, a pawn manipulated by higher-level figures.
Luo Ziling and Luo Liansheng are also pawns, but to a certain extent, they are also players, whereas he is purely a pawn.
Thinking about the interests and struggles possibly involved behind the scenes, Yan Shiliang broke into a sweat.
But what he didn’t expect was, at this moment, Luo Liansheng no longer paid him any attention and left with a cold snort while he was on the phone.
When he finished the call, except for his secretary, there was no one else around.
Luo Ziling had also disappeared, as if vanished into thin air.
"Chief," the secretary softly called out to the bewildered Yan Shiliang, "The car is ready, should we leave now?"
Yan Shiliang and Luo Ziling stayed less than ten minutes before coming out, looking furious. The secretary knew they hadn’t had a pleasant conversation. Plus, he overheard the conversation between Yan Shiliang and Luo Liansheng earlier, so he guessed Yan Shiliang was planning to leave in anger.
The secretary’s words finally brought Yan Shiliang back to his senses.
Taking a deep breath, he began to walk.
But instead of heading to the parking area, he quickly returned to the reception room.
Luo Ziling was still sitting in the reception room, but instead of drinking tea, he was playing with his phone.
Just now, Zhao Lijing sent a message saying she had a cold these two days and was worried it might affect the filming, asking Luo Ziling if he had a good remedy.
"Drink more water!" Luo Ziling replied with such a message.
Zhao Lijing immediately expressed displeasure, saying there were many jokes online regarding "drink more water," calling it a very irresponsible answer.
She hoped Luo Ziling could treat her, believing this minor ailment was a piece of cake for him.
"Mr. Luo, please treat me, I will pay the consultation fee and thank you properly!"
"How will you thank me?" Luo Ziling added a few surprise emojis after his message.
Zhao Lijing replied with a few shy emojis.
Luo Ziling really wanted to reply and ask if she planned to thank him personally.
But he only typed "Are you planning to" when Yan Shiliang pushed the door open and entered.
His hand shook, clicking send, resulting in only those five words being sent to Zhao Lijing.
As Yan Shiliang entered, Luo Ziling had no time to continue chatting with Zhao Lijing and immediately threw aside his phone.
"Did Minister Yan forget something?" Seeing Yan Shiliang no longer as angry as before, Luo Ziling joked with a smile, "Or did something get left behind here?"
"There aren’t many young people like you with such personality nowadays!" Yan Shiliang plopped down on the sofa, smiling at Luo Ziling, "I thought about it just now, it’s really inappropriate for them to blame you and your father for supplying medicines to Dragon Rise."
"But, I’m no longer interested in discussing these matters with you." Luo Ziling mocked Yan Shiliang with a smile, "Healers all have dignity. We utterly despise seeing those who think they hold immense power, with their noses in the air, looking down on others."
Yan Shiliang’s smile froze, but he ultimately did not lash out, following Luo Ziling’s lead with a few self-deprecating remarks: "Over the years, as my position rose, flatterers became numerous, and I turned a deaf ear to unpleasant advice. Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll personally investigate the logistics department’s accusations against your father and you. Since General Li Haiyang personally sought you out, there certainly won’t be any problem. And since your father wasn’t involved yet, he was unaware of the matter and had nothing to do with it. Whoever tries to pin this onto your father either has ulterior motives or is following someone’s instructions."
"Is there a difference between following someone’s instructions and having ulterior motives?"
Yan Shiliang paused for a moment, then laughed: "There actually might be some overlap in meaning!"
Though he still wore a smile, Yan Shiliang was inwardly cursing Luo Ziling’s rascal antics.
How dare he keep toying with him.
However, the person who called him earlier had repeatedly warned him not to fall into Luo Ziling’s trap.
The newly created medicines by Luo Ziling could effectively treat soldiers’ wounds. It was crucial to obtain his patent authorization and the formulas.
If Luo Ziling behaves provocatively, everyone must endure, or there will be trouble for all.
Yan Shiliang was no fool; he didn’t need much thought to understand the stakes.
To reach this level, who isn’t a savvy individual?
Yet, Yan Shiliang, who thought himself clever, was played several times by Luo Ziling during their meeting, leaving him in an unpleasant mood.
He further understood why this young man from the Luo Family had gained fame so quickly.
He truly has some skill.
But Yan Shiliang couldn’t quite understand why a twenty-one-year-old like Luo Ziling dared to be so arrogant?
Yan Shiliang wasn’t clear about many of Luo Ziling’s actions.
Like the way Luo Ziling created a scene at Ling Jinhua’s ninetieth birthday, clashed with the Chen Family, and had a showdown with Ling Zhengping, even at his level, he couldn’t uncover these details.
He only knew the superficial facts, aware that Luo Ziling was Ling Mingrui’s grandson.
But none of Ling Mingrui’s grandsons dared to be as arrogant as Luo Ziling!
While Yan Shiliang was lost in his thoughts, Luo Ziling spoke again. He asked Yan Shiliang, "Minister Yan, are you following orders, or do you have ulterior motives?"
"What?" Yan Shiliang couldn’t react immediately.
When he understood Luo Ziling’s meaning, he couldn’t help but become angry again.
Seeing Luo Ziling looking at him with a teasing expression, he really wanted to pull out a gun and point it at his head.
However, it seemed he hadn’t brought his gun today.
That beloved Browning pistol hadn’t been carried for a while.
As a soldier, being without a gun felt like losing some authority, especially when facing someone like Luo Ziling who doesn’t play by the rules.
"I want to know, is Minister Yan seeking cooperation with me out of ulterior motives or following someone’s orders?" Luo Ziling repeated.
"Mr. Luo is joking!" Yan Shiliang suppressed his anger, managing a smile, "The military leaders knew the medicines you provided to Dragon Rise were highly effective, so they instructed us to talk to you, and Mr. Wang LI also advised the same. That’s why I’m here to discuss this with you alone today!"
"Isn’t that following someone’s instructions?" Luo Ziling rolled his eyes at Yan Shiliang, "Your superiors and Mr. Wang LI instructed you to do this, why don’t you admit it?"
Yan Shiliang almost spat blood from anger at Luo Ziling.
He truly didn’t expect Luo Ziling to be such a rogue, able to drag this conversation on for so long.
"Bastard, born of a bitch!" Curses long-unused kept churning in his mind.
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