After leaving Wu Ningjing and Li Xiaoqing, Luo Ziling went straight home.
On the way, Luo Ziling saw the message Yang Qingyin had sent back to him.
Yang Qingyin said they should find a time to talk about this matter together.
Luo Ziling agreed as well.
He hadn’t eaten dinner yet and his stomach was growling.
It was already seven in the evening.
When he left Ling Mingrui’s other courtyard, it was about five thirty in the afternoon, and in a blink more than an hour had passed.
Wu Ningjing had just said she would come to visit him and Ling Ruonan that evening, but right now Luo Ziling didn’t want her to come.
It wasn’t that Luo Ziling didn’t want to give Wu Ningjing face, but what Li Xiaoqing had done this time made him extremely angry.
If it weren’t for the sake of Wu Ningjing and Luo Yuqing, Luo Ziling really would have done exactly what he’d just said and made it so that Li Xiaoqing could neither live nor die, maybe even directly taken his life.
In this incident, Li Xiaoqing was more hateful than anyone else.
If it weren’t for him, Wu Ningjing and Luo Yuqing’s money wouldn’t have been cheated away; Luo Ziling had always utterly despised using family ties and kindness to swindle money. And on top of that, Ling Haijun had suffered serious injuries because of Li Xiaoqing’s stupidity.
Ling Haijun had always been following him and doing things for him, and Luo Ziling was very clear that he had to help seek justice for Ling Haijun’s injury.
Otherwise, it would chill the hearts of those who followed him and worked for him.
But right now, this key person Li Xiaoqing, he couldn’t mete out a humanitarian-style destruction to him, which left him very depressed.
Not being able to avenge Ling Haijun would make a lot of people look down on him.
So even with Wu Ningjing at the side, Luo Ziling didn’t give her face and spoke very harshly.
He also couldn’t be bothered to think about whether Wu Ningjing would come looking for them again later.
After getting home, Luo Ziling ate the dinner Ling Ruonan had prepared.
He was hungry, so he wolfed it down.
Ling Ruonan actually hadn’t cooked; in this situation she didn’t have the mind to make dinner either, so she had Wuyue order dinner from the hotel.
Since Luo Ziling said he was coming back for dinner, she had been waiting all along.
While they ate, mother and son went over what had happened today.
Luo Ziling also learned what exactly those people had said before he arrived.
Before Luo Ziling arrived at Ling Mingrui’s other courtyard, Ling Minglan, Ling Zhengping, Ling Zhengjian and the others were unwilling to offer Ling Zhenghui sufficient compensation; at most they were willing to give some symbolic compensation.
Ling Minglan even said that with the status Ling Zhenghui had now, he was already enjoying special treatment and should know when to be satisfied.
If Ling Zhenghui made endless demands, then what he had now might not even be guaranteed going forward.
Ling Zhengping had the same attitude.
Of course, Ling Zhenghui was not convinced and argued his case with them, and in the end they fell out.
Although the process wasn’t quite that simple, it was more or less like that.
In this kind of matter, Ling Ruonan couldn’t state her position clearly; after all, she wasn’t the main party involved.
And as the Family Head, Ling Mingrui couldn’t directly state his attitude either.
Seeing them unable to reach an agreement, he only said a few ambiguous words, meaning they should still work out a solution themselves.
"Looks like Grandpa is dissatisfied with his sister as well as his own son and grandson, otherwise he wouldn’t handle it this way." Luo Ziling said with emotion, "It’s just that, if he handles it like this, won’t it make people think his prestige is lacking? Family matters dealt with in this way—I think it damages his authority."
"Your grandpa just doesn’t want to have a direct clash with Ling Zhengping; he’s thinking about the stability of the whole family." Ling Ruonan also sighed a bit. "If it’s a fight between Ling Zhengping and Ling Zhenghui, that’s not a big deal. But if he falls out with Ling Minglan and his own son, then it’s a big problem. Between two harms you choose the lesser, between two benefits you choose the greater—he’s only weighing that."
"It seems the conflict between Grandpa and Ling Zhengping is even bigger than we imagined." Luo Ziling showed a meaningful smile. "Otherwise, in a situation like this, he wouldn’t fail to side with his own son and grandson."
"But in the end he will still lean toward his own son and grandson, unless he throws away all his old notions and abandons his family-first mindset."
Luo Ziling nodded lightly and didn’t say anything more.
Ling Ruonan went on, "In the Ling Family, Ling Zhenghui’s status is completely inferior to Ling Zhengping’s, and what he’s achieved now is far behind as well. He doesn’t have the ability to oppose Ling Zhengping and Ling Minglan, so he doesn’t dare behave too aggressively. He must be very conflicted right now, not knowing what the right move is. His son was stabbed and seriously injured, yet the culprit is still at large—that’s definitely a thorn in his heart. This could even affect his future prospects. After all, something this big happened, involving a criminal case, and instead of reporting it he tries to settle it in private; that’s asking for trouble."
"Mom, if we don’t help them with this, we’ll suffer losses too." Luo Ziling shared his view. "After all, Ling Haijun is working under me now, and Ling Zhenghui is on close terms with you. In other people’s eyes, they’re our people. If we don’t help them get their due benefits, the people working for us will have their own thoughts."
"That’s true as well!" Ling Ruonan nodded, then said thoughtfully, "We need to think carefully about how to handle this in the best way. They probably went to see Ling Zhenghui tonight; let’s not join the fun. Tomorrow morning, we’ll set aside some time and go to the hospital to see him together."
"Okay!" Luo Ziling agreed.
Just then, Ling Ruonan’s phone rang.
She took it out and saw that it was a call from Wu Ningjing.
"It’s Wu Ningjing." Ling Ruonan didn’t answer right away, but first asked Luo Ziling, "What exactly did you all say just now?"
Luo Ziling briefly went over the situation.
After listening, Ling Ruonan nodded lightly.
After a moment she called back.
On the other end, Wu Ningjing picked up immediately.
Wu Ningjing wanted to come to Ling Ruonan’s villa for a visit. After hearing her request, Ling Ruonan hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
"She had just mentioned that request to me too, but when I left she didn’t bring it up again, so I thought she wasn’t coming." Luo Ziling walked over to Ling Ruonan’s side and said quietly, "Is she coming alone, or bringing Li Xiaoqing with her?"
"She’s bringing Li Xiaoqing." Ling Ruonan frowned slightly, looking pensive. "For a mistake as serious as what Li Xiaoqing did, he has to pay the price. After what happened today, he still dared to talk back to Wu Ningjing and roar in front of you—that shows he still hasn’t taken it to heart and hasn’t learned his lesson."
"Then let him wait outside and don’t let him come in." Luo Ziling smiled. "You talk to Wu Ningjing first; I’ll go teach him a lesson and let him understand that we are people he can’t afford to offend."
"Alright!" Ling Ruonan didn’t object and agreed readily. "I’ll chat with Wu Ningjing first; you go deal with Li Xiaoqing. Just don’t make it too hard on Wu Ningjing—she is his mother, after all."
"Okay then!" Luo Ziling nodded. "I’ll try to watch my limits."