The Li Family may not be the most established of the old families, but it is not lacking in foundation.
The current head of the Li Family is Li Qingming, who is Li Haiyang’s father.
Li Qingming is already in his seventies and has long retired from his position as a cadre in the leadership.
Before retirement, he served as the deputy commander of a major military region, with two gold stars on his shoulder.
However, Li Qingming has always served in the military, with little involvement in local affairs.
When he went to serve in the military, the affairs of the Li Family were handed over to his brother, Li Jinming.
Li Jinming is the father of Li Tianguan, who is Yuqing’s nominal father, and both Yuqing and Xiaoqing would call him grandfather.
After Li Qingming retired, he naturally wanted to get involved in family matters.
All along, Li Jinming has been managing family affairs, and although Li Qingming stepped in after his retirement, it was impossible for him to truly grasp everything given his age.
Therefore, many of the family matters were still practically handled by Li Jinming.
Li Jinming is quite crafty; he shows great respect towards Li Qingming and seeks his decision on many matters.
Everyone understood that Li Qingming intended to hand over the family management rights to Li Haiyang.
But everyone is also aware of the reality that Li Haiyang has no children.
Li Qingming has a son and a daughter; the son is, of course, Li Haiyang, and the daughter is Li Hailan.
Li Haiyang’s son was also in the military but honorably sacrificed his life for the country a few years ago.
Li Hailan has a son and a daughter, but women who marry outside the family generally have no capital to meddle in the affairs of the Li Family.
That is to say, if Li Haiyang inherited the position of family head, he would have no heir.
Even if Li Haiyang took over the management of family affairs, he would still have to hand over management rights when he grew old.
Li Jinming has two sons; besides the deceased Li Tianguan, there is another son named Li Zongneng.
Li Tianguan has a son named Li Xiaoqing, and Li Zongneng has a son and a daughter named Li Xiaohui and Li Man, respectively. This brother-sister duo almost had a conflict with Luo Ziling.
This means that when Li Haiyang manages the family affairs and needs to select a successor when he gets older, he would have to choose between Li Xiaoqing and Li Xiaohui.
Li Xiaohui and Li Man are very dismissive of Luo Yuqing. Initially, it was because Luo Yuqing was too outstanding, which made them feel inferior.
Later, it was because they discovered that Luo Yuqing was not a daughter of the Li Family and thus looked down on the child born from Wu Ningjing’s extramarital affair.
This brother-sister duo once incited conflict between Li Xiaoqing and Luo Yuqing, and there are signs of their involvement in this event as well.
They reject Luo Yuqing and manipulate Li Xiaoqing because they want to firmly grasp the family’s inheritance rights themselves.
If they can control Li Xiaoqing, then the control rights of the family will certainly not fall into the hands of others.
Many people are well aware of this, and Luo Yuqing knows it too.
Originally, Luo Yuqing thought Luo Ziling had no interest in these matters, but from what he said today, Luo Yuqing realized that Luo Ziling had long-term plans there. He hopes that she, a former daughter of the Li Family, could use Li Xiaoqing to compete for the control of the Li Family.
If that wasn’t the case, Luo Ziling wouldn’t propose taking her to see Li Haiyang to discuss the affairs of the Li Family.
Luo Ziling understood what Luo Yuqing was questioning, and he did not deny it, admitting it directly.
He didn’t say much, though; he just smiled slightly.
Because there were other people around, and considering the gravity of the matter, Luo Yuqing, though shocked internally, didn’t verify anything on the spot. When the group returned to school and everyone went back to rest, Luo Yuqing pulled Luo Ziling aside to inquire about the matter.
She doesn’t like keeping things under wraps, even less so in front of Luo Ziling, so she asked him directly about this when alone with him.
"That’s right, I did think of letting you control the Li Family!" Luo Ziling spoke more directly this time. "If you step forward directly, it won’t work. No one would want you to meddle in the affairs of the Li Family, since you, with the surname Luo, are already considered the disgrace of the Li Family. But Li Xiaoqing can; he is a legitimate member of the Li Family and the eldest grandson of Li Jinming. It’s just that his character is unlikable, and he doesn’t have much ability. His lack of ability is a good thing for you."
After hearing this, Luo Yuqing didn’t immediately give her opinion; she just looked down with a thoughtful expression.
"If you can control the Li Family’s assets through Li Xiaoqin, you’d have the greatest capital in life."
"And through me, you want to control the Li Family?" Luo Yuqing looked up at Luo Ziling. "Is that so?"
Luo Ziling found himself speechless all of a sudden; he hadn’t expected Luo Yuqing to ask so directly.
"I currently have no such plan," Luo Ziling eventually shook his head in denial. "What I’m thinking now is just what I mentioned earlier. You can’t get more resources from the Ling Family. It’s not just you; the same goes for me. So, we have to think of ways in other areas. You grew up in the Li Family and are familiar with everyone there. Your mother is still a daughter-in-law of the Li Family. You have a brother who may have a significant role in the Li Family. I think you could aim for the Li Family’s assets, especially considering that Li Haiyang has no sons or daughters."
Luo Yuqing gave Luo Ziling a surprised look before lowering her head. "You’re thinking of forming a good relationship with Li Haiyang through me, gaining his recognition, perhaps being recognized as a goddaughter or something similar, gaining his favor, and eventually his support, to hold an influential position in the Li Family, right?"
"That’s the idea; it only just occurred to me," Luo Ziling honestly admitted. "I didn’t think of it before. It was only after Li Xiaoqing caused a stir and had to succumb to us that I started having this idea. The idea is not mature yet, and we’ll need to refine it. Of course, this is premised on your willingness and having a similar idea; otherwise, it can’t be realized."
"Let me think about it when I get back!" Luo Yuqing smoothed the hair on her forehead and smiled at Luo Ziling. "Actually, I had similar thoughts. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be accompanying Li Xiaoqing in doing these things. He is a lineage of the Li Family, and Li Tianguan was also the eldest son of Li Jinming. Li Xiaoqing aiming for the Li Family’s assets or even becoming the family head isn’t a big deal."
"It’s good if you’ve had such thoughts!" Luo Ziling also smiled. "Anyway, our ideas are not mature, so let’s go back and think about it carefully. If it’s something we want to do, we can continue the discussion. After all, it’s an excellent opportunity to start now; if we prepare from now, there will be results in a few years."
"I really didn’t expect you to be so ambitious!" Luo Yuqing laughed, watching Luo Ziling. "You’ve always been doing things that seem like something from nothing, and you’ve succeeded at many things!"
"What do you mean ’something from nothing’? That’s called leveraging power, you know?" Luo Ziling glared at Luo Yuqing.
"Then let’s work together as siblings to make the Luo Family even more glorious!" Luo Yuqing said as she walked up to Luo Ziling, throwing herself into his arms. "Give me a hug!"
"..."