Ling Jinhua spoke so directly, which made Ling Mingrui feel a bit uneasy.
But he didn’t voice his discontent, nor did he point out that Ling Zhengping’s immediate call to Ling Jinhua to complain after leaving him was a very irrational behavior.
He simply said softly, "Dad, I know that in the future, the Ling Family will rely on Zhengping, but I equally believe that with Ruonan, with her and Ziling’s help, the Ling Family will develop better. Although Ruonan is a married-out daughter, she is still a part of the Ling Family, regardless of the step she takes now or in the future, she bears the mark of the Ling Family. Now when others discuss her, they will surely say she is the daughter of the Ling Family, your granddaughter, my daughter, rather than saying she is Luo Liansheng’s wife, Luo Xusheng’s spouse."
After Ling Jinhua heard this, he furrowed his brow slightly but quickly relaxed.
Ling Mingrui continued, "I think, if Ruonan accomplishes more, it cannot be a threat to the Ling Family, but rather a help, or an encouragement. Her achievements also belong to the Ling Family. The higher her accomplishments, the more the Ling Family’s reputation rises."
"Moreover, over the years, Ruonan has endured a lot, especially in the past year or so; she has been schemed against by Zhengping many times, and others have schemed against her multiple times. When others scheme against her, she fiercely retaliates, but when Zhengping schemes against her, she merely endures it, without retaliating similarly. She has a broader perspective, in this aspect, she is much better than Zhengping."
"But her son does not think this way!" Ling Jinhua interrupted Ling Mingrui.
Ling Mingrui was taken aback, then immediately replied, "Young people are prone to acting impulsively, which is normal. He has not acted like he did towards others, which is already considered restrained."
Without waiting for Ling Jinhua to speak, Ling Mingrui continued, "Dad, let me make an assumption."
"If Ruonan were in charge of the Ling Family’s affairs, she would surely not strike against other descendants of the Ling Family. She has enough means to subdue them. If Zhengping were to preside over the Ling Family’s affairs, he would definitely strike against some Ling Family descendants, especially his own sister. He does not have enough capability and confidence to subdue those people and can only employ extraordinary means. There’s a difference in ability and breadth of mind between the two."
"Of course, this is merely a hypothesis, no matter what, Ruonan could not possibly preside over the Ling Family’s affairs. But she can continue to advance with the identity of a Ling Family daughter, achieving a higher position. Regardless, her progress is only beneficial to the Ling Family, never harmful," Ling Mingrui said with certainty.
"So, you want to give your daughter more resources?" Ling Jinhua looked at Ling Mingrui with an unchanged demeanor, "Don’t you know, if the daughter has resources and achieves accomplishments, it will encroach on your son’s share and make him lose resources, lose opportunities?"
"I don’t think so!" Ling Mingrui shook his head, "I have several reasons for thinking this way: Firstly, by doing so I can create a sense of crisis for Zhengping. If you, father, also do this, his sense of crisis would be greater. If both of us treat them like this, then Zhengping will not be so reckless, he will have reservations, fear losing everything, and will make changes. Like, after this wedding, his conduct has changed considerably, his behavior tonight quite satisfied me."
Ling Jinhua didn’t interrupt, he just quietly listened to Ling Mingrui’s analysis.
"Secondly, the resources we provide to Ruonan and Zhengping now are not the same, you could say they do not overlap at all. Ruonan’s position is much lower; she has always been on the path of state-owned enterprise management. While Zhengping has already reached his current position, Ruonan will not compete with him, at least not within ten years. If the sibling duo’s high positions influence them, it would only influence Ruonan, not Zhengping."
"Thirdly, at the wedding that day, so many people came to congratulate Ruonan and Xusheng, indicating they all have high hopes for Ruonan and Xusheng’s future. By taking advantage of their current fame and the attention they are receiving, supporting them properly would surely be twice as effective with half the effort. I think, father, you think so too, otherwise, you wouldn’t have given Ruonan such high recognition at the wedding."
Upon saying this, Ling Mingrui’s lips revealed a slight smile.
Ling Jinhua didn’t respond with anything, he just sighed lightly.
Ling Jinhua rarely sighed, so Ling Mingrui immediately sensed something.
However, he didn’t ask anything, he just sat quietly.
Knowing Ling Jinhua’s temper well, he knew that his father would respond to him.
Ling Mingrui’s thoughts were indeed correct, after a while, Ling Jinhua indeed expressed his view, "Since you think so highly of your daughter, and believe she is as harmless as a rabbit, then just do as you think."
"Dad, I plan to let her take office in Jiangnan Province after the new year, taking up a deputy position in administration," Ling Mingrui directly expressed his intention, "After holding office there, stay for two more years, strive to transition into a principal role. By then, Zhengping should also be able to assume a higher position. If the siblings can eliminate past grievances and think of helping in situations, the Ling Family’s prestige will rise to a higher level. And at that time, I will certainly step down. If I can witness them like this, I will have no regrets."
"You want Ruonan to help Zhengping?"
"Yes!" Ling Mingrui nodded.
"Then let’s hope they can mutually assist each other!" Ling Jinhua nodded, "Tomorrow, I will have Zhengping come here; I will personally talk to him. Since he is more reasonable now, I think he should be able to take in more."
Ling Jinhua’s attitude had already changed, Ling Mingrui breathed a sigh of relief, immediately nodded, and further said, "I will also communicate more with him."
Ling Jinhua said nothing more and sent Ling Mingrui off to rest.
In the car on the way back, Ling Mingrui had fully understood the reason why Ling Jinhua urgently called him over.
Ling Jinhua was afraid he would abandon Ling Zhengping, instead supporting Ling Ruonan, transferring responsibility of the Ling Family to Ling Ruonan in the future.
"Father has truly aged, his intellect has somewhat declined!" Ling Mingrui sighed silently in his heart.
How could he possibly hand the Ling Family over to Ling Ruonan?
Unless Ling Zhengping is no longer here.
In that case, if no other heirs are selected, it’s possible to let Ling Ruonan manage the Ling Family.
But it would only be temporary management; eventually, a descendant with the surname Ling would take over management from Ling Ruonan.
However, Ling Mingrui is somewhat concerned that Luo Ziling might disrupt his plans.
Luo Ziling’s ability and wisdom are highly acknowledged by Ling Mingrui, but Ling Mingrui also knows that Luo Ziling’s ambition is very large, not easily controlled by ordinary people.
Currently, Luo Ziling even wants to use some means to control the Chen Family; if given more opportunities, he would have more unrealistic ideas.
And these ideas might destroy many things, including the power balance among the Yanjing higher-ups and his plans.