Chapter 34: Arrogance

Mo Han had originally planned to wander about aimlessly, but just as he stepped out of the Xie family courtyard, Li An'an called him. On the phone, Xu Fang also asked Mo Han to come home, admitting that she had misunderstood him before and told him not to take it to heart. In short, it was an indirect apology.

At first, Mo Han was rather surprised; in the past five years, this was the first time his mother-in-law had shown such an attitude. He never truly intended to have a falling-out with Xu Fang—whatever her true feelings, at least she had softened her tone. After only a brief hesitation of a few seconds, he agreed to return.

Upon arriving home, he found that his mother-in-law’s family’s attitude toward him had indeed changed significantly. Even his young sister-in-law no longer looked at him with the dismissive indifference she once had. Instead, she was warm and enthusiastic, her words sweet and kind. Though it felt unfamiliar, at least it was a feeling he liked. The family no longer felt so cold and distant.

...

“Master Qin, Lin Xiaoman actually managed to come up with an antidote,” Wu Tao approached Qin Haoran and spoke cautiously.

“How is that possible? I’ve asked plenty of experts. That toxin is notoriously difficult to counteract—how could they possibly have found an antidote?” Qin Haoran’s right arm, in a cast, hung from his chest as his face darkened.

“I heard it was that fool Mo Han who produced the formula, then rushed through the night to get a batch made and delivered it to the hospital. Those who took the antidote have already been discharged,” Wu Tao said.

“Mo Han?” Qin Haoran’s expression shifted, his voice turning chillingly dark. “That useless wretch again!”

Though his injury from Mo Han—a dislocated hand—was not severe, it was a grave humiliation. This grudge must be avenged. Once his hand healed, he would make that wretch wish for death. And as for Li An'an—she had better watch herself. He hadn’t intended to make things difficult for her, but now, he had changed his mind.

“Go, find a way to steal the formula for their antidote,” Qin Haoran ordered.

“Yes, Master Qin, don’t worry. As the general manager of the pharmaceutical plant, such a minor task is nothing for me,” Wu Tao replied confidently.

Qin Haoran nodded, and Wu Tao left without needing to be told. After all, he was just a dog to Qin Haoran, unworthy of sitting at the table with him. He didn’t have that right.

...

Early the next morning, Li An'an was preparing to go to the company. Mo Han, thinking her character was a bit too gentle and worried she wouldn’t be able to handle the senior executives, decided to accompany her to offer some support.

After arriving at the pharmaceutical factory with Li An'an, she started organizing company affairs while Mo Han roamed around the plant, surveying the facilities. When he returned to the office after making his rounds, he found Li An'an looking troubled.

“What’s wrong?” Mo Han approached and asked.

“Most of the senior executives are my uncle’s men. They refuse to listen to me and only pay lip service to my instructions. It’s so frustrating,” Li An'an complained.

“Well, just fire them,” Mo Han said matter-of-factly.

“But if I dismiss so many senior executives at once, we won’t be able to find suitable replacements right away. And it might cause unrest in the company. The company is already in crisis—perhaps it’s safer to keep the peace for now,” she said, her worry evident.

Mo Han nodded in agreement with her concerns, but he added, “From what I’ve seen, Wu Tao still holds a lot of sway here. The management team seems to follow his lead. He’s probably the ringleader refusing to cooperate with you, isn’t he?”

“Yes, how did you know?” Li An'an asked, puzzled.

“Haven’t you noticed? He’s a traitor. Think back to how he spoke to you before,” Mo Han said with a small smile.

With Mo Han’s reminder, Li An'an finally realized what was going on, and her expression darkened. From all that had happened yesterday, it was clear that Wu Tao had already been bought by Qin Haoran.

“If I’m not mistaken, Qin Haoran is behind the drug incident, and Wu Tao is the one who tampered with the content of the wild aconite,” Mo Han said.

Li An'an’s face changed, growing more and more alarmed. “The Qin family is so powerful. Would Qin Haoran really be interested in this pharmaceutical factory?”

In truth, with Mo Han’s prompting, she had already guessed Qin Haoran’s true goal. It wasn’t just about the factory—he was targeting the entire Li family. Fortunately, her grandfather had made a decisive sacrifice, abandoning the factory to protect the family, shifting all the blame onto them and thus defusing the crisis for the Lis. Otherwise, she believed her grandfather and uncle would never have handed the factory over to her.

This thought renewed her anxiety. Mo Han had broken Qin Haoran’s right hand two days ago; Qin Haoran would never let that stand. How would they cope when the time came?

Seeing Li An'an’s face shift from anger to worry, Mo Han knew she had figured it out. He comforted her: “Leave Qin Haoran to me. As long as I’m here, he won’t dare touch you.”

Li An'an glanced at Mo Han, moved by his words. Mo Han, when he was resolute, gave her a sense of security—a true man. But what she wanted to say was, “I’m worried about you.” Yet the words caught in her throat and she swallowed them back.

“So, what should we do now?” she asked, as if she had finally found her pillar of support.

“If you want to be assertive, then fire Wu Tao and the few senior executives close to him right now. Just promote new talent from within to fill the gaps. If you’re worried about the repercussions, wait for me to find evidence of their collusion with Qin Haoran,” Mo Han advised.

He had no intention of interfering in company affairs—he didn’t really understand them anyway. He only wanted to offer Li An'an some suggestions; the final decision would be hers.

“Let’s go ahead and hold a meeting to dismiss Wu Tao right now!” Li An'an said firmly after a moment’s hesitation.

“Good. I’ll go with you,” Mo Han nodded approvingly. As company president, it was important to be tough when needed.

After notifying all the senior executives of the meeting, Mo Han and Li An'an waited in the conference room. The meeting was scheduled to begin in ten minutes, but fewer than half the managers arrived on time—clear evidence of how little respect they had for their new president.

Five minutes past the scheduled start, nearly a quarter of the management team was still absent. Li An'an’s face grew increasingly grim. The executives who had arrived exchanged glances, each with their own thoughts—many of them didn’t believe in Li An'an’s leadership.

Ten more minutes passed before Wu Tao and five other executives swaggered into the room.

“President Li, apologies for the delay, we were tied up with something,” Wu Tao said, heading for his seat.

“Stop. Did I say you could sit down?” Mo Han’s stern voice rang out.

His shout crashed through the conference room like a thunderclap, stunning everyone into silence. It was a long moment before Wu Tao snapped out of it, glaring at Mo Han with malice as he turned to Li An'an.

“President Li, we’re here for a management meeting, and yet you’ve brought your useless husband in with you. As the company’s leader, you let this good-for-nothing disrupt order—how can you expect us to respect you?”

Everyone instinctively looked to Li An'an. Wu Tao’s words struck a chord—they all wanted to see how she would respond.