Chapter 552: Father and Daughter

Chapter 552: Father and Daughter

Modu. Xidun Hotel. The presidential suite.

It wasn’t that Li Maoren lacked private real estate in Modu; his properties were simply situated rather far from tonight’s dining venue. Moreover, he wished to keep his presence in the city entirely under wraps. Rather than retreat to a known residence, checking into a premier hotel proved vastly more secure—especially when he did not even need to use his own ID card to register.

The clandestine dinner had drawn to a close half an hour earlier.

Li Maoren had only just arrived at his quarters. Having showered and taken medication to counter the alcohol, he felt remarkably steady—or at least mentally sharp. It was past eleven at night, and a faint drowsiness was beginning to creep in.

In the suite’s living room, clad in a plush bathrobe, Li Maoren settled into an armchair and switched on the television, tuning in to a rerun of the seven o’clock evening news. It was a broadcast he watched religiously every day; tonight’s heavy drinking and negotiations had caused him to miss the live airing.

Ring, ring…

Li Maoren’s phone began to chime.

Picking it up, his eyes widened slightly in genuine astonishment.

His daughter was actually calling him of her own volition—and at this ungodly hour!

Ever since Li Ruobing had fallen out with her family over three years ago, the bond between father and daughter had deteriorated at a terrifying velocity.

While they hadn’t crossed into a formal disownment, Li Ruobing had virtually never taken the initiative to dial his number.

Even recently, as their dynamic thawed under Wu Chen’s overarching influence, it had never returned to its former warmth. Li Maoren suspected it never would.

Back then, he had attempted to force her into a matrimonial alliance with Ding Ruilong, a man universally known to be a depraved scoundrel. In doing so, he had shattered his daughter’s heart beyond repair.

Yet if time were turned back…

He, Li Maoren, would still make the exact same choice!

Before the paramount interests of the clan, every individual interest was expendable—be it his daughter Li Ruobing’s, or his very own!

And yet… how could Li Maoren not have yearned for an outcome that preserved both?

No father alive relished being despised by his own flesh and blood. Under the influence of alcohol, particularly when sitting alone in the dead of night, a man’s defenses inevitably softened, leaving him prone to sentimental melancholy.

Li Maoren could not entirely suppress that quiet ache.

“Ahem!” Shaking off his reverie, Li Maoren cleared his throat and answered the call. “Bingbing.”

“You went to Modu?” Li Ruobing cut straight to the bone, her tone freezing.

“Mm. How did you know?” Li Maoren asked, perplexed. None of the personnel around him could have possibly leaked his itinerary; his trip to Modu had been wrapped in absolute secrecy. Then realization dawned. “Little Wu was on the phone with you earlier… Did he mention it?”

“No. I heard you call out to him just before he hung up,” Li Ruobing replied evenly.

“Ah…” Li Maoren drew out the syllable, then asked gently, “What is it? What did you wish to ask?”

“What are you two plotting now?” Li Ruobing demanded.

“You never used to concern yourself with my affairs.” Li Maoren offered a faint chuckle. “Little Wu and I didn’t meet yesterday. You never pried into our business before, so why now…”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m checking on my man, Wu Chen! Not you!” Li Ruobing interjected frostily. “You saw An Menglan’s Weibo post today, didn’t you? I want to know how Wu Chen reacted afterward. What did he do? Are you going to tell me, or should I hang up?”

“I do…” Li Maoren conceded at once.

“Then talk!” Li Ruobing commanded.

“When An Menglan posted that statement, we were already together, discussing certain maneuvers… Afterward, we went to meet with An Huaiguo…”

Li Maoren deliberately skirted the operational specifics. He had already conferred with Wu Chen on this point and reached a strict consensus.

The concrete blueprint of the campaign was to be kept strictly confidential from Li Ruobing and her younger brother, Li Ruotai.

For one thing, operational security was paramount—the fewer people who knew, the better. The fact that Ding Ruilong had maintained surveillance on the siblings for years was a massive liability in itself!

For another, it was designed to prevent them from acting impulsively and disrupting the rhythm—especially Li Ruotai.

“An Huaiguo?” Li Ruobing interrupted sharply. “An Menglan’s father? He’s in Modu?”

“Indeed,” Li Maoren continued. “A few of us… along with some other principals, shared a banquet with An Huaiguo. We drank and talked for five or six hours, settling a few things. An Huaiguo caught wind of Wu Chen’s entanglement with An Menglan; he didn’t approve at first, but now he does. Though that was hardly the core agenda of tonight’s dinner…”

Li Maoren’s voice carried the unmistakable rasp of alcohol, yet his faculties remained razor-sharp.

He did not want his daughter harboring dangerous misconceptions regarding Wu Chen’s priorities. Compared to the grand encirclement they were orchestrating, romantic entanglements were strictly secondary. That distinction had to be drawn with absolute clarity!

“The real priority… was you,” Li Maoren said.

“Me?” Li Ruobing pressed immediately. “What did you settle?”

“Just some matters.” Li Maoren let out a low chuckle, his tone turning solemn. “Little Wu is truly a man of monstrous audacity and execution. He is dead set on annihilating the Ding family! While broader strategic interests are undeniably at play, you cannot deny that he is also doing this for your sake.”

“The An family has entered the fray, then?” Li Ruobing asked, her voice turning flat and measured.

“Mm.” Li Maoren let out a drunken laugh. “They’re one of us now! So… do not push things too far! I will no longer interfere in the romantic affairs of you young people. Little Wu knows how to govern his boundaries. As for you… If you wish to teach someone a lesson, I cannot stop you, but there must be a baseline: under no circumstances are you to let the public discover that An Menglan is willing to play the mistress and vie with you for your man.”

Li Maoren’s counsel was both direct and veiled.

The veiled message… was an unequivocal warning not to compromise the alliance!

Yet he could not articulate it so baldly. He knew his daughter despised nothing more than people who ceaselessly reduced every facet of existence to clan interests!

“Oh…?” Li Ruobing pondered for a beat, and sudden clarity struck her like lightning. “An Menglan wasn’t challenging me at all. She was challenging her father!”

“Of course. Who else?” Li Maoren replied.

Meanwhile, within the president’s office at Menghua Music.

“My daughter! Daddy has wronged you! You must forgive Daddy! Daddy loves you!”

An Huaiguo was clutching a coat rack, his eyes screwed shut as he wailed at the top of his lungs.

He was dead drunk!

An Menglan sat in a chair nearby, utterly dumbfounded. She stared at her father in stunned disbelief, then turned to Wu Chen, who stood nearby with a smile.