Feeling Cao Meng’s irritation, he wanted to snap back on the spot, but he held it in.

"When you’ve taken someone’s money, your hands get tied!"

Muttering that to himself, he thought for a moment, then said softly, "About that sixty million we sent out before, can you think of a way to claw it back? As long as we can get that back, things shouldn’t be too bad."

Hearing him, Cao Meng narrowed his eyes.

Cao Meng had to admit, what he said was one way to solve it, it was just that right now, the odds looked very, very low.

Because the other party wasn’t someone he could afford to mess with.

"Looks like it’s going to be real hard to get it back. If that’s the case, then he really is dead this time."

After reading a lot of information from Cao Meng’s expression, he was even happier.

Because if even Cao Meng couldn’t handle it, that meant his Family Head was really at the end of the road.

Reining in that smugness and delight, he spoke up again, "There’s absolutely no chance?"

"I don’t think so!"

With a sigh, Cao Meng got ready to give it another shot.

Thinking that, he quickly pulled out his phone.

After finding Lin Ya’s number, he glanced at it and quickly dialed!

...

On the island, Hu Xiaobei and Lin Ya were chatting.

Just then, the phone Lin Ya had left to the side started ringing.

A bit drained, she cast a silky, flirtatious glance at Hu Xiaobei and said softly, "Xiaobei, little brother, help me see who’s calling!"

Glancing at Lin Ya, Hu Xiaobei deliberately teased in a very soft voice, "You’re just letting me look like that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll see something I shouldn’t?"

"You little bastard, what are you talking about? I’ve got nothing to hide, what’s there to be afraid of!"

By the end, Lin Ya huffed and gave Hu Xiaobei a big, dramatic eye-roll.

Right after that, she grabbed an apple Xiaobei had just washed, and took a quick bite.

Laughing, Hu Xiaobei reached out and picked up the phone. Seeing the name on the screen, he said casually, "It’s that Cao Meng who left earlier."

"What’s he calling for? Don’t tell me he wants to keep giving us money?"

Throwing that question out, she quickly got excited.

As her excitement rose, that oversized jade rabbit jiggled lightly, making Hu Xiaobei involuntarily sneak a few more glances.

"What are you looking at, you little bastard!"

After another huge eye-roll at Hu Xiaobei, she said directly, "Alright, just put it on speaker, let’s hear what he’s trying to say."

"Okay!"

Giving a light reply, Hu Xiaobei tapped the speaker button.

"Hello, is this Lin Ya? It’s Cao Meng, I just left."

"It’s me. I actually thought you dialed the wrong number. Looks like you didn’t, huh."

Taking a bite of the apple, Lin Ya teased softly...

Just now, Lin Ya really had thought he’d called the wrong number...

In Lin Ya’s eyes, he was petty and narrow-minded, so right now he should be calling up his cronies to lick his wounds.

Turned out he apparently hadn’t done that.

"No, how could I call the wrong person?"

"Then go on, what do you want?"

"Here’s the thing, we’ve known each other for a while now. Might not count as friends, but at least we recognize each other’s faces. I want to borrow some money—don’t know if you’d be willing?"

Hearing Cao Meng’s request, Lin Ya chuckled lightly. "Borrow money? You’re the head of a family. You need to borrow from me?"

As soon as she finished, she heard a helpless voice come through the receiver, "Don’t mock me. A so-called Family Head like me often doesn’t get to call the shots either! But I promise, as long as I get through this crisis, I’ll definitely pay you back double! And in the future we might even form an alliance and look out for each other. How about it?"

"Not interested."

Lin Ya rejected him on the spot.

Lin Ya knew he was trash, so she had no interest in working with him, because she knew a guy like that could turn on you any time. Cooperating with him was way too risky.

Hearing Lin Ya’s refusal, Hu Xiaobei smiled to himself...

Hu Xiaobei had no interest in that piece of trash either, so seeing her turn him down made him genuinely happy.

"Then what would it take for you to lend me the money?"

Hearing that anxious question, Lin Ya looked toward Hu Xiaobei.

Hu Xiaobei knew she wanted him to give his opinion now.

Smiling faintly, Hu Xiaobei said calmly, "Simple. From now on, you do everything my way, and I’ll lend you the money."

"No way! I’m a堂堂Family Head, how could I take orders from you!"

"If that’s how it is, then that’s that."

With a light smile, Hu Xiaobei directly hung up.

...

"Xiaobei, little brother, you really did throw out a condition he could never accept!"

"Can’t accept it? He’ll accept it."

"Xiaobei, little brother, you’re kidding, right? With that kind of condition, he’d really agree?"

Lin Ya stared at Hu Xiaobei in disbelief. She felt there was no way the other side would accept it; the condition was just too over the top.

If he agreed to that, he’d basically be giving up everything.

"He’s got no other options right now, so he can only choose to say yes."

Hu Xiaobei had already run all the calculations...

Hu Xiaobei knew perfectly well the guy really had no way out, so he could only choose to cooperate with him.

That way, he’d lose a lot, a whole lot, but at the very least, he’d be able to keep his seat as Family Head.

So weighing the two, he’d definitely choose the one that favored him more...

"I still think it’s unlikely."

"Then let’s bet on it."

"Deal!"

As they spoke, the two of them started setting the terms of their bet...

...

"He actually wants me to take orders from him from now on, that’s way over the line!"

Listening to the beeping busy tone on the line, Cao Meng roared in fury.

He thought the other guy was really opening his lion’s mouth wide.

Hearing Cao Meng’s crazed roar, the man who’d been standing silently beside him for a long time finally spoke. "Family Head, I think you should agree."

Hearing him, Cao Meng glared hard at him. "Agree? If I agree, I’ll have to do whatever he says!"

"Family Head, sometimes you really aren’t thinking sharp enough. Right now the most important thing is to get the money back. Once we’ve gotten the money and fully settled things on the family side, we can just flip the table on them, right?"

Hearing that plan, something stirred in Cao Meng’s heart.

He felt the plan was indeed pretty good...

But thinking it over more carefully, he still felt it wasn’t quite sound. "But their side isn’t exactly weak."

"So what if they’re strong? We just don’t leave the family compound for a while. You really think he can storm all the way into our family’s turf? I don’t buy it."

"You’re right!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Cao Meng’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Looking at this man now, he found him extremely pleasing to the eye.

"I’ve been missing someone by my side to scheme and strategize. I think you’re a perfect fit. From now on, you stay with me."

Hearing Cao Meng extend the olive branch, he smiled faintly and handed the watch in his hand back. "Family Head, I feel this watch suits you better, so you should have it back."

Giving it a glance, Cao Meng quickly waved his hand. "Haha, it’s just a watch. Since I gave it to you, I’m not taking it back. Just stick with me and do a good job."

"Mm, got it!"

He nodded, thrilled.

Earlier, he’d treated Cao Meng poorly because he thought Cao Meng couldn’t possibly get through this crisis. Now his attitude had changed, because he realized Cao Meng’s luck hadn’t run out yet...

Cao Meng took a deep breath, ran through everything one more time in his head, and after confirming there were no problems, he dialed Lin Ya’s number again...