After the polite greetings, Long Jian sat across his youngest sister and her fiancé while the butler served them hot calming herbal tea. The flowing water of the fish pond was supposed to be relaxing but Long Jian started breaking out in cold sweat instead. Now he became certain that Jin Liwei held some sort of hostility against him because the man was coldly glaring at him. It wasn't obvious at first because of Jin Liwei's usual cold and indifferent expression but Long Jian couldn't mistake it. Jin Liwei didn't acknowledge him at all since he arrived, treating him like an unwelcome stray dog.

Long Jian's smile became strained, as he forced himself to relax. Ever since he became the Deputy COO of Long Industries, he received many opportunities to meet with some of the most important figures in the business industry face to face. There were many times that he felt nervous but never did he panic. He thought that he would be able to handle facing Jin Liwei but the most powerful man in the country's business world of his generation was on a whole different level from the ones Long Jian encountered before.

Jin Liwei was extremely intimidating. The aura he was currently emitting, in addition to the not so subtle hostility against him, made Long Jian feel suffocated. His hand trembled a little, making him almost spill the tea from the cup he was holding. Still smiling and pretending that he was perfectly fine and not at all intimidated, Long Jian managed to calm himself a little…barely.

"Second Big Brother, what is the purpose of your visit?" Iris asked, looking at him straight in the eyes.

Since she was being direct to the point, Long Jian didn't waste any more time. He began explaining the current predicament of his mother, Zhu Ning, while enduring the oppressive weight of Jin Liwei's eyes on him.

Iris didn't interrupt him, allowing him to speak freely. She also didn't show any expression but at least it looked like she was actually listening. Jin Liwei also looked like he was listening but his disinterest was clear in his cold eyes. It was obvious that he didn't care about Long Jian at all and was only there because of Iris.

It grated on Long Jian that Jin Liwei was acting like this, especially since the man was his ultimate target. He believed that Jin Liwei had the ability to help his mother in some way. Despite this, he forced himself not to feel too affected even if it bothered him.

'Even if he doesn't care, he'll still lend a hand if Xiulan decides to help me. All I need to do is persuade Xiulan and Jin Liwei will also follow,' Long Jian thought, successfully grasping the nature of the couple's relationship.

"Everyone believes that my mother is the true mastermind who instigated Tian Kong to kill you, Little Sister, but I know that this is not true," he said. "There are even evidence allegedly proving this but they're fake. Don't believe them! My mother is framed. Yet no matter how hard I try to explain this to the police, nobody listens me. I think that even the police believes that my mother did it."

"That's because Zhu Ning threatened to kill Xiulan and Aunt Wei Lan in public before," Jin Liwei interrupted in a cold voice. "After your mother's public death threats to my future wife and mother-in-law, someone tries to kill Xiulan with a bomb. Tell me, Mr. Long Jian, isn't it natural to believe that Zhu Ning is also connected to the bomb incident especially right now that there's also evidence pointing to this?"

Long Jian felt his vision go red so he hurriedly took a few deep breaths before continuing to speak. Jin Liwei's words were infuriating, but logically speaking, he made sense. Fortunately, Long Jian had the ability to control his emotions in highly stressful situations like this.

"I agree, CEO Jin. But please believe me when I say that the evidence is fake. My mother has been framed." Long Jian turned to Iris again. "Little Sister, I know that our mothers don't have the best relationship with each other—"

"They're enemies," Iris replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Well…yes…true." Long Jian cleared his throat in an awkward manner. "But even if they're, uh…enemies, and even if my mother said something that can be considered as death threats to you and your mother, I hope that you don't take her words too seriously because my mother always says those kind of things but she's not capable of killing people."

Then he hesitated for a few seconds, thinking about his next words. In the end, he decided to tell them everything. He told them about his discussion with Long Tengfei, the alleged sex video between Zhu Ning and Tian Kong, Long Tengfei's promise to testify in court to say that the woman in the sex video wasn't Zhu Ning, and how Long Tengfei told him to ask Iris and Jin Liwei for help.

Both Iris and Jin Liwei didn't look surprised when he revealed the existence of a sex video. Did they already know about it? The sex video was something that Long Jian felt ashamed of discussing in public, especially with Iris and Jin Liwei. This was why he repeatedly emphasized that the woman in the sex video wasn't his mother but someone impersonating her. He was afraid that it would disgust the couple that they wouldn't even consider helping his mother.

'Desperation calls for extreme measures. Pride won't help me in this situation.'

Gritting his teeth, he decisively tossed away his pride and stood up. Then he bowed low from the waist to the couple all of a sudden.

"Xiulan, CEO Jin, I beg you to please help my mother! Everyone believes that she's the mastermind behind the bomb incident but she's innocent and has been framed! I don't want her to be punished for something that she didn't do! Please!"

Long Jian remained bowing as he held his breath, waiting for the couple's response. The flowing water of the fish pond failed to relax him. It gave him a feeling of drowning instead. All he could see was the rocky ground of the islet from this position. He didn't dare to sneak a peek at the couple, afraid that their expressions would leave him crashing in disappointment.

The wait felt very long to Long Jian but actually it was only about five seconds.

"Why should we help you?" Iris asked in a neutral tone.

Long Jian raised his head and finally looked at the couple. Iris' expression looked pleasant, yet he couldn't read her real emotions, while Jin Liwei's remained cold and indifferent with a touch of hostility.

"We're brother and sister…"

"Long Hui is also my brother and I was closer to him than to you for a short period of time before his stupidity ruined our good relationship. Now he and I have basically become enemies. My sibling relationship with you and the others is not reason enough for me to help any of you, especially since we're not really close to each other."

Long Jian clenched his hands into fists. "You're right," he said. "Fine. I'll give you another reason. You want to succeed Father as the next head of Long Industries, right? I'll help you."

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