Chapter 152: A Monstrous Catastrophe

A crisp slap echoed through the surroundings.

Caught completely off guard, Lin Jingtao was sent sprawling to the floor by the strike, staring blankly in sheer disbelief.

"This..." Lin Kaiyang froze in a stupor, utterly unable to fathom that such an outrageous thing could actually happen.

"Am I seeing things?" Feng Sihai was even more deeply moved, his entire body rigid in place, shocked to his core for a long moment and his heart gripped with tension.

Yet, amidst this situation, not only was Ye Tianlin completely unfazed, but a sharp, stern expression crossed his face instead as he reprimanded, "Failing to discipline your son is one thing, but to be so brazen and self-righteous about it is utterly unworthy of your position. You have completely disgraced Elder Lin!"

Su Weimin was the first to snap back to reality, nearly frightened out of his wits. He lunged forward and grabbed Ye Tianlin tightly, terrified that the latter might strike again, and cursed in exasperation, "This is someone else's family business! What right do you have to point fingers here, and on what grounds do you hit people? Do you actually think you're in the right?!"

"Even if Elder Lin were here today, he would undoubtedly support me," Ye Tianlin said in a deep voice, cursing inwardly that a fish rots from the head down. If Lin Jingtao hadn't failed to educate his son and instead indulged him boundlessly, how could things have ever escalated to this point?

Elder Lin had built a glorious legacy through great contributions and was truly a man of immense virtue and prestige. Yet, to have such descendants beneath his knees was undoubtedly a disgrace to the family and a humiliation to his reputation!

Su Weimin’s mouth twitched. Having not the slightest inkling of the relationship between Ye Tianlin and Elder Lin, he simply felt that Ye Tianlin striking someone like this was equivalent to courting a catastrophic disaster, and he started yelling furiously on the spot.

"Who do you think you are? Why on earth would Elder Lin support you?!"

"Do you have any idea how much worse you've made this situation?"

"If the matriarch finds out, she will definitely seize upon this leverage and will never let such an opportunity slip by. We're all going to be finished by then!"

As he spoke, Su Weimin was so furious his blood pressure was practically spiking.

Gao Yulan listened in a daze, her mind instantly going completely blank. She wondered whether, since someone of Lin Jingtao's stature had stated in person that Ye Tianlin was nothing more than a puppet, perhaps it really was the truth.

Could it be that Su Weimin had been right about everything from the very beginning?

For a moment, Gao Yulan's thoughts were in complete disarray. She felt a terrible sense of foreboding and cursed inwardly that disaster had struck!

Because the background and influence of the entire Lin family demanded the utmost respect, under the current circumstances, the matriarch would inevitably launch a vicious counterattack just as Su Weimin had described!

By then, if the Beijing Consortium withdrew its favor and Ye Tianlin implicated everyone, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The deeper she thought, the more terrified Gao Yulan became!

At that moment, Lin Jingtao picked himself up from the floor, his expression darkened to the absolute extreme. Considering that this was a hospital after all, and it wouldn't do to cause a massive scene in public, he managed to keep a shred of his sanity and said, "Very well, Ye Tianlin! Since you insist on refusing a toast only to drink a forfeiture, I won't lower myself to using brute force against you. Just wait to face the consequences!"

"Ye Tianlin, oh Ye Tianlin, you really are utterly ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth! Did you genuinely think that having the Beijing Consortium backing you gives you the right to act like nobody else exists? You're finished this time!" Lin Kaiyang said through grates teeth, looking utterly venomous.

"Then I'd certainly like to see how the Beijing Consortium handles me once they learn of this matter, and what kind of capability you people actually have," Ye Tianlin replied calmly.

Lin Jingtao sneered, "Let's see how long you can keep that sharp tongue of yours. Just don't come crawling back to beg me for mercy after disaster strikes—I will make you pay the price!"

With those words, Lin Jingtao chose not to drag the matter out any further and decisively flicked his sleeve, turning to leave.

Before leaving, Feng Sihai glanced back at Ye Tianlin, once again silently shaking his head. He didn't believe for a second that Ye Tianlin stood the slightest chance of lucking out, and could already picture the final outcome.

Once everyone had cleared out and the ward door closed once more, Su Weimin flew into a violent rage. Pointing straight at Ye Tianlin's nose, he cursed angrily, "You lunatic! How did I end up with a son-in-law like you? If you had only listened to me, your father-in-law, things would never have come to this. We are completely ruined this time!"

"Good son-in-law, are you really just a puppet of the Beijing Consortium?" Gao Yulan asked, trembling all over.

Veins bulging on his forehead, Su Weimin complained bitterly, "Do you even need to ask? Didn't you hear what Lin Jingtao said just now? I've been telling you all along, but you refused to listen and insisted I was talking nonsense. Look where it's gotten us—we can all just sit here together and wait to die!"

Gao Yulan was left speechless, struck with terror so profound that she dissolved into utter despair, completely clueless as to how to handle or resolve such a monstrous trouble.

Seeing this, Ye Tianlin shook his head slightly and said, "Actually, I've known for a long time..."