Mu Hua is Mu Nanxun's father, and is also respectfully referred to as Old Master Mu.

Ji Nian said this simply to tell Mu Nanxun, "Even your father had to give me some face back then, and you, a mere child, dare to criticize me! Look at everyone here, who isn't flattering me? You really don't know what's good for you."

Mu Nanxun, of course, understood the meaning behind his words. He had previously indulged Ji Nian not out of fear, but simply because he was too lazy to argue with him. But this time, Ji Nian had crossed a line, and he was determined to show everyone who the Mu family truly belonged to!

He calmly glanced at the crowd, his voice neither hurried nor slow.

"I hope I'm overthinking it. But the old man is the old man, and I am me. I don't know what his rules were before, but now that I've taken over the Mu family, I have to follow my rules."

My first rule is: any order not personally given by me is not an order, and no one, including you, Professor Ji, can make any decision on my behalf. Understand?

Ji Nian: "..."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Ji Nian. He was panting heavily, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger. He seemed about to say something, but then, realizing he was in the wrong, he stopped talking.

“This is the second rule,” Mu Nanxun said, shifting his posture to face Ji Nian directly. “We’re just colleagues, not close friends. What you need to do is focus on your own responsibilities and think about how to take the company to the next level, instead of meddling in other people’s personal lives, like getting married and having children.”

"What do you mean, Mr. Mu? I was merely suggesting from the company's perspective that you reinstate your engagement with the Xia family's daughter. You're making it sound like I'm trying to harm the Mu family."

"Of course you're not doing anything to harm the Mu family, and whether the Mu family develops or not is not important to you. You're just doing your job because you've taken benefits from certain people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Nian's face turned bright red. He slammed his hand on the table with a loud "bang," spilling a few drops of water from the teacup in front of him.

"Mu Nanxun, who did you say took the benefits from others! Even if your father were standing right here today, I would still demand an explanation from you. I, Ji Nian, have worked at Mu's for decades, since Mu's was just an unknown small company, I've been by your father's side. I may not have made any great contributions, but I have certainly worked hard, right? And you're just accusing me like this, slandering my character, it's utterly baseless!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Nanxun frowned slightly. That loud voice was really irritating to the ears.

"Whether I wronged you or not, you know in your heart. I guess it's not just you, most of the people here have probably received some kind of benefit from that person. And those two long-term employees who suddenly resigned, they were doing just fine, if they hadn't taken bribes from him, why would they suddenly quit?"

Since announcing the dissolution of his engagement with Xia Bingqing, the Xia family had remained silent. Mu Nanxun had guessed that he would exert pressure on him through various channels, whether it was to make him retract his decision or to cause him to lose popular support; in any case, he would not let it go easily. Mu Nanxun just hadn't expected that he would go to such lengths this time, not only bribing the higher-ups at Mu's Group but also several long-time, hardworking employees.

However, Mu Nanxun was never a pushover, nor would he be easily led by the nose.