He knew Liu Yuanliang.
In his previous life, in Shanghai, Liu Yuanliang had caused him no small amount of trouble, acting superior and suppressing juniors like him.
However, given his age, his knowledge and skills were indeed not low.
He was far beyond the likes of Tong Zhaolin.
More importantly, he knew Li Shi, which was undoubtedly a sharp blade hanging over his head.
But since he was here, he had to continue the pretense and never admit it.
He would face whatever came his way.
Li Zhonglou, relying on his strong psychological resilience, managed to remain composed and unfazed, his mind as still as a tranquil pool.
He clasped his hands in greeting and said, "I've long admired Teacher Liu's reputation. Please have a seat."
However, Liu Yuanliang showed no expression, not even a nod of greeting. He merely stared intently at Li Zhonglou, appraising him without restraint.
After a full three seconds, he let out a cold laugh, "Heh heh, are you Li Shi's illegitimate son?"
"Apart from those eyes, I truly can't see any resemblance between you."
"I've known him for so many years, but I've never heard of him having a child. Where did you, this bastard, crawl out from?"
These words were utterly excessive.
He immediately and unscrupulously mocked Li Zhonglou as a bastard.
The intense hostility was self-evident.
Li Zhonglou confirmed that this old man was indeed the one Kong Mo brought to cause trouble.
Bang!
He slammed his hand on the table, his face ashen, and pointed at Liu Yuanliang, shouting, "You old fossil! I thought you were a senior in the industry, but I didn't expect you to be such a trash with no morals or manners."
"Try calling me a bastard again, and I swear I won't let you leave this office today!"
As he spoke, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins, turning red, his gaze like that of a ferocious ghost.
He wished he could tear Liu Yuanliang apart and devour him on the spot.
Seeing this, Kong Mo feigned concern and said, "Vice President Li, Old Liu always speaks his mind. He doesn't mean any harm."
"Please don't get agitated. If you injure Old Liu, the company won't be able to protect you."
As he spoke, a cunning glint flashed in Kong Mo's eyes.
This entire scene was actually orchestrated by him.
The purpose was to provoke Li Zhonglou with Liu Yuanliang.
If Li Zhonglou was truly Li Shi's son, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage and become agitated upon hearing these words.
It was even possible he might resort to violence.
If he wasn't, he wouldn't be so affected in his core and would appear calm and ordinary.
Judging by Li Zhonglou's current reaction, it indeed seemed he had a connection to Li Shi.
After all, Li Shi was a man of culture, a leading figure in the antique collecting world. With his concern for his public image, it was perfectly normal for him to not want people to know about an illegitimate child.
Moreover, Liu Yuanliang was in Zhonghai, while Li Shi was in the capital. They hadn't seen each other for years.
He only asked Liu Yuanliang to come because that person wanted to test and confirm Li Zhonglou, not because he was certain there was an issue with Li Zhonglou's identity.
However, this meant that Lu Dong's revenge could not be exacted.
The thought of his capable subordinate being openly killed by Li Zhonglou, and him being powerless to do anything about it, made Kong Mo gnash his teeth in hatred.
Since he couldn't avenge him, he could only find a way to trample him underfoot and torment him!
What did Li Zhonglou rely on? Wasn't it the meager tricks passed down from Li Shi?
He brought Liu Yuanliang here today to let him know that there was always someone better, that the world was vast.
He wanted Li Zhonglou to behave himself and cower in the company.
"Hmph, acting superior with your age, I'll let it slide considering you're almost in the ground," Li Zhonglou said with a cold snort, understanding Kong Mo's plan perfectly.
These words, however, were clearly interpreted by Kong Mo as Li Zhonglou backing down.
He couldn't help but feel smug.
"Kid, what are you, who hasn't even grown all your hair yet, to compete with me?"
"I brought Old Liu here today precisely to make you obediently crawl."
Kong Mo subtly glanced at the camera in the room.
Before coming, he had already instructed the control room to broadcast the scene in the office live, allowing everyone in the company to watch on their mobile phones.
Once Li Zhonglou, the vice president, lost face, he would have to leave the company automatically.
Without the company's constraints, it would be easy to get rid of a second-generation rich kid like Li Zhonglou.
With this thought, Kong Mo exchanged a look with Liu Yuanliang.
A hint of malice flashed in both their eyes simultaneously.
The next second, Kong Mo said with a forced smile, "Vice President Li, please calm down. I brought Old Liu here today mainly for this item."
"Here, take a look and see if you can identify it."
Saying this, he took out a small square box the size of his palm. The box was made of ghost eye huanghuali wood, glossy and bright, clearly a top-grade oil-grained variety.
It was carved with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns, indicating its considerable age.
In this era, huanghuali wood was the king of timbers, and aged huanghuali was especially precious.
The craftsmanship and material of this box were both superior, making it extremely valuable.
It could be inferred that whatever was inside was unlikely to be of low quality.
Li Zhonglou feigned continued anger but still reached out to take the box and open it.
Inside lay a small, oval-shaped ball, pale yellow and white, about the size of a middle finger, with holes at both ends.
The bead had many fine scratches, giving it a very ancient appearance.
It exuded an aura of weathered antiquity.
Even an ordinary person completely不懂 antiques would be drawn to its unique aura and pause for a few seconds upon seeing this bead.
Upon seeing the bead, Li Zhonglou's anger immediately vanished, replaced by a look of mockery. "It's truly like buying a case and returning the pearl. Such a good box, what a waste."
After saying this, he closed the box and casually tossed it aside.
His movements were extremely nonchalant.
Both Kong Mo and Liu Yuanliang let out cold smiles.
This bead had quite a history. It was said that in 1985, a collector from Luoyang brought two such luminous pearls to Beijing.
Later, it was authenticated that these two pearls were from Empress Dowager Cixi's phoenix coronet.
And these two pearls were acquired by Old Liu and had been kept hidden in his residence, rarely shown to others.
Today, it was only due to his influence that such a treasure was brought out to suppress Li Zhonglou.
Old Liu himself said that even Li Shi, if he were present, might not be able to ascertain its origin.
Yet, Li Zhonglou, this novice, had the audacity to dismiss it as fake.
It was truly preposterous.
He thought that Li Zhonglou was going to lose face spectacularly today.
But he still asked calmly, "Vice President Li, you mean this bead is fake?"
"I spent a great deal to acquire this. Old Liu examined it and said it was genuine. Who should I believe?"
"Believe whomever you want," Li Zhonglou sneered. "What's fake is fake and will never become real."
"Luminous pearls were considered treasures in ancient times, but with modern technology, their composition has been thoroughly analyzed, making it easy to replicate them."
This luminous pearl was indeed impressive at first glance.
However, with just a glance at the inner wall of the hole, he recognized its authenticity.
He recalled that in the 1980s, two luminous pearls of this appearance had indeed appeared, and some had authenticated them as being from Empress Dowager Cixi's phoenix coronet.
They were collected at great expense, but later proven to be replicas from the Republic of China era.
Could this be one of them?
In fact, Li Zhonglou was also a bit uncertain. He could determine the authenticity of the bead.
But he couldn't figure out who owned the bead. Kong Mo was very young in the 1980s and likely didn't have the financial means.
Liu Yuanliang, however, might have.
If this bead belonged to Liu Yuanliang, then today's matter was not just about asking him to appraise it.
Kong Mo's visit must have had an ulterior motive.
In an instant, Li Zhonglou saw through some of the trickery.
"Youngster, you are blind and dare to pass judgment on authenticity without even touching it. Even your father, Li Shi, wouldn't dare to be so arrogant in front of me!" Liu Yuanliang was clearly provoked by Li Zhonglou's words, his old face collapsing, his voice filled with displeasure.
He and Li Shi were both friends and rivals.
The antique collecting world was like this. If one wasn't sharp enough, their items would be snatched away long ago.
He looked down on others, not even sparing Li Shi, let alone the Li Zhonglou before him.
His original intention was to present this luminous pearl and have Li Zhonglou fail to identify its origin, thus humiliating him.
He never expected it to be directly declared as fake.
Who could tolerate their treasure, cherished for over thirty years, being denied?
He immediately revealed his true colors and intended to suppress Li Zhonglou.
"Relying on your age, who do you think you are? My father is a master of antiques, and you? Unknown, the difference is clear!" Li Zhonglou retorted unceremoniously.
He was already displeased with Liu Yuanliang, who had often tripped him up in his previous life.
Now, in this life, he dared to cause him trouble. It was a perfect opportunity to use the pretext of being Li Shi's son to properly confront this immoral old man.
"You..." Liu Yuanliang knew this was being broadcast live. Being insulted like this by Li Zhonglou in front of all the employees of Xingzhi Group, his old face instantly turned red with shame, and he trembled with anger.
"Vice President Li, you've gone too far." Kong Mo immediately added fuel to the fire, "Old Liu is, after all, a pillar of our Zhonghai antique industry. How can you, a junior, dare to disrespect your elders and humiliate Old Liu like this?"
"You have character flaws, and our Xingzhi Group can tolerate anything but executives with poor character!"
"Apologize to Old Liu immediately!"
Kong Mo spoke with the authority of the CEO, looking down from above, brooking no argument.
Li Zhonglou's own position was vice president, indeed younger than him.
Ordinary employees couldn't see through the deeper layers of things; they only knew the CEO was superior to the vice president.
Now, the vice president had defied the CEO and displeased him.
Immediately, employees from various levels showed schadenfreude.
"This newly appointed vice president is too green. How long has it been and he's already offended President Kong? Tsk tsk… he probably won't last long."
"If he's so disrespectful to an elder, he's probably harsh with us employees too. Good riddance."
"Talent without virtue is bound to bring disaster!"
...
Under Kong Mo's deliberate guidance, everyone felt Li Zhonglou had poor character.
Only Xu Bin frowned, looking worried.
He had just pledged his loyalty to Li Zhonglou, and then Li Zhonglou immediately clashed with Kong Mo.
With things reaching this point, wasn't it clearly an attempt to drive Li Zhonglou out?
Could the strong support he had just found be about to fall apart?
For a moment, Xu Bin felt uneasy.
On the other hand, Li Zhonglou remained unruffled, with a nonchalant expression. "You want me to apologize? Is he worthy!"
"You can't even discern the authenticity of a luminous pearl. You, a blind fool, are you worthy of being a pillar of the Zhonghai cultural and museum community?"
Whoosh...
Upon hearing this, the entire company erupted in an uproar.
The vast majority of people stared dumbfounded at Li Zhonglou on the screen, incredulous.
Only in the appraisal room, watching the large screen, did Lin Ying's pretty face light up with a relaxed smile.
She had expected her first day at the company to be boring and dull, but she didn't expect to see a good show so soon.
And another foolish person who dared to provoke her junior disciple.
Asking for a beating!