Chapter 246

Agarwood was lit, and a faint fragrance drifted.

In the antique-style room, a qipao-clad tea master skillfully manipulated the tea set on the table, lifting the kettle from low to high and pulling it up and down three times—this was the "Phoenix Nodding Three Times."

Three cups of tea were poured from the fair cup, and the tea master politely withdrew.

"Mr. Chen has lived in America for many years, do you also like tea?"

Hearing Wang Yan's words, Chen Taotao shook his head: "To tell you the truth, Brother Yan, by comparison, I prefer coffee and wine. It was Tingting who said Brother Yan likes drinking tea, so I chose this place."

"You're thoughtful." Wang Yan looked at Fang Ting to the side and nodded, taking a sip of tea: "Just say what you have to say; for Tingting's sake, I won't refuse if I can help."

Although Fang Ting herself lacked self-awareness, since he had promised, he certainly didn't mind. He knew it must be about borrowing money, and he certainly didn't have any, but his words had to be elegant. As for the effect, just look at Fang Ting to the side, who was a bit embarrassed and slightly shy, and you'd know.

"Brother Yan, finding you this time, there is indeed an uninvited request." Glancing at Fang Ting, Chen Taotao organized his language: "Brother Yan knows I work in stocks, and I have absolute confidence in this area. You must know that money sitting there motionless is just a pile of trash. As a famous big boss in Hong Kong, I wonder... do you have any thoughts on investment and wealth management to increase your wealth?"

This wasn't necessarily a high-level statement, but it wasn't bad either. After all, he didn't say a word about borrowing money; instead, he was going to help him, Wang Mou, get rich. Speaking of it, he still owed Chen Taotao a favor. Even if he really lost, Chen Taotao would have something to say. Of course, whether he could say it when facing him, Wang Mou, the gang leader, was a question, but he had already thought of his escape route.

Wang Yan laughed and asked: "How do you increase it?"

"Of course, the larger the capital, the more the increase, Brother Yan. If you put up thirty million, the expected return is around three million." Chen Taotao confidently held up his index finger: "Just one week."

Shaking his head, under Chen Taotao's gaze, Wang Yan took a light sip of tea, watched Fang Ting sensibly refill it, and laughed: "Just say it if you want to borrow money; you make it sound like you're helping me."

Chen Taotao wasn't embarrassed at all: "What does Brother Yan mean?"

"I'm unable to help." Wang Yan said: "Long Teng hasn't been in Sha Tin for long, and before that, I only operated in Ma On Shan. If you were talking about a few million, that's no problem, but thirty million—you're overestimating me."

Although disappointed, Chen Taotao still said generously: "It's fine, Brother Yan. It doesn't matter if you don't have it; let's just consider this a way to make friends, and we'll have a chance to get rich together in the future."

"I know Chen Wanxian is your father, and you want to pull him down and kick him out of the board of directors. I'm also clear about your resume, and I'm very optimistic about you this time."

"Brother Yan is well-informed." Chen Taotao gave a flattering compliment and said: "I heard your medical skills are superb and you're a famous divine doctor in Hong Kong and Kowloon; I didn't expect you to play the stock market too?"

"Everyone wants to get rich; I just know a little."

"Looking at you, Brother Yan, it doesn't look like you just know a little; you're very proficient. Haha, I'll take your auspicious words."

"What are your plans for the next step?"

"Since you can't help here, and I'm not familiar with other big bosses in Hong Kong, I'm thinking of going to Taiwan to try my luck."

"Looking for Zhou Jisheng and his gang?" Wang Yan shook his head: "Their interest rates are very high."

Damn it, this is only because you don't have it; if you had money, could it be cheap? Chen Taotao cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he gave a bitter smile and hit the table hatefully: "To tell you the truth, I'm at the end of my rope now. The banks won't lend me money, and the upper management of my company is going back on their word and won't support me either. This battle with Chen Wanxian is lost before it even starts, and I'm not convinced. If Brother Ji and his gang have high interest rates, so be it; what other choice do I have..."

Wang Yan didn't believe it wasn't for personal revenge. Otherwise, there was no reason to borrow usury just to fight Chen Wanxian to the death, and even if he won in the end, he would still lose quite a bit.

The business was done and couldn't be completed, so they couldn't just break up. Wang Yan chatted with Chen Taotao and Fang Ting for a while, listened to Chen Taotao, the king of jokes, tell a few cold jokes, drank a few pots of tea, and then they broke up and left.

Overall, although the business wasn't done, the chat was quite pleasant. After all, Wang Mou was a master of conversation, his words were like pearls, and the impression he left on Chen Taotao was quite good.

Wang Yan fully believed in the talent given to the characters in the show; Chen Taotao was the most outstanding young man on Wall Street, so his ability must be sufficient. He also wanted to see if there was a chance to get Chen Taotao under his command to make money; of course, it was just a thought.

He came to the appointment mainly to see Fang Ting.

In the following time, Wang Yan's life returned to peace. Seeing patients in the morning and observing and learning at the company in the afternoon, his life was quite fulfilling.

The business within his territory was getting better and better, with income higher every day. His underlings resolutely implemented Wang Yan's instructions, maintained peace on the streets, worked hard to exercise, and were thriving.

Most importantly, his gold mine. After several months of fermentation, the efficacy of the Strengthening Pill gradually revealed itself. As early as last year, the first batch of customers who purchased it had already felt the improvement in their physical condition and the increase in energy, and repeat customers had already started to appear.

One bottle of thirty pills was enough for a month's dosage, and the price was set at 【price omitted】, while the cost of one bottle was less than four thousand. This was still the first batch, all thanks to hand-rolling. If it were mass-produced on an assembly line, the cost of one bottle could easily be brought down to three thousand; as for the finished medicine, that goes without saying, it was relatively very cheap.

There is always a reason for discounts, but no reason for subsequent price hikes, as it's repulsive. The pricing and the actual sales price were definitely different because, in order to open up the market, one bottle was only 8888, and the original price would only be restored after the New Year.

Although the price of over ten thousand was quite high, whether in Hong Kong now or in the country later, there were plenty of rich people, so there was no worry about not being able to sell it. Although doing this was a disguised service for the rich, there was no other way; if he didn't serve the rich, he couldn't lower the price of the finished medicine, and ordinary people wouldn't be able to afford it at all, so he always had to find a way to make up for it.

If you want to call him a spiritual capitalist, he wouldn't admit it. After all, when you open a business, you want to make money, and he had even more places to spend it. Of all those projects of his, which one wasn't throwing massive amounts of money into it? Not to mention the various charities he had done for years to accumulate virtue—it was all money.

And on the other hand, the Strengthening Pill was also effective for foreigners, so the selling price was of course different. Let's just leave it for now; later, Wang Yan would implement a real-name purchase system. The price of the pills would be two months' salary of the average American wage, and the finished medicine would be half a month's, with a unified global price. A healthy body is priceless; take it or leave it.

Of course, even with a real-name system, it was impossible to completely stop reselling for profit. However, it wouldn't have much impact on Wang Yan; it could be considered taking care of the Chinese people, giving them a chance to earn some small money.

Anyway, Long Teng had stipulated that one ID card could only buy once a month, and one could only buy one type of product at a time, only one bottle. He would sell as much as he should sell. Some families were in very poor conditions and wanted to give their children the best. As long as the husband and wife each used their ID cards to resell a bottle, they could completely afford to provide for their children. After all, when they resold, they would definitely sell the Strengthening Pill; buying the finished medicine with the surplus price would be easy, and they could even afford to eat meat several times.

Wang Yan turned a blind eye to this; although it caused him to lose quite a few US dollars, on the other hand, it could be considered harvesting leeks. If he really wanted to locate and arrest people, he would be accurate every time, he just didn't want to bother.

As for those transnational drug dealers, they could be considered half-colleagues of him, Wang Mou, so he definitely couldn't indulge them. After all, poor people are poor and trade their lives for money; otherwise, wouldn't they want to take this divine medicine themselves? But these drug dealers were different; they were sucking the blood of him, Wang Mou, and were the biggest black hands delaying him from earning US dollars, so he would harvest them regularly—it just depended on who was lucky enough to run away.

He had experience with these things in the previous world; it was a small matter.

As for the foreign devils trying to crack the ingredients and reverse-engineer the formula, to be honest, it was a fantasy. Even a tiny difference was a world of difference, not to mention he had added quite a few things that were useless but didn't affect the efficacy—he was that confident, even if they had a hundred years.

As for Chen Taotao, he was still like in the original show, crossing the sea to borrow money from Zhou Jisheng and coming back to fight Chen Wanxian to the death. Ye Tian still mysteriously said, "In the three rivers, the wind and waves never cease; iron chains connect the boats, as if walking on flat ground," which was the cross-holding of the dolls Chen Wanxian was playing in the show. Fang Zhanbo was still like the original, pointing out Chen Wanxian's short-selling, and in the end, Chen Taotao achieved the final victory.

In this process, Wang Yan also earned double the money as expected.

After it ended, Fang Ting told him Chen Taotao wanted to go solo, and Wang Yan gave him a call, asking him to work together, but was refused. Wang Yan had expected this refusal; after all, he was a gang leader who killed without blinking and broke the law, and no one knew when he would be arrested or hacked to death, so it was normal for Chen Taotao not to want to get too close.

Wang Yan had no regrets; it didn't matter if he came or not. The biggest loss was definitely Chen Taotao's, he couldn't even imagine it. He, Wang Mou, wasn't stingy, not to mention the profit-sharing, there was an even greater future ahead.

With money in hand, Wang Yan bought land and built a factory in the nearby Pengcheng, purchased production lines, and in the future, the production base would be in Pengcheng. His ten million or so was definitely not enough, but now the Strengthening Pill had already opened up the market, and it would only be more and more every day, so he was not short of money at all. After all, this thing was a consumable; as long as he sold one thousand bottles a month, he would earn four million now, and eight million after the New Year. Not to mention that the goods he sold were far more than one thousand bottles—it was all money.

Time reached February, New Year's Eve, and Wang Yan naturally spent the New Year with Ruan Mei and the old lady.

Although Hong Kong was British-ruled, it didn't delay the New Year at all, it was just that some customs were different. The grandest festival of China, hearts are united everywhere.

Even if there were differences, as a big boss, he still had to send warmth to his underlings. Long before, the company had already purchased quite a few New Year gifts, and all the underlings, workers, and so on had received them. At the same time, Wang Yan also gave them red envelopes, which were distributed in advance. According to their level, the minimum was two thousand, and the maximum was five thousand—it was just a gesture.

Of course, this was also the reason why he wasn't rich; otherwise, it would have been at least a month's salary. But even so, Long Teng's underlings were the most impressive in Hong Kong, and underlings from other gangs could only envy them. Their bosses did give them some, but damn it, what could a few hundred dollars do?

Ruan Mei had already bought everything in advance, ready to make a sumptuous feast today. She was quite satisfied with this year; although she spent a lot of money on medicine, the illness could be treated, and she wouldn't have to worry in the future. Most importantly, there was an extra "scumbag" she loved and hated at the same time, and she was no longer relying on her grandmother for survival.

In the evening, Ruan Mei served the last dish and took out two bottles of beer to open: "It's New Year's today, I'll make an exception and drink a little with you."

Wang Yan shook his head: "Just drink one bottle as a gesture; you're taking medicine, it's always bad to touch alcohol."

"I know..." It was always bad to be lectured after putting in the effort, so Ruan Mei pouted.

"It's the New Year, why are you pouting? Come, for the New Year, Grandma, let's have a drink." He poured some wine for the old lady, and the three of them clinked glasses in a proper manner.

They had been eating together for half a year, so there was nothing left to say. The New Year was nothing more than richer dishes, not much different from normal times.

Ruan Mei chattered about prices and the like, Wang Yan responded with "uh-huh," and the old lady smiled while eating.

After a while, Ruan Mei said: "Speaking of houses, you're a big boss in Sha Tin with a net worth of ten million, why are you still living here?"

"My net worth is more than ten million; not counting anything else, the turnover of those dance halls and bars alone is over ten million." Wang Yan shook his head: "The key is that I don't have money to buy a house; now is a critical period, and every cent has to be split in two. With the millions for a house, I don't know how many big things I could do."

Not hearing the answer she wanted, Ruan Mei's eyes dimmed: "Is that so..."

"Of course, the main thing is that it's meaningless for me to live in a mansion alone, and I don't know if someone would go with me."

"Who wants to live in a mansion with you? Annoying." Ruan Mei's loving little fists greeted him.

"Look, I didn't name any names, you're confessing without being asked."

Ruan Mei's face turned red: "Oh, you're so annoying..." As she spoke, she swung her "turtle fists."

"Alright, alright, hurry and eat, save some energy, and after we finish, let's go stroll around the flower market to enjoy the liveliness."

She obediently withdrew her moves, but felt something was wrong—why should she stop just because he said so? That was so embarrassing. After outputting another set, Ruan Mei finally let out a long breath and happily ate and drank.

After the meal, leaving the old lady to clean up, Wang Yan took Ruan Mei, who was a bit tipsy from the beer and looked even more charming, out to drive to the currently popular flower market in Victoria Park.

It wasn't the liveliest time yet; after midnight, they would go to the temple to burn the first incense, and tomorrow there would be traditional programs like dragon and lion dances everywhere to bring good luck for the New Year.

Wang Yan and Ruan Mei didn't buy anything, strolled around for a long time, and didn't return to Ma On Shan until near midnight.

They didn't go home, but Wang Yan took Ruan Mei to a place with a wide view.

"Why come here? Let's go home and sleep?"

Wang Yan gave a mysterious smile, took out his mobile phone, dialed a number, and called: "Start."

Casually throwing the phone into the car behind him, Wang Yan stepped forward, hugged Ruan Mei, and turned her around: "Look, it's coming right away."

Held in Wang Yan's arms, blowing the salty, fishy wind from the seaside, and feeling the warmth beside her, Ruan Mei struggled symbolically for a moment and said: "Look at what?"

"Just look."

"It's pitch black, there's..."

Before Ruan Mei could finish, she saw fireworks spreading across the distant sky, followed by explosions in her ears.

"Wow..."

Ruan Mei opened her eyes wide, full of stars, staring blankly at the distant sky. There, one round after another, dense fireworks exploded in patches, lighting up the night sky, filling the sky with colorful and various shapes.

"Are you willing to be my wife?"

"What?"

"Be my wife."

"... Okay..."

"What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly." The fireworks were exploding far away, and although there was a ringing sound, it wasn't so loud that he couldn't hear her; Wang Yan deliberately spoke very loudly.

Ruan Mei's pretty face flushed red, she looked up at Wang Yan beside her, and their eyes met: "I said okay."

"What's okay?"

"Be your wife, be your wife, I want to be your... mm..."

Ruan Mei closed her eyes and shouted with all her might. Halfway through, feeling the warmth on her lips, she responded clumsily.

Under the night sky, there were brilliant fireworks blooming everywhere. Under the fireworks, there was the lingering affection of a young man and woman...

To be honest, this plot is very cheesy, but Wang Yan thought it was quite beautiful himself. He had seen many fireworks shows before, but this was his first time setting them off himself. In just this short while, hundreds of thousands were gone.

The fireworks ended, and their lips parted.

Wang Yan took Ruan Mei, who was happy but still blushing and shy, back to the public housing.

As the New Year's bell rang, Ruan Mei's eyes filled with tears, her brows furrowed, and she grabbed Wang Mou's back with both hands, saying, "Be gentle..."

The next day, Wang Yan got up as usual to climb the mountain and practice martial arts. When he returned with breakfast, Ruan Mei was already up. Although the "rain was heavy and the wind was strong" last night, she still couldn't hide her shyness when seeing Wang Yan.

Wang Yan didn't show any special concern, and breakfast passed normally. The old lady saw it clearly but didn't say anything. After all, she had always thought Wang Yan was good; although he was a gang member, it was better than being bullied... Now that her granddaughter had a place to belong, it was great.

Wang Yan didn't show anything special in the morning, and Ruan Mei was a bit unhappy, thinking that men are all scumbags who don't recognize people after eating and wiping their mouths. But when she saw Wang Yan swinging the big spoon at noon, saying he was making something to nourish her, that bit of unhappiness vanished into thin air. What she didn't expect was that the food Wang Yan made was actually better than what she made—scumbag...

After the New Year, Ruan Mei moved into Wang Yan's room. Her face was rosy every day, and she was very energetic. Of course, it was mainly because she had heart disease, and Wang Yan didn't dare to be too stimulating before she was better.

Company matters and gang matters were all developing step by step.

The sales of the Strengthening Pill were rising steadily, and large sums of money were poured into other R&D projects and expanding production capacity to open new companies. This time, Wang Yan also established Cao Cao Logistics; firstly, it was convenient for his own use, and secondly, it was to support more people, so he could recruit the families of his underlings to work and win their hearts.

He was still working in the direction of taking care of people for a lifetime. Because the starting configuration was low and development was slow in the first half of the year, now that it was on the right track, it was the real beginning. In the future, he would slowly open insurance companies, real estate companies, hospitals, and so on. He would achieve industrial diversification and build a large cycle of Long Teng's own industries.

Time reached March, in the clinic that had long been decorated and put into use.

Wang Yan laughed and shook his head, hung up the phone, and continued to see patients.

Because the underling who called said, "Brother Yan, Ding Xie is back." He laughed and shook his head, remembering Ding Xie's strange, mentally ill words...