Top-tier Unruly Master

Regarding Lin Qingqing's request, Ding Fan pondered for a moment before slowly nodding his head in agreement.

Originally, when Ding Fan saved Ye Ningqing at Changan Ridge, he had promised to attend her birthday ball, and now there wasn't much time left before the event.

Although Ding Fan had agreed casually at the time, recalling Ye Ningqing's longing look and pitiful appearance that day, he felt compelled to make the trip.

Besides keeping his word, there was another matter Ding Fan needed to address—the Wang Family.

When Ding Fan left Dancheng for Immortal's Peak, the Wang Family had sent assassins and the people from Hao Mountain's He Family to chase after him, even up to the point when he escaped to Changan Ridge, the Wang Family's people had tried to kill him.

Some things are unavoidable, and what must be confronted eventually has to be faced.

Lin Qingqing was refusing people from the Wang Family, and Ding Fan agreed to help her as a shield partly for this reason.

"However, I need to get my affairs in order before I can go to Yanjing," Ding Fan said.

Seeing that Ding Fan had agreed, Lin Qingqing was clearly delighted. "That's fine, as long as Brother Fan agrees to it, I'm not in a rush to meet that pig-headed Wang Zeen anyway."

Ding Fan was amused by Lin Qingqing's words.

The meal was quite relaxed, as Ding Fan and Lin Qingqing were good friends who knew each other well; after discussing the matchmaking event in Yanjing, they chatted about everything under the sun.

After eating, Ding Fan and Lin Qingqing enjoyed a pot of good tea.

Then the two prepared to leave. Although Lin Qingqing had said she would pay for the meal, Ding Fan wouldn't possibly let her foot the bill.

However, to Ding Fan's surprise, when he came to the front desk to pay, their meal had already been taken care of by someone else.

Ding Fan learned it was that arrogant second-generation rich kid who had made a scene outside the hotel.

Ding Fan didn't have much respect for such brats that flaunted their family's wealth, so he didn't feel it was inappropriate to accept the meal they had paid for. After all, why not eat for free if you can?

Ding Fan and Lin Qingqing left Phoenix Building and Ding Ze was still there, waiting like a hotel doorman, obsequiously assisting Ding Fan and Lin Qingqing into their car. But until the end, neither Ding Fan nor Lin Qingqing exchanged a word with him.

Those who witnessed this were astonished. After all, Ding Ze was a spoiled rich kid—people began to wonder who could make him behave as if he were serving his own father…

After coming out of Phoenix Building, Ding Fan went home. As usual, he guided Zhou Ruoran in her cultivation, and the night passed without anything special happening.

The next day, Ding Fan didn't plan to go to the branch company building. Instead, he went directly to Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory.

Ding Fan had his plans. As his cultivation continued to grow, he would need more resources, which meant finding ways to earn more money.

Ding Fan certainly couldn't deplete the Dancheng Company's funds to buy cultivation resources for himself. He had to find a way to make money.

The previous day, when meeting with the managers of the Dancheng Branch Company and the topic of the pharmaceutical factory came up, Ding Fan had become interested. Alchemy was Ding Fan's specialty, and in his view, with a good prescription, the factory could definitely be revitalized.

That's why, during that meeting, Ding Fan had approved an allocation of five million yuan on the spot.

The location of Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory was rather remote, about forty or fifty kilometers outside of the suburbs of Dancheng, next to a small town.

The area could also be considered scenic with its green mountains and clear waters.

From the perimeter wall outside the factory buildings, one could see that the factory itself stretched across a couple of sections. At the end of the factory buildings, one could barely see the four golden characters of Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory.

"Why even operate? The pills we produced before haven't even been sold yet. More production? Produce crap..."

"Yeah, the company is about to go under. What's the point of continuing production..."

"Whether we can get this month's wages or not is very doubtful."

...

Just as Ding Fan reached the gate of the pharmaceutical factory, he saw a group of seven or eight people talking as they walked out.

"Where are you all going, it's work hours now!" As the seven or eight people were about to reach the factory gate, a middle-aged man chased after them.

Seeing someone pursuing them, the group stopped and gathered together.

"Director Xu, why bother working, can't you see the factory is going to fail soon... The factory that Japan is building is hiring now, we need to survive too..." said a burly man who seemed to lead the group of seven or eight, addressing Director Xu.

"Lao Ma, you're a veteran worker of our factory. How can you say such things at the most difficult time for the factory?"

The burly man known as Lao Ma huffed and glanced at Director Xu. "We all need to survive; we can't possibly be expected to join you in whistling to the northwest wind."

As Lao Ma spoke, the men behind him nodded in agreement. "Yeah, our wages are getting smaller and coming later and later… And in Japan, one month's salary is worth two months of ours. We need to earn money…"

Director Xu furrowed his brows at this point, seeming at a loss for words.

Director Xu knew that what Lao Ma said was true. Not long ago, Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory's Heart Saving Pill was a bestseller, and the factory's financial performance was very good. But ever since Asahi Pharmaceutical Factory in Japan produced their version of the Heart Saving Pill, their pills quickly dominated the market.

Since then, the Heart Saving Pill's sales had dwindled day by day, and now, they weren't even making one-tenth of their previous sales.

The Heart Saving Pill had always been Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory's main product. Without its sales, it wasn't surprising that the factory's financial performance had plummeted.

"Lao Xu, we're just looking for a way out, so please don't make this difficult for us brothers."

After speaking, Lao Ma didn't look back as he led his group out of the factory gate.

Watching Lao Ma and the others disappear into the distance, Director Xu let out a long sigh. He had been with Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory for many years and had witnessed its glory days when people couldn't even find a way in. But now, when the factory was in trouble, nobody stayed to weather the storm with it.

"Hello, I'd like to see Yan Ruyao."

While Director Xu was lamenting the factory's decline, Ding Fan had already appeared before him.

Director Xu sized up Ding Fan. "Factory Director Yan is in a meeting, who might you be? Do you have business with Director Yan?"

"I'm a friend of Director Yan, we had an appointment earlier," Ding Fan said politely.

"Oh, alright then, please follow me…"

With that, Director Xu led the way, and Ding Fan followed behind him. The Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory was in chaos, and there was no need for the usual formalities to meet with the factory director.

The two men entered the office building and finally arrived outside a conference room. Director Xu then turned back to Ding Fan.

"Wait here for a minute; Factory Director Yan will be out shortly." Ding Fan nodded.

After speaking, Director Xu went off to attend to his own matters.

Inside the conference room, the voices were quite loud, and Ding Fan, standing in the hallway, could still make out the discussions within.

Ding Fan drew a silent breath and focused…

Inside, the conference room was filled with thick smoke.

"Factory Director Yan, we haven't sold our souls to the factory. Is it possible for us to resign?" A middle-aged woman, very arrogant, was slamming the table as she addressed Yan Ruyao.

"Hao Zhihua, you all are the backbone of our factory. If you all leave, what will become of our factory…" Yan Ruyao said.

"Finished? Factory Director Yan, what's the difference between the factory now and being finished? The factory is already done for!"

As the woman named Hao Zhihua finished speaking, the others in the room also began to murmur in agreement.

"Everyone, please quiet down and listen to me!" Yan Ruyao waved her hands, trying to control everyone's emotions. "Our factory isn't finished. Listen, the Dancheng Branch Company's Manager Ding is aware of our situation. He said he would allocate five million and that he would come to inspect our factory. Please, everyone, you have to trust me!"

"Factory Director Yan, stop deceiving us. The branch company has been wanting to shut down our factory for a long time; they're not going to invest any more money. It's just not going to happen," Hao Zhihua said. "Factory Director Yan, we're definitely leaving Jiangyuan today. Stop wasting your energy."

After speaking, Hao Zhihua made no further attempt to argue with Yan Ruyao. She turned to the people in the conference room.

"Everyone, follow me, let's start a new chapter together!"

After Hao Zhihua spoke, another wave of agreement echoed from the crowd, and then, led by Hao Zhihua, they all made their way towards the conference room exit.

At this moment, Yan Ruyao felt a wrenching pain in her heart.

The people about to resign from the meeting room were pillars of the Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory. If they all really left, even if the branch factory allocated ten million, Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory wouldn't be saved…

Now the new manager from the branch company, Manager Ding, had promised to allocate funds for Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory and was coming down to inspect. All signs pointed to a possible turnaround. But at this critical juncture, the factory pillars were about to leave…

Yan Ruyao let out a bitter laugh. Was this how fate was going to torment her? Was success really that far out of reach? After today, would Jiangyuan Pharmaceutical Factory cease to exist…?

Just as Yan Ruyao felt helpless, the conference room door slowly opened. A figure stood in the entryway. Upon seeing that figure, Yan Ruyao's eyes widened with surprise.

It was him… It was actually him!