234: On the Road Back (Large Chapter)

Leaving Qixia Mountain. (Chapter changed)

The group went their separate ways.

Zhao Hao and the others were in high spirits, heading straight for the Zhao family.

Especially Yang Fan and He Yuan, who had already tasted the benefits of being martial artists, their fervent pursuit of martial arts was no less than Zhao Hao’s.

They vowed to cultivate their martial arts to a level that would satisfy Su Can within a month and become his disciples!

“Old Zhao, from now on, you’re our Senior Disciple Brother. We need to work together for the martial arts assessment a month from now!”

After stopping at a gas station, while the others were queuing for gas, Yang Fan couldn't help but say to Zhao Hao.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best!”

Zhao Hao’s eyes were deep. Looking at the distant, faintly visible Huangshan Mountains, he secretly clenched his fists.

He hadn't expected this trip to Huangshan to be his path to nirvana and rebirth.

Su Can, a name etched into his bones.

It was this name that gave new life to him, who had lost hope of further progress in martial arts and had chosen to swallow all his unwillingness and accept his fate!

Zhao Hao took a deep breath and glanced at Yang Fan, Zhu Lei, and the others beside him, his gaze more resolute than ever before.

“I will definitely earn your recognition and officially become your disciple!”

…

“Brother, are you intentionally taking Zhao Hao and the others as disciples?”

On the highway, Su Ran sat in the passenger seat, peeling an orange, and glanced at Su Can charmingly.

“You noticed?”

Su Can chuckled, not hiding anything.

“I believe in karma. The fact that they could cooperate with us all the way, stay in the deep mountains for so long, and become so familiar with each other, indicates a strong fate (fate).

“Moreover, their current changes are almost entirely my doing, so I intend to take them as disciples.”

“There are some things you can’t access yet, and even if you did, you wouldn’t understand. You’ll slowly understand later.”

Su Can smiled mysteriously, making Su Ran roll her eyes.

“Eat yours.”

Shoving a peeled orange into Su Can’s mouth, Su Ran huffed, annoyed.

“By the way, how are you going to handle your family’s matters?”

Su Can changed the subject, saying, “You are my woman now. Whatever you need to do, just say the word.”

“Let’s wait and see. When the family puts pressure on me, you can step in and resolve it.”

Su Ran frowned slightly, then her expression brightened, “Oh, right! With you, a master alchemist, I can completely build up the traditional Chinese medicine beauty industry first!”

“Once I achieve success, I won’t need you to step in. I’ll naturally have enough say within the family!”

“In fact, if the traditional Chinese medicine beauty industry does well, even the family will have to humble themselves before me and act according to my wishes!”

“That’s a good idea.”

Su Can nodded. He was quite in favor of Su Ran’s idea.

Anyway, since they were idle, they might as well create an industry.

“Then it’s settled. Later, you come up with a beauty and skincare formula. I’ll go to the relevant agencies to apply for a patent, and then I’ll invest in a pharmaceutical factory for production, striving to launch the product as quickly as possible!”

Seeing Su Can agree with her idea, Su Ran immediately became energetic. She sat up straight in the passenger seat and organized her words.

“Brother, your pill formula should be at least a bit stronger than the general beauty products on the market, right?”

Su Ran asked with some hesitation.

After all, to develop a traditional Chinese medicine beauty industry, the pill formula is the core!

Even if the effect is a bit weaker, it doesn't matter, but it must be guaranteed to have some effect.

In that case, it would be enough to surpass thirty percent of the beauty products on the market.

Then, with good packaging and promotion, or by finding live streamers and influencers to promote the products, there would be no fear of poor sales.

This would be enough to surpass fifty percent of the beauty industry products on the market.

One must know that out of a hundred beauty products on the market today, at least eighty percent are exaggerated. As long as people use them without problems or side effects, it's just for the psychological effect!

So, a fifty percent market share is not small.

But when Su Can heard her words, he felt greatly insulted.

Su Can chuckled, his expression disdainful, “A bit stronger??”

“I, a dignified Grandmaster Alchemist, with a casual effort, the entire beauty industry products on Earth are not fit to carry my shoes!”

“Go ahead and do it boldly. Make the advertisements as grand as possible. Since we’re doing it, we must be at the top of this field!”

“Ah?? Are you serious?”

Su Ran was a bit stunned. Top of the field, not fit to carry his shoes? This was not just a little boastful; it was extremely, extremely boastful!

“Of course it’s true!”

Su Can raised an eyebrow, “If I don’t act, so be it. But once I do, I must make a splash and surpass everyone!”

“Besides, my formula, do you not trust it? Think back, how did Zhu Lei and Wei Dandan’s skin get better?”

“It seems so!”

Su Ran was immediately delighted upon hearing this, “I actually forgot about that!”

“Well, in that case, I just need to make product samples, take them to an institution for appraisal, then apply for a patent, and then I can start setting up a pharmaceutical factory!”

“Once the pharmaceutical factory is established, immediately put it into production and enter the market!”

“However, setting up a pharmaceutical factory requires a considerable amount of startup capital. Currently, I have too little savings, so I can only attract investment and give up a portion of the shares.”

“Anyway, I can’t rely on the family’s liquid funds, otherwise, I’ll inevitably be interfered with and constrained by family members!”

Su Ran frowned slightly, constantly planning aloud.

“How much startup capital does it take to invest in a pharmaceutical factory?”

Su Can said casually, “If it’s not much, I have some money here you can use first. If it’s not enough, I can easily sell a few items.”

“How much money do you have?”

Su Ran was stunned. It seemed she had overlooked her own man.

“I don’t have much money in my card, only the thirty million plus from selling jade.”

Su Can said casually, “However, I control two century-old martial arts families, so mobilizing a few hundred million in liquid funds shouldn’t be a problem.”

“A few hundred million in liquid funds?”

Su Ran was dumbfounded. She never expected Su Can to be so rich.

A few hundred million, and he said it so casually.

“What’s wrong? Not enough?”

Su Can was taken aback, thinking, could it be that they needed to start on a very large scale from the beginning?

“If it’s not enough, it’s fine. This time, with Zhao Hao returning to the family with the power of a Grandmaster, the Zhao family is bound to undergo a reshuffle. When Zhao Hao becomes the family head, I can still divert a portion of funds.”

“No, no, no, it’s enough! Completely enough!”

Su Ran reacted from her shock, saying, “Actually, for me, thirty million in funds is already enough to invest in and build a small pharmaceutical factory.”

“We’re just starting, so we don’t need to expand on such a large scale right away. A small pharmaceutical factory is enough.”

“After all, we’re just starting. The smaller the cost, the faster the return. And our main focus is beauty, with a single product, which will allow for quicker market entry and profitability!”

“We can’t take too big a step. Even a small pharmaceutical factory requires a lot of time and effort, such as acquiring land, factory construction, equipment procurement, personnel training, product research and development, all of which need to be done step by step.”

Su Ran knew that establishing a new beauty industry was a considerable project, very troublesome, and required a lot of networking.

“Is it that troublesome?”

Su Can didn’t expect that starting an industry would require so many steps.

“There’s no other way, unless we find a pharmaceutical factory on the verge of bankruptcy and directly buy it and take over, or merge, change shareholders and the decision-making body, and produce and develop our products.”

“Otherwise, this is definitely a very troublesome industry that requires a certain period of time!”

Su Ran was also helpless, but this was unavoidable. After all, no one can get fat in one bite.

“It’s too long. I don’t have that much patience. How about this, I’ll ask around to see if I can find a suitable pharmaceutical factory to take over!”

Su Can considered it for a moment, and decided that taking over a pharmaceutical factory would be more cost-effective.

“Suitable pharmaceutical factories are too hard to find. Right now, pharmaceutical factories are the hottest businesses, almost guaranteed to make money.”

Ever since Su Ran had the idea of creating a traditional Chinese medicine beauty industry, she had done research in this area.

Pharmaceutical factories almost never go out of business. The more unscrupulous the factory, the more money it makes.

“Don’t worry, leave this to me.”

“You just need to focus on operations and decision-making.”

After Su Can finished speaking, he immediately called Hong Lei from the car.

Hong Lei answered the phone almost instantly, his voice immediately coming through, “Young Master, you finally called. I thought you weren’t concerned about the progress of the house.”

“Oh?” Su Can raised an eyebrow, “Where are things at now?”

“The house is done!”

Hong Lei chuckled, “It’s just a few main structures. A crane lifted them into place, and it was done. Now I’m arranging for my subordinate’s renovation company to start the interior design.”

“And the parking lot we designated has already been completed first.”

“That fast?”

Su Can was stunned upon hearing this. By his calculations, he had only been away from Qixia Mountain for less than ten days.

He remembered that when he left, Hong Lei’s subordinates were still laying the foundation.

“Fast?”

Hong Lei shook his head, “Even with this, I still think it’s slow. If it weren’t for the simultaneous construction on and off the mountain requiring manpower, the renovations should have started two days ago!”

“Not bad, not bad. In my opinion, it’s already fast enough.”

“Is everything on the mountain done?” Su Can asked.

“Pretty much.”

Hong Lei nodded, “All the areas you planned are done. The only thing left to do is transplant the fruit trees!”

“Good! You’ve done well. As for transplanting the fruit trees, I’ll personally arrange it when I get back.”

“Now, I have something I need your help with.”

Su Can’s words invigorated Hong Lei, who responded with extreme eagerness, “Young Master, just give the order!”

“Hmm, I need you to use your connections and influence in Yun City to find a pharmaceutical factory for me as quickly as possible, preferably one with poor performance, on the verge of bankruptcy, or in urgent need of financing!”

“Finding a pharmaceutical factory??”

Hong Lei was stunned for a moment.

“That’s right! It’s best if there’s such a pharmaceutical factory right here in Yun City. If not in Yun City, then consider the surrounding areas.”

Su Can said, “If it’s really not possible, then we’ll just have to buy land and rebuild the factory!”

“Okay, no problem. I’ll send everyone out now to try and find a pharmaceutical factory.”

Hong Lei didn’t dare to guarantee it, but he remembered that there were several pharmaceutical factories in Yun City that seemed to be poorly managed.

One pharmaceutical factory, during the mask craze two years ago, even stopped drug production, used its idle factory space to bring in a batch of mask machines, and started making masks!

Apparently, this move actually saved the pharmaceutical factory, generating a good amount of revenue.

The only trouble was that this pharmaceutical factory seemed to be in the territory of his arch-rival.

“If this pharmaceutical factory is suitable, it will inevitably stir up some trouble.”

Hong Lei hung up the phone, a faint air of dominance on his face, “Perfect, it’s time for the underground forces in Yun City to reshuffle as well. From now on, there can only be one voice!”

Afterward, he made several calls, and his long-dormant subordinates were all dispatched.

On the other side.

Su Ran saw Su Can hang up the phone and asked hesitantly, “Brother, who were you talking to? Is he reliable?”

Su Can smiled upon hearing this, “I don’t know if he’s reliable, but I only know that on the streets of Yun City, people call him ‘Lei-ye’!”

“He’s the leader of one of Yun City’s two major underground forces.”

“Lei-ye?” Su Ran was slightly taken aback. She seemed to vaguely recall that title, but couldn’t remember clearly.

“Alright, if he can’t find a suitable pharmaceutical factory in Yun City, then it’s probably useless to look for others. Just wait for the news.”

Su Can smiled and glanced at the navigation, “We’ll be at my dad’s place again soon. Now that you, my fake girlfriend, have become my real girlfriend, you’ll have to help me persuade my dad well later, to get him to go home and retire and hold his grandchild!”

“Don’t worry, it’s on me. But…”

Su Ran paused, then looked at Su Can charmingly, “If I succeed in persuading him, how will you reward me?”

“How about I reward you with a big, chubby baby boy?”

Su Can looked at her charming appearance, and remembering her comic-book-like figure under her clothes, he immediately felt an urge, and his hand became restless.

“Pfft, who wants to give you a big, chubby baby boy? You’re thinking… Ah!”

The sudden attack caught Su Ran off guard. She quickly clamped down on the “devil’s claw,” saying, “What are you doing? We’re still on the highway. Take your hand away, and drive properly!”

“I am driving properly.”

Su Can curved his lips, looking at Su Ran, whose eyes were a little watery. He poked her with a finger, and a surge of true essence drilled in.

In an instant.

Su Ran was struck as if by lightning, her body trembling violently. When she looked up at Su Can again, she was already captivating and seductive, her eyes like silk.

“Come here.”

Su Can looked at Su Ran’s fiery red lips, the meaning self-evident.

“Naughty brother!”

Su Ran coquettish ( coquettish is a flirtatious, slightly petulant rebuke) with hazy eyes.

Her slender, jade-like hand awkwardly reached towards the driver’s seat.

Su Can drove with his eyes fixed straight ahead. A sudden cool, moist sensation appeared, invigorating him, and he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

Immediately after, a head of dark, beautiful hair leaned over…