Chen Fan immediately felt parched and took a quick step back, "Don't... don't do this."
The beautiful woman chuckled, reached out and grabbed the hem of Chen Fan's clothes, and whispered, "You don't have to worry, I don't have a husband."
"Ah?" Chen Fan didn't catch on.
"Keke is adopted from the orphanage," the beautiful woman explained.
Only then did Chen Fan understand her meaning, but this made him even more at a loss.
"Sister, you... you're just joking with me, right? I really don't expect anything in return."
The beautiful woman stared at Chen Fan for a few seconds, then released the hem of his shirt, a slight smile curving her lips, "Interesting."
She took out a business card and handed it to Chen Fan.
"Regardless, you are Keke's benefactor, and for that I am always grateful. I have some influence in Jiangcheng. If there's ever anything, you can call me."
Chen Fan accepted the business card and saw three words written on it: "Su Jinyun."
He tucked the card away with a smile and nodded.
"I need to take Keke back to rest. Do you want to join us?" Su Jinyun picked up Keke.
Chen Fan gave a light cough, "No... no, thank you."
Su Jinyun gave a teasing smile, "Well... if you can't sleep at night, you can also call me."
After saying that, she left with Keke in her arms.
Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this woman indeed had a powerful presence; he was utterly under her control.
"It seems, the more good deeds I do, the stronger my luck with the ladies becomes," Chen Fan muttered to himself and walked back without lingering.
Su Jinyun, holding Keke, approached a red Ferrari, opened the door, and got in.
"Mommy, the brother just now was so nice, can you bring him home to be Keke's daddy?" Keke, sitting in the passenger seat, innocently suggested.
Su Jinyun looked at Keke with a smile, "Do you like that brother from earlier?"
Keke nodded earnestly.
Su Jinyun pondered for a moment, "Okay then, mommy will try and see if I can tie him down to be your daddy."
Keke's face lit up with joy. She then asked, "Mommy, are we going home now? Aren't we going to play with Sister Qingyan?"
"You need to rest properly now. We'll visit Sister Qingyan another day, okay?" Su Jinyun stroked Keke's head.
"But we made a promise to Sister Qingyan. Will she be mad if we don't go?" Keke asked.
Su Jinyun laughingly replied, "She wouldn't dare! I'm her aunt, she can be angry at anyone but she wouldn't dare be angry at me. You've got quite the little worrier in you."
"Alright then." Keke settled back into her seat and buckled her seatbelt by herself.
…
The next day.
Chen Fan emerged from his meditative state.
Despite not having slept all night, he felt perfectly alert, a benefit of his cultivation practice.
"The spiritual energy in the air is still too thin. Although my overnight cultivation was significant, it's still not as fast as I had hoped."
"I need to find some spiritual medicine or spirit stones to help me. "
"But these materials with spirituality are certainly valuable. With just 4,500 yuan to my name, I wonder if I can even afford a single spiritual medicine."
"Who would have thought that after embarking on the road to cultivation, I would still have to worry about money. The saying that money is omnipotent seems to apply in the cultivation world as well," Chen Fan thought wryly.
"If only I could make a Spirit Gathering Array, that would double my efforts. Unfortunately, my current realm is too low, so that has to wait for the future."
Putting aside further thoughts, Chen Fan got up, took a bath, and made some simple breakfast.
As he was getting ready to continue his cultivation, he received a text message from Qin Lan.
"Chen Fan, I promised a divorce in a week, but it's grandma's birthday banquet in a week. Considering our three years of marriage, attend grandma's birthday banquet and then let's divorce. This will also give a proper explanation to everyone in the Qin family."
Chen Fan looked at the message for a few minutes before replying with a single word: "Okay."
Although Qin Lan's behavior was despicable, Chen Fan still held a glimmer of hope for an amicable parting after their three years of marriage.
Since Qin Lan had brought it up, he had no reason to refuse.
Putting aside thoughts of divorce, Chen Fan resumed his seated meditation to cultivate, planning to pay a visit to the herbal wholesale market in the afternoon to see if he could luck out and find some spiritual herbs.
Meanwhile.
At the Qin family villa.
Sun Jiancheng lounged on the couch, Qin Lan nested within his arms like a delicate bird.
"Darling, Chen Fan agreed to attend Grandma's birthday banquet. How do you plan to deal with him?"
An icy smirk crossed Sun Jiancheng's face, "This time, not only will I ruin his reputation, but I'll also ensure he's wheelchair-bound for life, as revenge for last night!"
Qin Lan looked on curiously, "But how? Chen Fan suddenly became so tough; it seems like ten men couldn't take him down."
Sun Jiancheng curled his lip, "Sanda is ultimately more for show, so it's normal if it's a little lacking in real combat situations. It's no good against someone with greater strength. That waste Chen Fan probably has more strength than average from doing household chores, but up against a real master, he's nothing!"
"This time, I'm prepared to spend a lot of money hiring someone to deal with Chen Fan."
Qin Lan's eyes lit up, "Who are you hiring?"
Sun Jiancheng glanced at Qin Lan and said solemnly, "Have you heard of the Number One Lady of Jiangcheng?"
Qin Lan shook her head.
Right away, Sun Jiancheng said, "This Number One Lady of Jiangcheng is a ruthless character. If she dares to call herself Number One Lady, you can just imagine the confidence she has. She is cruel and will stop at nothing to get her way. Anyone who has made an enemy of her has either died or been crippled, none have had a good ending."
"Nowadays, more than half of the underworld influences in Jiangcheng have pledged allegiance to this Number One Lady. She has a host of experts at her beck and call. At your grandmother's birthday banquet, I'll have her come over; dealing with Chen Fan will be a piece of cake."
A trace of excitement appeared on Qin Lan's face, "Then isn't Chen Fan as good as dead!"
"Hmph, if he dares to offend me, Sun Jiancheng, of course I won't let him live a good life!" Sun Jiancheng snorted coldly.
Sun Jiancheng was about to pin Qin Lan on the sofa and had just leaned in when he furrowed his brows and sat back down.
Qin Lan, puzzled, "Dear, what's wrong? Aren't you going to continue?"
Sun Jiancheng waved his hand and stood up, walking towards the bathroom, "I've got an injury, let's not continue for now."
In the bathroom, Sun Jiancheng bowed his head, his face filled with urgency, "Don't scare me, please!"
After a long while, Sun Jiancheng stood in front of the mirror, eyes red with fury, and he let out a long howl skywards: "Chen Fan, if I don't make you useless this time, I swear I'm not human!"
…
Qingyan Pharmaceuticals.
Inside the CEO's office.
Su Qingyan sat in front of the desk, staring at the computer screen.
It displayed news reports about Chen Fan's act of heroism from last night, treating Keke.
"Who would've thought this guy actually knew medical skills, managing to owe my aunt such a big favor. This guy really hit the jackpot," Su Qingyan muttered to herself.
Knock knock knock.
The sound of knocking on the door echoed.
Su Qingyan quickly closed the news page and switched to a work report, straightening up, "Come in!"
Secretary Wang entered, a serious look on his face.
"What's wrong? Are there problems with the production line again?" Su Qingyan asked.
Secretary Wang shook his head, "Miss, it's from the Capital... they are urging you to go there as soon as possible again."
Su Qingyan's expression darkened, "Haven't I already told Grandpa that I can develop just as well in Jiangcheng? Why do they keep wanting to send me to the Capital?"
"Miss, you have indeed developed well in Jiangcheng, but it's a small place compared to the Capital, which is a world apart. Your grandfather, as a significant figure whom everyone in the Capital looks up to, naturally doesn't think much of our company's achievements."
"Your grandfather has spoken, unless you can increase Qingyan Pharmaceuticals' market value to ten billion within three months, otherwise, he will have someone forcibly take you to the Capital for further study," Secretary Wang said cautiously.
"What!" Su Qingyan's eyes widened, "Three months? Ten billion? Does he expect me to rob a bank!"
Secretary Wang quickly tried to calm her, "Miss, don't be angry, your grandfather is doing this for your own good."
Su Qingyan leaned back in her chair, her face cold, "For my own good, always for my own good, I'm sick of this life where everything is arranged for me!"
Secretary Wang sighed, not knowing what else to say.
Su Qingyan's mood grew increasingly irritable, and she turned off the computer.
She stood up, picked up her coat, and walked outwards.
Secretary Wang quickly asked, "Miss, where are you going?"
"I'm in a bad mood, going out for a walk, you don't need to follow," Su Qingyan said icily.
However, as she reached the door, she went back, took out a makeup kit, drew her eyebrows, and put on some lipstick.
Only then did she leave the office.
Secretary Wang watched this scene deep in thought, "Didn't Miss used to not like wearing makeup?"
Three in the afternoon.
With a smile on his face and humming a tune, Chen Fan carried several medicinal herbs as he entered Golden Lake Villa.
He had just come back from the medicinal herb wholesale market.
Initially, he planned to just try his luck at the market and get a feel for the prices, but unexpectedly, he had the extraordinary luck to find several herbs containing spiritual energy.
However, these herbs were of mediocre quality and the spiritual energy contained within was severely diminished; they had to be absorbed quickly.
Even so, these few herbs cost Chen Fan three thousand yuan, which made his wallet hurt.
Arriving at the villa's entrance, Chen Fan pushed the door to enter, only to be given a massive scare.
Seeing the charming figure sitting on the sofa, Chen Fan spoke nervously, "Miss Su... Miss Su, what are you doing here?"