Bianyi walked into the office with a triumphant smile, carrying two contracts that had just been signed with Elegant Taste and Ancient Moon Pavilion. Leaning back in his executive chair by the window, Shen Qiang was staring blankly at the street outside.

Bianyi laughed, "My dear boss, under your brilliant leadership, Elegant Taste and Ancient Moon Pavilion are history. On the antique street of Provincial City, there's no better antique shop than Xiduobao now."

Shen Qiang smiled and turned to look at him, saying, "You had the contracts prepared in advance?"

Bianyi chuckled, "I knew that as soon as you heard that Elegant Taste and Ancient Moon Pavilion wanted to take on Xiduobao, your first thought would be to turn the tables and devour them, and if I hadn't prepared the contracts in advance, I'd be a pretty lousy CEO."

After a smile, Shen Qiang said in a deep voice, "Do we have the right people? I'm thinking about recruiting a few more, with Cultivation above Mixed Element Realm."

Bianyi let out a laugh before responding seriously, "I'd love that too. But the truth is that powerhouses above Mixed Element Realm aren't just there for the taking. These individuals are influential figures, each in their own right. Either they've gathered a group of followers or are already committed to a Sect. Recruiting them to serve at Shen's Holding is truly difficult."

Shen Qiang frowned and after a brief silence said, "Have Kong Richeng follow you. Wherever you go, he goes."

Bianyi's eyes lit up, "Do you think I'm more valuable than Xiduobao?"

Shen Qiang lifted his brows resignedly, "Diagonally opposite us is Wanxin Hesheng. I'll ask Xu Nan to help look after this place, so don't worry about the safety of Xiduobao. Besides, the street security is good, and if there really is a problem, it won't make a difference whether Kong Richeng is here or not."

Bianyi, with a flourish, said, "You still haven't answered my question. You think I'm outstanding, so you're worried someone might kill me, and without me, Shen's would be headless and then you'd be finished."

Shen Qiang frowned, "Why all the nonsense, getting full of yourself again? Let me tell you, the reason I have Kong Richeng follow you is indeed because I'm afraid you'll get killed, but not because you're some sort of grand master. It's because I can't afford to lose face."

"You're saying one thing but feeling another," Bianyi teased with a lift of his eyebrows, then continued, "Boss, not only did I help you secure Ancient Moon Pavilion and Elegant Taste, but at the same time, I also posted on the Immortal Realm Forum about the trouble caused by the people from Long Yan Sword Sect coming here."

Seeing Shen Qiang's stunned look, Bianyi smiled and added, "Of course, we're the victims who were forced to fight back."

Shen Qiang laughed and nodded, "Well done."

For the entire day, Shen Qiang, Xiu Ju, and Chu Qing all stayed at Xiduobao.

Shen Qiang was particularly worried that the Long Yan Sword Sect might make a comeback, and if he, Chu Qing, and Xiu Ju were all absent, Bianyi and Kong Richeng would be at a great disadvantage.

But the whole day passed without incident.

Nobody from the Long Yan Sword Sect came looking for trouble.

The next morning.

Shen Qiang came downstairs, returning home after finishing Body Refinement, and immediately received a call from Qian Shanxue.

She said that the Long Yan Sword Sect had posted online, sincerely apologizing to Xiduobao, and handed over those three disciples to the Dragon Group. So she advised Shen Qiang to let bygones be bygones and not provoke them further.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiang bluntly said over the phone, "They've publicly stated their apology, but no one has visited Xiduobao to apologize in person, nor has anyone directly said a single word to me. So in essence, they still don't truly respect Xiduobao."

This was the truth.

The apology letter from the Long Yan Sword Sect was posted on the Immortal Realm Forum.

It was meant for the Dragon Group and other Cultivation Sects to see.

Had they really wanted to apologize, they should have come to Shen Qiang.

But they didn't.

Thus, Shen Qiang was far from satisfied.

However.

Shen Qiang was also well aware.

That as far as the Long Yan Sword Sect was concerned, they felt they had already done enough.

And Shen Qiang didn't need to dwell on this matter further.

He went online to check out the apology letter from the Long Yan Sword Sect.

He found that they were glossing over the main issues, making only a lukewarm statement. Moreover, the main point of the letter was not to apologize but to say that within the Long Yan Sword Sect, there were three Cultivators who had acted on their own accord using the Sect's name and had broken the Sect rules, causing trouble for Xiduobao Antique Shop. For this, they expressed regret and had expelled them from the Sect.

Such an apology letter was hardly noticed on the forum, as it only mentioned Xiduobao and didn't mention Shen Qiang at all.

So, there were only a few hundred clicks, and even fewer replies, just two, then it sank without a trace.

Shen Qiang didn't take the crappy apology letter to heart at all.

When class time arrived, Shen Qiang still took Xiu Ju to class.

After class ended, he made a special trip to the healthcare products company. The preparation there was a syrup-based method, currently available in three age groups: under one year, under two years, and under three years, with Thermophilic Streptococcus Preparation dosage varying according to the infant's age.

Shen Qiang drank a bottle and tasted it; it was okay, a syrup with a faint aroma of malt sugar.

Meanwhile, the results of the first batch of clinical trials were also out, and everything was fine.

Next up was the second Lianchuan test.

If everything qualified, then in about half a month, they could obtain the paperwork and begin official production.

Shen Qiang was very satisfied with this situation.

In the meantime, while retaining the healthcare products company,

he even registered a new pharmaceutical company.

The procedures were very complicated.

But based on the estimates, they could definitely be handled within half a month.

Apart from that, one cannot fail to mention the beautiful teacher, Ju Yang.

During this time, she was running back and forth between school, company, and hospital, exhausted to no end. It was very tough, but whenever she saw Shen Qiang, she smiled happily.

And so it went.

In the blink of an eye, a few more days passed.

The people from Long Yan Sword Sect seemed to have vanished from Shen Qiang's world.

All aspects of the business were basically on the right track.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Shen Qiang himself was busy every day with Body Refinement, cultivation, and school.

Besides these three things, Shen Qiang generally didn't interfere in anything else, except for occasionally making a couple of calls on matters where his decisions were needed at Shen's Holding.

Because if he tried to manage everything, he would be overwhelmed with concerns at Shen's end.

Anyway, with Bianyi around, Shen Qiang didn't worry that anything would go awry.

So, he definitively let go and stopped meddling.

Not only that, but Dinghao Hotel also hired a manager.

Chu Qing made several suggestions and pointed out many areas she felt were not perfect.

Many good changes had been made.

However, some suggestions, even those from Chu Qing, were rejected mercilessly.

Because those suggestions would be too costly to implement, they were not deemed valuable enough to be adopted.

Just like this, after some uneventful days passed,

it was on this day, when Shen Qiang's cultivation stabilized yet impressively entered the Golden Core Late Stage,

that Shen Qiang suddenly received a bank transfer for ten thousand yuan.

And a text message from the beautiful young widow Gao Hui.

"Shen Qiang, I'm returning ten thousand to you first. I will slowly repay the rest of the money to you."

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