On the second day, after the Golden Dragon Bank had finished signing a long-term agreement, Li Luo used his position as the Young Lord to convene a meeting of the senior management of the Suncreek Villa.
In the discussion hall, Vice President Zhuang Yi was late and even indifferently grumbled on his way in. "My third-grade refining workshop is currently busy refining third-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights. Time is tight! We even have to make up for the gap left by the first-grade refining workshop..."
Upon sitting down, he immediately looked at Li Luo with a smile. "I seek your understanding, Young Lord."
"It must have been hard on you," Li Luo replied courteously upon seeing that fake smile of his. The smile on his own handsome face never lessened. After all, the problem in the Suncreek Villa would be finally solved today, and it would then continue to churn out endless profits for him! That way, he could buy even more spirit liquids and purifying lights... Why would he not be excited?
Zhuang Yi felt a little uneasy upon seeing Li Luo's wide smile. However, he did not take this feeling to heart. Although Li Luo was the Young Lord, he wasn't in charge of anything, and technically Zhuang Yi was someone from Pei Hao's side. Li Luo could not easily get rid of him without rhyme or reason.
Elder Zheng Ping was also in attendance as he was equally curious about why Li Luo would want to convene a meeting. As almost everyone was here, he started to speak. "Young Lord, please kindly enlighten us as to why you have gathered everyone here."
Li Luo smiled. "It's not about something frivolous. Elder, you did mention previously that the lack of a president posed a problem for the Suncreek Villa."
Zheng Ping was a little startled at how things were proceeding, and he immediately frowned. "Did we not come to an agreement before? We will compare the results of the ones in charge of the refining workshops to decide the victor. Unfortunately, Vice President Yan seems to be at a significant disadvantage."
"Does the Young Lord want to change the rules for selection? These are the ironclad rules of the Suncreek Villa. Even though you're the Young Lord, you cannot change these rules on a whim! That's improper," Zhuang Yi said.
The rest of the management did not speak a single word. However, the expressions on their faces seemed to say that they were siding with Zhuang Yi.
Faced with everyone's doubtful glares, Li Luo waved his hands. "The rule is wonderful. There is no need to change it. I just want to say that the results are now out for everyone to see."
The confusion in the eyes of everyone present continued to deepen. Even Zhuang Yi was a little taken aback before he gave an excited smile. "Does the Young Lord want to crown me as the victor? Or did Vice President Yan take the initiative to give up?"
Upon hearing these words, the group of senior resonance artificers seemed to suddenly understand something. It was true that based on the rules, Zhuang Yi's third-grade refining workshop vastly outperformed the first and second-grade refining workshops. With such a huge difference, it was possible that Vice President Yan would have chosen to give up.
"Give up? In your dreams!" Yan Lingqing's eyebrows arched in contempt as she gave a cold smile.
Cai Wei lightly chuckled at this point. She took the agreement out and directly passed it to Elder Zheng Ping. "Our Suncreek Villa has signed an official contract with the Golden Dragon Bank. We will produce Azure Jade Spirit Liquid for them on a long-term basis."
After glancing through the document, Elder Zheng Ping’s expression suddenly changed. "Azure Jade Spirit Liquid with 60% tempering strength? Are you messing around? How can the Suncreek Villa supply Azure Jade Spirit Liquid with 60% tempering strength?!"
Elder Zheng Ping's face turned green and he slammed his palm against the table. He stared at Li Luo as he said in a heartbroken tone, "Young Lord, how could you possibly have signed such an agreement? You're practically destroying the Suncreek Villa's reputation by agreeing to this!" Everyone in the discussion hall looked at the trio in shock after they heard the words spoken by Elder Zheng Ping. They would never have expected them to come up with such an unbelievable contract! This was not a joke! The Suncreek Villa's first-grade resonance artificers could not refine such a spirit liquid!
Even Zhuang Yi was flabbergasted, but internally he was jumping for joy. He didn't even have to act, as Li Luo had just dealt the death blow to Yan Lingqing himself.
Azure Jade Spirit Liquid with 60% tempering strength was simply impossible for the first-grade resonance artificers!
"Hai..." Zhuang Yi heavily sighed as he raised his voice towards Cai Wei. "The Young Lord might not be knowledgeable, but how could the General Manager make the same mistake?" He then turned his gaze to Elder Zheng Ping and the rest and emotionally said, "Are they possibly hoping for our third-grade refining workshop to take on the task of refining all these Azure Jade Spirit Liquids? This is clearly a ploy to destroy the Suncreek Villa! I will never agree to this! Elder Zheng Ping, you've seen for yourself what these people want to do. The Suncreek Villa has to quickly select a president. Otherwise, if things proceed this way, we will no longer be welcome in the Tianshu Province!"
Li Luo silently looked at the passionately speaking Zhuang Yi, not putting a halt to his words. After Zhuang Yi finished his outburst, he turned over to look at Elder Zheng Ping with a steely, green complexion. "This contract will not require the help of any of the Suncreek Villa's third-grade resonance artificers. It will be completely fulfilled by the first-grade refining workshop."
Elder Zheng Ping frowned as he said with a grave voice, "Young Lord, our Suncreek Villa's first-grade refining workshop simply does not possess this capability."
"That was in the past." Li Luo gave an indifferent smile as he picked up a box that was sitting by his feet. Upon opening it, he revealed dozens of bottles of enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid.
"Elder Zheng Ping, this will be the enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid produced by our Suncreek Villa. The tempering strength will be at least 60%, and 40 bottles have already been provided to the Golden Dragon Bank. The remaining ten are here for you to see. In the future, we will be producing a greater quantity of this enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid, up to a total of 300 a month. Based on their market value, the first-grade refining workshop will outperform the third-grade refining workshop." Each of Li Luo's words directly reverberated around the discussion hall, shocking everyone into silence.
Everyone looked at him in complete stupefaction. It was as if they were enthralled by a bunch of fantastical tales.
"Enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid? What is that? I've never heard of this! Our Suncreek Villa's first-grade refining workshop can produce Azure Jade Spirit Liquid with 60% tempering strength? What kind of crap are you spouting!?" Zhuang Yi resentfully shouted, his tone impolite.
Perhaps he was feeling restless at the change of events.
However, Li Luo's calm and collected demeanor didn't make him seem like someone who was spouting crazy words.
The rest stared at each other blankly, while Elder Zheng Ping remained deep in thought. He immediately took out a tempering measurement needle and directly pierced it into one of the Azure Jade Spirit Liquid bottles.
The result was clearly at the 60% mark.
Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the mind-boggling results.
"The enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid was not refined by Vice President Yan. The first-grade refining workshop has been sealed for the last few days, but it will be open to everyone later, for you to see for yourself if you wish. Nothing that the Young Lord has said is false. All of the Azure Jade Spirit Liquid produced by the Suncreek Villa in the future will reliably be at 60% tempering strength." Cai Wei's soft and gentle words seemed to echo in the huge chamber.
Even Elder Zheng Ping was left in a daze. He could not imagine how this was possible. However, the facts in front of him spoke for themselves. This was not a farce, and Li Luo had no need to come up with an elaborate lie to trick them.
Elder Zheng Ping finally recovered a while later, heavily sighing with a bitter smile. "If what you say is true, the first-grade refining workshop will outperform the third-grade workshop. In this case, I hereby proclaim that Yan Lingqing will lead the Suncreek Villa branch in the Tianshu Province as the..."
"I DISAGREE!" a visibly frustrated Zhuang Yi screamed as he angrily slammed the table.
"There is definitely something strange going on. How can the first-grade refining workshop reliably produce 60% tempering strength Azure Jade Spirit Liquid?"
Elder Zheng Ping's expression turned solemn. "It doesn't matter if you disagree. At the very least, there is a contract with the Golden Dragon Bank proving their point."
Zhuang Yi's expression turned green. "I don't believe this! It's impossible! How can they reliably produce this enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid!?"
Li Luo immediately stood up and lifted the curtain at the front of the discussion hall. From where they stood, they could observe what was happening in the first-grade refining workshop. At the moment, there were first-grade resonance artificers busily refining spirit liquids. At the same time, someone collected the recently refined Azure Jade Spirit Liquid and brought it over to the discussion hall.
When the box of enhanced Azure Jade Spirit Liquid was displayed in front of the group, no one doubted Li Luo's words any longer. How could they when the evidence was right in front of them?
Zhuang Yi's face turned incomparably pale as he plonked onto his seat, continuously murmuring to himself.
Everyone knew that Zhuang Yi had been on the cusp of victory. Yet the unimaginable had happened and his fall from grace was just too quick...
That stubborn old man Elder Zheng Ping, on the other hand, had a face full of smiles. He stood up to make an announcement.
"From here on, Yan Lingqing will become the president of the Suncreek Villa in the Tianshu Province!"
Applause rang out in the discussion hall. Li Luo heaved a sigh of relief whilst leaning against a chair.
This entire fiasco hadn't been easy. On the bright side, at least his money bag was safe for the time being...