After Wei Zipin was carried out of the room by the paramedics, the group of tycoons sat down to continue the meeting.
“Master Chen, your Spirit Water is incredible. I have sent it to the lab for some testing, and they told me that the mineral content and water quality were no different than that of normal water, yet it has miraculous healing effects.” Baldy Liu slapped his thigh and exclaimed.
Chen Fan cracked a faint smile.
Spirit Qi was not something that a machine in the lab was able to detect.
“Master Chen, how much of that Spirit Water can you produce a day?” Xu Ao asked thoughtfully.
For most of the magnates of Jiang Bei region, the biggest draw of the event was not only to see Master Chen but also the billion-yuan industry he had created. The Spirit Water could rake in over ten billion yuan a year in pure profit—a number that would entice even the richest man on earth.
Chen Fan gave Third Lord Wei a look, and the latter quickly overcame grief for his son and presented the details of their business plan.
“Two to three hundred bottles a day, and Master Chen would take only fifty thousand out of the sale?” Some businessmen gasped as yuan signs glinted in their eyes.
The price of a hundred thousand per bottle was recommended by The Third Lord Wei. If the businessmen played their sales tactics right, they might even be able to get a much higher price than that.
“This is a profitable business.” Old Man Zhen nodded approvingly.
Once everyone was on board with the plan, the attendees started to iron out the final details.
They knew that Chen Fan wouldn’t give away the Spirit Water freely; in order to get it, they would have to exchange the product with the resources they possessed. Before they went in length to negotiate the payments, Xu Ao put in seriously: “Master Chen, nearly all the bosses from Jiang Bei attended this meeting except for Lord Wu of Jiang Zhou City.”
“Lord Wu?” Chen Fan furrowed his brows.
He remembered that Zhou Tianhao had mentioned this name to him before. Lord Wu worked under Tang Yunaqin of the Jin City.
“Traitor! Does he really think that Jiang Bei is still the same place as it used to be?” Baldy Liu cursed with a cold sneer.
“I will handle this matter myself.” Chen Fan nodded and said.
Chen Fan’s words caught everyone off guard. They wagered that Chen Fan was going to punish Lord Wu personally. Many businessmen already started to gloat over Lord Wu’s imminent fall from grace.
The meeting at the top of the Tian Shen hotel wasn’t over until midnight.
By then, the guests in the dining hall, such as Jiang Churan had long since returned home.
Jiang Churan knocked on the door with drowsiness in her head. When Auntie Tang answered the door, she was taken aback by Jiang Churan’s frightened and shaken look on her face.
“Ran-Ran; what happened to you?”
Jiang Churan managed a smile, but she had kept her silence.
On the Sofa, Jiang Haishan was reading Milton Friedman’s A Monetary History of the United States. When he heard his daughter at the door, he looked up and noticed something was off about Jiang Churan. He furrowed his brows and asked: “Ran-Ran, what’s up with that face? Haven’t you gone to the Tian Shen Banquet?”
He suddenly remembered something, so he continued with an angry voice: “Did Chen Fan get on your nerves again?”
Jiang Haishan shook his head and lamented, “He is so arrogant. I have said it before, and I will say it again, Li Yichen is much better than him.”
“Excuse me? What has Xiao Fan done to you? I don’t see anything bad about him!” Auntie Tang flung back at her husband hotly.
Seeing her parents were at it again, Jiang Churan finally broke her silence.
“Dad, Mom, do you believe that someone could rise to prominence overnight?”
“What do you mean?”Jiang Haishan asked with a solemn face.
“Well… like, say your good friend, who you think is just an ordinary student. And one day, you realize that he had risen to power overnight and now you can only admire him as his inferior.” Jiang Churan chose her words carefully.
“However, you have no clue how or why this was happening.
“Let it be his ability, talent, temperament or intelligence, nothing about this friend suggested that he was extraordinary. So how could he have achieved so much so quickly while at the same their achievements would take others decades of hard work?”
“Situations like that are indeed very rare. But it is not impossible.” Jiang Haishan shook his head. “Working hard is one way to success, but it was not the only way. Your friend could have met a powerful protector who had helped him to achieve success overnight.”
“A powerful protector?” Jiang Churan’s eyes lit up. “What kind of protector does it take to lift my friend’s status from a normal high school student to that of Sheng Ronghua? The Wei Family? Could they do that to my friend?”
“Sheng Ronghua?” Jiang Haishan’s voice broke into a laugh. “Ran-Ran, you think too little of the Shen Family.”
“Shen Ronghua was one of the most powerful men in the Hu Dong province; his power was even greater than most city mayors. It was outright impossible to bestow so much prestige onto a high school student. The Wei Family won’t be able to do it, and neither does anyone in the Hu Dong Province. Only those top dogs from the Yan Jin City might have a chance.”
“Ok…” Jiang Churan replied confusedly.
“Did Chen Fan somehow gain support from those big wigs in Yan Jin? That’s impossible.”
“Ran-Ran, what exactly is going on?” Auntie Tang was baffled by all the questions.
“It’s nothing.”
Jiang Churan plastered a smile on her face and then walked straight to her room, leaving her parents bewildered by her strange actions.
She laid on her bed for a few hours and couldn’t fall asleep as the image of Chen Fan turning his back on her at the dining table kept on appearing in her mind.
“Chen Fan… Master Chen?”
How was that even possible?
The more she thought about it, the more difficult it was for the rational side of her to come to terms with reality.
In the end, she got up and sneaked out of her house and headed toward the mansion at the top of the mountain. It was the middle of the winter close to the Chinese new year, and she was only wearing a thin layer housecoat. The chilly air slowly drained the color from her face; however, she was determined to reach the top.
When she finally reached the mansion, it was already four o’clock in the morning and dawn had just broken.
She tried the mansion’s gate, and to her surprise, it opened with ease. Once she was through the entrance, she was surrounded by white mist; it was as if she had walked into the land of immortals. However, Jiang Churan didn’t waste time wandering around, she carefully sneaked up along the stairs and arrived at the third floor. There she found Chen Fan sitting in a wicker chair on the balcony; eyes half closed as if he was waiting for her.
“You knew I would be here?” Jiang Churan asked coldly.
“Why does that matter?” Chen Fan said slowly. “What do you want from me?”
Jiang Churan pondered the question for a second and then mustered as much courage as she could find. “You asked me if I believe that you are Master Chen, now I want to give you the answer.”
“I don’t believe you!”
She looked at Chen Fan straight in the eyes and announced each word loud and clear.
“Oh? Why not?” Chen Fan asked interestedly. “More than half of the elites in the Jiang Bei region believe me, why couldn’t you?”
“Because I have a brain!” Jiang Churan held her chin up as pride flashed across her face. “The Third Lord Wei, Xu Ao, and Liu Guodong all believed that you are Master Chen, but I don’t. I simply don’t see it in you.
“Chen Fan, you looked humble at first sight, but you are the most arrogant person I have ever seen. Everything you do goes against the grain of what is accepted by society.
“Your networking skills couldn’t even compare with Li Yichen, much less elite business executives.
“You have zero knowledge and skills in either business or politics.
“Have you ever read the books written by Daniel Kahneman or Finn Kydland?
“You lacked personality, family background, social abilities, and knowledge.
“You have nothing. So tell me, what made you Master Chen?”
By the end of her ranting, she nearly lost her voice and tears welled in her eyes.
She had spilled out her frustration, doubts, and remorse that she had bottled up inside throughout the entire night.
Jiang Churan went through elite education ever since she was a child. Her upbringing gave her the ability to pinpoint a person’s family background and degree of success based on observations such as the dress style, mannerisms, depth of knowledge.
She had never misjudged anyone until she met Chen Fan.
She had been convinced that Chen Fan was just another ordinary high school student who would continue to live an unexciting life at the bottom of society.
However, he had pulled the rug from under her and rose to power overnight.
“You came here just to tell me this?”
Chen Fan shook his head and said indifferently. “Jiang Churan, I have told you while we were at the bar to not to measure my power using your worldly knowledge.”
“You have no idea who you are talking to.”
He paused a second, stood up and then walked to the edge of the balcony, looking into the vast sea of clouds.
“Very well, still have doubts, don’t you? I will convince you today once for all that I am Master Chen.”
So saying, Chen Fan stomped the floor and shouted: “Arise!”
Suddenly, countless rays of golden lights shot up from the ground; it covered the entire swath of area from the Yun Wu Mountain to the Yan Gui Lake. The massive blanket of white mist rolled down from the peak and covered half of the mountain. Even as Jiang Churan tried to make sense of what was happening, she saw a misty white snake writhing among the clouds while humming a heavenly tune.
The snake looked exactly like the Yin Snake that was killed by Chen Fan at the pond, except for the addition of two horns on its forehead.
She looked around and found out that she was surrounded by boundless mist. Then she realized that it was not just her; the entire mountain was wrapped up in the misty shroud.
“This is… What?” Jiang Churan was rendered speechless.
The misty snake rose to the balcony and wrapped itself around Chen Fan as a pet would to its owner.
“I didn’t use talents nor money to subdue the tycoons of the Jiang Bei region. I only used real strength.
“The strength that commands life and death.”
Chen Fan linked his hands behind his back and turned his head to look at the girl as if he was looking at a pathetic insect.
Standing before the unimaginable sight, Jiang Churan suddenly had a moment of epiphany. “No wonder everyone called him Master Chen. With such power, he might as well be an immortal.”
After that final thought, her mind was claimed by overwhelming regret and remorse.
January 28, 2008, the Misty Mountain Array was completed!