“Have you gone mad?”
A sharp female voice suddenly broke the silence. Zheng Anqi could no longer keep up the calm and indifferent countenance, and by then, surprise and disbelief were written all over her face.
She glared at Chen Fan as if she was looking at a crazy person.
“Do you know what are you talking about? Who would spend ten billion yuan on a bottle of pills?”
In the year this event happened, which was 2007, there were only 900 people around the globe that had more than one billion yuan. If one considered currency, that equalled six to seven billion Chinese yuan. In other words, there were less than a thousand people in the world who owned more than seven billion Chinese yuan.
How many of those were from China? The answer was sixty.
With ten billion yuan, one would be considered the richest person in the entire China, much less in this inland province.
Although the Zhang Family claimed to own more than a hundred billion yuan assets, the number was bloated by the subsidiaries that the Zheng Family didn’t really control.
Therefore, the Zheng Family owned at most twenty billion yuan, but that figure had easily secured them a spot on the top ten list of richest families in Hong Kong.
Chen Fan had asked for half of the Zheng Family’s wealth, no wonder Zheng Anqi would be so riled up.
“Of course I know how much it is. I can count” Chen Fan said lightly.
“You can only buy these pills from me, no one else in the world will have them, plus, I have already given you a discount.”
Zheng Anqi was shocked by Chen Fan’s words. She wanted to refute the boy, but words simply evaporated from her mouth.
Master Wu was enthralled by Chen Fan’s assertiveness.
Ten billion!
No bargaining and no-nonsense.
The richest person in the entire Zhong Zhou Province owned about the same amount of money. Even if he traveled to the wealthiest provinces such as Jiang Nan, the ten billion yuan would earn him a spot on the ten five lists.
To put things into perspective, the future Chinese magnet Wang Jianling, owner of the Wanda Group, richest person of Chinese descent, had owned a little more than fifteen billion in 2008.
Chen Fan’s price would cost half of the Zheng Family’s wealth. Would the Zheng Family be willing to pay that much in exchange for a few years of the old man’s life?
Zheng Anqi thought about it for a while and then she shook her head.
“I am sorry Mr. Chen. We can’t take the offer.”
“Ten billion yuan is too much. With that price, we might as well have sent my grandfather to the best hospital and hook him up to the most expensive medical equipment.”
“It’s not too much.” Chen Fan said.
“Even the best hospital cannot guarantee two years of your grandfather’s life. Even if they could, your grandfather would be lying in bed, and unable to talk or move. However, if he uses my pills, he could live a normal life.”
Chen Fan paused a second and then said: “I can give you some time to think about it. Take this bottle of pills and try it first.”
He then handed the bottle to Zheng Anqi and gave Zheng Anqi a look.
“But don’t make me wait for too long. I am not very patient.”
Zheng Anqi looked at the bottle of pills in disbelief. After a while, she managed to gather herself as a broad smile broke over her face.
“Very well. I like your sincerity. Ten billion is it.”
“I will go home to gather the funds. I promise it won’t take long.”
Having sealed the deal, Chen Fan waved a hand dismissing his guests.
Before Zheng Anqi left, she collected the cremated remains of her bodyguards.
Master Wu was upset seeing Zheng Anqi was going to take away all the pills.
After Zheng Anqi and her entourage winded out of the valley, Mr. Shi asked in confusion.
“Mr. Zheng, are you sure you want to pay ten billion?”
“That is a lot of money, even for the Zheng Family. Should we go over this with your father?”
For most super-rich magnets, it was not uncommon to invest ten billion yuan in developing a shopping mall or office building. However, there was a difference between investment and expenses. One can always resell the investment, but the pills were gone forever once eaten, and so was the money used to pay for them.
Even among the richest people in the world, only a very small handful of people could afford to spend ten billion yuan on something that yielded no return, the number was even smaller in China. At any rate, The Zheng Family of Hong Kong was definitely not one of them.
“What makes you think that I am going to pay ten billion?” Zheng Anqi paused and looked at Mr. Shi with a smirk.
Mr. Shi’s face darkened.
“So you want to—”
Zheng Anqi cut him short with a smug smile.
“Did you see me sign any contract with him? No.
“There is no proof that I had to agree to pay him ten billion. What could he do to me? Sue me? I doubt he could afford a lawyer.”
She sneered at Chen Fan with a cold snort.
“Yes, he will find out that I lied to him, so what?
“As I said before, we live in a modern society now and the most powerful weapon in this day and age is law, and not martial arts and Dharma Spells.
“I have forced myself to tolerate him only because we are in Zhong Zhou Province. If this happens in Hong Kong, I will make sure he comes to beg me to spare his life.”
After she had finished ranting, she turned around and started off without waiting for Mr. Shi’s reply.
Mr. Shi was going to say something, but the words got caught in his throat and eventually turned into a long sigh.
“Miss. Zheng, you are too young and too simple.
“It is not that easy to get away with cheating a cultivator.”
Chen Fan had already reached a high level of attainment in his cultivation.
In the Daoist vocabulary, they call him a perfected master, while in the Buddhist world, monks would call him a guru.
A perfected master was able to turn wind into the blade, their breath into thunder. They could not be harmed by any natural elements and could summon thunder on a whim. She would be naive to think that she could get away with shorting the payment.
Mr. Shi shook his head and murmured: “I will have to talk to Lord Zheng when I get back to Hong Kong. We need to put down at least a few hundred million first. There will be many negotiations ahead of me; after all, Master Chen’s price is simply too steep.
“If I keep letting Miss Zheng be in charge of this matter, the Zheng family will be gone in a short period of time.”
After Miss Zheng had left, Master Wu came over to Chen Fan and said agitatedly.
“Master Chen, how could you let her take all the pills?”
“What if they don’t pay us a penny? What if they can’t afford it?”
“It doesn’t matter if they can afford it or not. They had agreed to pay me, so they will, one way or another.”
Chen Fan’s eyes held a luster that threatened to kill.
Seeing the light in Chen Fan’s eyes, Master Wu could not help but think about what happened to Xin Zhong.
Master Chen had made a similar agreement with Xin Zhong, and if Xin Zhong didn’t pay the forty-five million yuan in time, he wouldn’t have a chance to live until the martial arts tournament.
In the eyes of Master Chen, human life was as worthless as that of an ant. He could end it on a whim without feeling any guilt.
The thought sent a chill down Master Wu’s spine, and so he decided to keep his silence.
Chen Fan sat on a giant stone, eyes half-closed as he fell into deep thought.
“People on this planet were so convinced that their rule was the only thing that mattered.
“They have failed to realize a fundamental flaw in that logic: rules are meant to be broken.
“It was absolute strength and power, but not rules that held the truth of the universe.
“In this universe, there was no one who could owe me money and get away with it.”
Chen Fan said lightly.