Chapter Summaries

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun treats Sister Lou, the eldest sister of Lou’s third younger brother, at the manor. Her family’s arrival attracts the curiosity of the manor’s guests, especially Old Master Peng, increasing Feng Jun’s concern that Luohua Manor may become a gathering place for officials and influential people.
• Sister Hong hires a lawyer and formally notarizes the evidence before filing a lawsuit against Nier, the woman who defamed Feng Jun on Social Diary. The authorities encourage mediation because Nier’s son has died, but the lawyer firmly rejects reconciliation, arguing that grief cannot excuse defamation or allow morality to override the law.
• Feng Jun demands one hundred million in damages and criminal prosecution, turning the matter into a major legal and moral confrontation.
• Nier’s relatives retaliate through harassment and unofficial pressure. Two government officials attempt to inspect Feng Jun’s accounts but are stopped at the manor gate and beaten after trying to force their way onto the property. Their superiors later reprimand them for targeting Luohua.
• Further retaliation affects the injured driver’s family: hooligans disrupt his brother’s restaurant, which is then sealed and targeted with accusations of using gutter oil. The injured driver is also pressured by his employer to resign because of his injury and because he has allegedly offended someone powerful.
• The driver remains conflicted. He resents Feng Jun for not saving his son but recognizes that Feng Jun saved his own life and might have saved the boy if the driver’s wife had not driven him away.
• Feng Jun largely ignores these consequences, focusing instead on Hong Daliang and Sister Lou’s treatment. Old Master Yuan and Old Master Peng can only temporarily suspend Nier’s account; Yang Yuxin is the person capable of seriously damaging the opposing side, though Feng Jun hesitates to rely on her too heavily.
• Sister Lou’s recovery is astonishing: after one week she regains sensation, after ten days she has enough energy to watch television, and after two weeks she can move her entire body and even make shoe insoles.
• President Han reports the results to his superiors and negotiates the treatment fee with Feng Jun. Feng Jun charges two hundred million, despite believing the treatment could be worth up to five hundred million.
• President Han brings twenty million in cash and proposes acting as an agent. He suggests buying a pharmaceutical factory and mass-producing Feng Jun’s treatment, with Feng Jun providing the technology and taking sixty percent of the profits. When Feng Jun raises the difficulty of drug approval, President Han suggests marketing it as a health supplement instead.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun becomes increasingly wary of publicity and official attention. The legal conflict and retaliatory actions make him reconsider his earlier interest in finding an agent with government connections and reinforce his preference for privacy.
• Sister Hong demonstrates determination and a strict sense of justice by pursuing the lawsuit rather than accepting mediation.
• The lawyer, Zhang Weihong, frames the lawsuit as a defense of public morality and the rule of law, not merely a personal dispute.
• The injured driver develops a painful, conflicted understanding of Feng Jun. He still blames him emotionally for his son’s death but knows Feng Jun saved him and was wrongfully attacked by his wife.
• President Han proves practical, respectful, and commercially minded. He recognizes the value of Feng Jun’s abilities and attempts to build a long-term business partnership.
• Sister Lou shows remarkable physical recovery and renewed vitality, returning to ordinary activities and caring gestures toward her family.

Significant Themes

• Justice versus social stability: Authorities prefer mediation to avoid unrest, while Feng Jun’s side insists that grief and public pressure cannot excuse false accusations.
• The danger of public opinion and defamation: The chapter argues that allowing emotionally charged accusations to go unpunished could encourage moral decline.
• Power and retaliation: The opposing family uses official pressure, harassment, and economic attacks, but Feng Jun’s growing influence protects him and those connected to him.
• Privacy versus influence: Feng Jun wants to remain hidden and independent, yet his medical success naturally attracts officials, wealthy clients, and business opportunities.
• The commercialization of extraordinary medicine: President Han’s proposal introduces the possibility of mass production, while Feng Jun worries about regulations, exposure, and the consequences of expanding too quickly.
• Moral ambiguity and unintended consequences: The driver’s family suffers because of the original defamation, but their losses are tied both to Feng Jun’s retaliation and to their own actions.

Character Interactions

• Old Master Peng approaches Feng Jun about seeing Sister Lou, highlighting the growing curiosity surrounding the manor.
• The authorities attempt to mediate between Feng Jun’s side and Nier’s family, but Zhang Weihong rejects their appeal.
• Nier’s relatives confront Feng Jun indirectly through government inspections and attacks on associated businesses, escalating the conflict.
• The injured driver’s family becomes entangled in the dispute, while the driver internally reassesses his anger toward Feng Jun.
• President Han praises Feng Jun’s treatment, negotiates payment, and proposes becoming his agent by establishing a pharmaceutical business.
• Feng Jun maintains a guarded but respectful relationship with President Han, agreeing to meet him while refusing to reveal too much about his plans or relationship with Yang Yuxin.

Chapter Summary: “Making Health Wine”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• President Han suggests Feng Jun enter the health-products market to sell his medicines legally, but Feng Jun declines because he wants to earn money quietly and no longer wishes to market his abilities as health products.
• Feng Jun admits he is short on funds but points out that he could easily make money through stock or futures investments if necessary.
• Three days later, Wang Yunhai, a teenager who helped Feng Jun during the Peach Blossom Valley car accident, arrives at Luohua Manor with his cousin, Sheng Xiaofeng.
• Wang gives Feng Jun a video proving that he and Feng were rescuing accident victims out of goodwill, potentially helping Feng’s legal complaint against the people who later slandered them.
• Feng offers to compensate Wang by helping his family’s tobacco and liquor business, but instead decides to ask Wang’s father to locate a legitimate small liquor company or distillery for purchase.
• Wang’s father, Wang Shiwei, arrives and discusses the liquor industry and the practical difficulties of acquiring a company with proper production qualifications.
• Feng reveals that he possesses methods for brewing high-end liquor and developing health wines. He wants an existing, legitimate company to manufacture and sell the products while keeping his own identity separate from the business.
• Wang Shiwei directly questions whether Feng is trying to evade taxes or launder money. Feng denies both, explaining that his other private businesses handle large amounts of cash and that formally establishing a company connected to him could invite scrutiny into all his accounts.

2. Character Developments

• Feng Jun: Remains cautious and pragmatic. He is honest about his lack of money but confident in his ability to become wealthy. He rejects President Han’s proposed route and begins considering liquor production as a discreet, legally structured business opportunity. His desire for anonymity and separation from the company becomes clear.
• President Han: Shows business acumen by recognizing that Feng could package his medicines as health products, though Feng is not interested.
• Wang Yunhai: Is portrayed as idealistic, righteous, and somewhat mischievous. He preserves the rescue video not for money but to expose the truth at the most effective moment. His admiration for Feng grows after learning about Feng’s wealth.
• Sheng Xiaofeng: Demonstrates sharp observational skills and knowledge of luxury goods. She recognizes Feng’s wealth from his clothing and expensive watch and suggests using the rescue video to attract public attention. Her part-time work placing fake online orders gives her some understanding of e-commerce but does not become central to Feng’s plans.
• Wang Shiwei: Emerges as an experienced and candid businessman. He understands the liquor industry’s informal practices and is willing to ask direct, potentially uncomfortable questions about Feng’s motives.

3. Significant Themes

• Legitimacy versus concealment: Feng wants to operate through a properly qualified liquor company, but he also wants to keep the business disconnected from his personal identity and existing wealth.
• Business pragmatism: The chapter emphasizes how companies, brands, distilleries, and production licenses often function separately in the liquor industry.
• Justice and compensation: Wang Yunhai believes in helping others out of principle, while Feng argues that good deeds should not be treated as worthless and seeks to repay him meaningfully.
• Wealth and social perception: Sheng Xiaofeng’s recognition of Feng’s expensive watch illustrates how wealth influences assumptions about a person’s character and motives.
• Trust and directness: Feng and Wang Shiwei establish a relationship through frank conversation, addressing suspicions openly rather than relying on vague assurances.

4. Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and President Han: Discuss possible business directions, but Feng declines cooperation while appreciating Han’s clever marketing idea.
• Feng Jun and Wang Yunhai: Reconnect through the accident video. Feng questions Wang’s motives, then offers business assistance as compensation for his honesty and help.
• Feng Jun and Sheng Xiaofeng: Discuss Feng’s watch and wealth; Feng becomes interested in her perceptiveness and background.
• Feng Jun and Wang Shiwei: Have the chapter’s most important business discussion. Feng explains his plans for high-end liquor and health wine, while Wang Shiwei evaluates the proposal and challenges Feng about possible illegal motives.
• Wang Yunhai and Sheng Xiaofeng: Their differing approaches are revealed: Sheng favors immediate public exposure through the video, while Wang prefers waiting until the opposing side has fully discredited itself before revealing the evidence.

Chapter Summary: Celestial Brew

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun reveals that his new business is an illegal mine, not a smuggling or money-laundering operation. He explains that his jade fortune is already known within the industry and that the liquor company is a separate venture.
• Wang Shiwei, a knowledgeable liquor wholesaler, doubts that Feng Jun can successfully enter the highly competitive baijiu market. He believes success depends on reputation, distribution, branding, and advertising rather than merely possessing a secret recipe.
• Feng Jun gives Wang Shiwei a sample of his homemade liquor. After carefully tasting it, Wang acknowledges that it is exceptionally mellow, fragrant, pure-grain liquor with a lingering finish and an unusually invigorating effect.
• Wang criticizes the liquor’s faint earthy, grain-like aroma, believing it prevents the drink from reaching the highest level of baijiu. Feng Jun dismisses this concern, insisting that he will market the liquor as a natural, health-oriented luxury product.
• Feng asks Wang to evaluate its proper price and help locate a suitable liquor company, while arranging for Li Shishi to handle contacts so that Feng can remain behind the scenes.
• Wang receives a thirty-jin ceramic jar of the liquor. After drinking it at home, he experiences unusually deep sleep and wakes after coughing up a large amount of phlegm, feeling refreshed and physically lighter.
• Comparing Feng’s liquor with ordinary baijiu, Wang notices that the latter leaves him feeling unwell, while Feng’s liquor repeatedly seems to improve his condition. He begins to suspect that it genuinely has medicinal or health benefits.
• At a dinner with tobacco-company officials, Wang serves the liquor in a plain plastic jug. Section Chief Liu initially jokes about the unimpressive presentation but is quickly won over by the taste and apparent effects. The next morning, he calls Wang and asks him to bring the liquor to another dinner, signaling strong commercial interest.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun is portrayed as wealthy, confident, secretive, and highly ambitious. He refuses to treat the liquor as an ordinary beverage, believing its health benefits justify an extremely high price and luxury positioning.
• Wang Shiwei begins as a skeptical industry professional who doubts Feng’s brewing ability and business plan. After tasting and repeatedly drinking the liquor, he becomes convinced that it is genuinely unusual and may possess significant health benefits.
• Li Shishi remains a discreet assistant, helping serve tea and acting as Feng’s intermediary so he can avoid public exposure.
• Section Chief Liu shifts from skepticism about the bulk presentation to enthusiasm after tasting the liquor, demonstrating its immediate appeal to experienced drinkers.

Significant Themes

• Confidence versus conventional expertise: Feng trusts his product despite Wang’s belief that liquor success requires established industry methods and branding.
• Health as a luxury commodity: Feng plans to sell not merely flavor but the promise of improved health, allowing him to justify premium pricing.
• Appearance versus substance: The liquor is served in an ordinary plastic jug, yet its quality surpasses expectations, showing that packaging and reputation may matter less than actual effects.
• Secrecy and controlled influence: Feng wants to remain hidden while allowing others to build the company and market his product.
• Evidence through experience: Wang’s opinion changes not because of Feng’s claims, but because repeated personal experience convinces him that the liquor produces real benefits.

Character Interactions

• Feng and Wang debate the liquor’s quality, price, market position, and production philosophy. Wang offers practical industry criticism, while Feng responds with unwavering confidence.
• Feng relies on Li Shishi to support his discreet business strategy.
• Wang introduces the liquor to his tobacco-company contacts, using a dinner gathering to test its broader appeal.
• Section Chief Liu’s enthusiastic reaction confirms Wang’s growing belief that Feng’s liquor could become a commercially valuable and possibly elite product.

Chapter Summary: “Causality”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Section Chief Liu asks liquor merchant Wang Shiwei for more of Feng Jun’s unusual baijiu after experiencing its exceptional effects: restful sleep, no hangover, and increased energy.
• Liu hopes to use the liquor to impress and curry favor with his superior, but Wang refuses to provide the requested amount, claiming that only a small supply remains.
• Wang realizes the liquor may possess genuine health benefits and decides to reserve most of his remaining stock rather than casually give it away.
• Curious about how to commercialize such a valuable product, Wang contacts Old Zhang, who has recently sold his struggling liquor company for 490,000 yuan while retaining two percent of the shares.
• The company has been bought by Ye Qingyi, who plans to develop a new brand called Three Lives Liquor. Wang immediately tries to purchase Old Zhang’s remaining shares, sensing that the new venture may become highly profitable.
• Old Zhang suspects that Ye Qingyi is acting as a front for Feng Jun and connects the company to the mysterious events in White Apricot Town. Wang refuses to reveal anything.
• The chapter explains Ye Qingyi’s history with Feng Jun: she once helped him during a difficult period and introduced him to Li Dafu Jewelry, enabling his jade-appraisal business. Though they later drifted apart without conflict, Feng Jun still feels indebted to her.
• After learning about the liquor company, Feng Jun travels to Yang City to investigate and unexpectedly encounters Ye Qingyi. He decides to repay her past assistance by giving her an opportunity for good fortune.

Character Developments

• Wang Shiwei becomes increasingly aware of the liquor’s rarity and possible value. He shifts from treating it as a favor or business sample to considering it a premium health product and carefully managing his supply.
• Section Chief Liu grows greedy and opportunistic, hoping to use the liquor as a tool for advancement with his superiors. His persistence demonstrates how quickly people recognize and seek to exploit valuable connections.
• Old Zhang is torn between financial pragmatism and his lingering dream of building a successful liquor brand. Retaining two percent of the company allows him to remain involved and see whether Three Lives Liquor succeeds.
• Ye Qingyi is positioned as the public face of the new liquor business, though others suspect she is acting on behalf of a more powerful figure.
• Feng Jun shows loyalty and a strong sense of obligation. Despite no longer being close to Ye Qingyi, he remembers her past help and intends to repay it meaningfully.

Significant Themes

• Causality and repayment: Past favors continue to influence present events, particularly Feng Jun’s decision to help Ye Qingyi because she once helped him.
• Value and scarcity: The liquor’s limited supply increases its perceived worth and causes characters to reconsider whether it should be treated as a gift, commodity, or luxury health product.
• Social relationships and mutual benefit: Business dealings are shaped by favors, connections, referral fees, and attempts to gain influence.
• Secrecy and discretion: Feng Jun maintains a low profile, while Wang and Old Zhang carefully conceal what they know about his identity and the liquor’s origins.
• Ambition versus reality: Old Zhang’s failed attempt to build a liquor brand reflects the difficulty of competing in a market dominated by advertising, capital, and imitation.

Character Interactions

• Wang and Section Chief Liu engage in a polite but calculating negotiation over the liquor, with Liu pressuring Wang and Wang resisting while preserving their business relationship.
• Wang and Old Zhang discuss the liquor company, shares, referral fees, and the mysterious identities behind Three Lives Liquor. Their friendly banter is mixed with suspicion and guardedness.
• Old Zhang privately recognizes Feng Jun’s involvement but chooses not to confront him, understanding the risks of challenging a powerful person.
• Feng Jun’s past relationship with Ye Qingyi is revisited, emphasizing mutual respect, unspoken gratitude, and the way their lives have diverged.
• The chapter ends with Feng Jun preparing to convert his sense of indebtedness into a life-changing opportunity for Ye Qingyi.

Chapter Summary: “The Liquor Is Ready”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ye Qingyi unexpectedly encounters Feng Jun while collecting a delivery. Because of their past connection, Feng offers her a major business opportunity: he will fund a liquor company while she manages it.
• Ye agrees in a daze and becomes the nominal owner of 98% of Zhang San Old Liquor Company, later renamed Three Lives Liquor. Feng retains control behind the scenes, while the original owner, Boss Zhang, keeps 2%.
• Ye leaves her job at Li Dafu, abandoning her expected promotion, and begins handling the company’s registration, branding, bottle design, and operations with help from two friends.
• Feng acquires a remote distilling workshop, but the company does not truly distill liquor. Instead, it buys high-quality bulk grain liquor and secretly blends in tiny amounts of Spirit Wine.
  • Premium liquor uses roughly a 1:2,000 Spirit Wine-to-liquor ratio.
  • Mid-range liquor uses roughly a 1:10,000 ratio.
• Ye faces difficulties obtaining enough suitable liquor because of pricing concerns, competition from established producers, and the risk of inferior liquor being substituted.
• To strengthen quality control, she hires two local liquor experts, including a relative, while also relying on Boss Zhang’s experience.
• Initial purchases are slow, but Ye launches a temporary five-percent price increase for suppliers. This succeeds, allowing the company to collect over two hundred tons of liquor in half a month.
• The company’s expensive custom bottles arrive. Ye demonstrates the blending process, adding a small amount of mysterious colorless Spirit Wine to each batch.
• Her relative wants to taste the Spirit Wine, but Ye refuses, warning that ordinary people could die from drinking it directly.
• Boss Zhang samples the finished liquor. He finds its flavor only average because of an earthy aftertaste, but Ye plans to market it as natural, healthy, and premium.
• When Boss Zhang asks to take a larger quantity home, Ye limits him to two jin because of strict inventory controls. Feeling insulted, he calls Wang Shiwei to complain.
• Wang Shiwei is intrigued that the liquor is ready and asks to try some, setting up the next stage of the liquor’s evaluation.

Character Developments

• Ye Qingyi transitions from a somewhat muddleheaded employee into the apparent head of a company. Though inexperienced, she displays practical local knowledge, organizational initiative, and growing awareness of the need for independent staff and quality controls.
• Feng Jun continues to use his wealth and access to Spirit Wine to create opportunities for people he favors. He remains largely unconcerned with ordinary business details, leaving Ye to manage the company.
• Boss Zhang becomes a minority shareholder and an important industry resource, but he is frustrated by the company’s secrecy and Ye’s strict control over the liquor.
• Wang Shiwei remains outwardly calm and diplomatic, but his immediate interest in tasting the liquor suggests that he recognizes its potential importance.
• Ye’s relative and other technicians provide professional scrutiny, but their curiosity highlights how unusual and mysterious the blending ingredient is.

Significant Themes

• Changing social status and distance: Ye reflects on how her friendship with Feng has been strained not by emotional conflict but by the widening gap in their wealth and influence.
• Opportunity and luck: Ye receives an extraordinary chance almost accidentally, reinforcing the idea that her absentmindedness is balanced by remarkable good fortune.
• Power concealed behind ordinary business: The liquor company appears to be a normal startup, but its product depends on Feng’s supernatural Spirit Wine and strict secrecy.
• Trust and control: Ye must balance reliance on Boss Zhang’s industry knowledge with the need to maintain independent oversight and protect Feng’s secret formula.
• Business pragmatism: Pricing, supplier relationships, branding, quality control, and market positioning are treated as essential obstacles despite the supernatural advantage behind the product.
• The danger of spiritual resources: Spirit Wine is not merely a valuable ingredient; it is powerful enough to seriously harm or kill ordinary drinkers if consumed directly.

Character Interactions

• Feng’s unexpected offer leaves Ye overwhelmed, but she accepts because of her admiration and trust in him.
• Ye works with her two friends and later recruits her relative and another liquor expert, gradually building a support network.
• Ye and Boss Zhang cooperate uneasily: he contributes industry experience, while she enforces strict limits and safeguards.
• Boss Zhang’s complaint to Wang Shiwei reveals his resentment at being treated like an outsider in a company where he still owns shares.
• Wang Shiwei responds sympathetically while subtly expressing his own desire to taste the newly prepared liquor.

Chapter Summary: “A Different Approach”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Boss Zhang initially considers secretly keeping part of the valuable Three Lives liquor, but Wang Shiwei warns him that the liquor is extraordinary and reminds him to be content with his two-percent stake.
• Realizing that the liquor is connected to the mysterious and powerful Luohua Manor, Boss Zhang abandons his greedy thoughts and decides to take Wang’s advice.
• The next day, he visits the distillery and learns from Ye Qingyi that fewer than two thousand bottles have been produced.
• Boss Zhang criticizes the plain twelve-bottle packaging, arguing that Three Lives is too valuable for ordinary cardboard cases. Ye Qingyi agrees to consider improving the packaging.
• He then asks about promotion, sales, and the possibility of becoming an agent. Ye Qingyi rejects the idea, explaining that he lacks the money, marketing ability, and sales network needed to represent the brand.
• Ye Qingyi reveals that Three Lives will not be sold directly to the public. Instead, the company will process the liquor, add only ten yuan per bottle, and sell it to Feng Jun, who will control the final distribution and pricing.
• This unusual arrangement exists because Feng Jun wants to avoid drawing government scrutiny to the enormous profits generated by the liquor. Sansheng Liquor Industry will function largely as a contract-processing company.
• Boss Zhang is baffled that such a miraculous product will yield the company only a small markup. He protests that the liquor is being undervalued, but Ye Qingyi points out his hypocrisy because he had just asked to become its exclusive agent.
• Feng Jun’s intended prices are eventually explained through the narration: ordinary Three Lives will sell for 20,000 yuan per bottle, while Three Lives Aged Liquor—enhanced with an Origin-Nurturing Pill—will sell for 50,000 yuan per bottle.
• Feng Jun plans to distribute the liquor through four cultivation-related locations—Green Mountain Sect, Mount Fugu, Martial Sect Mountain, and Baizong Mountain—in exchange for a ten-percent rebate.

Character Developments

• Boss Zhang shifts from temptation and opportunism to cautious respect. He recognizes that Luohua Manor’s power makes greed dangerous and decides to follow Wang Shiwei’s advice.
• He also reveals a strong instinct for business, correctly identifying the weakness of the liquor’s packaging and understanding that the product’s value warrants luxury presentation.
• However, his business ambitions are undercut by his lack of resources and influence. His eagerness to become an agent exposes both his desire for profit and his insecurity about his limited commercial abilities.
• Wang Shiwei acts as a pragmatic adviser, manipulating Boss Zhang into preserving the valuable liquor while also steering him away from dangerous greed.
• Ye Qingyi becomes increasingly accepting of Feng Jun’s unusual business strategy. Although she finds the arrangement illogical, she is satisfied because the company receives funding, technology, guaranteed purchases, and substantial profits with little risk.
• Feng Jun demonstrates strategic caution. Rather than maximize the company’s visible profits, he structures the business to keep the bulk of the money outside official scrutiny while retaining control over the core technology and final sales.
• Feng Jun also develops the Three Lives brand into a luxury and longevity product line by introducing the expensive Aged Liquor.

Significant Themes

• Greed versus prudence: Boss Zhang’s momentary desire to keep the liquor is restrained by fear, loyalty, and recognition of forces beyond ordinary human power.
• Power beyond wealth: The chapter emphasizes that even wealthy or ambitious people must respect supernatural strength; money cannot protect everyone from mysterious cultivation forces.
• Business strategy and concealment: Feng Jun prioritizes control, privacy, and avoidance of government attention over conventional profit maximization.
• Value and perception: Packaging, exclusivity, reputation, and price are shown to influence how people perceive luxury goods as much as the product itself.
• Health, longevity, and status: Three Lives is marketed not simply as alcohol but as a form of wellness and potentially life extension, making it valuable to powerful and wealthy customers.
• Trust and unequal partnerships: Ye Qingyi’s company supplies the brand and processing, but Feng Jun controls the money, technology, product supply, and distribution, leaving the company dependent on him.

Character Interactions

• Boss Zhang and Wang Shiwei: Their joking conversation masks a serious negotiation. Wang tries to secure Zhang’s share of the liquor, then advises him to keep some for himself. Zhang recognizes both Wang’s cunning and the truth of his warning.
• Boss Zhang and Ye Qingyi: Zhang approaches Ye Qingyi as both a shareholder and an aspiring business partner. He proposes better packaging and asks to participate in sales, but she calmly rejects his ambitions and exposes his lack of qualifications.
• Ye Qingyi and Feng Jun: Though Feng Jun is not directly present, his business decisions dominate their interaction. Ye Qingyi follows his arrangement despite finding it strange because she benefits from his investment and guaranteed purchases.
• Feng Jun and the cultivation sects: Feng Jun plans to turn these powerful groups into distribution channels by offering them commissions, using their reputation and connections instead of conventional advertising.

Chapter Summary: “Is the Market Too Small?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun invites representatives from four Daoist groups to sample his newly produced Three Lives and Three Lives Aged Liquor. He hosts them at Xianlai Grand Hotel because Luohua Manor’s intense spiritual energy would interfere with tasting the wine.
• The representatives quickly recognize that the wine contains unusually rich spiritual energy. Elder Guo values it as a nourishing supplement, while Feng Tianyang compares its spiritual quality favorably to Dao-Seeking Tea.
• Tang Wangsun asks whether Green Mountain Sect’s Spirit Spring could produce similar wine, but Feng Tianyang explains that ordinary brewing would allow the spiritual energy to dissipate.
• Feng Jun gives each group two cases as a gesture of friendship and allows them to decide how much more to purchase. The next day, each group buys fifty cases, totaling six hundred bottles and more than twenty million yuan per group.
• Mount Fugu struggles financially and borrows money to make its purchase. Feng Jun advises Guan Shanyue not to overextend herself, but she insists that Master Feng’s products cannot fail.
• Tang Wangsun claims Green Mountain Sect could sell two hundred cases annually through rituals and religious events. Feng Jun is disappointed: he had expected to sell at least two hundred thousand bottles per year, revealing that the Daoist market is far smaller than he anticipated.
• Old Master Peng becomes interested in the wine and asks whether a friend in Long City can sell it on consignment. Feng Jun agrees, provided the arrangement involves only wine sales and no additional entanglements.
• After Peng and the other guests leave the manor, Feng Jun gives them additional wine. Xu Leigang’s second brother also buys a large quantity for personal use.
• In Long City, Peng’s first potential distributor hesitates because Feng Jun requires payment before delivery. Peng then approaches an old classmate, whose son purchases twenty cases of each wine upfront.
• The buyer initially stores the wine rather than selling it. When a local leader visits, the family serves him the aged liquor and exaggerates its scarcity and price, claiming it costs fifty thousand yuan per bottle.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun remains confident in the quality and value of his wine but begins to realize that ordinary commercial channels may not be large enough for his ambitions. He prefers a simple business arrangement and wants to avoid being drawn into political or personal obligations.
• Guan Shanyue demonstrates Mount Fugu’s financial vulnerability but also her strong faith in Feng Jun’s products. Her willingness to borrow money shows both pressure from her sect’s needs and confidence that the wine will sell.
• Tang Wangsun reveals Green Mountain Sect’s growing prosperity and marketing potential. He understands how to use the wine in rituals and religious hospitality, though even his projected sales are far below Feng Jun’s expectations.
• Feng Tianyang shows sharp insight into the wine’s spiritual properties and the limitations of ordinary brewing methods.
• Old Master Peng develops into an energetic intermediary. His habit of asking permission and pursuing opportunities leads to a practical distribution arrangement.
• The Long City businessmen reveal the gap between Feng Jun’s straightforward cash-based approach and conventional business expectations. They are interested in the enormous potential profit but expect deferred payment and normal commercial guarantees.

Significant Themes

• Supply versus market size: Feng Jun possesses a product with extraordinary quality, but the potential customer base and distribution network may be too limited to support his desired sales volume.
• Trust and reputation: Feng Jun’s reputation is so strong that the Daoist groups buy immediately and pay in cash, believing he has no reason to deceive them.
• Traditional institutions adapting to new resources: The Daoist sects view the wine not merely as alcohol but as a source of spiritual nourishment, ritual prestige, and renewed public attention.
• Business culture and risk: Feng Jun favors payment upfront and uncomplicated transactions, while conventional distributors want credit, proof of delivery, and large profit margins.
• Scarcity and presentation: The wine’s value depends not only on its supernatural benefits but also on how it is introduced—as a rare, health-preserving product unavailable through ordinary channels.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and the four Daoist representatives negotiate purchases through mutual respect and shared interest in spiritual resources.
• Feng Jun gently admonishes Guan Shanyue for borrowing beyond Mount Fugu’s means, while she openly insists that the investment is worthwhile.
• Tang Wangsun indirectly probes Feng Jun about the wine’s origins, but Feng Jun avoids revealing too much.
• Old Master Peng repeatedly seeks Feng Jun’s approval before involving outside contacts, creating a bridge between Luohua Manor and wealthy Long City buyers.
• Peng’s friend and son-in-law disagree over the risks of prepayment, while Peng’s old classmate and his son show greater trust by purchasing the wine immediately.
• The chapter ends with the wine entering elite social circles, as a local leader is introduced to it through hospitality and hears an inflated price that reinforces its mystique.

Chapter Summary: “Secret Investigation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The demand for Three Lives Liquor grows rapidly in Long City. After receiving liquor through Old Master Peng’s connections, his classmate’s son sells forty cases in half a month and earns over a million yuan.
• Encouraged by the market, he invests more than eighty million yuan to buy two hundred cases—one hundred cases each of Three Lives Aged Liquor and Three Lives Liquor. He travels to Yang City hoping to meet the mysterious owner, Feng Jun, but is instead received by a capable middle-aged man who claims to represent the boss.
• He quickly sells more than 150 cases in twenty days. Three Lives Liquor becomes fashionable among wealthy consumers, particularly because drinkers believe it produces noticeable health-related effects, especially for middle-aged and elderly people.
• High-end private clubs begin selling the liquor secretly and at vastly inflated prices. Bottles of the aged version sell for as much as 188,800 yuan, while regular Three Lives Liquor reaches 168,800 yuan.
• Curious buyers investigate the company’s listed address in Yang City, only to discover that the company has moved. Interest in the brand increases as people try to determine where it is produced and how it reaches Long City.
• Liu Qiangsheng, the son-in-law of another acquaintance of Old Master Peng, regrets previously hesitating over the distributorship. Seeing the liquor’s popularity and its prestige value, he becomes determined to obtain exclusive distribution rights.
• Old Master Peng rejects Liu’s request, reminding him that he had originally offered the opportunity to Liu’s family, who failed to commit. Liu feels cheated and resentful, then begins looking for other ways to gain access to the business.
• Several potential partners visit the Three Lives Liquor factory. Ye Qingyi remains distant and refuses to reveal the formula, discuss business strategy, or accept new distributors. Boss Zhang handles most visitors and is surprised by the enormous prices and sales success in Long City.
• Liu secretly investigates the company and discovers several suspicious details: the “factory” is actually a small blending workshop, it buys its base liquor from elsewhere, no customers appear to collect liquor there, and the brand is virtually unknown in Yang City despite its popularity in Long City.
• Suspecting illegal activity, Liu attempts to enlist local officials and the Drug Administration, but both refuse to investigate without concrete evidence. Their reluctance suggests that Three Lives Liquor Company may be protected by powerful connections associated with Feng Jun and Luohua Manor.
• Liu eventually brings two security officers to the company and demands to meet Ye Qingyi, claiming he wants to discuss the liquor’s “obscene profits” and suggesting the business resembles a pyramid scheme. Boss Zhang refuses to intervene further, privately hoping Liu might pressure Ye into changing the company’s exclusive arrangement.
• The chapter ends with Liu meeting Ye Qingyi for the first time and being immediately struck by her beauty.

Character Developments

• The Long City distributor: Becomes more confident and ambitious after the liquor sells exceptionally well. He moves from a small opportunity to an eighty-million-yuan investment and successfully establishes the brand’s reputation.
• Liu Qiangsheng: Changes from a hesitant potential distributor into a determined and resentful competitor. His interest is motivated not only by profit but also by status, exclusivity, and his belief that Old Master Peng deprived him of an opportunity.
• Old Master Peng: Becomes increasingly unwilling to help Liu after feeling that Liu previously disregarded his efforts and damaged his reputation.
• Ye Qingyi: Demonstrates firm control over the company and maintains strict secrecy. She refuses to be pressured by wealthy visitors or reveal information about the product.
• Boss Zhang: Functions as a practical intermediary. Although only a minor shareholder, he recognizes the enormous commercial potential of the liquor and privately wishes the company had greater freedom in sales.
• Feng Jun: Remains unseen but becomes increasingly important as the hidden source of the liquor and the presumed power behind the company.

Significant Themes

• Luxury, scarcity, and social status: The liquor’s value comes not only from its effects but from its rarity and the prestige of possessing something others cannot obtain.
• Business opportunism: Once the product proves profitable, people who initially hesitated quickly attempt to claim a share of the market.
• Secrecy and hidden power: The company’s small, suspicious-looking operation contrasts sharply with the liquor’s immense reputation and value. Feng Jun’s identity and influence remain carefully concealed.
• Connections and protection: The authorities’ refusal to investigate suggests that powerful networks can shield a business from scrutiny.
• Perception versus reality: Despite its crude facilities and lack of a conventional production chain, Three Lives Liquor is treated as a luxury product and commands extraordinary prices.

Character Interactions

• The Long City distributor works through Old Master Peng’s network but is unable to meet Feng Jun directly.
• Old Master Peng and Liu Qiangsheng clash over Liu’s earlier hesitation and later demand for the distributorship.
• Ye Qingyi repeatedly rejects would-be distributors and investigators, while Boss Zhang deals with them more casually.
• Liu questions local officials and drug regulators, but they refuse to act on rumors alone.
• Liu’s confrontation with Boss Zhang establishes tension before his first meeting with Ye Qingyi, setting up a likely conflict over the company’s secrets and distribution rights.

Summary of “A Trumped-Up Charge”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Qiangsheng visits the distillery and confronts Ye Qingyi, accusing the business of operating a pyramid scheme, evading taxes, and possibly laundering money.
• He questions why Three Lives Liquor is sold at extremely high prices, why it is not available through normal retail channels, and why the distillery refuses to sell directly to him.
• Ye Qingyi calmly refuses to explain the business and even tells Liu to report her if he believes she has committed a crime, frustrating his attempts to intimidate her.
• She reveals that the distillery is only a contract manufacturer and earns merely ten yuan per bottle, while another party handles sales and pricing.
• Liu realizes Ye is not the true decision-maker and suspects the business is hiding something. He leaves, intending to investigate further.
• Outside, Liu questions General Manager Zhang about the distillery’s profits and learns that she owns two percent of the company.
• He offers increasingly large sums—five hundred thousand, then two million—for her shares, hoping to gain access to the company’s financial records and uncover supposed wrongdoing.
• Zhang refuses to sell, noting that Ye has the right of first refusal and that another buyer has already offered one million. She also distrusts Liu’s promise to pay two million in exchange for information.
• Liu attempts to establish his wealth and reputation, but Zhang dismisses him as a bluffer and angrily walks away.

Character Developments

• Ye Qingyi: Demonstrates composure, business discipline, and loyalty to Feng Jun’s instructions. Though she appears naïve and harmless, she understands Liu’s real goal and deliberately withholds information. She refuses to risk the distillery’s stable profits by expanding into distribution.
• Liu Qiangsheng: Reveals himself as aggressive, arrogant, manipulative, and opportunistic. He disguises his desire to obtain the liquor and investigate the company as concern over legality. After failing to pressure Ye, he shifts to exploiting Zhang’s minority ownership.
• General Manager Zhang: Becomes increasingly disturbed by the enormous gap between the distillery’s modest manufacturing income and the liquor’s extravagant retail price. Nevertheless, she remains cautious, values her shares, and resists Liu’s attempts to manipulate her.

Significant Themes

• False accusations as intimidation: Liu uses claims of pyramid schemes and money laundering less as genuine legal concerns than as threats meant to force cooperation.
• Appearances versus reality: Ye’s innocent appearance hides her shrewdness, while Liu’s claims of wealth and authority may be partly performative.
• Greed and unequal profits: Zhang struggles with the realization that the company’s product is generating massive profits elsewhere while the factory receives only a tiny manufacturing fee.
• Loyalty and restraint: Ye follows Feng Jun’s boundaries despite the potential to earn more, emphasizing trust and disciplined management.
• Power through information: Liu seeks a small shareholding not for control but for access to financial records, believing information could expose or damage the company.

Character Interactions

• Liu’s flirtatious opening and increasingly hostile questioning clash with Ye’s detached, literal responses.
• Ye repeatedly frustrates Liu by refusing to justify the business or reveal Feng Jun’s identity and role.
• Liu and Zhang form a tense, transactional exchange: he tries to buy her loyalty, while she challenges his credibility and refuses to be pressured.
• Zhang’s blunt final rejection strips away Liu’s self-important image, ending the chapter with his attempted intimidation unsuccessful.

Chapter Summary: “Ghostly Tactics”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Boss Zhang agrees to cooperate with Ye Qingyi after being intimidated by Feng Jun’s influence. Although he tried to overcharge Liu Qiangsheng for his shares, he reports the incident to Ye Qingyi and identifies Liu by name.
• Zhang believes Three Lives Liquor’s real value comes from Feng Jun rather than the brand itself. If Liu buys the shares, Feng Jun and Ye Qingyi could abandon the brand and rebuild under a new name, though doing so would waste time and resources.
• Ye Qingyi informs Gao Qiang, who manages Three Lives Liquor’s external business. Gao decides not to bother Feng Jun immediately and instead investigates Liu Qiangsheng.
• With help from Yuan Huapeng and Zhang Weihong, Gao uncovers Liu’s identity, his connection to influential families, and his attempt to involve the Drug Administration against Three Lives Liquor.
• The investigation reveals that Liu’s father-in-law has a good relationship with Old Master Peng. Through this connection, Liu’s father-in-law learns of his actions and orders him to stop causing trouble.
• Liu outwardly agrees but privately becomes furious. Feeling humiliated that the matter reached his father-in-law, he decides to retaliate against Three Lives Liquor.
• Liu recruits two security guards with connections to local thugs and gives them 200,000 yuan to intimidate or suppress the liquor company.
• The guards approach Second Monk, an underworld figure. He accepts the money but questions who truly stands behind Three Lives Liquor, recognizing that provoking the wrong people could be dangerous.
• The chapter ends as a sharp-looking man and a beautiful woman enter Second Monk’s private room, setting up the next confrontation.

Character Developments

• Liu Qiangsheng is portrayed as arrogant, entitled, and vindictive. His failed attempt to exploit Three Lives Liquor turns into personal resentment, especially after his father-in-law reprimands him. Rather than backing down, he escalates by hiring criminals.
• Boss Zhang is cautious and pragmatic. Despite wanting to profit from Liu, he understands Feng Jun’s power and quickly reports everything to Ye Qingyi to avoid becoming involved in a dangerous conflict.
• Ye Qingyi acts responsibly by passing the problem to Gao Qiang instead of confronting Liu directly.
• Gao Qiang demonstrates loyalty, caution, and investigative ability. He is willing to take personal risks to protect Feng Jun and the manor, while deliberately avoiding disturbing his master over a matter he can handle himself.
• Zhang Weihong shows the reach of her connections by rapidly tracing Liu’s associates through license plates and travel information.
• Second Monk appears experienced and careful. Although he accepts the assignment, he first investigates Three Lives Liquor’s backing and shows that he understands the importance of identifying powerful opponents before acting.

Significant Themes

• Power hidden beneath appearances: Three Lives Liquor appears to operate from a modest courtyard, but its true backing comes from Feng Jun and his powerful network.
• Influence versus money: Liu assumes wealth and family connections can force others to submit, but the chapter shows that deeper relationships and personal power matter more.
• Loyalty and protection: Gao Qiang and the others protect Feng Jun and the manor without immediately troubling him, demonstrating their devotion and growing independence.
• Escalation caused by pride: Liu’s wounded ego transforms a failed business negotiation into an attempt at intimidation and retaliation.
• Caution in the underworld: Even criminals recognize that money is not enough; survival depends on knowing who is behind a target.

Character Interactions

• Boss Zhang contacts Ye Qingyi to explain his dealings with Liu.
• Ye Qingyi consults Gao Qiang, who begins investigating Liu through Yuan Huapeng and Zhang Weihong.
• Gao traces Liu’s family connections through Old Master Peng and his distributor network.
• Liu’s father-in-law reprimands him for creating trouble and embarrassing the family.
• Liu then instructs two security guards to hire thugs against Three Lives Liquor.
• The guards approach Second Monk, whose questioning suggests he may recognize that the liquor company is connected to people far more powerful than Liu realizes.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• A tough-looking man and the intimidatingly beautiful Sister Hong enter a private room filled with hooligans, searching for Liu Jianbo and Wang Yonggang.
• When one hooligan attacks with a wine bottle, the muscular man easily shatters it with his bare hand and throws the attacker into the wall, establishing the visitors’ overwhelming strength.
• Second Monk recognizes Sister Hong and becomes terrified. He respectfully calls her “Sister Hong,” revealing her fearsome reputation in the underworld.
• Second Monk apologizes for his men’s behavior and offers 180,000 yuan, but the muscular man demands another 300,000 yuan in cash as compensation.
• Sister Hong and her companion confront Liu Jianbo and Wang Yonggang over their attempt to interfere with Three Lives Liquor Company.
• Second Monk realizes that the two men were hired to cause trouble for Three Lives Liquor and angrily beats them for dragging him into the conflict and costing him 300,000 yuan.
• Sister Hong leaves with the muscular man and the two frightened security employees. Her reputation is reinforced by rumors that several enemies who opposed her later disappeared.
• The hooligans return with the money. Although Second Monk is furious about paying, he insists on keeping his promise and warns his men never to provoke Sister Hong.
• The next day, Liu Qiangsheng visits Liu Jianbo and Wang Yonggang after receiving no news about the operation. He learns that they were beaten and abandoned the job because Sister Hong’s group was too dangerous to oppose.
• The two employees refuse to return his money, claiming that their payment was taken by the people they accidentally provoked. Liu Qiangsheng suppresses his anger and instead asks for information about Sister Hong and her associates.

2. Character Developments

• Sister Hong is portrayed as calm, cold, and highly influential. She rarely needs to threaten anyone directly because her reputation alone inspires terror.
• The muscular man demonstrates extraordinary physical strength and a blunt, confrontational personality. He acts as Sister Hong’s enforcer and insists on direct compensation rather than accepting empty apologies.
• Second Monk shifts rapidly from an arrogant gang leader to a submissive, frightened subordinate once he recognizes Sister Hong. He is also shown to be pragmatic: despite resenting the payment, he honors his promise and protects his group’s morale.
• Liu Jianbo and Wang Yonggang are revealed to be opportunistic but cowardly. After accepting Liu Qiangsheng’s money, they try to arrange trouble for Three Lives Liquor, but immediately retreat when confronted by a much more powerful faction.
• Liu Qiangsheng remains proud and calculating. Although angry that his money and plan have failed, he considers the loss beneath his status and focuses instead on gathering intelligence.

3. Significant Themes

• Power and reputation: Sister Hong’s influence is so great that rumors of her past actions are enough to make powerful hooligans submit.
• Consequences of provoking stronger forces: Liu Jianbo and Wang Yonggang’s attempt to earn easy money brings danger not only to themselves but also to Second Monk’s entire group.
• Honor and keeping one’s word: Despite being frightened and resentful, Second Monk insists on delivering the promised money, suggesting that underworld credibility depends on honoring agreements.
• Hierarchy and submission: The chapter emphasizes how people’s behavior changes according to the perceived status of those around them—arrogance toward strangers becomes fawning obedience toward Sister Hong.
• Pragmatism over pride: Liu Qiangsheng chooses information gathering over openly pursuing a relatively small financial loss, showing his concern with preserving his dignity and larger interests.

4. Character Interactions

• The initial confrontation between the muscular man and the hooligans establishes a sharp contrast between brute strength and empty intimidation.
• Second Monk’s recognition of Sister Hong transforms the entire room’s mood, forcing the hooligans to abandon their aggression.
• Second Monk blames and strikes Liu Jianbo and Wang Yonggang for causing the conflict, while Sister Hong remains detached and refuses to demand additional payment.
• The hooligans’ later discussion shows their fear of Sister Hong and Second Monk’s role as both leader and protector of group morale.
• Liu Qiangsheng’s meeting with the two employees reveals mutual distrust: he feels cheated, while they fear becoming involved with Sister Hong’s faction again.

Chapter Summary: “Trial Sizes (Second Update)”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Qiangsheng confronts Wang Yonggang and Liu Jianbo after their failed attempt to deal with the people behind Three Lives Liquor. He demands his 200,000 back, but they refuse to take further action, warning him that the opposition is too dangerous for them to provoke.
• Liu Jianbo reveals that the people they hired destroyed their operation and even forced their boss to pay compensation. Realizing that the enemy is far more powerful than expected—and already having promised his father-in-law he would return—Liu Qiangsheng reluctantly leaves Yang City.
• Gao Qiang and Sister Hong report the incident to Feng Jun after resolving it. Feng Jun is displeased that Liu Qiangsheng was allowed to escape and contacts Old Master Peng for an explanation.
• Old Master Peng admits that he mishandled the situation and asks Feng Jun to show mercy, arguing that Liu Qiangsheng is young and spoiled. Feng Jun refuses to excuse him, warning that if Long City produces more troublemakers, he may stop selling Three Lives Liquor—and even jade—to the entire city.
• Guan Shanyue then reports that Mount Fugu’s sales of Three Lives Liquor are unexpectedly strong, ranking second among the four blessed grotto-heavens.
• Mount Fugu’s success comes from distributing free 20-milliliter “trial sizes” to wealthy lay devotees. By emphasizing that each sample is worth 800 yuan, they encourage recipients to try the liquor and later purchase full bottles, including the more expensive aged variety.
• Guan Shanyue asks Feng Jun to classify the sample bottles as advertising expenses. Feng Jun refuses to change his business rules but sponsors Mount Fugu with ten bottles of liquor instead.
• Guan Shanyue cautiously asks when Feng Jun will return to Mount Fugu’s secret realm, hoping he can resolve the dangers within it. Feng Jun gives a vague answer, as he is interested but does not yet believe the timing is right.
• Yang Yuxin arrives with news that the application to purchase 4,000 mu of land has been approved, though the transfer will involve land swaps completed within a year. She assures Feng Jun that the project can be funded through commercial housing development while preserving enough green space to satisfy Yang City.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Qiangsheng shifts from arrogance and aggression to cautious retreat. Although resentful, he recognizes that blindly pursuing revenge would be immature and potentially dangerous.
• Wang Yonggang and Liu Jianbo reveal that fear has overcome their greed. They are no longer willing to risk their lives for Liu Qiangsheng’s money and indirectly emphasize the formidable power of Feng Jun’s organization.
• Feng Jun demonstrates both uncompromising pride and practical management. He will not tolerate threats against his people or business, but he also maintains clear rules when handling Mount Fugu’s request for promotional support.
• Old Master Peng acts as a mediator, accepting responsibility for the failure and trying to prevent Feng Jun from escalating tensions with Long City.
• Guan Shanyue proves herself commercially clever and persistent. Her trial-size marketing strategy significantly improves Mount Fugu’s standing, while her careful request about the secret realm shows both ambition and caution.
• Yang Yuxin appears confident and financially capable, presenting the large land acquisition as a manageable investment rather than a burden.

3. Significant Themes

• Power and deterrence: The mysterious force behind Three Lives Liquor is strong enough to frighten local criminals and even make Liu Qiangsheng abandon his plans.
• Pride versus maturity: Liu Qiangsheng’s decision to leave, despite his anger, reflects the recognition that momentary revenge is less important than a broader plan.
• Business strategy and consumer psychology: Mount Fugu’s success demonstrates how sampling, perceived value, scarcity, and prestige can turn a luxury product into a highly desirable purchase.
• Rules balanced with compassion: Feng Jun refuses to establish a precedent of freely subsidizing marketing, but he still assists Mount Fugu through a separate sponsorship.
• Expansion and modernization: The planned 4,000-mu development signals Feng Jun’s growing economic influence and the blending of cultivation-related ambitions with large-scale commercial development.
• Hidden opportunities and dangers: Mount Fugu’s secret realm represents both a valuable asset and a serious unresolved threat.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Qiangsheng argues with Wang Yonggang and Liu Jianbo, but their warnings force him to reconsider his position.
• Feng Jun and Old Master Peng engage in a tense negotiation: Peng seeks reconciliation, while Feng Jun insists on defending his dignity and interests.
• Feng Jun and Guan Shanyue discuss Mount Fugu’s sales methods, funding, and secret realm. Their conversation reflects Guan’s growing dependence on Feng Jun and his cautious willingness to support her sect.
• Feng Jun and Yang Yuxin discuss the approved land purchase, with Yang reassuring him that the development can pay for itself through carefully planned real estate construction.

Chapter Summary: “Framing Someone” (Third Update)

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Yuxin explains her plans for the land surrounding Luohua Manor. She has purchased roughly 4,000 mu around the manor, creating a valuable protective buffer while also planning to build commercial housing in more distant areas to recover her investment.
• Her negotiations with the Yang City government have reached a general agreement, though resolving land-use rights, villagers’ demands, and farmland issues may take up to a year.
• Yang insists that she can finance the project herself, even investing several billion yuan if necessary, demonstrating her strong commitment to Luohua Manor and cultivation.
• Feng Jun, concerned about his own finances, offers one of Yang Yuxin’s friends a distributorship for Three Lives Liquor. A distributor from Ming City soon arrives, but doubts the city can match Long City’s sales because Ming residents favor refined lifestyles and drink less baijiu.
• The distributor asks for additional territories, including Bud City, Peng City, or Yu City. Feng Jun refuses to develop distributors in Bud City and Peng City because of his unpleasant past experiences there, but agrees to consider Yu City.
• Feng asks Yang to recommend someone for a Jincheng distributorship. Gao Qiang suggests a former comrade in Yu City who once saved his life, but Feng warns him against allowing personal loyalty to interfere with business decisions. Gao ultimately chooses not to favor his comrade, prioritizing his role at Luohua Manor.
• Meanwhile, Liu Qiangsheng gets into a fight at a private club. After beating someone during an argument, he discovers that the man is related to Young Master Dou.
• Shen Third brings Liu to Young Master Dou’s gathering place. Although Liu offers compensation and admits fault, Young Master Dou’s associates imply that the real issue is not money but Liu’s family’s business interests.
• The short associate hints that Liu can be released if his father’s side gives up or assists with several ongoing projects, leaving Liu visibly alarmed.

Character Developments

• Yang Yuxin is portrayed as capable, strategic, and deeply invested in Luohua Manor. She combines long-term planning with financial courage and takes responsibility for the project’s expenses.
• Feng Jun shows increasing confidence and authority in business matters. He rewards Yang’s loyalty by offering her connections a liquor distributorship, while remaining firm about places and people he does not want involved.
• Gao Qiang demonstrates loyalty both to Feng Jun and to his former comrade. His willingness to suppress personal feelings rather than risk damaging Luohua Manor’s interests shows growing maturity and professional discipline.
• Liu Qiangsheng tries to handle the conflict diplomatically, admitting fault and offering compensation, but becomes anxious when the dispute is revealed to involve Young Master Dou and potentially his family’s business.
• Young Master Dou is characterized as arrogant and powerful. He barely acknowledges Liu directly, allowing his followers to speak for him and emphasizing the difference in their status.
• Shen Third acts as an intermediary and enforcer, using his connections to pressure Liu while presenting the confrontation as a matter of settling an internal dispute.

Significant Themes

• Strategic investment and protection: Yang’s land purchases serve both commercial and defensive purposes, showing how Luohua Manor’s development blends business with security.
• Loyalty versus professional responsibility: Gao Qiang’s dilemma highlights the tension between repaying personal debts and maintaining impartiality in business.
• Power and social hierarchy: The confrontation involving Liu reveals how influence and connections matter more than simple compensation.
• Past grievances and personal boundaries: Feng Jun’s refusal to develop business in Bud City and Peng City reflects his determination not to revisit places associated with painful memories.
• Financial expansion: The liquor-distribution plans show Luohua Manor moving beyond cultivation and beginning to build broader commercial resources.

Important Character Interactions

• Yang Yuxin and Feng Jun: Their conversation strengthens their cooperative relationship. Feng acknowledges Yang’s substantial investment by offering business opportunities to her associates.
• Feng Jun and Gao Qiang: Feng tests Gao’s judgment regarding his comrade. Their exchange reinforces mutual trust but also establishes clear boundaries between friendship and duty.
• Liu Qiangsheng and Shen Third: Liu attempts to resolve the fight peacefully, but Shen redirects the matter toward Young Master Dou, increasing the pressure.
• Liu Qiangsheng and Young Master Dou’s associates: The associates use the conflict to probe Liu’s family’s business activities and suggest that the fight may be a pretext for extortion or coercion.
• Young Master Dou and Liu Qiangsheng: Their interaction is deliberately one-sided; Dou’s silence and indifference communicate his dominance and Liu’s vulnerable position.

Chapter Summary: “I Have a Project”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Qiangsheng, the son of a powerful businessman, is pressured to offer a meaningful business opportunity as compensation for offending someone in Young Master Dou’s circle.
• The short man, Brother Hao, rejects Liu’s suggestion of small contracts, implying that such an offer would be insulting given their status.
• To demonstrate his “sincerity,” Liu introduces Three Lives Liquor, a health-preserving liquor whose production cost is reportedly less than thirty yuan per bottle but which can sell for extremely high prices.
• Liu explains that he investigated the company in Yang City while seeking agency rights. He suspects the company is backed by a powerful and possibly dangerous force, even suggesting it may be involved in money laundering.
• Young Master Dou and his companions initially dismiss the business because of its limited customer base and high retail price. Liu counters that the liquor could generate tens of billions in annual revenue and that controlling its production or distribution would offer enormous profits.
• Liu admits he may be using Young Master Dou to deal with a competitor he could not confront himself, but argues that Dou has enough power to crush the company if the opportunity is worthwhile.
• Young Master Dou accepts Liu’s apology and agrees to let the earlier conflict go, while ordering Shen Third to investigate Three Lives Liquor’s distribution network in Long City and the company’s background in Yang City.
• Shen Third discovers that the Long City distributor is unwilling to surrender its agency rights and does not fear Young Master Dou’s influence. However, Dou was not specifically targeting that distributor; he only wanted preliminary information.

Character Developments

• Liu Qiangsheng is shown to be cautious, politically perceptive, and opportunistic. He understands the hierarchy within Young Master Dou’s circle and carefully avoids offering anything that might seem disrespectful. Although he presents the liquor information as an apology, he is clearly trying to turn the situation into a profitable opportunity and possibly use Dou against a rival.
• Young Master Dou appears arrogant and detached, but he is also practical and calculating. He does not act merely to display power; he evaluates whether a project offers sufficient returns before becoming involved. His interest in Three Lives Liquor increases once he recognizes its potentially enormous profit margin.
• Brother Hao acts as the immediate pressure point against Liu, demanding a substantial gesture and criticizing Liu’s attempt to offer minor business opportunities. He is direct, suspicious, and confident in his position.
• Shen Third functions as Dou’s loyal subordinate and informal “straight man.” He deliberately makes seemingly foolish comments to test Liu and control the conversation, then carries out Dou’s investigation.
• The beauty beside Young Master Dou reinforces the atmosphere of luxury and servitude, quietly attending to Dou while he makes decisions.

Significant Themes

• Power and hierarchy: The chapter emphasizes that elite circles operate through clear power structures, discretion, and indirect relationships rather than open cooperation among equals.
• Business as political maneuvering: Commercial opportunities are inseparable from influence, family connections, and the ability to protect or destroy competitors.
• Profit versus risk: Young Master Dou is interested in Three Lives Liquor only if the potential returns justify the danger of confronting the unknown force behind it.
• Manipulation and self-interest: Liu’s apology is also a calculated attempt to offer Dou a lucrative project and redirect Dou’s power toward Liu’s own unresolved problem.
• Appearances and hidden motives: Characters speak politely and indirectly while constantly testing one another, concealing their real intentions behind business talk.
• Discretion and secrecy: The group assumes that the service workers will remain silent, underscoring the importance of controlling information in their world.

Character Interactions

• Liu carefully negotiates with Brother Hao, trying to avoid both disrespect and excessive submission.
• Shen Third repeatedly interrupts and challenges Liu, forcing him to state his real proposal instead of speaking vaguely.
• Liu appeals directly to Young Master Dou, gradually capturing his attention by presenting Three Lives Liquor as a high-margin opportunity.
• Dou questions Liu’s motives and refuses to be drawn into a low-return confrontation, establishing himself as powerful but not reckless.
• Liu and Dou reach an implicit settlement: Liu’s offense is forgiven, while Dou receives information about a potentially valuable business.
• After Liu leaves, Dou delegates the investigation to Shen Third, showing the chain of command within the group.

Chapter Summary: “Double Hatred”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Young Master Dou’s main objective is to seize control of Three Lives Liquor, but delayed information from Yang City causes him to reconsider his priorities.
• Shen Third reports that Luohua Manor is expanding by another four thousand mu, bringing its total area close to ten thousand mu. The land is officially leased barren mountain and industrial land, but Dou realizes its designation could potentially be changed for valuable real-estate development.
• Dou learns that Epoch Corporation, backed by Old Third Gu’s widow, Yang Yuxin, is involved in acquiring the land. Because Feng Jun and Luohua Manor have long been Dou’s enemies, he orders Yang Yuxin to withdraw.
• Yang Yuxin dismisses Dou’s warning and refuses to yield. Enraged, Dou decides to compete for the land directly and uses his influence in Yang City.
• Officials begin questioning Epoch Corporation’s intended industrial plans, while others promote the area as ideal for residential development. This creates bureaucratic obstacles for Yang Yuxin’s acquisition.
• Yang Yuxin recognizes Dou’s interference and responds by declaring that Epoch can develop a cultural industry park incorporating premium housing.
• Before her response can be submitted, officials from Yang City’s Resources Bureau arrive at Luohua Manor. They claim the government plans to reclaim Luohua’s leased mountain land and the adjacent four thousand mu to construct a large residential community, offering compensation for the manor’s previous investment.
• Wang Haifeng angrily challenges the legality of breaking the lease, while the officials argue that the project serves the city’s future development. They reveal that the land’s river views and potential to raise housing prices are major motivations for the requisition.

Character Developments

• Young Master Dou: His resentment toward Feng Jun and Luohua Manor resurfaces. He views Feng Jun’s continued success—especially the rise of Funiu Jade—as a personal humiliation. Dou’s sense of entitlement and confidence in his influence lead him to treat his warning to Yang Yuxin as a favor rather than a threat. Her refusal intensifies his hostility.
• Shen Third: He carefully manages Dou’s mood by shifting his attention from the unresolved liquor investigation to the lucrative Luohua Manor land issue. He demonstrates political awareness and knowledge of local land dealings.
• Yang Yuxin: She proves composed, independent, and unwilling to be intimidated by Dou. She understands the political maneuvering against her and responds pragmatically by adjusting Epoch’s proposed development plans.
• Wang Haifeng: He acts as Luohua Manor’s blunt defender, immediately focusing on the breach of contract and refusing to accept vague government justifications.
• Feng Jun: Though absent from the manor, his reputation continues to influence events. Both Dou and the officials understand that interfering with him may provoke serious resistance.

Significant Themes

• Power, influence, and political manipulation: Dou uses elite connections to interfere with land negotiations, while local officials reshape policy to serve powerful interests.
• Personal grudges becoming public conflicts: Dou’s resentment toward Feng Jun transforms a private rivalry into a struggle involving major land development and government action.
• Entitlement versus independence: Dou assumes others should defer to him, while Yang Yuxin refuses to accept his authority.
• Economic exploitation and changing land value: Mountain and industrial land become highly valuable because of their development potential, river views, and ability to support profitable housing projects.
• Legal agreements versus political power: Luohua Manor’s valid lease is threatened by administrative action, showing how contracts can be overridden when influential forces become involved.

Character Interactions

• Dou and Shen Third discuss Luohua Manor, with Shen Third subtly redirecting Dou’s attention toward the more profitable land opportunity.
• Dou sends Yang Yuxin a warning through intermediaries, expecting obedience because of his family’s status.
• Yang Yuxin rejects the warning, causing Dou to feel insulted and escalating the rivalry.
• Government officials then act against Epoch Corporation and Luohua Manor, effectively advancing Dou’s interests.
• At Luohua Manor, Wang Haifeng confronts the Resources Bureau representatives over the attempted cancellation of the lease, while they attempt to justify the seizure as necessary for urban development.

Chapter Summary: “Each with Their Own Story”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The Yang City government plans to reclaim Luohua Manor and surrounding land for urban development. Officials view the mountainous area as valuable real estate, especially for luxury villas and land-finance profits.
• Two Resources Bureau officials visit the manor to announce the plan and arrange a survey and registration. Wang Haifeng firmly refuses entry, warning them that the manor admits no one without permission.
• The news enrages Yang Yuxin and worries the manor’s residents, who fear losing their home, cultivation environment, and Spirit-Gathering Arrays.
• Feng Jun returns and learns of the threat. Though initially shocked, he quickly decides that simply seeking justice through official channels may not be enough; he intends to identify the opposing forces and act accordingly.
• The group investigates the political situation in Yang City. Mayor Xiang strongly supports requisitioning the land because selling it would generate more revenue than honoring the existing lease and paying compensation.
• City Council Chairman Zhou opposes the plan, arguing that government credibility and social values matter as much as economic gain.
• Neither Mayor Xiang nor Chairman Zhou appears connected to the Dou Family, suggesting that the conflict may be driven by independent political and financial interests rather than solely by Feng Jun’s personal enemies.
• Feng Jun tells Yang Yuxin to leave the matter to him.
• The chapter ends with a possible counterattack: police raid a karaoke gathering attended by Xiang Song, Mayor Xiang’s son, after receiving a report that someone is using drugs.

2. Character Developments

• Feng Jun: Demonstrates growing confidence and strategic calm. Rather than panicking or focusing only on legal remedies, he adopts a broader political approach: determining who is an enemy, who is an ally, and how to gain the advantage.
• Wang Haifeng: Shows strong loyalty to Luohua Manor and readiness to defend it. Although he privately blames Yang Yuxin for unintentionally contributing to the crisis, he also recognizes that the land would eventually have attracted official attention.
• Yang Yuxin: Feels responsible because her acquisition of the additional four thousand mu made the entire tract more attractive to the city. She nevertheless takes initiative by investigating the political forces involved and seeking ways to pressure them.
• Xu Leigang: Reacts with intense anger because the manor provides him with a satisfying life and an opportunity to cultivate. He views the requisition attempt as an intolerable attack on both his master and his way of life.
• Gu Jiahui: Offers an innocent suggestion that they should sue the government, prompting the others to view her idea as youthful and impractical.
• Sister Hong: Provides a pragmatic assessment, emphasizing that the proposal has not yet passed through the city council and can still potentially be stopped.
• Li Shishi and Teacher Mei: Their exchange about sending plane tickets briefly lightens the tense atmosphere, showing the group’s closeness and ability to use humor during a crisis.
• Mayor Xiang and Chairman Zhou: Represent opposing approaches to governance—profit-driven development versus administrative credibility and moral responsibility.
• Xiang Song: Is introduced as Mayor Xiang’s relatively discreet son. His birthday celebration becomes the setting for an apparent police operation that may be connected to Feng Jun’s response.

3. Significant Themes

• Economic development versus individual rights: The government prioritizes land profits and urban expansion, while Feng Jun argues that lawful leases and private investment should be respected.
• Government corruption and broken trust: Officials are willing to breach an existing contract because the financial benefits outweigh the compensation costs, raising questions about the reliability of government promises.
• Power and retaliation: Feng Jun realizes that formal justice may not be sufficient and prepares to counter political pressure through influence and strategic action.
• Friendship and factional politics: Feng Jun stresses the importance of distinguishing allies from enemies, presenting political awareness as essential to survival.
• Attachment to place: Luohua Manor is more than property. It is a home, a cultivation site, and a shared community, which explains the residents’ emotional resistance to losing it.
• Different standards among officials: The chapter contrasts higher-level figures who state their positions more openly with local officials who evade responsibility and manipulate circumstances.
• Moral responsibility versus profit: Chairman Zhou’s opposition highlights the idea that public administration must preserve social trust and spiritual or moral values, not merely maximize revenue.

4. Character Interactions

• The Resources Bureau officials attempt to carry out their assignment, but Wang Haifeng intimidates them into leaving without surveying the manor.
• Yang Yuxin blames herself, while Feng Jun rejects her explanation and insists that the deeper cause is the longstanding hostility involving Young Master Dou.
• The manor residents gather around Feng Jun, expressing anger, fear, and a willingness to retaliate. Their discussion reinforces their collective loyalty to him and to Luohua Manor.
• Yang Yuxin, Sister Hong, and Wang Haifeng take responsibility for investigating the city’s internal factions.
• Feng Jun takes command of the situation, shifting the group from defensive anxiety toward active strategy.
• The contrast between Mayor Xiang and Chairman Zhou establishes the central political conflict: financial opportunism against institutional integrity.
• The police raid on Xiang Song’s celebration suggests that Feng Jun may already be turning the mayor’s own family connections into leverage.

Chapter Summary: “An Ugly Expression”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Mayor Xiang visits Luohua Manor in the rain to confront Feng Jun about the city’s plan to requisition the manor’s land for urban development.
• Because the manor’s gates are closed, a short guard picks him up on a motorcycle and takes him to the villa.
• Mayor Xiang argues that the city is developing an ecological belt and that requisitioning Feng Jun’s property is necessary for Yang City’s future.
• Feng Jun acknowledges the mayor’s reasoning but firmly refuses to surrender the land, insisting that his lease was obtained legally and that urban development does not automatically justify taking it.
• The conversation turns hostile when Mayor Xiang accuses Feng Jun of arranging for his son, Xiang Song, to be framed for drug use.
• Feng Jun neither admits nor denies responsibility, instead mocking the mayor and implying that Xiang Song’s troubles are connected to the mayor’s own actions.
• Mayor Xiang threatens Feng Jun indirectly, suggesting that cooperation would bring better compensation while resistance would have consequences.
• Feng Jun responds with a veiled threat of his own, suggesting that Xiang Song could leave the country if necessary.

2. Character Developments

• Feng Jun is shown to be calm, stubborn, confident, and highly protective of Luohua Manor. He treats the estate as something personally precious and refuses to let the mayor define its importance. His refusal to confirm or deny involvement in Xiang Song’s drug case demonstrates his willingness to intimidate and psychologically pressure his opponent.
• Mayor Xiang appears politically experienced and capable of presenting rational arguments, but his composure weakens when the discussion involves his son. His concern shifts from persuading Feng Jun about urban development to defending Xiang Song and threatening Feng Jun.
• The short guard reinforces the manor’s controlled and isolated atmosphere by managing access and transporting the mayor without ceremony.

3. Significant Themes

• Individual rights versus collective development: Mayor Xiang frames the land requisition as necessary for the city’s progress, while Feng Jun rejects the idea that public development automatically overrides private legal rights.
• Power and coercion: The discussion reveals that the official justification of urban planning may conceal political interests, pressure, and selective enforcement.
• Moral hypocrisy: Feng Jun points out that the city tolerated or excused other illegal developments while targeting his legally leased property, exposing inconsistent standards.
• Family and personal interests: Mayor Xiang claims to act for the city but becomes most emotionally invested when his son is threatened, suggesting that official duty and personal loyalty are intertwined.
• Psychological warfare and indirect threats: Both men avoid openly stating their full intentions, using sarcasm, insinuation, and carefully worded threats to gain leverage.

4. Character Interactions

• Mayor Xiang begins the meeting with a sarcastic remark about Feng Jun’s isolation, but Feng Jun immediately rebuffs him.
• Their discussion initially takes the form of a political negotiation, with Mayor Xiang offering a structured argument and Feng Jun rejecting it without engaging in an ideological debate.
• The exchange becomes openly antagonistic when Xiang Song’s alleged drug planting is raised. Mayor Xiang accuses Feng Jun of cowardice and manipulation, while Feng Jun responds with mockery and refuses to accept blame.
• Mayor Xiang attempts to pressure Feng Jun through implied consequences and possible compensation. Feng Jun counters by suggesting that Xiang Song, unlike the immovable manor, can leave the country—an unmistakable warning that the conflict may escalate beyond the property dispute.

Chapter Summary: “Hard to Get Through the Gate”

Plot Points and Events

• During a drunken argument among students, patrol officers discover “ice” in a handbag belonging to Xiang Song, who is arrested and taken for investigation. Although he insists he was framed, the officers plan to notify his school and conduct a urine test.
• Xiang Song calls his father, Mayor Xiang, who believes his son is innocent and suspects the incident may be connected to a romantic rivalry—or possibly a larger attack aimed at himself.
• Mayor Xiang learns that the real-name report came from the assistant of Yuan Zihao’s eldest daughter. His attempts to intervene fail because the authorities regard the case as serious, especially given Xiang Song’s status as a master’s student. They even consider investigating possible AIDS cases at the school, which could permanently damage Xiang Song’s reputation.
• Unable to resolve the matter through official channels, Mayor Xiang seeks contact with Luohua Manor, apparently hoping Feng Jun can help. His secretary struggles to reach the manor and is repeatedly refused entry at the mountain gate.
• The secretary waits through the night and the rain, but the guards remain hostile and sarcastic, insisting that the manor is closed and that Feng Jun has no time to visit the city.
• Feng Jun eventually hears the request and dismisses it, telling the secretary to have the city send people to tear the manor down if they wish.
• Frustrated, Mayor Xiang personally travels to the manor. Once he arrives, the guards notify Feng Jun, who allows Mayor Xiang to enter while ordering everyone else to remain outside.

Character Developments

• Xiang Song is shown as frightened and vulnerable, mainly concerned with the damage the accusation could do to his reputation and future. His dependence on his father highlights his limited ability to protect himself.
• Mayor Xiang shifts from paternal concern to political suspicion and strategic action. He recognizes that the incident may be connected to powerful enemies and attempts to use his influence, connections, and finally his personal presence to solve it.
• Feng Jun is portrayed as confident, dismissive, and unwilling to submit to governmental authority. His refusal to travel to the city—and his decision to admit only Mayor Xiang—demonstrate the manor’s growing power and independence.
• Li Shishi represents the manor’s elevated status. She is unconcerned about calls from ordinary officials and does not treat Mayor Xiang’s request as urgent.
• The gate guards, especially Gao Mengang, have become increasingly arrogant and fearless, reflecting their confidence in Luohua Manor’s backing.
• Yuan Zihao’s eldest daughter remains largely offstage, but her assistant’s report is presented as the trigger for Xiang Song’s predicament, leaving open the question of her true motives.

Significant Themes

• Power and influence: Mayor Xiang’s official position is not enough to command Luohua Manor, suggesting that Feng Jun’s influence rivals or exceeds that of the city government.
• Reputation and social destruction: Even an accusation can ruin Xiang Song’s education, career prospects, and personal standing, especially because drug use and AIDS are treated as deeply stigmatizing.
• Political maneuvering and hidden conflict: The drug incident may be more than a student dispute; Mayor Xiang suspects that someone is using Xiang Song to target him.
• Institutional arrogance and corruption: Authorities make sweeping assumptions about drug use and AIDS, while political figures attempt to solve the matter through personal connections.
• Status reversal: The government usually controls access and authority, but at Luohua Manor the mayor must personally come to the gate and wait for permission to enter.

Character Interactions

• Xiang Song and Mayor Xiang: Xiang Song appeals to his father for protection, while Mayor Xiang reassures him but also investigates the political implications of the accusation.
• Mayor Xiang and his secretary: The mayor orders the secretary to contact Luohua Manor, but the secretary repeatedly fails and is humiliated by the manor’s guards.
• The secretary and the gate guards: Their exchanges are tense and mocking, emphasizing the guards’ confidence and the secretary’s lack of authority at the manor.
• Mayor Xiang and Feng Jun: Although they have not yet met directly in the chapter, their confrontation is established. Feng Jun initially refuses to respond, then permits only the mayor to enter, signaling a controlled but significant meeting ahead.

Chapter Summary: “A Way Out”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Mr. Xiang visits Feng Jun to discuss both his son Xiang Song’s troubles and the government’s plan to requisition Luohua Manor’s land.
• Feng Jun sarcastically warns that Xiang Song may continue encountering trouble, implying that Mr. Xiang’s influence cannot protect him indefinitely.
• Their argument shifts to the value of Luohua Manor. Feng Jun makes clear that the manor is not merely a business he is willing to sell.
• Feng Jun shows Mr. Xiang the Jade Stone Building, revealing that it is constructed entirely from exceptionally valuable mutton-fat white jade. Its true value is vastly greater than Mr. Xiang had imagined.
• Feng Jun offers a possible compromise: he will exchange the manor for another mountainous, scenic plot of at least ten square kilometers, but Luohua Manor must remain in place for at least five years during construction.
• Mr. Xiang recognizes that Feng Jun’s conditions are difficult to fulfill and proposes reporting them to the authorities, suggesting that an exchange for twenty square kilometers might end the dispute.
• In return, Feng Jun casually offers to investigate the separate Long City incident and see whether he can help.
• News arrives that Xiang Song has been released from police custody into his university’s care, though the investigation continues and the scandal can no longer be concealed.
• Mr. Xiang comforts his son by telling him to value the support of genuine friends rather than worry about those who simply follow public opinion.
• As Mr. Xiang leaves, Yang Yuxin privately warns him that Feng Jun has shown restraint and that no further “accidents” should occur.

2. Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates confidence, sharpness, and strong control over the negotiation. He refuses to reduce Luohua Manor to a monetary transaction and makes clear that he is committed to developing and protecting it.
• Feng Jun also reveals a more strategic side: his relocation proposal gives Mr. Xiang a possible political escape while likely ensuring that the manor will not actually have to move.
• Mr. Xiang begins the meeting believing the land can be acquired through authority or money, but the Jade Stone Building forces him to recognize the scale of Feng Jun’s investment and the legitimacy of his resistance.
• Although irritated by Feng Jun’s sarcasm and defiance, Mr. Xiang becomes more cautious and attempts to soften their relationship.
• Mr. Xiang’s concern for Xiang Song is genuine, but the discussion exposes his conflict between family and ambition. He struggles to present himself as someone who would sacrifice power and career for his son.
• Xiang Song remains under investigation and suffers reputational damage despite being treated as innocent for the moment.
• Yang Yuxin emerges as a protective intermediary for Feng Jun and the manor, delivering a discreet but unmistakable warning to Mr. Xiang.

3. Significant Themes

• Power versus family: The conversation questions whether powerful people truly place their children above careers, status, and political ambition.
• Money versus personal meaning: Feng Jun insists that Luohua Manor is not simply valuable property; it represents a serious long-term vision and personal commitment.
• Political compromise and saving face: Feng Jun’s land-exchange offer provides Mr. Xiang with a way to retreat without openly admitting defeat.
• Hidden wealth and underestimated strength: The Jade Stone Building symbolizes Feng Jun’s enormous resources and the danger of judging him as an ordinary businessman.
• Consequences and reputation: Xiang Song’s release does not erase the scandal, showing that public knowledge and social judgment can be as damaging as legal punishment.
• Restraint backed by power: Feng Jun’s warning that he has been “restrained” suggests that the conflict could become much more serious if Mr. Xiang continues opposing him.

4. Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Mr. Xiang engage in a tense, sarcastic negotiation, with Feng Jun repeatedly challenging Mr. Xiang’s assumptions and authority.
• Mr. Xiang tries to frame Luohua Manor as a purchasable business, while Feng Jun insists it should be treated as an irreplaceable enterprise and personal project.
• Their confrontation gradually shifts from hostility toward a cautious, informal truce: Mr. Xiang agrees to report Feng Jun’s conditions, while Feng Jun offers assistance regarding Long City.
• Mr. Xiang’s phone conversation with Xiang Song shows him acting as a father rather than a political figure, though his advice focuses on enduring public judgment.
• Yang Yuxin’s private warning reinforces Feng Jun’s position and makes clear that the manor has powerful allies who are monitoring Mr. Xiang’s actions.

Chapter Summary: “New Business”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Mayor Xiang explains to Yang Yuxin that he had abandoned her original proposal because a more profitable alternative—supported by higher authorities—promised to multiply government revenue. He admits he should have informed her beforehand.
• Yang Yuxin warns him to keep her updated if others attempt to support the opposing side. Mayor Xiang agrees to have his secretary maintain contact with Era’s representatives.
• After returning from Luohua Manor, Mayor Xiang argues that the government should protect its public image and avoid arbitrarily requisitioning land. He suggests that if no agreement can be reached, the project should be moved elsewhere.
• Chairman Zhou rejects Luohua Manor’s demand to exchange four square kilometers of land for twenty, calling it extortion and warning that accepting would make the officials “sinners in history.”
• Feng Jun analyzes the dispute and realizes that Chairman Zhou is opposing the excessive terms rather than rejecting the project entirely. Since Mayor Xiang had inflated the original ten-square-kilometer proposal to twenty, Zhou’s resistance may actually benefit Feng Jun, despite damaging Luohua Manor’s public image.
• Guan Shanyue from Mount Fugu arrives with three people. She purchases one hundred cases of Three Lives Liquor and Three Lives Aged Liquor, worth over forty million, because the products are selling extremely well among wealthy customers.
• Guan also asks Feng Jun to treat Ren Zhixiang, a wealthy young businessman and major lay disciple of Fugu Crimson Cloud Heaven who suffered a cerebral infarction after years of excessive work, drinking, and socializing.
• Ren has spent the past year seeking treatment and using traditional health practices, but although he has improved, he remains far from recovered. He brings ten million in cash as Feng Jun’s consultation fee.
• Feng Jun agrees to treat him as a potential new medical service. After examining Ren, he determines that Ren’s vitality and blood essence are already sufficiently replenished and warns that excessive restorative medicine could be harmful.
• Feng Jun offers instead to clear Ren’s meridians and remove bodily impurities, though the treatment will be painful. Ren readily accepts, emphasizing his determination to regain a normal life.

Character Developments

• Mayor Xiang shows political pragmatism and some guilt over abandoning Yang Yuxin’s plan without warning. He attempts to repair their cooperation while protecting the government’s interests.
• Yang Yuxin remains controlled and politically alert. She focuses less on the specific land dispute than on ensuring that Feng Jun’s side is kept informed of future maneuvering.
• Chairman Zhou emerges as a forceful opponent of the proposed land exchange. His objection may be aimed at the extreme terms rather than the development itself.
• Feng Jun demonstrates stronger political awareness, correctly interpreting the officials’ positions. His expanding influence is also evident in the respect he receives from the Daoist sects and in his willingness to develop medical treatment into a broader business.
• Guan Shanyue becomes an important intermediary between Mount Fugu and Feng Jun, trusting him enough to bring both a major liquor order and a difficult patient.
• Ren Zhixiang is portrayed as ambitious, resilient, and deeply regretful of his former lifestyle. His illness has made him value health and pushed him to seek unconventional treatment.

Significant Themes

• Political maneuvering and compromise: The land dispute reveals competing concerns over revenue, government authority, public image, and private demands.
• Growing influence and commercialization: Feng Jun’s manor, liquor business, and medical abilities are becoming interconnected sources of wealth and influence.
• Health versus ambition: Ren’s illness illustrates the physical cost of relentless work, excessive drinking, and sacrificing health for business success.
• Trust and reputation: Ren trusts Feng Jun largely because of Mount Fugu’s endorsement and the apparent scale of Feng Jun’s operation. Institutional relationships are becoming essential to Feng Jun’s expansion.
• Moderation in treatment: Feng Jun stresses that even beneficial medicines can be harmful when overused, reflecting the broader idea that balance is necessary in both health and business.

Character Interactions

• Mayor Xiang and Yang Yuxin confront the consequences of his political betrayal but reach a practical understanding about future communication.
• Mayor Xiang’s position clashes with Chairman Zhou’s, creating tension within the government over how to handle Luohua Manor.
• Feng Jun and Yang Yuxin analyze the political situation together, with Feng Jun recognizing the strategic value of Chairman Zhou’s opposition.
• Guan Shanyue maintains a respectful relationship with Feng Jun, combining commercial cooperation with a personal request for medical assistance.
• Feng Jun and Ren Zhixiang establish a relationship based on trust, money, and shared determination: Ren seeks recovery, while Feng Jun sees the possibility of developing a valuable new medical service.