A Stroll Down the Street

Liu Yan, Chen Hao, and Uncle Ming signed a performance-based wager agreement in front of the entire board of directors.

After signing the agreement, Liu Yan let out a long breath, both excited and worried.

Chen Hao's arrival had undoubtedly brought a glimmer of hope to her and even to Blue Light Pharmaceuticals as a whole.

It was precisely that hope that had made Liu Yan stake everything she had. If they succeeded, Blue Light Pharmaceuticals would soar to new heights, but if they failed, the entire Liu Family might be ruined beyond recovery.

After leaving the conference room, Liu Yan refused to let Chen Hao go and began discussing plans for launching the new product.

However, Chen Hao knew absolutely nothing about business planning or operations.

In the end, Chen Hao could only hand over some furnace ash ahead of time for Liu Yan to prepare for the product's development and launch. As for product planning and marketing, he left all of that entirely in her hands.

Once they had finished their general discussion, Liu Yan brought up hiring him. "Once this product hits the market, it's bound to attract enormous attention. I'm planning to establish a business division, with you as its manager, fully responsible for its operations. Your starting salary will be thirty thousand."

Chen Hao had plenty of things to do now. How could he possibly let a job tie him down? He shook his head like a rattle drum. "Forget it. I'm not cut out to be a boss. I'm not taking it."

The main reason Liu Yan wanted to offer Chen Hao the position was to truly keep him by her side.

But Chen Hao turned her down repeatedly and firmly insisted that no connection between him and Blue Light's products could be made public.

Seeing how adamant he was, Liu Yan did not press him and could only nod in agreement.

Before he left, Liu Yan reminded him several times that development would be completed within a week. When the time came, Chen Hao had to provide enough raw materials. Blue Light had to make a splash with this launch.

That request immediately left Chen Hao feeling a little uneasy.

Although he still had plenty of ash from the Eight Trigrams Furnace in his Qiankun Bag, who knew how popular the new product would become once it launched? If demand surged, his stock might not be enough.

It seemed he would have to work on his relationship with Alchemy Boy when he had some free time. He was counting entirely on him for the furnace ash.

They were busy for the entire afternoon. By the time Chen Hao was ready to leave, evening was approaching.

"What are you planning to do?" Liu Yan suddenly asked Chen Hao.

The question immediately sent Chen Hao's mind into the gutter. Planning to do it? Of course I am!

But he could not say that out loud, so he merely frowned. "Nothing much. Why?"

"If you're free, let's have dinner together. I can thank you properly."

Chen Hao put on a show of reluctance. "All right. Since you're begging me, I suppose I'll graciously accept."

"Who's begging you?" Liu Yan chided playfully, her voice sending a tingling warmth through Chen Hao.

Without a car, Chen Hao and Liu Yan could only head out on foot.

They walked along a tree-lined path, feeling the slightly chilly breeze sweep past and shake countless leaves loose.

"It's been ages since I walked down this road," Liu Yan suddenly said wistfully.

Watching Liu Yan catch falling leaves for fun beside him, Chen Hao suddenly asked, "Liu Yan, you don't have a boyfriend, do you?"

The completely ill-timed question immediately embarrassed Liu Yan. She averted her eyes and smoothed her hair. "Why are you asking that? What does whether I have a boyfriend have to do with you?"

Noticing her shyness, Chen Hao smiled. "I asked the Matchmaker to check my romantic fate yesterday. He said my destined girl would appear in the next few days. Ah, I wonder where she is."

Such a blatant show of interest instantly turned Liu Yan's fair face red all the way to her ears. She could only put on her hat to hide it and deliberately change the subject. "Wow, you're amazing. You can even get in touch with the Matchmaker."

Her half-joking tease immediately got Chen Hao talking. The two continued along the path, their laughter drifting through the swirling leaves.

As they walked, Chen Hao suddenly noticed a woman selling fruit by the roadside.

She carried a baby only a few months old on her back. Beside her, a child who looked about four or five was crouching on the curb, playing a handheld game console.

A tricycle stood in front of her, loaded with grapes. She called out tirelessly, trying to get the few passersby to buy some.

Chen Hao stopped in front of the woman. "How much are the grapes per jin?"

Seeing a customer, the woman immediately smiled, her weathered face brightening. "Five yuan per jin, handsome. Our grapes are very sweet. Have a taste."

Chen Hao smiled. "Looks like you've got about five or six jin left."

The woman nodded, looking a little puzzled.

"I'll take them all!" Chen Hao declared generously.

The woman was delighted. "Handsome, do you really mean it? I'll bag them up right away."

Chen Hao took out his phone and scanned her WeChat code to pay.

"Gouzi, stop playing and come help Mom pack these."

The little boy immediately put away his game console and bounded over to his mother, sensibly helping her bag the grapes.

"One thousand yuan received through WeChat."

The woman's hands froze halfway through packing when she heard the payment notification. "Handsome, did you send the wrong amount? These grapes cost thirty yuan at most."

Chen Hao smiled. "No mistake."

Then Chen Hao turned to the little boy beside her. "Hey, kiddo, I saw you playing a game console earlier. Give me that console too."

The boy looked reluctant, so Chen Hao immediately smiled. "I sent your mom lots of money. She can buy you an even better game console."

The boy looked up at his mother. Seeing her smile and nod, he pouted and reluctantly handed over his game console.

Chen Hao took the console, picked up the grapes, and left with Liu Yan.

Before leaving, Chen Hao smiled at the woman. "Head home early. Be careful with the children."

With grateful tears welling in her eyes, the woman bowed deeply toward Chen Hao and Liu Yan's retreating backs.

They had not gone far when Liu Yan asked in bewilderment, "Aren't you a little old to be taking a kid's game console?"

"You don't understand," Chen Hao said as he ate a grape. "This is going to come in very handy."

Handing the grapes to Liu Yan, Chen Hao opened WeChat and secretly scanned the game console over to Princess Iron Fan, adding a message. "Princess Iron Fan, give this to Red Boy. It might help you."

Without checking whether she replied, Chen Hao put away his phone and pointed at a food stall farther down the street. "Come on, let's eat here."

Although Liu Yan came from a wealthy family and had been pampered since childhood, she did not turn her nose up at food stalls frequented by ordinary people. In fact, she was quite at ease.

The arrival of a beauty like Liu Yan, whose looks and bearing outshone everyone present, immediately drew plenty of attention.

"Thank you, Chen Hao!" Liu Yan raised a glass of beer, speaking with genuine happiness and sincerity.

Chen Hao understood what she was thanking him for. He raised his glass and clinked it against hers. "No need to thank me. Before long, you'll realize that everything I've done is only natural."

Helping my own wife is part of the job! Chen Hao chuckled inwardly.

Liu Yan clearly did not understand what he meant, but she did not dwell on it. She simply tipped her head back and drained her glass.

While the two were chatting happily, two street punks happened to pass by. Drawn by Liu Yan's fresh, beautiful appearance, they could not help taking a few extra looks.

One of them immediately recognized Chen Hao. "Hey, hey, hey! Isn't the guy sitting beside that beauty the one our boss is looking for?"

The other punk took a closer look and immediately caught on. He pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Brother Hao!"

Just as Chen Hao and Liu Yan had nearly finished drinking, a voice suddenly rang out beside them.

Chen Hao looked up to see Long Guangsheng approaching with two underlings, Fatty and Yellow Hair.

The moment he saw him, Chen Hao frowned. Why had he run into him here? He did not want Liu Yan finding out he had ties to these people. It would leave a bad impression.

He was just about to shoot him a warning look to leave, but the tactless Long Guangsheng had already reached their table. Seeing Liu Yan sitting beside Chen Hao, his eyes lit up, and he immediately started calling her "sister-in-law."

Hearing Long Guangsheng call Liu Yan his sister-in-law, Chen Hao instantly saw him in a new light. The man had a good eye and a bright future.

Liu Yan, however, blushed and hurriedly waved her hands. "Sorry, Chen Hao and I are just friends."

Chen Hao quickly stepped in to smooth things over too. "You can't just call anyone sister-in-law. Get out of here."

Long Guangsheng chuckled and hurriedly said to Chen Hao, "Brother Hao, can we talk in private?"

Chen Hao impatiently stood up and walked aside. "Make it quick!"

Long Guangsheng lowered his voice. "Brother Hao, you're way too carefree. Everyone in the Black Tiger Society is looking for you, and you're still in the mood to pick up girls by the roadside. Be careful they don't spot you."

Now that Chen Hao had learned the Tiger-Subduing Arhat Fist, he was itching to find someone to practice on. Why would he take a few small fry seriously? "It's just the Black Tiger Society. What's there to be scared of?"

Seeing that Chen Hao was not the least bit intimidated, Long Guangsheng immediately gave him a thumbs-up. "That's Brother Hao for you! What extraordinary courage. My admiration for you is like a mighty river, flowing endlessly—"

"Hey, hey, stop right there. If there's nothing else, get going. Don't interfere with my important business."

Seeing that Chen Hao was trying to send him away, Long Guangsheng smiled. "Nothing else. We're just hungry, so we'll grab a bite. Don't worry, we definitely won't bother you and sister-in-law."

After giving him a fierce glare, Chen Hao finally returned to his seat.

"Who are those people?" Liu Yan asked quietly.

Chen Hao did not know how to answer. "Just a friend. We're not very close."

After eating a little longer, Chen Hao wiped his mouth and prepared to leave with Liu Yan.

Seeing this, Long Guangsheng immediately tried to follow, but the stall owner stopped him. "Sir, please settle the bill. Six hundred and eighty in total."

Long Guangsheng froze. "What do you mean, six hundred and eighty? We only had two skewers and a few bottles of beer. How could it cost that much?"

The stall owner pointed at Chen Hao's table. "That gentleman just said you'd be paying."

"I..."