Liu Yan's family

The elderly man was named Liu Shan. He was Liu Yan's father, while Liu Qi was her older brother.

Before Liu Yan took over Blue Light Pharmaceuticals, Liu Shan and Liu Qi had managed it together. But after several years, it had become clear that Liu Qi had no talent for business whatsoever. He had made a complete mess of the company.

Thus, when Liu Shan stepped down, he took Liu Qi with him, giving him some shares and the nominal position of a shareholder.

Liu Qi had always resented this. Whenever he got the chance, he would mock Liu Yan mercilessly, practically wishing she would run the company into the ground so he could have another chance to prove himself.

Last night, when they learned that Liu Yan had transferred ten percent of the shares to an outsider for ten million yuan, not only Liu Qi but even Liu Shan had nearly fainted with anger. That was why they had come to demand an explanation from her today.

Chen Hao was no fool. He immediately realized who Liu Shan was and hurriedly smiled. "Yes. Hello, sir."

He had wanted to make a decent impression on his future father-in-law at their first meeting, but the man did not take him seriously at all.

Liu Shan sneered, barely bothering to look Chen Hao in the eye. "I wondered what sort of extraordinary figure could persuade my daughter to part with ten percent of her shares. Hmph. Turns out you're just some wet-behind-the-ears kid."

Chen Hao was deeply annoyed by those words. The man might be his future father-in-law, but speaking like that hardly reflected well on him.

Chen Hao did not answer. He simply listened in silence.

Liu Shan crossed his legs and pointed at Liu Yan, continuing with criticism that was also aimed at Chen Hao. "Giving him ten percent of the shares was bad enough, but you even signed that performance wager with Uncle Ming. Have you lost your mind? Do you realize that isn't an agreement at all? It's a contract signing away the Liu family's future, because there's no way we can win."

Before Liu Yan could speak, Chen Hao said, "Where there's a will, there's a way. You've weathered your share of storms, sir. Why dismiss it as impossible before we've even tried?"

Liu Qi laughed. "Even an idiot can see it, yet you're still putting on airs in front of us."

Liu Yan gave a light cough and hurriedly stepped in to change the subject. "Let's put the wager aside for now. There's another very urgent matter."

Chen Hao glanced at Liu Yan as she continued, "This morning, all our suppliers banded together and stopped supplying us. Most of our production lines have already shut down, and our remaining stock can only keep a few lines running normally for another day or two. I've already sent people out to find new suppliers as quickly as possible, but even if they find some, I estimate it'll take about a week at the earliest before the supplies arrive."

Chen Hao asked directly, "Have you looked into who's behind this?"

Liu Yan replied, "Do you remember Wang Xuemin, the man we met at the Ancient Sovereign?"

Chen Hao thought for a moment. Wasn't that the sleazy middle-aged man? "Of course. What about him?"

Liu Yan sighed, something she rarely did. "I had someone make some preliminary inquiries. It seems that man Wang is involved."

"He's not the only one involved, is he?" Chen Hao said with a cold smile. "If I'm right, Uncle Ming from yesterday had a hand in it too."

At Chen Hao's assessment, Liu Yan's brows furrowed slightly. She could not help admiring him.

In fact, no one knew better than Liu Yan that Uncle Ming and Wang Xuemin were secretly working together. They both wanted Blue Light Pharmaceuticals to collapse as soon as possible so they could seize its assets.

Once the wager had been signed yesterday, Uncle Ming had clearly seen his opportunity. He had colluded with Wang Xuemin to stab Blue Light Pharmaceuticals in the back, making its already dire situation even worse.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Hao asked, "What are you planning to do now?"

Liu Yan frowned without speaking. Only after a long while did she say, "I'll have to think of another way to deal with the suppliers."

"What way could you possibly come up with?" Liu Qi interjected unhelpfully. "If you'd just married the Dihao Group's young heir like you were told, none of this would've happened. But no, you had to keep messing around."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Liu Yan finally lost her patience and shouted at Liu Qi.

"Am I spouting nonsense? You know perfectly well what state Blue Light Pharmaceuticals is in. There were already very few suppliers willing to work with us. After this, who's going to want to cooperate with us?"

Liu Qi's words were unpleasant, but they were all true.

Society was ruthlessly pragmatic. Blue Light Pharmaceuticals had long since lost its former glory, and with the recent news of its cash flow crisis, few suppliers were willing to work with it.

Blue Light Pharmaceuticals was already in a terrible position. If its production lines stopped and it could not deliver its customers' orders on time, it might truly go under.

Seeing everyone fall silent, Liu Qi grew even more smug. "Liu Yan, why don't I host a dinner tonight and invite Wang Xuemin and Uncle Ming? You can apologize to them. Don't drag all of Blue Light down because of yourself."

"You're so damn irritating!" Chen Hao could not listen any longer. He pointed at Liu Qi and cursed.

Seeing Chen Hao dare to point a finger at him, Liu Qi immediately snapped, "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you have any right to speak here?"

"I can't even be bothered to argue with you." Furious, Liu Yan turned to leave the conference room.

But Liu Qi stopped her with a shout. "Liu Yan, running away won't solve anything! Blue Light Pharmaceuticals is on the brink. You'd better think this through. If it falls apart in your hands, you'll be condemned forever."

Liu Yan stiffened, then silently glanced back. She was not looking at Liu Qi, but at Liu Shan, who sat beside him.

When she saw the indifference on Liu Shan's face, her heart shattered completely. As she turned away, a glimmer of tears seemed to well in her eyes, though it was unclear whether they spilled over.

Seeing Liu Yan leave, Zhang Jing immediately followed her out.

Chen Hao stood with a faint smile and was about to leave as well, but Liu Shan stopped him. "Chen Hao, don't leave yet. I have something to say to you."

Chen Hao paused. Out of basic courtesy, he sat back down.

Liu Shan lit himself a cigarette and took a few drags before saying, "Chen Hao, I don't know what tricks you used to persuade my daughter to give you those shares, and I'm not interested in finding out. My advice to you is to return them to us and stay as far away from my daughter as possible."

Chen Hao scoffed, his mouth twisting. "Sir, let me make one thing clear first: I'm not giving up my shares. Second, think about it. We both know what state Blue Light is in. If I were only after money, why would I buy in now and sign a wager with Uncle Ming? Come on, my money didn't fall out of the sky either. You don't even know our plan, yet you've already rejected it."

As he spoke, Chen Hao shook his head and stood. "Looks like it wasn't a coincidence that Blue Light fell apart under your management."

Chen Hao's words angered Liu Shan so much that he almost could not catch his breath, and he began coughing uncontrollably.

When he reached the door, Chen Hao left him one last remark without looking back. "Also, cut down on the cigarettes. Get your lungs checked when you have time."

Liu Qi thought Chen Hao was wishing illness on Liu Shan and cursed loudly. "Checked for what? My dad's perfectly healthy! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Hearing that, Chen Hao could only shake his head and leave.

By the time he reached Liu Yan's office, she had already regained control of her emotions. There was no trace of sorrow or helplessness on her face, only the bearing of a formidable businesswoman.

At that moment, Chen Hao finally understood that the burden on Liu Yan's shoulders was far heavier than he had imagined.

After closing the door, Chen Hao got straight to the point. "Don't pin your hopes on other people. If Wang Xuemin can get to suppliers you've worked with for so long, he can get to the others too. We might as well halt all the production lines and reserve all our existing capacity for the new product. And we have to move up the launch!"

"Move it up?" Liu Yan asked uncertainly.

"That's right. A week is too long. Ideally, we should get it done in the next two days!" Chen Hao said resolutely.

After a moment's thought, Chen Hao added, "And before the launch, we need to stir up some buzz. The bigger the splash, the better."

Liu Yan frowned in thought. "I'll arrange the preliminary paperwork and preparations for the launch as quickly as possible. But what do you mean by making a splash?"

Chen Hao gave a mysterious smile and shared his idea with Liu Yan.

After hearing Chen Hao's plan, the tension in Liu Yan's brow immediately eased considerably.

Chen Hao chuckled. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we'll put on quite a show."

Liu Yan smiled and nodded, then suddenly asked, "I had someone study those powders from yesterday. They found an enormous number of highly active repair factors in them. So far, no substance in the world has been found with those properties. However, the powders can't undergo any extraction or further processing, or the repair factors will disappear immediately. That means I can only package the new product in pressurized canisters."

As she spoke, Liu Yan stared at Chen Hao with a complicated, unreadable look. "Chen Hao, is this really a folk remedy passed down in your family?"

Chen Hao raised his eyebrows. "I told you, I can't explain that to you just yet. When the time is right, I'll tell you the truth. It'll be yours sooner or later."

Liu Yan pursed her lips and smiled softly. "All right. I won't keep asking, then."

With that, Liu Yan got up to head outside. "Sit here for a while. I have work to do."

Just as Liu Yan was about to open the door and leave, Chen Hao suddenly said, "Don't worry. Tomorrow, Blue Light will be a whole different company. Trust me. I'll always be by your side."

Liu Yan suddenly blushed. She paused at the door before saying softly, "Thank you."

After Liu Yan left, Chen Hao called Long Guangsheng directly. "How's the investigation going?"

Long Guangsheng said, "Almost done. The Black Tiger Society has three entertainment clubs and six karaoke venues. They're mostly concentrated around..."

"All right, got it. Are you free now? If you are, gather your men and come to Blue Light Pharmaceuticals. I have something for you to do."

With Chen Hao asking him to handle something, Long Guangsheng had no reason to refuse. He readily agreed.

After hanging up on Long Guangsheng, Chen Hao called Sun Long.

Sun Long had been drinking tea in his office. The moment he saw Chen Hao's name on the caller ID, he perked up. His tone could not have been more courteous when he answered. "Oh, Mr. Chen! What made you think to call me?"

Chen Hao had a good impression of Sun Long too, so he spoke just as politely. "I was thinking of you, Director Sun, so I decided to give you a call. I haven't interrupted anything, have I?"

"Not at all! Don't say that. It's always good to hear from you. Is there something you'd like me to handle?" Sun Long was a smart man too, and after the pleasantries, he immediately got to the point.

"There are indeed a few things I need to trouble you with, Director Sun. I'd like you to help me shut down a few entertainment venues. The sooner, the better," Chen Hao said directly, dispensing with further formalities.

Hearing the request, Sun Long agreed without a second thought. "No problem. The atmosphere at Zhonghai City's entertainment venues has been getting worse lately. We police were already planning a thorough crackdown. Mr. Chen, just tell me which ones, and leave the rest to me."

Chen Hao gave Sun Long all the information Long Guangsheng had gathered, then made a point of adding, "Once you're done, remember to pass along a message for me. If they want to reopen, they should call me, Chen Hao."