An Ugly Way to Eat

"Sigh, when is Old Liu coming back?"

On Supreme Mystery Mountain, Jiang Xiaoyu sat on the steps in front of the General Affairs Hall, her hands supporting her chin, sighing softly.

With Liu Zhijian and Hua Chunning leaving one after another, Jiang Xiaoyu was overjoyed, as two heavy burdens were lifted from his shoulders.

Looking around the mountain, no one could suppress Jiang Xiaoyu, the great hero.

The fearsome grandmaster spends all his time in seclusion in the ancestral hall, completely ignoring everything else and rarely showing his face.

Xiao Hu was willing but unable to help himself.

As for the Hua Household, they dared not interfere at all.

Jiang Xiaoyu then enjoyed a period of great happiness, spending her days eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping, almost oblivious to the world around her.

However, Jiang Xiaoyu soon sensed that something was wrong.

In the past, I seemed to be happier when I had to outwit and outmaneuver my master and Senior Sister Hua, resorting to tantrums and pranks to get the chance to play.

Now that no one is watching over me, I can play freely, which is fun, but I always feel like something is missing.

When Hu Yueqiu returned from her sword practice, she saw Jiang Xiaoyu staring blankly with a pained expression and softly asked, "Xiao Yu'er, do you want to go play on the mountaintop?!"

"Yes!" Jiang Xiaoyu immediately became lively and energetic, throwing away all her previous worries. She took Hu Yueqiu's hand and walked towards the top of the mountain, gesturing wildly as she recounted the interesting things that happened at the school at the foot of the mountain that day.

In retrospect, they were all just trivial, insignificant matters.

Only children like Jiang Xiaoyu would treat it as a major event, talking about it with great interest, and often coming up with some whimsical and childish things that make people both laugh and cry.

Hu Yueqiu was actually a little envious.

Jiang Xiaoyu's sorrows and joys are real and fleeting. Her thoughts are as shallow as the layer of ice floating on a spring stream, which shatters with a gust of wind, yet each fragment remains crystal clear and untouched by dust.

Unlike myself, I am like an autumn lake, where many leaves fall every day, layer upon layer, densely covering the surface of the water.

Not to mention the moon, you can't even see the lake water.

The Supreme Mystery Mountain.

Hu Yueqiu stood aside, not wanting to disturb Jiang Xiaoyu and her friends' whispered conversation.

Jiang Xiaoyu tilted her head back, trying hard to make out the clouds in the sky, muttering something that no one else could understand.

After a long while, Jiang Xiaoyu finally stopped, satisfied.

Hu Yueqiu walked over and gently massaged Jiang Xiaoyu's neck.

"Xiao Hu, you're so kind." Jiang Xiaoyu had been holding her head up for a while, her neck already aching. Leaning against Hu Yueqiu, she comfortably squinted her eyes and decided to reveal her secret. "I just told some of my cloud friends to go and urge my master to come back quickly."

Hu Yueqiu chuckled, glanced up at the sky, and nodded in sudden realization. "The clouds really are flying east! Xiao Yu'er is so clever!"

Jiang Xiaoyu was incredibly proud, and ignoring her sore neck, she walked down the mountain with her head held high.

Hu Yueqiu quickly followed and took Jiang Xiaoyu's hand, afraid that Jiang Xiaoyu might trip and fall because she wasn't watching where she was going, and then she would cry for a long time and it would be impossible to comfort her.

Jiang Xiaoyu, halfway there, pulled Hu Yueqiu around a corner and headed towards a fork in the road.

Hu Yueqiu glanced at it but didn't stop them, only reminding them, "Xiao Yu'er, this isn't the way down the mountain."

"Nonsense!" Jiang Xiaoyu had her own reasoning and confidently assured him, "This path definitely leads down the mountain; my master led me down it before!"

Hu Yueqiu smiled, but didn't expose her.

This side road leads to the Ancestral Master Hall.

Jiang Xiaoyu's little thoughts were impossible to hide. She clearly wanted to ask the sect leader when her master would return to the mountain, but she was too timid to go directly. So every now and then she would pretend to be lost and wander around outside the Ancestral Hall, seemingly hoping to bump into the sect leader.

Unfortunately, the sect leader was in seclusion for a long time, and Jiang Xiaoyu's plan never succeeded.

I'm afraid the same will happen today.

As Hu Yueqiu was thinking, she felt Jiang Xiaoyu suddenly stop and stiffen. When she looked up, she quickly stepped aside to avoid him.

Ahead, a dignified-looking cultivator dressed in black was walking towards them.

Hu Yueqiu bowed and greeted, "Senior Duanmu."

Jiang Xiaoyu also greeted him politely, "Uncle-Master Duanmu."

"Hmm." Duanmu Ren hurried along, glancing at the two of them briefly before nodding slightly and continuing his quick walk toward the Ancestral Hall.

Only after Duanmu Ren's figure disappeared did Hu Yueqiu and Jiang Xiaoyu exchange bewildered glances before daring to breathe.

Hu Yueqiu asked softly, "Are we still going?!"

Jiang Xiaoyu like a rattle drum.

The scariest person on this mountain is Uncle Duanmu, which is why Jiang Xiaoyu doesn't dare to go there.

"Then run!" Hu Yueqiu was also afraid of Duanmu Ren, so she released Jiang Xiaoyu and turned to run towards the Shuwu Hall down the mountain.

"Wait for me!" Jiang Xiaoyu was terrified and quickly chased after him, her voice trembling with tears.

Hu Yueqiu slowed down, making herself visible to Jiang Xiaoyu but impossible for him to catch up.

Jiang Xiaoyu wasn't stupid. Realizing that Xiao Hu was teasing her, she immediately went from crying to laughing and started chasing and playing around, her clear laughter carrying far away.

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Ren frowned, glanced back, shook his head, and sighed.

This is a sacred ground of a sect, comparable to a government office. What kind of behavior is this, chasing and fighting like this?!

However, Duanmu Ren had no time to rectify the work style of the public sector employees and those who received salaries without working, so he hurriedly returned to Earth.

Supreme Mystery Sub-Courtyard.

After resting for a while, Duanmu Ren summoned Li Jiabao and asked directly, "How are the preparations going?"

"That's about it. After all, it's not difficult to do; even rural women can do it." Although Li Jiabao quite liked to relax, he wouldn't refuse to stand out, but he also had doubts. "But County Chief Duanmu, is this business really reliable?!"

After completing the formalities for Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical, Li Jiabao, under the guidance of Duanmu Ren, found a site in Stone Ridge County to set up a production line.

Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical's first product was Isatis Root Lung-Clearing Oral Solution.

That's right, this is a traditional Chinese medicine health product!

The main problem is that pharmaceuticals require testing and approval, which involves complicated procedures and lengthy processes.

Health supplements are much easier to obtain.

By using the name of traditional Chinese medicine, they can also obtain expedited access.

At the same time, Li Jiabao also rented a lot of land specifically to grow Isatis indigotica, and could also receive a lot of subsidies along the way.

However, the production process of these health products was simply to throw some pills given by Duanmu Ren into a bucket of water, stir and dissolve them, then pour the liquid into bottles and put on labels. It was far too simple and crude, making Li Jiabao feel very guilty.

Duanmu Ren frowned upon hearing this, but without explaining, he simply said, "Just do as I say. Don't worry about anything else."

Li Jiabao could only nod, thinking that he had secretly drunk a few bottles and it shouldn't be fatal.

However, this kind of oral Chinese medicine liquid is clearly a scam to rip off the elderly, which is rather unethical.

I don't know what County Chief Duanmu was thinking, that he would even make money from this kind of thing.

the next day.

Duanmu Ren arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau and began handling his daily work.

Since his godfather woke up, he took Duanmu Ren to visit many relatives and friends, completed the handover of important connections, and successfully helped Duanmu Ren return to his job.

The officialdom has always been about praising the powerful and belittling the weak.

In particular, when Duanmu Ren hinted that he would not stay long and would soon be going to take up a post in the province, the deputy heads of the Civil Affairs Bureau became very obedient and cooperative.

The Civil Affairs Bureau is relatively peripheral, with limited power, but its scope of authority is quite broad.

Duanmu Ren had already considered this, so naturally he wouldn't touch the murky world of the lottery business. He invited a deputy in charge and the director of the elderly affairs department to inquire about the relevant details.

In fact, the Department of Aging Affairs is a marginal department; there's not much money to be made there, and it's very easy for things to go wrong.

The two naturally began to complain.

Duanmu Ren listened without changing his expression and directly instructed, "You all need to work hard to develop a special relief plan for elderly miners who have fallen back into poverty due to illness, and submit it to the meeting according to the established procedures."

"The initial scope shouldn't be too large; let's use Stone Ridge County as a pilot area."

Given Duanmu Ren's current authority within the bureau and his connections in the province and city, the plan should be easily approved, and the funding issue should also be resolved.

The deputy in charge and the director of the elderly affairs department looked at each other, feeling a surge of joy. They were happy to be scapegoats for their superiors, since there was no risk and they could even reap some benefits.

The deputy director in charge, being quite sensible, cautiously asked, "I don't yet have any ideas on specific relief measures. Could the director offer some guidance?"

Duanmu Ren smiled, took out some information about Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical from his drawer, and handed it over, explaining, "This is a pharmaceutical company in the provincial capital. I've heard their technology is quite good; you can check them out."

"Of course, this is just a suggestion; the specific procedures must be strictly followed."

The deputy in charge immediately understood the situation, and after flipping through the documents for a moment, he couldn't help but frown deeply.

This company, Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical, is clearly a zombie company that has only recently been revived. Its products are even more outrageous, including a health supplement called Isatis Root Lung-Clearing Oral Solution.

Oral liquid... health supplement... the key ingredient is still Isatis root!

It's a blatant scam to rip people off, without any attempt to hide it!

It seems the bureau chief is spending a considerable amount of money running around in the province.

But the way they eat is just too disgusting!