"Old Su, have a heart! Let's talk this out, no need to get all worked up—after all, we've been partners for so many years!" That Marty Sun was always a money-grubber, and now he couldn’t care less about saving face.
"So you remember we've worked together all these years? You’ve got the nerve to say that—get lost, all of you!" Samuel Su slammed the table, and instantly all the agents panicked. Everyone knew as clear as day, if Ryan Ling put this slimming pill on the market, it’d be the hottest thing this summer, the profits would be insane. Nobody wanted to watch a pile of cash slip through their fingers.
"Old Su, please—let’s just pretend everything we said was nonsense. We’ve got to keep working together!"
"Yeah, we may not have done miracles, but we’ve put in the work! For all the years we’ve helped the Su family open up sales channels, please don’t kick us out at a time like this!"
"Right, we just lost our heads for a minute. We swear it won’t happen again. Whatever slimming pills you’ve got, we’ll take them all—cash on the spot, deal?"
......
"Keep dreaming!" Samuel Su spat hard on the ground without another word.
The crowd still wanted to plead, but Ryan Ling walked over with a cold smirk, saying, "No need to get angry, old man. Let’s talk it out—no point hurting yourself over them."
"Sir, we were in the wrong just now. Please forgive us, and could you maybe put in a good word with Old Su for us?" Marty Sun immediately grabbed Ryan Ling’s pant leg, begging for mercy.
"Alright, I’ll handle this. You guys can keep doing business!" As soon as Ryan Ling said that, Marty Sun and the others’ eyes lit up, like the pile of cash they lost was about to come back.
"Ryan, you—?" Samuel Su was stunned, about to ask, but Ryan cut him off.
"But the price isn’t the same as before!"
"We can talk price! The old Su slimming pill was a hundred each wholesale. This new batch is way better—I’ll double it. How’s two hundred sound?" Marty Sun gritted his teeth, trying to sound cheerful.
"Only double? You think I’m begging for scraps?" Ryan Ling snorted. Hearing this, Samuel Su finally caught on and calmed down.
"So—so what price do you want?" Marty Sun’s eyes darted around, clearly calculating costs and profits.
"This much!" Ryan Ling held up a single finger.
"A—a thousand?" Marty Sun nearly screamed.
"Wrong. Ten thousand!" Ryan Ling snorted.
"Oh my god, ten thousand? That’s highway robbery! Who could afford that?" Marty Sun was stunned.
"Too expensive? Then let’s make it a hundred thousand!"
"Bro, have you lost your mind over money?" Marty Sun’s face turned green.
"One million!" Ryan Ling spat out some tea leaves as he spoke.
The agents, led by Marty Sun, nearly collapsed onto the floor when they heard that number.
"Tch, bunch of country bumpkins. If you can’t afford it, get lost! I’ve got top-tier pills—someone will want them. And for the record, I’m not short on cash. Peachvale’s jade tycoon Harvey Jin is my sworn brother. If the Su family wants to build their own sales network, I could borrow a billion in a snap. So you shady agents, go chill somewhere else. The Su family doesn’t need you at all!" After Ryan Ling finished, Marty Sun and the others just sat down, defeated.
"Fine, whatever Ryan Ling says goes for me, Samuel Su. If you can pay, we’ll work together. If not, sorry—get out!" As soon as Samuel finished, the house guards started kicking them out.
......
A few days later, at Jade Spring Mountain’s Hong Manor—the highest peak in Haizhou—short, chubby Butler Liu was sweating bullets as he stared nervously at the medicinal sales ledger.
"What the hell? Why is this month’s revenue cut in half?" Butler Liu hadn’t even checked halfway before slamming the table. Old Master Hong was about to return, and Liu had been running the whole clan lately. Something like this at such a critical moment could cost him his life.
"I think, I think..." A bald guy next to him smelled of herbs—a clear sign he’d worked in the trade for years.
"Think what? Spit it out!" Butler Liu snapped, almost slapping him.
"I heard the Su family launched a new pill a few days ago—a crazy good slimming pill. The moment it dropped, people rushed in; we couldn’t stop them. Our shops are empty now, and there’s even a slogan outside: ‘If you want slimming pills, only buy from the Su shop.’ Their store has lines starting at midnight, business is booming—" Before he could finish, Butler Liu threw all the ledgers in his face.
"Please calm down, Butler Liu!" The bald guy turned pale with fright.
"Hmph, that old fox Samuel Su—he was almost hollowed out, and still managed to make a comeback. That bastard’s tougher than I thought!" Butler Liu clenched his fist, eyes blazing.
"I heard this turnaround had nothing to do with Samuel Su—it was that kid Ryan Ling, the same guy who challenged you on Herb Mountain last time!" the bald guy said quickly.
"Him, that snot-nosed brat!" Butler Liu gritted his teeth.
"Butler Liu, want me to round up some guys and take care of him?" the bald guy leaned in.
"No way. Last time he dared mess with Drake Long, so he’s got some tricks. And with Old Master Hong about to arrive, the Hong family doesn’t need to stoop to petty moves. We’ll wait for the old man—anyone who dares go up against Azure Dragon Society will get what’s coming." Butler Liu’s mind was already spinning with poisonous schemes.
......
In the past few days, the Su family finally stabilized. Upstream herb supply was secured, downstream markets were basically set, new staff and machines were brought in, and just from the Slim-Shape Pill, daily revenue shot past ten million. Sophie Su was over the moon, constantly calling Ryan Ling her ‘virtuous inner helper.’
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page for more!
Ryan Ling was dizzy from all the praise, but Sophie was still hung up on his supposed ‘problem’ in that area. Now that the Su family was finally steady, she booked city specialists, saying she wanted Ryan checked out and maybe even prepped for surgery.
Ryan was dying inside—he wasn’t sick at all, but she was dragging him to the hospital. If a doctor really cut something by mistake, his whole sex life could be ruined forever.
Right then, Ryan was hoping something would happen to save him from this mess. Just as he was wishing, his phone rang. Figuring it was Jason Lin calling to hang out, he checked—only to see it was Principal Tony Zhang from Linhai High.
"Hello, Principal Zhang! Another emergency?" Ryan answered, pretending to be nervous.
He was just joking, but Principal Zhang actually sounded panicked: "Ryan, it’s serious! Where are you? If you’re still in Peachvale, get back to school ASAP—if you don’t come today, our school’s gonna get torn down!"
Ryan froze. What could possibly happen at school during summer break? But Zhang sounded dead serious. Ryan quickly explained to Sophie, then grabbed a cab to Linhai High.
Even in summer, lots of students were still there for August make-up classes, plus all sorts of clubs were hosting activities, so campus was still buzzing.
Half an hour later, Ryan got back to school and saw a crowd at the gate. His best buddy Strongy was getting beat up by a guy in another school’s uniform. The kid kept hitting him, sneering, "Weren’t you acting tough just now? Bragging you’re Ryan Ling’s sworn brother, telling us to show respect? Not so cocky now, huh? Say something!"
As soon as he finished, he slapped Strongy so hard that blood sprayed out of Strongy’s mouth on the spot...