Zhou De paused, then said, "Brothers, forget it, forget it, let's not fight anymore. From now on, be good people and make money. Remember to come buy our pastries often; our Crescent Moon Pastries are the best in all of Yunzhou City!"
This advertisement had indeed taken root in people's hearts.
That morning, Lu Chen went with Daozi to complete the property transfer procedures. He learned that it was Jin Ziliang's idea to have Zhou Defa fight back. As for the compensation and the house, it was Zhong Qitao who suggested it, saying he would compensate Lu Chen.
So it was him who tipped him off.
This Zhong Qitao is quite capable and good at predicting events; it's a waste that he's the deputy captain of the criminal investigation team! Lu Chen was grateful to him, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel deeply wary of him.
He's like an old fox!
A few days later, Lu Chen's suspicions were confirmed.
Zhong Qitao's tip-off made him arguably the biggest beneficiary of this incident.
The special operations division deployed a large force to raid An Caishen's nightclub, uncovering numerous illegal activities. These were crimes even the municipal party secretary couldn't cover up, let alone the military's operation; they certainly couldn't be concealed.
And Zhong Qitao, through certain maneuvers, became a police elite cooperating with the special operations division, earning a first-class merit. Furthermore, he was immediately transferred to a new position, becoming the deputy director of the police bureau in a county-level city under Yunzhou City's jurisdiction.
This single promotion added another star to his rank, making him half a rank higher than You Haoguo.
Lu Chen truly admired Zhong Qitao for this; he was very adept at utilizing the situation, far superior to You Haoguo.
The one million yuan compensation for the knife, after deducting Lu Chen's one hundred thousand yuan expenditure, plus the losses from the shop and labor costs, was more than enough. But what pleased him most was that he also got a suite on the third floor.
That suite was quite nice, luxuriously decorated and fully equipped with all kinds of appliances and furniture, including an electric mahjong table, slot machines, and other gambling equipment. Knife also gave all of these away.
Now that the God of Wealth Hall was gone, these things were useless.
Lu Chen stored all the gambling equipment in the storage room; maybe he could sell them sometime and make tens of thousands of yuan. Lu Chen certainly had plans for this third-floor suite.
He decided to combine the first, second, and third floors into one. The first floor, originally a pastry sales and preparation area, was a bit cramped; now it could be made bigger.
The first floor would be the sales area, with more shelves to make it look more spacious.
The second floor would be a relaxation area, where people could eat, drink, chat, and sell.
The third floor would be the preparation area, with a DIV area for interested customers to make pastries. Of course, there would be instructors at Moon's Fang to teach them.
Liu Li had always dreamed of creating a DIY dessert shop, making Moon's Fang more vibrant, complete, and stylish.
Now, it seemed she could fulfill her wish ahead of schedule.
Lu Chen didn't tell Liu Li, who was still far away in their hometown, but instead hired several more renovation workers to work overtime. How surprised Liu Li would be to see her dessert shop had expanded from two stories to three!
Maybe that surprise would even make her willing to unleash her passion that very night.
Thinking this, Lu Chen felt a surge of joy.
These past few days had gone smoothly, except he kept hearing about the fighting between the other three branches of the Caishen Hall, one of the four major gangs in Yunzhou City, after it was destroyed by special operations forces—all vying for Caishen Hall's territory!
Lu Chen didn't care about that. He was thinking of Shen Tian, the beautiful owner of the Golden Coast Nightclub.
That night, at the Gold Coast nightclub, Lu Chen rescued Gong Xiaoyi, who was trying to earn money for medical expenses by dancing stripping. After resolving a series of conflicts, Shen Tian appeared.
Using his supernatural medical abilities, Lu Chen immediately saw that she had a shameful disease and hinted to her that he could cure it.
However, many days had passed, and she hadn't contacted him yet. He guessed she didn't trust him. Lu Chen didn't believe her disease could be cured. Her disease was difficult to treat!
Lu Chen wasn't too bothered; he had only felt sorry for her at the time. Not contacting her was fine; it saved him trouble!
Over the next few days, Lu Chen shuttled between the pastry shop and Flying Eagle Company, communicating mostly with Gu Youfang, mainly about the properties and combinations of the medicines used to treat Shangguan Bei's leg.
Gu Youfang asked many questions and, based on the data he gathered, formulated three or four prescriptions, mostly for treating various types of blood and qi stagnation. After removing some particularly rare and precious medications, while the treatment was far from the effect it had on Shangguan Bei's leg ailment, it was sufficient for treating general blood and qi stagnation.
Lu Chen, with his seemingly omnipotent medical genius, offered several more pointers, leaving Gu Youfang utterly impressed.
Thus, Gu Youfang truly became Lu Chen's first powerful ally at Flying Eagle Biotechnology Research Company.
Shangguan Bei's treatment was now on track.
However, Lu Chen had a gut feeling that Ouyang Bihua was brewing some kind of conspiracy, just waiting for the right moment to erupt.
He sneered inwardly: Ouyang Bihua, if you're going to play dirty tricks, you'd better go big. I'm a seasoned veteran, after all. Playing small games won't be fun!
Some things in this world are truly inexplicable; it's as if there are always some threads pulling at you. And as they pull, they straighten out without you even realizing it, and then the scheming one emerges.
Lu Chen was busy making pastries in the hotel's guest area when his phone rang.
Looking at the number, he was surprised to see it was Shen Tian, the beautiful owner of the Golden Coast Hotel.
Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat. He answered the phone; the voice on the other end was slightly hoarse, but it exuded a mature woman's allure. However, Lu Chen could detect a hint of anxiety and unease in her voice.
She asked if Lu Chen had time that morning, saying she would be waiting for him at room 2348 of the Jiaxin Hotel.
Lu Chen was stunned. The hotel he had borrowed to make pastries was indeed the Jiaxin Hotel!
He agreed and hung up, instructing the other pastry chefs and apprentices to start making them. After thinking for a moment, he gathered a few pastries, packed them in an elegant food box, and strolled to the housekeeping department.
Room 2348.
He rang the doorbell, and the door opened shortly after. Shen Tian appeared, making Lu Chen's heart pound.
Although she didn't have the voluptuous figure of Dong Qingqing or Yang Jiangyu, her body was almost perfectly proportioned, her curves arranged like a work of art, pleasing to the eye.
Of course, it also easily aroused men's urge to destroy her.
At this moment, Shen Tian was wearing a fitted pair of trousers and a white, sleeveless, close-fitting cotton top, showcasing her figure to its fullest. However, her face was quite pale, with a faint bluish tinge around her eyes.
"Mr. Lu, you've arrived so quickly?" Shen Tian was quite surprised.
Lu Chen chuckled, "Hearing a beautiful lady call me over, I naturally acted immediately! One of the standards of an excellent man is to avoid keeping a beautiful lady waiting."
Although Shen Tian didn't seem particularly happy, she couldn't help but chuckle at his words. She shook her head, "Sigh, Mr. Lu, I wonder how many girls have experienced both happiness and pain with that kind of mouth!"
Lu Chen scratched his head, changing the subject, "Miss Shen, haven't you eaten anything? Here, try some of the pastries I brought, I guarantee they're delicious!" He placed the food box on the coffee table and opened it.
Then, he wiggled his hips and sat on the sofa, admiring Shen Tian's curvaceous figure.
The exquisite pastries indeed attracted Shen Tian's appetite. She smiled sweetly, "Mr. Lu is indeed a very intelligent person, he could tell I hadn't eaten breakfast. Sigh, actually, I didn't feel like eating, I had no appetite, but these pastries are very tempting."
After eating a few pieces, she praised them highly.
Lu Chen said seriously, "Although your condition has worsened and affected your mood, food is essential for health. Miss Shen, you still need to eat properly."
Shen Tian froze. "Mr. Lu, can you tell my condition has worsened?"
Lu Chen nodded. "Your eyes are red, and although makeup conceals it, I can still see enlarged pores on your face. You also frequently have uncontrollable twitches, clearly suppressing some very uncomfortable feeling. It seems much worse than last time. You should have come to see me sooner!"
Shen Tian sighed softly, her face becoming very sorrowful. She said, "I was called to Las Vegas by my boss a while ago to learn some business methods, and… I also had to entertain one or two clients, so I didn't have time to…"
Lu Chen was taken aback. "Entertained clients? Like… that kind of entertainment?"
He tried to be as careful as possible with his tone.
But it still touched a nerve with Shen Tian. She gave a smile that was more like a grimace and nodded. She said softly, "Yes."
Lu Chen scratched his head, finding it hard to believe. "Seriously, you already have this disease, and you still go to entertain guests? This... at the very least, is a bigger problem for your health. What if the guests you're entertaining are also sick? Cross-infection will make treatment even harder! You're practically playing with your life, not taking your health seriously at all!"
As he spoke, his tone became increasingly earnest, and he shook his head vigorously.
Shen Tian smiled bitterly. "There's nothing I can do. I'm just... someone else's plaything. Don't be fooled by my outward appearance of success; there's a lot of heartache behind the scenes. Who told me to be beautiful? Beauty is a curse, isn't it? It's my own fault first."
As she spoke, a faint sadness and helplessness crept into her voice.
This was almost unrecognizable as the beautiful boss Lu Chen had seen that night on the Gold Coast. Back then, the beautiful boss was alluring, graceful, and exuded a noble air, her beauty carrying a touch of authority.
Of course, that was before Pang Bei arrived.
But now, she was completely like a weak woman.
Lu Chen said, "Miss Shen, you're so sick, you should at least ask your boss to be lenient with you! I see your so-called head of the Golden Hall, Huang Jian, right? He's a real scoundrel! A piece of trash!"