The moment Zhu Tianfang finished speaking, he received a call from his father. Without saying anything further to Li Se, he answered. Before he could utter a word, an angry reprimand came from the other end of the line: "Tianfang, have you offended people from the Qiao Corporation and the Hong Corporation?"
"No, I haven't. What's wrong?" Zhu Tianfang was completely bewildered.
"Just now, the Qiao Corporation and the Hong Corporation called us, demanding repayment. Tianfang, if you've offended anyone, apologize quickly. We cannot afford to offend these two major business associations!" his father said sternly.
Although the Zhu family was one of the top families in Tianhai City, the Qiao Corporation and the Hong Corporation were among the two largest business associations in the entire Jiangnan region, not something a single Zhu family could compare with.
"I..." Zhu Tianfang's face changed drastically. He suddenly looked at Li Se.
At this moment, Li Se wore a gentle and amiable smile.
Cold sweat broke out on Zhu Tianfang's forehead. From the beginning, he had not taken Li Se seriously. He had never imagined that Li Se actually knew people from the two major business associations. After hanging up his father's call, he was unable to calm down for a long time.
"Tianfang, what happened?" Xia Ruifeng had a bad premonition.
Zhu Tianfang forced an unnatural smile, looked at Li Se, and said, "I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have fought with you over a woman. I only hope you can let my Zhu family off the hook."
Upon hearing this, Xia Ruifeng and Xia Zhen were dumbfounded. What was going on? Zhu Tianfang was apologizing?
"Come here and wipe my shoes!" Li Se said calmly.
Zhu Tianfang's smile vanished instantly, replaced by extreme gloom. As the young master of the Zhu family, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? He gritted his teeth and said, "Don't push it. Just because you know people from the two major business associations doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"
"Either wipe my shoes, or repay the debt!" Li Se said indifferently.
Zhu Tianfang's expression was unpredictable. He sat there, his body even starting to tremble. After a long while, he walked up to Li Se, took a rag, and began to wipe Li Se's shoes.
Xia Ruifeng and Xia Zhen were stunned. They could hardly believe their eyes that the once arrogant Zhu Tianfang was now wiping Li Se's shoes. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed this scene.
"Scram!" Li Se kicked Zhu Tianfang away. "Leave Qingyun City. If you ever have designs on my woman again, I won't let you off so easily next time."
"The matter with the business associations..." Zhu Tianfang asked through gritted teeth.
Li Se then made another call to Qiao Guohua and Hong Chen. Only then did the two major business associations let the Zhu family go.
Zhu Tianfang naturally did not dare to linger. However, as he left, a malevolent look entered his eyes. He would never forget this humiliation and vowed to get revenge someday!
After leaving Yipin Ju, Zhu Tianfang immediately called his father: "Dad, has the matter with the business associations been resolved?"
"It has been resolved," Zhu's father sighed in relief. "What exactly happened on your end?"
Zhu Tianfang recounted everything that had happened, and in the end, he said through gritted teeth, "I'm not reconciled, and I'm not convinced!"
Zhu's father was silent for a moment before saying, "Tianfang, she's just a woman. You come back first. In a while, your elder brother will return from the Heavenly Dragon Special Forces. Let him handle it then. The Xia family must marry Xia Bingyun to you no matter what. No woman that our Zhu family fancies will escape us. As for the business associations, as long as they're not foolish, they won't offend the Heavenly Dragon Special Forces for that kid!"
"Okay!" A sharp glint flashed in Zhu Tianfang's eyes. He glanced back at Yipin Ju. "Xia Bingyun, you are destined to be my woman!"
"And for today's shame, when my elder brother returns, I will repay it tenfold!"
With that, Zhu Tianfang left directly.
Inside Yipin Ju.
Silence, a terrifying silence.
Xia Ruifeng and Xia Zhen were petrified. They truly did not expect Zhu Tianfang to wipe Li Se's shoes and then leave. This could only mean one thing: Li Se had not lied just now; he truly knew people from the two major business associations!
"I wonder if I can marry Bingyun?" Li Se's voice broke the silence.
After a long silence, Xia Ruifeng said, "Perhaps you really know people from the Qiao Corporation and the Hong Corporation. However, the Zhu family's strength is far more complex than you imagine. Bingyun, you should reconsider. Also, regarding Yunmeng Company, I can refrain from interfering for now, but you don't have much time left."
With that, Xia Ruifeng stood up. He gave Li Se one last look, his eyes filled with darkness. He had to go back and investigate Li Se again. He had miscalculated this time because he truly hadn't expected Li Se to know people from the two major business associations.
After Xia Ruifeng and Xia Zhen left, Li Se held Xia Bingyun's hand and smiled, "How was my performance?"
"You actually know people from the two major business associations?" Xia Bingyun was also somewhat surprised.
Li Se nodded. "Yes, I treated them."
"You know so many people. However, the Zhu family is not that simple either," Xia Bingyun sighed softly. "If the Zhu family were only involved in business, it would be fine. They seem to have military backing."
Li Se was a little surprised to hear this. "The Zhu family has military backing?"
This was something he hadn't expected. In the capital, anyone with military backing had practically become a first-class family. In this era, nothing was more powerful than military and official backing. If the Zhu family were merely a business, they definitely wouldn't dare to have thoughts about Xia Bingyun after this incident. But if they had military backing, it would be different.
With Xiao Zhanguo's help, Li Se obtained the military cooperation contract in just three days. After signing the contract, Yuanfeng Group would start building another factory specifically to produce hemostatic and analgesic drugs for the military. The drugs provided to the military would use better medicinal ingredients than those sold on the market.
Meanwhile, Qishan Pharmaceutical, in conjunction with several other pharmaceutical companies, had been suppressing Yuanfeng Pharmaceutical for three days, which was their final deadline.
In a clubhouse.
"This Yuanfeng Pharmaceutical is truly ignorant, not coming to cooperate with us?" Jiang Qishan, the general manager of Qishan Pharmaceutical, said with some displeasure.
As the general manager of one of the top pharmaceutical groups in Qingyun City, he felt he had shown considerable courtesy to Yuanfeng Pharmaceutical. Did an amateur pharmaceutical company expect to go against top pharmaceutical companies like them?
"General Manager Jiang, since that's the case, we don't need to be polite anymore."
"Suppress them directly and have all pharmacies delist their products."
"At that time, won't Yuanfeng Pharmaceutical have no choice but to beg us!"
"Heh heh, I heard that the general manager of Yuanfeng Group is a very beautiful young woman. When she begs us, we can have some fun..."
A group of pharmaceutical general managers wore wicked smiles. In their eyes, crushing Yuanfeng Pharmaceutical was no different from crushing an ant.