"Master, will our stepping into the Southwest region this time attract the attention of the Dragon Group or the local martial artist families?"
The person speaking wore a black mask and had a strange aura about him.
"The border is a bit unstable right now, so all the top experts from the Dragon Group have gone there. As for the martial artist families in the Southwest, aside from a few ancient monsters, everyone else is trash. If they don't provoke me, I'll let it slide. But if they want to die, I don't mind sending them on their way!!"
The one called Master by the man in the black mask wore a silver mask. His voice, in particular, sounded like fingernails scraping on glass, making it extremely unpleasant to listen to.
After resting for a while, the two of them continued on their way.
...
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't worry, I'm here to talk business."
Gong Chengbin walked into Du Fei's office and became annoyed when he saw Du Fei looking at him with a guarded expression.
He then sat down opposite Du Fei.
"It's been over a month, and the operational results are much better than I anticipated. I originally thought we'd be losing a lot of money in the first few months, but I didn't expect to only lose less than a million."
Du Fei had established traditional Chinese medicine companies everywhere with the principle of not seeking profit but benefiting the public. Therefore, the traditional Chinese medicines they manufactured were almost sold at a price only slightly above cost.
To avoid losing money by selling medicine at such low prices, they could only rely on mass production.
However, people nowadays didn't have much trust in traditional Chinese medicine, and Du Fei's companies had just been established, lacking any reputation to gain public trust.
Therefore, Gong Chengbin had the company's professionals conduct an assessment, which concluded that the company would lose at least thirty million within the first six months.
Du Fei had stated that he would be responsible for this entire sum.
But to his surprise, after the first month's financial report came out, although there was still a loss of nearly a million, it was considered very good.
"Speaking of which, I initially thought it was unreliable when you asked Shen Xiong and others with social influence to help promote it, but it turned out to be quite effective."
Gong Chengbin then recalled Du Fei's arrangement for Shen Xiong and others to handle the promotion.
Initially, Gong Chengbin viewed these social figures with suspicion. Furthermore, since this was a legitimate business, he worried that Shen Xiong's involvement might lead to controversy.
However, based on the feedback from the past month, the results were surprisingly good.
If they had promoted it through advertising or other means, not only is it uncertain if the effect would be the same, but the advertising costs alone would likely start in the tens of millions.
After all, in this information age, ordinary advertisements no longer captured people's attention. Hiring celebrity influencers or creating major news events was necessary to gain recognition.
"I have great confidence in my medicinal formulas, so I believe that in a while, a good reputation will spread through word-of-mouth, and sales should pick up then."
Although Du Fei was prepared for financial losses, if the company continued to incur massive losses, it wouldn't be able to sustain itself for long.
The current situation was good and exceeded their previous expectations, making Du Fei quite happy.
The two chatted for a while longer. As it was nearing noon, Gong Chengbin suggested they have lunch together.
"I'm sorry, I already have plans with Shishi."
Du Fei politely declined Gong Chengbin's invitation.
Upon hearing that Du Fei had plans with his girlfriend, Gong Chengbin immediately put on a sad expression.
"Oh, come on. Your acting is too fake."
Du Fei saw right through Gong Chengbin's pretense.
Gong Chengbin sighed, "This isn't an act. You're enjoying your fortune and can't empathize with the hungry. You're always with your girlfriend, how can you understand the emptiness and loneliness of a single person like me?"
"Then hurry up and make an effort to win over your goddess Wenwen, and you can be together all the time. But I really have to go now."
"Alright, alright, hurry up and leave."
Du Fei and Gong Chengbin left his office together.
He drove to the underground parking lot of Sunshine International Building, where Liu Shishi's company was located.
After parking the car, he sent Liu Shishi a message to let her know he had arrived.
A few minutes later, Du Fei's phone pinged. He picked it up and saw a message from Liu Shishi, saying she had a few things to finish and asked him to wait a moment.
He replied with "Okay" and put his phone back in his pocket.
Half an hour later, Liu Shishi hurried over. As she opened the car door, she apologized profusely.
"It's okay. Waiting for your girlfriend is something every boyfriend should do."
Du Fei said to Liu Shishi with a smile.
Liu Shishi, who had just gotten into the car, smiled sweetly, clearly pleased by Du Fei's words.
"By the way, I heard from some people at the company that a new mall has opened in the East District. We don't have much to do this afternoon. How about we have lunch there and then go for a stroll?"
Liu Shishi said to Du Fei while fastening her seatbelt.
In fact, although Du Fei and Liu Shishi had been in a relationship for quite some time, they rarely did the things that ordinary couples did.
Things like shopping, watching movies, or traveling were almost non-existent.
This was mostly because Liu Shishi was dedicated to her career, but Du Fei didn't object either.
Now that Liu Shishi had taken the initiative to suggest going out, Du Fei naturally wouldn't refuse.
After asking for the approximate location of the mall, Du Fei started the car.
"By the way, Du Fei, don't you think that if we both leave early and come back late every day, and don't spend even one day with Auntie a week, she might be unhappy?"
Hearing Liu Shishi's question, Du Fei glanced at her and then asked, "Do you think my mother is that petty?"
"No, no..."
As Liu Shishi waved her hand, she saw Du Fei give her a mischievous smile and immediately realized he was teasing her.
So, Liu Shishi unceremoniously punched his shoulder a few times.
"You're getting more and more wicked. I'm being serious, and you're still teasing me."
Despite the few punches, Liu Shishi crossed her arms, feeling a bit annoyed.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. It's my fault, I shouldn't have joked around. I was wrong."
Du Fei didn't offer any excuses and immediately switched to his boyfriend apology mode.
After a series of gentle words, he finally managed to make Liu Shishi smile again.
"Actually, when my mother was at the resort, we didn't have much time to go back either. Now that she's living with us, it's more convenient to take care of her. As for your concerns, my mother goes to the market every day to help Aunt Li set up her stall. She's quite busy."
Du Fei knew that Liu Shishi genuinely cared about her mother, so he answered her seriously.
Hearing Du Fei say this, Liu Shishi finally felt relieved.