In the storyline Xu Mu remembered, Xu Shou didn't have much screen time.
Perhaps by healing his father's meridians, Xu Mu had changed the course of history itself.
The two entered the underground parking garage and sat together in the back of a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
For a businessman of Xu Shou's stature, even a car worth tens of millions couldn't truly reflect his status.
People like him cared more about details — for instance, this car's license plate read Jiang A 99999.
In the driver's seat was a middle-aged man with half-gray hair.
From memory, Xu Mu recognized him — Xu Shou's personal driver, Liu Shi.
"Old Liu, let's go."
Xu Shou smiled.
"Alright."
Liu Shi nodded slightly. Through the rearview mirror, he glanced briefly at Xu Mu, then drove away.
Jiangcheng Grand Hotel, Jiang City
Outside the hotel, luxury cars crowded the entrance. Many bore out-of-town plates.
Inside the top-floor banquet hall, groups of guests gathered and chatted in clusters.
At the center of attention tonight was none other than Li Feipeng of Fengwei Foods.
He had become a star in the business world — even people several times wealthier than him were now greeting him with smiles.
Everyone present was a sharp-minded entrepreneur, and they all saw the immense potential of the slimming drug.
Due to limited production capacity, the product was only available in a few provinces for now.
Once they expanded output, sales could cover the entire country — even the world.
This single product could very well make Li Feipeng the richest man in northern Jiang Province.
Li Feipeng relished the attention. The very people he once had to bow and scrape before were now treating him with respect.
His gaze swept toward a table in the distance — where Lin Yan sat. It was all thanks to him.
At that moment, an excited murmur swept through the crowd.
A woman in a sleek black gown, hair elegantly coiled, stepped into the hall.
Her every gesture exuded charm and confidence — Song Luoluo had arrived.
She had first gained fame with her daring stage performances and later reached the peak of her career through several hit songs.
Tonight, her gown featured a plunging neckline that turned countless heads.
Several young heirs immediately went up to greet her — many had come tonight just to see this celebrity.
As time passed, more northern Jiang business magnates entered the venue.
While sipping red wine, Lin Yan's eyes suddenly lit up — he saw Xu Shou and Xu Mu walking in.
[Fate Power − 60]
Even though Lin Yan was in a great mood, black text still floated above his head when he spotted Xu Mu.
A smirk curled on his lips — this time, he owed the Xu family a thank-you gift for handing him the slimming drug on a silver platter.
He was about to greet them when he noticed another arrival — the Feng family from Yang City.
Xu Mu, on the other hand, was still inwardly delighted. His guess had been right:
only through direct interaction could he seize a protagonist's Fate Power.
Not far away, Feng Jian spotted him.
At Shen Wanning's concert in Yang City, Xu Mu had shown off too much — Feng Jian had been humiliated.
Now, stepping forward, Feng Jian sneered, "The Xu family really has fallen. Resorting to knockoffs now, huh?"
Everyone understood the implication — Fengwei Foods had launched their slimming pill first, and just yesterday, the Xu Group released theirs.
Wasn't that blatant plagiarism?
Most of the companies present were far weaker than the Xu Group and dared not comment.
But the Feng family was different — powerful enough not to hold back.
"Shut your mouth."
Beside Feng Jian stood a middle-aged man with a slicked-back haircut, a trimmed mustache, and deep nasolabial lines — Feng Kang, patriarch of the Feng family.
With a faint smile, he extended a hand. "Old Xu, it's been a long time."
"Indeed, it has," Xu Shou replied, shaking his hand.
Years ago, the Xu and Feng families had clashed in a massive financial war.
Seeing them shake hands now, many wondered — had they reconciled?
But before anyone could draw conclusions, Feng Kang walked straight past Xu Shou toward Li Feipeng.
"President Li, I've long admired your name," Feng Kang said warmly, extending his hand.
Li Feipeng was flattered — the Feng family ranked among the top five business clans in all of northern Jiang.
For someone like Feng Kang to say "I've long admired you" was beyond his wildest dreams.
His back straightened instantly. From now on, even going to the bathroom, I'll have to do it standing tall.
"Mr. Feng, an honor."
They shook hands.
"Tell me," Feng Kang said curiously, "you're in the food business — how did you suddenly develop a slimming drug?"
The nearby magnates all perked their ears.
Li Feipeng had prepared for this. Calmly, he replied,
"Our R&D department originally planned to develop all-natural herbal snacks. But by coincidence, we stumbled upon the formula for this slimming drug."
The crowd murmured in admiration.
So lucky! To discover a best-selling product by pure accident!
Then a cold voice cut through the praise.
"Quite the act. You really think you can fool everyone? You know perfectly well where that formula came from. 'Coincidence'? More like theft."
Xu Mu stood there, hands in his pockets, expression calm.
The words dropped like a bombshell.
The surrounding guests all turned to look — gossip hungry.
Lin Yan approached, wineglass in hand, and chuckled.
"Xu Mu, throwing accusations like that — aren't you afraid of a defamation suit?"
"Yeah," Feng Jian added mockingly, "you're the one accusing others first. Their slimming drug launched before yours. Who's copying who, huh?"
The crowd nodded. The facts seemed clear enough — Fengwei's product had come first.
"We didn't delay release because we lacked ability," Xu Mu said coolly.
"We only wanted perfection. You used that time to steal our formula. Not afraid of karma?"
Then he smiled faintly. "Fortunately, we improved the formula these past few days. Ours is better now."
"That's enough," Xu Shou said, stepping behind him and patting his shoulder.
Xu Mu fell silent and followed his father to a quiet corner of the banquet hall.
Xu Shou picked up a wineglass and smiled.
"You kid talked too much back there. In the future, when handling matters — always keep calm."
"I did it on purpose," Xu Mu grinned.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Xu Shou asked curiously.
"Whether Lin Yan believes me or not, he'll feel a sense of crisis now," Xu Mu explained.
"Even if our products are identical, his company will think we've improved ours — and to protect his share, he'll push harder. The more he invests, the more he'll lose."
He smiled slyly. "Do you think he'll just sit still?"
Xu Shou glanced toward Lin Yan, who was chatting with Feng Kang in the distance — and suddenly understood.
That one line from Xu Mu would spark Lin Yan's anxiety.
Afraid of losing market share, he'd rush to dominate first — by pouring in more capital, digging his own pit.
"Good boy! Hahaha!"
Xu Shou downed his red wine in one gulp.
Just then, another murmur rippled through the crowd —
the head of the Shen family, Shen Hong, had arrived.
And beside him was his daughter — Shen Wanning.