Among everyone at the banquet, the happiest were the Jiang City officials.
Fifty billion wasn't a small amount — with that money, they could accomplish a great deal for the Jiangbei region.
Seeing Xu Mu and Xu Shou, along with Feng Jian and Feng Kang, all sign the contract, they knew that money couldn't be denied now.
When the banquet ended, Xu Shou and Xu Mu left amid a sea of murmurs.
To call it "discussion" was generous — most of it was ridicule and mockery.
Xu Shou kept his usual calm smile. He had underestimated his son.
That bold bet — maybe it wasn't recklessness, but payback.
The Xu and Feng families' industries overlapped heavily, which had caused fierce competition back in Yang City.
When the Ye family incident happened, the Xu family lost everything.
Now, sitting together in the back of the Rolls-Royce, Xu Shou suddenly turned to his son.
"You… remind me of your mother."
Xu Mu blinked. "Which part of me?"
"Your personality — that cunning, scheming streak."
Xu Shou smiled faintly and gazed out the window. His eyes grew firm. "Let me tell you a secret. Your mother might still be alive."
Xu Mu's pupils contracted sharply. So this world really has changed.
"Then why did you say she was dead?"
"For the useless man I once was, she might as well have been dead. But for the man I am now — she may still be out there."
Leaning back in his seat, Xu Shou pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and cracked the window open.
"What about her—"
"Don't ask. I'll tell you when the time's right." Xu Shou took a few long drags and flicked the ashes outside.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Xu family's slimming drug advertisements were only being aired in Jiangbei Province.
Meanwhile, Lin Yan's slimming product had gone nationwide.
Feng Kang had originally planned to invest 3 billion, but seeing the explosive sales, he added another 2 billion.
Fengwei Foods' slimming pill factories were now being built in every province.
At her bar, Feng Yue watched the news, sighing softly.
One wrong move — and everything was lost.
If she hadn't cooperated with Lin Yan back then, maybe she would be the one basking in success now.
Since Xu Mu told her not to contact him anymore, she hadn't reached out again.
She wasn't the type to waste time on fools.
She'd warned them: if the Xu Group had launched first, they could've still competed.
But focusing ads only in Jiangbei was already a missed opportunity.
Meanwhile, Li Feipeng was laughing uncontrollably. He'd never imagined he'd see a day like this.
His factory had once been on the verge of bankruptcy — he'd barely survived through tax evasion.
Now, he'd soared to the top. Watching money pour in every day made him feel light-headed.
At this rate, within a year, Fengwei Foods could trample Xu Group and become the number one company in Jiang City.
Lin Yan, on the other hand, was relaxed. He figured it was about time to move against the Su family.
By then, the desperate Su Yaya would have no choice but to beg him.
The thought of conquering his long-time "white moonlight" made him physically excited.
But then—
"Mr. Lin! Something's wrong!"
Li Feipeng burst into the villa, clutching a stack of documents.
The villa itself was a gift — something Li Feipeng had given Lin Yan just a few days ago.
Lin Yan was his benefactor; of course, he had to be generous.
"What happened?" Lin Yan frowned. "I was just about to ask you for help dealing with the Su family."
"Our slimming pills are being reported by hundreds of people! They're saying they don't work at all — total fraud!"
He shoved the files into Lin Yan's hands.
Lin Yan didn't even glance at them at first. "Just handle it with PR. Say they stopped taking the pills, went back to binge eating, and gained the weight back — perfectly normal."
"No, some of them never stopped taking the pills. They've been using them continuously," Li Feipeng said anxiously.
"What?"
Lin Yan's face turned pale.
He finally opened the files — and his expression darkened. "Luckily, it's only a few hundred cases. Pay them off — give each person a few tens of thousands, and make them shut up."
"Understood! I'll handle it immediately."
Li Feipeng turned and ran out.
Over the past three days, Xu Mu hadn't drawn from the system — he'd saved up more than 2,000 points and planned three consecutive draws.
If luck stayed the same, he might get another Heaven-tier technique or even a new Divine-tier ability.
That afternoon, after having lunch with Meng Wanyue, Xu Mu received a message from Xu Shou asking him to come upstairs.
"Wanyue, you go on ahead. I'll head up for a bit," Xu Mu said with a smile.
"Alright, Manager Xu."
Meng Wanyue nodded. She didn't know why, but the once-introverted homebody now found herself wanting to go to work every day — just to see Xu Mu.
Xu Mu entered the chairman's office.
Inside, Xu Ningbing stood beside Xu Shou's desk, wearing her office uniform.
"Why are you always here whenever I come in?" Xu Mu asked, glancing at her.
"Because Dad always calls me first. My office is closer to this floor." She replied coolly.
"Hahaha! The reason I called you both today," Xu Shou said, leaning back in his chair, "is to tell you — it's time for our counterattack."
He grinned. "Do you realize you overlooked one crucial detail?"
"What detail?" Xu Mu frowned slightly.
"The power of capital," Xu Shou said, fingers interlaced. "Even if the pills don't work, money can silence complaints."
He continued calmly, "So, when their product first launched, I secretly paid a hefty sum to hire over a dozen overweight volunteers to take Lin Yan's slimming pills."
Xu Mu immediately understood and chuckled. "Good lord, Dad, you're still the master schemer."
"Now, most of those people have regained the weight — the pills are useless," Xu Shou said with a smile. "They'll cooperate with us completely. We're going to blow this story wide open."
"Alright, I'll contact TV reporters immediately," Xu Ningbing said, nodding.
"And I know a popular influencer — I'll have her cover it too. News spreads faster online."
Xu Mu remembered that, in his previous life, he'd once been a major patron of a livestreamer — he'd spent millions on her streams.
After becoming a "villain," he'd mostly stopped watching, only visiting occasionally to drop extravagant gifts.
"Good. I'll leave it to you two," Xu Shou said with a smile. "Time to close the net."
The explosive news about the slimming drug quickly hit the trending lists.
More and more people came forward in interviews, saying Fengwei's slimming pills worked at first — but stopped working later.
Then, the volunteers Xu Shou had paid began posting their own experiences.
They claimed to document everything, with videos showing daily doses and weight checks.
By day ten, every one of them began regaining weight.
As time went on, even more people stood up with similar results.
At first, they thought it was normal, but now it was obvious — the drug didn't work at all.
While the scandal dominated social media, another headline shot to the top of the trending chart:
"Million-Follower Influencer Ai Keke Investigates the Truth Behind the Slimming Drug."
Ai Keke conducted a live interview that drew massive public attention.
During the broadcast, Wang Weiliang, from the Xu Group's pharmaceutical division, presented solid evidence.
He revealed that the Xu Group had begun developing the slimming formula years ago.
They had security footage and timestamped lab reports to prove it.
Wang Weiliang added that the formula Fengwei Foods stole was an obsolete, defective batch that would lose effectiveness within two weeks —
whereas the Xu Group's product was the genuine, perfected formula.
The revelation was explosive.
Within hours, public opinion flipped completely.
Even customers who had previously bought Fengwei's pills came forward in outrage.
Lin Yan stared at the news headlines in disbelief. Could what the Xu Group said actually be true?
All his funds were already tied up — if the pills were truly defective, everything he'd built would crumble to dust.