I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

Ring ring ring— Ring ring ring—

"Hello, this is Tianhe Group. Yes, yes, which province's pharmacy are you from? Okay, Hunan Province, good. Yes, we're in very high demand for Brain Gold right now. If you queue up now, you might not be able to pick up your order for another month. Okay, I've written it down for you. Our Manager Xu isn't here. Okay, I'll give you his pager number, please write it down."

In Li Jing'an's villa, the first-floor hall has been converted into a reception hall, where a large number of people are whispering and drinking tea.

The second floor was divided into small rooms, four or five of which were converted into switchboard rooms. Each room had rows of telephones, seven or eight people, and each person had four or five telephones on their desks. The phones were ringing all over the place, which showed how booming the business was.

Qin Jingru was directing the staff to pour water in the lobby on the first floor.

"Locust flowers, locust flowers," Qin Jingru called out to the side.

Huaihua quickly ran over: "Auntie, what's wrong?"

"Don't call me 'Auntie.' Didn't President Li say that we should use titles when we're at work?" Qin Jingru glared at her.

Huaihua covered her mouth and chuckled, then said in a serious tone, "Okay, Manager Qin."

Seeing Huaihua's appearance, Qin Jingru couldn't help but laugh out loud, and gently slapped Huaihua's arm: "Look, the first floor is too busy right now, it's full of purchasing agents who come to urge delivery. You don't have much to do in the finance office, go and call all the people in your finance office over to help."

After agreeing, Huaihua turned and walked towards the room at the very end of the first floor. Looking at the noisy, bustling crowd in the hall, she couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Business was booming. Since its nationwide rollout, GG's power was immediately apparent. The first batch of stock sold out within the first few days. Many people were drawn by novelty—after all, it was something they'd only ever heard about on TV, never actually sold. Now that it was available, those with spare cash wanted to try this "health supplement specially formulated for Chinese people" and see what its effects were. Coupled with the salespeople's enthusiastic promotion, the already limited stock was completely wiped out. Those who missed out further fueled this scarcity marketing, all eyeing the drug, and the buying enthusiasm was explosive—the scarcer it was, the more people wanted to try it.

Huaihua just started working at the company a few days ago. Her mother, Qin Huairu, contacted her aunt, Qin Jingru, but in the end, the company only hired Huaihua herself. It's unclear why her older sister, Xiaodang, didn't succeed.

These past few days, her older sister, Xiao Dang, has been giving her the cold shoulder and making trouble for her at every turn. She understands that it's because her sister is jealous of her successful job at this joint venture.

Of course, some people know the reason, and that's Li Jing'an. Why? There's only one answer—Li Jing'an thinks Xiao Dang is ugly.

"Hey, Factory Director Qin, Factory Director Qin, let me tell you, your pharmaceutical factory will spare no expense—painkillers, methylphenidate, without these key ingredients, how will our Brain Gold be shipped out? I don't care what methods you use!"

"Stop complaining to me, I understand. I've spoken to the health bureau and asked them to squeeze some out of your stock from other pharmaceutical factories. Later, I'll purchase two production lines so we can produce the medicinal ingredients ourselves."

"Look at us now, purchasing agents from all over the province are blocking our company gate. Some have even packed their bags; they won't leave until they get the goods. You need to work overtime and don't give me any excuses about objective difficulties. It's only been a few years! Where has your previous spirit of dedication gone? Three shifts aren't enough; we're opening another production line, requiring two shifts, twelve hours each. You have complaints, don't you? Tell them, anyone who has complaints can get out. You don't have the right? I'm telling you, I'm giving you that right now. I've already spoken to the Health Bureau and the Labor Bureau; anyone who dares to collude, complain, or disrupt morale will be fired. Don't think this is still the old iron rice bowl. Yes, that's it. Report to me if anything happens."

Snapped--

Li Jing'an put the phone down on the table, leaned back, and couldn't help but exclaim, "This is fucking printing money!"

Mix some painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and methylphenidate together, add some glucose, and you have a health supplement. Guaranteed to work immediately; your backache and leg pain will subside, and you'll feel refreshed instantly.

"What a pity, Viagra hasn't appeared yet, otherwise..." Li Jing'an clicked his tongue twice, "Oh well, I'll just hurry up and find out about Viagra so I can prepare for the future launch of Brain Gold."

In the garden outside the villa, a black Crown finally managed to find a spot to park. Xu Damao came out of the gate, cursing, "Why are there so many cars? Parked haphazardly."

After locking the car, a continuous beeping sound rang. Xu Damao frowned, picked up a pager from his waist, looked at it, and then turned it off. It started beeping again after only two steps.

Just as I pushed open the first-floor door—

"Manager Xu!"

Someone shouted. The crowded reception hall on the first floor, which resembled a vegetable market, suddenly fell silent for a moment, and then everyone rushed towards the door with a bang.

"Manager Xu, you've come all this way, please get me some goods first, otherwise I won't know how to explain it!"

"Why you? I've been living here for a week!"

"Manager Xu, it's my turn now!"

"Alright, alright, alright, stop arguing, stop pushing." Xu Damao was surrounded by people at the door, like a small boat adrift on the sea, about to be capsized by the waves at any moment.

"Manager Xu, I'd like to invite you to dinner tonight. Are you free?" another voice came from behind.

For some reason, Xu Damao suddenly burped and gagged twice. He couldn't stand the word "eat" right now. These past few days, he'd been eating lunch, dinner, and even working overtime late into the night, all because out-of-town buyers wanted to get their goods ahead of time.

At first, he quite liked it—he used to be the one sitting next to others, drinking three cups for every one they drank. Now the roles are reversed; he sits in the main seat, and everyone has to revolve around him. It was fine at first, but after a few days, his body finally couldn't take it anymore. Now he has a conditioned reflex; the mere mention of food makes him feel nauseous.

"Alright, everyone, please stop pushing. I know what you all need. Please keep order, and trust that our company will ship your orders fairly and impartially. Hey, stop pushing, stop pushing—"

Xu Damao's words clearly had no effect, as the crowd continued to pull at him.

"Hey, whose hand is that? What are you doing reaching into it?!" Xu Damao's angry voice boomed through the crowd.