Liu Changfeng left the hotel room, completely satisfied.
He would deliver the cultivation fee and a high-Potential Koi Carp within the agreed-upon time.
Seeing Liu Changfeng leave, Fatty An sighed. He looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. "Qianzi, you..."
Li Qian smiled. "If you have something to say, just say it."
"A Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon with the Potential to reach Tier Five Dominator is worth well over a hundred million, but you only charged a ten-million cultivation fee." Fatty An was rather perplexed.
Li Qian looked at Fatty An. "Fatty An, don't worry, I'm not some bleeding-heart saint. If it wasn't Liu Changfeng who came here today, I would have definitely charged the market rate for the cultivation fee."
"But he's different. At the end of the day, he was the one who saved us last night," Li Qian said unhurriedly. "Plus, he's from the Public Security Bureau. Helping him is like doing my part for society."
It dawned on Fatty An. "Actually, now that I think about it, what you did makes sense. We're going to set up a Cultivation Base, so we'll inevitably have to deal with official organizations."
"Forget all the lofty ideals. Being on good terms with the Public Security Bureau only has upsides for us, no downsides!"
"Of course, the most important thing is, whether it's ten million or a hundred million, it's a huge profit for me either way!" Li Qian added in agreement.
His tone quickly turned to confusion. "Wait, since when are *we* creating a Cultivation Base?"
"It's not *we* who are creating a Cultivation Base. To be precise, my family is preparing to create or buy a Cultivation Base and then gift it to you!"
Fatty An's words startled Li Qian. "Damn, Fatty An, don't do this. I can't accept a reward for no reason!"
"How is it for no reason!" Fatty An laughed heartily. "Didn't you promise to give me a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon? Besides that, in the future, when you want to cash in on the Pet Beasts you cultivate or any other results of your work, you can choose to partner with our An Family."
Fatty An said magnanimously, "Gifting you a Cultivation Base is an investment in you. Brother, don't doubt it. You are absolutely worth this investment!"
Hearing this, Li Qian fell into thought.
He wasn't doubting whether he was worth such an investment, but rather weighing the pros and cons.
'Partnering with Fatty An's family might be a good choice.'
'Most importantly, Fatty An is very tactful. He offered to gift me a Cultivation Base, not to take a stake in it.'
'This shows they won't touch the core interests of the Cultivation Base.'
'As for converting my work into profit, I'd have to find a partner anyway.'
'What's the difference who I find!'
'If I work with the An Family, at least I know who I'm dealing with!'
There was another very important point: Li Qian really did want a Cultivation Base of his own.
Not only could it meet his own cultivation needs, but it would also allow him to arrange a better job for his parents.
Although the partnership had many benefits, a matter of this magnitude involved huge stakes, so Li Qian didn't agree immediately.
He planned to go home and discuss it with his parents.
He took the high-speed rail back, in business class of course, and the fare was naturally covered by Fatty An.
'Since we'll likely be partners in the future, there's no harm in taking a small advantage now.'
Most importantly, he and Fatty An were best buddies; there was no need to keep such a strict account.
'At worst, I'll just be a little more meticulous when I cultivate the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon for him.'
The high-speed train sped along, moving extremely fast.
Unlike the journey there, there were no unexpected incidents this time.
The Thunderbolt train carried the two of them back to Lingshui City without a hitch.
It was nearly noon when they returned. Since they had both taken the day off, they didn't go back to school. After grabbing a quick lunch near the high-speed rail station, they went their separate ways.
It was Monday, so his parents had already gone to work. Li Qian went home purely to get some proper rest.
So much had happened last night that neither of them had slept well. Now that they were back, they naturally needed to catch up on sleep.
Of course, that was just his plan. As for Fatty An, the first thing he did after getting home was contact his father, An Hou Nian, and his grandfather, An Tianyou.
Fatty An had inherited the shrewd mind that had run in the An Family for three generations.
He knew very well that given the cultivation abilities and future Potential Li Qian had displayed, securing a partnership with him would be a monumental opportunity for the An Family to soar.
How could he not be anxious!
"Dad, urgent matter to discuss. Come back quick!"
"Grandpa, urgent matter to discuss. Come back quick!"
Once the calls connected, Fatty An didn't say what it was about over the phone.
It was the kind of thing that couldn't be explained clearly over the phone.
Neither An Hou Nian nor An Tianyou would just drop everything and come home because of such a cryptic message from Fatty An.
However, when he mentioned it was a matter of "utmost urgency, concerning the future of the family," they both chose to believe him and hurried back home.
After all, this was their son and grandson. Although he seemed a bit unreliable at times, both An Hou Nian and An Tianyou knew that their boy wasn't stupid at his core. On the contrary, he had inherited their best traits and was quite shrewd.
He never muddled things up when it came to important matters.
Not long after, just as Li Qian was falling into a deep sleep, An Hou Nian and An Tianyou returned to the An Family home.
"What's the matter? Why the big rush?" An Hou Nian asked the moment he returned home and saw his son.
An Tianyou also cast an inquisitive gaze at his grandson.
Right now, both of them were extremely curious.
What on earth could have prompted Fatty An to use words like "utmost urgency, concerning the future of the family"?
"Dad, Grandpa, you two should remember Li Qian, right?" Fatty An didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.
"You mean that classmate of yours, Li Qian, the one you're good friends with?" An Hou Nian thought for a moment and recalled who he was.
Because he was good friends with his son, who often mentioned him at home, he had some impression of him.
Of course, it was only a faint impression.
"Yesterday, he and I went to the neighboring Yunlan City..."
"Do you know what he went there to do?"
Before An Hou Nian and An Tianyou could answer, Fatty An continued on his own, "What I'm about to say might just blow your minds, but I swear on our family register that everything I'm about to tell you is the absolute truth!"
BAM!
Without a word, An Tianyou smacked Fatty An right on top of his skull.
'What does he mean, swear on the family register...'
'How is swearing on the family register any different from swearing on your old man's life, and your old man's old man's life?'
'You little brat!'
Fatty An rubbed his head, not bothered in the slightest.
He gave a dopey grin and continued, "Yesterday, Qianzi and I went to Yunlan City. His goal there was actually to complete a cultivation research project!"
THWACK~!
An Hou Nian didn't hold back, adding a flick to his forehead.
"Stop dawdling and get to the point!"
"It's like this. After we got to Yunlan City..."
Fatty An didn't dare waste any more time. He made a long story short and recounted everything that happened the previous night from beginning to end.