Chapter 56

Xia Ye summoned the guards and had them push his wheelchair to the alchemy room.

Inside the alchemy room, Chu Ning and Qin Zheng were both present.

One was refining pills, while the other was handling medicinal ingredients—working in perfect harmony.

When Xia Ye entered, both of them looked up at him simultaneously.

After exchanging a brief greeting, Xia Ye moved to his usual spot and began cultivating.

Matters regarding the Alchemy Sect could wait until lunchtime—now was time for cultivation.

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Noon arrived in the blink of an eye, and Gu Ming rushed home early for lunch.

At the dining table, just as Chu Ning and the others returned, Gu Ming immediately started complaining.

“This is insane! Li Huan’s live stream ended long ago, yet our online store’s orders are still flooding in.”

“I just checked StarNet. Our Alchemy Sect’s official flagship store is trending!”

“Madam, your popularity right now is even higher than some minor celebrities.”

“Oh, right, Ye-ge, people are suggesting that we create a StarNet account for our flagship store. Do you think that would be beneficial?”

“Also, Madam, do you want to make your own StarNet account public? A lot of people are your fans now—they all want to follow you.”

Chu Ning looked toward Xia Ye.

She would listen to him.

Xia Ye shifted his gaze from the light-brain screen, his expression somewhat serious.

“Madam, there’s a problem.”

Everyone tensed up.

“What’s wrong?” Chu Ning felt a flicker of unease.

“The flagship store’s revenue is about to surpass 2.5 billion.” Xia Ye’s expression was complicated.

To ensure smooth sales for the flagship store, he had deposited 1.5 billion as a security fund on the StarNet platform before Li Huan’s live stream started today.

However, unexpectedly, within a short time after the live stream began, the store’s sales had already reached 1.5 billion.

Hesitating for a moment, he had added another 1 billion as a security deposit.

He thought that since the Jade Dew Pills had already sold out, there wouldn’t be too many additional orders.

But to his surprise, the store was still receiving an overwhelming number of purchases.

Meanwhile, on StarNet, news about “Alchemy Master Chu Ning’s flagship store” was dominating the trending list.

There was also another trending topic about how the Alchemy Sect’s official store was restocking large quantities of Jade Dew Pills every day, which kept driving traffic to the store.

The store had been bookmarked by countless users, and many fans were waiting in anticipation, hoping to snag a bottle of Jade Dew Pills.

With such a massive flow of visitors, sales were bound to keep climbing.

Even though the Jade Dew Pills were out of stock, some customers, needing other pills, found it convenient to make additional purchases.

Moreover, a significant factor contributing to the sales surge was that the military’s overstocked pill inventory had been offered at a steep discount. Zheng Yuan had negotiated a very low price for them.

Xia Ye had placed those surplus pills in the discount section of the store, pricing them well below the market rate.

Seeing such cheap pills in the discount section, customers rushed to buy them.

And naturally, the store’s sales skyrocketed.

“So… we’re running out of security funds?” Chu Ning quickly grasped Xia Ye’s concern.

Yesterday, Xia Ye had mentioned to her that he and Zheng Yuan had stockpiled a batch of medicinal ingredients, which had cost them about 10 billion star coins.

“Yes.”

“If buyers don’t manually confirm their orders, the store’s payment returns could take up to three days. Over the next few days, we’ll be facing a considerable financial shortfall.”

It wasn’t just the issue of the security deposit for the store—there were still pending payments from the military and the Gu family for their pill orders.

On top of that, they had to pay for their medicinal ingredient purchases and cover daily expenses for the newly established Alchemy Sect. All of these required significant funds.

Xia Ye laid everything out clearly.

Chu Ning frowned. She hadn’t expected so many expenses piling up at once.

“It’s just money, right? I’ll call my mom!” Gu Ming said without hesitation.

After all, if there was one thing the Gu family never lacked, it was money.

Xia Ye and Qin Zheng exchanged a glance, marveling at the confidence of a truly wealthy family’s child.

“Actually… I should talk to Mother-in-law myself.” Chu Ning suggested.

She was the one borrowing the money, and it wasn’t a small sum. If they kept letting Gu Ming handle it, it would seem like they didn’t take the Gu family seriously.

“Alright. If Aunt Gu agrees, Madam, you should borrow at least 10 billion. At most, we’ll pay it back in half a month—once the Gu family and the Alchemy Master Association settle the patent fees, we’ll have enough to return it.”

Xia Ye paused for a moment.

“If we could borrow even more, that would be even better.”

Due to limited available funds earlier, he had only stockpiled 10 billion worth of medicinal ingredients.

If they could secure more money, he wanted to expand their reserves further.

“More than 10 billion?” Would they even be able to borrow that much?

None of the three beastmen spoke.

“Should we offer some interest?” After hesitating briefly, Chu Ning voiced her thoughts.

Gu Ming was about to say, “What interest? We don’t need that,” but Xia Ye cut him off.

“Yes, we should. Let’s offer a 6% annual interest rate—Aunt Gu should be willing to agree.”

Gu Ming glared at Xia Ye in frustration.

“We’re family—why talk about interest? I’ll just tell my mom to transfer the money right away!”

But with just one sharp glance from Xia Ye, Gu Ming immediately shut his mouth.

“10 billion isn’t a small amount. You’re married now, so you can’t keep taking advantage of your maiden family. You might not care, but Madam does.”

Gu Ming’s expression froze.

Was… was that true?

“Ahem. Since we’re borrowing money to invest in a business, it makes sense to pay interest.”

“Besides, I promised to visit Mother-in-law soon. After lunch, I’ll go with you to the Gu family.” Chu Ning added.

Borrowing such a large sum of money—she should go in person to show sincerity.

Gu Ming’s eyes lit up at that, no longer objecting.

He had been wanting to take his wife back to his maiden home for a long time—now was the perfect chance.

“Alright. I’ll figure out a way to gather another 2 billion for the security deposit. After that, I’ll leave the rest to you.” Xia Ye said.

Chu Ning nodded in agreement.

After lunch, she went with Gu Ming to the Gu family.

Gu Qian, who had originally gone to the company, immediately returned home upon hearing that her daughter-in-law was visiting.

She even contacted her three daughters, telling them to come back and meet Chu Ning.

By the time Chu Ning arrived, the entire Gu family was already waiting at home.

They were all exceptionally warm and welcoming toward her.

“I’ve heard Gu Ming say that you’re not only talented but also stunning. Now that I’ve seen you in person, you really are breathtaking! Our little brother is truly blessed to have married you!” Gu Dajie exclaimed.

“That’s right, Sister-in-law. In most families, daughters are the precious ones, but in our house, it’s the opposite. Gu Ming has been spoiled rotten by Mom—he’s an absolute handful. You’ll have to bear with him!” Gu Erjie teased, her gaze full of disdain for Gu Ming.

“Sister-in-law, I heard that your Alchemy Sect’s flagship store made the trending list. And that streamer, Li Huan, actually got a patent authorization for the Jade Dew Pill?” Gu Sanjie’s tone, however, wasn’t very pleasant.

The Gu family had previously tried to buy the Jade Dew Pill’s patent rights from Chu Ning.

But she had refused, saying she would only sell them after half a month.

And now? An outsider had already gotten a licensing agreement? Did she value an outsider more than her own in-laws?

Chu Ning stiffened slightly, about to explain, but Gu Ming beat her to it.

“If you don’t know how to talk, just shut up!”

“Alchemy Sect’s collaboration with Li Huan was a strategic business decision. In just half a morning, Li Huan’s stream helped us sell 2.5 billion in pills and increased our store’s bookmarks by over a billion.”

“If the Gu family can provide the same value, I’ll personally ask my wife to sell you the patent rights immediately!”

The entire Gu family was stunned.

Alchemy Sect’s flagship store had made 2.5 billion in sales in just one morning? And gained over a billion bookmarks?!

They had expected the store to gain traction, but they hadn’t realized the numbers would be this staggering.