Seeing Chen Nan's gaze as cold as a knife.
Ma Jun instantly felt suffocated.
He had no doubt.
Chen Nan would decapitate him with a single stroke.
If that were to happen, the gain would not be worth the loss.
"Since you've offended me, you owe me an explanation," Chen Nan's voice rang out. "You say you're sorry, I say it's fine, and today I'll let you go."
Feeling the cold long saber at his neck, Ma Jun swallowed hard, suppressing the anger in his heart and said, "I'm sorry."
"That's right!"
Chen Nan patted his face with the body of the saber. "Although your Ma family has a great background, in my opinion, no matter where you go, you must have a heart of reverence."
"People can't be too arrogant."
"Otherwise, you'll be struck by lightning."
Ma Jun forced a smile. "I'll remember these words."
Chen Nan put the long saber back into his storage artifact. "Then you can scram!"
Ma Jun took a step back and gritted his teeth. "I admit defeat today."
"But, we've made an enemy of each other today."
"One day, I will let you know the consequences of being my enemy."
Saying this, he spat out the blood in his mouth. "I can tell you responsibly, even if you possess the method for cultivating penicillin, you won't be able to buy potatoes and cabbage in Tongcheng!"
Then he ran out as fast as he could.
He was afraid Chen Nan would kill him.
"I really didn't expect the Ma family to produce such a coward!" A hint of disappointment flashed in Chen Nan's eyes. These pampered young masters seemed to know nothing but bullying others with their influence.
"Big brother, what should we do now?" Wu Wangshi asked nervously.
If they couldn't buy potatoes and cabbage, wouldn't they be out of a job?
"Sister-in-law, you two take a couple of days off. Even if the Ma family monopolizes potatoes and cabbage, I'll find a way to get them," Chen Nan said indifferently.
Although the Ma family monopolized potatoes and cabbage, it wasn't difficult to get them.
Afterward.
He and Xia Youwei arrived at the Xia family, chatting and laughing.
After not seeing each other for many days.
Xia Hou's complexion looked much weaker.
On the contrary, Xia Youwei's mother's face was rosy, clearly nourished by love.
And the root of all this was the book Chen Nan had written.
Xia Hou read it with great interest.
After reading, wouldn't the heat subside?
Wouldn't married life be smooth and harmonious?
"How was the exam this time?"
Xia Hou knew that Chen Nan had participated in the selection for Yin Messengers and asked indifferently.
Chen Nan replied, "I feel it went well. I should be able to make it to the third round."
The first exam would eliminate ninety-nine thousand people.
Only the top one thousand candidates would have their second papers graded.
Among these one thousand people.
Another hundred would be selected to enter the third round.
Chen Nan didn't dare to claim he would enter the third round as the top scorer.
But entering the third round was not difficult at all.
After all, number three had already leaked the exam questions to him in advance.
Xia Hou's face showed no trace of joy or anger. "Young people can be confident, but not overly arrogant."
"More than 100,000 people have registered for the Yin Messenger selection this time."
"Among them are not a few scholars proficient in poetry and prose."
"To defeat them, your essays must be novel. Only then can you stand out."
"As for the little bit of literary talent you possess..."
"At best, you can write spiritual nourishment that men enjoy." He said this with a look of disdain.
Chen Nan was stunned.
You praised my work so highly before.
How can you act so condescendingly after reading it now?
This is too biased!
Fine.
Relying on the fact that you are Xia Youwei's father, I won't argue with you.
Chen Nan smiled and said, "Uncle Xia, I've come today to ask for your help with something."
"What is it?" Xia Hou looked at Chen Nan, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes.
He actually disliked Chen Nan.
It was because of this guy, who was only a little bit handsome, that his daughter was infatuated with him.
But he only had this one daughter, so he could only watch as a delicate flower was placed on cow dung.
However, there was one thing about Chen Nan that left a good impression on him.
That is, no matter when.
Chen Nan never thought of taking advantage of the Xia family.
He had even spent his daughter's money.
Now that he was asking for his help, he was puzzled from the bottom of his heart.
Chen Nan asked back, "Uncle Xia, you should know about penicillin, right?"
"This is a miracle drug, how could I not know?" The Xia family lived very close to the county office and was quite familiar with the affairs of the county office.
He knew very well that penicillin was the miracle drug people talked about.
If it weren't for this miracle drug, those injured during the river excavation would have suffered heavy casualties.
After all, some wounds, once infected and inflamed, could be life-threatening.
But after being injected with penicillin.
Those people recovered quickly.
He had witnessed this himself.
Chen Nan: "I cultivated penicillin."
Pfft!
Xia Hou, who had just taken a sip of water and hadn't swallowed it yet, directly sprayed out the tea in his mouth.
His eyes were full of disbelief.
"You said, penicillin was cultivated by you?"
"No, with your brain, could you cultivate penicillin?"
"Are you kidding me?"
He couldn't believe Chen Nan's words.
Xia Youwei pouted and said unhappily, "Father, I told you before that Brother Nan is truly excellent."
"Why don't you believe it yet?"
"Is it that difficult to admit that others are better than you?"
Xia Hou gave a wry smile.
He admitted that Chen Nan had some skills.
But it was limited to writing novels.
Chen Nan continued, "Uncle Xia, do you remember the rotten potatoes and cabbage at number thirteen East Garden Street?"
Xia Hou nodded thoughtfully. "I remember you said that those rotten vegetables could turn into gold."
Chen Nan: "Penicillin was cultivated and extracted from those rotten vegetables."
Slap!
A simple sentence.
In Xia Hou's eyes, it was like an invisible slap.
Fiercely slapping him in the face.
At first, he didn't believe Chen Nan's words.
Didn't believe that rotten vegetables could turn into gold.
But now.
Could he refuse to believe it?
Chen Nan continued, "Penicillin is a good thing. It's no exaggeration to say it saves lives."
"Most importantly, it has already gained the recognition of the common people."
"However, penicillin has already attracted the covetousness of the Ma family."
"The Ma family found me before and wanted the method for cultivating penicillin, which I refused."
"The consequence of refusing them is that I cannot buy vegetables for cultivating penicillin in Tongcheng."
"So, I wanted to ask you, can you find channels to get vegetables like potatoes and cabbage?"
"If you can, we can cooperate."
"Your Xia family provides the vegetables, and I provide the venue and technology."
"We'll split the profits fifty-fifty."
Xia Hou's eyes lit up.
He knew the value of penicillin.
This was definitely a revolutionary, landmark breakthrough.
Whoever mastered this technology would surely make a fortune.
As for the vegetables that Chen Nan couldn't get.
It was not a problem for him at all.
After all, the Xia family was the wealthiest in Pingyang Town, and potatoes and cabbage were common commodities.
With the Xia family's influence, they could completely acquire them in Pingyang Town and transport them to Tongcheng.
He then thought of the Ma family and couldn't help but sigh. "I'd like to cooperate with you, but doing so will offend the Ma family!"
"And can we afford to offend the Ma family?"
Chen Nan grinned, a sly smile flickering in his eyes. "You don't need to worry about this matter, old man. Although the Ma family has a great background, how difficult is it for me to bring them down?"