Top-tier Unruly Master

Ding Fan had long since developed the habit of cultivating, and a night spent doing nothing but sleeping made him feel a bit restless, so, early the next morning, Ding Fan went out to the nearby market, where there was an early market, thinking to buy some vegetables to take back home.

On the one hand, he had not yet practiced fasting, so his demand for food was still quite high, and moreover, Zhou Ruoran needed some nutrition as well.

In addition to buying vegetables, Ding Fan also planned to find the girl who had sold him the Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass, as he still owed her five yuan. Although it wasn't a lot of money, Ding Fan always intended to pay it back.

Once he arrived at the early market, Ding Fan took a turn around and did buy quite a lot of greens, meat, and even a fish, as he was about to start intensive body cultivation, and nutrition always needed to keep up.

However, after searching everywhere, he couldn't find the girl selling flowers. Perhaps it was too early, and that girl didn't come out to sell flowers in the morning.

When Ding Fan got back home with the groceries, it was still early, and there was no sound from Zhou Ruoran's room, which suggested she hadn't gotten up yet.

Without delay, Ding Fan started a fire to cook congee and began preparing breakfast.

...

Zhou Ruoran had read books until late the previous night, and when she opened her eyes, she heard a bustle of activity coming from the kitchen.

Zhou Ruoran was taken aback, remembering how Ding Fan had cooked for her last night, and she wondered if he was now making breakfast.

Zhou Ruoran felt restless and got dressed, tidied up a bit, and when she reached the kitchen, there were two bowls of white rice porridge, two dishes of pickles, and several buns that were obviously bought from outside laid out on the dining table in the living room.

Looking at the steaming white rice porridge, she was momentarily spellbound and found a sense of home; every day, no matter how hard and tiring it might be, there would always be someone at home waiting, caring, a warm meal, a word of greeting...

"Ruoran, let's eat," Ding Fan said as he noticed Zhou Ruoran staring blankly, carrying a plate with eggs.

Because of the incident yesterday, Zhou Ruoran thought she would certainly feel disgusted when she saw Ding Fan. However, for some reason, there was a clear and faint fragrance emanating from Ding Fan, one that definitely couldn't be created by any perfume. That scent settled her originally agitated thoughts, providing a very enjoyable sensation.

"Okay, you eat first. I'm going to wash up," Zhou Ruoran said, then turned and went to the bathroom.

Zhou Ruoran found it strange, she knew herself well, and as she came out of her room, she was thinking that she needed to control herself fiercely, not to show her emotions in front of Ding Fan. After all, whether Ding Fan played the gigolo had nothing to do with her. Hadn't he done disgraceful things his entire life? Why bother competing with him? After all, they would go their separate ways after the postgraduate entrance examination interviews.

Yet, when she saw Ding Fan, her heart felt no disgust at all, and what confounded her was that she actually liked the feeling of being near him.

Zhou Ruoran washed up while her mind churned over the changes in Ding Fan in the past two days, but no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure it out.

By the time Zhou Ruoran had finished washing up and came to the living room, Ding Fan had already finished eating and seemed to be ready to leave.

"Ruoran, I happened to find some money yesterday while cleaning the rooms, so you can use it first," Ding Fan said, placing two stacks of money on the coffee table in the living room.

Money found while cleaning the room?

Zhou Ruoran looked at the two stacks of money, which should amount to twenty thousand yuan. She remembered when the Ding Family was raided, those people were extremely thorough, almost tearing down the house, so how could there have been any missed and found later?

Furthermore, even if Ding Fan had truly found the money in the room, why didn't he keep it for himself, instead of giving it to her?

While Zhou Ruoran was still puzzled, Ding Fan did not offer any more explanation and left.

Zhou Ruoran picked up the twenty thousand yuan, but she had no intention of keeping it for herself. In her view, claiming the money was found in the room was nothing but a pretext; it was very likely that the money had been given to Ding Fan by that big star the day before.

Despite Zhou Ruoran's disdain for Ding Fan's playing the gigolo for the big star, Ding Fan was just that kind of person; who was she to change him?

Besides, her original intention was only to help Ding Fan establish a relatively comfortable living environment. As for what kind of person Ding Fan becomes, that was none of her business.

Zhou Ruoran put away the money, planning to set up a bank account for Ding Fan; when it was her time to leave, she would leave the money for him...

Although Zhou Ruoran was short of money now, she felt that money earned in exchange for male dignity was dirty.

Due to yesterday's dinner, Zhou Ruoran had some anticipation for Ding Fan's breakfast, but the thought that the meal might have been bought with the money given by the big star dampened her appetite. She quickly packed up and left for school.

...

Upon leaving home, Ding Fan headed straight to the river dam of Green River in Dancheng.

When Ding Fan went to the market that morning, he had indeed bought a map of Dancheng. The river dam of Green River was quite far from the downtown area, and there, cultivating the body, even if it caused a bit of a commotion, wouldn't attract much attention.

Moreover, it wasn't far from where he was currently staying, and even walking there would take less than an hour, which was, for him, not much of a distance at all.

Ding Fan walked briskly, and though he wasn't yet capable of using the Wind Control Skill, he arrived at the river dam of Green River after an hour.

The air here was fresh and the surroundings were serene. Ding Fan found this place to be a great spot for body cultivation. Beside the river embankment, there was a small grove of trees where it seemed no one would disturb him. Ding Fan decided he could practice his cultivation there.

However, just as Ding Fan was about to enter the woods to cultivate his body, he noticed that a few hundred meters away there was a wharf. The wharf was not large, and at that moment, an iron ship was docked there, with people bustling about, moving something.

Ding Fan became interested and walked over. After inquiring, he learned that this was a small river transport transfer station where goods were transshipped daily. The busy workers were manual laborers who were paid according to the amount of goods they moved.

Ding Fan looked at the goods, which were mostly solid and heavy. Since the ship was small and couldn't accommodate lifting equipment, the workers had to move the goods by hand.

Furthermore, the cargo ship only came once a day, arriving at 7:30 in the morning and usually finishing loading and unloading by noon.

Ding Fan thought that moving cargo was not a bad idea; on one hand, it could serve as body cultivation, and on the other, he could earn some money. This seemed to be a win-win solution.

Ding Fan found the person in charge, a middle-aged woman who was quite pleasant. People here called her Sister Huang.

Sister Huang initially thought Ding Fan wouldn't be up to the task, as he looked far too slender compared to the burly laborers.

But after Ding Fan tried his hand, Sister Huang felt as though she had struck gold. Despite his thin appearance, Ding Fan could carry three large sacks at once, whereas others could only manage one, and he was neither slow nor lazy in his work and didn't shirk his duties. Where else could one find such a laborer?

That day, Ding Fan stayed and started working with the other laborers.

...

For the past two days, Xu Guanjie's complexion had not been good.

Two days earlier, he had accompanied Qin Manshu to the park to buy pills, thinking that he was just indulging Miss Qin's whims and she would soon give up the idea.

However, to his surprise, the pills Qin Manshu bought actually worked. Old Master Qin, who had been in a coma for two years, miraculously came to.

Although Old Master Qin was still unable to get out of bed these past two days, his mental clarity was increasingly returning. Moreover, the Qin family had found a private doctor who was also amazed at Old Master Qin's recovery and claimed it was nothing short of miraculous.

The private doctor declared that if the current recovery continued, it wouldn't be long before Old Master Qin could walk.

With Old Master Qin's sudden improvement, members of the Qin family flocked to Dancheng, and they were all grateful to Xu Guanjie, who had helped Qin Manshu find the miraculous healer.

Having helped the Qin family with such a significant issue, it was clear to all that it wouldn't be long before Xu Guanjie rose even higher in his career.

Logically, Xu Guanjie should have been pleased. Yet, what made him uneasy was the fact that he had dismissed the healer who sold the pills to Qin Manshu as a swindler.

What was most troubling was that the healer had also diagnosed him, saying he wouldn't live past ten days. At the time, Xu Guanjie had thought the man was just a fraud trying to con him and had ignored it...

But now, with Old Master Qin, who had been in a vegetative state for two years, cured by a few pills— an ailment that countless experts could not cure— it proved that the "swindler"... no, that the healer had not lied, and Xu Guanjie was deeply convinced by the healer's words.

Thinking about the healer's claim that he only had ten days to live, Xu Guanjie's face turned pale. Could it be that at the peak of his career, he, Xu Guanjie, was really about to leave this world?

Today, Xu Guanjie did not go to work; instead, he went to the hospital for a full medical examination. But the result was the same as before; he was in excellent health, without a hint of illness.

Inside the office of the Director of Dancheng General Hospital.

"Lao Su, have you lost your mind these past two days? There's nothing wrong with your health, how many times do I have to tell you? Yet, you insist on a full body checkup," said a man in his mid-fifties, holding a stack of test results, looking at Xu Guanjie with an expression of disbelief.

This man was Gao Haiqing, the Director of the General Hospital and also Xu Guanjie's high school classmate.

"Lao Gao, are you sure I'm not ill?" Xu Guanjie asked with knitted brows and an incredulous tone.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Gao Haiqing said with certainty.

"But the healer clearly said my condition was very serious..."

Xu Guanjie, still not at ease, took the test results handed to him and said with a tense expression.

A healer?

Gao Haiqing chuckled somewhat speechlessly. "Lao Su, even you believe in these superstitions? These so-called healers are just con artists. You believe their words?"

Xu Guanjie could see that Gao Haiqing was skeptical, but if he hadn't seen with his own eyes, how could he have been convinced by the words of the healer, when a single pill saved a person who had been vegetating in bed for two years?