While Li Yundong always believed the world was beautiful and life was joyful, he was acutely aware that no matter how fine the world, there would always be some flies buzzing into his field of vision. In Li Yundong's estimation, Zhao Yougen was undoubtedly a competent fly—always appearing at an inappropriate time, in an inappropriate place, and with an inappropriate demeanor.

"That guy is truly repulsive!" Su Chan whispered close to Li Yundong's ear, her face etched with disgust. Li Yundong gently patted her arm, signaling her to remain calm, then took a step forward and said coolly, "Is it truly coincidence?

How many coincidences like this exist in the world?" Zhao Yougen acted as if he hadn't heard Li Yundong. He swept his gaze over Li Yundong, Su Chan, Ziyuan, and the others, then chuckled smugly, saying, "Little brother, your renovation speed is impressive!

Your old brother admires it greatly! Fortunately, my renovation speed isn't slow either, hehe, we finished at the exact same time, hahahaha!" Li Yundong and his group looked toward Zhao Yougen's tea shop.

They saw that the shop front featured floor-to-ceiling transparent glass windows, decorated inside and out with dazzling splendor, possessing a strong modern flair. Standing at the entrance were two neat rows of beautiful Qipao-clad tea hostesses, whose slit skirts rose almost to the roots of their thighs.

Ruan Hongling snorted softly, murmuring sarcastically, "This place screams nouveau riche from the inside out. How can one possibly drink tea here?" Zhou Qin also wore a mocking smile, murmuring, "Is this place selling tea or selling bodies?" Li Yundong heard their remarks and smiled slightly, completely agreeing with their assessment.

Not wanting to tangle with Zhao Yougen, he said, "Mr. Zhao, it’s your opening day, and ours is today as well.

Perhaps we should each mind our own business?" Zhao Yougen certainly wouldn't let Li Yundong leave; he hadn't shown off enough yet. He quickly said, "Hey, little brother, don't go!

It’s the first day of business; we need a good omen!" Saying this, he clapped his hands. A beautiful, slender beauty in a Qipao immediately walked over, holding a tray piled high with red envelopes.

Zhao Yougen reached back, grabbed a handful of envelopes from the tray, and brazenly tried to press them into Li Yundong's hand. He boomed, "Little brother, this is a small token from your old brother, for good luck.

You must accept it!" How could Li Yundong accept it? He subtly stepped back, then smiled faintly and replied, "Mr.

Zhao is too kind, I couldn't possibly accept such a gift!" Zhao Yougen’s hand met empty air, and his expression shifted rapidly. However, he quickly forced a smile and waved grandly toward the growing crowd of onlookers.

He tossed the envelopes in his hand high into the air, laughing heartily, "Come, come! It's the opening day of my little shop!

Let's get a good start and see some good fortune right away!" The surrounding crowd immediately scrambled for the cash. Those who secured an envelope clutched it to their chests as if it were a priceless treasure and quickly darted away.

Others who missed out stood rooted to the spot, shouting curses, while some simply surrounded Zhao Yougen to beg for more. Zhao Yougen laughed triumphantly.

"The morning envelopes are all gone. We'll hand out the afternoon batch at exactly two o'clock this afternoon.

There will be more to distribute then!" The crowd cheered loudly with delight. Li Yundong and his companions sneered.

Li Yundong turned his head and chuckled to Ziyuan, "Doesn't he resemble one of those landlord tyrants from the old days handing out charity to street beggars?" Ziyuan smiled slightly and replied, "The national character of Chinese people never changes. Deeply ingrained landlord sentiments exist in everyone's bones; some express it overtly, while others simply lack the opportunity to do so." Li Yundong feigned anger, "Hey, whose side are you on?

Doesn't that criticism include us too?" Ziyuan gave a charming smile, "Fine, then this fellow is just a vulgar nouveau riche, a landlord living stuck in the old society. Are you satisfied with that description?" Li Yundong nodded and laughed heartily, "Now that's more like it!" At that moment, they watched as Zhao Yougen, having finished distributing the money, directed a large group of beauties to hang string after string of firecrackers from the tea shop's window ledges, ordering them to light them.

Instantly, the street erupted in a chaotic flurry of popping sounds, smoke billowed, and bits of paper flew everywhere. Spectators clamped their hands over their ears, fleeing to a safe distance, grimacing in discomfort.

Even the little foxes, who were cultivators themselves, couldn't help but cover their ears, their brows tightly furrowed. This barrage of firecrackers drowned out every other sound on the pedestrian street; it was like continuous thunderclaps.

Only after a good cup of tea's worth of time did the cacophony finally cease. When the smoke cleared, the street was engulfed in thick fog.

Visibility was reduced so much that one couldn't see a person clearly even five meters away across the street! Ziyuan frowned slightly.

With a wave of her sleeve, a gentle gust of gang wind swept past, completely dispersing the pungent odor of gunpowder. Su Chan pinched her nose, spat onto the ground, and cursed, "So noisy, it's choking me!" The little foxes clamored, "What's so great about setting off firecrackers?" "Exactly!

Exactly!" Feng Na also covered her nose with both hands and muttered sullenly, "This guy is so annoying, so tacky! Doesn't he know they have eco-friendly electronic firecrackers now?

Setting off that many—does he want to suffocate people!" As soon as their words fell, they saw several more strings of firecrackers hung from the second floor across the way, which immediately began popping again. Su Chan and the others instantly looked dismayed, crying out, "They're still going?

Do they expect people to live?" Li Yundong felt a flash of silent anger. While everyone else was covering their ears and frowning, he flicked out several streams of True Essence (Zhenyuan).

They struck precisely in the middle of the firecracker strings, splitting them in two. The remaining sections fell to the ground, and the ones still hanging sputtered weakly for a moment before falling silent.

Zhao Yougen, unaware of the subtle trickery, became furious. He stamped his foot, "What's going on?

Why did they break? That’s terrible luck, do you know that?

Scoundrel! Fix them immediately!" The beauty upstairs turned pale with fright and quickly ran downstairs, gathered the broken firecrackers, and carefully rehung them.

Just as she was about to light them, Li Yundong flicked a few more times with his fingers. Before these strings could even ignite, they tumbled back to the ground.

Zhao Yougen’s face darkened; he roared in uncontrollable fury, "Are you trying to quit? Today is my grand opening, and you keep ruining my mood!

If it weren't for not wanting to invite bad luck today, I'd have you packed up and gone immediately!" The beauty who was reprimanded ran down the stairs, her face ashen, clutching the firecrackers and running back up. Tears welled in her eyes.

Li Yundong felt a pang of sympathy and ultimately did not snap the firecrackers in half a third time. Finally, after Zhao Yougen finished setting off his remaining firecrackers, he waved his hand and shouted loudly toward the women inside the shop, "Quickly, everyone get ready!

The important people are coming!" As he was barking orders, directing his beautiful staff to line up, he heard several delighted voices from down the street: "Li Yundong? You guys are here!" Li Yundong turned and saw Cheng Cheng, Sun Li, and a group of students from the university rushing toward him with excited greetings.

Li Yundong was overjoyed and waved back, "Over here, over here!" These people were all students from Tiannan University. Cheng Cheng was at the front.

She ran quickly up to Li Yundong and said cheerfully, "We had such a hard time finding you! If it weren't for all that firecracker noise, we might not have found you so soon!" Feng Na stepped forward then and said with a smile, "How could you not find us?

Didn't I tell you the location?" Cheng Cheng stuck her tongue out at her, "You know I have no sense of direction!" Feng Na laughed, "You have no sense of direction, but do they all lack one too?" Saying this, she smiled and greeted Sun Li and the others. Among this group, only Cheng Cheng and Sun Li had a close relationship with Li Yundong.

The others had come because they had heard of him. They glanced at Li Yundong with a mix of awe and reverence, then curiously surveyed the surroundings, their eyes betraying unconcealed envy and admiration.

Sun Li looked at Li Yundong with mock indignation and scolded, "Li Yundong, you haven't been to class in ages again. I'm going to mark you down for truancy!" Li Yundong arched his hands in a wry smile, "My dear class monitor, my great elder sister, my esteemed martial hero!

Please be lenient! Haven't you noticed I cause trouble every time I visit the school?" Sun Li huffed, but a smile played on her lips, "That depends on how you plan to entertain me?" Li Yundong laughed heartily, "Easy, easy!

Everyone, please come inside!" The group began walking in, chatting and laughing. Cheng Cheng looked curiously at the tea shop across the street and said bluntly, "Hey, Li Yundong, what is that shop across the way?

They were so lively just now; that's what an opening celebration looks like! Why didn't you make yours more festive?" As soon as she said this, Su Chan, Ruan Hongling, and the others instantly changed expression, their faces falling.

Feng Na quickly pinched Cheng Cheng's arm fiercely and glared at her venomously, whispering, "If you don't speak, no one will think you’re mute!" Only then did Cheng Cheng realize she had spoken out of turn. She lowered her head in (aggrieved submission) and murmured, "Oh." Li Yundong and Ziyuan had discussed whether to hold a grand or subdued opening ceremony.

Ziyuan felt that for cultivators to open a shop in a bustling city was already contrary to proper conduct, and making a huge fuss about it would be too conspicuous and inappropriate. Cultivators ought to be more low-key.

Li Yundong considered this and readily agreed with Ziyuan's view; thus, they had only invited a few familiar people for a small, quiet celebration. But he never expected that Zhao Yougen across the street would choose the exact same day to open and be so extravagant, practically shouting to the entire world about his establishment.

Li Yundong felt a rising displeasure, but his face maintained a faint smile. He said to Cheng Cheng, "It’s nothing.

We have our own quiet celebration, and they have their ruckus." Seeing Li Yundong's gentle smile and sensing he wasn't truly angry, Cheng Cheng relaxed slightly and said timidly, "I'm just slow with my words; please don't take offense, okay?" Li Yundong gave a short laugh and waved his hand, "We're old friends; don't say such distant things." Feng Na, sensing an opportunity, quickly jumped in to smooth things over, "Oh, right, Li Yundong, how about I call my Master and ask them to come do an interview? It would count as showing support, right?" Li Yundong chuckled and waved his hand, "No need.

One must be low-key! Let's not stir up that kind of trouble." Before he finished speaking, he saw Zhao Yougen shouting toward them, "A press interview?

Wonderful! I actually invited reporters for interviews and filming too!

Little brother, why don't you let them interview you as well?" Seeing Zhao Yougen’s arrogant demeanor, everyone frowned. Li Yundong smiled faintly, "Forget it, Mr.

Zhao, I'm not fortunate enough for that; I'm afraid I couldn't handle the attention!" Zhao Yougen saw Li Yundong yielding and let out a triumphant burst of laughter, as if all his previous dissatisfaction had been vindicated and purged. Just as he was about to speak, a car drove up.

A young woman holding a microphone and a young man carrying a camera stepped out. Li Yundong blinked in surprise, "Speaking of the devil, here they are?" Feng Na’s expression darkened upon seeing the pair, and she instinctively tried to slip toward the back of the crowd.

But the young man getting out of the car happened to spot Feng Na, and he shouted with delight, "Nana, you're here!" Saying this, he hoisted his equipment and ran toward Feng Na. Li Yundong, standing nearby, wondered secretly: Who is this guy?

Feng Na's boyfriend? C