The mountainside Shelter, unfinished.

Yao Yao and Zhao Xueqing were dressed in period costumes, Lei Xiaohui was holding a light reflector, and Li Xiang was holding a phone.

"Yao Yao, you go first. We’re going to shoot a one-take video. When I say ’start,’ you start running. Make your movements bigger, more exaggerated. Your skirt and sleeves are a bit too long, so if your movements aren’t big enough, they won’t flow."

"Brother, it’s so dark in there. I’m a little scared..." Yao Yao said, feigning a timid and weak expression.

Li Xiang couldn’t help but say irritably, "We’re all right behind you, what are you afraid of? We already checked before, and there are no snakes."

"But..."

Li Xiang said, "How about we let Xueqing go first?"

Zhao Xueqing immediately looked eager to give it a try.

"No, I’ll go first!" How could Yao Yao admit defeat in something like this? She immediately got into position.

"3, 2, 1, start!"

At Li Xiang’s command, Yao Yao started running. Lei Xiaohui chased after her with the light reflector, while Li Xiang followed, filming the entire time.

After finishing one run, Yao Yao was extremely excited, her face flushed as she cried out, "Brother, how was my performance just now?"

"Good, good, good. It was great. We don’t need a second take."

Next, it was Zhao Xueqing’s turn.

The reason Li Xiang and the others were filming a video here was mainly because news had come from Luo Feifei. The big-name director was very interested but wanted to see a video to get a sense of what the mountainside Shelter was really like.

Afterward, once they edited it, Li Xiang and his team could also post it to their own social media accounts as early promotional material.

The outdoor garden area was also almost finished, and they would shoot some videos there as well.

The furnishings for the National Tea House and National Style Tavern were basically all in place and could be moved in once the renovations were complete. However, the milk tea shop and coffee house were still missing some equipment. Tomorrow, Li Xiang would take the three girls to the provincial capital to talk business. The main purpose was to check out suppliers for coffee and milk tea equipment, test it on the spot, and place an order if it was good.

There was good news: Zhao Xueqing and Yao Yao had both gotten their driver’s licenses at the same time. Lei Xiaohui had also passed her on-course practical exam and was preparing for the road test.

Zhao Xueqing and Yao Yao had borrowed Li Xiang’s car to practice a few times on the rural backroads. They had also driven to the county town, but always on the provincial highway.

After Li Xiang finished filming, he still had half a day left, so he took the three girls to practice driving—on the expressway!

They had to drive on the expressway eventually. He didn’t want to drive to the provincial capital himself tomorrow, so if the two girls performed well, he could just relax in the back seat from now on.

For this practice session, Li Xiang, as the "instructor," naturally sat in the front passenger seat.

The two girls had completely different driving styles. Yao Yao had a wilder personality, and her driving was wild too. Perhaps excited about being on the expressway for the first time, she saw the open road ahead, floored the accelerator, and shot up to 150 km/h. The speed was still climbing, and soon they hit 180!

Holy crap! Zhao Xueqing’s and Lei Xiaohui’s faces instantly turned pale with fright, and they both simultaneously grabbed the handles on the car’s ceiling.

Lei Xiaohui didn’t dare shout, afraid of startling Yao Yao. She just said very gently, "Sister Yao, slow down, slow down. Be careful, or you’ll get caught by a speed camera."

Zhao Xueqing didn’t say anything, also afraid of agitating Yao Yao. It would be terrible if an accident happened. But she couldn’t help complaining inwardly: ’Sis, we’re about to hit 190 km/h! How can you, a new driver, be so daring?’

Li Xiang sat up straight, on high alert. A speed of 190 km/h was nothing to him, but for a new driver on the expressway for the first time... you’d have to be crazy not to be scared.

This was the kind of situation that could lead to a fatal crash at any moment. He hadn’t had this new car for long, and the three girls were all beautiful and in the prime of their youth, around twenty years old. If they crashed, he wasn’t confident he could save all three of them at once.

Startled by the other two, Yao Yao, who had been on a high, started to panic.

Li Xiang quickly reassured her, "Don’t panic. Keep a firm grip on the steering wheel, take your foot off the accelerator, and whatever you do, don’t slam on the brakes. Tap the brake gently. Tap and release, tap and release. Yes, yes, yes, just like that. Slowly bring the speed down."

Under Li Xiang’s guidance, the speed finally dropped to around 120 km/h, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Lei Xiaohui dared to speak loudly now, patting her chest.

Zhao Xueqing was also trembling with residual fear. "Thankfully there were no cars in front of or behind us, and the road conditions were simple," she said. "Otherwise..." She didn’t finish the inauspicious thought.

Li Xiang was also feeling relieved. "Riding in a car with you guys is more exhausting than driving myself," he quipped.

Yao Yao whined coquettishly, "Brother, don’t say that. It was my first time."

...

When they reached a rest stop, everyone got out to take a break, and then it was Zhao Xueqing’s turn to drive.

Zhao Xueqing had a steadier personality, the opposite of Yao Yao. While Yao Yao was too fast, Zhao Xueqing was too slow, her top speed only reaching 90 km/h.

Li Xiang advised from the side, "Going too slow is also a problem. A lot of accidents happen because someone is driving too slowly, and the car behind them tries to overtake. Pick up the speed a bit. Don’t be afraid."

Zhao Xueqing accelerated, but you could tell she was nervous from the way her hands were gripping the steering wheel.

"Don’t rush, don’t rush. Relax a little. It’s like this for everyone the first time. Maintain this speed and don’t change lanes randomly."

As she drove, Li Xiang continued to offer guidance, sharing all his experience and advice without holding anything back.

"Brother, how are you so skilled? You haven’t had your license for that long, so how did you get so good at driving?" Yao Yao asked, recalling how effortlessly Li Xiang drove when she had ridden with him before.

Li Xiang chuckled. "Your brother is an old pro."

’I’ve even driven a tank,’ he thought. ’What’s a car compared to that?’

Yao Yao couldn’t help but giggle. "An old pro taking us for a ride!"

Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui also couldn’t help but smile. Clearly, they were "in the know" as well and instantly understood Yao Yao’s meaning.

Li Xiang: "..."

Practicing in advance turned out to be a good idea. After a full afternoon of it, Li Xiang and the others arrived in the county town. He treated the three girls to hot pot as a sort of company team-building event. The four of them spent over a thousand yuan, which was a decent meal.

Since Li Xiang didn’t have to drive himself, he drank some beer.

To Zhao Xueqing and Yao Yao’s envy, only Lei Xiaohui could join Li Xiang for a few drinks. Since they had to take turns driving on the way back, all they could do was watch.

"This is unfair," Yao Yao thought. ’I want to drink too! I want to drink arm-in-arm with Brother!’ "Xiaohui, you need to get your license quickly, then we can all take turns!"

When paying the bill, Li Xiang asked the front desk for an official receipt to expense it to the company account.

As for gas, car maintenance, insurance, and even daily shopping and employee holiday bonuses—as long as he could get an official receipt, he did. It could all be used for tax deductions.

The next day, Li Xiang and the others set out early in the morning. After yesterday’s expressway experience, the two girls were much more skilled. The trip was nerve-wracking but ultimately uneventful, and they arrived smoothly in the provincial capital.

They first went to check out milk tea equipment, visiting two or three suppliers. When it was getting late, Li Xiang took them to check into Xu Xuan’s sports club hotel. As usual, it was one room per person—five-star deluxe rooms with king-sized beds.

The three women thought to themselves, ’Going on business trips with Brother Xiang is the best. We always stay in such nice hotels, and don’t even get me started on the food—every meal is a feast.’

Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou came to give them a welcome dinner. Both of them looked to be in excellent spirits. After the meal, Li Xiang brought them to his room to check on them. ’Holy crap,’ he thought, ’these two actually have some talent. They’ve managed to produce a trace of Spiritual Power through their Cultivation.’

Although it was very weak, the difference between having Spiritual Power and not having it was qualitative. Their future was promising.

So, being his usual generous self, Li Xiang once again took out six pellets of Spiritual Medicine and gave them three each.

He had, however, specially picked the extremely bitter kind of Spiritual Medicine.

’Naturally, I have to keep the good-tasting ones for myself.’

If someone had bad intentions, Li Xiang would naturally keep his distance. But Xu Xuan’s character was decent, and he had a certain degree of talent. Moreover, in his previous life, the Xu Family had been the leaders of the Southwest Underground Base. As the eldest son and grandson of the main Xu Family line, Xu Xuan was very likely to take over as the Southwest Underground City Lord in the future. He would be a future ally for Li Xiang, worthy of some "early investment."

"Brother Xiang, this is... Thank you so much."

Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou were both extremely excited. They naturally understood the value of this Spiritual Medicine, but Xu Xuan was a bit troubled. He estimated that the six pellets Li Xiang gave them were worth at least 300 million, and that was a conservative estimate.

In reality, if Li Xiang didn’t offer it, you couldn’t buy it no matter how much money you had. There was simply nowhere to buy it.

He wasn’t the type of person who liked to take advantage of his friends.

"I’m a little tight on cash right now. How about I transfer you thirty million first? We can put the rest on a tab," Xu Xuan said with an embarrassed expression.

Zhang Youyou also looked a little sheepish. The couple had never owed anyone money for their purchases; they had never run a tab before. But this medicine was simply too precious.

Forget the medicine; just the Breathing Technique Li Xiang had taught them, that path of Dual Cultivation, had already let them experience one of life’s true wonders.

Li Xiang was taken aback. "It’s a gift," he said. "I don’t want money for it."

"That won’t do. Even close friends should keep clear accounts. I have to give you something," Xu Xuan paused in thought, pacing a few steps around the room. He quickly came up with a solution. "How about this? I’ll give you some shares in one of my businesses. We can use the shares as payment. What do you think?"

Li Xiang nodded. "Alright." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’Seeing how serious he is, he really won’t accept the medicine if I don’t take some shares.’

"I’ll have someone handle it tomorrow morning. For now... hehe, brother, you’ll have to excuse us!" Xu Xuan didn’t even bother going home. This was his family’s hotel, so he immediately got a suite and went with Zhang Youyou to their room to try out the medicine.

The night passed uneventfully. Around nine o’clock the next morning, Xu Xuan, true to his word, arrived with his people to handle the share transfer procedures.

It was for the auction house under his name, which was quite famous in the provincial capital. It was valued at five billion, and he transferred 10% of the shares to Li Xiang.

Zhang Youyou came along as well. After being nourished by the Medicinal Power the previous night, her complexion was like a peach blossom, and her eyes shimmered with a seductive allure.

After the share transfer was complete, Xu Xuan privately revealed to Li Xiang that he and Zhang Youyou were preparing to get married. He said they would send Li Xiang an invitation and that he absolutely had to be there.

Zhang Youyou also privately expressed her gratitude to Li Xiang, saying that if it weren’t for the Dual Cultivation Technique he had shared, she and Xu Xuan might not have gotten married.

Li Xiang was very gratified. ’I guess I played matchmaker for them,’ he thought.