Chapter 454: Chapter 454

Mu Qiangsheng stared blankly at the retreating figures of Li Qing and Qian Jun, clenching his fists tightly. He struggled to control himself, to keep the tears from flowing out from his eyes.

"Ning Qing?" Mu Qiangsheng turned toward the voice and quickly spotted Ye Ningqing, followed by Ding Fan at her side.

"Ning Qing, what are you doing here?"

Ye Ningqing ignored Mu Qiangsheng's question. "Cousin, what was that all about just now?"

Mu Qiangsheng glanced at the backs of Li Qing and Qian Jun and exhaled in feigned relief. "It's nothing, just a breakup…"

Ding Fan had clearly heard the conversation between Mu Qiangsheng and Li Qing and Qian Jun a moment ago.

Something significant must have happened to Mu Qiangsheng's family, causing the materialistic woman to think that Mu Qiangsheng was falling from grace, and therefore she dumped him.

Seeing how Mu Qiangsheng was trying to act nonchalant, Ding Fan was reminded of his own state right after his rebirth.

The Ding Family had fallen, and many people started to avoid Ding Fan; the desolation and oppression were more than many could bear.

"Let's not talk about my issues, Ning Qing. It's rare for you to come to Dancheng Town. And who is this? Your boyfriend?" Mu Qiangsheng tried to divert the topic away from himself.

A slight red hue touched Ye Ningqing's cheeks. "No... no, this is my friend, Ding Fan…"

"A man who stands beside my cousin must be no simple character…" Mu Qiangsheng said, then extended his hand to Ding Fan.

"Hello, my name is Mu Qiangsheng."

Ding Fan also reached out his hand, and the two shook hands.

"Cousin, I heard that uncle had an accident just now? What exactly has happened?"

Ye Ningqing had completed her elementary education in Dancheng Town, during which time she lived at Mu Qiangsheng's place. Hence, when she heard that Mu Qiangsheng's father was in trouble, she was quite worried.

Upon being asked about his father, Mu Qiangsheng's expression darkened once again. After a while, all Mu Qiangsheng could do was sigh. "Ah…"

"This isn't the place to talk. How about we find a place to grab something to eat?" Ding Fan suggested from the side.

After hearing Ding Fan's words, Ye Ningqing nodded in agreement. Mu Qiangsheng's troubles were clearly no small matter, and the middle of the street was indeed not the place for such discussions.

Mu Qiangsheng had no objections to the suggestion either. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝔫𝔢𝔱

Soon after, the three of them drove to the Phoenix Building in Dancheng Town.

In Dancheng Town, Ding Fan had some memories related to the Phoenix Building. It was there he had met the Lin siblings, and it was also there where Zhou Ruoran used to work part-time...

Revisiting the old place naturally stirred a mix of feelings.

They found a private room and ordered some drinks and dishes. In no time, the food and drinks were served in succession.

"Cousin, what exactly happened to uncle?" Before all the dishes were on the table, Ye Ningqing asked Mu Qiangsheng.

Mu Qiangsheng gave a wry smile, then spoke.

"Just my luck, even a sip of cold water could choke me…"

Then Mu Qiangsheng recounted the events.

Mu Qiangsheng's father, Mu Jianguo, was the mayor of Dancheng Town. A serious epidemic outbreak had occurred recently in the town.

For any administrator, an outbreak of a severe epidemic in their jurisdiction was extremely serious.

The epidemic in Dancheng Town was both sudden and rare; overnight, more than thirty people had died, and the outbreak continued to spread relentlessly.

Later, medical organizations intervened and conducted repeated investigations. They eventually confirmed that the epidemic was a variant strain of smallpox.

Within the following day, the smallpox spread rapidly, and in the end, there were more than a thousand infections reported in Dancheng Town.

Hospitals in Dancheng Town were overwhelmed, and the entire city was in turmoil. The provincial authorities issued a strict order to Mu Jianguo: control the epidemic within twenty-four hours.

However, devising a vaccine for this mutated smallpox was no easy task, and after a full twenty-four hours, there was no breakthrough.

With no other options, the province resorted to changing leaders.

At the same time as the leadership change, an investigation was launched into Mu Jianguo's alleged negligence for having failed to detect such a severe outbreak beforehand.

Soon after, Mu Jianguo was removed from his position as mayor and remained under investigation to this day.

And the new mayor, as it happened, was Qian Shiwang, father of Qian Jun, who had just been embracing Li Qing, Mu Qiangsheng's now ex-girlfriend.

Qian Jun's father was named Qian Shiwang.

One of the three standing deputy mayors of Dancheng Town.

Actually, with such an epidemic happening in Dancheng, many people were afraid to take on the heavy responsibility of the mayoral position. As everyone knows, managing an epidemic is a thankless, arduous task.

If it's done well, all is well, but if not, then Mu Jianguo before is a prime example.

So while many were too scared to take on the mayoral burden, Qian Shiwang courageously stepped forward and bravely took up the mantle.

Mu Qiangsheng said this and took a sip of beer. "After Qian Shiwang took office, he quickly contacted a pharmaceutical company, which, in a very short time, developed a vaccine to suppress the epidemic. Because of this, Qian Shiwang became a hero throughout Dancheng."

When Ding Fan heard this, although he didn't speak, he felt there were many suspicious aspects to the matter.

There was suddenly a large-scale epidemic, and it was a mutated form of smallpox, no less. Besides, during Mu Jianguo's tenure, they had failed to develop a vaccine for such a long time, but shortly after Qian Shiwang took office, a vaccine was rapidly produced.

Ding Fan pondered for a moment and then asked, "What's the name of the pharmaceutical company Qian Shiwang found?"

Mu Qiangsheng glanced at Ding Fan sitting beside him. "It's called Yuanfang Pharmaceutical Company... Yuanfang developed the life-saving vaccine for Dancheng in a very short time, and now Yuanfang Pharmaceuticals' reputation in Dancheng has greatly soared...

The epidemic was suppressed, and my father is still under investigation for dereliction of duty during the whole epidemic. As a result, I've also been affected by this political incident, and although I wanted to rely on my abilities to gradually achieve some success, I was suspended from my duties after my father came under scrutiny..." Mu Qiangsheng said this with a wry smile.

Although Mu Qiangsheng did not mention it, both Ding Fan and Ye Ningqing understood that it was precisely for this reason that the gold-digger woman resolutely left Mu Qiangsheng's side and headed into the arms of Qian Jun in the end.

"Cousin, don't be upset because of my issues. It's not easy to come to Dancheng, let's not talk about these unpleasant things," Mu Qiangsheng said to Ye Ningqing who was beside him.

Although Ye Ningqing felt uncomfortable, she couldn't help with the situation in Dancheng. It wasn't something she could get involved with.

Just at this moment, the door of the private room was flung open.

"Wow, they say Young Master Mu is at Phoenix Building, I didn't believe it until I saw it..." The newcomer was a young man of short stature with golden teeth.

Behind the Golden Tooth Man were two followers. After he finished speaking, his shifty eyes scanned the private room and quickly fixated on Ye Ningqing who was sitting beside Mu Qiangsheng.

"Wow, Young Master Mu is Young Master Mu indeed, now without a job, yet still able to hook up with such a beautiful dame..."

After speaking, the Golden Tooth Man said to Ye Ningqing, "Sweety, following Young Master Mu now is a dead end, he's got no money and no power. Why not come with me instead, I am the son of the district chief of the West District... Follow me, and I'll make sure you enjoy the good life... and my bedroom skills are unbeatable..."

Once the Golden Tooth Man finished, he and his two followers laugh arrogantly.

"Fang Deming! You've gone too far!" At this moment, Mu Qiangsheng stood up in anger.

"Wow, is Young Master Mu angry!?" Fang Deming finished his taunt and swung his hand to slap Mu Qiangsheng.

The slap from Fang Deming was so sudden and unexpected that Mu Qiangsheng did not see it coming.

Mu Qiangsheng had never imagined that Fang Deming would actually strike him; when Mu Jianguo was in power, Fang Deming had followed around Mu Qiangsheng like a little brother...

Just as Fang Deming's hand was about to land on Mu Qiangsheng's face, a hand stretched out abruptly and grabbed Fang Deming's hand that was about to hit Mu Qiangsheng.

"F*ck... Who the hell are you, daring to f*cking meddle in my business!" Fang Deming turned to the person grasping his wrist, his face full of annoyance.

The person grabbing Fang Deming's wrist was none other than Ding Fan.

"Your mouth is filthy; it needs washing!" Ding Fan said with a low tone.

After speaking, Ding Fan applied force to his grip.

Ding Fan, a practitioner of the Seventh Level of Qi Cultivation, was far beyond Fang Deming's strength. With that grip, Fang Deming couldn't resist at all and immediately began to scream loudly in pain.

"Ow... Damn! It hurts, it hurts... let go..."

Thud... Fang Deming, overcome by pain, knelt directly in front of Ding Fan.

Ding Fan swiftly picked up a bottle of soy sauce nearby, unscrewed the lid, and poured it straight into Fang Deming's mouth.

Fang Deming was crying out loud, and in a moment, he gulped down all the soy sauce.

"Cough, cough... save me... cough, cough..." Fang Deming coughed violently from being force-fed.

"Let him go, Brother Fang!" Just then, the two followers Fang Deming brought with him lunged forward, one from the left and one from the right.

However, they hadn't reached Ding Fan when he shifted his stance slightly and then unleashed a sweeping kick.

Thud! The two followers didn't even get the chance to grunt before they were knocked unconscious by Ding Fan's kick...