274 Chapter 274
Jiang Hei turned back to glare at Lin Fan standing at the entrance of the store, but there was nothing that he could do.
Standing right behind Lin Fan was Qiang You with his arms crossed who was also releasing his aura.
Jiang Hei knew that if he were to continue this, he would bring even more embarrassment to the Jiang Family and there were plenty of people watching still.
Jiang Hei just stood up, wiped himself off, and gave a snort before heading into his beast carriage that had been waiting for him.
As he was leaving, Qiang You quietly said to Lin Fan, "Owner Lin, is this the result you wanted to see?"
Lin Fan just revealed a faint smile when he heard this.
Naturally Qiang You had his own resources and he could easily find who had given him the information this morning. Of course, Lin Fan also didn't try to hide it that deeply.
Lin Fan just said with his regular smile, "Isn't this also the result you want to see?"
Qiang You shook his head when he saw this smile and he said, "Why does it feel like I'm making a deal with the devil?"
…
Over the next few days, the Jiang Family actually didn't make a single move.
Lin Fan's plan was actually quite simple, he was putting pressure on the Jiang Family to force cracks to appear in their defenses.
The first bit of pressure that he put on the Jiang Family was by taking out their underground resources. The next bit of pressure he put on them was slowly encroaching on their main above ground business. Next, there was finally the secret business of the Jiang Family that he would be targeting.
But even by only targeting their underground businesses and above ground business, they were already crumbling under the pressure.
There were two main reasons for that.
First, there was the Seekers Guild that was placing pressure on them.
The Seekers Guild was a force that could almost rival their own and the Jiang Family was completely confused why they would be going so far for a little pet shop, but that didn't stop them from feeling the pressure that they placed.
Secondly, it was because of their own internal struggle.
Because it was the fourth elder's branch that had failed not just once, but twice, there was now doubt cast upon the fourth elder's branch. The family head had even openly criticized the fourth elder's branch which had created friction in the Jiang Family.
While the fourth elder's branch was considered one of the weakest branches in the Jiang Family, they still were a branch that had an elder behind them. The more important thing was that there was also a powerful backer behind them.
The Jiang Family seemed peaceful on the surface, but that was only on the surface.
There were actually two competing factions in the Jiang Family that had been fighting over control of the entire Jiang Family. They were the family head's branch and the second elder's branch respectively.
The fourth elder's branch was under the second elder's branch and the second elder's branch was actually strong enough to control half of the entire Jiang Family.
Of course, they couldn't go too far since they were still part of the same family and they were all under the same ancestor, who was the Legendary Realm Expert of the Jiang Family. As long as they didn't hurt the foundations of the Jiang Family, the Legendary Realm Expert allowed them to have their petty squabbles.
And that was what happened in the Jiang Family.
Of course, with all this pressure upon the Jiang Family, the best move for them was to stabilize themselves and not make any rash moves.
So, Lin Fan was able to have a few days of peace during this time.
But of course, it wasn't all peace as there was suddenly something new that appeared in his store.
Two days after the Jiang Family's fourth elder had come and gone, there was another interesting character that appeared in Lin Fan's store.
This person wasn't anyone powerful or important, rather it was just a little boy who seemed to be around ten years old.
He came alone into the store and looked around for a bit before his eyes fell onto something that completely made his eyes light up.
Since he had come after the morning rush, there were few people currently in the store, which meant that it was currently free time for the staff. However, that wasn't the case for Song Shu who was currently busy with stocking the shelves, even though there wasn't anything being sold.
Song Shu had learned how to work hard from her years on the street and this was something that she didn't forget even after becoming the Alchemy Master. She still worked hard in Lin Fan's store, even though he tried letting her have as much fun as possible.
When the little boy's eyes fell onto Song Shu, he just stood there in a daze as he watched her for a bit.
Naturally, the appearance of this boy was noticed by the two adults in the store.
Angela's face had a cold look on it as she looked at the little boy. The more she looked at him, the more displeased she felt. After a while, she couldn't take it and was about to head forward to deal with him, but Lin Fan reached out his hand to stop her.
While he did seem calm enough to stop Angela, there was a trace of coldness in his eyes.
He had already taken to viewing Song Shu as his daughter and as a man, how could he not recognize the look on the little boy's face?
But was someone like this worthy of his daughter?
Still, he knew that this boy had a special status since he could tell who the old man who came into the store after the little boy was. This was a man who had completely hid himself from the crowd.
He would have been able to hide himself from Lin Fan as well, but Lin Fan was now familiar with the method he used to sneak around, so it was much easier for him to notice him.
It was his acquaintance, Qiang You from the Seekers Union.
After a while, the boy finally worked up the courage to move over to Song Shu, but after he approached, he found that he didn't know what to do.
He awkwardly stood near her, pretending to look over the items she had just stocked, while taking a few peeks at her from time to time.
During this time, Qiang You had already moved over to the counter and stood there with Lin Fan and Angela.
Lin Fan's voice was calm as he spoke, but there was a cold look in his eyes as he asked, "President Qiang, would you please explain what this situation is?"
Qiang You revealed an awkward smile as he said, "Well, this is my grandson, Qiang Ben. I told him about your store and how the pets that we've been buying have come from your store, so he was curious and snuck out. I couldn't just leave him alone, now could I?"
Lin Fan didn't reply as he asked, "That isn't what I asked, is it?"
Qiang You's smile filled with a bit of teasing as he said, "Well, isn't it clear what's happening? Then again, the little girl in your store is quite a beauty, so it isn't strange at all, don't you think?"
Despite the fact that Qiang You looked like a gruff old man, he was actually quite the doting parent and grandparent. He was someone who definitely spoiled his offsprings.
Not to mention that it seemed like his grandson was quite smitten with Song Shu, so he fully supported this idea.
Furthermore, taking in his position as the president of the Seekers Union, this would only benefit him. If his grandson could marry this little girl who was not only a part of Lin Fan's store, who he could also tell was someone important to Lin Fan, someone he even treated like a daughter, naturally they would be able to form a better relationship.
Since there were only benefits to this for him, what reason did he have to oppose this?
But of course he could also see the cold look on Lin Fan's face.
Still as a doting grandparent, he was completely confident in the abilities of his grandson in wooing this girl.
Lin Fan just gave a cold snort in response to this, but he didn't say anything.
In his mind though, he was thinking, "You want to get together with my daughter? In your dreams. You'll never be worthy of her!"
But he didn't say a thing since he believed in Song Shu's tastes.
Eventually, Song Shu noticed that there was something strange about this boy who seemed to keep hanging around her, so she turned to him and said with a smile, "Um, can I help you with anything?"
Qiang Ben was completely taken aback because the moment he saw that smile, it was like being hit with the sun. He was completely dazzled by the glow of her smile as he stuttered, "I, I, I…"
Finally after a while, she said, "Um, if there's nothing you need, then I'll be getting back to work."
Qiang Ben immediately panicked when he heard this and in his rush, he didn't know what came over him as he suddenly shouted, "I, I love you, please go out with me!"