Chapter 260: Too Many Monsters, Not Enough Fools

Xu Maohe had mentioned some of Wang Hongfei's hobbies before, and Li Xian had heard a bit about them.

The orchid craze once swept through the three northeastern provinces of China, with many civil servants climbing mountains to dig for orchids. Even some state-owned enterprises allocated funds to encourage employees to cultivate flowers during their off-hours. There was a report that at one point, a rare species of Clivia could be auctioned for six to seven million or even ten million yuan.

The bubble was as big as, if not bigger than, the real estate market two decades later. When the bubble burst, it was akin to the recent situation at the Shanghai Stock Exchange—a lot of people jumping off buildings.

Making money from this was quite a stroke of luck for Wang Hongfei.

As for the mushroom powder, qigong, and chicken blood, they were similar to the oil-from-water scam—pseudoscience and fake medicine.

Looking at Wang Hongfei's completely bald head, Li Xian couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

What kind of era have I returned to? The variety of monsters and freaks is astonishing!

But being able to engage with all these scams shows that Wang Hongfei is quite a talent. Practicing qigong and developing supernatural abilities aside, just the thought of consuming mushroom powder or injecting chicken blood into oneself makes Li Xian shiver.

Moreover, Xu Maohe had met Wang Hongfei through Wang Hongcheng. From these signs, Wang Hongfei seemed like the father of scammers…

Seeing the two boxes of "yak bone powder" Wang Hongfei had brought, Li Xian forced a smile.

"Brother Wang, why buy this stuff? Isn't it expensive?"

Wang Hongfei shrugged nonchalantly. "Money is a small matter. Each box is only a bit over four hundred yuan. It's great for calcium supplementation. Nowadays, people give this as a gift. You can take it back and give it to your uncles and aunts. It's very good for their health!"

Very good for your health, my foot!

Maintaining a smile despite his awkwardness, Li Xian twitched his mouth a couple of times.

The packaging of the bone powder was quite exquisite, in a rarely seen embroidered box for this time of year. A red box with a yellow lining that looked like a decree, the box was quite large, but inside were only two small bottles, totaling at most 250 grams.

This kind of gimmick might just be becoming popular now, but Li Xian was already used to it. In twenty years, a box of this would only cost around one hundred to one hundred eighty yuan in supermarkets and would be placed prominently on the gift shelves during holidays.

"Thank you for your kind gift, Brother Wang." Li Xian thought that, no matter what was bought, it was the thought that counted. However, coming back from twenty years in the future and seeing the bone powder that would undoubtedly gather dust in the corner of his house, he couldn't help but let out his frustration, "But Brother Wang, things like this… it's better not to buy them. They're all scams and don't actually benefit health."

Wang Hongfei's eyes widened at this. "How can you say that! My parents used to suffer from leg cramps. After taking this, their legs became more nimble!"

Li Xian felt it was rude to say this, but since he had already said it, he opened the box and took out the product manual.

After reading the ingredients, he smiled. "Brother Wang, if your parents have leg cramps again, just buy them some calcium tablets. They work faster and are cheaper…"

Pfft,

Beside him, Kaja couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Xu Maohe also laughed, "Old Wang, I've been wanting to tell you for a long time to trust these kinds of things less."

Seeing the product manual, Wang Hongfei was a bit embarrassed, scratching his head and arguing, "Nonsense! Look at all these things I've used over the years, which one hasn't worked? Just tell me, which thirty-year-old around is younger than me?"

Li Xian didn't say anything. He simply took some of the so-called yak bone powder, mixed it with starch, white sugar, and flour in a jar, shook it vigorously, and tasted it. After adjusting the flavor with a bit of salt, he placed the jar in front of Wang Hongfei.

"This stuff just lacks calcium carbonate; its composition is the same as yours. If your parents have leg cramps again, just spend two yuan on calcium tablets. No need for this."

With skepticism, Wang Hongfei took the jar and tasted the powder inside.

Then…

His face turned red.

Fuming, he immediately wanted to go to the pharmacy to argue.

Xu Maohe, curious, compared the jar and the bone powder and laughed uncontrollably on the floor!

"This stuff… costs four hundred yuan a box?"

After laughing at Wang Hongfei, Xu Maohe stood up and grabbed Li Xian, "Xianzi, let's start a health product company tomorrow and make this! This is simply a gold mine! The cost can't be more than ten yuan, right? I see now, the box is worth the money!"

Looking at the flamboyant yak bone powder box, Li Xian chuckled.

He pointed upwards.

"Things that scam the elderly."

Then he pointed downwards. "Even if I starve, freeze, or become poor… I will never do this!"

His resolute stance was met with admiration from Kaja.

Just then, an advertisement came on the TV in the living room;

The screen showed Ma Renjun, dressed in sportswear and holding a large bottle, shouting in his heavy Liaoning accent, "We use Chinese turtle essence!"

Seeing Ma Renjun on TV, Li Xian smirked.

This guy has finally found a sponsor.

Previously, Ma Renjun had approached Yan Shilin, not only expressing dissatisfaction with the one million yuan annual sponsorship fee but also hinting that he had a "secret formula for quick recovery of physical strength."

Without any profit for himself, Yan Shilin naturally ignored him.

But Li Xian knew that a few months later, a man named A Boquan would buy this secret formula for ten million yuan, and with the nationwide health product craze, create a product called "Life Energy" oral liquid.

Later, when the International Athletics Committee questioned the Ma Family Army's results and launched a doping investigation, the Ma Family Army, which had repeatedly created miracles, would quickly decline in international competitions. The product that gained fame from Ma Renjun's so-called "secret formula" would also be quietly discontinued in two to three years.

"Ah! I must try this later!"

Wang Hongfei, who had been red-faced just moments ago, saw the advertisement and slapped his thigh, brimming with excitement.

Li Xian sighed.

With your level of intelligence, who else would fall for the oil-from-water scam if not you?

As Wang Hongfei went on about Ma Renjun's miraculous achievements and the possibility of Ma Renjun being a disciple of his qigong school, Li Xian pulled Xu Maohe aside.

"Brother Xu, in the future… avoid dealing with fools."

Xu Maohe nodded deeply. "Got it!"

...

After staying at Xu Maohe's house for a night, Li Xian and Wang Tiecheng returned to Beilin the next noon.

During this period, Li Xian had been busy with the brewery's affairs, so he hadn't neglected the paper mill. The paper mill was currently in an expansion phase, focusing on expanding from Longjiang Province to Liaoning and Jilin provinces. Recently, the paper mill had acquired two companies of a scale comparable to Beilin's and six smaller ones. Although there was no surplus of funds, the scale had increased more than fourfold.

With products like Xinao's premium toilet paper, napkins, and facial tissues, New Bei Paper Industry had already captured about fifteen percent of the daily paper market in the three northeastern provinces. As production capacity continued to expand, the growth momentum remained strong.

Zhang Dagong, Xu Dequan, and Chen Shulin had done a great job, and with support from the Beilin government, several acquisition projects went smoothly. Li Xian was very satisfied.

After spending a day in Beilin, on the same day he returned to Bangye, he went to the county government and proposed an investment of thirty-two million yuan, recalculating the brewery's shares and preparing for the CCTV prime time advertising bidding.

Liu Weihuan was also planning to discuss the shares with Li Xian. Unexpectedly, Li Xian arrived first with over thirty million yuan in investment and the previously unimagined CCTV advertising bidding plan.

Excited at the prospect of getting Bangye liquor onto CCTV, Liu Weihuan promised to start preparations immediately.

However, the brewery's accounts were currently complicated with numerous investments and matching factory and equipment projects, requiring more time.

Understanding the specifics, Li Xian knew that this matter could not be rushed.

He had planned to rest during this time. However, as soon as he left the government office, his phone rang.

It was a call from Li Daoyun.

"Grandson, come back quickly! The family is in chaos!"

With that brief message, mixed with shouting and scolding on the other end, the call was abruptly ended.