Chapter 121: Fear of overthinking

The next day.

The morning air was cooling, a vast difference from the warm air of yesterday.

At the Chinese Martial Arts Association, Lin Fan had been practicing with the children for a while when Jiang Fei came over and asked, “Master Lin, Vice-President Guo is having a press conference, shall we go and check it out?”

In today’s society, killing someone did not require a gun. The public’s opinion of you on the Internet was enough to kill you already. Right now, the Chinese Martial Arts Association could not handle the pressure of having any more bad publicity. If only they had recognized their problems from the Wang Yun Jie incident, then they wouldn’t even be stuck in this situation where they were being blamed for everything even though they had nothing to do with it at all.

Lin Fan thought for a moment before replying, “Let’s go.”

At, the association’s auditorium, Vice-President Guo asked, “Have you given the red packets to the reporters?”

“Yes, I have.”

Vice-President Guo had been the Vice-President of the association for a long time. However, he had never been in this kind of situation before and he was scared. He hoped that by throwing some money, the reporters would be swayed and they would not continue reporting on the situation.

The reporters had been seated in the hall since a long time ago and the few chairmen had been seated at the podium. All who remained was the Vice-President and Wang Yun Jie who had not arrived yet.

“What is taking them so long? This weather is so hot, it’s unbearable.”

“Just bear with it for a while, let’s see what the association will say. However, this association is also pretty generous, giving everyone a red packet.”

“They’re here.”

Vice-President Guo and Wang Yun Jie came from backstage to the podium and the reporters started to take photos. The Shanghai Chinese Martial Arts Association was the most important out of all of the Chinese martial arts associations even though it wasn’t the headquarters.

Lin Fan and Jiang Fei were seated nearby. A group of eagle-eyed reporters spotted them and immediately surrounded them. Lin Fan decided not to answer their questions and told the reporters to focus on the stage.

“Let Vice-President Guo and the rest speak first.”

Vice-President Guo saw Lin Fan in the audience and felt a little annoyed. He had not told Lin Fan about this press conference as he was afraid that Lin Fan would mess up again and say something wrong. Inside, the Vice-President was thinking that this kid could still afford to mess around. However, if anything else happened, he could not afford to take the bad publicity.

The Vice-President coughed lightly and said, “Welcome, all esteemed guests and news reporters. Recently, some very unfortunate events have occurred and I’m here to explain to everyone what has happened. Also, I want to thank everyone for their care and support for the association during this time.”

“Wang Yun Jie is the chairman of the Yang Tai Chi committee and he got into an argument with one of the students in the dining hall. Based on our investigation, problems with the association’s management led to the argument.”

Wang Yun Jie noticed the look on the Vice-President’s face and he immediately got up and bowed to the audience, which led the reporters to start taking photos of him.

*ka cha*

“I, Wang Yun Jie, chairman of the Yang Tai Chi Group, say this with the complete support of the association. I got involved in an argument with a student and I could not control my emotions. It was completely my fault but it led to the defamation of the entire association. After many days of deep thought, I’ve seen the wrong in my actions and I hope that everyone will forgive me.”

Wang Yun Jie did not feel very comfortable saying this but under the pressure of the public’s opinion, he had to just bite the bullet and say it. He knew that if he did not give the public an explanation, the association would punish him. As a result, he had to put his hatred for Lin Fan aside and just do it. Besides, there would still be time for him to deal with Lin Fan in future.

The interview.

“Hello Mr. Wang, I am a reporter from the Shanghai News. There’s been a rumor online that you went to the dining hall to drink wine, is this true?” a reporter asked.

Wang Yun Jie was taken aback but he nodded his head and replied, “Yes.”

Lin Fan was in the crowd laughing and he thought to himself that at least he was honest. If he lied, Lin Fan would not have minded exposing the truth.

Wang Yun Jie was asked many questions but because Lin Fan was there at the scene, he did not dare to tell any lies.

As the press conference came to a close, there had not been any major issues throughout the whole thing. However, the moment the press conference ended, all the reporters started to swarm around Lin Fan and ask him questions.

“Master Lin, may I ask what is your opinion on this incident?”

“Is there anything else upsetting you in the association?”

“Master Lin, can you please give us some answers?”

Lin Fan had wanted to just leave at first, but he stopped and thought for a moment before speaking.

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“All the things said in the press conference are true and for Wang Yun Jie to be able to acknowledge that he was wrong is also a good thing. I hope that through this, he will understand where he went wrong, that the association is no longer owned by the management but rather by the government, and that all the Chairmen are not just representing themselves but an entire nation. A vast majority of people are paying taxes and they definitely do not want to see their money being used for other people’s comfort. Today, everyone has seen the way the association operates and I hope that all you reporters will keep an eye out and observe the changes the association makes in the future.”

The Vice-President had not left the scene yet and upon hearing this, he furrowed his brows. The fact that Lin Fan had asked the reporters to come down to the association and see the changes put a huge amount of pressure on him to rectify the damaged property. Through this, he realized that if he did not rectify the problems, he would not just have to worry about Lin Fan reminding him, he would also have to be afraid of the reporters coming down and seeing that no changes were made. This could lead to it becoming a news scandal again.

Wang Yun Jie, who was still standing next to the Vice-President, was furious upon hearing this and thought that if it had not been for Lin Fan, they would not have been in this situation. Especially since Lin Fan used this kind of tone in front of the reporters, which made it look like he was lecturing him, this made Wang Yun Jie even angrier. But he knew that given the current circumstances, it was not the time to argue with him. Even if the association did not deal with him, someone else would in the future and only time would tell who was right.

Only time would tell…

5 p.m at Cloud Street.

“Is anyone here?” a middle-aged man standing outside asked.

Fraud Tian raised his head and looked, Lin Fan also stared.

Is this guy crazy? We are both clearly standing in front of him and he is still asking if anyone is here. What is going on?

The man saw that no one responded and frowned as he entered the shop.

Wu You Lan stepped forward and asked, “Excuse me, sir, what can I help you with? The pancakes are already sold out and the fortune telling quota has been met for the day. If you want to, you can come back tomorrow.”

“I’m not here for the pancakes or the fortune-telling. I’m here to find Master Lin,” the man said with a smile, handing his name card to Wu You Lan.

Wu You Lan looked at the card and realized he was the chairman of a very famous grand hotel, one of the best in the world. Afterward, she passed the name card to Lin Fan.

Lin Fan looked at the card then looked up and asked, “What can I help you with?”

“Master Lin, I really wish to buy your secret recipe for making your pancakes. The price won’t be an issue,” Chief Zhang got right to the point. He knew that Lin Fan’s pancakes were extremely popular and everyone on Cloud Street knew how amazing these pancakes were. He himself had tried one before and it goes without saying that was extremely delicious. After finishing one, he let out an exaggerated expression of happiness that scared everyone around.

To him, he felt that Lin Fan did not have a business mind. Since the pancakes were so popular, he could definitely turn it into not just a national brand but rather, a global one. It was probably the most delicious thing in the world and by these pancakes alone, becoming rich wouldn’t be a problem because everyone has to eat to sustain themselves. Since anyone who had eaten these pancakes will never forget the amazing taste, they would never run out of business.

This was the power of the scallion pancakes. Lin Fan had no idea what to say or do and just let out a soft sound, “Oh…”

Chief Zhang saw that he was hesitating and said, “Master Lin, your scallion pancakes are extraordinary. If you only sell ten of them a day with a cart like this, you’re wasting your skills and recipe. Think about it. We can come up with a brand and I won’t interfere with it. I can buy the giant supermarkets so that we could mass produce them. Your scallion pancakes will definitely change the global market.”

“Hmm…”

Chief Zhang became more excited, “Just think about it, when we hit the market and make it big, opening stores all over the world, it will be so incredible.”

“Oh…” Lin Fan mumbled again.

Fraud Tian looked up and said, “Then what will my role be?”

Chief Zhang stared blankly for a moment before saying, “Brother, you are really thinking very far ahead. But do not worry, I will put you in charge of my European branches.”

Fraud Tian let out a mischievous laugh and said, “Turns out even someone like me can become a boss.”

Chief Zhang grabbed onto Lin Fan, he had never before thought of such an amazing money making scheme and he was starting to drool at the thought. He said, “Master Lin, as long as we make this a global brand, I can guarantee you we will make billions of dollars. Of course, since I’m the one providing the tools for the project, we will have to distribute the profits, I’ll take 60% and you’ll take 40%. You just need to believe…..”

Lin Fan looked down at his phone and he was completely lost just staring at his phone. He did not even hear a thing that Chief Zhang had said.

He looked at the time and it was already 6 pm.

Lin Fan turned around and said, “It’s 6 pm, time to close.”

Fraud Tian stretched his body and said, “Let’s go. Time to go back home.”

Then, he looked at Chief Zhang and said, “Brother, you’re pretty d*mn good at boasting. I’ll give you full marks for that.”

Chief Zhang asked, “Master Lin, what do you say?”

Lin Fan looked at him in astonishment, “What did you say just now?”

Chief Zhang was stunned and he became furious. He said, “I said so many things just now and you didn’t hear a thing?”

Lin Fan laughed and said, “I heard a bit, but I only have one thing to say – you should just go home and rest. The thing a man should fear the most is having too much.”

“…” Chief Zhang was speechless.