Ding Fan finished work at the docks past ten o'clock, and today he had earned more than three hundred yuan. Being able to practice body cultivation and make money at the same time was truly the best of both worlds.

After leaving the docks, Ding Fan started to visit medicine shops one by one, as he was in urgent need of obtaining Sirius Herb and Earth Star. Without these two herbs, the effectiveness of his medicines was significantly reduced.

The seeds of Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass had not been produced, and his cultivation relied entirely on medicinal herbs, especially these two crucial ones, so he had to find them.

Ding Fan had seen records of these herbs in the "Compendium of Materia Medica", which confirmed their existence on Earth. However, what left Ding Fan speechless was that after visiting four or five medicine shops, none of them carried these two herbs, which was quite disheartening for him.

On Earth, spiritual energy was scarce, and Spirit Grass was difficult to come by. Such was the situation that even obtaining these two kinds of herbs was not easy—it felt like a cruel joke by fate that he was reborn in such a place.

In the end, Ding Fan couldn't help but feel somewhat resigned. As he walked along, troubled about where to find these two herbs, he serendipitously found himself on Antique Street.

Suddenly, Ding Fan remembered that this weekend he was supposed to attend Lin Qingqing's birthday party. Having been invited, he couldn't possibly show up empty-handed.

Eventually, Ding Fan decided to look around the antique market to see if there was anything suitable he could find.

However, as he walked along, he found himself at a loss for words—the items on Antique Street were extremely expensive. Anything that caught his eye would cost at least three to four thousand yuan, and Ding Fan had less than three thousand yuan left, money he was not willing to spend recklessly.

In the end, Ding Fan spent over a hundred yuan to buy a piece of uncarved jade, which was quite ordinary. He thought he might as well use it to make a protection talisman for Lin Qingqing.

Although Ding Fan's cultivation was not high, with his experience, making an ordinary Protection talisman was not a difficult task.

Noticing it was already afternoon, Ding Fan felt rather hungry, so he pocketed the jade and prepared to head home.

Taking a shortcut home, Ding Fan had to pass through the market entrance where, coincidentally, he spotted the flower girl again.

The flower girl also saw Ding Fan and, filled with anger, gave him a fierce glare before turning her gaze away and ignoring him completely.

Ding Fan was left speechless; he had saved someone, only to be treated as an enemy in return.

However, he didn't care how others viewed him. He walked past her, pulled out a five-yuan note from his pocket, and threw it onto the flower girl's stall. He didn't like to take advantage of anyone—even for as little as five yuan.

"Ding Fan, you're going too far!"

The flower girl suddenly erupted, chased him down, and raised her hand to slap Ding Fan across the face.

Ding Fan frowned deeply, unable to understand why returning money, out of kindness, would be considered going too far. He had saved her, and not only had she shown no gratitude, but she was also being completely unreasonable.

Ding Fan caught the flower girl's incoming right wrist with his hand, a hint of darkness crossing his eyes. "I've returned your money—now we're even. If you think being a woman gives you the right to make trouble without reason, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

With a flick of his wrist, Ding Fan walked away without looking back, now regretting that he had meddled in the woman's business at all, making it seem like they were enemies.

The fierce look in Ding Fan's eyes had indeed frightened the flower girl, and by the time she came to her senses, Ding Fan was already far away.

"Ding Fan, you rogue, heaven will punish you, you rogue…"

The flower girl cursed for a while, but Ding Fan pretended not to hear and continued on his way. The flower girl, filled with an inexplicable sense of grievance, squatted down on the ground and started to cry.

In an alley at the street corner, this scene was witnessed by quite a few passersby.

"This man even bullies a flower girl—he must be a truly despicable person to the core."

…

After returning home, Ding Fan continued with his routine of alchemy and foundation building.

The next three days were rather uneventful. Each morning, after preparing breakfast for Zhou Ruoran, Ding Fan would leave early for the docks to move cargo and practice body cultivation. In the afternoon, he would lock himself at home to continue with alchemy.

In these three days, Ding Fan's cultivation level finally advanced to the Second Level of Qi Training…

During this time, Zhou Ruoran had not seen Ding Fan at all. This period turned out to be the most comfortable time of her life; every day, she would wake up to a prepared breakfast and would return home without the need to look after Ding Fan, allowing her to review her lessons in peace.

The days flew by, and it was Sunday in no time. Today was Lin Qingqing's birthday, and Ding Fan had promised to be her dance partner. So after returning from the dock, he went home to freshen up and then headed out with the gift he had prepared for Lin Qingqing.

The gift Ding Fan prepared for Ye Ningbing was a simple Protection talisman he had made himself. After all, his cultivation level wasn't very high, and he couldn't produce a better Protection talisman.

Although it was just a simple talisman, it could still protect Lin Qingqing's safety once.

With the gift in hand, Ding Fan caught a taxi, which spared him the trouble of asking for directions.

When Ding Fan got in the taxi, he found a man and a woman already sitting in the back seat. To earn more money, taxis would pick up additional passengers if they were going the same way.

"Are you Brother Fan?"

Ding Fan sat in the passenger seat. Just as he got in, a woman's voice came from the back.

Ding Fan turned around to look. The woman he had seen before was also sitting in the back seat. She was Wu Min, Zhou Ruoran's female companion who worked with her.

That day, when Zhou Ruoran was bullied, Wu Min had also stepped forward; by that account, she must be Ruoran's friend. So Ding Fan gave Wu Min a slight smile in response.

"Who is he? Is Wu Min your friend?"

The man sitting next to Wu Min, seeing her greet Ding Fan, joined the conversation.

"He is Brother Fan, a friend of Sister Ruoran. That day at the Phoenix Building, if it hadn't been for him, Sister Ruoran and I would have been bullied to death by that witch," Wu Min explained as she introduced him. "Brother Fan, you haven't introduced yourself yet. My name is Wu Min."

Ding Fan had a good impression of Wu Min. She was attractive and had a simple and honest air about her, a trait that was becoming increasingly rare in the big city.

"Wu Min, you haven't introduced your 'Brother Fan' to me yet," Wu Min's male companion said with a somewhat condescending tone.

Using the taxi's rearview mirror, Ding Fan took a glance at the man. He looked to be about twenty-two or twenty-three, with sleek, shiny slicked-back hair, dressed in a suit, appearing quite the gentleman.

However, Ding Fan did not have a good impression of this man. He could sense a trace of evil charm emanating from him; this man was definitely a vile lecher.

"His name is Qian Guangliang, my classmate from university," Wu Min said reluctantly, not wishing to introduce her male companion. But since he had spoken, she couldn't refuse to make the introduction.

Qian Guangliang smiled. "Specifically, I'm the son of Qian Shirong, the property magnate of First Real Estate in Dancheng."

The man's tone was saturated with a sense of superiority, and Ding Fan didn't fancy such people, choosing not to engage in conversation.

Ding Fan ignored Qian Guangliang, but the latter didn't mind and continued, "Today is the big star Lin Qingqing's birthday party. Lin Qingqing personally called my father to invite him to attend. As you all know, First Real Estate is a major corporation. So actresses like Lin Qingqing need to curry favor with my father. Only then will he consider giving them endorsements or advertising deals."

Ding Fan frowned slightly. Qian Guangliang really was excessively full of himself. He really wondered how Wu Min, such a down-to-earth girl, could end up with such a person.

"Wu Min is a huge fan of Lin Qingqing, and I thought I'd bring Wu Min to see the world. Initially, I wanted to drive in my Cadillac, but Wu Min didn't want to be too conspicuous, so we decided to take a cab instead," Qian Guangliang remarked.

"Qian Guangliang, stop talking," Wu Min said with a bit of embarrassment, poking him to quiet down.

"Oh, right, I haven't asked what Xiao Fan does for a living," Qian Guangliang said, ignoring Wu Min's interruption and speaking to Ding Fan.

Xiao Fan? Since his rebirth, Ding Fan found it was the first time someone had addressed him with such a moniker.

Normally, Ding Fan wouldn't bother acknowledging such a person, but out of consideration for Wu Min, he responded with indifference.

"I'm an unemployed vagrant."

"Xiao Fan, seeing how you're dressed, it seems like you're having a tough time. You know what, since you're a friend of Wu Min, you're a friend of mine. If you ever need anything, just head over to First Real Estate and ask for my father.

Tell him you're my friend, and just because you're my friend, my dad will surely arrange a decent job for you," Qian Guangliang boasted, thumping his chest confidently.

Ding Fan was speechless. He just hoped the taxi would reach the destination soon, so he wouldn't have to listen to Qian Guangliang's bragging any longer.