Chapter 024: A Good Start
Tang Yumeng didn't say much, although she felt puzzled, she couldn't think of any ulterior motives the other party might have.
In the afternoon, she returned to the county committee for a meeting. The meeting lasted until five in the afternoon before she left.
On the way back, Tang Yumeng fell asleep, and her beautiful secretary also rested her head to the side, exhausted by the afternoon's meeting.
"Brother Luo, if you were a wealthy man, would you invest three billion in Xiaotang Town?" Lin Chuan asked.
"Even though Xiaotang Town is an ancient town, that broken place, I wouldn't even want to spend three hundred million there," Luo Guoqing scoffed with disdain: "It's just a few old dilapidated houses and a river. Xiaotang Town has less than thirty thousand people; spending three billion, I reckon you wouldn't even get back the bones' dregs."
"So, do you think this Japanese person is foolish?" Lin Chuan asked.
"Brother Lin, I'll tell you seriously," Luo Guoqing said solemnly, "The Yamato people are the smartest people in the world. The Japanese would never engage in a losing business. Anyway, I feel there's more to this than meets the eye."
"Ah, forget it, I'm not an official, why should I worry so much?" Lin Chuan rolled down the window and began to smoke.
By the time they reached Jiangbei City, it had already turned dark.
"You guys get off first," Tang Yumeng said with her eyes closed, as if she had a complete grasp of the outside world.
Just as the three were about to get off, she spoke again: "Lin Chuan, drive me home."
"Okay." Lin Chuan didn't say anything else and swiftly moved from the passenger seat to the driver's seat.
"Do a good job," Luo Guoqing patted Lin Chuan's shoulder and said: "It seems Secretary Tang is testing your driving skills."
The stability of the Audi cars goes without saying; lightly pressing the accelerator, the car slowly started. Lin Chuan excelled at aggressive driving; if he had a good car, he'd want to really run it well, otherwise, how could he highlight that it is a good car? Unfortunately, he was just a driver and his boss was sitting behind him.
Lin Chuan tried to drive smoothly and maintained a steady speed.
Tang Yumeng lives in the City Committee's compound, directly opposite the City Committee building, in an excellently located, very new residential area, and moreover, the security measures were very strict. The security guards at the gate were specially hired retired soldiers who were familiar, remembering every leader's car plate, the appearance of every leader, and even the appearance of their drivers.
When Lin Chuan reached the gate, he was stopped by the security guards who were clearly confused by this unfamiliar driver. Thanks to Tang Yumeng's clarification, the car was allowed inside.
The car stopped in front of the building.
Tang Yumeng was tired after a long day and felt somewhat exhausted.
"Sister, let me help you upstairs," Lin Chuan opened the rear door, carefully assisting Tang Yumeng.
"Thank you." Tang Yumeng nodded. If it were any other man touching her body, she would feel extremely disgusted. However, when Lin Chuan assisted her, she instead felt a sense of warmth.
Due to sitting for a long time, when Tang Yumeng got out of the car, she suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed into Lin Chuan's arms without warning. Lin Chuan, caught off guard, quickly supported her, but unexpectedly, the two shared a solid embrace.
Tang Yumeng's proud peaks pressed against Lin Chuan's chest, transmitting bursts of delicate fragrance, making Lin Chuan's blood boil. For over twenty years, he had remained untouched, but suddenly having such a tempting woman in his arms made his heart flutter uncontrollably. Lin Chuan's hands, not so ingenuous, climbed up Tang Yumeng's backside...
In fact, the moment she stumbled into Lin Chuan's arms, Tang Yumeng immediately regained her senses, but she dared not move; she didn't know how to explain it or face Lin Chuan. The longer the delay, the more anxious Tang Yumeng felt, especially upon realizing Lin Chuan was harboring inappropriate intentions.
"Lin Chuan..." Tang Yumeng awkwardly said: "You... you can go back now."
"Sister, are you okay?" Lin Chuan quickly withdrew his wandering hands, asking worriedly: "Shall I help you upstairs?"
"No need, I can manage on my own," Tang Yumeng nodded.
"Okay then," Lin Chuan nodded and said, "I'll come to pick you up for work tomorrow morning."
"There's no need, the City Committee is just across the street," Tang Yumeng smiled and said, "Park the car at the City Committee, with the current restriction against the personal use of official vehicles, every vehicle has to be monitored."
Lin Chuan complied and parked the car back at the City Committee. Nowadays, being a leader is not easy; official cars can only be used for official purposes. If anyone exposed personal use of official cars, the consequences would be unthinkable, a party warning would be the least of worries, losing a position would be much more serious.
...
After a few days of rest, two brand-new eight-wheelers were ready to hit the road. These days, Zhou Kai was busy in and out, his plump body had slimmed down, although very tired, these guys were happy. After all, having their own transport trucks and their own business, no matter how busy or tired, it was still a joyful thing.
The next day, Lin Chuan arrived at the factory; both eight-wheelers were washed clean and looked just like new.
"Not bad, Zhou Kai," Lin Chuan smiled, "You made these two vehicles look as good as new."
"That's right, I graduated from Lan Xiang Automotive..." Zhou Kai crawled out from under a vehicle, patting his behind.
At this moment, Lu Dapao hurriedly said, "Brother Chuan, I secured two business deals."
"Really?" Lin Chuan was taken aback and said, "Not bad, that's a great start."
"He wants us to start working tomorrow." Lu Dapao smiled and said, "I told him to wait two days because the vehicles are under maintenance, he said no problem."
"Mmm, let's try to make money earlier." Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Once we have more income later, we'll continue to buy more vehicles. With more vehicles, we can establish a transportation group. Haha..."
"That's great." Everyone got excited. However, the transportation industry isn't that easy, this group of young people, fueled by their passion, little do they know, this blood-stained path is a point of no return, a road of no return.
"Brother Chuan, Liu Jianguo came again today with his men." Zhou Kai wiped the black oil from his hands and said, "The crane will come this afternoon, they want to dismantle the roof and take away these three big machines."
"He thinks it's that easy, huh." Lin Chuan coldly smirked and said, "We spent so much money building that roof, and he wants to tear it down with just a word? Does he think he's the demolition team?"
"Fuck, we absolutely can't let them tear it down." Lu Dapao roared, his dyed purple tuft of hair standing on end.
"Exactly, we can't let the country's assets be squandered like that." In the factory, a few boys from Changlin Community also started to shout.
"Brother Chuan, do you have any plan?" Zhou Kai looked at Lin Chuan.
"In this era, the unreasonable fear the aggressive, and the aggressive fear the reckless." Lin Chuan flicked his cigarette butt away and said, "Guys, prepare some weapons. We don't bully others, but we definitely can't let others bully us. How can the fruits of labor be stolen by these moles?"
"Alright!" Everyone nodded in agreement.
Weapons were nothing out of the ordinary for these ruffians — how could they lack them? Soon, they gathered what they called "weapons" from inside the factory. Galvanized pipes, steel chains, wrenches, hammers... all sorts of items.
"A bunch of junk." Lin Chuan spat.
"Uh..." Zhou Kai awkwardly smiled and said, "Brother Chuan, this is all we could find."
"No wonder you guys are always being bullied." Lin Chuan smirked.
"Aren't these what you use in a fight?" Zhou Kai awkwardly smiled, eyeing the steel chain in his hand—imagine the pain if it hits someone.
"These are for thugs and hoodlums." Lin Chuan disdainfully said, "The real stuff isn't this junk, that's why you guys will always stay at the bottom."
Lu Dapao hurriedly threw the galvanized pipe he was holding and said, "Brother Chuan, how about you get us some?"
"Done!" Lin Chuan nodded.
Lin Chuan was a man of action; he drove to the city center immediately. He first visited a mountaineering gear specialty store and then a firefighting equipment store. Soon, he brought back a bunch of actual weapons to Changlin Community.
Clang clang...
More than ten machetes shone terrifyingly bright, their sharp blades, handy tools for adventurers, were now to be used as weapons by Lin Chuan. There were also over ten fiery red firefighting axes, each freshly painted red.
"Wow." Zhou Kai grabbed two firefighting axes, weighing them in his hands, and laughed, "Damn, with this buddy, let's see who dares to bully us."
"Exactly." Lu Dapao was very excited.
"Zhou Kai, later contact others in the factory who also want to protect it." Lin Chuan, with a cigarette in his mouth, smiled and said, "Gather them all, the more people the stronger we are. I really don't believe Liu Jianguo would dare to act tough."
"Don't worry, I've already reached out." Lin Chuan took his phone and sent a message in the already-established WeChat group.
Before long, more than a dozen uniquely dressed young people rushed to the factory, having heard that Zhou Kai and his group got two transport trucks and had secured business, they were all envious.
"You guys come over." Zhou Kai, looking like a big brother, said, "Meet Brother Chuan."
"Brother Chuan." The group of guys nodded one by one, each barely twenty years old, still naive in their eyes.
"Hmm." Lin Chuan nodded and asked, "Ever been in a fight?"
"Yes."
"No."
More than ten people spoke out. Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Whether you have fought or not doesn't matter, today we are gathering together to protect the common interest of our factory."
"Brother Chuan, Kai already talked about this." A young man said angrily, "Shit, Liu Jianguo wants to sell our stuff, we won't allow it."
"Right, we won't allow it." Everyone nodded in agreement.