Ssss...

The burly man was so frightened that he repeatedly retreated several steps.

Fortunately, Lin Chuan quickly withdrew his imposing demeanour, he let out a cold chuckle, then said, "When people talk, dogs best keep their mouths shut."

"Haha..." Mr. Hu, the Northeast Tiger, immediately burst into hearty laughter and said, "Lin Chuan, you are indeed an interesting person."

"What do you mean by that?" Lin Chuan took a drag on his cigarette.

"Lin Chuan, let's get straight to the point," Mr. Hu began, "I paid 150 million for this Changlin Factory land, and it's been over two years now. The housing prices have been jacked up, and I plan to break ground next spring. So..."

"That has nothing to do with me," Lin Chuan said with a chuckle.

"Of course, I understand," Mr. Hu nodded and said, "Let's talk terms directly then. I know about your house, less than sixty square meters. Add the shed in the back and it's barely sixty-five square meters. I'll compensate you with a 120-square-meter commercial house, plus, I'll throw in an additional 500,000 for you to renovate. How does that sound?"

Lin Chuan was startled and said, "Oh, Mr. Hu, what are you implying?"

"Have you agreed?" Mr. Hu asked with a smile.

"Of course I don't agree," Lin Chuan said with a sneer.

Mr. Hu's expression darkened as he said, "Young man, don't be too greedy; there's a limit to everything."

"Mr. Hu, you're mistaken," Lin Chuan said with a smile, "My interests are tied with everyone else's. If you promise the same relocation terms to every household, I guarantee that within three days... no! By tonight, everyone will have moved out."

"You!" Mr. Hu was furious. This youngster was insufferable, simply refusing to face the fact. He had already made such a generous offer. The housing compensation was nearly a two-to-one ratio plus 500,000 in redecoration funds, yet this kid still wouldn't stop. Swallowing his anger, Mr. Hu said, "I'll compensate you with a 140-square-meter house and 500,000 for renovations. We can't negotiate further than this. If you agree, we sign the contract now. If not, we have nothing left to discuss."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan turned and walked away.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Hu frowned.

"There's no deal to be made," Lin Chuan said calmly with a smile, "If we're really going to talk, then let's talk with the several hundred households from Changlin Factory who haven't signed a contract."

"Don't be ungrateful, refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit," Mr. Hu said with a somewhat lowered tone. It was clear that he was getting angry. Indeed, anyone would be angry in this situation. After all the talking and offering such terms, he still wasn't satisfied, which was utterly infuriating.

If he really had to satisfy hundreds of households with such terms, Mr. Hu had no idea how many tens of millions it would cost him extra. This was something Mr. Hu absolutely did not want to see. When it came to his own interests, Mr. Hu was adamantly unwilling to surrender.

"Mr. Hu, in the violent rivers and lakes, one can't avoid being sliced," Lin Chuan turned to look at Mr. Hu, "The old workers of Changlin Factory are honest people, but even a rabbit will bite when cornered. Not to mention a whole group of them?"

After finishing his speech, Lin Chuan hopped into the jeep. With a press of the gas pedal, he shot straight out.

"Shit, he's going to kill someone!" the burly man exclaimed in shock as he quickly dodged.

Lin Chuan gripped the steering wheel, swerved to the right, and the car shot into Changlin Factory at an extremely tricky angle. Mr. Hu just silently smoked, letting Lin Chuan leave.

At this moment, the burly man who had been playing with his dagger hurried over and said, "Mr. Hu, this kid must have come from the mountains."

"Hmm," Mr. Hu nodded, "Have someone check into this kid's background later."

"Sure thing," the burly man nodded.

"Let's go, back home," Mr. Hu muttered annoyedly as he climbed into his car. He had thought today's operation would go very smoothly, but it turned out to be a bust. He hadn't even managed to come to an agreement, and the possibility of bringing Lin Chuan over to his side was even less likely now, so Mr. Hu couldn't be bothered to talk anymore. From now on, Lin Chuan would be a thorn in Mr. Hu's side.

.......

Back at the factory, the stage had been taken down, and the factory lights were bright, illuminating the road at the entrance. Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao hadn't returned, and there was only one underling on duty in the factory, wholly focused on ensuring that none of the goods were stolen by Liu Jianjun, that bastard.

"Where's Zhou Kai?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Brother Chuan, Kai and the others are still at the transport market," the young underling hurriedly jumped down from the machine.

"Hmm," Lin Chuan nodded, "Guard this place well."

"Yes!" the underling quickly nodded his head.

Just as Lin Chuan was about to leave, Zhou Kai and the others returned, a rear eight-wheeler with several people in the bucket at the back. To save fuel, over ten of them commuted to and from work in a single rear eight-wheeler each day, while the other vehicles were almost all parked at the transport market. But in the dead of winter, sitting in the bucket of a rear eight-wheeler would nearly freeze a person to death.

Pfft...

Lu Dapao sneezed, spraying out a gush of mucus.

"Damn, I'm going to turn into an icicle soon." Lu Dapao quickly wiped his runny nose with his sleeve.

People nearby began to distance themselves from this guy, not only because he had a cold, but also because he was just too dirty. Spotting Lin Chuan, Lu Dapao complained, "Chuan Bro, we're all earning money now. Let's chip in and buy a van. It'd be more convenient for commuting. Sitting in that open truck bed every day, I'm nearly frozen to death."

"Figure it out among yourselves." Lin Chuan distributed cigarettes to everyone, and a pack was soon depleted. He laughed, "How's the transport market been doing recently?"

"Business isn't bad." Zhou Kai nodded, "The sand at the quarry has been in high yield, and the supply and demand for sand in Jiangbei City are balanced. We've got a bit of an advantage in price. Of course, as soon as we raise our price, the whole Jiangbei City's sand prices will likely follow suit."

"We don't make dirty money." Lin Chuan waved his hands, "Try to cooperate with some construction sites, see if they're interested in using our sand."

"No hope!" Zhou Kai laughed, "Construction sites all aim for deals with quarries because they use large amounts; they sign contracts directly with them. We can only handle small construction projects dealing with sand and cement in Jiangbei City."

"We can think of ways in the future." Lin Chuan smiled.

"We'll try, but the hopes aren't high," Zhou Kai laughed.

At night, Lin Chuan took everyone out for barbecue again. In the winter, most barbecue stalls would be wrapped in tarpaulins to create a space that shelters from the wind and rain. Burning some charcoal inside is warm enough, and of course, proper ventilation is necessary when burning charcoal inside to avoid carbon dioxide poisoning.

A gang of more than ten people headed to the barbecue stall, quite a spectacle.

As soon as Goudan saw Lin Chuan and his group arrive, he hustled over with a menu. "Master, what would you like to eat...?"

"Wow, this kid actually calls you 'Master' now." Zhou Kai teased, "Wasn't this apprentice pretty arrogant before?"

Goudan wiped his nose with the back of his hand and glared at Zhou Kai: "I'm not calling you."

"Get lost." Zhou Kai pushed Goudan away.

Goudan dodged Zhou Kai's hand; he was quite agile, seemingly someone who must have started training from a young age.

"Let's stick with the same things we ordered before." Lin Chuan wasn't in the mood to look at the menu.

"Okay." Goudan nodded in agreement.

After Goudan left, Zhou Kai asked in confusion, "Can that kid remember what we ordered before?"

"Goudan has a good memory." Lin Chuan smiled.

Zhou Kai was somewhat doubtful, but when the skewers arrived, he didn't bother to question further; he hadn't eaten all day and was finally ready to drink and eat meat to his heart's content. It was the middle of the winter, and still quite early, so there were relatively few people eating barbecues.

After finishing up work for Lin Chuan and his group, the middle-aged man moved closer to them.

"Come on, have a cigarette." This was the first time the middle-aged man took such an initiative to approach Lin Chuan.

The group was not shy, taking one each, and swiftly a pack of cigarettes was gone. The middle-aged man, holding his cigarette, laughed, "A few days ago the demolition office came by, seems like you got into a dispute with them?"

"Damn, just talking about it pisses me off." Zhou Kai was furious, "Those motherf***ers bullying people with their power."

"You guys are a bunch of real men." The middle-aged man smiled, "Daring to stand up to the demolition team. I, Zhao Zhonghai, am impressed. This meal, consider it my treat. It's also a way to make friends with you guys, brave enough to confront the demolition office."

"Brother Zhao, you're too kind." Lin Chuan laughed.

"If you consider me a brother, eat all you like. If you don't consider me as one, then act as if I never said anything." Zhao Zhonghai smiled, "Once we're done eating, just leave the money on the table. After we walk out the door, pretend we don't know each other."

"Uh..." Lin Chuan wasn't expecting this reaction from Zhao Zhonghai, he patted his shoulder and said, "All right, since Brother Zhao doesn't disdain us, we naturally consider you a brother. If there's anything we can help with in the future, just say the word, Brother Zhao."

"Hahaha..." Zhao Zhonghai was a hearty man. He nodded, "Let's drink."

The group of more than ten men went through four or five cases of beer and four bottles of liquor. Zhou Kai and the rest were beyond tipsy. Lu Dapao was the last one to fall. The bunch sprawled on the ground, snoring away. Luckily, the shack was kept warm with the charcoal fire, or else they'd all catch colds.

At the table, only Lin Chuan and Zhao Zhonghai were left, both having drunk quite a bit, yet neither had fallen. They were a match for each other.

"Lin Chuan, you can really hold your liquor," Zhao Zhonghai wiped his mouth, "I didn't realize, a young man like you is pretty skilled."

"You flatter me, Brother Zhao," Lin Chuan laughed awkwardly, "You've just seen me make a fool of myself with my paltry skills."

"Don't be modest," Zhao Zhonghai smiled with his teeth showing, "I noticed the day you were teaching Goudan how to throw knives; you must have trained quite a few years, haven't you?"

"To be honest, I've only trained for three years." Lin Chuan smiled bitterly, "Although I spent quite some time in the military, the actual time training was just three years. Most of the other time was spent on missions. So..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.