"I'll go rent a car," Lin Chuan smiled.

"I'll take you there," Song Xiaojia said hurriedly.

Song Xiaojia came by car, parking her Beetle in the garage at home that she hadn't driven until now. During the Chinese New Year, it finally came in handy. Song Xiaojia drove Lin Chuan to the entrance of a car rental company. On the first day of the new year, the rental company was still open. Lin Chuan was their first customer.

He rented a Ford with a daily fee of five hundred yuan.

The New Year prices were non-negotiable, and there was no choice of cars. After paying the deposit and photocopying his ID card, the procedures were quickly completed.

"Mr. Lin, you can return the car directly to our Jiangbei City branch," the man smiled. "My colleagues there will confirm the documentation for me, and the deposit will be returned directly to your bank card as long as there's no problem with the car. There won't be any issue."

"Okay," Lin Chuan nodded.

Seeing that Lin Chuan was about to leave, Song Xiaojia felt somewhat reluctant.

Standing at the entrance of the car rental, Song Xiaojia held Lin Chuan's hand, unwilling to let go. Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Silly girl, am I not coming back? Besides, won't you be back in Jiangbei City right after the New Year? What, you don't want to be a police officer anymore?"

"Of course not," Song Xiaojia shook her head, but soon fell silent.

"Alright, I should go," Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"Mm," Song Xiaojia nodded.

Although they were reluctant to part, there's no banquet that doesn't come to an end. Lin Chuan drove away, and with tears in her eyes, Song Xiaojia bit her red lips and said, "Stinky Lin Chuan, don't you know I've already agreed with my dad not to return to work in Jiangbei City? I'm afraid... I might only stay in the provincial city."

Lin Chuan knew nothing about this, merely thinking that Song Xiaojia would come back to work after the New Year.

Lin Chuan drove back to Jiangbei City.

On the way back, he turned on his mobile phone, which had been switched off since he met Tang Yumeng yesterday. Now, as soon as he powered on the phone, he received countless text messages. The sheer number of messages was like opening a text bomb. Thankfully, Lin Chuan used a Nokia brick phone; otherwise, a smartphone would have likely frozen up under such a barrage of texts and wouldn't have received them so smoothly.

Lin Chuan glanced over them; out of more than a hundred messages, the majority were New Year greeting texts, including more than ten advertising messages. The remaining twenty or so messages were from Tang Yumeng and Nuo Xiaoxi.

"Lin Chuan, are you there?"

"Lin Chuan, where are you? Can you listen to my explanation?"

"Lin Chuan, you can't just ignore me like this. I'm really sad. There's really nothing going on between Bai Yifan and me. It's just the simplest friendship..."

"Lin Chuan, I called you one hundred and one times, please, turn on your phone, okay?"

...

Eighteen messages, transitioning from initial hope to eventual despair. Lin Chuan pulled over and slowly read through each one. Suddenly, he felt a bit heartbroken and a bit shattered. Did he really misunderstand her? Could it be true that there was nothing between her and Bai Yifan? Yet, when he saw the two of them so close together, holding hands, it clearly wasn't simple.

The remaining two messages were from Nuo Xiaoxi.

"Brother Lin, come back early, Aunt is worried about you."

"Brother Lin, haven't you come back yet? Why can't I reach your phone?"

Nuo Xiaoxi only sent two messages, with the latter one sent at seven something in the morning. Lin Chuan immediately made a phone call.

"Brother Lin, happy new year," Nuo Xiaoxi excitedly said. "Why haven't you come back yet? Aunt is really worried about you."

"Tell Mom, I'll be back soon," Lin Chuan replied with a smile.

"Okay," Nuo Xiaoxi immediately nodded, then said, "Brother Lin, we're all waiting for you, come back soon for lunch."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Chuan's mood suddenly didn't feel so gloomy anymore, as if a patch of sunlight had suddenly pierced through the overcast weather. He smiled and immediately continued his drive to Jiangbei City.

Two hours later, the car quickly arrived in Jiangbei City.

Upon arriving home, he couldn't escape a scolding. However, since it was the first day of the New Year, the scolding didn't last long.

"Brother Lin," Nuo Xiaoxi playfully emerged from her room and said with a smile, "You're finally back?"

"Yeah, why aren't you out playing?" Lin Chuan asked. "Aren't you going to hang out with your friends?"

"Xiao Mei and the others have already contacted me," Nuo Xiaoxi giggled. "I'll be heading out soon."

"Go ahead," Lin Chuan smiled.

It's already past ten; how long could she play after going out now?

At this moment, a few girls dressed up brightly and beautifully were calling for Nuo Xiaoxi outside the door. Nuo Xiaoxi hurriedly ran out.

"Wow, Nuo Xiaoxi, you look so beautiful," Xiao Mei excitedly looked at Nuo Xiaoxi and said, "This... this is the Chanel brand, right? So expensive, this dress must cost at least tens of thousands, right?"

"That expensive?" Everyone exclaimed in amazement.

"Brother Lin helped me buy it," Nuo Xiaoxi said with her face blushing.

"Hehe, which Brother Lin?" Xiao Mei asked curiously.

Lin Chuan came out of the house, and Nuo Xiaoxi immediately took Lin Chuan's arm and said, "This is my Brother Lin."

"Hehe, you mean Brother Lin, right?" Everyone immediately teased, saying, "Clearly, he's a lover boy."

"Ah!" Nuo Xiaoxi blushed and covered her face.

Thankfully, the group of girls soon left, otherwise even Lin Chuan would have been embarrassed.

Inside the factory.

Everyone gathered together, and this time, there were over fifty people in the factory. Half of the factory's youth were there. Among them, more than ten came back from other places, and more than ten were locally employed, but since they had nothing to do on the first day of the New Year, they came to see if they could get a job from Zhou Kai after the celebrations.

"Let me tell you," Zhou Kai said, spitting left and right, "If it weren't for Chuanzi, our factory might have been torn down a long time ago."

"Exactly," Lu Dapao picked up the conversation and said, "Brother Chuan truly helped our factory a lot. Not to mention, he helped over twenty unemployed youths in our factory find jobs, and he also preserved this plot of factory land for us."

"Speaking of which, I think Brother Chuan is the most loyal person," the usually silent Liu Cheng suddenly spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at him. Many knew that Liu Cheng was kidnapped by Old Wu from the provincial city the day before, and later it was Lin Chuan who led Zhou Kai and others to the provincial city to rescue him. If it weren't for Lin Chuan, Liu Cheng's arm might not have been saved.

Zhou Kai patted Liu Cheng on the shoulder and said, "Brother Chuan never holds grudges. You used to look down on him, but he never minded. Follow Brother Chuan closely from now on. He won't treat you badly."

"Yeah," Liu Cheng nodded.

At this moment, someone said, "Kai, ask Lin Chuan if he still needs people?"

"Yeah, do ask for us too," everyone nodded in agreement, saying, "After all, we're from the same factory, we've been playmates since we were kids. Now that you're getting rich, you can't just ignore your brothers, right? In wealth be mindful of your kin."

"Hehe, no problem," Zhou Kai nodded, "Brother Chuan said that after the New Year, our business is going to expand. We are really short of people. If you're willing, come report to the management after the New Year. Register with Aunt Hong."

"Great," a young guy with yellow hair jumped up and said, "Damn, I'm not going back to Guangzhou to be a beast of burden for those Hong Kong bosses anymore."

"Neither am I," a skinny young man cursed, "Damn, those Taiwanese are the stingiest. Working myself to death all year long, and not even a fart's worth to show for it. Others get thousands or tens of thousands for their end-of-year bonus, and we get nothing."

Lots of people decided to join Zhou Kai and the others after the New Year. Of course, some were conservative, and also had a decent job in hand, and were not too willing to resign and hang out with Zhou Kai's group. Firstly, they felt their own rice bowl was more secure. Secondly, in the factory, they used to be the ones praised and sought after. Zhou Kai and his group were nothing more than rats that everyone shouted to beat. The sudden reversal of status made them uncomfortable. Finally, they were not optimistic about the so-called business of Zhou Kai's group.

At this time, Lin Chuan came in.

"Yo, Brother Chuan is here?" Zhou Kai said excitedly.

"Everyone's here?" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"Brother Chuan, happy New Year, wishing you prosperity," Lu Dapao ran over excitedly.

"Looking for a red envelope, right?" Lin Chuan had anticipated this and had prepared quite a few red envelopes. He quickly took out a red envelope and handed it over.

Lu Dapao tore it open and was overjoyed, "Whoa, two hundred yuan. Thanks, Brother Chuan."

Whoosh...

Everyone immediately swarmed up, all squeezed over, each wishing Lin Chuan a happy New Year and prosperity. Lin Chuan, of course, was generous, handing out a red envelope to everyone, each containing two hundred yuan. Although it wasn't a large amount, it was the thought that counted.

Everyone was very happy to receive the red envelope.

"Brother Chuan, there are quite a few lads in our factory who want to join us," Zhou Kai said with a smile, "What do you think?"

"Next year our business is going to expand, so go ahead and recruit more people," Lin Chuan said with a smile, "Whether it's sand and cement business, or waste and earthwork business, all of them are sure profit deals. Besides, the companies we've started, the transport markets we've taken over, the money earned belongs to everyone."

"Whoa..."

Everyone was suddenly abuzz.

"Is that true?" someone in the crowd asked skeptically.

"You can ask Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao about that," Lin Chuan said with a smile, "They are among the first veterans to join the company. Plus, they are your pals, so they are the most authoritative on this matter."

"That's right," Zhou Kai nodded, "At first when we were doing the earthwork business, after two months, we made several hundred thousand. We put aside three hundred thousand as a reserve, and the rest of the money was divided among us. Hehe... that's the talk of the factory now."

"Guys, when you go out and work for a boss, if the boss earns a million, you get at most three thousand a month," Lu Dapao stood up, scanned the crowd, and spoke solemnly, "But staying in the factory not only allows you to support your parents at any time, but also join us in fighting for the cause. If the company earns a million, each of us gets a hundred thousand if there are ten people, or ten thousand each if there are a hundred people. Because this is our own company, not a private company."

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