After sending Tang Yumeng away, all of Lin Chuan's previous worries had evaporated. It turned out that Tang Yumeng still had feelings for him. In that case, he should pick an auspicious day to seal the deal quickly.

At that thought, Lin Chuan suddenly remembered Song Xiaojia.

A wave of guilt surged within Lin Chuan's heart. Thinking back to that night, Lin Chuan felt a bit of regret. How could he have been so impulsive? Perhaps, it was because the incident with Tang Yumeng had left him suddenly devoid of emotional support, leading to what happened afterward.

Truthfully, deep down, Lin Chuan still had feelings for Song Xiaojia.

Song Xiaojia was a beautiful, kind, and smart girl. Lin Chuan really couldn't let her down, and thinking about the intimate phone conversations they had these past few days, Lin Chuan felt an even deeper sense of guilt. Why had things developed to this point? Lin Chuan felt somewhat helpless and at a loss for words.

"Why did it turn out this way?!" Lying on the bed, Lin Chuan felt distressed.

How did he become someone who was involved with two women simultaneously? Fate is truly cruel. Had it not been for that misunderstanding with Tang Yumeng, he would never have gotten together with Song Xiaojia. Unfortunately, fate plays tricks on people. Suddenly, he found himself in a moral dilemma. He had thought many times about coming clean with Song Xiaojia, but hearing her blissful tone, like that of a happy little woman, he couldn't bear to shatter her happiness.

And so, the situation dragged on endlessly.

"Sigh, forget it, let things be." Lin Chuan gritted his teeth and said: "Whatever will be, will be. If the heavens have decreed that I'm to be alone, then so be it. If the heavens want me to have a harem, hmph, I'll be grateful."

Turning over, he fell asleep with loud snores.

Before long, Nuo Xiaoxi came in from outside, called his name gently a couple of times, but Lin Chuan didn't react much. She curiously walked over, then quietly tucked the quilt around Lin Chuan. Finally, she quietly left the Lin family's place and went back to her own home. After the New Year, Nuo Xiaoxi had to start preparing for the college entrance examination, and she had already made a decision not to apply to universities far away but to aim for the best local university, Jiang Province University.

Jiang Province University wasn't a top key university, but it was still a decent undergraduate institution. The admission scores were fairly high, and the quality of education was good. The reputation was also positive; it was only because it had not been established for a long time that its reputation had not been built up fully, and it hadn't secured projects like the 211 or 985. But in the locals' hearts, Jiang Province University was considered a first-class university.

"Brother Lin, you rest well," Nuo Xiaoxi stealthily kissed Lin Chuan's face, her cheeks flushed red, saying: "I'm going back home to study."

Having said that, the girl reluctantly left the Lin family's home, flashlight in hand, stepping onto the dark night road.

.........

The bathhouse that Zhou Kai and the others set up quickly became an object of interest for many in Jiangbei City. However, since all the licenses were handled through a proxy by Li Jiangping, the government departments were quite peaceful, with no one causing trouble. Li Jiangping had done a good job with this, and Lin Chuan had a good impression of his abilities.

Actually, in order to get the bathhouse approved, Li Jiangping directly invited the heads of several key departments to the Sheraton Hotel, laid out a feast, and made his intentions clear. Those reluctant department heads had to acquiesce reluctantly. Li Jiangping said all the right things, and also handed out a few red envelopes, so in the end, they all had to nod in agreement. With government affairs settled on the surface, no one would stir up trouble in the background.

As a result, apart from Captain Dai bringing people to shuffle things around at the construction site, the work on the bathhouse was basically free from any interference from government departments.

The construction over ten-plus days went rather smoothly.

However, the situation with the "Northeastern Tiger" was like a ticking time bomb. The words Captain Dai said before he left were still fresh in Zhou Kai and the others' minds. They always remembered Captain Dai's words, so they kept watch over the site at all times.

After the Lantern Festival.

Zhao Zhonghai arrived at Changlin Factory in full camouflage, slinging a black camo bag over his shoulder.

"Old Zhao?" Zhou Kai spotted Zhao Zhonghai immediately, ran over to him excitedly, hurriedly handed him a cigarette, and asked with a smile, "What brings you here?"

"Where's Lin Chuan?" Zhao Zhonghai asked with a smile.

"Chuanzi?" Zhou Kai was taken aback, then said with a laugh: "I'll call Brother Chuan for you right away. You can sit inside for a while."

Zhao Zhonghai nodded, then stepped inside.

The factory was rather empty and the whole place seemed very quiet. Since this was their main base, the guys would gather here when there was nothing else to do. Of course, the place where they congregated the most was at the transport market because it was a large environment and a huge place, where they made their money. Occasionally, when they had some downtime, like at noon, they would gather at the factory.

Zhao Zhonghai glanced around, seeming quite satisfied with the place. As Lin Chuan was handing over more than twenty men to his charge, he needed to carry out a closed military-style training. Only then could he live up to the trust Lin Chuan had in him. Moreover, Zhao Zhonghai had used the time when the barbecue stall was closed to gradually come up with a training plan, which was designed to progress from easy to difficult, increasing in intensity.

Just as Zhao Zhonghai was pondering how to transform this vast factory, Lin Chuan hurriedly came in from outside.

"Brother Zhao, you've finally come," Lin Chuan laughed heartily: "You really had me waiting."

"Hmm." Zhao Zhonghai wasn't much for eloquence, and he responded with a smile: "I sorted out the barbecue stall, sold off all the inventory these past few days. I've packed up the tents and everything and brought them back to the countryside. Then I hurried over to find you."

"All right." Lin Chuan nodded, turned around and said, "Zhou Kai, go, call over everyone on your list."

"Yes!" Zhou Kai hurriedly nodded, and with a spin, he sent out a message on his phone, then acted as if nothing had happened.

"I told you to call people, what are you doing?" Lin Chuan asked.

"I did call them." Zhou Kai said awkwardly.

"I didn't see you do a damn thing." Lin Chuan frowned and said, "Do you mean to tell me that by just fiddling with your phone, they'll come?"

"Brother Chuan, don't you know there's something called WeChat now?" Zhou Kai said helplessly: "I sent out a message in the WeChat group, the brothers all said they're on their way."

"WeChat?" Lin Chuan was startled, "What the hell is WeChat?"

Lin Chuan hurriedly pulled out his phone, saying, "Why don't I have it on my phone?"

"Brother Chuan, you really are out of the loop." Zhou Kai said awkwardly: "WeChat is the most popular chat tool these days. Plus, it's convenient and fast, no need to make a call, just send a WeChat message, and the brothers will come right away."

"Then set it up for me." Lin Chuan said eagerly with a smile: "Last time you mentioned Momo, I don't have that on my phone either."

Everyone was suddenly dumbfounded.

"Hahaha..." Following that, a burst of laughter exploded.

Lin Chuan was baffled.

Before long, more than a dozen young and strong lads came in from outside. All of them were over 1.7 meters tall. Among them, Lu Dapao and Huang Bo were relatively shorter. Zhou Kai, although tall, was disadvantaged by his weight. Even though this guy had reduced his weight quite a bit after a few months of hard work, he was still overweight.

Zhao Zhonghai glanced at the twenty-five people and nodded his head in reluctant satisfaction.

"Does that mean Brother Zhao agrees?" Lin Chuan asked curiously.

"After all, it's not the army, these twenty-five people should do." Zhao Zhonghai smiled.

"That's good." Lin Chuan nodded.

"Lin Chuan, we have to agree on this in advance." Zhao Zhonghai said with a smile: "Since these twenty-five people are entrusted to me, then you better not interfere. If you interfere, I'm out."

"Of course." Lin Chuan immediately nodded and said, "Brother Zhao, please train them. The brothers all come from poor backgrounds, they can endure the hardships."

"Good." Zhao Zhonghai nodded, "I plan to conduct enclosed military-style training on them. Do you agree?"

"Agreed." Lin Chuan said without hesitation and immediately nodded: "However, Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao often have to run businesses, so for these few people, maybe consider not giving them enclosed training, and instead, allow some flexibility?"

"Sure." Zhao Zhonghai didn't make it difficult for Yu Qiu, instead, he nodded and said: "The few people you specified, I won't train them in enclosed sessions. After training every day, I allow them to return to the city."

"So, Brother Zhao plans to take them out?" Lin Chuan asked in surprise.

"Correct." Zhao Zhonghai nodded, "Pull them out to the rural areas of Wujiang. They will live and eat there, I've already found the houses, we'll temporarily set the training location there. I plan to conduct a week-long physical recovery training there, and after the physical training is completed, I'll slowly teach them some combat skills."

"No problem." Lin Chuan immediately nodded, "I trust Brother Zhao's methods."

After some negotiation, Lin Chuan immediately had Zhou Kai withdraw a hundred thousand yuan for Zhao Zhonghai. This was to prepay for the training expenses and Zhao Zhonghai's training fee. After all, feeding twenty-five people costs money, it wouldn't be fair to make Zhao Zhonghai front the cost, right?

Zhao Zhonghai was quite generous too, without any refusal, he directly pocketed the money into his shoulder bag.

"Starting now, you're all my soldiers." Zhao Zhonghai stated with his legs crossed, "Everything you say and do represents me. And I am your instructor. You can call me Old Zhao, or you can call me Instructor. I take responsibility for your conduct. Do you hear me."

"Heard." The crowd shouted sporadically.

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