Not far away, two excavators were shoveling sand, and several heavy trucks were lined up waiting to be loaded.

"How's it going?" Zhou Rui asked with a beaming smile, looking at the bustling sand market, "This year the real estate business is booming, house prices have soared once again, and the speed of construction is increasing. There are also more customers for renovations, so our sand is selling really well, and the demand for cement is on the rise too."

"Not bad." Lin Chuan revealed a smile and said, "It seems, this year we're going to make a fortune too."

"More than just that." Zhou Rui giggled and said, "Our profits for the first quarter have already surpassed any previous period from past years, doubling that of last year. If we carry on at this pace, I think we can double it again in the second quarter. The performance this year is going to be explosive."

"Hehe..." Lin Chuan let out a silly grin.

"What're you laughing at!" Zhou Rui huffed, saying, "It's all thanks to me."

"Yes, yes, it's all your credit." Lin Chuan nodded hastily and said, "If it wasn't for you, where would the transportation market be doing such good business?"

"Glad you know that." Zhou Rui giggled again and said, "So... how do you plan to reward me?"

"I'll give you a car at the end of the year." Lin Chuan smiled, "Any car you want, up to five hundred thousand."

"Not interested." Zhou Rui shook her head.

"Then... how about a house?" Lin Chuan asked curiously.

"Not interested." Zhou Rui still shook her head.

"So what do you want?" Lin Chuan asked in surprise.

"I want..." Zhou Rui looked up at Lin Chuan, her face turning red, muttering and stumbling. Seeing her expression, Lin Chuan immediately understood what she was about to say. Lin Chuan also suddenly felt awkward, this little girl, has spring arrived or what? Feeling all romantic, huh.

"How about we consider this issue at the end of the year." Lin Chuan chuckled, "I... have some matters to attend to at the City Committee, I have to go first."

"Ah..." Zhou Rui was startled.

Before Zhou Rui could react, Lin Chuan had already taken off running. Watching Lin Chuan's hasty departure, Zhou Rui stamped her feet in frustration.

"Bastard, you stinky Lin Chuan, all lust and no guts!" Zhou Rui fumed, cursing through clenched teeth.

Because business at the sand field had been doing well recently, Zhou Kai and others once again gathered at Zhao Zhonghai's barbecue place to eat and drink. They ordered a lot of skewers, and boxes of beer were brought out. They drank joyfully and with abandon, and as the weather started to warm up, chilled beer gradually became a hot seller.

Thanks to his skills, Zhao Zhonghai's barbecue business was doing very well.

"Bros, eat all you can, drink all you want!" Zhou Kai shouted loudly.

"Cheers." Lu Dapao called out loudly, "To celebrate the growing business of our transportation company and Haiqing Pool."

"Here's to better business." Everyone toasted in unison. Actually, everyone just wanted to make money. Only if the transportation company's business was booming, only if Haiqing Pool's business was thriving, would their wallets get fatter.

In the crowd, Zhou Rui was also there in the thick of things. Although she had bickered with Zhou Kai during the day, by night they seemed like friends who hadn't seen each other for ages. Zhou Rui's drinking was so fierce that most guys couldn't bear to look directly at her.

"Little hot pepper, not bad with the booze." Zhou Kai said with a grin.

"Hmph, better than you." Zhou Rui snorted.

"Alright, today we won't go home until we're plastered." Zhou Kai raised his beer bottle.

"Who's afraid of whom!" Zhou Rui rolled up her sleeves, revealing her pale and delicate arms like lotus roots.

Right beside her, Lu Dapao hastily put down his bottle. He was sitting to the left of Zhou Rui and quickly tried to persuade her, "Xiao Rui, what's a girl like you drinking so much for? Drink less, too much alcohol is bad for your health."

"It's fine." Zhou Rui shook her head.

Lu Dapao looked worried; it was clear that he cared a lot about Zhou Rui. Just as everyone was having a lively time, Lin Chuan also hurried over.

"Chuan-ge, you're late, three drinks as punishment." The crowd shouted one after another.

"Lin Chuan, take a seat here!" Zhou Rui saw him and immediately lit up, quickly shoving Lu Dapao aside. Lu Dapao nearly fell off the small stool. He quickly moved to give Lin Chuan his seat.

"Alright, alright." Lin Chuan nodded hastily and said, "Today, I have an important person to introduce to everyone."

"Who is it?" The crowd asked curiously.

Lin Chuan turned around and quickly pulled someone into the barbecue place from outside. It turned out to be Tang Yumeng. Tang Yumeng was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt on the upper body and a silver-grey long skirt on the bottom. The skirt had ring after ring of embroidery, and from the stitching, you could tell that this skirt was definitely expensive – you could tell just from the craftsmanship. She had on a pair of black leather shoes.

Tang Yumeng was a bit shy; this was the first time she was officially meeting Lin Chuan's group of friends. She looked around awkwardly at everyone and said with a smile, "Everyone... should be familiar. I'm very happy to meet you all!"

"Secretary Tang!" The crowd gasped in surprise.

Rustle, rustle...

Everyone stood up, except for Zhou Rui, who was the only one still sitting on the bench, not getting up.

"Secretary Tang, oh wow, an important figure." Zhou Kai quickly jumped out from the crowd, excitedly saying, "Guys, from now on Secretary Tang is going to be our sister-in-law."

"Hello sister-in-law." The crowd shouted excitedly.

Tang Yumeng's face flushed even more as she hurriedly said, "Don't call me that, I... Lin Chuan and I are just ordinary friends."

"Hehe, we all know what's really going on," Zhou Kai said with a wink and a nudge.

Hahaha...

Everyone erupted into laughter again.

"Gou Dan, hurry up, go get a stool for your master's wife," Zhou Kai yelled.

"Coming, coming!" Gou Dan quickly ran out from not too far away, darting through the darkness with such speed that he appeared in the blink of an eye. He brought over a slightly comfortable modified chair, his shiny black eyes sizing up Tang Yumeng as he smiled and said, "Master's wife, you're really pretty, even prettier than our Sister Xiao Rui!"

"Pffft..." Zhou Kai immediately spat out a mouthful of beer.

Lu Dapao slapped Gou Dan on the shoulder and said, "Kid, what kind of way is that to talk?"

"I... I'm just telling the truth," Gou Dan said awkwardly.

"Alright, get out of here!" Lu Dapao gave Gou Dan a kick in the butt.

Gou Dan seemed to sense an ominous premonition here; he could clearly feel Zhou Rui's face losing color, while Tang Yumeng was also looking embarrassed, and Lin Chuan had a crybaby face, as if the situation was quite bad.

"Oh oh, I'm off!" After stirring up the hornet's nest, Gou Dan immediately fled.

Gou Dan left, but the hornet's nest had already been disturbed.

Lin Chuan glanced at everyone and said with an awkward smile, "Come on, everyone sit down, don't just stand there. Eat if you need to eat, drink if you need to drink!"

"Right, right, drink up, drink up!" Zhou Kai quickly agreed.

"Brother Chuan, you... you still need to down three drinks as penalty!" Lu Dapao eagerly nodded his head.

Just as everyone had sat down, Lin Chuan sat across from Zhou Rui, while Tang Yumeng sat beside Lin Chuan. She took out a wet wipe from her backpack and carefully wiped the bowls and chopsticks for Lin Chuan, then did the same for her own. The wet wipes contained alcohol, which has disinfectant properties. This was Tang Yumeng's usual style, no matter where she went to eat, she always carried wet wipes with her.

"Three drinks are not enough!" Zhou Rui stood up, a look of grievance on her face, as she placed three bottles of beer on the table and said, "At least three bottles!"

Uh...

The scene suddenly fell silent, everyone looked at Zhou Rui, then all turned their heads to stare at Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Three bottles it is, then."

"Good, let's give Brother Chuan a round of applause," Zhou Kai shouted, and everyone hastily clapped.

Lin Chuan grabbed a bottle with his right hand and brought it to his mouth.

Glug glug...

Not a drop was missed, only seeing Lin Chuan's throat continuously move, gulping down the beer. Having finished one bottle, Lin Chuan didn't hesitate to pick up the second.

Setting aside the amount he could drink, the sheer act of drinking impressed many onlookers.

"Good, such a drinker!" Zhou Kai clapped excitedly.

"Brother Chuan, my idol!" the crowd cheered in unison.

Everyone was excited and thrilled, almost jumping up in their excitement. In the blink of an eye, Lin Chuan's second bottle was downed. Just when Lin Chuan was reaching for the third bottle, Zhou Rui couldn't bear to watch and was about to stop him, when Tang Yumeng suddenly grabbed Lin Chuan's arm and said, "Stop drinking, this is alcohol, not water. Too much can damage your liver."

"It's just beer," Lin Chuan laughed.

"That's not okay either," Tang Yumeng hurriedly said. "Besides, we've been busy for so long, you haven't eaten a single bite, you're still on an empty stomach. Drinking on an empty stomach is bad for the stomach."

"Exactly, exactly," the others agreed upon hearing this, quickly saying, "Brother Chuan, maybe you should take a rest first."

"How could that be acceptable?" Zhou Rui slammed the table, saying, "As the leading brother, how can you go back on your word? How will you command respect in the future?"

Once again, everyone fell silent. The atmosphere had just been stirred up, and once again Zhou Kai and the others fell silent. Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao exchanged glances; it seemed the situation had become a deadlock again. The group became somewhat dazed, and Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao immediately chose to be silent, not wanting to interfere further.

"Since that's the case, then I'll drink for him!" Tang Yumeng glanced at Zhou Rui.

"You?" Zhou Rui countered unceremoniously, saying, "And what relation are you to him?"

"Girlfriend, is that enough?" Tang Yumeng retorted.

"..." Zhou Rui was dumbfounded.

Tang Yumeng, holding the beer, didn't hesitate to start chugging it down.

Glug glug, glug glug...

Drink after drink flowed down her throat, and from the corners of her mouth, trickles of golden beer seeped out. Tang Yumeng's bold and carefree side left everyone speechless.

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