Lin Chuan grinned and said, "Well... the main reason is that I'm too handsome. It would be troublesome if too many innocent beauties hung themselves on this tree of mine."

Pff...

Tang Yumeng burst into laughter, holding her belly and almost laughing till tears came out.

Hehe...

Lin Chuan also followed with a silly laugh.

"You, you..." Tang Yumeng laughed so hard that she could barely stop, pointing at Lin Chuan, she said: "I've seen people with thick skin, but I've never seen anyone with skin as thick as yours."

The awkwardness that had been between the two of them for a while seemed to have dissolved with this. Tang Yumeng was no longer picking on whether Lin Chuan had anything to do with Fang Yuan. Lin Chuan, through his actions, also gained Tang Yumeng's forgiveness; this time, Lin Chuan had almost lost half his life.

......

Jiangbei City TV station.

Reporters from the national broadcaster had already rushed to Jiangbei City. Director Zhao and field reporter Mu Bai were in charge of the reception this time. Reporters from the national broadcaster have always been full of airs, especially when they go to the local TV stations to inquire about situations, they tend to look down their noses at others.

"Aiyo, Journalist Liu, Journalist Zhang, you've had a tough journey," Director Zhao, with his plump belly, said cheerfully: "No flight delays on the way, I hope?"

"Not bad." Both glanced at Director Zhao before saying, "Director Zhao, could we take a look at the group of videos that your station broadcasted the day before yesterday?"

"Sure, of course, of course!" Director Zhao nodded eagerly.

The two sat down on the couch with a flop, and Director Zhao looked left and right - the couches were taken, and it seemed there was nowhere for him to sit. He quickly moved a chair over from the side and sat down. Mu Bai hurriedly opened the laptop he carried with him and then played the video from that day.

The two reporters from the national broadcaster leaned in quickly. The shooting angle was quite good, with the scene of the fire, smoke, and Lin Chuan rescuing people all clearly shown. It completely lacked the bureaucratic style of local reporters, not focusing too much on local officials but instead fully highlighting the heroes who were saving lives.

"Not bad, not bad!" Journalist Liu nodded quickly.

After watching, they said, "We'll take a copy of this video segment. Additionally, where is the person from the video?"

"This..." Mu Bai said awkwardly, "We haven't found him either."

"Not found?" Journalist Zhang frowned, "This small place, things are so inefficient. Is it really that troublesome to find someone? We hope to do a face-to-face interview with him, and if possible, we'd like to invite him to Beijing to our indoor studio."

"This..." Director Zhao said with an awkward smile: "Perhaps you are not aware, but... the hero who saved people that day vanished, you can see the last part of the footage!"

The two exchanged glances and quickly dragged the video to the end, indeed, Lin Chuan did not come down when the floors collapsed. This chilled their hearts.

"The person... died?" Journalist Liu asked.

"No, no!" Director Zhao shook his head, "Don't know if he's dead or alive, but anyway, we searched the site thoroughly, to the point of nearly digging three feet into the ground, and we couldn't find his body."

"Then he's alive?" Journalist Zhang asked quickly.

"That's too strange, with thousands of people on the scene, no one saw Lin Chuan come down!" Mu Bai shook his head.

Journalist Liu and Journalist Zhang looked at each other, then laughed and said, "This is too magical. It seems we can even make a 'Journey into Science' documentary!"

Director Zhao and Mu Bai were left feeling embarrassed.

......

Extraordinary Bar.

Bai Yifan sat in the bar drinking, heart elated upon hearing that Lin Chuan had an accident. Even though he didn't know whether Lin Chuan was dead or alive, Bai Yifan still felt very happy. Without lifting a finger, Lin Chuan would be gone. What a delightful thing that would be.

"Young Master." A waiter hurried over.

"What is it?" Bai Yifan asked.

"I heard that Lin Chuan may not be dead," the waiter said hurriedly.

"So where is he?" Bai Yifan asked back.

"This..." with an awkward smile, the waiter said: "Anyway, when they cleaned up the site yesterday, they didn't find Lin Chuan's body. So, I guess there's a nine out of ten chance that Lin Chuan isn't dead. If he were, could his body fly away?"

"Maybe it got incinerated!" Bai Yifan said with a laugh.

"That still doesn't make sense," the waiter said awkwardly. "Although the fire was big, to incinerate a body completely would need a temperature of at least a few thousand degrees."

"So where do you think Lin Chuan's body went?" Bai Yifan frowned.

"I really have no idea," the waiter shook his head and said, "Could it have been carried away by dogs?"

"Ha ha…" Bai Yifan burst into laughter upon hearing this, saying, "You really have quite the imagination, kid. It's pretty amusing to think about."

"Heh heh…" The waiter smiled sheepishly and then said, "It's just irresponsible speculation on my part."

"Anyway, I've had my fun this time." Bai Yifan cheerfully drank a large glass of sake, laughing and saying, "This time, even if Lin Chuan isn't dead, he's probably badly injured. After such a fire disaster, Lin Chuan's appearance must be ruined, so he shouldn't pose much of a threat to me. And even if he recovers, he won't be able to compete with me."

"Young master, congratulations," the waiter smiled excitedly.

"No!" Bai Yifan shook his head and said, "Congratulations are premature. In the next few days, I need to find time to visit Tang Yumeng."

"Young master, this is the time when Tang Yumeng is the most vulnerable. You should take advantage of the situation," the waiter grinned and said, "At this time, you definitely have the opportunity to win over Tang Yumeng."

"Ha ha…" Bai Yifan laughed heartily again, saying, "I'll take your auspicious words."

......

In Beijing, in the famous General Alley. Several courtyards with blue bricks and green tiles - in the past, these were the residences of prime ministers, but now, they have become the dwellings of the generals of the new China. To live here, one must at least be a commander of the military region level.

Li Xiangguo drove his black Passat quickly toward this alley.

At the entrance of the famous General Alley, several guards stopped Li Xiangguo's car.

Although Li Xiangguo's car had a Beijing A license plate and also had a National Security pass, it was still stopped by the guards. Li Xiangguo quickly rolled down his window and took out a document from his pocket, handing it over to the guards.

After scrutinizing Li Xiangguo's document carefully, the guard respectfully returned it to Li Xiangguo and saluted, saying, "Director Li, please go ahead!"

"Thank you for your hard work!" Li Xiangguo smiled.

Then he immediately drove into the alley and quickly parked his car in front of a very distinctive mansion's gate. Standing at the gate of the mansion were two straight guards in their sentry boxes, adopting a very standard posture, shouldering Type 95 automatic rifles, and indeed they were loaded with live rounds.

After Li Xiangguo got out of the car, the two guards immediately saluted. Li Xiangguo returned a military salute.

Among military men, a salute is customary when meeting, which reflects the minimum level of etiquette and moral cultivation among soldiers.

Li Xiangguo hurried into the premises. A guard approached him, "Director Li, you've arrived? The General just mentioned you."

"Oh? What about me?" Li Xiangguo was taken aback and said, "He's not going to ask me to run errands again, right? That last trip to Yunnan was troublesome enough for me."

"Ha ha…" The guard laughed and said, "Of course not. The General mentioned that you are reliable and thorough in your work."

"Really?" Li Xiangguo had some difficulty believing it.

"Of course!" The guard nodded immediately and said, "I would never lie to you."

"You're the most cunning one," Li Xiangguo snorted and said, "Go on, tell the General I'm here."

"Will do!" The guard nodded immediately.

After that, the guard put down what he was doing and ran at top speed toward the General's study. Soon after, the guard returned and smiled, "Director Li, the General said, 'Come and see me right away.'"

"Okay!" Li Xiangguo quickly stood up from the sofa in the hall and hurried toward the study.

It must be said, the mansion was quite impressive. It was said to have been the residence of a prince from the Qing Dynasty, but now it had become the General's residence. Considering the General's lifetime of service to the country and the people, and with the nation now at peace and thriving, it's only natural for the General to take residence in the prince's mansion.

The prince's mansion was quite splendid indeed, with a vast garden at the front, a pebble-strewn path leading in from outside, flanked by flowerbeds, a stone arch bridge over a clear stream that wound around the entire estate before flowing into another mansion – a display of sheer luxury. Now, with every inch of land in Beijing worth its weight in gold, owning a residence of thousands of square meters in this central location was truly a life of luxury.

Although it was not Li Xiangguo's first visit, every time he admired the place immensely. Compared to his own apartment of a mere hundred square meters, this mansion seemed like the ultimate life goal.

When he reached the door of the study, Li Xiangguo quickly knocked.

"Come in," a deep voice came from inside the room.

Li Xiangguo hurriedly pushed the door and entered, where bright light filled the room, with a large window facing the doorway. On the left and right sides of the room, there were two large bookshelves filled with books. The densely packed tomes were rare and unique works in this world.

In front of the large mahogany desk, sat an old man in military uniform, his hair white with age, his face rosy and spirited, holding a writing brush in his hand. A piece of rice paper was spread out on the desk, as he concentrated on practicing calligraphy.

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