"Me? I don't mean anything!" Lin Chuan chuckled as he looked at Song Wu, a strange smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, and said, "But, you two are so tense, what's really the meaning of this?"

"You!" Both men became anxious, and Song Wen immediately scolded angrily, "Don't spout nonsense. This matter has nothing to do with us. If you try to smear us like this, then you are gravely mistaken!"

"Hehe, I'm just puzzled. I never said that you two are the culprits." Lin Chuan's mouth curved into a strange smile, before he continued, "So why are you two so desperate to disassociate yourselves from this matter?"

"You, you…" Song Wen was frantic, grinding his teeth as he said, "Don't talk nonsense, I certainly didn't."

"Still saying you didn't?" Lin Chuan's mouth curved into a smile again, and then he said, "This lounge isn't only occupied by the three of us. If you don't believe it, ask the others if they heard it."

Song Wen quickly cast a pleading look around for help.

At this moment, the other people in the room all avoided Song Wen's gaze, directing their eyes elsewhere, not daring to get involved in the dispute between Lin Chuan and the Song brothers. Both men had their own powerful backers; Lin Chuan was supported by Secretary Tang, the head of the City Committee, while the Song brothers' backer was Vice Secretary Song, who, though only second in command, was nevertheless a covert top dog. The conflict between these two people was something no one dared to step into, a typical case of deities clashing while mortals suffer the consequences.

"Damn it, say something, will you!" Song Wen scolded angrily.

The room remained silent, no one making a sound.

"For things you have done, why should others wipe your ass for you?" Lin Chuan said disdainfully, glancing at the two men, then continued, "Whether it was you two behind this incident is still unclear since anyone could be under suspicion. So..."

"Don't spout nonsense." Song Wen looked at Lin Chuan contemptuously, saying, "Don't even think about pinning this on us."

"Hmph, hmph." Lin Chuan hooked up a sinister smile, and then said, "Well, you could try to pin it on me as well."

"You!" Song Wen was furious.

In fact, everyone knew that Lin Chuan couldn't possibly be the arsonist. Lin Chuan had an alibi, and furthermore, if it really was him who set the fire, why would he desperately try to save Tang Yumeng, along with others trapped at the scene of the fire? Because of this, they felt very helpless and desperate. Both men clenched their teeth but didn't dare to do anything to Lin Chuan. They were both angry and annoyed.

"Lin Chuan, don't you push people too far!" Song Wu watched Lin Chuan coldly.

Lin Chuan immediately turned his gaze to the silent Song Wu, among the two brothers, Song Wen was bold but reckless and not to be feared. As for Song Wu, he had some measure of strategy, knew to ponder before making decisions. Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Song Wu, among you two brothers, you're the one I see potential in. Song Wen is but a mere bully, while you, you have some level of strategy. You understand what's critical and what's not. This matter, more or less, you two can't wash your hands of it!"

With that one line, Lin Chuan immediately sowed a seed of discord between the two brothers.

"There are many in this world who cannot wash their hands of such matters." Song Wu said dismissively.

"Right." Lin Chuan nodded, saying, "I will have someone thoroughly investigate it."

"Fine." Song Wu snorted coldly.

Lin Chuan turned and left the lounge. Soon, the sound of objects being smashed could be heard from the lounge. It was probably Song Wen who couldn't contain his anger, being irritated by Lin Chuan to the point of nearly collapsing. At the corner of his mouth, Lin Chuan's strange smile returned. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

The transportation market.

The sand dredged from the East River was being taken away car by car by the queuing trucks. Now, the transportation market's business was booming. The busy season of home renovations was approaching in May and June, and the entire construction industry was buzzing with activity. The demand for sand was exceeding supply, and Jiangbei City could only rely on East River's sand, naturally leading to a short supply. Some builders had to figure out ways to adjust the situation by sourcing sand from other regions.

"Brother Chuan!" Zhou Kai, wearing a safety helmet and with dirty hands, wiped the sweat from his forehead, inadvertently smearing his face even dirtier. Despite the grime, it couldn't conceal the excitement on Zhou Kai's face.

"What's up, you seem so excited?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Price increase, the price has gone up," Zhou Kai said excitedly. "Our several transportation companies had a meeting and raised the price of sand by five yuan per cubic meter. Hehe, the profits are soaring too."

"As they should!" Lin Chuan nodded, saying, "With the current sand in short supply and the outside market grabbing business, it's only right we shouldn't continue with small profits but high turnover. Raising prices is necessary."

"I did the math, a five yuan increase could earn us tens of thousands more a month!" Zhou Kai was thrilled.

Drip...

Lin Chuan took a puff of his cigarette, nodding with great satisfaction.

"Very good," Lin Chuan nodded and said: "We should continue to develop with such momentum."

"Haiqing Pool has also recovered now," Zhou Kai said with a smile: "Since it was last disrupted by Feng Taibao's men, some of the girls got scared and dared not come even with a higher share of the profits. Now it's much better, we've attracted a lot of young girls, and the profits of Haiqing Pool are also quite substantial."

"How about the repair shop?" Lin Chuan inquired.

"Not to mention that," Zhou Kai's eyes lit up as he talked about the repair shop: "We originally planned to use it for logistics support, but we didn't expect that the repair shop would bring us tens of thousands of extra profit every month. Tsk tsk, really, Uncle Liu and the others do have a knack. Now, our Flying Repair Shop has made a name for itself. A lot of transport trucks come here especially to wait for repairs, knowing the old guys are honest, they don't overcharge or deceive people."

"Yes, these days, as long as you are willing to operate sincerely and do things down-to-earth, it's pretty easy to make money," Lin Chuan reflected: "It's just a pity that people are too impatient now. They are eager for instant success and want to make a lifetime's money in one month."

"Brother Chuan, our profits are pretty good this year," Zhou Kai said with a smile: "Look... Should we consider expanding our business?"

"No!" Lin Chuan shook his head and said: "Our current industries are quite complex, and it's not realistic to expand our business. Besides, as things stand, the real estate sector is already struggling. I feel that real estate is not a long-term industry. Right now, housing prices are too high and the national income too low. If it continues to rise like this, it will eventually collapse. Once the real estate can't hold up, our transportation industry will be the first to be impacted. So, we just need to maintain the current growth rate, let's not be too aggressive."

"Alright," Zhou Kai nodded and said: "Hehe, Brother Chuan, Little Chili said pretty much the same thing."

"This is what we call great minds think alike," Lin Chuan laughed heartily.

The transportation market business is booming, and both Haiqing Pool and the repair shop are doing well. The only exception is the Eight Horses Tea House, whose business is not as good. After all, the tea business is tough, and there aren't many people these days who can settle down to appreciate tea. So, the business of the Eight Horses Tea House has always been lukewarm. Lin Chuan would occasionally visit for a cup of tea and a bit of rest.

"Brother Chuan..." Zhou Kai suddenly spoke up from the side.

"Do you have something you want to tell me?" Lin Chuan asked curiously.

"I..." Zhou Kai hesitated for a long time and said awkwardly: "That... Liu Cheng, he..."

"What happened to Liu Cheng?" Lin Chuan asked.

"He might have been scammed by a pyramid scheme!" Zhou Kai looked up at Lin Chuan and said: "Brother Chuan, do you think... can we help him out?"

"He got scammed?" Lin Chuan looked at Zhou Kai in surprise and asked: "Where is he now?"

"He's gone to Nanning in Guangxi," Zhou Kai said helplessly: "The biggest pyramid scheme hub in China. I checked online, the so-called '1040 Project,' capital operations... they've got it all. Liu Cheng borrowed tens of thousands of yuan from home and friends to go there, and now... now he's pretty much spent it all there. He occasionally contacts us, hoping we'll join him there. But now that he's heard we can make hundreds of thousands a month, he seems to be in less contact with us."

"This kid!" Lin Chuan frowned and said: "What's he meddling with pyramid schemes for, when he's got nothing better to do, just loafing around."

"Liu Cheng has basically lost contact with us now, but we don't want to lose a brother like that," Zhou Kai said with a helpless expression.

Lin Chuan thought for a moment and asked: "Do you know Liu Cheng's address over in Nanning?"

"I have a rough idea," Zhou Kai quickly nodded and said: "He mentioned it once last time, he seems to be in a neighborhood on a certain street in Nanning."

"Try to see if you can contact him!" Lin Chuan instructed: "It would be best if you can reach him and see how he's doing. If you can't, we'll go to Nanning to find him."

"Great!" Zhou Kai nodded excitedly.

Zhou Kai truly values brotherhood, and there's no doubt about that. He's always treated Liu Cheng like his own brother. Now that Liu Cheng has taken a wrong path, he couldn't just ignore it. This guy has already taken too many wrong turns in life. Without someone stepping forward to help him, he could stray further and further down this crooked path, and that would spell trouble.

After all, they are brothers, so Zhou Kai had to reach out to help Liu Cheng. If he didn't, probably no one else would. Now, Liu Cheng's parents are frustrated with him to no end, especially after learning that soon after their son was released from jail, he got involved in a pyramid scheme, they couldn't contain their anger. His mother has fallen ill without getting up.

"By the way, how is Liu Cheng's family doing?" Lin Chuan inquired.

"Oh, don't start with that," Zhou Kai sighed and said: "His mom is now bedridden, his dad is doing odd jobs outside but doesn't make much money. Liu Cheng took all the family's money to engage in the pyramid scheme, so the situation isn't looking good."

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.