The two of them thought it over and felt that Song Ming made a lot of sense.

"Uncle, then... what should we do?" The two hastily asked: "We can't just let this account go unsettled."

"Of course we can't just let it go." Song Ming snorted coldly, "However, we can't rush into this for now. Patience is key to a greater plan. Endure it for now. Pretend as if nothing happened. I'll have the Northeast Tiger and Thirteen Grand Protectors look into it. Once we find solid evidence, we'll properly deal with his crimes."

"Uncle, we will listen to you." The two brothers nodded.

"Good." Song Ming nodded and said, "You guys should rest well recently."

"We're going to work tomorrow." The two said hastily: "It's suffocating to be here, we'd rather sit at the City Committee than lie here."

"Then suit yourselves." Song Ming nodded.

After Song Ming left, the two brothers of the Song family looked at each other.

"Do you think it could be Lin Chuan?" Song Wen curiously asked.

"Don't know for now." Song Wu shook his head and then said, "It's hard to say in these situations, right? Without solid evidence, it might be him, it might not. After all, he has a grudge against us, but it's not severe to this extent, right?"

Song Wen shook his head and then nodded.

...

Little did Lin Chuan know, that cunning old fox Song Ming had already set his sights on him. However, Lin Chuan wasn't afraid, as long as he didn't confess, virtually no one would know it was him who did it. Even if Song Ming went to great lengths, he would likely be unable to find the culprit.

The two-day weekend passed quickly, welcoming Lin Chuan's anxious Black Monday. Last time, Tang Yumeng had already said that on Monday, she would criticize him in front of everyone at the meeting. This made Lin Chuan somewhat helpless. Who made him skip work on Friday? But why could Tang Yumeng skip work, and he couldn't? Lin Chuan was somewhat puzzled. Just because she is the Secretary and himself only a driver?

He arrived at the City Committee before finishing breakfast, and entered through its gates.

He didn't know if it was because he was too worried, or because he was indeed slightly nervous, but all along the way, he felt like people were pointing and making remarks behind his back. Even when he entered the City Committee, he felt the few security guards had malicious intentions.

"What's wrong with me? Have I developed a mental haze?" Lin Chuan patted his face.

"Lin Chuan, bad news." Li Minghua was waiting for Lin Chuan at the entrance to the City Committee when he saw Lin Chuan coming, he quickly approached him.

"What's up?" Lin Chuan looked at Li Minghua, puzzled.

"Bad news." Li Minghua said anxiously, "The Song brothers were beaten up, and it seems pretty vicious this time. Their hands were chopped off. Just... just think about who could've done such a thing. It's too ruthless."

"Really?" Lin Chuan deliberately showed a hint of surprise, then laughed, "Well, that's what you call retribution for the wicked."

"Lin Chuan, do you think Old Luo did this?" Li Minghua hastily asked, "Recently, only Old Luo had a feud with the Song brothers."

"No way." Lin Chuan said firmly, "Old Luo is an honest person, he doesn't do things like that. It's probably the enemies of the Song brothers from the past. This time they got the chance and went all out. Heh heh..."

"Maybe." Li Minghua nodded and said, "I didn't believe it when I received the call two days ago. I specially went to the hospital yesterday to check, and it turned out to be true. I was shocked at the time."

"There's nothing to be shocked about." Lin Chuan patted Li Minghua on the shoulder and said, "It's no surprise. Those two also got what they deserved."

The two walked into the City Committee as they talked.

Li Minghua thought that the Song brothers wouldn't come to work, so he walked a bit close to Lin Chuan, only when they entered the break room did they discover the Song brothers with bruised faces and arms in casts, hanging in slings. Li Minghua's face changed, and he quickly went over to them: "You should rest well, why did you come to work?"

"It's fine, it's not a serious injury." The two laughed and said, "Had a little car accident and broke our hands."

Everyone suddenly understood.

Lin Chuan walked in and sat down on the sofa. This guy simply had no interest in chatting with the people inside. Moreover, no one inside dared to chat with Lin Chuan. Before, there were people like Old Luo and Li Minghua, but now Old Luo hadn't arrived and Li Minghua had sneaked over to the side of the Song brothers, leaving Lin Chuan alone in the break room.

At this moment, the head of the personnel department stood at the door and said: "Everyone, please gather."

Rustle rustle...

Over ten people inside immediately gathered together. Then, Luo Guoqing hurried in, walking with a crutch. Quite a feat for the fellow.

"Hm, everyone's here." The head scanned the room, and finally, his eyes fell on Lin Chuan saying, "Recently, the performance of some comrades has been disappointing. You belong to the logistics management, but your performance has been poor, with frequent cases of being late and leaving early. This time, Secretary Tang has decided to hold a motivational meeting for all staff. Alright, head to the auditorium."

As soon as everyone heard this, discussions broke out instantly.

"It's over, now we are going to be denounced."

"Sigh, we're done for."

These fellows hung their heads in dejection, as if they felt they would soon be subjected to criticism and denouncement. A group of them followed the person in charge to the auditorium, which was already filled with quite a few people by this time. These people gathered together and took their seats in an orderly fashion.

The main stage of the auditorium had more than a dozen seats in a row, and microphones were placed on the table. In front of the stage, a row of neat flowers was set up, and even the stage itself was adorned with several potted plants. The most eye-catching spot was where Tang Yumeng was sitting, embellished with a large bouquet of fresh flowers, the beauty and flowers were immensely attention-grabbing.

Lin Chuan and the rest of the logistics department took their seats.

Not long after, the meeting began.

Actually, this was an annual review meeting, which had already gone beyond the scope of a routine meeting and was more of a major annual event. However, this year's review meeting seemed somewhat rushed. The "rushed" comment was merely about the arrangements of the venue. Of course, it doesn't rule out the possibility that Tang Yumeng purposely wanted the setup to be so simple. According to past practices, the review meeting of the year would cost hundreds of thousands to arrange the venue, but this year, it only cost more than twenty thousand, with flowers alone accounting for half of that. Other expenses included banners, drinking water... and so on.

The conference started soon with Tang Yumeng making her self-critique.

Tang Yumeng's critique was earnest and profound. She deeply analyzed her shortcomings in handling two cases: the bank robbery on October 13th, and the recent explosion at the avant-garde chemical plant, both of which were representative cases. She also expressed that future work must focus on safety.

Tang Yumeng's review was brief yet exquisite, profound yet vivid. Immediately, it earned the enthusiastic applause of the hundreds in the audience.

Song Ming's self-criticism felt muddled, missing the point, resembling an old lady's foot-binding cloth—both lengthy and smelly. One person's review incredibly took forty minutes to complete. By the time these leaders had finished speaking, it was already time for lunch.

Yawn...

Lin Chuan yawned, nudged Luo Guoqing beside him, and asked, "Old Luo, how long is this meeting going to last?"

"Following past years' practice, there's definitely no lunch for us," Luo Guoqing laughed and said, "It will certainly last until the afternoon. So, don't count on leaving anytime soon."

"Seriously?" Lin Chuan was flabbergasted.

"What's wrong?" asked Luo Guoqing in confusion.

"I didn't eat enough this morning," Lin Chuan said helplessly, then continued, "I'm running out of energy now."

"Hang in there," Luo Guoqing laughed, "Who knew the review would be so rushed? In the past, everyone would eat more in the morning, or sneak some food into the venue, then hide below and eat in secret."

"They probably did it on purpose to prevent you guys," Lin Chuan said with a cold laugh.

"Maybe," Luo Guoqing nodded and laughed, "After the leaders finish their critique, it's time for the 'prize drawing' segment."

"Prize drawing?" Lin Chuan was surprised and excited, "What prizes are there?"

"Prizes?" Luo Guoqing burst into laughter as soon as he heard it, "Lin Chuan, this prize drawing means that the leaders will randomly call names, and whoever is called is the unlucky one."

"No way?" Lin Chuan was completely dumbfounded.

Soon, the leadership completed their self-criticism, and the random drawing was about to begin. With several hundred people present, each person had the possibility of being selected. However, Lin Chuan felt that the likelihood of being chosen was quite high. This review meeting organized by Tang Yumeng seemed deliberately targeted at himself.

As expected, the first person to be selected was himself, and the one drawing his name was Tang Yumeng.

"Lin Chuan," Tang Yumeng called out a name.

The scene immediately buzzed with surprise as everyone began to search for Lin Chuan.

"Lin Chuan, my boy, you've hit the jackpot this year," Luo Guoqing laughed heartily.

Not just Luo Guoqing, but others couldn't help laughing as well. The Song brothers were especially joyful, "We knew this kid would be the jackpot of the year. It looks like he's already become so abhorred that even Secretary Tang can't protect him, and she personally called out his name."

Lin Chuan stubbed out his cigarette and stood up.

Tang Yumeng looked at Lin Chuan and said, "Come up."

Lin Chuan walked up with an innocent face, took his place on the stage, and looked down at the sea of several hundred people below. Lin Chuan had seen plenty of such scenes before. At a gala hosted by the Dutch royal family, Lin Chuan personally served as the queen's bodyguard, dressed to the nines and closely guarding her. Inside the palace were distinguished guests from across the country and even around the world. Lin Chuan had never been afraid.

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