"Yes!" Tang Yumeng nodded, "Lin Chuan indeed has other women, but all his girlfriends are open and honorable relationships. He never toys with women, nor does he use them to vent his emotions. Bai Yifan, can you say the same for yourself?"

"Of course I can!" Bai Yifan answered without hesitation, saying it outright.

Tang Yumeng snorted, "Then I find it strange. The Qinghua Pool was burned, but the client information was preserved. The police sealed all the client records, and I saw your spending list in there. Mr. Bai, you're not going to deny it, are you?"

"I..." Bai Yifan was dumbfounded, he didn't expect his information at Qinghua Pool to be exposed. This left him baffled and astonished. Bai Yifan's expression changed uncertainly, he immediately said, "Xiao Yu, yes, I admit these are my spending records, but isn't that just business etiquette? It's a necessity of the business world, not my personal desire."

"Business etiquette?" Tang Yumeng laughed mockingly, "That's your excuse? Forget it, I don't want to talk about your affairs. I never intended to, as I only ever saw you as a good friend, so I never meddle in your private matters. But since you're here questioning Lin Chuan, then I'll expose your scandals. Let's see who's truly ugly, you or Lin Chuan!"

Bai Yifan's face flushed with humiliation as he was reprimanded by Tang Yumeng; he was almost unable to stand firm. Exposed so nakedly, Bai Yifan was indeed infuriated with embarrassment, yet he didn't know what to do.

"Fine, fine, fine!" Bai Yifan said the word 'fine' three times over, seething with anger, then turned and left.

Watching Bai Yifan's retreating figure, Tang Yumeng felt a bit guilty.

"This guy really isn't any good!" Lin Chuan sneered.

"You're no better," Tang Yumeng glared at him.

"I..." Lin Chuan paused, then said with a wry smile, "Sis, why are you scolding me too?"

"Am I wrong?" Tang Yumeng huffed, "Bai Yifan seems to not have wronged you either, right? You and those women around you, so ambiguously intertwined, tell me, isn't that so?"

"I..." Lin Chuan blinked his eyes, chuckled sheepishly, "Yes, yes, I'm wrong."

"Hmph." Tang Yumeng snorted, seemingly unconvinced by Lin Chuan's apology.

Just when a bit of affection had been cultivated, it was utterly ruined by Bai Yifan. In the end, Tang Yumeng even drove him out of the office. Lin Chuan felt somewhat wronged. Coming down from the building, he found Bai Yifan waiting for him at the staircase.

Bai Yifan stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a cigarette.

"Mr. Bai, looking quite elegant," Lin Chuan smiled, walked leisurely over to Bai Yifan, snatched the cigarette from his mouth, and took a deep drag, "Not bad, good cigarette, indeed a fine one!"

Bai Yifan's expression darkened, he angrily said, "Lin Chuan, what exactly do you want?"

"Look at you talking," Lin Chuan chuckled, "as if I'm some homewrecker. You're the one who ruined my relationship with Tang Yumeng, yet you're interrogating me? Isn't that strange?"

"Tell me, what would it take for you to leave Xiao Yu alone?" Bai Yifan asked through clenched teeth.

"Conditions?" Lin Chuan thought for a moment, "I really can't think of one. However, what conditions would it take for you to stop clinging to Tang Yumeng like a lap dog?"

"You!" Bai Yifan glared, his eyes wide.

"Don't always go 'you' this and 'you' that." Lin Chuan coldly sneered, "Aren't you always priding yourself on being cultured and sophisticated? Why are you acting so uncultured and lacking quality now?"

"Your mother's... lacking in culture and quality." Bai Yifan roared back.

"Look at you!" Lin Chuan laughed aloud. He said to the receptionist girls nearby, "See, this is the so-called handsome and elegant Mr. Bai. Tsk tsk, turns out he swears even fiercer than us."

The receptionists stood there agape, witnessing the spectacle. In their eyes, Bai Yifan had always been a gentleman from high society, never known to curse openly. It was indeed hard for them to believe what they had just heard.

Bai Yifan's face turned livid; clenching his teeth, he said, "Lin Chuan, you just wait."

"Wait, wait, let's all definitely wait for you," Lin Chuan promptly nodded.

Bai Yifan turned on his heel and strode out.

Lin Chuan, with half a cigarette in his mouth, said, "Rich young master, indulging in 'Chunghwa,' even a limited edition at that."

Lin Chuan looked at the glittering cigarette butt, realizing the rich truly were different—their choice of cigarettes was so distinctive. Watching Bai Yifan storm out angrily, a sly smile appeared on the corner of Lin Chuan's mouth as he too slowly walked out, the cigarette still between his lips.

Leaving the City Committee building.

An old Santana car was parked at the entrance of the City Committee.

"Mu Bai, you... how did you get here?" Lin Chuan was visibly surprised.

"I heard you were back, so I came to find you straight away," Mu Bai said from the driver's seat, glancing at Lin Chuan. "Get in the car!"

"Where to?" Lin Chuan asked.

"To the school." Mu Bai gave Lin Chuan a look and continued, "Lin Chuan Hope Middle School is opening. Shouldn't you, the honorary principal, say a few words?"

"Uh..." Lin Chuan was taken aback, and said, "You... how did you use my name for it?"

"Is that a problem?" Mu Bai snorted lightly.

"You're infringing on my name," Lin Chuan complained.

"Humph," Mu Bai said disdainfully, "You donated it, so it's normal to use your name. Besides, do you even have any rights to that name?"

"I…" Lin Chuan helplessly got into the passenger seat. Then he and Mu Bai quickly left the City Committee.

They headed straight from the City Committee towards the east side of the city.

Lin Chuan Hope Middle School was located in the eastern district, in a rather remote area. Mu Bai had been in a rush to start the school, managing to set it up in just a little over three months. Not only was the school established, but she also hired a lot of teachers, most of them retired with rich teaching experience, including several who were provincial model teachers. Of course, the Jiangbei City Education Bureau also arranged for a few in-service teachers to join the teaching staff at Hope Middle School.

Due to the limited time of only three semesters, the school had to be established in a rush. Over these three months, Mu Bai had almost worked overtime, immersed in the school completely, pouring all her efforts into it. The Education Bureau arranged for a substantial number of students to enroll. From the first year of junior high to the third year of senior high, although there was only one class per grade, each class had up to forty or fifty students. In total, the six classes accounted for two to three hundred people.

Upon reaching the school, Lin Chuan Hope Middle School was officially inaugurated.

A worn iron gate, with an old man in a security guard's uniform standing at the entrance. He was smoking, his shirt unbuttoned, revealing a white tank top underneath, and waving a fan in his left hand. Seeing Mu Bai's car approaching, he hurriedly opened the iron gate and even saluted, though in a somewhat unstandard manner.

The school had only one building, five stories tall, with five or six classrooms on each floor. Although only two floors were currently in use, Mu Bai was confident that she could make use of all five floors during the next enrollment.

Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Has a new teaching building been chosen yet?"

On hearing this, Mu Bai immediately replied, "I have an ideal location in mind, but, we'll need to negotiate for it."

"Oh?" Lin Chuan was surprised, and asked with a smile, "Which place?"

"Changlin Factory," Mu Bai said with a smile, looking at Lin Chuan. "Now that the land of Changlin Factory has been returned to the City Committee, I plan to apply to the City Committee, hoping to allocate a piece of land in the middle of the factory area to construct the new building for Hope Middle School, to provide the children with new classrooms, a basketball court, and a soccer field."

"That…" Lin Chuan clicked his tongue and said, "Given the nature of the City Committee, I doubt they will easily allocate it. After all, the land of Changlin Factory is now considered a central area, otherwise the Northeast Tiger wouldn't have expended so much effort to fight for that piece of land."

"Hmm," Mu Bai said with some concern, "But for now, I feel Changlin Factory is the most ideal location. A lot of residents have already moved away, and I think instead of letting the land go to waste, it's better to use it for strengthening our national cultural education. Isn't that a good idea?"

"I feel the same way, but it's tough to get that through the City Committee," Lin Chuan said with a wry smile. "We can only start construction once we get the City Committee's approval. If they don't give the green light, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult."

"Let's try our best together," Mu Bai smiled and said, "I'll look for connections, and you help me speak to Secretary Tang, I believe there has to be a way."

"Okay!" Lin Chuan nodded, "For the children, for the children of Changlin Factory, I must also make an effort."

Coming off the car, the clear sound of children reading could already be heard from the campus.

The school grounds were small, with a hastily cemented flag-raising platform. A brand-new stainless steel pole stood upon it, with a gleaming new Five-Star Red Flag fluttering above. The vibrant flag appeared exceptionally proud and majestic.

A burst of pride and honor suddenly welled up in Lin Chuan's heart.

Surrounding the playground, temporary greenery was planted. Indeed, the size of the playground was very small; it could probably only accommodate the children standing to watch the flag-raising, leaving no space for other activities. Not to mention any basketball or soccer fields.

The building was quite dilapidated. It used to be a dormitory for single staff and had been abandoned for several years. Now, it was rented to Mu Bai at a low price to establish Hope Middle School. Before even entering the school, the sound of children's recitation was already audible.

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