Clearly, she was envious of Nuo Xiaoxi, envious of her youth, envious that her life was just beginning, and envious that she could live in such a peaceful and prosperous era.

Lin Chuan sat in the Nuo family's house for a moment, then returned home. Nuo Xiaoxi carefully hung her new clothes in the closet, where there were mostly dark and some discarded clothes from others. These outfits instantly added a splash of color to her wardrobe. Nuo Xiaoxi couldn't resist putting on one set, and then admired herself in the mirror. After taking pictures, she carefully folded them and hung them up again.

.........

Lin Chuan went to the factory.

It was already mid to late December, and Zhou Kai and the others were busy at the factory entrance, where a large stage was being prepared. The stage was beginning to take shape. The stage was directly blocking the factory gate, which faced a main road, and across the road was a vast empty square. In the past, this area often hosted opera performances and even open-air movies. Now, it had become a deserted grassland.

"Brother Chuan," Zhou Kai said, holding a large wrench and working hard to build the stage.

"Carry on," Lin Chuan waved his hand.

Under the setting sun, what a beautiful scene. Many aspiring members from Changlin Community were assisting. Building a large stage required several days of work, and Zhou Kai had rented the materials from an acquaintance at the lowest price. This group of passionate and capable young people had unconsciously become united. In the cold winter and under the sunset, many people were watching.

Zhou Kai put down his work and ran over excitedly, handing Lin Chuan a cigarette.

"You've gone upscale, huh?" Lin Chuan smiled.

"Hehe, made some money, can't treat myself poorly, right?" Zhou Kai grinned with a Furong King cigarette between his lips, "Good cigarette, usually I only smoke them myself."

Lin Chuan took a puff: "How much longer will it take?"

"It'll be ready by the end of the month," Zhou Kai took a drag.

"That's good," Lin Chuan nodded, saying, "The workers' meeting must be held before the end of the month."

"Of course." Zhou Kai nodded, smiling, "Brother Chuan, I've planned it all out. When the time comes, our entrance, straight from the community gate, I'll drive that jeep, you'll be the factory manager, then let Da Pao and Huang Bo be the guards…"

Zhou Kai was still planning the opening scene of the workers' meeting.

After hearing this, Lin Chuan kept nodding, "Good idea, that's a great plan."

Zhou Kai had specifically sought advice from the former head of the factory area for this worker's meeting to be held successfully, and even obtained a decades-old workers' meeting organization chart. Then, he began arranging the scene according to this chart.

"Zhou Kai, hurry, get the lift ready," Lu Dapao shouted not far away.

"Coming," Zhou Kai nodded quickly and then rushed over.

Watching this spirited group of young people, Lin Chuan felt a vigorous vitality. It seemed he saw his younger self, who had also been splattered with blood hundreds of miles on battlefields. He saw himself in North Africa, carrying a sniper rifle, chasing enemies for miles just to take them down; he saw his absurd fight on the icy plains of Siberia…

"Being young, that's really something," Lin Chuan exhaled.

Back home, Lin Chuan thought for a long time and decided to resign tomorrow by going to Tang Yumeng. Although he didn't need to find Tang Yumeng to resign—just the relevant person in charge would suffice—since Tang Yumeng had personally recruited him, Lin Chuan decided to personally bid her farewell.

But if not driving, what could he do? Could it be like Zhou Kai and the others, driving transport trucks, running earth-moving projects?

"What's wrong with that?" Lin Chuan couldn't help but laugh at himself, "I've done it before, haven't I?"

At night, Lin Chuan left his home, deciding to find out if there was suitable work for him, or to see if there was suitable business to do. After all, with a month until the New Year, both earth-moving trucks were parked in the factory without business to run. Although Lu Dapao and the others often went out to fetch business, due to Jiangbei City's market being monopolized, it was hard for new transport companies to get involved. Thus, they couldn't enter this big market.

The sand market in Jiangbei City had quite a few demands, Lin Chuan specifically made a trip there, and as soon as night fell, he immediately started to get busy. A large number of rear eight-wheelers, sand transporting trucks, were running to this place. Lin Chuan drove that jeep there. The place seemed incredibly busy, even giving a sense of demand outstripping supply.

Not far away, a middle-aged man stood in the market, silently smoking.

Finding an idler at last, Lin Chuan hurried over and offered him a cigarette.

"Business doing well?" Lin Chuan smiled.

The man glanced at Lin Chuan, took the cigarette, and smiled, "Ah…"

The man sighed deeply, this sigh seemed to carry both helplessness and resignation.

"What? Business not good?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Business is hard to do." The man shook his head, saying, "Now, sand and transportation are all monopolized by others. Alas, when I first entered this market I was so confident, but one year down the line, I've lost a fortune."

"What do you mean?" Lin Chuan asked, puzzled.

"Brother, it's tough working in our line of business." The man took a deep drag of his cigarette, seemingly reluctant to go into detail.

"Let's hear it," Lin Chuan asked curiously.

"Seeing that you're quite polite and courteous, I'll tell you." The man gave a bitter smile and said, "In Jiangbei City, the daily demand for sand is huge. Apart from sand used in engineering projects, each community alone demands a tremendous amount of sand, and the profit is quite substantial. But, this business is monopolized by someone, and they've jacked up the prices. Sand that used to cost eighty yuan per cubic meter, they sell it for one hundred fifty. Customers have no choice but to buy their sand because in the communities, apart from their transport trucks, trucks from other companies are simply not allowed in. At the beginning, I targeted this huge market, but now... I've utterly failed."

"This is the so-called sand tyrant," Lin Chuan chuckled.

"Yes," the man nodded, "I'm actually planning to sell my transport company now and switch to another business."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan's eyes lit up; wasn't this exactly like finding what you wanted without any effort? He had always wanted to start a transport company specifically for moving earth and sand, and here was someone right now looking to sell? Lin Chuan felt like a pie had fallen from the sky. However, he didn't show too much curiosity but casually asked, "Oh? How much are you selling it for?"

"Five transport trucks, plus two excavators, altogether for one million three hundred thousand," the man took a heavy drag of his cigarette.

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan immediately felt like he had fallen into an ice hole. One million three hundred thousand, he only had at most three hundred thousand on hand, only enough to pay a fraction. Lin Chuan couldn't help but click his tongue, "That expensive? They're all second-hand, and with the market being so dismal now, how… how are you selling them?"

"Damn it, I might as well take a loss one more time, one million," the man gritted his teeth.

"Eight hundred thousand, I'll take it," Lin Chuan suddenly spoke up.

Cough cough...

The man suddenly started coughing violently, looking at Lin Chuan in astonishment, "Brother, don't joke around. Though the market is big and the cake is tempting, it's monopolized by others, it's not easy to get involved, don't jump into the fire pit."

"I really want it," Lin Chuan looked at him and said, "If you sell it to me for eight hundred thousand, I consider you a friend."

"Impossible." The man shook his head, "Although I bought these as second-hand, these guys are definitely worth a lot. I spent eight hundred thousand on the two excavators alone, and over six hundred thousand on the five transport trucks. They've been run for just under a year."

"The price of excavators is related to their working hours," Lin Chuan smiled.

"This…" the man slyly smiled, "My time isn't that long, anyway, if you want them, one million, a friendly price."

"Forget it." Lin Chuan waved his hand, "That's too expensive, I can only offer eight hundred thousand. If you won't sell, then go look for someone else."

Actually, Lin Chuan already had some idea about him; from his previous words, the vehicles probably didn't have major issues, it was just the price. So, Lin Chuan decided to play hard to get. Sure enough, the other party took the bait.

"If you want them, we can discuss it properly," the man hurriedly said.

"If eight hundred thousand is okay, I'll bring people over to inspect the goods tomorrow, and naturally, I'll bring the money as well," Lin Chuan turned and looked at him.

The man's expression was somewhat hesitant; eight hundred thousand seemed to have touched his bottom line. The man clenched his teeth, "Fine, eight hundred thousand then, come and sign the contract tomorrow morning."

"Deal," Lin Chuan immediately nodded.

The man was momentarily dazed, just about to ask Lin Chuan to pay a twenty thousand deposit, but Lin Chuan had already disappeared.

Lin Chuan was a bit excited; he hadn't thought that he could buy a small transport company for just eight hundred thousand, which was really great news. Although he didn't have eight hundred thousand yet, money can be arranged, but opportunities could slip away in the blink of an eye.

"Guys, come quickly, I've got great news!"

Lin Chuan couldn't wait and entered the factory. Zhou Kai and the others put down their work and curiously gathered around Lin Chuan. They whispered among themselves.

"Brother Chuanzi, what's the good news?" Zhou Kai asked with a smile.

"Did you find some money?" Lu Dapao joked.

"Don't be so vulgar," Zhou Kai said with a grin, "Maybe he met a beautiful woman."

"You're not vulgar?" Lu Dapao rolled his eyes.

Lin Chuan looked at them laughing, and with a grin said, "Let me tell you, I've already made contact with a small transport company. They're selling the entire company as a package, five eight-wheeled trucks, and two excavators."

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