"Me? I have a good constitution, of course I won't blush, you both know that."

Dirk Carter said lightly, but Ewan Forrest didn't seem to believe him.

"Get out of the car with me!" he shouted at Rose Forrest, dragging her to a nearby path.

As Rose was about to explain, Ewan said, "Shh, listen to me. I've already searched his suitcase, the notebook isn't there. I think it should be on him."

Oh, so that's what it was.

Rose felt relieved.

"Is it possible that he didn't bring it out at all?" she asked.

Ewan shook his head and replied, "Brother Cheng said the notebook is important, he'd definitely carry it with him."

"Then while he's not paying attention, should we just knock him out with a stick and search him?"

As soon as Rose finished, Ewan quickly said, "What are you thinking? Neither of us are a match for him. If the ambush fails, we might expose ourselves. Besides, Brother Cheng said to get it quietly without causing a scene. That's why I'm telling you that once we reach Sunglow Town, we'll find a place to stay and wait for our chance."

"Will staying there help?"

"We'll just have to try. He'll need to bathe and sleep at some point, and we'll get our chance."

Upon hearing they'd stay,

Rose couldn't help but smile.

"What are you smiling about?"

Ewan asked, puzzled.

Rose quickly said, "No, I was just thinking that when he falls asleep, I'll teach him a lesson."

"Stop overthinking it, just complete Brother Cheng's task. Let's go back on the car and don't reveal any flaw," Ewan said.

With that,

they both returned to the car.

When Ewan started the car,

Rose flashed a sneaky grin at Dirk Carter.

The two felt a sense of relief after a disaster.

The journey continued to be bumpy,

even Ewan started to complain.

While driving, she said to Dirk Carter, "If you do nothing else as mayor of Sunglow Town, just repairing this road would earn you everlasting merit."

"Can't be done," Dirk Carter replied.

"Why? Is it because there's no money?" Rose asked curiously.

Dirk Carter shook his head and said, "Long ago, the county planned to repair this road, and the funds were ready. It was the strong opposition from the folks in Sunglow Town that halted it."

"The people of Sunglow Town opposed it? Are they fools? Don't they understand the principle of 'to get rich, first build roads'?" Rose complained.

Dirk Carter chuckled and said, "They understand, of course they do. As the saying goes, 'I want you to have money, but not more than me.'"

This road remains unbuilt because of internal conflicts in Sunglow Town.

Sunglow Town has a population of about thirty thousand.

The number isn't really large.

While there are many surnames in the town,

the major ones are "Reid" and "Cui."

These two surnames account for about 60% of Sunglow Town.

The Cui family mainly resides in Tea Hill Village, primarily as tea farmers.

The Reid family is mainly based in Pinegrove Village, focusing on the bamboo products industry.

In the early days, the two major surnames coexisted peacefully, quite harmoniously.

Twenty years ago, Pinegrove Village, like Tea Hill Village, relied on tea planting for a living.

In those economically undeveloped times, coupled with inconvenient transportation, such a large tea planting scale couldn't be sold, so most people in Sunglow Town could barely make a living.

It was at this time,

that Tristan Reid became the mayor of Sunglow Town.

He proposed an industrial restructuring.

Apart from the tea industry, he wanted to develop another brand-new industry.

Since there were vast bamboo forests near Pinegrove Village,

he suggested developing the bamboo products industry.

Under his advocacy, Pinegrove Village introduced bamboo technology, abandoned large-scale tea plantations, and did a 180-degree shift to plant more bamboo.

After years of perseverance, the bamboo products from Pinegrove Village gradually gained fame.

As a result,

the residents of Pinegrove Village naturally became prosperous.

Originally, everyone was equally poor, and suddenly they became wealthy.

The villagers of Tea Hill became envious.

Gradually, small conflicts arose between the parties.

Later, a large-scale brawl erupted between the two families over the ownership of a mountain, causing terrible, negative repercussions.

After this incident,

many members from both sides were imprisoned.

The animosity grew deeper.

In recent years, it's reached the point where the two big families avoid inter-marrying.

Tristan Reid, who had achieved success, was supposed to get a county-level promotion.

But this large-scale brawl stalled his progress for twenty years, without a step forward.

Returning to our current discussion,

as the bamboo products industry in Pinegrove Village prospered, the need to transport products in bulk called for better roads.

The county also took it seriously.

After the plan was announced, it faced opposition from all the villagers of Tea Hill.

They claimed that the road reconstruction would disturb the village's feng shui.

They blocked survey teams from entering and prevented government staff from discussing the project. The county, fearing another large-scale public incident, had no choice but to back off.

After hearing the whole story,

Rose angrily exclaimed, "Selfish, truly selfish. Jealousy preventing others from doing well, utterly ignorant."

Dirk Carter laughed, "You can say that in the car, but once we enter the town, don't say it aloud, or you might get a beating."

Upon hearing that,

Rose quickly stuck out her tongue, daring not to say anything rash.

Near eleven o'clock,

the car stopped in front of Sunglow Town's government office.

"We're here, so we'll be off now," Ewan said coldly.

"It's lunchtime already, why not come in for a meal before leaving?" Dirk Carter asked.

Just when Rose was about to agree, Ewan gave her an angry stare, making her reluctantly close her mouth.

Seeing how firm Ewan was, Dirk Carter didn't insist and got out of the car with his luggage.

As he approached the entrance,

someone suddenly shouted, "Mayor Carter is here, everyone, start the commotion, make some noise!"

Before understanding what was happening,

inside the compound, drums were beating, and firecrackers started going off.

Amidst the lingering smoke,

a middle-aged man quickly came up to him.

He grabbed Dirk Carter's hand and said, "Mayor Carter, you've finally come. Let me introduce myself, I'm Mason Sutton."

"Oh, Secretary Xu, nice to meet you," Dirk Carter eagerly replied.

The man in front of him was none other than the top official of Sunglow Town, Party Secretary Mason Sutton.

"It must've been tiring for you, Little Gao, come over and help the mayor with his luggage inside."

At his command, a young man hurriedly ran down the steps.

Taking Dirk Carter's luggage,

"Come, Mayor Carter, let's go to the auditorium and introduce you to the leadership team of Sunglow Town."

Mason Sutton was overly courteous.

He even supported Dirk Carter while climbing the steps, making him feel embarrassed.

In the auditorium,

it was already bustling with people.

As Mason Sutton led Dirk Carter inside, everyone in the auditorium stood up and applauded warmly.

"Mayor Carter, let me introduce you to Edward Locke, the Chairman of the People's Congress."

Amidst unceasing applause,

Mason Sutton pointed to a middle-aged man at the center of the podium and introduced,

"Chairman Locke, nice to meet you," Dirk Carter politely said.

"Mm, hello,"

Edward Locke, around forty years old.

Wearing thick glasses, with a plump figure, he seemed very approachable.

But when he shook hands with Dirk Carter, he barely touched hands before letting go.

Then turned his head to converse with others nearby.

"Come, come, Mayor Carter, let me introduce you to someone very important too, Ewan Forrest, the flower of Sunglow Town, deputy Party secretary, and like you, a university graduate."

Next,

Mason Sutton pointed to a young beauty and introduced her.

Prior to his arrival, Dirk Carter had reviewed information on Sunglow Town.

The woman before him, Ewan Forrest, was twenty-six years old, a graduate of a prestigious university.

Standing at about 168 cm, not considered short.

She was quite attractive.

Especially with her shoulder-length hair, adding to her elegance.

Today she was wearing a plaid spaghetti strap dress with a short white jacket over it,

elegant yet fashionable.

"Mayor Carter, I've heard so much about you,"

Ewan Forrest smiled and approached him warmly.

When their hands clasped, Dirk Carter suddenly felt Ewan Forrest stroke his palm twice with her finger.

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