"Arbitrary and self-willed, following personal biases."

  Sitting at He Yuelian's desk, the soft cushion of the chair still had her fragrance, but Shen Huai didn't care about these things. He leaned back against the chair and held up the materials over his head, reading out his charges one by one.

  Forming cliques and suppressing dissidents, the party-government meetings in Meixi Town are mere formalities. Many cadres and masses dare not speak out. Disregarding the great principle of disaster relief, leaders prioritize their own interests over disaster relief efforts. During the rare snowstorm that hit Meixi Town, tens of thousands of yuan were used to privately distribute welfare benefits to administrative personnel, buying off party members and cadres.

  Controlling Meixi Steel Factory for personal gain, hundreds of millions of collective assets are embezzled under the guise of year-end bonuses. The steel factory's shares, which represent the collective efforts of Meixi people over 30 years, are privately divided among cronies. Collective property is openly embezzled, and other Meixi residents are refused entry.

  Engaging in illicit relationships, cadres coerce original contractor He Yujuan to relinquish her operating rights to the town's reception station, which is then contracted out at a low price to someone with whom they have an illicit relationship. Disregarding contractual agreements, the pretext of disaster relief is used to forcibly strip entrepreneur Pan Shigui of his contracting rights to the town's weaving and dyeing factory, which is later transferred to crony and private businessman Chu Yiliang.

  With close ties to Chu Yiliang, his son Chu Qiang is appointed as a trusted aide. In the restructuring of the blanket factory, collective interests are disregarded, and the value of collective assets is intentionally lowered. When establishing the joint venture Zile Home Textiles, the town government relinquishes its controlling stake in the enterprise, abandoning its dominant position in the collective economy. The operating rights of the enterprise fall into the hands of cronies...

  Shen Huai's good temper was also enraged by this upside-down material, and he slammed the material on the table, staring at He Yuelian and said: "The crimes they framed are not wrong, I did force you to give up the reception station's contract back then..."

  "This is purely nonsense, reversing right and wrong. Secretary Shen, after you came over, what big changes have taken place in Meixi Town? Cadres and the masses have all seen it with their own eyes, no one is blind. They are slandering you like this, I couldn't bear to see it," He Yuelian said indignantly, "Secretary Shen, even if you didn't come to find me today, I would still go to the government tomorrow to report this matter and expose the ulterior motives of a small handful of people..."

  Loquacity leads to loss, although He Yuelian's words made people feel comfortable in their hearts, Shen Huan had some reservations about He Yuelian as a woman. Listening to her speak so eloquently only made him distrust her more. Trying to calm the anger in his heart, he said: "Alright, I know about this matter now. If they want to report it, let them go." Rolling up the materials, he stood up and put his hands behind his back, preparing to leave He Yuelian's office.

  As he was about to leave, Shen Huan turned back and took another glance at He Yuelian.

  He Yuelian's eyes flickered for a moment, and then she smiled: "Director Shen, won't you give us some guidance on our mall's work?"

  He Mo Lian's sparkling eyes made Shen Huai's heart skip a beat, and he knew that this woman was not so simple. He asked, "Do you know about Pan Shi Gui secretly buying up the storefronts in Lu Nan?"

  "I've heard some rumors, don't know if they're true or not. The road construction hasn't even started yet, and Pan Shigui is only making things difficult for himself. So many people in the town are eagerly waiting for the road to be fixed, but he's buying up storefronts and trying to blackmail the town? If I were to meet him, I'd be the first one to scold him. If the road gets fixed, my place can finally become a proper business, how can he ruin it?"

  "It seems that Manager He is clearer than anyone else in his heart," Shen Huai secretly felt a huge net behind him, making it difficult for him to escape. Looking at He Yuelian's calm and seemingly innocent face, he just forced a smile and said, "The road construction is related to the development of Meixi Town, and some people may be affected by the demolition. But overall, except for the compensation from the town government, they will all benefit greatly in the future. Whoever wants to stir up trouble on this matter, the masses of Meixi Town won't let it happen..."

  Shen Huai didn't say anything else and went downstairs to drive away from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Mall, returning to his old mansion.

  The renovation of the old house was completed at the end of May, and in the past two days, I have been adding furniture.

  Everything before was taken care of by Sun Ya Lin, Chen Dan and Xiao Li couldn't intervene at all, until today they came over to clean up, planning to move back in two days.

  Shen Hua parked his car on the inner parking lawn bricks.

  At this time, Chen Dan and Sun Ya Lin happened to come out with the trash can, saw Shen Hua get off the car, looked very unhappy, and asked: "What happened?"

  Shen Huai showed Chen Dan and Sun Ya Lin the materials and briefly told them about what happened today.

  Chen Dan looked at the materials, her face turned white with anger, and she said indignantly: "How can these people be so shameless and talk nonsense? Luckily there's Manager He, otherwise we wouldn't know what kind of evil things they're doing behind our backs!"

  "What's so special about He Yuelian?" Sun Yalin sneered, "It's just a bluff, if they have the guts, they should directly report the materials to the district and see if Pan Shihua dares to send an investigation team..."

  Chen Dan was taken aback for a moment, and for a while she couldn't think of He Yuelian as being so unbearable. She wondered why Sun Yalin would say such a thing.

  Shen Huai brought the materials over and said, "They're looking for He Yuelian to collude with them to create black materials to frame me. Even if He Yuelian had some reservations, they wouldn't have left this material with her first... This material must be what they wanted to show me through He Yuelian."

  He could imagine He Moliang's thoughts of betting on both sides, so just now in the town he didn't expose her even when he figured it out.

  Sun Yalin grew up in a big family, and at a young age, she had experienced many twists and turns. She was cautious and vigilant, with a high degree of wariness towards others. If it were someone else, they might have thought that He Yuelian was kind-hearted and only reflected the situation to Shen Hua out of good intentions.

  After hearing Shen Hua's explanation, Chen Dan realized that she had thought too highly of He Yuelian. A woman like He Yuelian was as slippery as a loach; how could she possibly put all her eggs in their basket?

  Sun Ya Lin plopped herself down on Shen Hua's car hood, propping her hands behind her and showcasing her slender, sensual body without any obstruction. Her long hair cascaded down her back, and the courtyard lights illuminated her face, making it radiant and fair. She gazed at Shen Hua and said: "In the past, you had Tan Qiping backing you up, so no one dared to offend you. Now that your split with Tan's group has become public knowledge, even stray cats and dogs know about it. Who would dare to mess with you? Without Tan Qiping's support, Pan Shihua from the district is also waiting for you to make a mistake. You can't afford to clash with these people now... this is truly going to be entertaining..."

  Shen Huai picked up the material and made a gesture to hit Sun Ya Lin's head, saying: "Look at my music, you'll be happy?"

  Sun Yalin tilted her head to the side and said, "The lower Mei Highway can't be helped but repaired. What do you plan to do? Either give them an additional 10 million in compensation, I think their appetite is big enough that 10 million should be able to fill it up. Anyway, it's not like you have to take the money out of your own pocket..."

  If we connect the black materials handed over by He Yuelian with Pan Shigui secretly buying up storefronts, it's not hard to understand their purpose, which is still to get high compensation when widening and demolishing buildings on Xiaomei Highway going south.

  When Mei Xi Steel Plant was restructured, Pan Shihua asked for 40 million yuan of dry shares through his cousin Shi Zi Da. However, Shen Huai bypassed Pan Shihua and obtained Yang Yuquan's support through the Zhou family, which made the restructuring plan smoothly approved by the district and approved by the Municipal Planning Commission.

  Pan Shigui has already bought many storefronts on the south side of Xiaomei Road, and this time Shen Hua will not be able to bypass them. After Shen Hua took office as party secretary, he closed down the construction permits for houses on both sides of Xiaomei Road, but could not stop private house transactions.

  Shen Huai said, "This pit, since they want to jump in, let them jump...". He tore the few pages of materials into pieces and threw them into the trash can, then walked towards the courtyard.

  "What's going on, are you changing the plan?" Sun Yalin asked Shen Hua with a curious tone, catching up to him and saying, "Modifying the plan, not demolishing the south side, but demolishing the north side doesn't seem right either. Although the plan hasn't been officially announced yet, it's already spread throughout the town. If you keep changing things around, you'll only end up with both sides of homeowners complaining. Demolishing the north side will involve several households including the supply and marketing association and credit union, and the demolition area is more densely populated. The final compensation amount will only increase, not decrease. Moreover, the highway needs to be repaired and widened anyway. Those people have secretly occupied some private houses on the south side of the road. Even if they can't profit from the demolition, once the road is repaired, the value of these storefronts will definitely increase. The town also wants to improve the external environment of both sides of the highway and needs to provide subsidies for them to build exterior walls and venues. No matter how you calculate it, they won't lose out..."

  "What can be done about it?" Shen Huan stopped and turned to ask, "As you said, in any case, the government will foot the bill, and I don't have to take out my own wallet. Why bother fighting them?"

  Sun Ya Lin chased after him hastily, but didn't expect Shen Huan to suddenly stop in his tracks. She almost bumped into him and stared into his eyes, saying: "I don't believe you can really swallow this insult."

  No matter how she asked, Shen Hua refused to say anything more. Sun Ya Lin was so angry that she wanted to grab his ears and force him to tell the truth.

  Shen Huai dodged to the side, pointing at the courtyard that was built like a private garden, and asked Sun Ya Lin: "Tell me, you've made this place look like this, what's your intention? Are you trying to make it impossible for me to move in, so you can take over? You're all coming to bully me, I can tolerate you, but how will you handle them next time?"

  "Who wants to take advantage of you?" Sun Yalin's thoughts were pierced, but her momentum was undiminished. She stood with her hands on her hips and said, "I have to work in the country for at least three years before I can return. I won't lose out on myself. For this house, I've invested all my capital, and you haven't even taken anything out. If you want to move in, I won't stop you; but if you want to pretend to be a clean official or a hypocrite, don't blame me for it."

  Sun Ya-lin stormed in first, unaware that the topic had been hijacked by Shen Huai.

  Shen Huai couldn't help but laugh, and Chen Dan walked in at this time. She heard Shen Huai's conversation with Sun Ya Lin and said: "I didn't expect it to be built so beautifully here. I don't know if there are any restrictions on buying a house in the country for Sister Ya Lin, or else I'll let Xiao Li transfer the house to Sister Ya Lin's name another day? Myself and Xiao Li don't want to move in either, it's too luxurious, and we haven't paid anything..."

  Seeing Chen Dan unwilling to receive the reward, Shen Huai said: "Isn't this letting her get away with her cunning thoughts? This is a great advantage for her."

  "How much can we give her a discount? Ailin sister has helped us a lot during this time..." Chen Dan smiled.

  Shen Huai saw that Chen Dan also had no intention of moving back with Xiao Li, and thought to himself: This is for the best. If he doesn't move in, I'd be worried that Sun Ya Lin would take a liking to Chen Dan; Sun Ya Lin was a woman who liked women, if you weren't on your guard against her, she might just make Chen Dan cry without even having a place to cry.

  "The weather is going to get hot, the dormitory area has unstable voltage even with air conditioning installed, no air conditioning, every time we want to do something, we are sweating profusely, it's unbearable. We have to find another place to live..." Shen Huai said.

  "What are you doing?" Chen Dan glared at Shen Hua with a hint of shyness, not allowing him to speak nonsense.

  But the dormitory conditions are too poor. In the past, there was no condition to change rooms, now there is a condition, and Chen Dan also wants to change to a slightly better living environment.

  Moreover, Shen Huai's power and influence grew heavier, and some people liked to come to his door at night to report on their work, which made Chen Dan dare not go to Shen Huai's house until late at night, and had to leave early in the morning. It was very inconvenient to sneak around like this. If they continued to live in the town, many aspects would be very inconvenient.

  There was no one in the front house, and Shen Hua wanted to ask Xiao Li where she had gone. Just then, he heard two girls' silvery laughter coming from behind. Shen Hua asked Chen Dan, "Who else is here?"

  "Xiao Li's classmate Kou Xuan, it's been a long time since I've seen her," Chen Dan said, "Today we just happened to come over and play together."