Thomas Liu called out to Selina Shi over there, and everyone present turned to look as well.
"Evan Lin?" At the table, Ken Feng and his brother were both stunned to see Evan Lin.
"You?" Over on the other side, Harvey Yang also looked at Evan Lin, his expression freezing in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?" Victor Deng's eyes widened in shock.
"And who is this?" Thomas Liu didn’t seem to mind, instead looking at Evan Lin—whose arm was held by Selina Shi—with great interest.
"My friend," Selina Shi replied crisply, then pulled Evan Lin to a seat at the table.
Just then, Allen Ju and a few others also walked in, dragging over a few chairs to sit down.
Warren Wu still had his usual laid-back look, Allen Ju wore a neutral expression, while Kai Chen looked a bit uncomfortable. Beside them, Ivy Deng sat silently next to Victor Deng, occasionally glancing at Evan Lin with confusion and puzzlement in her eyes.
"Who are these?" Victor Lee’s gaze swept over the girls’ faces, showing a hint of approval, but when he looked at the boys, his expression turned displeased.
He’d come here to invest, and tonight’s dinner was a special welcome banquet just for him. There was no reason for a bunch of kids to be part of it.
Over there, Magistrate Ma glanced at Allen Ju and the others. Although he looked rather displeased, he didn’t say anything.
"Magistrate Ma, shall we settle the investment like this? Your county’s finance office puts in a hundred million, our company puts in five hundred million, and we get this project done." Seeing that Magistrate Ma didn’t object and Thomas Liu didn’t seem inclined to chase these kids away, Victor Lee decided to press the advantage.
"That works. We’ll pick a time to finalize the details." Magistrate Ma quickly nodded in agreement.
Victor Lee nodded, and at that moment, Evan Lin’s phone suddenly started buzzing.
Victor Lee frowned, and Magistrate Ma also looked displeased. Both turned to look in Evan Lin’s direction.
Evan Lin took out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, then got up and headed straight for the restroom.
"This guy has no manners at all," Victor Lee snorted.
Victor Deng frowned as he watched Evan Lin’s back, clearly dissatisfied. Evan had already made a scene in front of Director Chen earlier, and now, unexpectedly, he’d shown up here too.
Thomas Liu watched Evan Lin’s back as he left, then looked at the sullen Kai Chen and the smug Selina Shi. He immediately understood and could only give a helpless smile.
Evan Lin headed to the restroom with his phone.
The call was from Big Tank.
"Didn't I tell you not to call me unless it's something important?" Evan Lin found a stall and used the restroom while he talked.
"Master, here's the thing: I just finished tallying up the assets we took over from several families. After roughly calculating and subtracting all the loans attached to the businesses, our net assets are about 550 million yuan."
Big Tank's voice was still a little excited as he said the number.
Five hundred and fifty million—this was no small sum.
"That's it?" Evan Lin raised an eyebrow. "If there's nothing else, don't call me. Handle these little things yourself."
With that, Evan Lin hung up the phone.
On the other end, Big Tank was left speechless. Five hundred and fifty million—still nothing to Evan Lin. This guy really treated money like it was dirt, huh.
Just as Evan Lin was about to leave the stall, he heard voices coming from the next one over.
"It's settled. Next is the contract—once we get the hundred million from the county finance office, our job is done."
"Got it, don’t worry—no one knows."
That voice was unmistakably Victor Lee, the same guy from the dinner table.
Evan Lin just shook his head. Not worth his time. He left the restroom, washed his hands, and strolled back to the table.
"Selina’s friend, right?"
As soon as Evan Lin sat down, Thomas Liu looked at him with a smile and asked.
"We’ve met three times."
As Evan Lin sat down and answered blandly, Selina Shi bit her lip but still smiled. "Right, we’ve only met three times, and he’s already my boyfriend."
After she spoke, Selina Shi deliberately glanced over at Kai Chen.
Allen Ju and Warren Wu kept their heads down, eating, pretending they hadn’t heard the sharp exchange.
Thomas Liu just chuckled and shook his head. "That’s impressive. If Selina likes you, you must be something special."
While they were talking, Victor Lee came out of the restroom after washing his hands, sat down at the table, and looked at Magistrate Ma and the others with an arrogant air. "Magistrate Ma, I just got a call from my company—there might be something urgent I need to handle back in Hong Kong. Is it possible to finalize the contract tonight?"
"Tonight? Is it really that urgent?" Magistrate Ma was taken aback.
"Yes, there are a few other counties negotiating for this project. Everyone’s time is valuable." Victor Lee nodded.
"I’ll call Finance and have someone bring the contract over." Magistrate Ma dialed the Finance Bureau: "Hello, Lisa Liu? Print out the contract we discussed and bring it to the Whitewood Guesthouse—right now."
After hanging up, Magistrate Ma looked over at Thomas Liu and smiled. "Secretary Liu, any objections?"
"This is a big opportunity for Whitewood County—a five hundred million investment!" Magistrate Ma said proudly, then turned to Ken Feng and Harvey Yang with a cheerful grin. "By the way, you’re here to discuss the Whitewood resort project, right? We can talk about that too; it’s worth over thirty million and is one of Secretary Liu’s key support projects."
Ken Feng looked a bit embarrassed, and Harvey Yang didn’t seem very happy either.
But Magistrate Ma didn’t care at all. Ever since Thomas Liu parachuted in, he’d felt stifled. Now, with this investment, he could finally strut and hold his head high.
Meanwhile, Lisa Liu, who’d been at home, rushed out the door. Chloe Cheng was in her room doing homework, munching on an apple, and looked up curiously as Lisa Liu left. "Mom, where are you going so late?"
"Don’t fall and hurt yourself again!"
Chloe Cheng reminded her.
"There’s something I need to take care of at work. You stay home and behave."
Lisa Liu had been in a bad mood lately. After getting beaten up by Evan Lin at Mooncrest Manor, she’d wanted to report it to the police, but with no evidence, she could only suffer in silence.
Afterward, she could only tell others she’d just had a fall.
She grabbed the pre-prepared five-hundred-million-yuan contract and headed out the door.