94: Chapter 94 Abandoned Industrial Park in the Northern Suburbs

A wicked smile curled on the corner of Lin Yu's mouth. "You use my money and my abilities to realize your political ambitions, to prove that you are relying on yourself rather than your family. And I am willing to be the blade in your hand and the shield at your back. As long as we are impeccable in our careers, who would dare to gossip about our private lives?"

Silence. A long, drawn-out silence.

The wall clock in the conference room ticked away, each second feeling like a countdown.

Finally, the stubbornness in Vice Mayor Li Anran's eyes gradually faded. She sighed, "Lin Yu, you are seducing a state cadre. Aren't you afraid that my father will find out, which would affect your career or even make it impossible for you to develop and gain a foothold in Lu Province?"

"That depends on whether this cadre is willing to be seduced," Lin Yu said leisurely. "Anran, you underestimate me, and you underestimate your father too."

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think your father was in such a hurry to call me to the Provincial Committee? Why did he have me sign the contract at the Confucian Entrepreneur Conference? Because he needs someone who can truly get things done and share his burdens. And in the complex environment of Quan City, who is the person he trusts the most? It's you."

Vice Mayor Li Anran stared at him, stunned.

"For someone in a high position like your father, as long as I can improve people's livelihoods and you can do your job well, he will turn a blind eye to matters regarding our private lives, provided no scandal erupts." Lin Yu's voice was low and bewitching. "He might have even thought of this long ago, which is why he asked me to look after you. After all, he is much more at ease handing you over to me than marrying you off to those second-generation officials who only know how to eat, drink, and play."

"Really?" Vice Mayor Li Anran said, sounding somewhat uncertain. "There is plenty of time ahead; let's wait and see."

...

In the center of Quan City, at the Xingyao Media office.

"Bang!"

A precious Song Dynasty celadon teacup was smashed violently against the mahogany desk, sending shards flying and soaking a thick stack of documents on the table with tea.

"Lin Yu! It's Lin Yu again!"

Zhao Tai's face was twisted, his chest heaving violently. That slap from yesterday outside the Confucian Entrepreneur Conference venue still seemed to burn on his face. As the eldest grandson of the Zhao family in Quan City, when had he ever suffered such public humiliation? What made it even more unacceptable to him was that the person who hit him was merely a businessman from out of town.

"Lin Yu..." Zhao Tai gritted his teeth as he spat out the name, his eyes filled with malice. "You stole my project and slapped my face. I'm not finished with you!"

Just a moment ago, he had received confirmed news that Junlin Capital had signed a preliminary letter of intent for cooperation with the municipal government, and that the abandoned industrial park in the northern suburbs was about to be transferred to Junlin Capital. That was a fat piece of meat he had been eyeing for a long time; he had intended to acquire it at a low price and flip the land for a huge profit, but now, Lin Yu had intercepted it.

After venting, Zhao Tai collapsed, panting, into his leather executive chair, his face terrifyingly gloomy.

The office door was gently pushed open, and Vice President Wu Liang, the deputy general manager of Xingyao Media and also Zhao Tai's sycophantic advisor, walked in cautiously. He glanced at the mess on the floor, didn't dare to say much, and just silently closed the door and walked over to Zhao Tai's side.

"Young Master Zhao, calm down." Vice President Wu Liang bowed his body and handed him a glass of warm water. "It's not worth getting angry over a peasant like that."

"Not worth it?" Zhao Tai snorted coldly, took the glass, and drank it in one gulp. "I've lost all face, and now the entire business world of Quan City is laughing at me! Tell me, how are we going to settle this score?"

Vice President Wu Liang pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, a flash of cruelty in his eyes. He leaned into Zhao Tai's ear and lowered his voice. "Young Master Zhao, we don't have the upper hand if we go head-to-head right now. Secretary Li supports him, and Vice Mayor Li Anran is getting cozy with him. However..."

"However what?"

Vice President Wu Liang leaned in closer and whispered... Zhao Tai's eyes lit up, and he instantly understood what Vice President Wu Liang meant. "You mean..."

"Yes," Vice President Wu Liang nodded.

The gloom on Zhao Tai's face finally dissipated, replaced by a sense of satisfaction from anticipated revenge. He slammed the table. "Good! Do as you say! Keep a close eye on him!"

...

Meanwhile.

Vice Mayor Li Anran was standing next to Lin Yu's Phantom, staring at the legendary "land palace" before her, slightly dazed. As a Deputy Mayor, although she had seen many luxury cars, this was her first time seeing a top-tier Phantom up close.

"Mayor Li, please." Lin Yu opened the back door and made a gentlemanly gesture of invitation.

Vice Mayor Li Anran came back to her senses and elegantly sat inside the car. As her body sank into the soft, cloud-like leather seat, she couldn't help but sigh softly. The interior was extremely quiet; the moment the door closed, the noise of the outside world seemed to be completely cut off.

"Your cars can just follow along," Lin Yu said to Vice Mayor Li Anran's secretary, then sat in the back row himself and signaled for the driver to drive.

The car slid smoothly into traffic. It wasn't slow, yet it was so steady that one could barely feel any bumps.

Vice Mayor Li Anran looked around; the starlight headliner above emitted a dreamlike halo, and there was even chilled Evian water in the car refrigerator. She turned her head to look at Lin Yu, who was leaning back leisurely in his seat, and couldn't help but say, "Mr. Lin, this car of yours... isn't it a bit too exaggerated? Someone who didn't know better would think some foreign head of state had arrived."

"To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools," Lin Yu smiled and handed Vice Mayor Li Anran a bottle of water. "Besides, this is also the public image of Junlin Capital. I don't have any other hobbies; I just like to enjoy life. After all, isn't the point of making money to make life more comfortable for yourself and those around you?"

Vice Mayor Li Anran took the water, her fingers inadvertently brushing against the back of Lin Yu's hand. She thought of her own assigned Audi A6; although it was not bad, compared to this Phantom, it was like a product of two different worlds.

"You businessmen really know how to enjoy life," Vice Mayor Li Anran took a sip of water, her tone carrying a hint of teasing, but more of helplessness. "We are so busy working every day that we don't even have time to think about these things."

"That's why you need someone who understands life to take you out to experience it," Lin Yu turned his head and looked at her with burning eyes. "For example, right now, on the way to the northern suburbs, at least you don't have to breathe exhaust fumes in that A6, right?"

Vice Mayor Li Anran rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. She had to admit that sitting in this car, the sense of fatigue had indeed dissipated quite a bit.

The car soon drove into the industrial park in the northern suburbs, and the surrounding scenery instantly became desolate.

Lin Yu took a document out of his briefcase; it was the "Preliminary Investigation Report on the Soil Environment of the Northern Suburbs Industrial Park" that Vice Mayor Li Anran had previously had prepared. He carefully looked at the data on it, his brows furrowing slightly, but they soon relaxed again.

"The situation is better than I imagined," Lin Yu pointed to a line of data on the report and said to Vice Mayor Li Anran. "Although this used to be a chemical plant, it has been idle for these years. After natural degradation and rainwater erosion, the concentration of pollutants in the topsoil has dropped significantly. Only a few spots have slightly excessive levels of benzene series compounds and heavy metal lead, which counts as mild pollution."

Vice Mayor Li Anran leaned over to take a look, somewhat surprised. "You can understand this?"

"To build a Food City, the soil is the lifeline, so of course I have to understand it." Lin Yu pointed to an open space outside the window. "For this level of pollution, if we find a professional environmental protection company and use thermal desorption or chemical oxidation technology to treat it, it can be completely resolved within half a month at most, meeting the standards for construction land. As for the cost, although it's not cheap, it's within a controllable range."

"Half a month..." Vice Mayor Li Anran nodded thoughtfully. "As long as it can be done before the project starts, it's not a big deal."

He put down the report and cast his gaze toward the vast wasteland in front of him, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Anran, look at this plot of land." Lin Yu reached out his hand, as if to embrace the entire wasteland. "Here, in the future, the largest central kitchen in Quan City will stand. It will cover at least 500 mu and have a daily processing capacity of 500 tons. By then, it will be able to solve the lunch problem for at least 300,000 students in Quan City and also cover meal delivery for the elderly in surrounding communities."

"300,000 students..." Vice Mayor Li Anran was shocked by this number. "How large of an operations team would that require?"

"The initial investment is about 1.5 billion, including factory construction, equipment procurement, and soil remediation." Lin Yu listed the details as if they were his own treasures. "But this money is well spent. Once it is up and running, this will be a huge livelihood project and also the anchor for Junlin Capital in Quan City. And this is only the first phase."

"There is a second phase?"

"Of course." Lin Yu turned his head and looked at Vice Mayor Li Anran. "Besides the central kitchen, we also want to build a cold chain logistics center, an agricultural product testing center, and even a large-scale sightseeing factory here. I want the people of Quan City to know that every bite of safe vegetables and every nutritious meal they eat is produced from this once-wasteland."

Vice Mayor Li Anran looked at Lin Yu's confident face, and an inexplicable impulse surged in her heart.

Ding! Vice Mayor Li Anran's intimacy + 10. Current intimacy: 27.

The surroundings were silent, with only the whimpering sound of the wind passing through the broken window frames of the abandoned factory, as if this piece of land were telling of its past glory and today's loneliness.

Leather shoes stepped on cracked cement and withered wild grass, making a "crunch, crunch" sound. Vice Mayor Li Anran followed closely behind; her high heels made her appear somewhat unsteady in this ruin.

The two walked to the center of the open space. Lin Yu stopped and swept his gaze across the desolation before him. He slowly squatted down, his slender fingers inserting into the soil, grabbing a handful of soil mixed with gravel and withered grass. He gently rubbed it, his fingertips feeling the granular texture of the soil, then brought the soil to his nose to smell it. His brows furrowed slightly, then immediately relaxed.

"Quan City still has some good large plots of land." Lin Yu brushed the dust off his hands, stood up, and turned to look at Vice Mayor Li Anran, a playful smile hanging on the corner of his mouth. "The logistics park in the High-tech Zone, the reserved land for the CBD in the Eastern New City—which one isn't prime land? Which one doesn't have convenient transportation and perfect infrastructure? Yet, Mayor Li, you specifically recommended this 'rotten land' to me. Do you think I'm stupid and have too much money, specifically here to be the patsy?"

Vice Mayor Li Anran felt a bit flustered by the look in Lin Yu's eyes, which was neither smiling nor not smiling. She subconsciously avoided his gaze.

"Lin Yu, you..." She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and decided to tell the truth. "This abandoned industrial park has been idle for several years. As the Deputy Mayor in charge of investment promotion and industry, I am responsible for the land being idle for a long time and failing to revitalize it; this is also my problem. Now that the project hasn't been officially signed and sealed, if you regret it or want to choose another plot, I... I can go and coordinate."

There was a hint of imperceptible trembling in her voice. This was her weakness and a small stumbling block in her official career. She had expected Lin Yu to dislike this place; after all, she knew the profit-seeking nature of businessmen all too well.

However, Lin Yu's answer was beyond her expectations.

"Let's go with this one." His voice was calm and forceful, without the slightest hesitation.

Vice Mayor Li Anran suddenly looked up, her eyes full of disbelief. "Why?"

Lin Yu walked towards her step by step until only a short distance remained between them. He looked into her eyes, his gaze as deep as the sea, as if he could see through all her disguises and strength.

"Because I want to help you solve your difficulties."

This sentence was like a pebble thrown into the calm lake of Vice Mayor Li Anran's heart, stirring up layers of ripples. She stared blankly at Lin Yu, not knowing what to say for a moment. In this officialdom and business world full of calculations and interest exchanges, no one had ever said such things to her, and no one was willing to take risks for her "political achievements."

"I know the situation of this land." Lin Yu withdrew his hand, his gaze cast back toward the wasteland, his tone becoming professional and serious. "This used to be an old chemical area. Although it is idle now, the problem of soil pollution must exist. According to the procedure, the government must first conduct a soil pollution investigation, then carry out assessment and remediation, and after passing the inspection, remove it from the pollution list before it can be listed for transfer or allocation. With this whole process, not to mention the wasted time, the remediation cost is a bottomless pit."

Vice Mayor Li Anran nodded; this was exactly what she was having a headache about. The municipal treasury was tight, and they simply couldn't come up with a large amount of funds for soil remediation, which was also the reason why this land had been left abandoned until now.

"However," Lin Yu's tone shifted, his voice filled with an unquestionable dominance. "If the government has difficulties, Junlin Capital can advance this remediation cost."

Vice Mayor Li Anran looked at him in shock. "You... you want to advance the payment? This is an investment of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions! What if the remediation doesn't meet the standards, or the project approval doesn't come through..."

"There are no 'what ifs'." Lin Yu interrupted her, his eyes firm. "You just need to find the best environmental protection company. Soil remediation technology is very mature now; cost is not an issue. Within a month, we will turn this land into clean soil that meets food processing standards and get the land procedures finalized. For you, this is a political achievement of revitalizing existing assets and solving livelihood problems. I think this deal is worth it, and the sooner the better, because there are many projects waiting for us later."

Vice Mayor Li Anran looked at the man in front of her, and a complex emotion surged in her heart. There was touching, admiration, and a hint of indescribable affection. She knew that Lin Yu was doing this not only to help her but also for that massive central kitchen project. But the fact that he was willing to take this risk and was willing to invest a huge amount of money at this stage really made her admire his courage.