Lin Zhaojiang couldn't wait to unbutton his shirt, revealing his muscular chest.

Song Wan closed her eyes, and the little hand that had been pushing him slowly lowered. She lay there nervously, quietly waiting for that moment to arrive.

Lin Zhaojiang's kisses traveled from her cheek to her neck, and down...

He could feel her trembling breath and her body stiffening with fear.

I could sense that her heart was also filled with him.

Lin Zhaojiang was somewhat excited; this feeling was even more fulfilling than when he first had her.

However, just then, Song Wan's phone rang.

Both of them were startled by the sudden noise.

The phone rang persistently, again and again, as if it was certain she would answer.

Song Wan opened her eyes, somewhat at a loss, while Lin Zhaojiang had lost interest and silently got up, gesturing for her to answer the phone.

The screen displayed Chen Li.

Feeling embarrassed, Song Wan straightened her clothes and ran to the window to answer the phone.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

But then a wailing voice came from the other end: "Wanwan, why is our family so unlucky!"

"What happened? Mom, don't shout... calm down, what's wrong?"

It took Chen Li a while to calm down. She said between sobs, "Our house... won't be demolished."

"ah?"

"They said the company in charge of the demolition changed the blueprints and only renovated the surrounding shantytowns. Our few tenement buildings seem to be... left over from some era, and have historical value, so they won't be demolished, but only reinforced and renovated!"

"Oh," Song Wan thought for a moment, then gently advised, "Mom, I think this is a good thing. You don't have to spend a penny to have someone reinforce and renovate your house, which is pretty good. If it's not demolished, we won't have to move, right?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat!" Chen Li shouted on the other end of the line. "Without demolition, where would the big houses come from? Where would the compensation come from? Do you know that Old Li, who lives in the urban village, got a 100-square-meter apartment!"

"Your brother's health wasn't good to begin with, and now he's finally found a girlfriend, but she's only dating him because our land is going to be demolished and we're getting compensation! Now look what's happened, your brother's relationship is definitely going to fall apart!"

"Ugh, which despicable company is this?! Changing the blueprints is absolutely outrageous!"

Chen Li started yelling, and even through the phone, Song Wan could imagine her spittle flying everywhere.

Song Wan felt helpless. She replied with a few perfunctory words and quickly hung up. She then looked back at Lin Zhaojiang and gave an awkward smile.

Lin Zhaojiang smiled at her as well.

She didn't know that the "devilish company" her mother was talking about was actually Zhonglin Group.

"I'm sorry, you must have seen this," Song Wan said softly. "My mother..."

"Is this how your mom usually talks to you?"

Song Wan lowered her head and remained silent.

Lin Zhaojiang felt a pang of heartache and gently pulled her into his arms.

He understood that Song Wan was a sentimental person, and even though Chen Li treated her this way, she still regarded her as her mother.

But he wouldn't allow her family to endlessly hurt and drag her down.

Since Chen Li is so selfish as to leave all her belongings to her son, then we might as well not demolish the house.

So he spared no expense in hiring engineers to revise the blueprints, determined to stand up for Song Wan. At the same time, he also dispatched professional public relations personnel to appease the other residents in the several tenement buildings and provided them with compensation.

Chen Li was the only one not included.

"It's alright now." Lin Zhaojiang patted her back, stroking her up and down like he was comforting a child. "From now on, you can stay here and leave all these worries about your family behind, and focus on doing what you want to do."

"Um."

"But..." he asked tentatively, still uneasy, "Do you want your house to be demolished and redeveloped?"

Song Wan was taken aback, then gently shook her head.

"Why?"

“It’s not that I don’t want it.” She looked up at him and smiled faintly. “I don’t care. Even if the house is demolished, I won’t get a single penny of compensation, let alone a house. To be honest, what my mother did really broke my sister’s and my heart. Aren’t we her biological daughters? Why is she treating us like this?”

Lin Zhaojiang patted her little head, unsure how to comfort her.

However, since she doesn't seem to care, he'll proceed with the work according to the revised blueprints. If she still cares about her family and wants the land demolished, he'll revise the blueprints back to their original state.

"I'll have someone bring you dinner later." Lin Zhaojiang put on his coat and looked at her gently. "I have some things to take care of at the company, so I won't be able to keep you company."

Song Wan nodded in agreement, then escorted him to the door. Only after watching him enter the elevator did she slowly walk back.

She was somewhat lost in thought and also felt a little disappointed.

It almost happened just now...

Song Wan's cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly erased all the romantic thoughts from her mind, sitting down at the table to concentrate on studying her review materials.

*

From the moment she stepped into this shantytown, Wu An'an's expression was far from pleasant.

She seems to have long forgotten how she used to cover the news, braving wind, sun, and rain, going to places a hundred times worse than this shantytown without hesitation.

Now, having gotten used to being a leader and living a comfortable life for too long, I'm no longer suited to this kind of place.

She felt that only sitting in Lin Zhaojiang's spacious and bright office, chatting with him while having afternoon tea, could truly be considered an interview.

Wu An calmed herself down and struggled to walk across the dusty ground in her high heels.

She found Song Wan's house at the address she had found through her investigation. Before she could even knock on the door, she heard a woman cursing from inside.

Every word and sentence is a complaint about the unfairness of fate; the language is crude and vulgar, and listening to it here is simply an insult to the ears.

Wu An'an sneered. This must be Song Wan's mother, who only cares about money and not people.

She knocked on the door, and after a while Chen Li poked her head out, looked her up and down, frowned, and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Excuse me..." Wu An'an asked cautiously, "Is this Ms. Chen Li's home?"

"Yes," Chen Li said, puzzled. "That's me. Who are you?"

Wu An'an immediately revealed her identity: "I am Wu An'an, the editor-in-chief and chief reporter of Yunshi Morning Post. This is my identification."

Chen Li took it with some skepticism, but after reading it, her eyes widened, and she welcomed her in as if she were a VIP.

“Ms. Chen, you don’t need to bother with me.” Wu An’an smiled. “I’m here today to investigate the shantytown demolition and redevelopment project… I heard you’re not receiving any compensation?”

"Oh dear, they're not even demolishing the houses, of course there's no compensation!" Chen Li's face twisted into a bitter expression as she spoke of this. "That damned, bastard construction company, how could they just refuse to demolish them like that! The residents of these buildings are very upset!"

“Ms. Chen,” Wu An’an rolled her eyes, “do you know that the other residents don’t have any objections?”

"What did you say?"

"Because they all received compensation," Wu An'an said with a smile, "except for you!"