A large group of people eagerly gathered, anticipating the spectacle of Lin Zhiming's downfall, only to be schooled by Wang Hai.

This group was expelled from the Lin Group headquarters.

Standing in front of the building, Lin Wei felt confused. Wasn’t it said that the Lin Group was on the verge of collapse? How had it suddenly transformed into a company valued at billions? Not only was it not finished, but its value had also increased?

“Let’s go back immediately! We have to inform the madam about this!” one of the shareholders exclaimed excitedly.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” The others didn't hesitate and quickly got into their cars to leave.

More than half an hour later, they returned to Shen Hongyue. When they saw her darkened face, they realized that she must have learned about the Lin Group's current situation as well.

“Lin Zhiming!” Shen Hongyue gritted her teeth, “I never expected that the land acquired by the company last year would be planned for a key high school! I didn’t receive any advance notice at all. Your backer is impressive—able to know such confidential information!”

“Madam, is there really nothing we can do?” Lin Wei asked.

“What can we do? The land that Lin Group bought for ten billion surrounds the entire Huachi Sports Center, and every house built on those plots is a school district house! Those plots were dirt cheap back then; now they’re worth at least seven to eight times more, maybe even higher! Lin Zhiming could easily use this land to apply for over fifty billion in loans, which would be enough to pay the fine!” Shen Hongyue said angrily.

“Doesn’t he earn money from building houses? If he pays off the fine with the loan, what money will he have left?” Lin Wei asked.

“The prospects for that piece of land are very promising. He can easily find other developers to work with him. Anyone would seize this opportunity… Lin Zhiming, who exactly is behind you that knew about the city planning a key high school so early?” Shen Hongyue frowned.

The people around exchanged glances; even the dimmest among them realized that Lin Zhiming had perfectly dodged this fine, and in fact, elevated the Lin Group to a new level.

The shareholders' faces were the most displeased. They had previously been smug about selling their shares early, but it now seemed that it was Lin Zhiming's plot all along. Each of them had suffered an eighty percent loss!

“Who was the one who insisted on buying those plots of land back then?” Shen Hongyue suddenly asked.

“I remember it was Secretary Dong!” one shareholder said.

“Dong Jian?!” Shen Hongyue’s pupils contracted slightly as she looked around.

It was then that she noticed Dong Jian, who had always been present, was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Dong Jian?” Shen Hongyue shouted.

The others looked around, but no one saw Dong Jian.

“Find Dong Jian for me immediately!” Shen Hongyue commanded.

Someone turned to search for Dong Jian, but after a long time, they still couldn’t find him.

Shen Hongyue took out her phone and called Dong Jian.

The phone rang for a while before being answered.

“Dong Jian, where are you?!” Shen Hongyue asked.

“I have Dong Jian here!” came the voice that Shen Hongyue detested the most on the other end.

“Lin Zhiming, it’s you!” Shen Hongyue shouted in excitement.

“Are you looking for Dong Jian? Do you want me to have him talk to you?” Lin Zhiming asked.

“I should have known! I should have realized that since Zhixing was caught, there must have been someone leaking his secrets. I never imagined it would be Dong Jian, the one he trusted most! Lin Zhiming, what a method you have, to even turn Dong Jian against us! I’ve underestimated you all along!” Shen Hongyue said, clenching her fists. She was furious but had to suppress it, knowing that Lin Zhiming was deliberately trying to provoke her by taking this call.

“Unfortunately, this world doesn't work that way. You should be happy, after all, you cashed out ten billion, right?” Lin Zhiming smiled.

Mentioning the ten billion only made Shen Hongyue angrier. She trembled all over, on the verge of exploding.

“Lin Zhiming, do you really think you've won?” Shen Hongyue asked.

“I don’t know if I’ve won or not, but at least in this deal, I made a profit—big time! As a branch of the Lin family, I’ve taken control of the entire Lin family’s assets, while you all have either ended up inside or homeless. It’s a bit tragic!” Lin Zhiming laughed.

“You will regret provoking me, Lin Zhiming!” Shen Hongyue gritted her teeth. “From now on, I will consider you my mortal enemy. We will not rest until one of us is dead!”

“I never considered you my mortal enemy,” Lin Zhiming replied.

“It’s too late for you to plead for mercy now!” Shen Hongyue said.

“No, what I mean is… you and those from the Lin family are all trash. You don’t qualify to be my enemy,” Lin Zhiming laughed.

Smash!

Shen Hongyue angrily threw her phone to the ground, cutting off the conversation.

“Madam?” Lin Wei cautiously called out.

“Get out! All of you, get out! What use are you besides causing me trouble? Disappear from my sight immediately!” Shen Hongyue roared angrily, pointing at the door.

“Hongyue, we’re all family…” Lin Maocai tried to persuade Shen Hongyue, but she interrupted him rudely.

“What nonsense about family? What right do you have to call yourselves my family? Get out!” Shen Hongyue shouted.

Lin Maocai and the others looked extremely displeased. Though they were peripheral members of the Lin family, they were still part of the family. However, seeing Shen Hongyue so furious, they turned and left.

Outside the door, some core members of the Lin family departed, leaving only Lin Wei and other peripheral members behind.

“Grandpa, what should we do now? Shen Hongyue can’t compete with Lin Zhiming!” Lin Wei said.

“From Shen Hongyue’s expression, she probably doesn’t want to deal with us anymore. With so many of us, it won’t be long before we end up on the streets… Sigh, if we have to bow our heads, we will. Let’s go find Lin Zhiming. If worse comes to worst, I’ll kneel at the Lin Group's entrance. So many people are watching the Lin Group; I don’t care about my pride, but Lin Zhiming still has his! I don’t want much; I just need a place to live. He shouldn’t refuse,” Lin Maocai said.

“If I had known Lin Zhiming would rise again, I wouldn’t have treated him that way!” Lin Wei lamented.

“There’s no point in saying that now. Let’s go,” Lin Maocai shook his head and turned to leave.

At this moment, every member of the Lin family felt the same regret as Lin Wei, but if regret had any use, there would be no need for police in this world.

Meanwhile, at Tianjiao Group.

Yao Shanchuan sat in his office chair, a striking female employee perched on his lap. He was all hands, and the female employee giggled, creating quite the lively atmosphere.

Suddenly, the office door was flung open with a bang.

“What’s going on? Can’t you knock before entering? Is there no sense of decorum?” Yao Shanchuan shouted angrily.

“Get to the office for a meeting!” Yao Jianzhi, Yao Shanchuan’s father, said with a dark face.

“A meeting? Didn’t we just have one? What’s wrong, Dad?” Yao Shanchuan pushed the female employee aside and asked, puzzled.

“It’s important!” Yao Jianzhi said before turning to leave.

Yao Shanchuan didn’t dare to delay, quickly standing up and following his father to the meeting room.

Inside the meeting room, many members of the Yao family were already present.

Yao Tianlong sat at the head of the table, his expression serious.

“What’s going on?” Yao Shanchuan asked.

Everyone around shook their heads, unsure of what had happened.

“Sit down,” Yao Tianlong instructed.

Everyone quickly took their seats.

“I just received news that a key high school is being planned near Huachi Sports Center in the southern part of the city,” Yao Tianlong said.

“Huachi Sports Center? But the surrounding area is nothing but worthless wasteland! This land will appreciate several times in value, right? Grandpa, there’s bound to be school district housing built there, and they’ll need a lot of building materials. We need to act fast! Who owns that land?” Yao Shanchuan said.

“That land... belongs to the Lin Group,” Yao Tianlong said gravely.

“The Lin Group?!” Yao Shanchuan was stunned, as were those around him.

“Last year, the Lin Group purchased all the land surrounding Huachi Sports Center. I vaguely remembered this at the time, but I forgot because the Lin Group hadn’t developed it since then. I never expected they would be building a school there, which means the land will instantly be valuable. The Lin Group has just sent out investment invitations to their partners. They plan to build several residential complexes on that land, and many partners are rushing to negotiate with the Lin Group. If they can secure a deal, the profits will be in the hundreds of millions!” Yao Tianlong said.

Profits in the hundreds of millions were incredibly frightening!

“Almost all of the Lin Group’s previous partners received the invitations… except for us. We received nothing,” Yao Tianlong said, his expression darkening.

The expressions of the others in the meeting room also turned grave.

Previously, when they pressured Yao Jing to divorce Lin Zhiming, Lin Zhiming had terminated all cooperation with Tianjiao Group, which led to Yao Jing being expelled from the company.

“Grandpa, it’s not a big deal. As long as we can secure Li Shao, we won’t miss out on the Lin Group’s orders,” Yao Shanchuan said.

“To secure Li Shao, we need Yao Jing. If the Lin Group had collapsed today, it wouldn’t be hard to bring her back. But now, the Lin Group hasn’t collapsed at all; instead, it has made a stunning comeback. Do you think Yao Jing will come back?! I just received news that Lin Zhiming has appointed Yao Jing as the executive assistant to the president of the Lin Group, fully in charge of the company’s affairs!” Yao Tianlong said, his face grave.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanqiu was overjoyed. The Lin Group was much larger than Tianjiao Company. The executive president of Tianjiao Company had little real power beyond doing work, while the executive assistant to the president of the Lin Group had complete authority over the company’s affairs!

However, Zhou Yanqiu’s joy was fleeting as she suddenly realized that Yao Jing was now tied to Lin Zhiming. How could she still be Li Bin’s mother-in-law?

This was another dilemma!