"Can't find the right one." Secretary Tang smiled and said, "Looking for a partner isn't like recruiting. It should be about preferring quality over quantity. Understand?"

"Yes!" Xiao Xue nodded and said, "I understand."

Tang Yumeng's gaze suddenly turned to look outside the window, at the drifting clouds, billowing and folding. After the New Year, she'd be thirty-two. A fortune teller had told her that thirty-two would be her calamitous year. Thirty-two, a portent of mix fortunes. This is fate, but also a tribulation…

The fortune teller had said that once she gets past this unpredictable year of mixed fortunes, her life would stabilize. There would be no greater tribulations in her destiny. But who could know what disasters this unpredictable year might bring? She just hoped that this bad year would pass quickly. That she could live quietly and peacefully.

......

In the afternoon, Lin Chuan wandered the streets with the two thousand yuan his mother had given him and failed to find any suitable clothes. Besides, the outfit Tang Yumeng had given him wasn't bad either—black trousers, a white shirt, and he had donned a grey jacket over the top, looking quite spirited overall.

Lin Chuan strolled towards the meeting place with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette hanging from his lips.

This time, it was still the same old place, a coffee house in the city center.

When Lin Chuan heard the name of this coffee house, he even suspected whether Aunt Zhou of the neighborhood committee had some sort of collaboration with the owner of the coffee house? As soon as there was a blind date set up, the venue would be set at the coffee house, allowing Aunt Zhou to take her cut.

Of course, this was just Lin Chuan's speculation.

When he arrived at the coffee house and found it empty inside, he decided to enter and wait a moment. As soon as Lin Chuan walked in, a waiter greeted him.

"Sir, would you like some coffee?" the waiter asked.

"Yes." Lin Chuan nodded and sat down in a booth by the window.

"We specialize in iron-ground coffee here, and we also have the authentic Nanshan coffee…" the waiter listed the options like prized possessions.

"Not right now, I'm waiting for someone," Lin Chuan waved him away.

"Alright then, if you need anything later just let me know," the waiter quickly put away the menu.

Lin Chuan sat at his spot, smoking and observing the scenery outside. Over the years, Jiangbei City had changed rapidly, with fast urban development. The pace of urbanization was swift. The speed of a city's development determines its economic benefits. Jiangbei City's economy ranked stably within the top three of the province. High-rises had replaced the low buildings. Of course, the outcome was that the rich got richer, while the poor faced even harder lives.

In an era where real estate supports the country's economy; in a society where housing prices crush countless people, housing has undoubtedly become an insurmountable burden for many.

At this moment, a Volkswagen Beetle appeared outside the coffee house. The security guard at the door hurriedly greeted the arrival and opened the door. A fashionable and quite pretty girl stepped out from the driver's seat, wearing a fur coat and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag. The girl appeared arrogant as she tossed the keys to the security guard, slipping him a fifty-yuan note: "Park my car well."

"Sure thing!" The security guard was overjoyed, having encountered a big spender today.

The girl walked in wearing high heels, looking up at the coffee house and frowning, "Why arrange to meet in such a place? I don't know why they didn't book a higher-end club."

In any case, since she had come, the girl walked in and spotted Lin Chuan immediately. There was no one else in the coffee house at two in the afternoon, an unusual time for coffee. When the girl saw Lin Chuan, she scrutinized him from head to toe. Disdain was evident in her eyes.

"Hello, I'm Liu Dandan." The girl approached Lin Chuan and asked, "You're Lin Chuan, right?"

"Yes." Lin Chuan stood up and smiled, "Please, take a seat."

To be honest, his first impression of the girl was quite good—she had the looks and the aura. However, her nouveau riche vibe made him somewhat uncomfortable. The girl sat down, placed her newly bought iPhone on the table, and leaned her limited edition Louis Vuitton bag against the window. Then, she took out a box of strawberry-flavored ladies' cigarettes from her pocket, lit one up: "You don't mind, do you?"

"I don't mind," Lin Chuan shook his head.

The moment she took out her cigarette, Lin Chuan's favorable impression of her vanished instantly, but out of respect for Aunt Zhou, he had no choice but to keep sitting there and continue the conversation with the girl. They started by talking about some scenic spots in Jiangbei City.

As they were chatting, a familiar figure walked in from outside, causing Lin Chuan to freeze. Wasn't that Tang Yumeng? Why was she also here? And she was with another woman, they seemed very close. Tang Yumeng also froze upon seeing Lin Chuan, but she quickly recovered and stuck her tongue out at Lin Chuan.

That gesture made Tang Yumeng seem ten years younger to Lin Chuan. It was too playful, like a naïve, delicate girl revealing a mischievous charm. Lin Chuan was stunned. The girl looked back and laughed, "Yo, I really like that sister's bag. A Bvlgari Serpenti, quite expensive."

"Is it?" Lin Chuan smiled awkwardly.

Tang Yumeng and her friend sat not far from Lin Chuan, curiously eyeing the girl sitting across from him. She seemed very intrigued. Such an incredibly low probability of a chance encounter had actually happened to her.

"What are you looking at?" Liu Dandan frowned and said, "Don't you know that it's very impolite to look at other girls in front of a girl?"

"Yes, right away!" Lin Chuan nodded hurriedly.

Liu Dandan took a few drags of her cigarette and asked, "Do you have a car and a house?"

"You... are you asking me?" Lin Chuan looked around, puzzled.

"That's right." The girl nodded and said, "Aren't I on a blind date with you? If not you, who else should I ask?"

"No, I don't." Lin Chuan shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, I have them," the girl smiled and said, "I heard you work at the City Committee, driving for the Secretary?"

"Mm-hmm." Lin Chuan nodded.

"That's not bad, at least you have a respectable job," Liu Dandan smiled and said, "I heard your father died early and your family is quite poor? And your mom is a street cleaner?"

"Yes." Lin Chuan frowned, somehow feeling that this person didn't come for a blind date, but to interrogate him instead. Lin Chuan started to feel displeased but the girl didn't show any sign of stopping, "How much do you earn in a month? If we get married, would you allow me to not come home at night?"

"This..." Lin Chuan nearly wanted to curse, but considering Aunt Zhou's feelings, he still restrained himself.

"I'm quite open-minded; I wonder if you could accept that?" the girl asked.

"How open-minded?" Lin Chuan asked, curious.

"I used to be a hostess in Dongguan," the girl was not at all secretive about this, instead speaking frankly, "I think since we're talking about marriage, I should tell you everything about me honestly. I don't hide anything; however, I won't go back to Dongguan in the future. I've already saved up more than two million, enough to start a small business and support a family."

"You... your conditions are too good, I'm afraid I'm not worthy of you," Lin Chuan thought internally that a myriad of complaints were rampaging through his mind.

"It's okay, I don't mind," the girl took another puff of her cigarette and said, "I'm also well into my twenties, having worked in Dongguan for several years, I'm mentally exhausted. Now I just want to marry an honest man like you."

Lin Chuan's mind thundered.

Pfft...

Not far away, Tang Yumeng indeed heard everything clearly; she immediately spat out the coffee she had just swallowed.

"Yumeng, what's wrong?" the woman opposite her asked, "Is the coffee too hot?"

"No, no, no." Tang Yumeng waved her hands, "I'm fine, I just choked a little just now."

"You're an adult, be more careful," the woman glared at her and said, "Anyway, how come you're in the mood to ask me out shopping this afternoon? Weren't you very busy lately? Don't you care about the Pioneer Chemical Plant affair?"

"Worrying is useless," Tang Yumeng smiled and said, "Anyway, we take it one step at a time."

Tang Yumeng was really not in the mood to chat, her mind was focused on observing Lin Chuan's blind date while she responded to her friend's questions, but kept mixing up her words, which left her friend feeling somewhat helpless.

Lin Chuan's eyes bulged like a bull's—why did this sound so familiar? Back then, Zhou Kai seemed to have talked about this topic with him. Now, the same thing was happening to him—he was so angry he felt like he might explode; he just wanted to flip the table and leave.

But he had to endure, recalling his mother's reminder to always be a gentleman in front of women and to keep his cool.

Suddenly, Lin Chuan laughed and said, "Then... do you think I look like an honest person?"

"Pretty much," the girl nodded, "One can usually tell a person's character by their clothing. You do look like an honest person."

"Good, very good," Lin Chuan nodded. Right then, he wished he could end this conversation immediately.

At that moment, the waiter delivered the coffee and meals they had ordered. The girl complained, "This place really lacks class. I think such a formal blind date should be arranged in a high-end club. Look at this... the table is so dirty, and who knows how long it's been since the carpet was last changed? It must be full of germs."

Lin Chuan chuckled without a word but picked up his cup and took a sip.

"I certainly won't drink this coffee," the girl huffed, "Who knows how many people's mouths have touched this cup."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan almost cursed out loud. This person has worked in Dongguan for so many years; heaven knows how many men's private parts she has been with, how much bodily fluid from men she has swallowed, how much filthy human dander she has consumed... and yet, in this place, she's suddenly developed a sense of cleanliness.

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