I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

On the third floor of the city office building, the corridor was covered with a red carpet.

Leng Qiu stopped in her tracks, looked at Lin Ting sitting on the bench, and snorted coldly.

"This is the city government building, not some muddy spot at the entrance of your village. Put out your cigarette," Leng Qiu said.

Lin Ting ignored her. He finished his last puff and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray next to him.

"Didn't expect you to embarrass yourself here? You bought two pieces of broken machinery, gathered a few tons of dirt and ash, and you dare to call yourself a building materials company?"

Leng Qiu pointed to the conference room door, "You can get in through this door today, but you won't get a single penny."

Leng Qiu turned to her assistant and instructed, "Tell the security guards not to let any unauthorized personnel talk nonsense later."

The assistant nodded and pushed open the conference room door. Leng Qiu led four representatives of the conglomerates inside.

Lin Ting stood up. Lin Dayou and Lin Fu followed behind. The three of them entered the conference room.

The conference table was long, with five official judges sitting on the left and Leng Qiu and four chaebol representatives sitting at the head of the table on the right.

Lin Ting and his two companions sat down at the very end of the long table. Not even a bottle of mineral water was provided for them.

The host walked to the front with a microphone and announced the start of the bidding process.

A chaebol representative wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood up and plugged a USB drive into the computer.

The projector lights up, and a rendering appears on the large screen.

"Distinguished leaders, our Gangnam conglomerate has brought a proposal called City of Light." The conglomerate representative pressed the page-turning pen.

A list of materials appeared on the screen.

"The main structure of the plaza is made entirely of high-polymer environmentally friendly materials imported from Germany, and the floor tiles are made of anti-slip stone customized from Italy."

The steel structure was designed by a top-tier team in Beijing, achieving the highest earthquake resistance standards. "The chaebol representative spoke eloquently."

He pressed a button on the remote control, and the screen changed.

"This is the fountain design in the center of the square; all the equipment was airlifted from France."

"This water circulation system alone cost fifteen million." The chaebol representative pointed to the water column on the screen.

"As for the surrounding greenery, we don't use local tree species. We transplanted all of them from tropical precious palm trees, and the transportation and survival maintenance cost for each tree is around 100,000 yuan."

Lin Dayou, sitting in the back row, couldn't stand it anymore. He leaned over to Lin Fu and whispered something.

"These bastards are crazy! They want to grow tropical trees in the climate of Jiangnan Province? They'll all freeze to death after a snowfall in winter."

"The best fountain pump you can buy at the hardware market would only cost tens of thousands of yuan, but they're charging hundreds of times that amount in their bills," Lin Dayou muttered in a low voice.

Lin Fu held down Lin Dayou's arm.

The chaebol representative turned to the last page.

"Based on these top-tier materials and technologies, our total quote is 320 million. The estimated construction period is two and a half years," the chaebol representative stated.

Upon hearing this, all five judges on the left were immediately agitated.

Chief judge Lao Li slammed his thermos down on the table. Water splashed out.

"Three hundred and twenty million? Why don't you just rob us!" Old Li pointed at the big screen.

"The county's maximum approved budget for the municipal square was 150 million yuan. You've more than doubled it!"

Another director, Wang, who wore glasses, chimed in: "There's still the construction period. The municipal square is the central hub. If the road is closed for two and a half years, the county's traffic will be completely paralyzed. This plan is simply not feasible."

Leng Qiu sat in the chair and reached out to straighten his suit collar.

"Director Li, Director Wang, don't be so narrow-minded," Leng Qiu said.

"This is a key project for the city. It's about prestige, not saving money for your county."

Old Li refused to back down.

"The money comes from the county finances; we can't afford it. There's no legal basis for this bid," Old Li said, slamming his hand on the table.

Leng Qiu waved to her assistant.

The assistant took a red-headed document from his briefcase, walked over to Old Li, and placed the document in front of him.

Leng Qiu looked at Old Li.

"Director Li, look carefully at the words on it. This is a note personally approved by Deputy Commander Chen from the city." Leng Qiu tapped the table.

"We are required to use top-tier international materials to create a landmark building. If we encounter financial difficulties, the county will overcome them on its own."

Old Li opened the document; it had a signature and a red stamp on it.

Old Li's hand froze in mid-air. Director Wang leaned over to take a look, then shut his mouth and sat up straight.

No one spoke in the meeting room.

Leng Qiu picked up the bottle of mineral water in front of her and took a sip.

"The three major conglomerates have mobilized the best resources in the entire province for this project. This is the direction set by the city." Leng Qiu stared at Lao Li.

"You're all sitting here today with only one task: to complete the bidding process. As for the money, you'll have to apply to the city for additional funding yourselves."

Old Li gritted his teeth.

"This is against the rules. The cost is outrageous," Old Li insisted.

Leng Qiu put down the water bottle.

"Rules? In the infrastructure circle of Jiangnan Province, the words of the three major conglomerates are the rules." Leng Qiu's voice rose.

"Director Li, you're retiring next year. It's not worth offending a bigwig in the city over a bidding process, is it?"

Leng Qiu turned to look at Director Wang.

"Director Wang, your Land Management Bureau's accounts from last year haven't been sorted out yet, have they? The city can send an investigation team down to take a look at this at any time." Leng Qiu directly called him out.

Director Wang's hand trembled, and he knocked over the water glass on the table.

Old Li's hands, holding the thermos, trembled uncontrollably. He glanced at the four judges beside him. All four had their heads down, staring at the table, and no one uttered a sound.

Old Li closed the official document and pushed it aside.

"Since the city has given instructions, our county will follow them," Old Li said, resigned to his fate.

Leng Qiu leaned back in her chair, turned her head, looked over the long table, and glanced at Lin Ting at the end.

The host glanced at Old Li and picked up the gavel from the table.

"I hereby announce that the winning bidder for the municipal square reconstruction project has been the Gangnam consortium..."

Accompanied by a harsh grinding sound,

Lin Ting stood up, holding a thick brown paper bag in his hand.

Lin Ting strode towards the front of the conference table. His footsteps were heavy.

The chaebol representative pointed at Lin Ting and shouted, "Security! Throw this unruly country bumpkin out!"

Two security guards maintaining order stood at the entrance, glanced at each other, and didn't dare to move.

The Lin family was so influential in the county that even Brother Guang was crippled and sent to the police station, so the security guards dared not provoke the Lin family.

Leng Qiu's assistant rushed forward and reached out to push Lin Ting's shoulder.

"Get back to your seat!" the assistant yelled.

Lin Ting raised his hand and slapped his assistant across the face.

A crisp slap rang out, and half of the assistant's face swelled up, two teeth flew out, and he crashed into the chair next to him and fell to the ground.

Lin Ting walked to the projector and unplugged the USB drive from the chaebol representative.

He pulled the documents out of the brown paper bag and slapped them directly onto the projector's display panel.