CHAPTER 566: CHAPTER 566: JOINING FORCES

Now she had really done it; she’d landed herself in jail.

"No good could come from someone like Lin Jingshen; Lu Youbang had the audacity to threaten him into getting money from the Lin Family; how could they let him off the hook?" someone said.

"Even good people shouldn’t be so deceitful. Lu Youbang and Lin Jingshen are deadlocked, tricking each other, you could say they’ve made each other what they are."

"Indeed, but he just had to trick someone he couldn’t afford to mess with."

Lu Youbang was sentenced, and the money still had to be returned to the Lin Family.

Where could Ge Guifen and Lu Youzhen come up with so much money?

Lu Youzhen, about to marry Lin Jingshen, went to discuss with him, suggesting that the Lin Family consider the debt as part of the dowry.

Who knew the Lin Family would flat-out refuse?

They said it was a court’s decision, and they had to pay it back.

As for the dowry, there would be none.

Lu Youzhen was pregnant before marriage; if she couldn’t give birth later, no family would want her.

The Lin Family agreeing to let Lu Youzhen marry into their family was out of pity for her; they were being merciful in accepting her.

Lu Youzhen was even delusional to expect a dowry.

They urged Lu Youzhen not to dawdle and to repay the money quickly, or else they would enforce it.

Ge Guifen went dark with anger and could only sell the house she and Lu Youzhen had bought.

But selling a house was never that quick.

Lu Youzhen hadn’t even married into the Lin Family yet, and she was already in debt to them.

Ge Guifen and Lu Youzhen couldn’t come up with the money, so they dragged their feet.

"Anyway, you’re going to marry into the Lin Family; do they really need to be so clear-cut with us?" Ge Guifen said nonchalantly, "We just can’t pay it back; what are they going to do, send us to jail?"

"Just tell them that once we sell our house, we’ll give them the money," Ge Guifen said, full of righteous indignation.

They had bought a pre-sale property, and though it was listed with an agent, there was no way it could be sold off so soon.

Ge Guifen was hoping that by dragging it out, they might not have to sell at all.

When Lu Youzhen married into the Lin Family, there was no way they could demand money from a daughter-in-law.

The Lin Family was also furious.

They didn’t want to let Lu Youzhen off with the money at all, but Zhou Shuyan was watching over the situation.

Although Zhou Shuyan wasn’t urging them on, the Lin Family felt he was definitely paying attention.

They had no choice but to marry off Lu Youzhen as soon as possible.

So, even though Lu Youzhen hadn’t yet paid the money back, Lin Jingshen had to hold his nose and get the marriage certificate with her first.

Lu Youxi curiously asked Zhou Shuyan, "When do you plan to let the Lin Family know that Lu Youzhen’s child isn’t Lin Jingshen’s?"

Lu Youxi was holding two paternity test reports.

One was between Lin Jingshen and the child, and the other between Shim Xiagang and the child.

The two reports clearly stated that the child and Shim Xiagang were father and son.

Lin Jingshen had already married Lu Youzhen, inadvertently becoming a cuckolded father.

"It’s worthless to say anything too soon; we have to wait until the child is older. Let them raise it for a few years before telling them—that’s when it will be interesting," Zhou Shuyan said.

Lu Youxi thought to herself that Lin Jingshen’s confession to her must have really irritated Zhou Shuyan.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have resorted to such a venomous plan.

At the same time, Lu Youxi’s Youshu Hotel had also opened for business.

The land that had been stockpiled was also being developed in a well-organized manner.

Lu Youbang’s family had fallen out with the Jiang Family, and the Jiangs really couldn’t swallow the indignity.

Zhou Shuyan then had Yu Zeqin contact the Jiang Family.

The Jiang’s collaboration with Youshu Real Estate, with Chengzhou’s backing, would make it not difficult to directly topple the Lin Family.

Given Youshu Real Estate’s scale at the time, the Jiangs would definitely have looked down on Youshu Real Estate.

But now it was different; they knew about the relationship between Lu Youxi and Zhou Shuyan.

The Jiang Family naturally assumed that Chengzhou was backing Youshu Real Estate.

And Lu Youxi’s discernment in purchasing land was truly commendable.

It even led to suspicions whether the subsequent plots she acquired had some unknown advantages that others weren’t privy to.

In addition to valuing Chengzhou’s support behind Youshu Real Estate, due to the abilities demonstrated by Lu Youxi’s several maneuvers, the Jiang Family also recognized Lu Youxi’s management skills.

Thus, when Zhou Shuyan proactively suggested it, the Jiang Family immediately agreed to collaborate with Lu Youxi.

The Jiang Family had strong connections in the industry.

Having collaborations with many real estate enterprises, their words carried weight.

They were also responsible for construction projects, where they had powerful connections as well.

Even at the cost of owing favors, they used their network to block every path for the Lin Family.

Ensuring that reputable construction companies wouldn’t take any of the Lin’s projects.

Of course, if it were just the Jiang Family alone, they couldn’t have been so ruthless.

Even with their network, it wouldn’t have been possible.

But the addition of Lu Youxi into the equation with the Jiang Family changed everything.

They all knew the relationship between Lu Youxi and Zhou Shuyan.

They knew not to provoke Lu Youxi.

They would rather establish good relations with Lu Youxi, trusting that Youshu Real Estate would continue to grow.

Building a relationship with Lu Youxi in advance certainly couldn’t be wrong.

And with Lu Youxi as a friend, giving up one deal with the Lin Family really didn’t matter.

Therefore, Lin Zhenghao was shocked to find that the construction companies capable of undertaking large projects were all refusing the Lin Family’s business!

The acquired land was just left unused, all at a loss.

Considering smaller construction firms, Lin Zhenghao was worried on one hand.

On the other, those small companies couldn’t handle the large scale of Lin’s projects.

He was even less at ease with the prospect of two construction firms collaborating.

Just as Lin Zhenghao was beside himself with worry, he heard the news that Youshu Real Estate was in fact collaborating with the Jiang Family.

"How could the Jiang Family get involved with Youshu Real Estate!" Lin Zhenghao exclaimed furiously.

Lin Jingcong glanced at Lin Jingshen, saying, "It could very well be because of Jiang Zilin’s matter. Lin Jingshen had an engagement with Jiang Zilin, while also dating her, he got Lu Youzhen pregnant. Although the Jiang Family called off the marriage, they must still be unable to get over it."

Lin Jingming shook his head, "Looking at the Jiang Family’s stance, it seems like they’re targeting us for revenge, not letting Lin’s prosper."

"Definitely, otherwise they wouldn’t collaborate with Lu Youxi. Who is Lu Youxi? She’s Zhou Shuyan’s wife. Their collaboration with Lu Youxi, plainly speaking, is essentially working with Zhou Shuyan. Otherwise, the Jiang Family would never have considered Youshu Real Estate due to its scale."

"But Chengzhou doesn’t involve itself in the real estate industry. Youshu Real Estate, which is slightly involved, is still small in scale and likely just Chengzhou’s test waters. Officially, it’s not even labeled as Chengzhou’s company," Lin Jingcong said.

"Even so, the outside world has already concluded that Youshu Real Estate is Chengzhou’s company," Lin Jingming said.

"The Jiang Family is essentially collaborating with Chengzhou, obviously targeting Lin’s," Lin Jingming said with a furrowed brow, "otherwise, why is it such a coincidence that several construction firms have recently refused our contracts one after another?"

"I’ve looked into it," Lin Jingcong followed, "and those companies just happen to have good relations with the Jiang Family."