Chapter 200

"Secretary Mu, what did you want to talk to me about?"

In the office, Lin Meng looked at Mu Qinghuan, who was sitting at her desk with a cold expression. His own expression was equally unpleasant. He had absolutely no good feelings toward this newly appointed village secretary. She was clearly here just to pad her resume, but her condescending attitude made it seem like he owed her something.

"Village Chief Lin, do you have a problem with me?"

Staring at him, Mu Qinghuan asked directly, Opening the Gates to get straight to the point.

Lin Meng didn’t hide his thoughts either. "I think it’s you who has a problem with me, Secretary Mu. Ever since the day you arrived, you’ve been targeting me!"

Hearing this, Mu Qinghuan shook her head. "Don’t misunderstand. My attitude isn’t directed at you in particular, but at all men."

Lin Meng froze, his gaze turning strange. If he had only suspected it before, her words just now confirmed her sexual orientation. This woman was actually a lesbian! No wonder she treated Wu Mengmeng so differently from him!

"You’re right in what you’re thinking. I like women, and I have an innate disgust for men." Mu Qinghuan saw through his thoughts and said expressionlessly, "But I never bring these personal feelings into my work. My issue with you is purely because I think you are far too selfish."

"Selfish? What evidence do you have to say that, Secretary Mu?" Lin Meng asked, displeased.

Mu Qinghuan sneered. "It’s simple. You’ve made a lot of money from the Beauty Liquid recently, but I can say with certainty that you can’t possibly monopolize such a massive market all by yourself.

"And if you let the villagers produce and sell the Beauty Liquid together, within a year, the entire village could earn big money and completely shake off poverty.

"Yet, not only did you refuse to do so, but you’ve also kept it a secret. If that’s not selfish, what is?"

Lin Meng gave her a weird look, completely taken aback that she could say something so shamelessly brazen. He even suspected that there might be something wrong with her brain.

"What? Am I wrong?" Mu Qinghuan asked with a frown, feeling uncomfortable under Lin Meng’s gaze—which looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Let’s put aside whether you’re right or wrong for a moment. Secretary Mu, I want to ask you something. I was the one who developed the Beauty Liquid formula. Why should I give it to others, and what benefit would there be for me?" Lin Meng asked earnestly.

Mu Qinghuan looked as if it were only natural. "With great power comes great responsibility. Besides, you’re all from the same village. Don’t you want to see their lives get better and better?"

Lin Meng was so amused by her stupidity that he laughed. "What a great saying: ’With great power comes great responsibility.’ Well, let me ask you, Secretary Mu. There are so many rich people in society. When I was living in poverty, why didn’t anyone give me a million yuan for free?

"Also, your family should be quite wealthy. Why don’t you just distribute hundreds of thousands to every household? Wouldn’t that be much simpler?"

Mu Qinghuan was stunned by his questions and surprisingly couldn’t think of a single retort.

Lin Meng continued, "Furthermore, I’ve relied entirely on myself to get to where I am today. Back when I didn’t make any money, I was bullied and mocked. I never saw the villagers help me then, so I don’t feel any obligation to sacrifice anything for them now."

"Village Chief Lin, if everyone had your mentality, the village would never develop! Besides, I believe that if you do as I say, the whole village will be grateful to you!" Unable to win the argument, Mu Qinghuan could only choose to keep trying to persuade him.

Lin Meng wasn’t buying it at all. "What does the village’s development have to do with me? It’s not like I want to be a government official who needs to show results to their superiors. I just need to live my own life well.

"Moreover, Secretary Mu, as the top leader in the village, if you want to develop the local economy, is targeting me your only solution?"

Mu Qinghuan’s expression changed slightly, catching the underlying mockery in his words. She replied coldly, "It seems you already know my purpose for coming here. I did indeed receive insider information and came to pad my resume. But I’m not interested in being an official either, so I just want to quickly go through the motions and leave this place!"

Lin Meng paused, not expecting Mu Qinghuan to admit it so readily. Furthermore, judging from her words, she seemed to be in a similar situation to him—she only took on this village official position because of certain circumstances, but she was unwilling at heart. It was precisely because of this that she was so desperate for him to use the Beauty Liquid to fulfill the higher-ups’ poverty alleviation quota for Taohua Village.

"Secretary Mu, I understand how you feel now, but your approach is honestly a bit stupid," Lin Meng said bluntly.

"Are you insulting me?" Mu Qinghuan instantly flared up and stood up from her chair.

"You can think of it that way," Lin Meng said, not humoring her in the slightest. "To achieve your own goals, you repeatedly try to convince me to be the fall guy without considering anything else. If that’s not stupid, what is?"

"That’s just what you think. I believe that if you do as I say, not only will your own business remain unaffected, but you’ll also earn a good reputation in the village and be remembered by the people here for generations to come," Mu Qinghuan snorted softly, rebuking him.

Lin Meng was starting to lose his patience. "Secretary Mu, aren’t you being a bit too naive? Do you really think country folks are purely simple and honest? In reality, it’s just because everyone is farming, so there are no conflicts of interest.

"If I did what you suggested, it might start out the way you described. But over time, not only would they not be grateful, they would even come to hate me. Do you believe that?"

Mu Qinghuan shook her head outright. "You helped them. How could they possibly hate you?"

Lin Meng sneered. "Because over time, just like you, they would start to think it’s something I’m obligated to do. If my business does better than theirs, they might even suspect there’s a problem with the formula I gave them.

"And if their business surpasses mine and they make a fortune, they’ll just attribute it to their own abilities and respect me even less.

"Most importantly, when the time comes, everyone will be competitors. Do you really think we could still coexist peacefully?"

Mu Qinghuan furrowed her brows tightly. "That’s sophistry! You’re assuming the darkest aspects of human nature!"

Lin Meng let out a mocking laugh. "I’m dark? Secretary Mu, while I don’t know how powerful your background is, I’d like to ask you: do you have any poor relatives in your family? If so, why doesn’t your family help them out? Does that mean everyone in your family also has a dark heart?"

Mu Qinghuan was rendered completely speechless. After a long moment of silence, she finally said, "It seems you’re dead set against leading the people of Taohua Village to develop together."

"Who said that? I just don’t want to get the short end of the stick," Lin Meng said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" Mu Qinghuan couldn’t guess what was on his mind at all.

Lin Meng explained calmly, "Secretary Mu, the higher-ups’ objective is seemingly to lift Taohua Village out of poverty. Therefore, once everything is ready, I plan to build a factory in the village. Not only will the villagers be able to lease their land to me, but they can also come work at my factory to earn money. Everyone gets what they need, and no one loses out!"