"Alright, I've visited your home. I'll get going now. Let's get in touch another day when we have time," Tan Jing said after touring Chen Yang's house, not wanting to linger any longer since it was getting late.

It was almost dark.

"Leaving already? Why not stay for dinner before you go?" Chen Yang politely tried to keep her.

Tan Jing waved her hand, "It's fine, the truck driver is still waiting outside, so I'll head out first."

"Alright then, let me see you off," Chen Yang agreed, realizing he couldn't insist further, and escorted her out the door.

After Tan Jing left, he went back inside alone, prepared a simple dinner in the kitchen, ate, and called it a day.

The next day, Chen Yang sorted out his household chores early and headed to the office, where he had a small meeting with Wu Kexin and Li Han.

That day, Chen Yang's goal was to investigate the rising material costs, so he specifically asked Wu Kexin and Li Han for the contact details of various material suppliers, as well as their store addresses and factory locations.

With this information in hand, Chen Yang planned to set off and investigate each place.

He wanted to see who was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

"Chen Yang, Annie and I want to go with you!" Just as Chen Yang was about to leave, Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie stood up together, expressing their desire to join him.

Chen Yang paused, turned around, and smiled, "Why do you want to go? This is work, not a fun trip."

"Oh come on, we know it's work, but we just want to tag along for the investigation. We promise we won't be a bother, and maybe we can even help," Yang Ruoxi said with a grin.

Seeing this, Chen Yang thought for a while and then nodded in agreement.

"Alright, you can come, but you have to listen to instructions. If I say do nothing, just stay in the car obediently. Got it?"

Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie, seeing Chen Yang agree, didn't care about these stipulations and quickly promised.

"Agreed! No problem at all," Yang Ruoxi replied cheerfully.

"Alright then, let's go together."

Chen Yang nodded with a smile, then turned to leave the office.

"Sis, Kexin, we're heading out now. See you later," Yang Ruoxi happily waved to Wu Kexin and Li Han before hurriedly following Chen Yang out.

Watching Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie leave, Wu Kexin and Li Han couldn't help but shake their heads with a laugh.

...

Leaving the office, Chen Yang immediately drove Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie to the county town.

Following the address given by Li Han and Wu Kexin.

All materials for the village were purchased from the largest building materials market in the county town.

Because the market there is closest to Liuhe Village, it saves a lot on transportation costs.

If they purchased from a neighboring city, the transportation fees would be much higher.

After all, the project was large, and a significant amount of building materials needed to be transported.

So Chen Yang drove Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie to the county's building materials market.

There was only one such market in the entire county, so it was quite large.

Rows of buildings and storefronts, almost anything related to the construction industry could be found here.

Such a large building materials market naturally attracted many people; the bustling crowd made it seem like a lively street market.

"Wow, there are so many people in a building materials market, it's like a lively street," Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie said, rolling down the windows to gaze at the bustling scene inside.

"Yes, being the only building materials market in the county, it's bound to be bustling," Chen Yang replied with a slight nod to Yang Ruoxi, then drove into the market and found a parking space.

"Let's go, let's get out and see what's going on," Chen Yang said, undoing his seatbelt and turning to Yang Ruoxi and Dai Annie.

"Okay."

The two girls, who loved lively scenes, immediately flew out of the car as soon as they heard they could get out.

Then they followed Chen Yang to the first supplier's storefront.

Liuhe Village's project was huge, so they didn't deal with small traders.

The partner was a well-known large store in the building materials city, covering several storefronts.

The bigger the store, the bigger the signboard, so it was easy for Chen Yang to find it with the two girls and walk inside.

Being a large store, it naturally had a lot of business.

All the salespeople were busy attending customers.

When it was Chen Yang's turn, the owner himself came to serve them.

The shop owner was a chubby middle-aged man.

With a round figure and a suit, he gave off an uncomfortable vibe.

"Hello, the three of you. I'm the shop owner. What kind of building materials do you need?" the owner asked with a smile.

At first glance, Chen Yang hadn't realized this man was the owner, thinking he might be a manager.

"Are you the owner?"

"Haha, yes, business is good, so I am here to serve you," the owner replied joyfully.

Seeing he was indeed the owner, Chen Yang couldn't help but chuckle inside.

The owner was ideal, time to see what was happening here.

"Oh, alright, I'm building a house and need a lot of cement and some steel molds. Can you give me a rundown?" Chen Yang asked, pretending it was for his personal use, probing for some general information.

The owner, hearing Chen Yang's request, quickly started explaining to him.

He bragged about the brand of his cement and the quality of his molds.

Chen Yang didn't really listen in detail, as he wasn't really interested, just after the price.

But to keep up appearances, he patiently waited for the owner to finish his introduction.

Once the owner finished, he nodded in apparent interest and asked, "So, what's the price for your cement and other raw materials?"

Seeing Chen Yang's interest, the owner's smile grew warmer.

"Haha, don't worry about the price, young man. Our shop is large and reputable in this building materials market; we offer fair prices and won't charge exorbitantly," the owner said cheerfully, before finally sharing his prices with Chen Yang.

Upon hearing the prices, Chen Yang subconsciously furrowed his brow.

Because the prices quoted by the owner were indeed much lower than what was quoted for Liuhe Village the previous day.

And this was just the first quote; if Chen Yang were an ordinary buyer, it could likely be negotiated lower.

Someone was definitely making things difficult for Liuhe Village, deliberately inflating the prices of raw materials at this crucial stage close to completion.

Truly despicable.

"Haha, the prices are good, but still a bit high, compared to others," Chen Yang chuckled.

The owner showed no reaction to these words.

Being in business, he was accustomed to customers bargaining.

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