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墨書 Inktalez
They finished their meal in just over ten minutes, unable to eat any more. The group hurriedly left Barbecue City and headed straight for Tang Hao's house.
As they exited Barbecue City, a faint cry echoed behind them: "Who broke my restaurant's table? That was imported ceramic!"
The others paid no mind, but Zheng Yifan kept his head down, seemingly focused on something interesting on the ground.
"You guys don’t need to worry about this; it’s beyond your control. Those thugs are not easy to deal with. Our family has been harassed for a whole month. If it comes to it, I can borrow twenty thousand from my uncle to make up the fifty thousand and pay them off," Tang Hao said, dejectedly holding his head.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of Tang Hao's village. They couldn’t go any further. The entire village had been violently destroyed; remnants of walls were everywhere. Only a few scattered houses remained standing, but they looked even worse than the ruins around them, covered in all sorts of graffiti and exuding a foul odor that attracted swarms of flies. Any passerby would send the flies buzzing into the air.
"What happened here? Is this what they call harassment?" Zheng Yifan angrily pointed ahead, where they could see water flowing out from in front of Tang Hao's house.
"Auntie, what’s going on?" Zheng Yifan rushed forward and saw Aunt Tang struggling to pour water out of the yard while Dad Tang was trying to block the water pipe with a rag.
"What else could it be? That bunch of good-for-nothings sneaked in this morning and cut our water pipes," Aunt Tang said, her eyes twitching at Zheng Yifan's words.
"Don't even mention it; it doesn’t matter how many there are. They have someone backing them. All seventeen households in the mountain village were forcibly relocated. They didn’t cheat us on the relocation fees; everything is legal. But before relocation, we have to pay them fifty thousand as a management fee. Isn’t that extortion? We’re just poor folks; how can we afford that?" Aunt Tang seemed on the verge of tears.
"Wife, don’t worry about it. It’s just fifty thousand. We can borrow some money; we still have over twenty thousand saved up at home. We’ll pay it back once the relocation funds come through," Dad Tang comforted his wife while forcefully trying to seal the water pipe, even using a wooden wedge and hammering it in.
"Auntie, let us help you!" Zheng Yifan reached out and took the sprayer from Aunt Tang’s hands, vigorously spraying water outside.
"No need to spray anymore; it'll flow out through the drain soon enough," Aunt Tang smiled as she snatched back the basin and hurried inside.
Zheng Yifan understood she was preparing fruit for them.
"Auntie, this is for you." Zhao Kai entered behind them, carrying two fruit baskets and cheerfully rushing into the house. He skillfully unwrapped them and fetched an aluminum basin from the side, scooping water from a nearby tank to wash the fruit.
This was also a rural custom; if someone from the city ran out of water, they would have to go to the supermarket to buy bottled water.
When Zhao Kai had finished washing the fruits and laid them out on the living room table, Li Jun finally arrived, waddling in with his hefty frame, sweat dripping down his face as he wiped it repeatedly with a handkerchief.
"Li Jun, you really need to lose some weight. The last time Aunt saw you, you weren't this heavy. Look at you now—where are you going to find a wife?" Aunt Tang pulled Li Jun into the yard. "If you can lose some pounds, I'll introduce you to a girl from Sister Liu's family at the village entrance. She's quite a beauty; you'll definitely like her."
"Mom, just let it go. Getting him to lose even a pound is harder than killing him," Tang Hao said as he bent over and walked into the yard.
At that moment, Zheng Yifan and Zhao Kai emerged from the house, their faces pale.
Tang Hao paused for a moment, noticing their expressions, and immediately stormed back inside.
"Mom! Is that yellow-haired guy causing trouble at our place again?" Tang Hao shouted angrily, his eyes seeming to blaze with fire.
"Sigh, it's better to avoid trouble. We can't compete with him; after all, his uncle is the chief of police and has been intimidating our village for three or four years now," Aunt Tang said gloomily, tears welling up in her eyes.
Just then, the hefty Li Jun squeezed into the house, nearly taking up half of the living room.
"That bastard! Was it that yellow-haired Fellow who did this? We can't just let it slide! We need to confront him. He smashed everything—our TV, computer, even the nightstand is in pieces. What’s left?" Normally soft-spoken, Li Jun was actually the most hot-tempered among them; he stormed out in a fit of rage, searching for something to use as a weapon.
Hearing Li Jun's words made Aunt Tang anxious. "Li Jun, you can't go! That yellow-haired guy's uncle is powerful; we can't afford to provoke him. He has his eyes on Old Li's Daughter-in-Law from East Village, but she refused him outright. What happened in the end? She ended up dead at the police station—officially it was reported as a heart attack, but I believe they drove her to it."
Upon hearing this, everyone stopped in their tracks. This was no joke; lives were at stake here. If it were an ordinary person involved, who would be afraid?
But that man could make any case disappear without a trace; what was there to fight about? Even if you scratched him slightly, you'd likely get sentenced for two or three years while he could kill someone without facing any consequences.
Unfortunately for them, even if the Tang family wanted to swallow their pride and endure it quietly, Yellow-Haired Ironhead chose that moment to walk into the yard.
He was a man in his thirties, covered in tattoos, with a patch of dyed yellow hair while the rest of his head was shaved bald. Behind him followed a dozen of his underlings, each wielding a machete.
"Hey! Are you looking for a fight? Perfect timing. The relocation management fee is still fifty thousand, but the compensation has changed to one dollar. Once you receive the compensation, you must hand it all over. Otherwise, I’ll make sure your family suffers. Do you believe me?" Yellow-Haired Ironhead sneered, glancing at the ground where a few of his men were hacking away at a rack drying salted fish, reducing it to splinters in no time.
"Don't push us too far, or I'll fight back," Tang Hao said, his face filled with anger. It seemed that if things escalated further, he might truly unleash his wrath.
"I'll bully you all I want. If I kill you, I won’t even give you funeral expenses. Go wherever you like; I'm here to inform you, not to negotiate," Yellow-Haired Ironhead spat on the ground and turned to leave.
"You bastard! I'll fight you! You think I'm going to let my family end up on the streets begging?" Aunt Tang cried, tears streaming down her face as she picked up a broom and swung it at Yellow-Haired Ironhead.
"To hell with you!" Yellow-Haired Ironhead turned around and kicked out.
Fortunately, Zheng Yifan quickly grabbed Aunt Tang to prevent her from getting hit.
"I'll fight you for that! How dare you kick my mom!" Tang Hao shouted furiously, lifting a hoe and aiming for Yellow-Haired Ironhead's head.
Zheng Yifan hurriedly blocked him; otherwise, that blow would have turned Yellow-Haired Ironhead's head into mush.
"Still want to fight back? You’ve crossed the line! Get them all!" Yellow-Haired Ironhead shouted rudely. Ignoring Zheng Yifan’s attempts to mediate, his group surged forward, ready to take down all six people in the yard.
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