Chapter 1 A Showdown Outside the District

After the battle outside the district, Su Tianyu and his men snatched Liang Feng back, killed Xu Er, and, with Zhao Weihu's protection, swaggered back into the district.

This series of counterattacks was swift and decisive, causing the Ma Gang a great deal of pain, and it was also cathartic.

But back in the district, after everything had continued to ferment, the weakness of the team led by the Yu family was immediately exposed.

The Ma Gang was large, cohesive, and backed by the General Association and the customs, which made the Yu family feel overwhelmed. Their strongest connections were with the garrison, not the system.

The exchange had begun. The greater your ambition, the stronger the opponent you might face. You could make a move against them, and they could make a move against you. This was an irreversible process.

...

Even after Xu Hu was hung up, the Ma Gang's actions outside did not stop.

In the following days, the Ma Gang of Zhan Nan District, the Ma Gang of Longkou District, and Changqing Company all summoned many lackeys to loiter around the territories of the three companies in Zhan Nan, creating a strong deterrent even though they didn't actively provoke trouble.

The workers of the Su, Bai, and Kong families couldn't take it anymore. They didn't dare to confront these people who would resort to violence at the drop of a hat, so most of them stopped working and submitted their resignations.

The Su, Bai, and Kong families wouldn't force the workers to work at this time, threatening them with contracts, because if they did, the external problems wouldn't be solved, and internal conflicts might break out again.

Moreover, in order to keep people on the payroll, the three companies had to continue paying wages, but they couldn't get any work done.

Changqing Company knew how to fight dirty all too well. In addition to threatening the workers with violence, Li Hongze also came up with a plan for Gu Tongshan. He had some of his lackeys collect urban waste and, around midnight, secretly transport it to the three companies' work areas, dumping the foul-smelling garbage in the work zones.

For two days in a row, the garbage naturally produced in the work areas and the garbage deliberately dumped there had filled all the garbage collection points, community garbage bins, and alley garbage collection areas.

Naturally, the community residents were unhappy. The residential areas were surrounded by garbage waiting to be disposed of. What was the environmental sanitation management committee doing? The complaint calls were about to blow up the environmental sanitation management committee.

The people demanded that the three contracting companies be replaced.

This set of powerful combination punches seemed to be aimed at the Su, Bai, and Kong families, but in reality, the person who suffered the most was Yu Jinrong.

...

Three days later, at noon.

Yu Jinrong sat in a villa in the suburbs, drinking red wine and looking at the endless lawns and mountains.

A middle-aged man in cloth clothes walked over from the main entrance of the villa and said jokingly, "What's wrong? Did the Ma Gang ruin your mood?"

"Hehe, no," Yu Jinrong replied, raising his glass of red wine. "I just wanted a drink."

The middle-aged man bent down and sat down, crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and said casually, "If you want to plant a flag in the port, it's going to be difficult. You can't get results in one or two rounds. It's normal to be blocked. There's nothing to get worked up about."

"Yes," Yu Jinrong nodded.

The middle-aged man took a puff of his cigarette. "Our garrison will definitely support you, no question about it. But now the Ma Gang has joined forces with Changqing to besiege you with civil organizations, so it's really difficult for you to get out of this predicament. You have to understand that the city wants a stable situation. They can't just arrest all the Ma Gang people and clean them up, so they can only find the fastest way to solve the problem. You're small, so you're going to be unlucky."

"Hehe, everyone says that people in the martial world are brainless and have few ideas," Yu Jinrong smiled. "Aren't Xu Hu and Gu Tongshan playing this pretty well?!"

"That's the wisdom of the grassroots, haha!" The middle-aged man also smiled. "Why are they so resilient? Because they can adapt."

Yu Jinrong nodded.

"Lao Yu, abandon the knight to save the queen." The middle-aged man poured himself a glass of red wine and said calmly, "Since you can't dodge this bullet, accept it. Replace the three companies, clear out the environmental sanitation management committee, and quell the incident."

Yu Jinrong turned to look at him. "Lao Qian, doesn't that mean selling the three companies?!"

"It's not really selling, is it? It's just that we can't do this job right now. We can continue to cooperate on other businesses in the future," Lao Qian said softly. "Take a step back, solve the problem first, and then keep your official hat. That's the right way to go."

Yu Jinrong put down his glass and turned to look at the other man. "The Su family has a kid who's quite smart. He advised Mingyuan before, wanting us to use the three companies as a foundation to start an association... I listened to it roughly, and it seemed to have potential."

"You mean...?"

"Now that the three companies are cleared out, my pressure will indeed be much less," Yu Jinrong said softly. "But what will my situation be when the three companies are gone? No one in the management committee, no direct subordinates, just an empty title. Wouldn't that be a toothless tiger?"

Lao Qian fell silent upon hearing this.

"Besides, if you clear out the three companies, who will take over this part of the work area?" Yu Jinrong continued. "Changqing Company, right? That's the same as us giving up the pit ourselves and giving it to your opponent to occupy. Although I've kept my official hat, I've lost my territory and people, so what's the point of me being in the management committee?"

"That makes sense," Lao Qian nodded deeply.

"Damn it, sigh." Yu Jinrong looked at the mountains in the distance and said, "Dragon City is really an interesting place."

"Then what do you plan to do?"

"I'm not convinced!" Yu Jinrong said concisely. "I admit defeat, but I won't clear out the companies. Lao Qian, you have to help me find someone to say a word."

Lao Qian nodded. "No problem!"

"Mm."

...

Half an hour later.

Su Tianyu received a call from Yu Mingyuan. "What's up? Big brother!"

"My dad wants to see you. Come to my house," Yu Mingyuan said without any room for doubt.

"Okay," Su Tianyu immediately nodded.

The two ended the call, and Su Tianyu drove to the Yu family's house alone.

On the way, his phone rang.

"Hello? Uncle Wang!" Su Tianyu glanced at the caller ID and answered the phone politely.

"Has Wu Shixiong contacted you at all?" Wang Daolin asked.

"No!" Su Tianyu replied without hesitation. "Why are you asking that?"

"No my ass!" Wang Daolin scolded anxiously. "Tell me the truth!"

"Really, no!" Su Tianyu replied with explosive psychological fortitude. "I haven't seen him since he went to prison."

"Let me tell you, Zheng Wei of Longkou was killed by Wu Shixiong! The two surveillance cameras around the crime scene captured images of the suspect. The other person's appearance, height, and body movements are very consistent with Wu Shixiong," Wang Daolin roared. "But Wu Shixiong has nothing to do with Zheng Wei. Tell me, why did he kill Zheng Wei?!"

Su Tianyu was a little confused and blurted out, "Yeah, why did he kill Zheng Wei?"

"Who the hell are you asking?! Are we playing tongue twisters?!"

"Uncle Wang, is it possible that this case was a chance encounter robbery, a crime of passion?"

"Go to hell! How much money would he rob to stab him in the throat?" Wang Daolin didn't believe it at all. "Tell me the truth, has Wu Shixiong contacted you at all? Is this related to you?!"