"You're asking for death!" Zhang Liunian cursed, drawing an iron rod from his sleeve and swinging it at Gu Changqing.
Gu Changqing hadn't expected Zhang Liunian to attack so suddenly. Seeing the iron rod about to descend, he instinctively raised his hand to fire.
It was at this moment that Zhang Liunian moved like lightning, appearing before Gu Changqing and striking with a chop. He successfully disarmed Gu Changqing, grabbing the pistol and tucking it into his belt. Then, a flurry of punches rained down on Gu Changqing, crackling like a barrage.
"Ah!" Gu Changqing cried out in pain. The one-sided beating only ended when Zhang Liunian, tired from punching, knocked him backward to the ground with a final blow.
"Clean up your mouth from now on. The woman I, Zhang Liunian, claim is not someone you can verbally harass and humiliate," Zhang Liunian said, flexing his fists. He pointed the pistol directly at the bruised and swollen Gu Changqing, issuing a stern warning.
Gu Changqing slowly pushed himself up from the ground, cradling his numb hand. Staring at the gun aimed at him, his face turned ashen. Only then did he understand why his father didn't want him to carry a gun.
It was because the gun might not help him, and could even become a sharp weapon used against him.
With this thought, a sheen of sweat broke out on Gu Changqing's face, and fear gripped his heart.
"I am the eldest son of the Gu family. If you dare to touch me, my father will not let you off," Gu Changqing mustered his courage, trying to intimidate Zhang Liunian, fearful that Zhang Liunian might suddenly attack.
"Do you think I put your entire Gu family in my eyes?" Moreover, the Gu family would be annihilated soon anyway, so why should he worry? As for his former business partner, Gu Sanqing, he believed he would have made preparations, so this was not something he needed to concern himself with.
"Such big talk. Do you know where our Gu family ranks in Pengcheng?"
"Financially, you're only in the top fifty. What's so great about that?"
"That's a load of crap! Our Gu family is a top-tier enterprise ranked tenth in Pengcheng. If you hurt me, forget about your ambition to acquire a mountain, you won't even be able to establish yourself in Pengcheng. Do you believe me?"
"Is that so? Then let me formally inform you, I'm not afraid of the Gu family. If you dare to cause trouble for me again, I'll beat you every time I see you."
Zhang Liunian couldn't be bothered to waste any more time with him. He had too many things to do and no time for such pointless banter.
"Since you dare to speak to me like that and hit me, have the guts to do it then! Try and touch me," Gu Changqing couldn't stand Zhang Liunian's arrogant attitude and directly provoked him.
He thought Zhang Liunian wouldn't dare. In reality, the moment Gu Changqing spoke, Zhang Liunian delivered a kick that sent him flying ten meters away.
"Boss!" Gu Changqing's thugs, having finally realized their boss was being beaten, all cried out at once and rushed over to check on Gu Changqing.
Zhang Liunian twitched the corner of his mouth, observing their actions, which were eerily similar to the construction site workers from last time.
"Pah! Seeing me get beaten, none of you stepped up to fight them. Are you all dead?" Gu Changqing, after being helped up, spat out the grass bits from his mouth and began ordering his men to attack Zhang Liunian and his group.
Hearing their boss's command, these men immediately drew their weapons and charged at Zhang Liunian and his companions.
Zhang Liunian turned, handed the gun to Zhang Qian, and instructed, "Take care of Qingqing."
Zhang Qian nodded. "Brother Liunian, be careful."
Xiao Zhou, standing nearby, began looking around for something. Just as he found a stick and intended to help, all of Gu Changqing's men had already fallen to the ground, howling in pain.
"..." Xiao Zhou looked at Zhang Liunian, then at Zhang Qian, who showed no inclination to help, and suddenly understood something.
So, this new boss he was following was incredibly skilled in fighting, which explained why they didn't need to help.
"Useless good-for-nothings! Didn't you say you were all skilled fighters? I spent a lot of money to recruit you, and you can't even last a single move against him. This makes me so angry!"
Gu Changqing, seeing his fifteen elite bodyguards, handpicked with great care, fall at Zhang Liunian's feet in mere minutes, was furious.
"Boss, it's not that we are weak, it's that he is too strong."
"Yes, boss. We haven't encountered anyone this strong yet."
"I dare say there isn't anyone in Pengcheng who can match his skill. We can't beat him with sheer force. We need to think of other ways."
"..."
The howling thugs on the ground all expressed that it wasn't their weakness, but the enemy's overwhelming strength that made them doubt their own existence.
"..." Gu Changqing was so infuriated that he pointed at them for a long time, speechless.
Meanwhile, Zhang Liunian, at this moment, grabbed Gu Changqing by the collar and sneered, "Let's go. You've provoked me, so I'm sending you on a brief tour of the lock-up."
Upon hearing that Zhang Liunian intended to send him to the police station again, Gu Changqing immediately struggled, shouting, "I'm not going! I'm not going! You can't do this!"
"Why can't I do this? Once you're in the lock-up, I can buy whichever mountain I want, and you won't be able to stop me." Zhang Liunian's intention was to test whether Gu Changqing was the only one aware of this matter.
To his surprise, it turned out to be true.
"My father will get me out in less than a day. If I find out you bought any mountains, I'll make sure the seller faces consequences along with you."
"Is that so? Then I'll be waiting."
Zhang Liunian completely disregarded his words, escorting him to the police station and handing the gun over to the police, hoping to keep him detained for a few more days.
"Brother Liunian, should I proceed with the original plan?" Zhang Qian asked for instructions as they walked out of the police station. If they followed Zhang Liunian's plan from yesterday, he would still need to travel around buying mountains.
But now that the main instigator was in custody, wouldn't it be easier?
Zhang Liunian smiled. "Go and change your appearance so that no one can recognize you. Then, head to Fude Village and Hongde Village and buy all the mountains in the plan."
"Change my appearance?" Zhang Qian asked, confused.
Zhang Liunian explained, "As you heard, if Gu Changqing finds out the mountains are sold to us, he might cause trouble for the two villages. By changing your appearance, you can temporarily eliminate the risk they face."
Zhang Qian finally understood the meaning of changing his appearance. "I understand. I'll go do it now."
After Zhang Qian left, Zhang Liunian, accompanied by his wife and Xiao Zhou, continued to pay for orders. In the evening, they made a call to Nan Cheng.
"Auntie, are Shaohua and Yehua doing well?" Jiang Qingqing asked excitedly as soon as the call connected.
Zhang Guihua chuckled. "They are doing very well. Shaohua is quiet and doesn't fuss, just eats and sleeps. Yehua is always with her Grandpa Zhao and is very sensible."
"That's good, that's good."
"..."
"You'll be unsealed next week? I'll definitely be back on time then." Jiang Qingqing was thrilled to hear about the unsealing next week, wishing she could return to her children immediately.
Zhang Liunian, in the adjacent room, was also on the phone, calling Du Ziteng.
"Brother Liunian, you finally called! I was just about to tell you that the tenants have agreed to renew their rental contracts and pay rent. They're asking when you can sign the agreements."
Zhang Liunian was surprised to hear they had backed down.
"Didn't they intend to resist and absolutely refuse to pay rent? How did they suddenly soften?" Zhang Liunian was genuinely surprised by their change of heart.
"It's all thanks to Uncle Yan helping you. I heard he had people investigate problems with their factories, and they uncovered quite a few issues. They then learned about your relationship with Uncle Yan and became compliant."
Du Ziteng had heard this from Zhao Zhijie, otherwise, he wouldn't have known about this matter.