Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

It was already bright outside, and people in the countryside got up very early. Some women even got up as early as five or six o'clock to start a fire and cook so that the men who were going to work could have breakfast.

In the rural areas of Tuocheng in the 1980s, people living near the mountains mostly still used firewood for cooking, while in places like Lianzhai, villages with a little more economic means had mostly started using honeycomb briquette stoves, so starting a fire in the morning wasn't too much of a hassle.

After finishing the sweet potato porridge his wife had cooked for him at home, Huang Sanqiang shouldered his hoe and carried two bamboo winnowing baskets hanging from the back, ready to go to the brigade for work. Today's task was to go to the fields at the west end of the village to repair the field ridges, which wasn't a big deal.

Huang Sanqiang stepped out of his house and saw that the Lin family next door still had their doors tightly shut, and there was no sound or smoke coming from inside. Curious, he went over and called out to the window, "Old Lin, what time is it? Still not up? Aren't you planning to go to work today?"

Huang Sanqiang called out several times, but Lin Shuiquan didn't respond. He frowned. He had never seen Lin Shuiquan go out so late before. Usually, Huang Sanqiang would come and call him. What was wrong with him today?

Huang Sanqiang stepped forward and was about to push open the wooden door of the Lin family when he found that the door was blocked from the inside. This made Huang Sanqiang suspicious. Could something have happened?

Inside the house, Bai Shuibao and the other two had been awakened by Huang Sanqiang's shouts. They were leaning against the earthen wall by the window, exchanging glances.

Not far from the three men, three corpses lay on the ground: a woman and two children. All of them had their throats slit and bled to death while they were asleep. The three men simply dumped their bodies on the ground.

"Old Lin, Old Lin, Sister-in-law, Gu Zi, Ni'er," Huang Sanqiang started pushing the door and then banging on it, making more and more noise, but there was still no response from inside.

Lao Shan leaned close to Bai Shuibao's ear and whispered, "Brother, why don't we just let this guy in? The three of us can kill him together. Otherwise, if he keeps making such a racket, he'll attract the whole village, and that will be a disaster!"

Just as Bai Shuibao nodded in agreement, Huang Sanqiang outside suddenly shouted, "Help! Someone's been killed! Help!"

"Grass!"

Bai Shuibao cursed under his breath, but the guy still noticed. The three of them immediately got up, removed the carrying pole blocking the door, and pulled the door open. Huang Sanqiang, who was still shouting outside, immediately shut up when he saw the Lin family's door open and three strange men holding sharp knives came out.

"Who are you? Where's Old Lin? Where are his wife and children?"

Bai Shuibao spat to the side and sneered at Huang Sanqiang, "You want to know? Then we'll send you to see them!"

"Help! Murder! Help!"

Huang Sanqiang was not stupid at all; on the contrary, he was very clever. He knew that he was alone and no match for the three knife-wielding thugs. He did not fight them head-on, but instead shouted loudly. When Bai Shuibao and the other two rushed over, he ran away, always keeping a distance of five or six meters from them to prevent them from getting close.

"Help! A thief has broken into the village! He's killing someone!"

Huang Sanqiang's shouts finally attracted the attention of other villagers who were about to go to work. Seeing that things were not going well, Bai Shuibao and his two companions immediately pointed at Huang Sanqiang and said fiercely, "You just wait, I know where your home is!"

After saying that, he was about to turn around and run up the mountain, but Huang Sanqiang would not let them go so easily. He immediately picked up a stone and threw it at Bai Shuibao. Huang Sanqiang's skill in throwing stones at birds was unparalleled in Hongping Village.

A stone flew over and hit Bai Shuibao right near the back of the head. Before Bai Shuibao could react, he fell headfirst to the ground. Lao Luo and Lao Shan were still running up the mountain, completely unaware that their eldest brother, Bai Shuibao, had fallen behind.

"Thief!"

"Don't let them get away!"

More and more villagers rushed over. Huang Sanqiang first quickly went over, pulled down Bai Shuibao's pants, and tied him up tightly, regardless of whether he was dead or alive. Only then did he step into the Lin family's gate.

As soon as he entered, he saw Lin's sister-in-law and two children lying dead on the ground. Their bodies were already cold. He didn't see Lin Shuiquan there. Huang Sanqiang, his eyes bloodshot, couldn't bear to witness such a tragic scene. He walked out of the house and kicked Bai Shuibao, whom he had tied up, repeatedly.

"You beast, you could even lay a hand on a child! I'll kick you to death, you bastard!"

"Sanqiang, what happened?"

Huang Zhentao, the new production team leader of Hongping Village, rushed over carrying a carrying pole. Seeing Huang Sanqiang kicking the person tied to the ground, he shouted, "What are you doing? Don't kick him to death!"

"I'm going to fucking kick him to death! Go inside and see for yourself! These bastards!"

Huang Zhentao stepped inside, took a look, and came out cursing as well. The other young men who hadn't caught up with him on the mountain gathered around and asked, "What's wrong, Brother Sanqiang?"

"The entire Lin family was killed. These beasts didn't even spare the children," Huang Sanqiang said, kicking out again, which woke up Bai Shuibao, who had been unconscious.

Bai Shuibao struggled to get up, only to find himself tied up. He couldn't help but threaten the men surrounding him, "Let me go right now, or my brother will send people over tonight and kill your whole family!"

"Kill him!"

"Fuck your mother, I'll kill you first!"

The young men were filled with righteous indignation. Bai Shuibao's threats only made these angry villagers more furious, rather than back down.

A dozen or so men surrounded Bai Shuibao, kicking him like a sandbag. Before long, Bai Shuibao was spitting blood and begging for mercy, pleading, "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! Brothers, please stop!"

Although Huang Zhentao also wanted to kill the man in front of him, reason still made him make a choice. He said to his younger brother Huang Zhenbo, "Second brother, hurry up and ride the brigade's bicycle to the commune to report the case. Tell them that three thugs broke into our village last night and killed Lin Shuiquan's family of four. Hurry!"

"Okay, I understand, big brother!"

Bai Shuibao, lying on the ground vomiting blood, was naked from the waist down. After being beaten by more than a dozen people, the knot that Huang Sanqiang had tied with his pants was also untied. At this moment, Bai Shuibao covered his chest and abdomen with his hands and kept coughing.

"Go to the village committee and get the rope. Also, call Secretary Liu over and tell him about this," Huang Zhentao said to another young man. The young man nodded and ran towards the village committee.

Bai Shuibao, who was lying on the ground, was spitting blood from the beating, but his eyes were still rolling around, trying to find an opportunity to get up and run away.