1950s: After transmigrating into a capitalist, I relied on military industry to achieve a comeback.

In the dead of night, the snow fell silently.

Lin Jiaoyue quietly rolled off the kang (a heated brick bed), and the moment she pushed open the door, she bumped into Lin Hongsheng, who was walking out of the main room.

In the darkness, Lin Hongsheng held a solid iron fire hook used for igniting the stove, his eyes sharp and fierce. Father and daughter exchanged a glance, and without a word, Lin Jiaoyue pointed to the courtyard gate. Lin Hongsheng nodded slightly and nimbly crouched down.

"Click".

The latch was skillfully pried open by the person outside using a thin piece of iron.

As soon as a dark figure squeezed through the crack in the door, it was met with a gust of evil wind.

"court death!"

Lin Hongsheng roared and blocked the opponent's retreat with his fire hook. Then he kicked the man hard in the chest.

"Ouch--!"

The dark figure fell backward. This thief was a ruthless character; the moment he fell, he raised his right hand, and the boning knife flashed coldly in the moonlight, aiming straight for Lin Hongsheng's calf.

Just as Lin Hongsheng was about to change his move, he saw Lin Jiaoyue rushing up to him from the side like a gust of wind.

Instead of catching the blade with her hands, she made a grabbing motion in the air with her right hand the instant she got close to the thief.

A granite block weighing at least two kilograms with sharp edges appeared out of thin air in her hand.

Lin Jiaoyue found the best angle to strike, and her hand fell cleanly and swiftly.

"Bang!"

A dull thud.

The hard rock struck the thief precisely on the back of the head. The thief didn't even have time to groan; his whole body went limp instantly, the sharp knife in his hand clattered to the ground, and he lay sprawled on the snow like a rag doll.

Lin Hongsheng looked at the limp figure on the ground, then at the broken stone in his daughter's hand... still covered in dirt, and his lips twitched.

This girl has a really steady hand; she threw the stone at just the right time.

"Father, tie him up."

Lin Jiaoyue casually put the stone back into her spatial storage, her tone as calm as if she were discussing tomorrow's vegetable prices, "I didn't hit him hard enough, enough to keep him unconscious until we finish our act."

Lin Hongsheng snapped out of his daze, pulled down the clothesline, and skillfully gave the unfortunate fellow a "Su Qin carrying a sword" move, then casually tore off a piece of rag and stuffed it into his mouth.

A basin of icy well water was splashed on him, jolting the thief awake. He met Lin Jiaoyue's almond-shaped eyes, which were calm to the point of being cold, and trembled with fear.

"Speak," Lin Jiaoyue said, toying with the stone. Her voice was soft yet icy. "Who sent you? Think carefully before you speak. This stone in my hand doesn't have eyes. Next time, it won't hit the back of your head, it'll hit your skull."

The thief had just been jolted awake by the cold water, his head still buzzing. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the murder weapon that had caused his memory loss dangling in front of him. He was so frightened that he wanted to shrink back, but his hands and feet were tied up like a dumpling with clotheslines, so he could only wriggle around on the snow like a worm.

"Aren't you going to tell me?" Lin Jiaoyue tilted her head and smiled as she spoke, her tone as soft and sweet as if she were asking a neighbor's child if they wanted candy. "If my hand slips and the stone falls again, this time it won't just be a matter of fainting."

As she spoke, she loosened her grip, and the stone grazed the thief's nose before falling into the snow with a "bang," splashing snowflakes all over his face.

The thief shuddered, his crotch instantly soaked, and he cried out in a sob, "No! Don't smash it! I'll tell you! It was that old woman Wang from the alleyway! She said you were fat sheep from out of town, that you had mountains of gold and silver hidden in your homes, and that even your daughter wore the finest mutton-fat jade around her neck! I was just momentarily bewitched..."

"Aunt Wang?"

The curtain to the inner room was suddenly flung open, and Su Wanqing, wearing a cotton-padded coat, stood in the doorway. Her usually gentle face was now deathly pale with anger, her hands gripping the doorframe tightly: "Is this some kind of scheme to use someone else to do my dirty work! They failed to extort money during the day, so they're inviting a thief at night?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongsheng's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He slammed the solid iron fire hook in his hand hard against the floor tile with a crisp "clang," sending sparks flying.

"That old hag, she's got a death wish!" Lin Hongsheng gritted his teeth, turned around and was about to rush out. "Back when I was in the business in southern Jiangsu, someone like her wasn't even worthy of carrying my shoes! She dared to touch my daughter, I'll break her old bones today!"

"Father, wait."

Lin Jiaoyue stood up, dusted off her hands, and called out to the furious Lin Hongsheng.

Lin Hongsheng paused, turned to look at her, and said, "Jiaojiao, you can swallow this insult, but I can't!"

"Who said we had to put up with it?" Lin Jiaoyue chuckled lightly, but her eyes were icy cold. "We're new here and just looking for someone to help us establish our authority. Now that Aunt Wang has handed us the pillow, we're not only going to sleep in it, we're going to sleep soundly."

She walked over to the thief and kicked the soft lump of flesh with her toe: "Dad, just beating the thief won't do any good; it's only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. We need to let the whole neighborhood see what happens when you mess with the Lin family."

Lin Hongsheng was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant, and the anger in his eyes turned into a fierce look: "You mean..."

"Drag this guy up." Lin Jiaoyue gestured with her chin toward the thief on the ground. "Go smash the door. The bigger this commotion tonight, the better. It would be best if the whole of Harbin knew that our family is dirt poor, but we have backbone. Anyone who dares to lay a finger on us will be chopped off."

Lin Hongsheng chuckled, twirled the fire hook in his hand, strode forward, grabbed the thief by the back of the collar, and dragged him out like a dead dog: "Alright! Listen to your daughter, go return the gift!"

The thief was being strangled so badly his eyes rolled back, his legs leaving long tracks in the snow. He mumbled incoherently, but Lin Hongsheng slapped him on the forehead: "Shut up! Save your energy for the opera at Granny Wang's house later!"

Watching the father and daughter's menacing figures disappear into the distance, Su Wanqing called out worriedly, "Old Lin, Jiaojiao, be careful!"

"Mother, please don't worry." Lin Jiaoyue turned around and winked at her mother. "Boil some water, and we'll have celebratory tea when we get back."

On a snowy night, the father and daughter, one after the other, dragged a half-dead, unlucky thief straight to the Wang family's house at the end of the alley. Their actions didn't resemble going to argue; they looked more like they were going to ransack the house.

Lin Jiaoyue put her hands into her sleeves and touched the spare Browning pistol in her storage space, thinking to herself: Aunt Wang, you walked right into this mess yourself. I, Lin Jiaoyue, will gladly accept this opportunity that has been delivered to my door.

……