I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

At the sand quarry by the Tazhai River, huge conveyor belts rumbled loudly.

The mountains of Heihe sand were loaded bucket by bucket into the iron sand transport boat by bulldozers.

Lin Fei stood on the shore, holding a large megaphone, directing the workers.

"Hurry up! This is the first shipment since Taigong took over. If anyone messes up, I'll hold them accountable!" Lin Fei shouted.

The workers were full of energy.

Lin Daqiang settled all the wages he owed them today, and just now he even gave them double the start-of-work bonus.

Everyone was putting in their best effort to make sure the first shipment of goods was transported out in a beautiful and orderly manner.

Two sand-carrying ships, each 30 meters long, were loaded with river sand, and their waterlines were very low.

The captain sounded the ship's horn, and Lin Fei jumped onto the bow of the first ship. He was shirtless, with half a cigarette between his fingers.

Inside the cabin, a dozen or so young men from Zhongtang were inspecting the tarpaulins and ropes used to secure the sand.

"Brother Fei, this batch of sand will bring in 300,000 yuan when it's transported to the city," a young man with a crew cut stepped forward and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Grandpa said that half of this money will be used to repair the ancestral hall and the other half will be used to distribute meat to the elderly in the village. Our Lin family will no longer have to live in poverty."

Lin Fei flicked the cigarette butt into the river.

"Keep a close eye on things. Once we cross that bend, we'll be in Wangjia Village's territory," Lin Fei said, pointing to the water ahead.

"Those people from Wangjia Village are not to be trifled with, so keep your eyes open."

The river breeze carries the fishy smell of aquatic plants.

The engine is running.

The bow of the ship cut through the waves, splashing white spray. Two sand-carrying ships drifted downstream.

The river narrowed ahead. The current became more rapid. The banks were covered with reeds that were half a person tall.

The sand-carrying ship rounded a bend.

Lin Fei squinted, looking at the river in front of him.

A thick iron chain lay across the water ahead.

The iron chain is attached to cement piles on both banks, and red and white plastic buoys are hung on the chain.

A dozen speedboats and wooden fishing boats lined up in front of the iron chain, completely blocking the wide river surface.

Wang Hai stood on the middle speedboat, his back bare and a gold chain around his neck. He held a meter-long iron harpoon in his hand.

Behind him stood hundreds of thugs from Wangjia Village, armed with machetes, iron bars, and barbed fishing nets.

A black Mercedes-Benz was parked in the reeds on the bank.

Lin Daqiang sat in the driver's seat, rolled down the window, looked at the river with binoculars, and grinned.

"Lin Ting, you're just a kid who hasn't even grown his first hair. You think you can mess with me? I'll make sure you can't sell a single grain of sand." Lin Daqiang slapped the steering wheel.

Upon seeing the commotion ahead, the captain of the sand-carrying ship gripped the steering wheel tightly and blasted the horn.

The sound of the ship's horn echoed across the river.

"Make way! Don't block the channel!" the captain shouted, sticking his head out.

Wang Hai picked up a red megaphone and shouted at the sand-carrying ship.

"Listen up, you grandsons of the Lin family! This river belongs to the Wang family!"

Wang Hai picked at his ear with his little finger and slammed the harpoon onto the deck.

"Drop anchor!" Wang Hai shouted.

The thugs on the speedboat threw the anchor into the water, and it got firmly stuck in the silt at the bottom of the river. A dozen boats lay motionless on the water.

The sand-carrying ship was forced to slow down and stop less than ten meters from the iron cable.

Lin Fei walked to the bow of the ship and pointed at Wang Hai.

"Wang Hai! What are you doing? Blocking the road with iron chains, are you looking for death?" Lin Fei cursed loudly.

Wang Hai threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Lin Fei, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. This waterway belongs to the Wang family and is the ancestral property of my Wangjia Village. If your Lin family's boats want to pass, you have to follow the rules."

Wang Hai pointed with a harpoon at the hold of the sand-carrying ship, which was filled with river sand.

"From today onwards, every time your Lin family's boat passes through, you must pay a toll of 50,000. If you pay even a penny less, don't even think about letting your boat pass."

Lin Fei was furious and grabbed a steel pipe from the side.

"Fifty thousand? Why don't you just rob someone! This Tazhai River belongs to the state, when did it become yours, Wang family's territory!"

Wang Hai waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm not going to waste my breath on this nonsense. Pay up and let me through. No money? Turn around and go back to your run-down town."

Lin Fei gritted his teeth. His great-grandfather had just taken back the sand quarry. If the first batch of sand couldn't be transported out, the Lin family would become a laughing stock in Tazhai Town.

This is not just about money; it's a slap in the face to the Lin family.

"Ram it!" Lin Fei ordered the captain.

The captain of the sand-carrying ship gritted his teeth and floored the accelerator.

The sand-carrying ship, weighing tens of tons, rammed into the speedboat in front of it, braving the current.

Instead of retreating, Wang Hai advanced.

"You're asking for it! Get him!"

Hundreds of thugs from Wangjia Village jumped into the river like dumplings being dropped into a pot. They were excellent swimmers and swam very fast in the turbulent water.

A dozen or so people swam to the sand-carrying ship, grabbed the side of the ship with both hands, and climbed up the iron ladder.

Lin Fei swung the steel pipe and smashed it at the thugs who were climbing up.

"Bang!" A thug was hit on the shoulder, screamed, and fell into the water, splashing up a spray of water.

More and more people climbed up, and the young men of Zhongtang, armed with wooden sticks and iron tools, fought with the people of Wangjia Village on the deck.

The crew-cut young man grabbed a large wrench and smashed it over the head of a thug. The thug, bleeding from his head, retaliated by slashing the crew-cut young man's arm with a knife.

The deck was covered in blood.

Wang Hai drove his speedboat and crashed directly into the side of the sand-carrying ship.

He leaped up and jumped onto the deck of the sand-carrying ship, aiming the harpoon in his hand straight at Lin Fei's chest.

Lin Fei dodged to the side, and the steel pipe slammed into Wang Hai's back.

Wang Hai grabbed the steel pipe with his backhand and kicked Lin Fei in the stomach.

Lin Fei lost his balance, took two steps back, tripped on the cable with his right foot, and fell backward.

With a loud "plop," Lin Fei fell into the river from the bow of the boat.

River water rushed into his mouth and nose. Lin Fei couldn't swim, so he struggled desperately in the water, grabbing at things with his hands.

The young men of Zhongtang panicked and wanted to jump down to save the person.

The thugs from Wangjia Village threw out several barbed fishing nets, which tightly covered Zhongtang's young man.

Several iron bars smashed them on the head, knocking them to the ground on the deck.

Wang Hai stood at the bow of the boat, watching Lin Fei struggling in the water.

"The Lin family are all landlubbers, yet they dare to fight me on the river? Throw them all into the water to wake them up!" Wang Hai ordered.

Several thugs lifted the young man from Zhongtang, who was caught in the net, and threw him and the net into the river.

The river was full of Lin family men splashing around in the water.

The people from Wangjia Village were very slippery in the water, and they grabbed the young man from the Lin family by the ankles and pulled him down.

Several young men from Zhongtang who were good swimmers risked their lives to swim to Lin Fei's side and support his arm.

"Brother Fei! Let's retreat! We can't win!" The crew-cut young man choked on his saliva and shouted loudly.

Lin Fei swallowed several mouthfuls of river water while in the water, coughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

Seeing that things were not going well, the captain of the sand-carrying ship pulled the control lever, and the sand-carrying ship turned around in a sorry state.

Several young men pulled Lin Fei onto the deck, and the sand-carrying boat, billowing black smoke, fled towards Tazhai Town.

Wang Hai stood on the speedboat and laughed heartily.

"Go back and tell your little great-grandfather! I've blocked the waterways! Pay up to redeem them!"

Ancestral hall in Tazhai Town.

Lin Ting sat in the armchair in his grandfather's study, flipping through the account books on the table.

My second great-uncle stood beside me, leaning on his cane, his face beaming with joy.

"Grandpa, the sand quarry has started operations, and the first batch of sand will be shipped today. Finally, we'll have some income in our ancestral hall's accounts," the second uncle murmured.

Hurried footsteps echoed in the courtyard.

The study door was pushed open.

Lin Fei was soaking wet, his clothes were covered in mud and sand, and a large bump was swollen on his forehead. He stumbled into the study.

"Grandpa! Something's happened!" Lin Fei knelt on the ground and coughed up a mouthful of river water.

The second uncle was startled and dropped his cane to the ground.

"Fei-zai, what happened to you? Did the boat sink?" Second Uncle quickly went over.

Lin Ting closed the ledger and looked up at the dripping wet Lin Fei.

"Wang Hai has blocked the waterway with his men. He's demanding 50,000 in tolls. Our brothers have been injured, and the boat can't get through," Lin Fei said through gritted teeth.

"Grandpa, they all grew up in the water. We brothers are no match for them in the water, we can't beat them."

The second uncle was so angry that he kept slapping his thigh.

"Wangjia Village! Those river bandits! They've always been domineering, controlling that stretch of waterway and bullying passing boats. Now they even dare to block our Lin family's boat!"

The second great-uncle turned to look at Lin Ting. "Grandpa, what should we do? In a naval battle, our Lin family is at a disadvantage!"

Lin Ting leaned back in his chair, remaining silent.

He brought up the system panel in his mind.