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

Wood chips fell onto the bluestone slab.

The courtyard was completely silent. More than two hundred men from the Lin family, holding shovels and hoes, were all staring at Lin Ting, who was sitting on the armchair.

Lin Ting raised his right hand, revealing a bloody welt on his palm, blood dripping from between his fingers. He grabbed a white towel from the table beside him and casually wrapped it around his hand.

"Taking people to fight is what street thugs do," Lin Ting said.

"Breaking a few legs won't solve the problem. Liu Da Nao has been controlling the whole town by relying on that run-down market. He cut off the Lin family's source of income, so the Lin family took away his livelihood."

My second great-uncle walked forward, leaning on his cane.

"Grandpa, how do we smash it? There's only one farmers' market in town, and vegetable farmers from all around sell their produce there."

"If we don't go into his house, we'll have nowhere to sell our fruit." Uncle Er's voice was urgent.

Lin Ting placed his hand, which was wrapped in a towel, on the table.

"If Liu Da Nao doesn't let us in, then the Lin family won't go in either. There's a large wasteland right across from Hongfa Agricultural Trade Market."

The Lin family will fund the construction of a larger and better farmers' market there.” Lin Ting’s voice echoed throughout the courtyard.

The crowd was stunned.

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

"Grandpa! Building a market isn't like setting up a thatched shed! Laying the foundation, building brick walls, and topping out the roof will take at least half a year."

"By the time the market is built, the golden fruit on the trees on the back hill will have rotted away!" Second Uncle advised against it.

Lin Fei stood to the side, holding a steel pipe in his hand.

"If Grandfather says to build it, then let's build it. The Lin family has money and manpower; at worst, the whole clan will work around the clock," Lin Fei said loudly.

Lin Ting did not offer any further explanation.

He turned around, went into the study, and closed the door behind him.

He brought up the system panel in his mind, which showed a balance of two thousand points of family prosperity.

Lin Ting entered the system reward pool and opened the building blueprints category.

[Quick Construction Drawings for a Light Steel Structure Farmers' Market]

Exchange Price: 1,000 Prosperity Points.

The prompt box states: High-strength light steel keel assembly technology is used, eliminating the need for cement pouring and curing.

Modular assembly, windproof and rainproof. Can be rapidly manufactured with sufficient manpower.

Lin Ting clicked "Confirm".

With prosperity deducted, a thick roll of kraft paper drawings appeared in the study drawer.

He opened the drawer, took out the blueprints, and walked out of the study.

The Lin family members in the courtyard all stood still, waiting for instructions. Lin Ting threw the blueprints on the octagonal table.

"Where is Lin Dayou, the head of Yitang?" Lin Ting called out.

A man in his fifties, with calloused hands, squeezed through the crowd and ran to the table. He had spent his entire life as a bricklayer, in charge of the Lin family's bridge and road repairs.

"Grandpa, I'm here," Lin Dayou replied.

"Look at the blueprints and figure out how to assemble this thing." Lin Ting pointed to the kraft paper on the table.

Lin Dayou unfolded the blueprints and examined them carefully. His eyes widened as he gestured across the blueprints with his hands.

"Grandpa, these blueprints are amazing. They're all made of steel and bolted together; you don't even need to lay bricks."

"As long as there are enough materials and enough people, this thing can be assembled as quickly as building with blocks," Lin Dayou reported loudly.

Lin Ting nodded.

"Lin Dayou, take the people from Yitang to the sand quarry. All three factories have stopped operating."

"Excavators, bulldozers, dump trucks—drive them all to town and level that wasteland. Take as much sand and gravel as you need."

"Lin Fei, take Zhongtang's men to clear the area opposite Hongfa Farmers Market and set up a cordon."

"Lin Fu, bandage your head wound. Take the people from the auditorium to the county. Buy up all the light steel keel and corrugated steel sheets from all the building material factories in the county."

The money went through the ancestral hall's account; the materials must be brought back to town before dark today.

Lin Ting issued three orders in succession.

The heads of all the Lin family branches agreed in unison.

"All the male members of the clan, aged 15 to 60, took their tools to town and stayed up for the next few days."

"Buy all the searchlights in town and hang them on the construction site," Lin Ting gave his final order.

Tens of thousands of Lin family men responded with a resounding roar.

The crowd dispersed, and chaos erupted outside the ancestral hall courtyard. Tractors started up, and motorcycles roared.

The entire town of Tazhai sprang into action.

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

In the town center, the Hongfa Farmers Market was closed, and the wasteland opposite was overgrown with weeds half a person tall.

Lin Fei, along with fifty loyal men who had drunk the medicinal soup, set up two red and white cordon lines to fence off tens of thousands of square meters of wasteland.

A deafening roar of engines echoed from the end of the street.

Twenty tracked excavators lined up in a long row, their tracks grinding against the asphalt road as they drove into the wasteland.

Ten large bulldozers and fifty dump trucks loaded with sand and gravel followed behind.

This spectacle drew all the town's residents out, who gathered at a distance to watch the excitement.

"What is the Lin family trying to do? Are they rebelling?"

"I heard they're going to build a market here, to go against Liu Da Nao."

The excavator bucket slammed into the mud, scooping up large patches of weeds and clods of earth.

Bulldozers cleared the way, flattening the uneven wasteland.

Tens of thousands of Lin family men, shirtless and carrying shovels, entered the site. Excavators dug foundation trenches, and the men followed behind, dumping sand, laying stones, and compacting the ground.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized; not a single person slacked off. Sweat mixed with dirt clung to their backs.

Inside the Hongfa Farmers Market.

Mr. Liu was sitting in his office drinking tea when the roaring noise outside the door made his teacup shake.

The bald man pushed open the office door and scrambled in.

"Boss Liu, the Lin family across the street has gone mad! They brought over dozens of excavators and leveled the entire land across the street."

"All the men in Tazhai have come, saying they want to build a new market right across from us!" the bald man shouted.

Boss Liu slammed his teacup heavily on the table.

"Build a market? Right under my nose, Liu Da Nao?" Boss Liu stood up, grabbed his bag, and walked out.

He led a dozen or so thugs out the gate, and across the street, yellow dust filled the air.

The excavator's mechanical arm swung up and down, and tens of thousands of people were densely distributed on the construction site, with sand and gravel piled up into small mountains.

This is an incredibly large operation.

Boss Liu stood behind the roadblock, a cigar dangling from his lips, watching the Lin family army across the street.

"Boss, should we go over there and cause trouble? Smash their machines?" the bald man asked, leaning closer.

Boss Liu slapped the bald man across the face.

"Use your brain! There are over 10,000 people on the other side, what are you going to use to smash them? Are you going to throw your life away?" Boss Liu cursed.

The bald man covered his face and stepped aside.

Boss Liu exhaled a puff of cigar smoke and snorted coldly.

"Let them do whatever they want. Is building a market a game? There are approval procedures, foundation laying, maintenance, wall construction, and roofing."

"In less than half a year, not a single hair will grow on this land." Boss Liu pointed to the opposite side.

"By the time they finish covering it, the fruit on the trees will have rotted into mud. What do those bumpkins from the Lin family know about business? I want to see how long they can hold out with this mess."

It was evening.

More than a dozen extended semi-trailer trucks drove into the town and parked at the edge of the construction site, loaded with light steel keel and corrugated steel sheets bought from the county.

As Lin Ting walked to the construction site, hundreds of high-powered searchlights lit up simultaneously, illuminating the tens of thousands of square meters of the site as bright as day.

Sparks flew everywhere from the welding machine, and Lin Dayou stood on the sand pile, holding a megaphone, directing the operation.

"Erect the first row of keels! Install the bolts! Tighten the bolts!"

Hundreds of men from the Lin family carried heavy steel bars and precisely inserted them into the pre-drilled slots. The sound of wrenches tightening nuts filled the air.

Rows of steel frames rose from the ground under the lights.

Standing opposite, Boss Liu looked at the rows of steel frames, and his face immediately darkened. He threw his cigar on the ground and stomped on it.

"Lin Ting, you think you can use a few iron bars as a house? It'll collapse in the wind!" Boss Liu shouted from across the street.