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

A dozen large roller shutters rolled up to the top.

Behind the door were not shops, but a dense crowd of people.

Three thousand men from the Lin family stood behind the roller shutter door, all dressed in black vests, each carrying a solid rubber baton.

Three thousand people lined up in neat square formations, completely blocking all four exits of the market.

No one spoke. Only heavy breathing and footsteps could be heard.

Lin Fei stood at the front, the thickened seamless steel pipe in his hand making a crisp sound as he tapped it on the cement ground.

He took a step forward, and three thousand men from the Lin family followed suit.

A dense crowd surged into the passageway.

Two hundred thugs wielding machetes were forced to retreat repeatedly, crowding into an open space of less than one hundred square meters.

The knives in their hands became scrap metal in the face of three thousand rubber batons.

Big Fei's muscular face stopped twitching. He glanced back at the gate.

Hundreds of Lin family men stood outside the gate, completely blocking any escape route.

Big Fei's hand holding the machete froze in mid-air, his wrist trembling.

He'd been around for so many years and had never seen anything like this. This wasn't a brawl between thugs; it was an army.

Lin Fei walked down the iron staircase from the second floor.

He carried the steel pipe and walked up to Brother Dafei.

Big Fei gritted his teeth, raised his machete, and tried to chop forward.

Lin Fei exerted force with his arm, and the seamless steel pipe swept out, slamming heavily onto Brother Fei's right wrist, which was holding a knife.

With a crisp crack, the wrist bone broke.

The machete fell to the ground.

Lin Fei raised his foot and kicked Da Fei in the stomach. Da Fei let out a scream, his knees buckled, and he knelt heavily on the concrete ground.

After Brother Dafei knelt down, the remaining two hundred thugs all lost their courage.

Someone took the lead and threw their knife on the ground. Immediately afterwards, the sounds of machetes, iron bars, and baseball bats falling filled the air.

Two hundred thugs covered their heads with their hands and squatted on the ground, not daring to lift their heads.

Mr. Liu was standing next to the gasoline drum when the metal lighter in his hand fell to the ground and broke in two.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of gasoline, but he stood frozen in place, not daring to move an inch.

Looking at the three thousand expressionless men in black vests around him, his legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud.

Lin Ting came down from the second floor.

Lin Dayou, the head of the Yitang, brought over a century-old rosewood armchair and placed it in the middle of the aisle.

Lin Ting sat down, twirling two walnuts in his hands. The walnuts made a cracking sound as they were rubbed together.

"Big Head Liu," Lin Ting called out.

Boss Liu knelt on the ground, trembling all over, his forehead covered in cold sweat. "Grandpa Lin... I was wrong. I didn't know the Lin family had so many people."

Lin Ting stopped playing with the walnuts.

"Bring two hundred men and twenty barrels of gasoline to burn down the Lin family's market. This score needs to be settled today," Lin Ting said.

"The Lin family's rule is that anyone who comes to cause trouble must leave something behind."

Lin Ting raised his right hand and pointed at the two hundred thugs squatting on the ground.

"Ten slaps each. Line up and slap them. Lin Fei, you hit the one who's in the lead," Lin Ting ordered.

Three thousand men from the Lin family immediately took action.

Two men grabbed one of the thugs by the arm and pinned him to the spot. The other man swung his arm and slapped the thug hard across the face.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

The sound of slaps echoed through the farmers' market. Two hundred people were being slapped at the same time.

The thugs were beaten until their mouths bled and their cheeks were swollen, but none of them dared to fight back.

Lin Fei carried the steel pipe and walked up to Boss Liu.

Boss Liu kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Grandpa Lin, spare my life! Brother Dafei, spare my life! Don't hit my face!"

Lin Fei grabbed Boss Liu by the collar of his floral shirt and lifted him up. He swung his right hand in a wide arc and slapped Boss Liu across the left cheek with a loud "smack".

Mr. Liu's face swelled up on one side, resembling a steamed bun.

Lin Fei slapped him again across the right cheek.

He slapped her twice, with both hands, a total of twenty slaps.

After finishing the beating, Lin Fei released his grip. Boss Liu lay sprawled on the ground like a rag doll, his mouth full of blood, spitting out four bloody molars.

He can't even speak a word clearly now, he can only let out muffled screams.

Lin Fu, carrying a black leather bag, walked out from behind Lin Ting.

He took out several sheets of A4 paper from his bag and walked up to Boss Liu. The papers were printed with the "Hongfa Agricultural Market Free Transfer Agreement".

"Boss Liu, your run-down market is empty. Keeping it around will only result in losses." Lin Fu slapped the paper on Boss Liu's face.

"The Lin family is generous and has taken over your business. Sign and put your fingerprint on it."

Mr. Liu covered his swollen face and shook his head desperately. That was the venue he had paid a hefty sum to acquire; this place was going to swallow his entire fortune.

Lin Fei raised the seamless steel pipe in his hand and pressed it against Boss Liu's neck, the pipe pressed directly against his neck.

"Sign or not?" Lin Fei asked.

Mr. Liu was so frightened that he wet his pants, and the yellow liquid flowed down his thighs onto the cement floor.

He took the pen with trembling hands and wrote his name crookedly on the paper.

Lin Fu grabbed Boss Liu's thumb, smeared it with the blood from his face, and pressed a bloody handprint heavily onto his name.

The agreement was returned to Lin Ting.

Lin Ting glanced at the paper, then handed it to Lin Fu to put away. He stood up from the armchair.

"The agreement is signed. Hongfa Market belongs to the Lin family. Take your men and get out of Tazhai Town." Lin Ting looked at Boss Liu on the ground.

"From now on, the Lin family will have the final say in the fresh produce trade in Tazhai Town. Anyone who dares to cause trouble again will have their legs broken."

Mr. Liu scrambled to his feet.

Big Fei, clutching his broken wrist, ran out with two hundred thugs whose heads were swollen like pigs, supporting each other.

They didn't even dare to take the machetes and gasoline cans on the ground, and rushed out of the market gate.

More than a dozen large Jinbei vans and black Santana sedans started up, their exhaust pipes belching black smoke, and drove out of Tazhai Town as if their lives depended on it.

The market has returned to quiet.

Lin Ting waved his hand: "Wash up the gasoline on the ground. Open the door and continue doing business."

Hundreds of men from the Lin family carried buckets and mops, quickly washing the passageway until it was spotless. The smell of gasoline dissipated soon after.

The merchants who had been hiding under the stalls slowly crawled out.

Butcher Zhang put the butcher's knife back on the chopping board. Old Wang tidied up the overturned cabbages. Their expressions towards Lin Ting completely changed.

His eyes held both reverence and steadfastness.

With the Lin family's three thousand male members protecting them, this market is an impenetrable wall; even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't dare to collect protection money.

The commotion was quite loud, but it didn't scare away the fruit buyers.

The people of Tazhai Town, always eager for excitement, let the aroma of golden fruit waft through the air once more.

The queue was longer than before.

"Weigh me quickly! I need fifty pounds!"

"Don't fight! I was here first!"

Golden fruit continued to sell. The exorbitant price of fifty yuan per kilogram couldn't dampen people's enthusiasm for buying. Ten thousand kilograms of fruit sold out before 3 PM.

Several big bosses who drove Mercedes-Benzes from the county failed to snag any goods and instead brought a whole box of cash to Lin Fu.

"Manager Lin, here's one million in cash. I'm ordering ten thousand catties of fruit for tomorrow. I'll buy it all as soon as it leaves the mountain!" The big boss slammed the money box on the table.

Looking at the table full of banknotes, Lin Fu felt no pain from the wound on his head.