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

The century-old bell on the back mountain of Tazhai Village was rung.

when!

when!

when!

The deep, resonant sound of bronze pierced the night wind and echoed throughout the eighteen villages under the jurisdiction of Tazhai Town.

This bell is usually only rung during ancestral worship ceremonies or when there is a major event in the clan. Three strikes in a row signify a clan calamity.

Dogs in each village began barking wildly, and lights were turned on in every household.

The men got out of bed, put on their clothes, and grabbed the carrying pole, shovel, and machete from behind the door.

The women stood in the courtyard, holding their children, gazing in the direction of the ancestral hall.

In less than half an hour, the square in front of the Tazhai Ancestral Hall was packed with people. The beams of torches and flashlights flickered, illuminating the dark mass of people.

Lin Ting sat in an SUV as the convoy drove into the square.

The crowd automatically parted to make way.

Lin Ting pushed open the car door and got out. He tugged at his black long gown and strode towards the main hall of the ancestral hall.

Lin Fei and Lin Fu followed behind, while a dozen or so Zhongtang men escorted the kitchen helper, who was tied up like a dumpling, and threw him onto the bluestone slab.

Lin Ting walked to the center of the main hall and sat steadily on the century-old grand master's chair.

My second great-uncle, leaning on his yellowed bamboo cane, walked over with the help of several young men.

The old man looked at the kitchen helper on the ground, whose face was covered in blood, and then at Lin Ting.

"Grandpa, what's going on? Who is this person knocking on the clan's mourning bell in the middle of the night?" Second Uncle asked.

Lin Fei stepped forward, pointed at the kitchen helper on the ground, and shouted loudly.

"Second Uncle, there's a guy in the county town called Brother Guang. He kidnapped this grandson's wife and children and forced him to poison Grandpa's sea cucumber soup."

Taozi tasted the soup for his great-grandfather and almost lost his life! This can't be left unresolved!

The men of the Lin family in the square were all in an uproar.

"Dare to poison Grandpa? Get him!"

"Take down that Guang Ge's place!"

The shouts of tens of thousands of people were deafening.

My second great-uncle jabbed the ground twice with his cane. "Shut up, all of you!"

The crowd quieted down.

Second Uncle turned to look at Lin Ting. "Grandpa, this matter has blown up too much. Brother Guang is a local tyrant in the county, and he has many thugs under his command."

Our Lin family has only just started to improve in the last few years, and we've finally managed to make some money.

"If we really take the whole clan to the county town for a brawl, how will we explain it to the police? Maybe we should report it to the police and have them arrest Brother Guang."

Several older, respected elders nodded in agreement.

"Yes, sir, it's better to report it to the police. We run a legitimate business; there's no need for us to risk our lives against gangsters."

Lin Ting leaned back in his armchair, twirling two walnuts in his hands. The only sound in the main hall was the crackling of the walnuts.

He looked at his second great-uncle. "Second great-uncle, if reporting the case to the police were effective, Captain Zhang wouldn't have been standing by and watching when Dafeng Group blocked our road."

Second Uncle was stunned.

Lin Ting stood up, walked to the edge of the steps, and looked at the Lin family members in the square.

"If someone dares to poison my soup today, they'll dare to smash up Lin's supermarket, steal our golden fruit, and burn down our orchards tomorrow. If we back down, they'll trample us to death."

Lin Ting pointed to the kitchen helpers on the ground.

"The face of a clan is not something given to us by others. If someone comes knocking on our door, we have to slap them back."

Knock out his teeth, smash his rice bowl. Only if we're ruthless enough will no one dare to lay a finger on us when we do business in the county town.

Second Uncle sighed and stopped talking; he knew Great-Grandfather was right.

Lin Ting looked at Lin Dayou, the head of Yitang, who was standing to the side.

"Uncle Dayou".

Lin Dayou stepped forward. "Grandfather, what are your orders?"

"Bring out the roster," Lin Ting ordered.

Lin Dayou pulled out a thick kraft paper register from his pocket.

This is a list of all registered members of the Lin clan, with detailed contact information for each person.

"Call all the officers of Yitang over here," Lin Ting continued.

A dozen or so members of the charitable organization, carrying laptops and mobile phones, lined up in front of the main hall.

Lin Ting looked at the roster. "In Tazhai, there are more than 20,000 young and middle-aged people from 18 villages working in factories and construction sites in other provinces."

They usually only come back for the Lunar New Year; now, let them go home.

Lin Dayou opened the roster. "Grandpa, how do I send a text message?"

Lin Ting put his hands behind his back and uttered a few words: "Grandfather has ordered that if outsiders bully the Lin family, they must return immediately."

Lin Da nodded, and he spread out the roster. A dozen or so staff members' fingers flew across the keyboard.

Short messages were sent to all parts of the country through a mass messaging system.

At the same time.

In an electronics factory on the coast of Guangdong Province, the machines on the assembly line are roaring.

A young man from the Lin family, wearing a blue anti-static suit, was assembling parts when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took out his phone and glanced at the screen.

The message contained only eleven characters and was signed by the Lin Clan Ancestral Hall in Tazhai.

He simply threw the screwdriver in his hand onto the worktable.

The line manager rushed over and yelled, "Lin Qiang, what are you doing? This line is on a tight deadline! If you don't want to work here anymore, I'll dock half a month's pay!"

Lin Qiang ripped off his static electricity cap, took off his work clothes, and threw them at the line manager's face. "Screw you! Something happened at home. I quit!"

Lin Qiang turned around and ran out of the workshop.

On a construction site in a neighboring province.

Several shirtless men were tying steel bars, sweat mixed with mud dripping down their faces.

The foreman yelled from the side, "If we don't finish this patch today, nobody's going to eat!"

Several cell phones placed nearby rang at the same time.

Several men picked up their phones, read the text message, and then threw the hooks they were holding onto the ground.

"Lin Er, pack your things and let's go home," the leader shouted.

The contractor panicked and blocked their way. "What are you doing? Don't you want your payment for the project?"

The man shoved the foreman aside. "We don't want the money anymore; our grandfather wants us to go home."

The men ran towards the work shed without looking back, haphazardly stuffed their clothes into their bags, and headed straight for the train station.

In a logistics park in the north.

Dozens of stevedores wearing yellow vests are moving goods.

The middle-aged man leading the group took out his phone, glanced at it, and his expression changed drastically.

He stood on the truck bed and shouted down, "Lin family members, stop!"

Dozens of stevedores stopped what they were doing.

"Grandpa has issued a summons: buy the fastest train tickets and head back to the county town!"

The same thing is happening in factories, construction sites, and office buildings all over the country.

The ticketing systems for train and bus tickets are flooded with orders destined for Tazhai County.

Long-distance buses on the highway and green trains on the tracks, all carrying the Lin family members who had received the text message, converged in one direction.

The night grew deeper.

In the dark room of the underground billiard hall in the county town.

Guang Ge lay on the sofa, fast asleep. He was convinced that Lin Ting was dead, the Lin family was leaderless, and he could smoothly take over the five supermarkets tomorrow.

He had no idea how much trouble he had gotten himself into.

Midnight.

The exit of the county's train station.

The ticket inspector yawned, preparing to welcome the last train.

The announcement came over the loudspeaker that the train had arrived at the station.

A few minutes later, the ticket inspector's eyes widened.

A dense crowd surged out of the exit gates.

They were all young men between their twenties and forties.

They were dressed in black, some carrying snakeskin bags, others carrying backpacks.

The surroundings were quiet, with only the sound of orderly footsteps.

The square outside the train station was quickly filled.

The county bus station on the other side.

More than a dozen long-distance buses pulled into the station one after another. The doors opened, and men dressed in black got off one after another.

Tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of the county town.

Under the streetlights, the dark mass of people remained silent.