Su An waved his hand and refused bluntly, saying, "No need to refuse. We already have craftsmen and are leading the refugees to start work. We don't need you."

Old Yu clearly hadn't expected Su An to have this attitude.

He frowned, his voice becoming even more arrogant: "I am from the capital city, the chief craftsman!"

"My brother-in-law is a high-ranking official in the capital!"

"Young lady, you'd better think carefully about what would be convenient for you to do if you had connections in the capital!"

Upon hearing that arrogant "brother-in-law," Su An's eyes widened slightly, and he found the old man somewhat amusing.

They're all getting on in years, yet they're still trying to get ahead by marrying their brother-in-law and climbing the corporate ladder?

Speaking of high-ranking officials, she was surrounded by even higher-ranking officials!

However, since he was of such a young age and had come specifically to join, Su An gave him some face and politely declined, saying, "Uncle, I don't mean to look down on you, it's just that we already have enough craftsmen and don't need any more."

"Furthermore, this also gives refugees an opportunity to learn a skill so that they can support themselves."

A significant number of refugees have joined the road construction efforts, and the cement road paving project will undoubtedly continue. Once they learn the skills, they will be able to thrive anywhere.

Little did they know, Old Fish had precisely targeted this point.

As long as one masters the method of building cement roads, their craft can achieve instant fame and last for generations.

When the whole country is engaged in large-scale road construction, there will be countless profits to be made!

The only thing I didn't expect was that Su An would reject me outright.

"Looks like you little girl want to be a great philanthropist!" Old Fish's eyes narrowed fiercely.

"Fine, if I don't teach you a lesson, you'll really think you're something special. Just you wait and see!"

He finished speaking and then turned and left, looking very confident.

Su An chuckled and didn't take it to heart.

Road construction is now a top priority for Fuyou County, and Lin Yong is keeping a close eye on it. She doesn't believe that this old man can cause any trouble.

But Su An was soon proven wrong.

Half an hour later, Lu Ming's apprentice, Wang Chuan, came to find Su An in a huff.

"Miss Su, how does your county government maintain order? We were just doing our work peacefully when suddenly a large group of troublemakers rushed in and beat us up!"

"Look what you've done to me, ouch—"

Wang Chuan's face was bruised and swollen, as if he had rolled around in the ground several times, and he immediately launched into an angry accusation.

The vegetable leaves Su An was picking fell to the ground with a thud, and she gasped, "Isn't that leader an arrogant old man?"

"Yes!" Wang Chuan said angrily. "That old man is incredibly unreasonable. He led over forty men and charged around recklessly, attacking anyone he saw!"

Su An was instantly numb, and then his blood rushed to his head.

Lu Ming and his group set up a small workshop at the entrance of the county. There weren't many yamen runners guarding it, so they never expected that someone would be so audacious as to break in and cause trouble!

"Go and inform the magistrate about this. I'll go check on it first!"

After giving Wang Chuan his instructions, Su An rushed over in a huff.

When she arrived, she found the workshop in complete chaos, filled with countless foul shouts and curses.

Among them were dozens of tall, burly men who grabbed people and beat them up. Some of the refugees were injured, while others ran away!

Lu Ming was fighting alongside his apprentices when he was suddenly ambushed and struck by blows from all sides, causing him to lose consciousness!

Su An's eyes turned red with anger, and he shouted, "Stop! This is a government-controlled area. Do you have a death wish and dare to cause trouble here?!"

Upon seeing Su An arrive, Old Yu snorted coldly and pressed the wooden stick against the back of the unconscious Lu Ming's head.

"This little girl is so quick on her feet, she got here so fast!"

"Come, come, is this your foreman craftsman? A grotesque mess, utterly useless! I'll ask you one more time, are you going to change him or not?"

"If you don't change him, I'll beat him every time I see him, and then we'll see how you get to work!"

Hearing these arrogant and shameless words, Su An clenched his fists, his body trembling with anger.

She never expected that this old man would use such a skill to blackmail people!

"You old bastard, do you think there's no law or order? You think you can beat someone up and then do it again?!"

To everyone's surprise, Old Yu was not afraid at all and proudly shouted, "They say the law doesn't punish the masses. There are dozens of us, and even the county magistrate can't do anything to us!"

As soon as he heard the news, Lin Yongyi led all the yamen runners and rushed over.

Su An was secretly delighted. Good thing! Now that they've caught them red-handed, they can't just take them back to jail.

But the next moment, before the constables could surround them...

With a wave of his hand, Lao Yu directed the dozens of men he had brought to disperse and disappear into the crowd.

They disappeared into the crowds on the street like eels, quickly disappearing into the alleys!

Old Fish spat with satisfaction, then gave Su An a warning with a forced smile: "See? I have plenty of ways to keep things going. I just don't know how long you can hold out."

"And what about your family's location... Hah, you're so righteous about it, but how can you protect your family?"

Leaving behind this blatant threat, Old Fish moved swiftly, being escorted into the crowd and disappearing.

Su An's heart skipped a beat, a sense of panic spread involuntarily, and cold sweat seeped from his palms.

This situation was completely unexpected.

The old man actually has dozens of men under his command. What if he suddenly turns on his own people one day...?

Su An tensed up and couldn't help but sway back.

The next second, a large hand firmly supported her waist.

Fu Zhun's calm yet worried voice rang out, "I'm late. Are you injured?"

Su An composed herself and looked at Fu Zhun. He had come with Lin Yong, but was a step behind in his wheelchair.

Lin Yong, along with the constables, had already chased after the crowd.

"Fu Zhun, I'm worried about my family..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fu Zhun immediately replied, "I heard there were troublemakers, so I arranged for secret guards to protect your family. Everything is fine now, so don't worry."

His deep, soothing voice seemed to penetrate into her heart, and Su An's breathing became lighter, her tightly clenched palms loosening slightly.

After things calmed down, she looked gratefully into Fu Zhun's dark eyes and said, "Thank you...it's all thanks to you."

Fu Zhun pursed his lips slightly, wanting to say that there was no need for such politeness between them.

Seeing Su An's tense expression, he sighed softly and advised her to go home and rest first.

Su An was worried about her family, so when she got back, she hurriedly told everyone, young and old, to be careful.

She was still hoping that Lin Yong could catch the old man.

Unfortunately, the group escaped very quickly, and news of their capture came by nightfall.

I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

The next day, Su An, with anxious dark circles under his eyes, stepped out of his room, wanting to find out if the person had been caught.

Suddenly, Jian San appeared and threw the person he was carrying into the courtyard.

"You're up so early, Miss Su! It's good that you're awake. I just caught this shifty-eyed fellow. He was squatting outside the alley, trying to kidnap your three children who were on their way to school!"