On the other side, Gao Ren was also stopped at the entrance to the city. The people inside told him to wait ten miles away. Gao Ren questioned, "Why? What does Zhong San mean by this? When he sent me the message, he didn't say this."

The man opposite, holding a rifle, said, "That's what the boss ordered. We're just following orders. If you're told to retreat, then retreat. When it's time for you to come in, our boss will naturally come to pick you up."

Gao Ren's cheeks twitched slightly with anger. He paused for a second looking at the person opposite him before ordering the convoy to retreat ten miles and set up camp.

“Tell your boss, I have Mo Qing’s daughter in my hands. This trump card is no less important than his son. Mo Qing is now sticking to me tightly. If he doesn’t want to lose what he’s got, he’d better let us into the city quickly. I’ll wait one day. If there’s no result after one day, our cooperation will end here.” Gao Ren declared to Zhong San’s men.

The person guarding the exit replied dismissively, "I know, I know, I'll pass on the message. Now get out of here, or don't blame me for bombarding you with cannons!"

Gao Ren, looking grim, retreated to his car and drove back. After driving a few miles, the trucks in front of him slowed down noticeably. Just as Gao Ren was about to take out his walkie-talkie to ask them what was going on, he saw a truck trying to accelerate forward, but instead overturned and fell to the ground.

The entire convoy stopped. Gao Ren and his men got out of the car and discovered that the problem was with the tires, and it wasn't just one tire, but almost all of them.

A thorough inspection revealed that sharp needles had gotten into the tire. These needles, after being repeatedly run over, eventually damaged the inner tube, causing damage to the vehicle.

Seeing the situation, Gao Ren's subordinate asked, "Captain, what do we do now? Even if we change all the tires, we don't know if we'll encounter more problems on the road ahead. These things are clearly deliberate. What do those people in the city mean? Do they no longer want to cooperate with us?"

Seeing this, Gao Ren was also furious: "Clear up the overturned car and find a place to rest here. We'll change the tires later, and then send some brothers out with magnets and brooms to clear the road."

Li Zhenzhen and Chen Jiaojiao also got out of the car. The driver drove all the cars into the suburban roads and found a few houses nearby to rest and settle down.

Li Zhenzhen naturally witnessed this unexpected event. She walked to Gao Ren's side and softened her voice, asking, "Did those people in the city turn against us?"

Gao Ren withdrew his gaze from the distance and turned to Li Zhenzhen: "Aren't you afraid of me anymore?"

Li Zhenzhen said with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, "How could I not be afraid! I'm terrified! Do I have any way back now?"

Gao Ren could tell she was feigning embarrassment and anger, so he smiled in agreement: "Don't be afraid. Now that you've become my woman, I'll protect you, as long as you behave."

Li Zhenzhen felt somewhat relieved, at least Gao Ren hadn't shown any signs of disliking her yet, so she was still safe for the time being.

"So what do we do now? From your conversation with those people, it seems like you had been in contact for a while, but now they seem to be backing out?" Li Zhenzhen asked boldly.

Gao Ren stood with his hands behind his back, watching his brothers busy changing tires. He was also puzzled: "I don't know. I've dealt with Zhong San twice, and the news was relayed back and forth by his men. Logically, he shouldn't have turned me away."

Li Zhenzhen moved closer to Gao Ren: "A person as fickle as him is not suitable to be a business partner."

Gao Ren didn't reply to Li Zhenzhen's question, but simply put his arm around her and led her inside: "It's very windy and dusty here, let's go inside and rest. We can talk about other things after we've rested."

Chen Jiaojiao watched her mother follow Gao Ren toward the houses and hurriedly followed behind. However, she was very afraid of Gao Ren and only followed from a distance, not getting close. After all, she had been quite rude to Gao Ren in the past.

Why couldn't Gao Ren enter the city? Because a group of twenty people had arrived at the entrance earlier than Gao Ren and had already met Zhong San.

The leader of this group called himself Mo Lang, a member of a branch of the Mo family. Mo Qing was his uncle. He had come specifically to seek refuge with Zhong San and to bring him some news.

Mo Lang didn't bring many people or supplies, but he gave Zhong San a map that marked the locations of several of the Mo family's mines. If it was confirmed to be true, it would be a great gift.

According to Mo Lang, he fled temporarily because he overheard Gao Ren and Mo Qing's conspiracy.

"Mo Qing has been using our Mo family's output to support unrelated people—two hundred thousand people, including tens of thousands of elderly, weak, and disabled people who don't work. If this money were used for our own family members, we would have grown strong long ago. Unfortunately, the Mo family is his personal fiefdom, and no matter how much we Mo family members disagree, there's nothing we can do," Mo Lang said indignantly.

Sitting in the main seat, Zhong San listened to Mo Lang's complaints without saying a word for a moment, still pondering whether the news Mo Lang brought was true or false.

According to Mo Lang, after Gao Ren made contact with Fu Hao, he pretended to pass on a message for him, but in reality, he went to Mo Qing to curry favor and do him a favor.

Gao Ren had previously contacted those who were dissatisfied with Mo Qing privately, saying that there was a better place for them to go, where they could take most of the Mo family's resources and start their own faction together.

The group had some assets of their own, and Gao Ren had sold them a lot of information about the Mo family's assets. In addition, with Director Fu's previous persuasion, quite a few people were tempted.

Gao Ren told everyone to wait for the right moment and for his notification, so everyone waited patiently. Little did they know that this was all a scheme orchestrated by Mo Qing and Gao Ren, targeting those who had become disloyal.

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