After a pause, Chen Tai continued, "Never mind him. After Wanshi Group withdraws, we're the only qualified company in Jinghai to take on such a large project. We'll give him some benefits, and he'll shut up."

Gao Qiqiang nodded and said, "Okay, Dad, I'll go and do it right away."

"Do it well, don't be like Xu Jiang, always giving the police something to hold up."

"I know, Dad, don't worry."

At the entrances of the old street, notices with black and white lettering have been posted on the walls everywhere. The notices are nothing more than advising the residents of the old street to cooperate with the demolition and relocation work and not to cause trouble.

"That's outrageous! The old street is such a crucial central location, and they only offered such a small amount of compensation. Isn't that robbery?"

“Our family originally had two floors, which were barely enough for our eldest son and his two sons’ families. But now that the house has been demolished, we can’t even afford a new house, and we’re left homeless.”

"The price is even lower than in the suburbs last year. Anyway, I'm not going to demolish it. I'll be a holdout and see what they can do to me!"

"That's right! Let's all go and petition the authorities, and sue the Wanshi Group!"

These past few days, the residents of the old street have been talking about this matter. They gather together early in the morning, all filled with righteous indignation.

Some people said they would become holdouts, some said they would sue the Wanshi Group in the government, and some said they would try to use their connections to get as much compensation as possible.

In short, everyone had their own opinion, but no one had a clear leader.

What should have been a happy event—demolition and relocation—has instead turned into a source of widespread resentment and anxiety.

By the afternoon, the construction fence made of sheet metal had begun to be erected at the entrance of the old street. A two-story building next to it had been cleared out, and all the billboards and light boxes had been removed and replaced with a different sign.

"Wanshi Group Demolition Project Headquarters!"

It was called a command post, but the people standing or sitting at the entrance smoking were all slovenly thugs with dragons and tigers tattooed on their bodies.

Some residents of the old street went up to ask, but before they could ask more than a couple of questions, they were impatiently chased out by a few thugs.

A luxury car stopped in front of the Wanshi Group building.

A middle-aged man in a suit stepped out of the car. He had a shaved head and a large gold chain around his neck. The suit looked awkward on him.

As soon as the car stopped, a man with a long face rushed over, opened the car door, and said respectfully, "Master Tiger!"

The middle-aged man is the behind-the-scenes boss of Wanshi Group and a newly emerging underworld figure in Jinghai.

After getting out of the car, Tiger paused for a moment and asked casually, "How's the demolition work going?"

The horse-faced man said, "Don't worry, Tiger, they're just a bunch of nobody. Nobody dares to cause trouble. A group of people came this afternoon, but we scared them off a little and they all ran away. Tomorrow we'll start going door-to-door to persuade them to relocate. Anyone who dares to object, I'll kill their whole family!"

Tiger glared at him and cursed, "Idiot, Ma Liang, you've been with me for so many years, can't you use your brain? Who told you to take action? When it comes to demolition, you have to be flexible. For those who are obedient, you can give them some benefits to set an example. For those who are disobedient, threaten them a little. They always have elderly people or children in school. Once a group of people move, the rest will naturally move away."

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Tiger, I'll definitely get it done."

"Don't call me 'Tiger Lord,' call me 'Boss Tiger,' it's beneath you, you know? Also, I don't care how you do it, just don't kill anyone. That's the bottom line I've been given, understand?"

"Understood, Mr. Hu, don't worry."

"Three days, I need to move the entire old street in three days, and then the excavators will come in."

Ma Liang was Tiger's right-hand man and confidant. He managed several hair salons and KTVs. He was ruthless and would beat up any disobedient girls who were lured from other places and refused to serve customers.

As for demolition, he has been working with Tiger for many years and has done most of the rough work, so he is very skilled at demolition.

He and a group of his underlings quickly found the first place.

Ma Liang sat with his legs crossed in his chair, smiling as he said, "Uncle Ge, you don't want your granddaughter to get into trouble at school, right? Just sign this contract honestly, and we can all get along peacefully, wouldn't that be better?"

Inside the house, Grandpa Ge was over sixty years old.

His son and daughter-in-law both work in other cities, and his granddaughter is being taken care of by him. She just started third grade this year. He watched as his granddaughter was held down by several big men, trembling with fear.

Tears streamed down Mr. Ge's face as he shakily signed the contract with his withered, old hand.

However, it was the second one.

This family is a couple who run a breakfast shop in the old street. They work hard from dawn till dusk every day. They finally looked forward to the demolition, but they didn't expect that it would have been better if the shop hadn't been demolished.

Ever since entering the room, Ma Liang had been staring at the woman with a lewd smile on his face. He said, "Brother Wang, your wife has a great figure. It's a shame she's working as a breakfast vendor with you. Look, my KTV is really short of a pretty woman like you to be a hostess. How about I offer her a high salary to work as a hostess for a few days?"

"Ma Liang, this is intimidation! I'm going to sue you!" the man said angrily.

Ma Liang chuckled wickedly, "Hehe, go ahead and sue, I'm waiting. You hurry up and go, don't delay us brothers from having some fun with our wives."

He spoke, gesturing with his eyes.

Two burly men immediately covered the woman's mouth, pressed her onto the table, and one hand was already inside her apron.

The man's eyes were bloodshot, and his hand holding the cleaver trembled. Finally, with tears welling up in his eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Liang, I was wrong, I admit defeat. I'll move out right away, please let my wife go, I'll sign, I'll sign!"

"That's a good boy! Aren't you shameless? You should have said that earlier, wouldn't that have been fine?" Ma Liang said smugly.

In just one afternoon, under Ma Liang's intimidation and threats, more than a dozen households in the old street actually moved away.

The demolition work went exceptionally smoothly, and Ma Liang was very pleased with himself, reporting the results to Tiger over the phone.

"Tiger, I think it won't take more than three days. Let the excavator get on site first, and I'll have them move everything else away. Yes, the residents are very cooperative. Don't worry, I really didn't use any force; everything was discussed and negotiated."

Ma Liang was busy taking credit and didn't notice at all that Grandpa Ge, who had just been forced to move out, was picked up by someone as soon as he made an excuse.

Also taken away were a couple who sold breakfast, a family of three who worked in a factory, and others.

"What happened to Brother Wang? Wasn't he the one who caused the most trouble back then? Why did he move out so quickly?"

"Grandpa Ge moved too, and so did Aunt Song."

"I heard that those who move out first will receive an extra 50,000 yuan in compensation, first come, first served, and those who move out later will not receive any compensation."

"Is that so?"

The news of more than a dozen neighbors moving away spread like wildfire, and some of the rumors became increasingly outrageous as they circulated.