Chapter Six: Liangou Hollow

"Stop! How can you just start beating people?" Xie Anran cried out, seeing a large crowd gathering for the spectacle. She realized a group was attacking employees in Strong Source Company uniforms—almost everyone had been beaten.

Zhang Xiu'e stood among the villagers, her expression deeply troubled. Just now, Tang Long had ordered his men to throw Liu Jianming into the hollow, and he'd nearly drowned. If the man had really died, she wouldn't have known what to do next.

"Is hitting people against the law?" Tang Long asked nonchalantly, glancing at the press pass hanging from Xie Anran's neck.

Xie Anran had to admit the man was rather handsome, but the tone of his voice made her bristle. No wonder people said, "Wicked people come from wild mountains and bad lands."

"Well, is it illegal or not?" she demanded, glaring at him. What a bunch of troublemakers—still daring to ask if beating people was illegal.

"You heard her—it’s illegal!" Tang Long walked over to Liu Jianming, pressing his foot on the man's face. "In the past, when the kids from Yutou Village came here to the hollow to swim or fish, didn’t you beat them?"

"N-no, we…" Liu Jianming’s cheeks were swelling up, his words barely coherent. He was a seasoned thug, not easily intimidated. But today was different—he could sense that the man grinding his shoe into his face might actually kill him.

"Enough!" Tang Long squatted down, staring at him. "You know very well whether you’ve done it or not. We’ll remember the old debts and settle them later."

He paused. "Now let’s talk about the present. This place you’re occupying belongs to Yutou Village. You came here on your own—we never welcomed you, did we?"

Liu Jianming whimpered and nodded in agreement.

"Everything should be reasonable," Tang Long continued. "You people are the invaders. You came to our village, took our land, beat our people—that’s not reasonable, is it?"

"Yes, yes, it's our fault, we were unreasonable!" Liu Jianming felt as if half his face had been scraped flat.

"As long as you admit it," Tang Long finally lifted his foot from Liu Jianming’s face, his voice calm. "So we're beating you today—you're reaping what you've sown. No one else to blame."

"Yes, yes!" Liu Jianming scrambled up, kneeling again.

Xie Anran listened in a daze. What was this man really saying? She frowned, beginning to think carefully.

"Who is the person in charge of Strong Source Company?"

Tang Long stepped forward. With the commotion this big, someone from Strong Source must be here. The thugs kneeling on the ground, Xie Anran, and the others all kept silent.

Wan Daqiang, the deputy general manager of the company, hadn’t come over when trouble started; he was supposed to be hosting Xie Anran's group.

"Is there really no one in charge?" Tang Long pressed.

At that, a woman in her thirties, dressed in professional office attire, stepped forward, her face pale with fear. "I—I’m the person in charge here!"

Tang Long wasn’t fooled—he could see she was just a scapegoat Strong Source had pushed out.

"As long as someone’s responsible," Tang Long said. "This hollow belongs to Yutou Village, including all the land your buildings occupy. We’re officially notifying Strong Source Company: within three days, demolish all illegal structures and get out!"

Xie Anran frowned, her eyes flickering with calculation. Feigning confusion, she asked, "On what basis do you say this land belongs to Yutou Village?"

Tang Long smiled. "The people of Yutou Village have lived here for generations—how could it be otherwise? Strong Source Company has no permits, occupied the land by force. Am I wrong?"

With that, he turned away from the woman and addressed the men behind him—Li Ergou, Lian Sheng, and the others—with a grin. "Are there fish in the hollow?"

"There are!"

That went without saying. The hollow was connected to the sea, and since Strong Source had taken it over, they’d turned it into a prime aquaculture site—rumor had it they were raising sea cucumbers.

"Then get in touch with the fishmongers and tell them Yutou Village is selling fish today," Tang Long ordered.

Sell fish?

Everyone was stunned. Whether or not the hollow belonged to Yutou Village could be debated, but the fish inside were certainly raised by Strong Source Company.

Zhang Xiu'e finally caught on—this man was going to confront Strong Source head-on.

"Fetch the nets and start fishing!"

Tang Long waved his hand, issuing an order to the villagers.

Someone from Strong Source called the police, and people from the town arrived soon after—none of this came as a surprise. Tang Long let Zhang Xiu'e handle these "trivial matters;" he had no patience for dealing with bureaucrats.

"Stop! All of you, stop right now! Who told you to fish here?" A manager surnamed Wang, who had visited Yutou Village a few days ago, arrived, his face dark with rage, yelling from the shore. All the fish in the hollow belonged to Strong Source Company.

Wan Daqiang, the company's deputy general manager, had kept himself out of sight, only appearing when the town officials and police arrived.

"Vice President Wan, what on earth is going on here?" Xie Anran asked, her eyes full of curiosity—she sensed the makings of a major story.

Wan Daqiang smiled awkwardly. "I’m not entirely sure myself," he replied, cursing Liu Jianming in his heart—unable to handle such a trivial matter, what use were they to the company?

"And who are you supposed to be?" someone retorted.

"We’re fishing in our own hollow. What’s it to you?"

The villagers were overjoyed. The fish in the hollow were large; with just a few casts of the net, they’d already hauled in hundreds of pounds. Hundreds of villagers working together—the hollow stretched several hundred meters long and a hundred wide—it would take a long time to clear it out completely, but there were tens of thousands of pounds of fish inside at least.

"Barbarians! Absolute barbarians! Everyone knows the hollow is Strong Source Company property—when did it become yours?" Manager Wang cursed furiously.

Zhang Xiu'e strode over, face stern. "Strong Source Company never signed any lease or contract with the Yutou Village committee. How could the hollow possibly be your company’s property?"

"Nonsense!" Manager Wang, heedless of Zhang Xiu'e’s background, cursed outright.

"We leased the hollow from Donghe Town for thirty years! It’s all there in black and white on the contract!"

Zhang Xiu'e was momentarily taken aback, then replied, "If that’s so, take it up with the town authorities. The hollow was dug by generations of Yutou villagers. Even if the town wants to lease it out, they must get the village committee's consent. If we don’t agree, no one can override us!"

Manager Wang’s face was ashen. None of them had expected this insignificant Yutou Village would erupt like this.

"Vice President Wan, did Strong Source sign the contract with Donghe Town without consulting the local villagers?" Xie Anran’s professional instincts immediately picked up on the issue.

"The specifics regarding the hollow are managed by other company executives—I’m not really clear on the details," Wan Daqiang quickly distanced himself, making it clear to Xie Anran that he knew nothing.