The skinny man in the suit jerked his head toward the back, and instantly, forty or fifty burly men behind him charged forward, faces fierce.
"Go clear out everyone inside their houses, and do it fast!"
As soon as he finished speaking, those men immediately started rushing toward the houses.
Most of these single-story houses were clustered together, with several alleys crisscrossing between them. The thugs stormed into the frontmost house, yanked open the door, dragged out two little kids, and tossed them straight onto the ground.
"If you keep this up, I'm calling the police!"
Leonard Chu's face changed. He shouted and rushed forward to stop them, but a few men teamed up, each landing a punch, knocking him straight to the ground.
The man in the suit glanced at Leonard and sneered, "Call the cops if you want. It's five hundred per square meter, settle up once it's torn down. If you take the money, it's acceptance; if you don't, you get nothing. Figure it out yourselves."
After saying that, the man in the suit shouted, "Start demolishing!"
The excavators behind him were just about to start up and begin work.
Not far away—
After Hank Chu and Evan Lin returned Brian Feng's dead bike to his house, they walked home on foot.
Hank was joking and chatting with Evan, but when he saw his dad, Leonard Chu, getting beaten up by a group, his face changed instantly. He shouted and dashed over, joining the brawl with the crowd.
"Another punk showed up? Beat him too."
The man in the suit smirked dismissively.
"Are you guys really going for a forced demolition?"
Just as he finished speaking, a calm voice sounded from behind.
"No shit, are you blind or what?" the man in the suit cursed, then yelled, "Start the engines! Tear down the house in front first!"
But after he shouted, he realized the three excavators behind him hadn't moved at all.
The man in the suit cursed and turned his head, "I said start—"
As soon as he turned, his face froze. The three drivers who had been sitting in the excavator cabs were now all sprawled on the ground.
On top of the excavator in the very center, a teenage boy was standing there—no one knew when he'd gotten up there.
The man looked up at the boy standing above, his face darkening. "Who the hell are you? Mess with our business and we'll mess you up too!"
Evan Lin lowered his head, looking down at the man in the suit below. With a gentle leap, he jumped straight down from the cab roof.
Right before he landed, his foot tapped the man's face, kicking him flying. The man rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop.
"Boss!"
The group who had been beating up Leonard and Hank Chu saw their boss get kicked and their faces changed. Roaring, they charged at Evan Lin.
"What are you all so worked up about?" Evan Lin shook his head calmly, and as the crowd rushed at him, he slapped each one away with a single swing.
Smack, smack, smack, smack.
A string of slaps rang out. None of the guys charging at Evan Lin could see how he moved—just felt a burning pain on their cheeks before being sent flying.
Leonard Chu lay on the ground, eyes wide, staring at Evan Lin in disbelief. "Th—that's Evan Lin?"
"Yeah, Dad, it's him. He's crazy strong now!" Hank Chu said excitedly from the side.
The dozen or so residents nearby were all staring at Evan Lin in shock.
In their minds, Evan Lin had never fought before, and he was always frail. Let alone taking on so many people by himself.
The man in the suit was still dizzy from Evan's kick. Supported by a few men, he managed to sit up, only to see his underlings sprawled everywhere. His face froze.
He'd worked this job for years, and his guys were all tough. He'd never seen anything like this before.
Sometimes there'd be a few hard cases, but they'd always swarm them, knock them down—if one couldn't do it, two could; if two couldn't, three; if three couldn't, ten. Numbers always won in the end.
But now, this kid had just used one hand to slap down more than twenty men. The man in the suit was completely dumbfounded for a second.
"So, are you still going to try it?" Evan Lin asked, hands in his pockets, walking up to the man and looking down at him with a calm gaze.
"Do you even know we're with Yang Real Estate?" The man in the suit instinctively shrank back, scooting a little further from Evan Lin.
"Yang Real Estate."
Hearing that name, Evan Lin shook his head.
Yang Real Estate was the company owned by Brandon and Brian Yang's father, Yang Hai. They'd developed several projects in Whitewood County, and rumor had it every demolition sparked some kind of conflict. Evan hadn't expected to run into them today.
"I already beat Brandon and Brian Yang. What do you think you are?"
Evan Lin stomped the man's face into the ground with one foot.
The suit man's face turned pale at those words. He knew exactly who Brandon and Brian Yang were. Hearing Evan say that, his heart sank.
Evan glanced over at Leonard Chu, hesitated, and asked, "Uncle Chu, is there anything you want to discuss with him?"
Evan had heard about the shantytown demolition and renovation project years ago, but it was always just rumors. Today, people actually came to tear down houses. Clearly, the terms hadn't been settled.
Supported by Hank, Leonard Chu walked over. Looking at the suit man under Evan's foot, he said with satisfaction, "Go back and tell your company: we're fine with the demolition, but everything must follow proper procedures. Our demand is simple—give us resettlement housing."
"Did you hear him?" Evan moved his foot, and the suit man quickly begged, "I heard! I heard! I'll report it right away!"
Seeing the suit man grovel, Leonard Chu turned to Evan Lin. "Let him go. If something happens, it'll be hard to clean up afterward."
Leonard was worried Evan might go too far and cause trouble. That would be hard to deal with.
"Get lost."
Evan lifted his foot, and the suit man was quickly helped up and the whole group scrambled away.
"They probably won't give up so easily. Tonight we should gather everyone for a meeting and figure out how to defend our rights. This is our home—we can't just let it be torn down for nothing," Leonard suggested, getting a round of agreement.
Evan Lin and Hank Chu said goodbye and headed home.
Later, Joy Zheng came home after tutoring, but was called out to join the meeting. It was really just the residents gathering to defend their legal rights.
Just then, Evan Lin's phone rang. He glanced at the screen—the number was unfamiliar.