Yangcheng City, Lushui District, Wuyuan Town.
Baihe Village demolition site.
"Resist the black-hearted developer, defend Baihe Village to the death!"
A banner with red characters on a white background fluttered in the cold spring wind, held high above the heads of two villagers with two long poles.
And beneath the banner, the situation was now tense and on the verge of erupting!
Thousands of villagers, while emotionally shouting slogans like, "Resist the black-hearted developer, defend Baihe Village to the death!", used various makeshift "weapons"—shovels, hoes, picks, mattocks, iron rods, brooms, stones, slippers, and even electric water heaters—to block the demolition team attempting to rush in, clearly an untrained, ragtag group.
Opposite the villagers was a professional demolition regular army, composed of 300 Relocation Team members and over 60 developer personnel, well-equipped, each with a baseball bat.
Behind them, more than twenty bulldozers, excavators, and hook machines were also poised, ready for a major operation.
Between the two groups, there was another contingent: over 150 Public Security officers and more than 100 urban management officers who had arrived later to maintain order.
Although their numbers were fewer than the other two parties, the Public Security officers were mostly equipped with batons, and even the twenty or so at the forefront had riot shields.
Yang Dongsheng, Deputy Head of the Baihe Village Demolition Headquarters Acquisition Team and Wuyuan Town Mayor, currently had a furrowed brow, his gaze filled with worry and even a hint of despair as he looked at the scene before him.
At this very moment, he was numb!
A sudden mass incident!
If not handled properly, it could result in a reprimand or demerit at best, or a major demerit, even dismissal from public office, or, if serious consequences arose, free prison food was not out of the question.
And Bai Liushiyi, the village chief, that scoundrel, still hadn't shown up; his phone was off, and he couldn't be reached, which, without a doubt, was intentional.
But he couldn't be bothered with him now; figuring out how to resolve the current big trouble was the priority.
Yet, he had explained what needed explaining, reasoned what needed reasoning, shouted what needed shouting, and cursed what needed cursing…
Not only did it have no effect, but it actually had a counter-effect, almost inciting public outrage.
"You… what exactly do you want?"
At this moment, Yang Dongsheng was like an ant on a hot pan, completely disoriented.
The origin of the incident had to be traced back a month ago.
The city was attracting investment to build the largest economic and trade city in the Northwest.
The planned construction would cover over 9,000 mu and was expected to have a construction area exceeding 5.1 million square meters, a comprehensive development project integrating automobile trade, home building materials, culture and sports entertainment, and elder care tourism.
The winding and narrow Baihe Village and its associated cultivated land were entirely within the planned scope, precisely at the center, thus requiring the complete demolition of Baihe Village and relocation to another site.
Originally, this was an excellent matter for the district, the town, and Baihe Village.
For the district and town levels, successfully completing the demolition and resettlement work would be an extremely impressive political achievement, and it was almost certain that the relevant personnel would each advance further in their careers.
And the villagers could receive substantial compensation for their land, living the good life they had always dreamed of.
However, as expected, an unexpected turn occurred.
After multiple rounds of negotiations and discussions, the clan forces led by Bai Liushiyi, the village chief of Baihe Village, seized the opportunity to make exorbitant demands, asking for prices far exceeding the actual demolition value.
The Demolition Headquarters staff wore out their tongues, explained policies thoroughly, used all their persuasive words, and resorted to threats and inducements, employing every possible tactic, yet achieved no results.
This was simply because the people of Baihe Village were notoriously fierce, with more than half of its over 3,000 permanent residents named Bai, and historically, it had always been the Bai family who controlled the village committee; what the Bai family said, went.
Village Chief Bai Liushiyi was even more like an emperor in Baihe Village, an absolute authority; he was also one of the city's top ten outstanding entrepreneurs and a city People's Congress representative.
Under the threats, coercion, and intimidation of the Bai family, villagers who were willing to relocate dared not step forward, leading to zero progress in the demolition.
Who could endure this constant state of being stuck in the initial stages?
Yang Dongsheng, for one, couldn't take it.
After several meetings, he was always dragged out and severely reprimanded by his superiors.
How frustrating!
The deadline he had personally set with a "military order" was fast approaching. He had originally intended to make a grand impression before the leaders of the Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, District Party Committee, and District Government, but looking at the situation, he was about to expose his backside instead.
This was truly like a mute cat in heat—a very bad (meow) sign!
As the agreed-upon day approached, Yang Dongsheng, with a hardened heart, agreed to the suggestion made by Liu Hua, the head of the Relocation Team—forced demolition!
Catch them off guard, strike when they are unprepared, launch a surprise attack, create a fait accompli of demolition, and then negotiate compensation.
Liu Hua arranged his team into groups of 10, with clear divisions of labor.
Those responsible for carrying people would carry anyone they saw, the movers would clear out a house in minutes, the hook machines would be responsible for pulling down, and bulldozers would directly level and clear, so tell him, will you or will you not move out?
They could clear out, err, demolish a house in minutes; they had done it this way before and were experienced in this area.
When it came time to discuss compensation, the initiative would be in the hands of the Demolition Headquarters.
The plan was good, and the action was swift, but somehow, the news leaked.
April 12th, 4:30 AM.
When Liu Hua arrived at Baihe Village in the dark with 300 people and machinery, he never expected to be greeted by a dense crowd and various "cold and hot" weapons.
Judging by the size of the crowd, there were at least a thousand people, men, women, and children.
Liu Hua was utterly dumbfounded; in such a situation, anyone would be dumbfounded.
What about the promised element of surprise, catching them off guard, and a sudden attack? Who the hell leaked the news? He glared fiercely at the Relocation Team members behind him.
"I treated you guys like brothers, entertained you with good cigarettes, good wine, and good women last night, and you turn around and sell me out, huh? I'll deal with you when I get back!"
It was too late to say anything now.
The immediate priority was, what to do now?
They couldn't charge through.
Retreat?
Vice President Wang of Quan De Group, the developer, had given a death order: they must take it down today. Besides, he had taken money to resolve problems for others, and he had already received the money; retreating would be impossible to explain.
Moreover, money that had entered his, Liu Hua's, pocket, had no reason to be returned!
Furthermore, if he were to retreat so ignominiously this time, how could he continue to operate in the underworld? What would others think of him?
What would Liu San'er from Jinhua District think of him if he found out?
What would Li Xiaolong from Qinghe County think of him if he found out?
What would all the big brothers in Yangcheng City think of him if they found out?
He, Liu Hua, could not afford to lose face!
The blow to his business would also be enormous; who would hire him for demolition in the future?
This source of income would be cut off.
It would also have extremely negative consequences for the progress of the entire demolition work.
Trying to launch a sneak attack again in the future would be like the national football team qualifying for the World Cup + the national football team forming a human pyramid—male on top of male, plus another male.
The standoff lasted from 4:30 AM until 6:20 AM, by which time it was fully light.
Chen Minghai, the Secretary of the Wuyuan Town Party Committee, had already rushed over. He didn't give Liu Dongsheng a good look, seizing the opportunity to immediately curse, "What the hell do you usually do without reporting to me? How dare you do such a big thing without reporting to me? Do you even have me, the Party Committee Secretary, in your eyes?"
After thoroughly reprimanding Liu Dongsheng, Chen Minghai immediately put on a smiling face and tried to persuade the villagers, shouting until his voice was hoarse. But at this point, the villagers were not listening to him at all.
Some individual villagers even played dirty, and a small stone flew straight towards Chen Minghai's face. With a cry of "Ouch!", Chen Minghai clutched his hit forehead and retreated to the side in a disheveled state.
As the news spread and time passed, Mao Shichang, Deputy District Chief and Public Security Bureau Chief of Lushui District; Xu Lai, Deputy Secretary of the Lushui District Party Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission; Fan Jiming, Executive Deputy District Chief of the Lushui District Government; Li Yu, Deputy Director of the Yangcheng City Public Security Bureau; Wan Guohua, Full-time Deputy Secretary of the Lushui District Party Committee; and Ruan Wenyu, Deputy Secretary of the Lushui District Party Committee and District Chief of the Government, successively arrived at the scene.
After successively dragging out Chen Minghai and Yang Dongsheng to verbally flog and scold them, the various district-level leaders began to do ideological work with the villagers. But no matter how they shouted, how they persuaded, or how they worked, it was all in vain. The villagers were emotionally agitated, not only spitting but also throwing stones, and they all fell to the villagers' "mixed doubles."
The several individuals, clutching different parts of their heads, looked at each other, seeing each other's dishevelment and the anger in their eyes. But compared to the current situation, what were these minor injuries and grievances? As long as no major incident occurred, even more serious injuries would be acceptable.
Deep worry was evident in their eyes.
Big trouble!
Zheng Jingming, the Secretary of the Lushui District Party Committee, who had rushed over, was now seething with anger, extremely furious.
A bunch of good-for-nothings, how could such a small matter escalate to an unmanageable point?
What was even more infuriating was that some scoundrel had reported this to the city. Secretary Yang Guohua of the Municipal Party Committee was taking this matter very seriously and was on his way.
And the new Mayor Lu Wanchao was even faster; he had just called and was almost at the scene.
A scolding was a minor issue; what he worried about was angering Secretary Yang and Mayor Lu, which would mean his chances of further advancement would be completely gone, like a theatrical troupe packing up their belongings.
He gravely observed the district and town level leading cadres who had arrived, then subtly glanced at Li Yu, Deputy Director of the Yangcheng City Public Security Bureau.
Hmph, why did this fellow arrive so quickly? He's the most suspicious!
...
It took forty minutes to drive the old minivan from the police station to Baihe Village. By the time Jiang Yonghui and others arrived at the scene, it was 6:35 AM.
At this moment, the scene in Baihe Village was gradually spiraling out of control.
More and more people gathered, tempers flared, and under the instigation of some individuals, the villagers' emotions showed signs of losing control.
Bai Meng, who was leading the charge under the banner, was about thirty years old, his bald head, like a braised egg, particularly conspicuous in the early morning sun. He had triangular eyes and sparse eyebrows, and a hideous scar diagonally across his face made him look like a bad person.
And indeed, Bai Meng was a hothead, prone to fighting and stubborn, always causing trouble. He was a troublemaker, and villagers secretly called him "Second Egg." Yet, Bai Liushiyi hired him as a comprehensive management team member for the village to maintain order.
In reality, he was a thug kept by Bai Liushiyi, but this guy was so stubborn that he wouldn't even listen to Bai Liushiyi, truly a lawless individual.
As Bai Liushiyi's loyal subordinate, his mission this time was simple—to stir up trouble!
"The police are beating people! The police are beating people!"
Bai Meng shouted loudly and charged towards the police officers maintaining order in front of him!
"Can the police beat people for no reason? What crime have we committed? Let's fight them!"
Several people nearby echoed.
Jiang Yonghui, who had just arrived at the scene, heard these words and his heart immediately sank.
"This is bad, it's over!"
The fuse that ignited the conflict in his previous life was completely lit by these two sentences!