"Mom, I'm hungry."
In the dilapidated small courtyard, a boy of five or six, with a sallow complexion, clearly malnourished.
A woman was washing clothes nearby, with several baskets in front of her. Even if she washed continuously, it would likely take her a whole day.
Her hands were wet. She wiped the sweat that was about to drip into her eyes with her wrist and then said, "Xiao Ming, be good. Mom will wash these two basins of clothes and then go buy you something to eat."
"En, Mom, I'll help you wash too."
The little boy reached out, about to pick up some clothes.
The woman quickly blocked him with her arm. The boy was smaller than the clothes and couldn't wash them at all.
After being stopped by his mother, the little boy went to the corner of the courtyard to play with his toys.
His toy was a small dog that could run around when pulled. However, one of its wheels was missing, making it limp, but the little boy played very happily.
Clang.
At this moment, the courtyard door was kicked open from the outside.
The little boy, startled, quickly hid next to the woman.
"Sister Guilan, why are you still washing clothes here? What did I tell you a couple of days ago, have you considered it?"
As the courtyard door was kicked open, several young people with long, brightly dyed hair walked in from outside.
The young man in the lead had a cigarette in his mouth, looking rather dissolute.
The woman, who had been washing clothes, first comforted her son and then roughly wiped her hands on her apron.
"Qiangzi, thank you for your kindness. I appreciate it."
Xu Guilan forced a smile and replied.
The person who had just kicked the door open was named Hu Qiang, who originally lived next door to Xu Guilan.
However, after his parents died in an accident, he started associating with people from the underworld.
A few days ago, Hu Qiang had approached Xu Guilan, saying he wanted to buy her courtyard for fifty thousand yuan.
Since Xu Guilan didn't agree immediately, Hu Qiang told her to take two days to consider it.
Now that he had come to her door, Xu Guilan knew she couldn't stall any longer and could only speak in the most polite tone.
"What the hell! Our Qiang Ge calling you Sister Guilan is giving you face, do you really think you're somebody?"
"I'm telling you, you'll sell this courtyard whether you want to or not!"
"Don't make things difficult for yourself, understand?"
After Xu Guilan refused, before Hu Qiang could speak, the young men following behind him started shouting.
These guys all had brightly dyed hair, multiple ear piercings like women, and some even had them on their lips, looking quite disgusting.
Facing their taunts, Xu Guilan could only force a smile, knowing she couldn't afford to offend these people.
"Shut up!"
Hu Qiang raised his hand, stopping his subordinates, and then walked towards Xu Guilan with a smile.
Just as Xu Guilan looked at Hu Qiang with confusion, the latter reached out and pinched her son's cheek.
The little boy pushed Hu Qiang away with his hand. Although he was young, he knew that Hu Qiang and his group were not good people.
"Qiangzi, the child is young and doesn't know any better. Don't take it to heart."
Seeing this, Xu Guilan quickly slapped her son and hurriedly explained to Hu Qiang.
She knew very well that the current Hu Qiang was no longer the sensible and well-behaved young man from a few years ago. She had heard that Hu Qiang had fallen in with some sort of boss and had recently chased people with a knife in the streets.
Therefore, Xu Guilan was naturally terrified that her son's actions would provoke the other party.
"Sister Guilan," Hu Qiang threw the cigarette he was holding aside and stomped on it hard with his foot, then said, "Did you also hear the rumors that this area is going to be demolished, so you think fifty thousand yuan is too little?"
Indeed, Xu Guilan had recently heard her neighbors chatting, saying that their area had caught the eye of a developer and might be demolished.
But unlike the neighbors' happiness, Xu Guilan's husband had died in the line of duty shortly after their son was born. She had painstakingly raised her son alone, relying on odd jobs and part-time work for income.
This courtyard was the only place of refuge for her and her son. If it were really demolished, even if they were given a house, Xu Guilan wouldn't have the money to renovate it. As for the money, her courtyard was only a few dozen square meters, so the demolition compensation wouldn't be much.
Therefore, Xu Guilan didn't want it to be demolished, because if it wasn't, she and her son would at least have a home.
"Sister Guilan! I'll tell you the truth, our boss has already taken on the demolition work. If it weren't for the fact that we used to be neighbors, let alone fifty thousand yuan, you'd be lucky to get thirty thousand."
As Xu Guilan fell silent, Hu Qiang spoke again.
Developers these days were getting smarter. They knew that during demolition, they would encounter many stubborn residents and difficult people. Therefore, before demolition, they would choose local underworld figures and offer them a large sum of money to act as their agents, clearing all obstacles.
Of course, if there was any bloodshed or casualties during the demolition, these developers would immediately wash their hands of it, pushing all the blame onto the underworld figures.
Because in this day and age, to make money, one had to pay a price.
Hu Qiang's boss was named Chen Xinzhu, known to those in the know as Brother Zhu. This time, Chen Xinzhu and another underworld boss had both taken on the demolition project.
The developer's boss had stated that whoever spent the least time on this demolition and obtained the most signed contracts would receive an additional bonus of twenty million yuan from him.
Upon hearing this, Chen Xinzhu and the other underworld boss both went all out.
Then, with a single command, they dispatched all their subordinates, determined to seize the initiative.
Hu Qiang was one of the many demolition teams.
Before coming to Xu Guilan's house, he had already obtained two signed contracts, and of course, he had used many unseemly methods in the process.
But for Hu Qiang, one contract could earn him fifty thousand yuan from his boss. As for illegality, it was all irrelevant.
"Sister Guihua, Xiao Ming is so cute. Don't you want him to be kidnapped one day when he goes out?"
Seeing that Xu Guilan was still silent, Hu Qiang finally couldn't help but threaten her in a cold tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Guilan hugged her son tightly, "Qiangzi! What are you doing! I'm warning you, don't do anything rash."
"This is the demolition agreement. As long as you sign it, you can immediately get fifty thousand yuan!"
Hu Qiang threw a pre-prepared demolition agreement in front of Xu Guilan and added, "If you don't sign..."
Bang!
Bang!
Crash!
Hu Qiang waved his hand slightly, and his subordinates, who were standing behind him, immediately rushed forward and kicked over the basin of laundry in front of Xu Guilan, scattering the clothes everywhere.
Then, these guys smashed everything in the courtyard that could be smashed.