Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

"Go to the train station. The special train will be rerouted directly to Handong."

Lin Yang slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his voice carrying a chilling aura that seemed to freeze the soul.

"The knife is sharpened too much; it even seems to be trying to cut through the scabbard. I need to go and see for myself just how big a temple this Grand Steward of Handong has built for himself on this black soil."

Two days later, at dawn.

In the heart of the Central Plains, in the Handong District, Jingzhou City.

The morning mist, mixed with the strong smell of coal smoke in the air, enveloped this massive heavy industrial hub city.

With the full implementation of the "North-to-South Power Transmission" strategy, Jingzhou's urban area has expanded rapidly. Countless high-voltage transmission towers stand like steel giants on the plains, and the crisscrossing silver cables gleam with a cold industrial luster under the morning light.

A mixed passenger and freight train without any special markings slowly came to a stop at a large coal marshalling yard in the northern suburbs of Jingzhou.

This isn't a passenger station, but an internal freight yard specifically used for dispatching large coal-carrying trains. Everywhere you look, there are mountains of black coal, the roar of coal trucks is deafening, and the air is thick with coal dust, making it hard to breathe.

Lin Yang changed into a dark blue work jacket that ordinary workers often wear, and wore a cap with the brim pulled low on his head.

He did not bring any guards; he was only accompanied by He Yuzhu and Shen Yan, who had also changed into civilian clothes.

The three men, like ordinary railway freight inspectors, quietly stepped off the train and into this black steel jungle.

"Commander, this place is too chaotic, your safety..." He Yuzhu stood close to Lin Yang, his right hand in his jacket pocket, ready to draw his gun at any moment, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

"In this country, I, Lin Yang, am safest wherever I go," Lin Yang said calmly, taking long strides and heading straight towards a huge pithead power plant on the outskirts of the cargo yard.

The power plant was less than two kilometers from the coal mine entrance, where several enormous cooling towers, hundreds of meters high, were spewing out white steam that blotted out the sky. Thick coal conveyor belts, like giant black dragons, continuously transported raw coal, freshly dug from the ground, into the power plant's crushing workshop.

This is the "pithead power plant" model that Zhao Lichun is so proud of. It eliminates all intermediate railway transportation links, making it incredibly efficient.

Lin Yang and his two companions followed a dirt road full of mud and coal slag, approaching the mixed construction and production area of ​​the power plant.

The situation here is far more chaotic than described in the documents.

Tens of thousands of workers were divided into three shifts. On one side, the generator units, already in operation, roared deafeningly; on the other side, the second phase of the project was being expanded at a frantic pace. Red banners and slogans were everywhere: "Work hard and fast to ensure power supply and production!" "We'd rather suffer a lot than let the lights of the South be out!"

Lin Yang stood on a high slope, quietly watching all of this.

Undeniably, from the perspective of industrial development, this was a phenomenal, rapid advance.

But soon, a discordant roar shattered the awe-inspiring industrial aesthetic.

Hundreds of local villagers dressed in tattered clothes gathered in front of a makeshift shed at the foot of the hill. They were furious, holding hoes and carrying poles, and were trying to break through the line of security guards in black uniforms in front of the shed.

"Give us back our ancestral graves! You bunch of beasts, to build this lousy power plant, you didn't even say a word, you just drove your bulldozers and bulldozed our village's ancestral graves!"

An old farmer with a full head of white hair knelt in the mud, crying out in anguish.

"That Zhao Lichun, that living devil, promised compensation, but where's the money? We haven't seen a single penny! You bunch of lackeys embezzled it all! If you don't give us an explanation today, our whole village will die here, and nobody will be allowed to start work!"

The villagers' anger had reached its peak. This was not just a matter of land; in traditional Chinese rural values, digging up someone's ancestral graves was an irreconcilable feud.

Standing at the forefront of the defensive line was a middle-aged man with a large belly and slicked-back hair.

He wore a woolen overcoat with a mink collar, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his face filled with hostility and disdain. This man was none other than Wang Dahai, the chief commander in charge of the demolition and land acquisition for the second phase of the project, and a trusted confidant of Zhao Lichun, whom he had personally promoted in Jingzhou.

Wang Dahai exhaled a puff of smoke, pulled a black police baton from his waist, and casually tossed it in his hand.

"Old man, you're asking for it, aren't you?" Wang Dahai sneered, pointing at the old farmer on the ground. "The compensation money has already been deposited into your township's account. Go ask the township officials for it yourselves! What are you doing here causing trouble?"

"Let me tell you! This Kengkou Power Station is the number one project personally overseen by Chief Steward Zhao! It's a political task concerning the lifeline of the Southern Special Zone of the country! Anyone who dares to gather crowds and cause trouble here is sabotaging national construction! They are counter-revolutionaries!"

Wang Dahai showed no remorse whatsoever; instead, he became extremely arrogant. He suddenly waved his hand and gave orders to the dozens of black-clad security guards behind him, who were holding rubber batons and shields.

"Beat them! As long as no one dies, I'll cover all the medical expenses for any missing limbs! Get these troublemakers out of the red zone within five minutes!"

"yes!"

A group of security guards, like hungry wolves, raised their rubber batons and charged directly at the unarmed villagers.

Screams, curses, and the dull thud of clubs striking flesh instantly mingled into a tragic symphony on the muddy construction site.

The old farmer who was leading the group was kicked to the ground by two security guards, and then several sticks were slammed into his back. The old farmer spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the black coal dust on the ground red.

Standing on the high slope, Shen Yan's eyes widened in horror, his fists clenched tightly together.

"Is this still a national construction site? This is clearly bandits robbing and seizing land! Chairman, Zhao Lichun's men have completely gone mad!" Shen Yan said through gritted teeth.

In Lin Yang's eyes, a super storm capable of destroying the world had already gathered.

He didn't fly into a rage, nor did he shout at people.

He simply and very slowly removed his forward-looking hat from his head.

"Pillar." Lin Yang's voice was extremely low, like a death knell coming from the deepest hell.

"Here!" He Yuzhu's muscles were taut to the limit, and his scarred eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light, like a tiger that had been suppressed for a long time.

"That guy in the mink coat." Lin Yang's gaze was fixed on Wang Dahai, who was laughing wildly below.

"I don't want anyone to die. But I want him to spend the rest of his life lying in bed, eating with a straw."

Before Lin Yang could finish speaking, He Yuzhu's figure was already like a black lightning bolt, leaping directly down the slope more than three meters high!

boom!