Me! A high-ranking official!

He pulled out two hundred yuan and threw it on the passenger seat, saying coldly, "Take this money and turn around and leave quickly. Don't go any further, or these guys will smash your car!"

After saying that, he pushed open the car door, without flinching, and strode straight toward the hundreds of rioting villagers.

Just as he reached the edge of the crowd, a sharp-eyed villager behind him turned around and spotted him. The villager, as if his tail had been stepped on, pointed at him and screamed, "The Party Secretary is here! Zhao Jianguo is back!"

This sharp cry was like a bucket of cold water being poured into a frying pan.

The villagers who were originally surrounding Li Gan and the company staff immediately turned around when they heard this name. When they saw him walking alone, the crowd instantly surged back like a tide, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded him in the middle!

A barrage of voices, spittle and vicious curses, rained down on Zhao Jianguo.

"Zhao Jianguo! What the hell do you mean?! Your little brother just said that even if the company agrees to raise prices, you won't agree? What gives you the right to refuse?!"

"You're the village secretary sent down from the county, you're supposed to be fighting for our interests! But instead, you're suppressing price increases and preventing everyone from getting rich. What kind of damn secretary are you?!"

A shirtless man waved his arms, spitting almost onto Zhao Jianguo's face: "Zhao Jianguo! My plot of land is right next to the main road, and it's better than those plots in every way. Why should I pay the same price as them? You have to pay more!"

Another man jumped up and down, yelling, "I'm telling you, Zhao Jianguo! Our land is better, it deserves a higher price than everyone else's! A thousand yuan per mu, not a penny less! Nobody's leaving this village today!"

Zhao Jianguo was surrounded by hundreds of people, the air thick with the stench of sweat and a violent, aggressive atmosphere. His brow furrowed as he listened to the insatiable, clamorous chatter. He took a deep breath, then suddenly shouted, "Quiet! All of you, quiet down!!!"

"If you have any questions, elect a representative to speak to me one by one!"

However, facing hundreds of villagers who were blinded by greed and anger, his voice sounded so pale and powerless. Although he shouted as loudly as he could, his voice was instantly drowned out by the clamor of the crowd, and no one listened to him at all!

The crowd pressed closer and closer, and some people even started shoving his shoulders.

"Zhao Jianguo! This land has belonged to our ancestors for generations. What right do you have to make decisions for us?!"

"I knew he was no good! Think about it, he's holding onto our land and refusing to negotiate the price. Who knows how much kickback he's secretly taking from those big companies!"

"That's right! None of these officials are any good! What are you, Zhao Jianguo? You're just someone sent down from above to go through the motions. You really think you're something special? In our Luo Family Village, you're nothing but a piece of trash!"

Zhao Jianguo stared wide-eyed at the villagers who had called him "Upright and Just Lord" in the live stream just yesterday, but who were now hurling insults at him over some unearned money. His anger burned fiercely in his chest.

"Quiet down! Let me explain what's going on!" he roared again, trying to quell the situation.

But those people wouldn't listen at all, and continued to shout and curse wildly.

"That Zhao Jianguo is a complete snob! He's only after his own political achievements! The only reason he pretends to do things for us is to pave the way for his own promotion and wealth!"

"Exactly! Just now, the company representatives said they were open to negotiation, but he's blocking the company from raising prices for us! That damn bastard, he just can't stand seeing us ordinary folks have money in our pockets!"

Just as the scene reached its most chaotic point and the shoving became increasingly violent, a shrill, clearly inflammatory voice suddenly shouted from the back of the crowd: "This heartless, corrupt official who colludes with capitalists to oppress us ordinary people! Kill him! Kill him to uphold justice!"

This highly inflammatory statement was like a detonator that ignited a powder keg!

The villagers, already extremely agitated and on the verge of losing control, were instantly swayed, their rationality completely collapsing. Their eyes red, they joined in the shouting: "Yes! Hit him! Kill this heartless official! This is called being an inhumane official!"

Before he finished speaking, a jujube wood stick, as thick as a child's arm, suddenly emerged from the crowd and, with a sharp whistling sound, slammed down hard on the back of Zhao Jianguo's head without warning!

That was swift and ruthless!

Zhao Jianguo was at the center of the vortex, being pushed and shoved by more than a dozen hands around him, and had no time to notice the cold stick behind him.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, the stick struck Zhao Jianguo squarely on the back of the head!

He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and his head suddenly buzzed. However, his abnormal physique, enhanced by the Treasure Basin, allowed him to withstand the blow, which was enough to cause a severe concussion in an ordinary person. His body only swayed slightly.

But his heart sank to the bottom in that instant! Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that as the stick fell, several young men around him, each holding a weapon, were already eager to pounce on him with a violent glint in their eyes!

He knew perfectly well that once the first drop of blood was shed in this kind of mass incident, once someone took the lead, the herd mentality would immediately escalate into an out-of-control riot! If he couldn't suppress these people's arrogance with absolute and overwhelming force in this very second, not only would he be beaten to death on this threshing ground today, but Zhu Yan, Luo Ming, and everyone else from the company would also be doomed!

"court death!"

He suddenly turned around, his eyes instantly turning a terrifying, bloodthirsty red, like those of a ferocious beast.

Just as he was about to retract the stick, he swung his hand out like lightning and grabbed the stick that had hit him!

"Get out here!"

With a thunderous shout, he suddenly exerted force with his arm and used the stick to pull the stick into his arms!

In the crowd, a middle-aged man with a face full of scars and a sinister look was pulled out of the crowd by this irresistible and terrifying force, and staggered to Zhao Jianguo's side!

This person is definitely an instigator planted by Luo Shuishan in the crowd!

Without uttering a single wasted word, he snatched the thick wooden stick from a child's arm, gripped both ends of the stick with both hands, and the pent-up anger in his chest and the violent power bestowed by the treasure basin erupted at the same moment!

"Snap!!!"

A crisp snapping sound echoed throughout the arena. The incredibly hard jujube wood stick was broken in two in mid-air by him with just his bare hands!

Splinters flying everywhere!

Before the surrounding villagers could even react to this astonishing power, he held the broken stick upside down in his hand, his eyes as cold as iron. Without the slightest hesitation, he swung it around and slammed it hard against the middle-aged man's thigh!