Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Zhao Lei knew he couldn't delay any longer, so he could only slowly move towards the other side.

He walked extremely slowly, trying to linger as long as possible, his mind constantly calculating countermeasures.

It took them more than ten minutes to walk a distance of just over thirty meters.

Ma Dali and the others kept cursing and urging them on.

"Damn it, Zhao Lei! What are you dawdling for! If you don't come over soon, I'll bleed this kid dry!"

"No, no, I'm here. I'm walking now, but it's not good to step on the riverbed."

"Hurry up!"

"Okay, okay."

Zhao Lei agreed repeatedly, and after more than ten minutes, he finally waded across the stream and reached the other side.

He was standing at the bottom of the slope, while Ma Dali and the other two were standing on the top, only seven or eight meters apart.

Zhao Lei spoke up: "I'm already here. Put the child down first, and let's talk properly, okay?"

"Sure, come a little closer."

Zhao Lei moved another meter or so up the slope, still keeping a few tree trunks between him, unwilling to be completely exposed in the open, leaving himself room to dodge.

He was facing three burly adults, each wielding a sharp knife. Alone, he knew that his two fists were no match for four hands.

At this moment, Ma Dali spoke up, "Zhao Lei, we really didn't need to go this far. It was just a small conflict, why did it have to escalate to this point? Don't you think so?"

Zhao Lei responded, "Yeah, I didn't expect things to escalate this much. I'll go my sunny path, you go your narrow bridge, and we'll stay out of each other's way, isn't that great? You can do this kind of business anywhere, why did you have to come to my house?"

Although I don't know your name yet, you must be Ma Laosan's brother. Ma Laosan should have told you that I, Zhao Lei, have some influence in Qingfeng Town. You kidnapped my child, do you really think you can get away unscathed?

Ma Dali knew in his heart that Zhao Lei was telling the truth.

Although he had just decided to get rid of Zhao Lei, they were habitual child traffickers, but they had never killed anyone.

He'd been involved in many fights and assaults, but murder was a completely different matter. Ma Dali was a deep and calculating man, and it was precisely this caution that allowed him to escape capture despite committing numerous crimes.

He knew that Zhao Lei was not easy to deal with; this man had extensive connections and shrewd methods in Qingfeng Town.

If Zhao Lei is killed here today, there will be endless trouble in the future, especially his good-for-nothing younger brother Ma Laosan, who will become the biggest flaw and will be exposed sooner or later by following the clues.

Despite his conflicting thoughts, Ma Dali remained hesitant and uncertain.

Qiangzi, unable to contain himself any longer, lowered his voice and reminded him, "Boss, let's get started!"

Ma Dali immediately gave him a look, signaling him not to make any rash moves.

Gan Jiangdou quietly moved his feet to the side, intending to circle around behind the tree trunk and ambush Zhao Lei from the side. He gripped the dagger in his hand tighter and stared intently at Zhao Lei below the slope.

Ma Dali caught a glimpse of Gan Cowpea's movements out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything to stop him. He continued to talk to Zhao Lei, trying to distract him.

"Zhao Lei, don't be so sure of yourself. You seriously injured my brother back then, and that debt still needs to be settled. As long as you behave, I might spare your life."

Zhao Lei caught a glimpse of the dried cowpeas moving quietly out of the corner of his eye, and alarm bells went off in his mind.

He remained outwardly calm, but secretly gripped the machete tightly, lowered his center of gravity, and was ready to dodge and counterattack at any moment.

He continued speaking, trying to stall the other party.

"We can settle the score, but first put the child on the ground. Little Stone is still young; if the effects of the drug linger, it will harm his health."

While talking to Ma Dali to calm him down and prevent him from doing something irreversible in a moment of impulsiveness, Zhao Lei kept a wary eye on the short, bald man and the tall, thin man.

The two men were arranged in a fan shape, slowly approaching Zhao Lei.

Zhao Lei kept talking, slowly moving backward to find a good position, using the tree trunk to block his view from the front, and never letting go of the machete in his hand for a moment.

Zhao Lei recalled what Zhang Sangong had said about Ma Laosan's family situation. The Ma family had three sons, all of whom were idle good-for-nothings.

The eldest son, Ma Dali, is away from home most of the year and rarely returns; the second son, Ma Guoqiang, committed robbery a few years ago and has been arrested and imprisoned.

Zhao Lei looked the man up and down and concluded that this man was Ma Dali, the elder brother of Ma Laosan (Ma Guohua).

He smiled and said, "So you must be Ma Laosan's older brother, Ma Dali?"

Now that the truth was out in the open, Ma Dali stopped hiding it and sneered, "It's me. Since you've inquired, you should know that we Ma brothers are not to be trifled with. We've never suffered a loss in all our years of dealing with people outside. But our third brother has fallen into your hands and been beaten so badly he can't move. As the eldest brother, I have to seek justice for my younger brother."

Zhao Lei laughed too: "It's only natural for an older brother to protect his younger brother. But did Ma Laosan tell you the whole story? He came up the mountain to steal my prey and injured my brother-in-law first. As his brother-in-law, I naturally have to protect my own family."

"Haha, so you see, Zhao Lei, we did have the same initial intention. But I didn't want things to escalate to this point. But if you insist on forcing me, I'm not afraid of anyone with nothing to lose, I'll fight you to the death."

You have a family, three wives, and three kids. Our Ma family has three bachelors; we're willing to risk everything. Can you afford to wait that long?

Zhao Lei knew in his heart that he did have a weakness.

Fighting to the death with these desperate thugs would be a losing proposition.

He planned to try to find another way out indirectly.

"Boss Ma, all you do out there is make money. My family has money. Name your price, how much are you willing to sell this child for, and I'll buy him back. I promise I won't report it to the authorities. You can take your brother and run away, you'll have your money. I'll take the child back, and that will save me from all the trouble. What do you say?"

Qiangzi and Ganjiangdou both turned to look at Ma Dali, waiting for their boss to make a decision.

They were involved in child trafficking for money, so Zhao Lei's offer to pay for the child's release was completely unexpected, but exactly what they wanted.

They could get the money and leave without a care. This wasn't their hometown, and even if they offended Zhao Lei, the subsequent trouble wouldn't fall on their heads. Both of them preferred this option.

Ma Dali smirked: "How much are you planning to offer? This child is of good quality; he can fetch a high price in the county or even across provinces. If the price is too low, forget it."

Zhao Lei asked, "How many do you want?"

Ma Dali secretly plotted.

Zhao Lei was willing to pay to ransom the person, so this was a good opportunity to extort a large sum of money from him.

Moreover, this incident has escalated, and the third brother can no longer stay in his hometown. He will have nowhere to go in the future and will need to receive more money.

Upon hearing that Zhao Lei's family was well-off and could afford to build a two-story red brick building, he immediately quoted an exorbitant price.

"Ten thousand yuan. Give me ten thousand yuan and I'll hand the child over to you. Otherwise, we'll fight to the death here."

Zhao Lei's eyes widened in surprise; he hadn't expected the other party to make such an outrageous demand.