Time moved slightly forward.
Not long after Lin Lan and Ma Wen entered Lin Zonghui's house.
Aunt Gui returned to her own home.
A small-time thug with dyed golden hair was currently inside, playing cards with a group of friends.
In the past, they were stationed at the entrance of the village, not allowing outsiders to enter.
Today, since Lin Yaodong had invited Mayor Chen to inspect, they naturally couldn't let a bunch of thugs be an eyesore in front of the mayor.
So they simply gave them a day off, instructing them to guard the core area of the village and prevent outsiders from coming and going.
With nothing else to do, this group went to the golden-haired guy's house to play cards.
When Aunt Gui returned, the golden-haired thug didn't even acknowledge her and continued playing cards.
Seeing the golden-haired guy's nonchalant attitude, Aunt Gui was furious.
“Tianhao, look at what you've become! You do nothing all day but play!”
The golden-haired guy impatiently replied, “Ugh, Mom, I get it! Can you not bother me?”
“You get it? You don't know anything! Raising a son like you is infuriating; I might as well have raised a daughter!”
Aunt Gui muttered, “Look at Lin Lan, not only is she successful, but she also cares about her parents and younger brother.”
“She knows Er Bao is disabled and even brought a matchmaker for him...”
As she spoke, those who were half-listening suddenly perked up.
“Mom, what did you just say? Lin Lan is back? And she brought a matchmaker for Er Bao?”
“Yes! That girl is quite pretty, let me tell you...”
Aunt Gui was about to continue when she noticed Li Tianhao and the others had gone silent, exchanging glances.
“What’s wrong?”
Aunt Gui also sensed something was off.
Li Tianhao suddenly slapped his thigh, “Damn! This isn’t right!”
“Wasn't Er Bao's mom, Aunt Hui, just helping him set up a match with Widow Wang from the neighboring village a few days ago?”
“Why is his sister introducing a new matchmaker just days later?”
Another thug chimed in, “Exactly! Plus, Er Bao hasn’t even been in the village these past few days. Why would Lin Lan bring someone back?”
The group began to murmur, the more they thought about it, the more suspicious it became, so they stopped playing cards.
They grabbed baseball bats and other weapons and rushed out the door in a frenzy.
Aunt Gui couldn't stop them no matter how hard she tried.
When they reached near Lin Zonghui's house, they happened to see Lin Lan and Ma Wen walking out.
The two sides collided, about several dozen meters apart.
Ma Wen immediately sensed something was wrong; with so many people blocking their path, it seemed they had been exposed!
She quickly grabbed Lin Lan and turned to run!
“Chase! Don’t let those two women get away!”
Li Tianhao shouted, leading the charge.
Others waved their baseball bats and followed suit.
Ma Wen and Lin Lan ran wildly, panicking and not knowing where they were heading.
As they ran, Ma Wen took out her phone and hurriedly called Qi Tongwei.
“Report, Captain! We’ve been exposed, and the villagers from Tazhai are chasing us!”
Qi Tongwei checked the system radar and indeed saw a swarm of red dots chasing after two green dots.
He was still a bit far from the green dots.
Qi Tongwei signaled for Li Fei and Song Yang to follow him, instructing the others to secure the scene while he grabbed two extendable batons from the police car.
Then the three of them quickly ran towards the direction of the green dots.
As they ran, Qi Tongwei directed Ma Wen to lead Lin Lan towards him for a rendezvous.
The two sides were rapidly closing in on each other.
However, not long after, the two green dots representing Ma Wen suddenly stopped moving.
Ma Wen's last words were, “Captain, we’re surrounded by the villagers!”
Then the call ended, and no further sounds came through.
Qi Tongwei felt a sense of foreboding and urged Li Fei and the others to speed up, as the three of them raced desperately towards Ma Wen's last known location.
Meanwhile, Ma Wen and Lin Lan were also surrounded by Li Tianhao and his gang of thugs.
“Run, you filthy women! If you have the guts, try running again!”
Li Tianhao was already panting, pointing his baseball bat at Ma Wen, speaking viciously.
Ma Wen pulled Lin Lan behind her and said in a low voice, “Lin Lan, stay close to me and don’t get separated!”
Lin Lan's face turned pale with anxiety, tightly clutching the hem of Ma Wen's clothes.
“Daxia! Mazi! You all get in there! Break these two women’s legs and drag them back for questioning!”
Li Tianhao shouted loudly.
A group of thugs immediately raised their weapons and charged at Ma Wen!
What followed was a chaotic brawl!
Ma Wen had learned some combat skills, but ultimately, two fists couldn’t fight against four hands.
Moreover, more and more thugs were pouring in from around them.
In the midst of the chaos, Ma Wen lost count of how many people she had knocked down and how many blows she had taken.
But she fiercely protected Lin Lan behind her, ensuring that those blows didn’t land on her.
From the initial pain, Ma Wen's body gradually went numb.
Before long, she was covered in injuries, and just as her strength was giving out and she was about to collapse,
a familiar voice suddenly rang out from outside the crowd.
“Everyone, get the hell out of my way! I want to see who dares to touch my people?”