Chapter 36: Manager Wang and His Team in Utter Confusion!

Lin Wendong’s tone was resonant and forceful. After his words fell, it took a few breaths for the crowd to react.

"You’re talking nonsense! We are clearly the victims; how could we... how could we have committed so many crimes!"

"Don't listen to their gibberish, hurry up and arrest him!"

"He’s stealing our lines!"

Wang Dalong and his subordinates were starting to panic, shouting and protesting incessantly. Wu Youhai felt a headache coming on. The situation was becoming increasingly chaotic—who exactly was the victim here?

"One at a time. Let’s see who can produce the evidence."

"Evidence?" Manager Wang’s expression was complex; just as he was about to speak, Lin Wendong beat him to it.

"I have surveillance footage right here!" Lin Wendong pulled out a tablet and handed it to Wu Youhai. Manager Wang leaned in to look as well.

The footage was from the entrance of the village. It showed more than a hundred men, including Manager Wang, piling out of five minivans and looking around for a moment. Then, the scene shifted. The group arrived at the village park. The surveillance video had no sound, but it showed the group surrounding an old man. One of the thugs stepped forward, exposing his tattoos, as if to intimidate the elderly man.

Seeing this, Wu Youhai looked up. Manager Wang, who was also watching the footage, looked up too.

"This is a complete misunderstanding! We were just asking for directions!"

"Asking for directions? Does asking for directions require over a hundred people to surround an old man and flash tattoos at him?" Wu Youhai’s single question left Manager Wang speechless.

"That old man wasn't just fine; he tore his own clothes off to show off his own tattoos!" Manager Wang pointed at the tablet excitedly.

"Fine?" Lin Wendong sneered. He reached behind him, and Lin Wenwu immediately handed him a file. "Uncle Hai is nearly sixty years old and has always been in poor health—he suffers from heart disease! Because of your intimidation, his heart condition flared up."

"Look for yourselves." Lin Wendong presented the medical report to everyone.

Manager Wang and his group were stunned, their minds reeling.

That old man had muscular, well-defined arms and looked younger than me, and he had an expression of pure disdain—how could he have been scared into a heart attack by us?!

Wu Youhai’s gaze toward Manager Wang and his group shifted. The evidence was irrefutable! These hundred-plus people had intimidated a village elder the moment they entered, and the man had suffered a heart attack as a result.

"This... this..." Wang Dalong and his men were at a loss for words; they hadn't thought that far ahead!

"And you guys taking the initiative to beat our people—that is an undeniable fact, right?!" Seeing the situation turning against them, Manager Wang immediately changed the subject, pointing at the group of bleached-hair youths. "I saw with my own eyes that they struck first. If you pull the surveillance footage for that, it will be ironclad proof!"

Manager Wang sneered inwardly, but he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He looked up and saw Lin Wendong and his group staring at him as if he were an idiot.

Manager Wang: "..."

"What are you all looking at?!" He also noticed that not only the people of Tazhai were looking at him this way, but even Wu Youhai was looking at him like he was... mentally challenged.

The dozen or so youths with bleached hair who had been pinned to the ground earlier stepped forward. Wu Youhai looked at these thin, scrawny youths, then shifted his gaze to the hundred-plus burly men behind Manager Wang.

After a long silence, Wu Youhai asked in an indescribable tone, "Are you telling me that these dozen people took the initiative to beat up the hundred of you?"

"Yes!" Manager Wang and his men hadn't realized the absurdity yet, as it was what they had witnessed.

"That kid was the first one to kick me," said a man standing near Wang Dalong. He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, his massive muscles straining against his short-sleeved shirt, his face looking ferocious. He pointed at a pale, sickly-looking youth among the dozen, who was only about 1.6 meters tall, claiming he had struck first.

Wu Youhai’s gaze flickered between the two. "Uh..."

For a moment, the Director of the Municipal Bureau felt his intelligence had been insulted. A dozen scrawny youths taking the initiative to beat up over a hundred burly men? How could they even dare?!

"You're full of it! We didn't lift a finger! You were the ones who surrounded us and started beating us without saying a word!" one of the youths suddenly shouted indignantly.

"Huh?" Wang Dalong was almost laughed to anger. This was an undeniable fact. "Bullshit, you were the ones who attacked us first!"

"Enough!" Seeing the situation spiraling into another argument, Wu Youhai cut them off coldly. His head was throbbing. He looked at Lin Wendong and said, "Pull the surveillance footage from here."

"Just check the footage, and it will clear our names!" one of Wang Dalong’s men sneered.

But Lin Wendong shook his head. "There is no surveillance here."

"How is that possible?" Hearing this, Manager Wang and his men were livid. "No surveillance? No! How can there be no surveillance?!"

They scanned their surroundings, only to realize there truly were no cameras installed.

Lin Yaodong explained, "This is the ancestral hall. Installing surveillance would be an act of disrespect toward our ancestors."

In the context of clan culture, this reasoning was perfectly sound.

"This..." Wu Youhai looked hesitant. The situation was becoming increasingly muddled. Which side had truly instigated this mass brawl? However, one thing was clear: these outsiders had intimidated a village elder. That was an indisputable fact.

Lin Wendong crossed his arms over his chest, watching the livid Manager Wang. The latter was so angry he felt like smoke was pouring out of his seven orifices, his teeth gritted as he roared internally, "Damn these bastards!"

Through the "evidence" he had gathered, Wu Youhai had managed to gain a rough understanding of the situation. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Manager Wang and his men. "I have a general understanding of the situation now. You broke into this village for no reason, intimidated the villagers, incited a mass brawl, and engaged in organized criminal activities... Oh, and you are also suspected of overloading your vehicles."

Wang Dalong and his men felt their minds go blank. Especially the last part—suspected of overloading? What the hell was that? Over a hundred people arriving in five minivans—averaging twenty people per van—Wu Youhai didn't know of any minivan legally rated for twenty passengers.

"It’s not like that at all!" Manager Wang panicked, wanting to explain, only to realize there was nothing left to explain.