Returning to the Lin Family

"A grand gift? How so, how do you plan to atone for your actions?" Lin Feng crossed his arms and sneered.

"I know your grandfather's seventieth birthday is fast approaching. Rest assured, I will personally prepare a most satisfactory and fitting grand gift for him!"

Yun Qianshang smiled slightly, his expression brimming with hidden meaning.

Lin Feng was stunned for a moment before he recalled that his mother had indeed called earlier to remind him of his grandfather's upcoming seventieth birthday.

Counting the days now, it was indeed almost time!

"I appreciate your kind intentions, but there is no need for you to bother. I will prepare a satisfactory grand gift for my grandfather myself. Farewell."

Lin Feng turned and walked away, ignoring Yun Qianshang completely.

Yun Qianshang patted Gu Feng on the shoulder, signaling him to see Lin Feng off.

Gu Feng understood instantly and immediately chased after him, shouting loudly, "Lin Feng, my official vehicle permit has been approved! Let me drive you back to Jinling!"

Realizing it was Gu Feng, Lin Feng turned his head and glanced back at Yun Qianshang.

Yun Qianshang smiled faintly at the corners of his mouth and saluted Lin Feng in gesture.

With a cold snort, Lin Feng got into Gu Feng's car.

"Lin Feng, where are you headed?"

"Linyun County, in Jinling City," Lin Feng said calmly.

"You got it! Departing immediately for Linyun County!"

Paying no mind to the visibly elated Gu Feng, Lin Feng closed his eyes to feign sleep and quietly cultivated his inner strength.

Linyun County was a district under the jurisdiction of Jinling City, with a resident population of barely over a million, qualifying it as no more than a small county town.

The ancestral property of the Lin family was located precisely in this small county town.

Decades ago, his grandfather had started from a modest apothecary in the county town. Through the toil of most of his life, he gradually expanded his business to Jinling, ultimately building a massive traditional Chinese medicine enterprise valued in the billions.

Yet, because of Lin Feng, the vast family fortune his grandfather had poured his heart and soul into creating was completely squeezed out and driven to bankruptcy.

Today, the family had no choice but to retreat to their hometown in the county, barely surviving through a tiny, crumbling pharmaceutical plant.

Reborn into this world, the deepest guilt in Lin Feng's heart belonged to his grandfather—an elderly man who had strived for his career his entire life, only to be cast into the mud because of his own momentary rashness.

In the end, his grandfather had even been deliberately targeted for revenge, beaten to death right out on the street.

"Grandfather, rest assured. I will recover everything belonging to the Lin family with interest, and the Liang family will pay in blood for the evil they have committed!"

Lin Feng silently swore in his heart, a trace of killing intent radiating from between his brows that sent a chill straight down the spine of Gu Feng in the driver's seat.

...

After a drive lasting over two hours, following the navigation system, Gu Feng finally arrived in Linyun County.

"Um... Lin Feng, we've arrived in Linyun County. But this county is quite large; where exactly are you headed?"

"To Guxi Pharmaceutical Plant."

"Oh, right. Just a moment, we'll be there right away!"

Gu Feng did not dare to be the least bit negligent. Throughout the two-hour journey, every single second had felt like enduring the torture of a razor-sharp killing intent; he truly felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles.

His attitude toward Lin Feng became even more deferential, not daring to provoke him in the slightest.

Before long, Gu Feng parked the car right outside the main gates of Guxi Pharmaceutical Plant.

However, the more you dread something, the sooner it arrives.

Gathered right at the entrance of the pharmaceutical plant was a mob of thugs wielding various clubs and weapons, numbering over thirty in total. The ringleader was a punk with dyed yellow hair and a delinquent, avant-garde hairstyle.

Holding a baseball bat, he pressed it hard against the chest of a graying, middle-aged security guard, looking fiercely malicious and wildly arrogant as he sneered:

"Let me tell you something, Old Man Zhang, do you still want to survive in this territory of Linyun County or not? I'm telling you, our Brother Long said that if you don't clear out and move the factory within three days, we're going to smash it to pieces. What's this? Brother Long's words mean nothing to you? Do you have to be beaten half to death before you'll understand?"

The security guard, whose temples were streaked with gray, was no match for these hot-blooded young thugs, and his face was already covered in bruises.

Even so, his backbone remained unyielding as he growled back:

"Get lost! This factory belongs to the eldest master of the Lin family, it has nothing to do with the third master! You think you can usurp the factory just because you're holding an IOU from the third master? In your dreams!"

"Oh ho! You old bastard, quite the tough guy, aren't you? Let's see how long you can keep acting tough!"

Seeing that the old guard refused to yield and was still attempting to put up a stubborn resistance, the yellow-haired punk grinned to reveal a mouthful of yellow teeth, raising his baseball bat to unleash another beating on the guard.

"Come on then, you punk! Back when I was a soldier, I killed plenty of invaders; do you think I'm scared of scum like you now? Bah! If you've got the guts, you son of a bitch, beat me to death!"

"Fine! I'll beat you to death today and get some practice!"

Provoked into a frenzy by the old guard's angry retort, the yellow-haired punk swung the baseball bat with renewed force, aiming directly to smash it down upon the old man's crown.

A blow like that, even if it didn't kill him, would undoubtedly cause severe concussion!

Just as the club in the punk's hand was about to descend, far from showing any fear, the security guard's eyes flashed with the unyielding tenacity unique to a veteran soldier.

"Go to hell, you old fool!"

Roaring with rage, the yellow-haired punk brought the baseball bat down at high speed.

At this critical, life-or-death juncture, a cold, calm voice suddenly echoed from behind:

"Drop the club in your hand, and you might still live."

Startled by the killing intent hidden within that voice, the yellow-haired punk shuddered all over. He hurriedly abandoned the security guard, turned around, and saw that the person returning was none other than Linyun County's infamous good-for-nothing prodigal son of the Lin family—Lin Feng!

"I was wondering who it was. Isn't this the Lin family's notorious spendthrift, Lin Feng? I heard you went away to marry into some family as a kept son-in-law. What wind blew you back here today, kid?"

Catching sight of Lin Feng, the yellow-haired punk hoisted the baseball bat onto his shoulder, tapped his right foot insolently, and swaggered right up to him.

His expression was dripping with utter contempt, as tales of Lin Feng's disgraceful exploits had long been circulating widely in Linyun County.

Now that the once-prominent Lin family, which had risen from Linyun County, had suddenly fallen into decline and teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, countless people were secretly gloating, looking for opportunities to kick them while they were down, both overtly and covertly.

Consequently, many people had eagerly pried into the Lin family's affairs, embellishing and spreading wild rumors. The story of Lin Feng, the "prodigal son," wandering far from home to become a live-in son-in-law had long since spread throughout the entire county, turning him into a laughingstock used by everyone to mock the Lin family.

Brainwashed by these rumors, the yellow-haired punk didn't take Lin Feng seriously in the least.

Bearing his baseball bat on his shoulder, he noticed that Lin Feng was dressed in fine attire and even had someone driving a car specifically for him. Figuring Lin Feng must be doing rather well for himself outside, the punk immediately set his sights on him.

"Not a bad suit you've got there. Looks like you've raked in plenty of cash living off your wife's family all these years. How about this? Since you've just returned, I won't make things difficult for you. Hand over two hundred thousand and that car, and I'll let this old bastard off the hook."

The punk still assumed Lin Feng was nothing more of the useless, soft-rice-eating, parasite of a prodigal son described in the rumors.

Yet, he could never have imagined that Lin Feng was not only a Martial Grandmaster and a lord of the Binhai underworld, but also a Major General holding an honorary military rank conferred by the armed forces!

Any single one of those identities, any slight application of his methods, let alone a petty punk like the one before him—even the punk's boss, Brother Long, would never dare to provoke him!