[Dong Xuebin's Courage!]

Monday.

South Willow Lane Alley.

Early in the morning, Dong Xuebin arrived with the Street Office staff, full of momentum.

A black Passat stopped at the entrance of the alley. Dong Xuebin, Zhou Yanru, and several deputy directors got out. Following closely behind, a white Jinbei car also unloaded several clerks and staff members from the Street Office responsible for ideological work. Behind them were two police cars from the Guangming Police Station. To prevent any unexpected situations, Peng Gang brought three police officers, though they weren't armed. Even if a residential demolition dispute escalated, firearms were not permitted. Finally, several comrades from the Nanshan District Urban Management Enforcement Team arrived in an enforcement vehicle and a bulldozer.

Grumble, grumble, the sound of the bulldozer startled the residents in the alley.

"It's the urban management!"

"Everyone come out! The bulldozer is here!"

"The Street Office is going to forcibly demolish! Quick, call people! Call people! Fight them!"

"Block them! Don't let them in!"

The sounds of pots and pans clattered intermittently, many being knocked to the ground in the commotion.

What made Dong Xuebin's face darken was that despite their warnings yesterday, these people were still doing business today. Some were selling breakfast, others setting up stalls, creating a chaotic scene. Even the illegal construction that Xue Gui had started at the end of the alley was still underway. Two workers, as if they hadn't seen Dong Xuebin and his team, continued to lay bricks and shovel dirt, methodically building the illegal structure, completely disregarding the Street Office and urban management personnel. Xue Gui and several hoodlums with dyed hair were also standing nearby, watching coldly.

Too arrogant, right?

Dong Xuebin immediately turned his head and said, "Everyone go down, go to each of the illegal shops and do their ideological work. Tell everyone, this is the final warning!"

Several clerks and staff members went first, including Yu Rongfeng, Guo Mingfeng, and Meng Senguo.

Dong Xuebin looked at Peng Gang. "Director Peng, have a few police officers follow them, just in case."

"I understand." Peng Gang whispered to the three uniformed officers behind him, and they quickly entered the alley.

The urban management enforcement team didn't move. The entire Nanshan District was carrying out rectification work on illegal buildings, and the enforcement team was stretched thin. There weren't any leaders from their department present. The person in charge was just a Director Lei, a clerk. According to the instructions from the district and bureau, this rectification was led by the Street Offices, and they were only responsible for assisting and following orders, so they stood outside and didn't go in.

Just as Zhou Yanru wanted to go down to work with Wang Yuling, Dong Xuebin stopped Wang Yuling. "Director Wang doesn't need to go."

Zhou Yanru saw this and entered the alley alone.

Wang Yuling didn't want to argue with these unreasonable merchants, so she smiled when she heard this, but still said, "Director, I'm fine."

Dong Xuebin waved his hand. "Stay here. The merchants are very emotional, don't let anything dangerous happen."

Wang Yuling nodded and stepped back, following behind Dong Xuebin.

While the other deputy directors had gone down, only Wang Yuling remained. It seemed like Dong Xuebin was showing favoritism, but in reality, everyone in the Street Office knew that if they were in charge, they wouldn't let Wang Yuling go either. First, it was for her safety. They knew who Wang Yuling's uncle was, but those merchants who were seeing red didn't. If something happened, they wouldn't be able to explain it to the District Party Secretary. Second, and most importantly, Wang Yuling had a terrible temper. Now, only Dong Xuebin seemed to be able to control her somewhat. If she clashed with the merchants, who knew if Wang Yuling would start cursing? If that ignited the emotions of the masses, it would be impossible to clean up.

Actually, Dong Xuebin had initially considered letting Wang Yuling dampen Xue Gui's arrogance, but it seemed that Wang Yuling and Xue Gui weren't familiar with each other, as if they didn't even know each other. This made things difficult. If Xue Gui really gave Wang Yuling, the District Party Secretary's niece, any face, then Xue Gui wouldn't have had people block the Street Office courtyard yesterday. Sending Wang Yuling would probably be useless. In the face of profit, Xue Gui was already seeing red. Expecting to reason with a rogue who was seeing red was unrealistic.

Intimidation!

Dong Xuebin had instructed everyone before setting off this time that they needed to intimidate them!

They had to create the impression that the government was determined to forcibly demolish the illegal buildings, leaving no room for negotiation, to shock them, let them know the consequences, and then take advantage of the situation.

Because there had been previous failed attempts at forced demolition, if their attitude wasn't strong this time, this demolition would end up the same as before. If those merchants saw the Street Office's ambiguous attitude, their arrogance would definitely be even greater, and they might even resort to violence. How could they demolish anything then? Start a conflict with the residents? Cause more deaths and injuries? Then Dong Xuebin, the Street Office Director, could forget about his job, and the other Street Office cadres could all pack up and go home. Shock them, and under no circumstances could they allow a bloody incident to occur. That was Dong Xuebin's instruction.

In stark contrast to the attitude of the merchants inside the alley, many of the onlookers outside were cheering.

"Are they going to demolish it?"

"It should have been demolished long ago! It's been dragging on for years!"

"Exactly, it's blocking the road and they don't care about hygiene. We've had enough of them!"

Dong Xuebin suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the crowd of onlookers behind him. It was the old woman with mobility issues who had clashed with Wang Yuling in the Street Office hall.

Dong Xuebin smiled and walked up to her, saying, "Grandma, do you live around here too?"

The old woman leaned on her cane, trembling. "Yes, I've lived here for sixty years, and I've been hoping for this for five or six years. Leaders, you must solve this for us this time."

Dong Xuebin held her arm and said, "Don't worry, we're here to solve the problem."

The old woman sighed, "That's great. Ever since I was knocked down here once, I haven't walked this alley for many years. Every time I Go Home, I have to take a detour. The alley was already narrow, and they made it even worse. Is there no place for people to walk? It should have been demolished long ago."

"That's right, I ate at a restaurant here once and found a fly in my food. It was disgusting! And what happened? Not only did the restaurant not compensate me, but they also scolded me. These bastards!"

"They're all operating illegally, would they care about hygiene?"

"And that Xue Gui, he's no good. Look, he even wants to build a house!"

"Demolish them, that's the right thing to do. This place has been a mess for years."

Apart from the small number of merchants and residents in Head Alley who benefited from it, the Common People in the other five or six alleys had long hoped that these illegal buildings would be demolished. Hearing the angry voices of the masses, the people from the Street Office felt something and became even more determined to demolish them. These merchants were harming the interests of the vast majority of Common People for their own benefit. This kind of tumor cannot be allowed to remain for even a day. If they let it go, if there is no solution this time, the Common People will criticize their Government!

Over there, the persuasion work for the merchants was underway.

Song Qing, the secretary and Director of the Willow Lane Community Neighborhood Committee, was shouting loudly at the entrance of the alley, trying to mobilize people. "Everyone listen carefully, the Government is taking a firm stance on the demolition of illegal buildings. They must be demolished, and they will be demolished today. Everyone should move their belongings as soon as possible." This was a young leader of the neighborhood committee, not yet thirty years old, but his tone lacked authority.

Xue Gui said in a sinister voice, "Who are you trying to scare? Get lost!"

A blonde-haired man shouted, "Get lost as far as you can! We just won't move! What can you do?"

A red-haired hoodlum said, "Grab your weapons! If the bulldozer dares to come in, we'll fight them!"

Under Xue Gui's leadership, many merchants took out weapons such as rolling pins and Iron Rods from their shops, forming a united front and clamoring.

"Who's afraid of who!"

"Come and try if you have the guts!"

Zhou Yanru, who was working with the Tailor Shop Boss, was annoyed. "Xue Gui! Are you done yet?"

Xue Gui sneered, "Director Zhou, it's not that I'm not giving you face, but how are we supposed to do business if you do this? You're cutting off our livelihood!"

Several Street Office cadres who were mobilizing the merchants in the alley didn't fare well either. They were cursed out by several merchants, and one young Clerk was pushed and almost hit his head.

"Wang!" Yu Rongfeng walked up immediately with a dark face. "How are you?"

The Clerk who fell on the ground clutched his neck in pain and said, "It's okay, hiss, I bumped it."

The person who pushed him was one of Xue Gui's hoodlums, with a sneer on his face.

Seeing that one of their own was almost injured, the people from the Street Office were furious!

Dong Xuebin was also enraged. Damn it, they don't know what's good for them. He reached out and took a loudspeaker from someone next to him and said loudly, "Some of you may know me, some of you may not. Let me introduce myself, I am Dong Xuebin, the Director of the Street Office and the person in charge of this Rectify Illegal Buildings in Willow Lane Community. Okay, now that you know me, let me be clear, today, whether you agree or not, these illegal buildings must be demolished!

Not a single day will they remain!"

The merchants all clamored!

Ignoring them completely, Dong Xuebin held up the loudspeaker and said, "I'm putting my words here for you all. This forced demolition is an instruction from the district, not something you can decide! If anyone dares to obstruct our law enforcement again, fine! We have people specifically recording everything. Whoever curses, whoever hits someone, whoever obstructs our work today, I'm noting them down one by one! We'll settle the score later! Not only will your illegal buildings be completely demolished, but I guarantee we'll pursue your criminal liability! One by one! If there are a hundred of you, then a hundred of you! Nanshan District has plenty of prisons! One more of you won't make a difference! One less of you will make a big difference! Unlicensed operation! Illegal renting! Damaging the environment! Disrupting social order! Aren't you making a fuss? Good! I'll settle these accounts with you one by one! I can't decide how many years you'll be sentenced to! The Police Station can't decide! But the court can! If you don't believe me, just try it! See if I'm just talking empty words!"