The fifty luxury motorcoaches pulled up in a gleaming black wall along the snowy boulevard of Zhongguancun.
Behind them, twenty armored mobile canteen trucks parked in double rows along the curb, their heavy side awnings extending with a smooth hiss of pneumatic motors. The warm, comforting smell of boiling mutton broth, scallions, aged ginger, and steamed pork buns immediately cut through the freezing chemical sleet.
The passenger doors of the lead motorcoach swung open with a pneumatic whoosh.
Qin Haoran stepped down onto the slush in his midnight-navy celestial silk suit. His polished leather shoes clicked firmly against the frozen pavement.
Above his left lapel, the imperial emerald-green 80.5 badge radiated a pure jade glow, washing over the shivering faces of the five hundred evicted researchers, nurses, and teachers.
Behind Qin Haoran jumped Tie Niu.
The mountain-sized warrior held his eight-hundred-pound meteoric-iron battle staff in one massive hand. He stepped directly between Dr. Fang Yuan and the forty Crown-Home thugs with a heavy, earth-shaking step.
Manager Zhao backed up two steps on the granite stairs, his diamond signet ring clattering against the metal megaphone. “Who... who are you people?! This is Crown-Home private property! You have no right to interfere with legal eviction procedures!”
