After selling all the vegetables, the group didn’t leave right away.
Since it was rare to visit the city, and they had come on a tractor, they figured they might as well buy some things to take back.
Everyone headed toward the department store, and Song Wei, holding her shopping list, led the way with Lin Zhen following behind, carrying her items.
The department store was crowded with people buying supplies for the New Year. As soon as they entered, Song Wei was practically squished into a human sandwich.
“Ah! Who just touched my butt?”
The voice came from a young woman.
Most people assumed it was just the crowded conditions causing accidental contact and didn’t pay much attention.
Lin Zhen frowned and glanced in that direction before moving closer to Song Wei, staying almost pressed against her back.
With his cold expression and intimidating presence, Lin Zhen looked like a personal bodyguard. People instinctively avoided getting too close to him, even in the packed space, giving Song Wei a more comfortable area to move around.
Song Wei was browsing for red paper to write Spring Festival couplets when she suddenly felt a gust of wind behind her. Lin Zhen had darted forward and grabbed a sleazy-looking middle-aged man.
“What are you doing?”
The man had been lurking close to a young woman but froze when caught.
His guilty conscience was masked by a show of bluster.
Lin Zhen tightened his grip on the man’s hand, his sharp gaze making the man instinctively want to scream.
At this moment, Song Wei stepped forward and smacked the man on the head.
“Uncle, what are you doing here? Come on, let’s go. My dad’s looking for you.”
Her casual slap stunned the man into silence, his head buzzing.
Song Wei took the items from Lin Zhen and gave him a meaningful look. Lin Zhen, understanding her cue, covered the man’s mouth and dragged him outside.
“Uncle, my dad needs you,” Lin Zhen said coolly, forcing the man out without giving him a chance to resist.
“Mm-mmm!”
The man struggled, but he was no match for Lin Zhen in strength or size.
No one in the bustling crowd noticed the commotion, and the department store remained lively.
Once outside in a quiet alley, Lin Zhen released the man and delivered a hard kick to his stomach.
Song Wei crossed her arms and asked, “What’s going on?”
She didn’t doubt Lin Zhen-if he caught someone, it meant the person was up to no good.
“What are you doing? This is illegal! I’m reporting you to the police!” the man shouted as he clutched his stomach, feigning confidence.
Lin Zhen’s gaze turned icy. “Go ahead. I was planning to take you to the police anyway-for groning young women and stealing.”
As he spoke, Lin Zhen grabbed the man by the collar and began pulling items from his pockets.
The man tried to resist, yelling loudly, but Song Wei silenced him with a slap.
“Behave.”
Clutching his now swollen face, the man meekly began pleading and apologizing.
“Okay, okay, I was wrong! But I did it because I’m poor! I’ve got an eighty-year-old mother, several kids to feed, and a sick wife at home. I had no
choice! You two look like kindhearted people-please, let me go! How about this? I’ll split the stolen money with you.”
Lin Zhen and Song Wei didn’t even flinch. Lin Zhen grabbed the man by the collar again, preparing to drag him to the police station.
“Let him go,” a voice called out.
A group of thuggish men wielding clubs sauntered into the alley.
Lin Zhen and Song Wei looked up to see about a dozen men armed with makeshift weapons, their swagger radiating arrogance.
The man Lin Zhen had been holding lit up with hope and immediately adopted a cocky attitude.
“Boss! Boss! It’s these two! I was working fine until that guy caught me.”
The leader of the group, a burly man with a face full of scars, sneered as he sized up Lin Zhen and Song Wei.
“Well, well, looks like we’ve got a feisty little couple here,” he drawled, his lecherous gaze lingering on Song Wei.
“I suggest you two be smart about this. There are a lot of us, and you can’t take us all on,” he said with a smirk. “Leave the girl behind, and we’ll let you go.”
Lin Zhen’s expression darkened.
Without a word, he grabbed the man in his grip and hurled him at the gang.
“Ahhh!”
The man screamed as he flew through the air, crashing into his companions.
Lin Zhen and Song Wei sprang into action simultaneously, each sending an opponent flying with a single kick.
Out on the busy street, two men suddenly sailed through the air, landing with a thud and startling the pedestrians.
“What’s going on over there?”
“Damn, they’re fighting-looks serious.”
“Somebody call the police!”
The gang leader, still full of bravado, bellowed, “Brothers, get them!”
Before he could charge, Song Wei slapped him so hard he spun in a full circle. Lin Zhen followed up by slamming his head into the wall with a loud thud, knocking him unconscious.
Seeing their boss go down so quickly, the remaining thugs hesitated, their confidence wavering.
“What are you afraid of? There are more of us than them-get them!” one shouted.
The crowd of onlookers continued to grow.
“Hey, isn’t that Lin Zhen and Song Wei?” someone exclaimed.
The brigade leader, who had just exited the department store, recognized them and immediately called out, “Grab something to help! We can’t let our people be bullied!”
He and the others picked up whatever they could find-sticks, bricks-and charged into the fray.
“Leave our Ping’an Brigade people alone, or we’ll show you what’s what!”
As one thug tried to sneak up behind Song Wei with a club, the brigade leader shouted, “Song Wei, behind you!”
Without missing a beat, Song Wei ducked, spun around, and landed a punch squarely on the man’s jaw, sending teeth and blood flying.
With the brigade joining the fight, the already struggling thugs were quickly overwhelmed.
Before long, the entire gang was lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
“Care to explain what’s going on?” the brigade leader asked breathlessly.
Song Wei shot a disgusted glance at the thugs. “They’re part of a thieving gang. We caught that guy stealing in the department store and harassing young women.”
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