Wang Huiting froze completely, her heart leaping into her throat as her mind went blank.
Su Ruyi lifted her backpack with one hand while dragging Wang Huiting forward with the other.
Four men closed in step by step, cornering them against the wall.
Passersby glanced their way, but one of the men with a fierce appearance grinned viciously at them, causing everyone to hurriedly scatter, afraid of getting involved.
The thief whom Su Ruyi had stopped earlier was now playing with a small knife, leering at her as he looked her up and down:
"Well now, little girl, we meet again. You ruined my business – don't you think you should compensate your big brother here?"
Wang Huiting was terrified, her legs trembling, yet she still stepped forward to shield Su Ruyi.
"W-what do you think you're doing? There are so many people around – if you come any closer, I'll scream!"
Despite her efforts to stay calm, her voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Go ahead, scream louder – let us brothers enjoy the sound."
The four men clearly didn't take the two girls seriously, completely unafraid of causing trouble right on the street.
"Get lost." Su Ruyi said coldly, pulling Wang Huiting to stand against the wall.
The four men laughed even more arrogantly.
One of them, who looked like a scrawny monkey with a sly face, said lustfully:
"Sure, how about rolling around with your big brother?" As he spoke, he reached out his hand.
"Roll with your mother!!"
Disgusted by his lecherous gaze, Su Ruyi immediately swung her backpack at his head, then quickly grabbed the knife-wielder's arm and started swinging him around like a doll, smashing him into the others.
She used both hands and feet indiscriminately, not caring about any particular fighting style.
Despite her brute strength, Su Ruyi was actually quite frightened, having never been in a fight before.
Her earlier arrogance was because her opponent had no weapons and she had been feeling overconfident. But now with knives involved, the situation was different.
No matter how skilled you are, you still fear a kitchen knife.
Su Ruyi valued her life – she only had brute strength while her body remained fragile, so she couldn't afford to be careless.
However, she clearly underestimated her own capabilities. When she finally calmed down, she found all four men lying on the ground, moaning in pain.
The knife-wielder had it worst, his arm clearly twisted at an unnatural angle.
The previously noisy street fell silent – holy shit, what had they just witnessed!
A grown man being swung around like a toy by a slender teenage girl – the scene was simply surreal!
No technique whatsoever, just pure brute strength.
Seeing that Su Ruyi had calmed down, Wang Huiting quickly ran over, her eyes sparkling with admiration:
"Sis! You're absolutely amazing!"
She was still holding Su Ruyi's backpack that had been thrown earlier, having secretly retrieved it at some point.
The moment Su Ruyi went berserk, Wang Huiting had quickly stepped aside to give her space to fight freely.
She had even occasionally sneaked in a kick or two while making sure to retrieve the backpack to avoid it being trampled during the fight – after all, it contained gifts prepared for the Zhang family.
Having witnessed Su Ruyi's strength before, Wang Huiting, though still stunned, already knew how to cooperate.
Seeing that these men had completely lost their ability to fight, Su Ruyi, who had been tense all along, finally let out a sigh of relief.
She was still too inexperienced—the sight of knives had flustered her, and she had fought wildly without any technique just now.
As more people gathered around, Su Ruyi wore a terrified expression, looking thoroughly frightened:
"I—I didn’t mean to, I—I was just too scared."
She naturally appeared delicate and fragile, and now she seemed on the verge of shattering.
Someone couldn’t bear it and spoke up: "We all saw it—they were the ones trying to bully you first."
Clutching her chest, Su Ruyi shook her head and backed away repeatedly, then ran off whimpering like a Qiong Yao drama heroine who had just encountered her husband’s mistress.
Wang Huiting hurried after her. Only after turning a corner and losing sight of the scene behind them did Su Ruyi stop.
"Sis, are you okay?" Wang Huiting asked worriedly.
She had unconsciously changed her address from "Sister Ruyi" to "Sis," utterly convinced by this sister she had only known for a few days.
"Is anyone chasing us?"
Wang Huiting glanced back: "No."
Su Ruyi sighed in relief, took Wang Huiting’s backpack, and swung it over her shoulder with a casual flair—the earlier "fragile" aura completely gone.
"Let’s get out of here quickly. If we get caught, it’ll be trouble."
Wang Huiting nodded repeatedly: "If these thieves have a gang, we’re in real trouble."
Although her sister had easily taken down four people, facing a whole group would be a different story.
"That’s not it." Su Ruyi coughed lightly, "I hit them pretty hard just now. I’m afraid it might be excessive self-defense."
Recalling the fight, she thought she had heard the sound of bones cracking. Whether others noticed or not, the man she had flung around definitely had a broken arm.
That’s why she had put on that act—if they reported it to the police, she could argue that she had been too frightened and fled the scene in panic.
The violence was out of fear; she had lost control in a moment of panic, unaware of what she was doing.
If they didn’t report it, leaving early would still save trouble.
"They deserved it!" Wang Huiting said dismissively, "These punks are nothing but trouble. They looked like seasoned bullies—who knows how many people they’ve harassed? Serves them right!"
Despite her words, she led Su Ruyi onto a bus to quickly leave the troubled area.
Lu Ting strode into the noodle shop and saw Shi Fengyi happily eating noodles with garlic.
"Why are you still here?"
Shi Fengyi looked up and shot him an annoyed glance: "What a stupid question. We had an appointment, didn’t we?"
"Don’t tell me you didn’t hear about the fight up ahead? They say several people were pretty badly hurt. Didn’t you go check it out?"
Shi Fengyi looked unconcerned: "It’s not my jurisdiction, and I’m off duty—wearing plain clothes."
Lu Ting looked him up and down, "Did the sun rise in the west today?"
After leaving the military, Shi Fengyi had been assigned to work at a local police station.
He was naturally righteous and especially eager to join the criminal investigation team, so he worked extra hard. Whether it was petty theft or brawls, he never stood by if he encountered them.
Shi Fengyi didn't respond, burying his head in his noodles.
Seeing his reaction, Lu Ting didn't press further and instead ordered a bowl of zhajiangmian from the shop owner.
Unable to contain himself, Shi Fengyi finally spoke: "I originally thought it was because I wasn't diligent enough that the criminal investigation division passed me over. Now I know my family intervened behind my back."
Every family has its own troubles. Shi Fengyi was the only male heir in three generations, and his family doted on him excessively.
When he enlisted in the military, he had done so secretly without telling his family. By the time they found out, it was already too late.
Later, when Shi Fengyi was discharged, it was because his family deceived him by claiming his mother was critically ill with little time left. Otherwise, based on his performance, he could have continued his military career with promising prospects.
Though he should have been assigned to the Public Security Bureau, family interference again landed him at a local police station, initially even being posted as a household registration officer.
Lu Ting wasn't surprised. He patted Shi Fengyi's shoulder—some things were better left unsaid.
"But that's not why I didn't intervene today."
Lu Ting picked up some garlic from the table and began peeling it, waiting for Shi Fengyi to continue.
"Those guys who got beaten up are notorious troublemakers. They've been arrested countless times for fighting, theft, and gambling. Going to the police station is like going home for them—they're more comfortable there than we are. One of them just got out after three years inside and was arrested again within days."
"Enemies?"
Shi Fengyi waved his hand dismissively. "If it were just thugs fighting each other, I wouldn't have stayed out of it."
This might involve gang conflicts. Without timely intervention, who knows what major incident could erupt.
When two groups clash over turf, the scenes often turn brutal—disrupting social order and severely undermining public safety, requiring focused attention and crackdowns.
"What happened then?"Shi Fengyi pretended to be mysterious: 'If I tell you, you definitely won't believe it.'"
Hearing this, a certain figure inexplicably surfaced in Lu Ting's mind.
Before Lu Ting could speak, Shi Fengyi continued:
"The one who took down those four men was a girl! She looked delicate and fragile, like Lin Daiyu. I was about to step in when I saw her grabbing one guy's arm like a madwoman, swinging him around like a towel into a human pinwheel, knocking the other three down with him."
Shi Fengyi took a bite of garlic, marveling at the memory.
"Man, you should've seen it! I was close by and almost got hit myself. Even witnessing it firsthand, I'm still wondering if my eyes deceived me."
Lu Ting: …
This familiar style confirmed Lu Ting's suspicion.
Though he didn't know why that girl had come to the province, someone capable of that level—while appearing so slender—couldn't possibly be that common, right?
It was too mind-boggling.
Shi Fengyi added, "But after calming down, the girl seemed terrified herself, completely unaware of what had happened. Probably just an adrenaline-fueled burst under extreme stress."
Lu Ting recalled how composed the girl had been that day, clearly aware of her own strength and contemptuous of those traffickers. That didn't quite match this description.
But Lu Ting didn't dwell on it—they were just passing acquaintances after all.
Understanding why Shi Fengyi hadn't intervened was enough. Scumbags harassing others only to get beaten up? Nothing worth mediating.
Shi Fengyi changed the subject: "You're always so busy—asking me here must mean something's up?"
"It's nothing major." Lu Ting took the zhajiang noodles handed by the owner, stirred them a couple of times, then stuffed a large mouthful into his mouth.
He ate quickly, yet not rudely.
"You know about my investment in the plastic factory, right?"
"Of course I do." Shi Fengyi rolled his eyes at him. "You invested your barely-warm demolition compensation into that factory just to arrange jobs for Zhao Dalong and the others." When Zhao Dalong told me, that 1.8-meter-tall grown man was crying like nobody's business."
"Stop making things up about me." Lu Ting finished the remaining noodles in a few bites. "I invested because I believed in the factory's potential. Everything else was secondary."
"Right, right, we all just thought too highly of you." Shi Fengyi brushed him off, knowing he didn't like hearing it and didn't press further.
"What's wrong? Is someone causing trouble? That area is particularly chaotic with complicated personnel, which is why the land was sold cheap. I'll contact the local police station later and have them patrol more often. Zhao Dalong and his crew aren't pushovers either, so don't worry."
Although Lu Ting had invested in the plastic factory, he actually had other work and was often on the move, rarely involved in the factory's affairs.
Lu Ting: "The plastic factory is indeed being targeted. Someone set us up recently."
"What!" Shi Fengyi straightened up. "How bad is it now?"
The plastic factory had just opened recently, with substantial upfront investments yet to show any returns. Being set up like this could easily lead to bankruptcy.
These days, private factories were springing up everywhere, but many were also collapsing.
Even state-owned factories could go under nowadays, let alone privately-run ones.
"No major issues for now. I just want to find out who's behind this."
Author's Note:
Many thanks to readers "Little Xiao Fu," "Summer Breeze," "Elegant Decadence," "Ling," "Gentleness," "88," "Naili Guo," and "Zhi Xia" for irrigating with nutrient solutions! Mwah~