Chapter 49 - Attacking the City Management Officers

“This Kung Fu is truly divine!” A short, plump man exclaimed as he swallowed hard, his palms sore from clapping.

Crowds of onlookers couldn’t help but cheer, and one after another they began to applaud and shout their praise.

The atmosphere was as lively as watching a circus act.

It’s no wonder since Brother Hu had long been public enemy number one in the market—no one had dared to fight back against him, but now Su Xuan had done what they all wanted to do, immensely satisfying everyone.

As Su Xuan drew back his leg, a slender carp flew out of the water tank, bounding a couple of steps backward.

Su Xuan turned around with effortless cool, aiming for the direction the big man fled.

The fish fell rapidly from mid-air, and no one could have anticipated what the “Kung Fu master” would do next.

With eyes as precise as a navigational system, when the fish was about thirty centimeters from the ground, Su Xuan kicked out his left foot, and the fish traced a beautiful arc just above the ground.

“Ah!”

The big man who was desperately fleeing let out a painful cry.

The carp took an incredible trajectory, landing precisely at his feet.

The fish was too slippery, like a banana peel, and the big man fell backside over teakettle, heavily slamming the back of his head on the ground, blood flowing freely.

More dazzling than the stars on the soccer field, Su Xuan’s smile was faint and disdainful as he mused to himself, “Such skill with my feet—I’d be wasted if I didn’t join the national team!”

The crowd’s cheers rose wave upon wave.

Su Xuan glanced around at the people, suddenly feeling somewhat embarrassed.

He gave an awkward smile and said to the crowd, “Thank you, everyone!

If these trash come here to collect stall fees again, you all should band together and deal with them!”

“You’re right, so right!” A fruit vendor who had long resented the past horrors, hearing Su Xuan’s inflammatory words, looked on with a face full of excitement, adoration, and gratitude, as he shouted.

Brother Hu slowly got to his feet, overwhelmed by both rage and amazement: Where did this guy come from?!

He’s damn impressive!

He dares to hit me?

I won’t ***ing let this go!

With a trembling arm, Brother Hu pointed at Su Xuan and shouted, “You piece of ***, you’ve got guts!

Don’t you run away!”

“Run?” Su Xuan’s smile was full of mockery as he glanced at Brother Hu, “It seems to me you haven’t had your fill of fish yet!”

With a look of fear, Brother Hu turned and pushed through the crowd, striding away fuming with rage, unable to swallow the affront.

“Alright, the show’s over, folks, let’s disperse,” Su Xuan said nonchalantly to the onlookers, not taking Brother Hu seriously and smiling.

The two big men on the ground found the strength to get up and resume fighting, but nobody reacted—after all, who would try fighting Su Xuan again?

They were just thankful to still be alive.

Unable to find Brother Hu, Su Xuan checked his phone and realized he was running out of time.

He walked over to the old man’s stand and picked up the groceries he’d bought.

The old man’s face lit up with a delighted smile as he saw Su Xuan.

“Was it you who taught Brother Hu a lesson?

Young man, well done!” The old man gave Su Xuan a thumbs-up, his grin growing even wider.

Su Xuan returned the smile, scratching his head modestly, “Uncle, you’re too kind.

I just couldn’t stand to see that clown bullying people.”

As he slowly walked away, continuing his shopping, Su Xuan picked a few more ingredients, planning to make a sumptuous dinner for Lin Mengru.

Oddly enough, in this poorly managed market where urban management officers were seldom seen for months at a time, today seemed to be an outlier as two urban management vehicles entered the market just as Su Xuan was about to leave.

The urban management officers, stepping out of their cars, were dressed in dark uniforms and caps, each wearing a stern expression.

The man leading the group stood tall and straight, sporting a wine-red tie, and his eyes swiftly scanned the market, as if searching for a target.

Walking in casually with a leisurely pace, Su Xuan encountered the incoming group of urban management officers face to face.

“It’s him!” The officer leading the group had a standard square face, marked by noticeable acne, and he spat out his chewing gum, stamping on it fiercely.

With a wave of his hand, he pointed towards Su Xuan, approaching him.

As Su Xuan’s gaze shifted forward, he saw a group of urban management officers coming towards him with an intimidating air, blocking his path.

With slight surprise, Su Xuan frowned, wondering to himself: What’s this about?

Have the urban management officers shown up, did Brother Hu call for backup?

“Urban management comrades, you’re blocking my way, could you please let me pass?

I’m in a hurry to get home and cook for my wife,” Su Xuan said with an innocently foolish tone.

The man standing in front of Su Xuan turned an iron shade of blue with anger, thinking to himself: Found you and you’re still playing dumb with me?

You like to step in for others, I’ll teach you a lesson today!

The urban management officer took off his cap and with a stern look in his eyes, said to Su Xuan, “We have received a report that there was a fight in the market—was that you?”

Before Su Xuan could even begin to defend himself, he could only smile wryly as a group of city enforcement officers surrounded him, resembling nothing so much as thugs in uniforms rather than real law enforcement.

Feigning complete surprise, Su Xuan laughed awkwardly, “Comrade, with so many people in the market, do you have ‘Eyes of Golden Flame’?

How on earth did you know it was me who was fighting?”

“Kid, don’t try to bullshit us, I’m telling you!” a towering officer, his face twisted in menace, stood nearby, shouting at Su Xuan with neck veins bulging as if he might become violent at any moment.

“Besides, is it that you don’t know the law, or is it me who doesn’t?

Even if I did fight, that’s for the police to handle, not you city enforcement officers,” Su Xuan said in a cold tone, throwing a challenging glare at the man.

The man leading the team had a stiff expression; his name was Zhang Zhihui, Brother Hu’s childhood friend.

He had barely managed to become a city enforcement officer a few years back, clever enough to now be a small team leader, responsible for this community.

He hit it off with the idler Brother Hu, turning a blind eye to the numerous complaints from stall owners about the market fees Brother Hu collected.

At the end of the year, they split a substantial profit.

Zhang Zhihui was dumbstruck by Su Xuan’s eloquent retort, his face darkening with anger but unable to find a reason to touch Su Xuan.

The standoff continued, and Su Xuan was smart enough not to make any sudden moves.

He knew that initiating a fight would change the nature of things; assaulting a national officer was no minor offense.

Right at this moment, Brother Hu, who was directing his three underlings from a distance, came over to see what was happening.

The two big men who were injured charged over, and one of them got close to Zhang Zhihui, whispered a few words, and then pointed at Su Xuan with a mix of grievance and anger: “It was him!

He’s the one who started hitting me!”

“We both got hurt by him!

Comrade, just look at my face!” the other big man complained, his right cheek swollen as he exaggerated the situation theatrically.

“You heard them, didn’t you?

They’re the victims.

What do you have to say now?” A fleeting gleam of schadenfreude passed through Zhang Zhihui’s eyes, thinking he now had a reason to deal with this arrogant young man.

The quarrel and the group of uniformed enforcement officers quickly drew a crowd of onlookers, as curious onlookers were everywhere, especially many in the market.

Among the gathered crowd, many recognized Su Xuan and the two burly men.

Having witnessed what had transpired, they were in a position to speak with authority.

A short, plump man squeezed past two officers and pointed at one of the big men: “It was clear they were the ones making false accusations first!

They were extorting stall fees, and this young fellow here spoke up for the stall owner.

They were the ones who started the physical altercation!”

Watching the short man speak out boldly, Su Xuan couldn’t help feeling heartened: Ah, what a harmonious society, still filled with good people!

Zhang Zhihui was furious, but the situation suddenly turned again.

He gave his men a glance, and one of the officers shoved the short, plump man aside.

Zhang Zhihui faced Su Xuan directly, “I don’t care who’s right and who’s wrong, you caused trouble in the market, you’re involved and can’t escape blame!”

“So what do you want to do?

I’m tired of listening to your nonsense,” Su Xuan said, unimpressed.

“Come back with us to make a record, compensate these two men for their medical expenses, and, on top of that, you’ll have to pay for all the damage to the market facilities!” Zhang Zhihui shouted furiously.

Su Xuan was absolutely livid, thinking, Is this not outright extortion?

They really think they can do as they please just because they’re city enforcement officers?

“Biting off more than you can chew, huh?

Well, let me tell you, you’re not getting a penny from me, and if you think you have what it takes to take me in, by all means, try,” Su Xuan said pale-faced, a sign that he was extremely angry.

The other officers couldn’t stand it anymore either; this kid was too arrogant.

Zhang Zhihui had wanted to start a fight long ago — as soon as Su Xuan finished speaking, he stood immobile, waiting.

Zhang Zhihui charged at Su Xuan, confident that he could leave Su Xuan picking up his teeth off the ground.

Having practiced martial arts for three years in high school, Zhang Zhihui was known in the bureau as a skilled fighter, capable of handling five or six colleagues on his own, a piece of cake.

As Zhang Zhihui, who was now close at hand, launched his attack, a trace of surprise crossed Su Xuan’s mind: Fast, aren’t we?

Calmly countering, his fists whirled at amazing speed, parrying Zhang Zhihui’s frenzied blows.

After a couple of tactical maneuvers, neither gained any advantage over the other.

Zhang Zhihui’s expression stiffened with the clear pain in his knee bones, and in a blink, he attacked again, leaping high with a few steps of suspended motion and a slight rush of air.

Su Xuan’s dodging movements were unpredictable, making it hard to guess his next move.

“Idiot, I’m behind you,” Su Xuan’s figure was so fast it was almost impossible to grasp.

As he spoke, murderous intent flashed through his mind, but he knew this was not the time to escalate things too far.

After three missed punches, Zhang Zhihui hadn’t had time to recover when he heard Su Xuan’s taunt.

In the moment of his startled turn, it was already too late.

Su Xuan lunged at Zhang Zhihui’s lower body, landing a hook punch to his right ribcage. Sёarch* The Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Seizing Zhang Zhihui’s outstretched arm, he twisted it in a reversal, and Zhang, with the force of his own powerful punch, ended up striking his own face, bloodying his lips.

“You chose this yourself!” Su Xuan’s repressed anger burst forth, his knee slamming into Zhang Zhihui’s neck, sending him flying backward, toppling two city enforcement officers who couldn’t dodge in time.

With their leader struck down, the other officers showed fear but knew they had no choice but to continue the assault on Su Xuan.