All right, this was for the best. With Jiang Nian's imagination to back him up, Wang Ji's promotion to Quasi-Martial Artist in a few days wouldn't seem too abrupt.
Jiang Nian was still visibly excited. "What's your name? How old are you?"
Wang Ji answered, "Instructor, I'm Wang Ji. I'm 17, and I'm in my third year of high school."
Jiang Nian clapped his hands excitedly. "17! Great! Great! Keep working hard on your Stance Training and Cannon Fist! Here, save my number. You can come to me anytime if you have questions. Come on, I'll take you to get your advanced student ID right now!"
Jiang Nian, the head instructor, was so enthusiastic that Wang Ji could barely handle it. After taking a quick look at the facilities in the advanced students' building, Wang Ji finally left the Limit Martial Hall.
It was still early, only around eight in the evening, and the streets were bustling.
Jiangnan Base City had a population of over 100 million. Even Yangzhou City, one of its satellite cities, had a population of over 20 million! That was equivalent to the population of Shanghai's urban districts in his previous life, while Yangzhou City, enclosed by walls, covered an area of just 1,000 square kilometers. It sounded huge, didn't it? But that was only one-sixth the size of Shanghai!
Its population density was unimaginable. It was definitely higher than Hong Kong's had been in his previous life!
But that had also created a distorted kind of prosperity. Walking through bustling, densely packed Yangzhou City, he felt it was livelier than any megacity in his previous life.
As Wang Ji strolled along, he suddenly felt a sense of belonging to this world. This was a real world; there was no need to feel alienated from it.
As he thought this, Wang Ji checked his location and headed for the place where his older sister worked. He'd go see her—a little surprise. His older sister, Wang Yan, had a sweet, delicate beauty and could easily have been the campus belle. Otherwise, a second-generation rich kid like Liu Tao wouldn't have kept pestering her. For a beautiful woman, even without any particular skills, finding a well-paid job was easy.
Take the milk tea shop where his sister worked, for example. The owner paid her 20 percent more than the other employees and let her work only from after school until ten at night. After all, having a pretty young woman behind the counter was sure to draw in more customers, wasn't it?
Beautiful women had always been treated better.
"Huh? What's this?"
Just as Wang Ji reached the shop, he spotted a yellow-haired thug loitering outside. In an instant, anger surged through him! This was one of the thugs who usually followed Liu Tao around.
Those bastards had followed his sister all the way to her workplace! They were asking for it!
Looking at the milk tea shop, he saw that it was clearly less crowded than usual. His sister, Wang Yan, was holding back tears, her face full of dejection. Wang Ji clenched his fists. "Liu Biao and those bastards!"
A moment later, a middle-aged man who looked like the shop manager hurried inside. Wang Ji followed him in.
"Wang Yan, look..." The middle-aged man looked at Wang Yan with an awkward expression. Wang Ji had just entered when he heard them talking.
Wang Yan held back her tears and said dejectedly, "Manager... I... I'm sorry for bringing trouble to the shop..."
As she spoke, Wang Yan bowed to the manager.
"Hey, hey... I... I'm really sorry. I'm just running a small shop. If they were ordinary thugs, I could've solved it by calling the police. But this time... apparently, one of them has a Martial Artist in his family. You know how it is. Martial Artists are big shots, and ordinary people like us can't afford to offend them. Even in a society ruled by law, it's easy for a Martial Artist to cause trouble for our shop. All he has to do is put in a word with some department... I have no choice."
Tears spilled from Wang Yan's eyes. "It's not your fault, Manager. I'll quit right away."
"I'm really sorry! I'll pay you for a full month, even though you only worked 13 days this month! That's 3,600 yuan! I'll transfer it to your account right away! I'm truly sorry!" the middle-aged man said apologetically.
Wang Ji called out, "Sis!"
"Xiao Ji?" Wang Yan wiped her tears. "Did you see everything?"
Wang Ji smiled. "I did! Don't worry, Sis. I'll figure something out."
"What can you do? I'll keep looking for work! I refuse to believe Liu Biao, just some thug, can rule all of Yangzhou City!" Wang Yan wiped away her tears and said stubbornly.
Wang Ji smiled and went along with her, but the hatred in his heart burned even more fiercely. Just a few more days! He'd put up with Liu Biao for a few more days!
Wang Ji led his older sister, Wang Yan, out of the milk tea shop.
"Well, well! Kid, I thought you'd turned into a coward and stayed home!" the yellow-haired thug said, arrogantly blocking Wang Ji's way.
Wang Ji frowned. "You're causing trouble in broad daylight! Do you think Liu Biao's father is a War God, able to rule all of Yangzhou City? If you break the law in public, can Liu Biao protect you?"
The yellow-haired thug snapped, "You fucking..." He lunged at Wang Ji.
Wang Ji was speechless. This little punk was an idiot with a hammer for a brain! To protect his sister, Wang Ji shoved the moron aside.
"Thud!" The yellow-haired thug went tumbling across the ground like a bundle of straw.
"Damn, is he really this weak? Or is he faking it?" Wang Ji was speechless.
"Faking your mom..." the yellow-haired thug yelled angrily.
"So he really is weak!" Wang Ji realized.
"You..."
"What are you doing? Everyone, stop right there! Public Security!" Two uniformed officers hurried over.
Wang Ji glanced around and happened to see Liu Biao sitting on a nearby bench, giving him a cold smile.
"Damn it. Liu Biao's a sneaky bastard!" Wang Ji frowned. He wasn't sure what Yangzhou City's Public Security Bureau was like, or whether it was corrupt. If things took a bad turn and Liu Biao's bastard of a friend made a move behind the scenes... it could get troublesome!
Faced with the two officers, Wang Yan hurriedly explained what had happened. Nearby, quite a few well-meaning bystanders also chimed in, speaking up for Wang Ji.
"Okay, okay! We've heard what you have to say. But we still need to check the security footage and get to the bottom of this. No matter what happened, both of you have to come with us to the Public Security Bureau!" said the older officer. In the end, both the thug and Wang Ji were taken to the bureau.
Wang Ji frowned, thought for a moment, then quickly recited a phone number to Wang Yan. "Sis, if things really get troublesome, call this number. Tell him Wang Ji was taken to the Public Security Bureau and that you need his help. Give it a try."
Wang Yan asked, "Will that work?"
Wang Ji had no better idea. "Let's try. Maybe it'll help!"
From Swallowed Star, he knew Jiang Nian valued talented people. But there were too many unknowns. For the first time, Wang Ji felt that things were slipping out of his control. He still wasn't strong enough! Wang Ji clenched his teeth in his heart. Whatever happened, sooner or later, he'd pay them back tenfold, a hundredfold!
Wang Yan pulled out her phone and started dialing. The younger officer tried to stop her, but the older one held him back. After a moment's thought, the younger officer let it go.
"Looks like this isn't the worst-case scenario," Wang Ji thought.
At the Public Security Bureau, in the interrogation room.
Wang Ji sat in an interrogation chair with his hands and feet restrained. One of the officers was speaking sternly, but Wang Ji remained silent. He'd wait and see just how far a second-generation Martial Artist like Liu Biao could reach. Could he fabricate charges and have Wang Ji beaten or murdered inside the bureau? Or could he only influence the interrogation's outcome?
From the looks of it, the latter seemed more likely. At worst, Wang Ji would be detained for a few days. That might scare some ordinary kid. But scare Wang Ji? "Heh! Just let me get past this..." Wang Ji's resolve hardened.
Just then, the interrogation room door was flung open with a bang. "Bang!"
Jiang Nian, the head instructor, strode in with a Public Security chief in a white shirt.
Jiang Nian slammed his palm furiously on the table. "Bang!" The impact shook the room, and the table shattered into pieces!
"What did my student do wrong? Was it necessary to restrain his hands and feet?! You're twisting the facts and turning right into wrong! This is outrageous!" Jiang Nian roared.
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