Trouble from a Couch Potato

Chapter Forty-Nine

The moment they heard the police had arrived, the crowd instinctively scattered and jostled apart. Whether they had been watching the commotion or shopping, everyone suddenly felt uneasy, wishing they could step aside at once and clear a broad path for the public servants. Even though they had done nothing, they somehow felt the police had come for them.

The vendors froze. They had heard that street vendors were not allowed in the city because of urban management officers. Could it be because their long line of stalls was blocking the road today?

Then again, maybe not. Perhaps Yang Da from down the street had beaten his wife again and someone had reported him.

Everyone had different thoughts, curiosity written across their faces, but none of them were in a hurry. Wang Qiao, who truly was in a hurry, had his arm grabbed by Li Wenchuan. Somehow, this good-looking man with such a slight build possessed incredible strength. Wang Qiao struggled hard several times but could not break free.

"I was just about to transfer the money to you. Where are you going?" Li Wenchuan waved his phone, its screen displaying the QR payment page. He had prepared everything perfectly, and his innocent, curious expression showed no sign that he had done it deliberately.

A wise man knew when to bend. When it was time to admit defeat, there was no point being stubborn. Wang Qiao put on a smile. "Bro, what are you doing? I'm just going over there to take a call. I'll be right back."

He yanked at his hand again. Why was this young guy's grip like a crab claw, locked on so tightly that it would not loosen? His wrist bones hurt so badly that he could not help gritting his teeth.

The people over there began to surge. Like a sword cleaving through the sea of people, someone came straight toward them.

Wu Chen was slow to react. Only upon seeing Wang Qiao like this did he realize what was happening. "Qiao, are you trying to run?"

Wang Qiao had not even told him before packing up and fleeing alone. The payment account belonged to Wang Qiao—if he ran, Wu Chen would not get a single cent.

The people who had been watching looked toward the back, where there seemed to be an even bigger spectacle. They wondered whom the police were looking for.

One older woman had been planning to buy something. Ever since Li Wenchuan arrived, Wang Qiao had ignored her after seeing how much Li Wenchuan was buying. She had been holding in her anger for ages. Watching the group pull and tug at each other, she pursed her lips and snorted. "Snobbish bastard."

And with that, she ignored them, giving them even more room to act.

Wu Chen saw Wang Qiao's phone in the pocket of his suit pants and lunged for it, reaching out to grab it. His huge frame crashed forward and knocked Wang Qiao straight to the ground. Li Wenchuan was still holding one of Wang Qiao's arms, but afraid of dislocating it, he instinctively let go.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Qiao was no pushover. The instant his hand was free, he scrambled up.

"Fuck, Wu, are you trying to rob me?!" He swung his briefcase and smashed it hard toward Wu Chen's head.

The two tangled together on the ground. Everyone had thought they were at least evenly matched and could hold out until the police arrived, but although Wu Chen looked big and sturdy, he was actually a paper tiger. Wang Qiao flipped him over with ease, straddled him, and punched him so hard that stars burst before his eyes.

Just then, Jiang Hansheng arrived first. "Wenchuan, are you okay?"

Wu Chen was powerless to resist. Wang Qiao rolled to his feet, grabbed his things, and prepared to run. Looking up, he saw the taller man blocking his way and immediately kicked at him. "Don't fucking block my way!"

If Wang Qiao still had not figured things out by now, he was truly an idiot. Clearly, these two busybodies had ruined his plans. They had even called the police and pretended to be customers, deceiving his feelings.

His rage instantly flared, and he stopped holding back with his kick.

He feared nothing. He had planned to run after finishing this job anyway. Even if something happened, it would not kill him. Once he ran, who could find him in this poor backwater without surveillance cameras?

"Cheng Yu!"

With a beautiful sweeping kick, Cheng Yu sent Wang Qiao crashing down as his lower body lost balance. Wang Qiao climbed back up, saw yet another person who had delayed him, tossed his briefcase aside, and threw a punch.

He had trained before. His punch cut through the air with a sharp whistle. Wasn't this just some skinny weakling with a little strength? Even Wu Chen's huge frame could not beat him, let alone this guy.

"Your big brother's going to teach you a lesson today!"

Wang Qiao did not see Li Wenchuan's movements clearly. As Wang Qiao lunged at him, Li Wenchuan shifted into stance, blocked the punch with one palm, guided Wang Qiao's wrist downward to redirect the force, then struck Wang Qiao squarely in the chest with a knife-hand strike. A dull thud sounded, and the pain made Wang Qiao double over with a twisted expression.

Taking advantage of the moment, Li Wenchuan followed up with an elbow strike, knocking him flat.

The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the nosy crowd realized what was happening on this side, they had barely gotten a look.

When they saw the young vendor about to kick someone, they could not help crying out. They spread their fingers over their eyes, unable to bear watching, only for the vendor to end up face-down on the ground. But the vendor could fight too—he sprang back up with a kip-up. Looking at the slender build of the person he had kicked, the first success could not have been just luck. What was going to happen now?

Seeing people suddenly fighting, no one dared step forward to intervene. Who knew what kind of dispute they had? Better not get dragged into trouble.

Before anyone had time to break up the fight, and before they could see what that person had done, the vendor was down again.

The police arrived just as Li Wenchuan had beaten the man to the ground and was making him call him daddy. Their uniforms and stern expressions sent a chill through everyone's hearts.

Looking at them a few more times made people feel as though they had become the protagonist of Legal Report. This was seriously something.

But justice lived in people's hearts, and fairness would not be late. The older woman whom Wang Qiao had looked down on finally spoke timidly. "Officer, let me say something fair. They weren't fighting, they weren't. That one on the ground suddenly went crazy and tried to hit his friend, then this young man helped out. After that, that crazy guy tried to hit him too."

Once one person spoke, it became easier. More people began to speak up:

"Yeah, I saw it too. Those two vendors started fighting among themselves."

"This young man was a major customer. How could they be so brainless when doing business?"

The matter had grown so big that the people from the other two groups gathered as well. Listening to everyone around them talking over one another, they more or less figured out what had happened. Before anyone could say anything, Zhao Shiyao exclaimed in a gloating tone, "What? Li Wenchuan hit someone?!"

"Beating up a street vendor in broad daylight for no reason—that really won't do." Zhao Shiyao sighed theatrically.

"You don't even know what happened. What nonsense are you talking about?" Tang Jingran rolled his eyes.

"What, the facts are right in front of us and people aren't allowed to say anything?"

Xiao Yi understood how serious this was. The police were already here. If things were not cleared up, Li Wenchuan would never be able to wash this clean. After spending the past few days together, he had also realized that some of his previous opinions about this junior might have been unfair. Perhaps Li Wenchuan had offended someone.

With Zhao Shiyao saying that, it had been recorded by the show. Passersby were already filming now. If this got out, Li Wenchuan might find it difficult to recover.

The production crew filmed the scene and were utterly dumbfounded. They had never expected a simple street performance task to be turned into this by these two.

They hurriedly mobilized. "Don't film! Everyone, don't film!"

It would have been better if they had said nothing. Once they spoke, quite a few people remembered they had phones and immediately took them out to record. They aimed carefully, filming in high definition. Those who had no idea what was going on followed suit and started recording too.

The production crew had no authority to check their phones, nor did they have the right to demand they delete anything. Those people were already thinking that posting this online later would cause a huge stir.

The police handcuffed Wang Qiao and Wu Chen, then walked over and stopped. After looking Li Wenchuan over a few more times, one officer said, "You two, come with us as well."