Chapter 97: Self-Defense

Some of the onlookers recognized Su Chen.

But for most of them, by the time they realized they were recording, it was already too late. Su Chen had already helped the boss up and was getting into the police car with the two officers.

The video made it look as though Su Chen was the troublemaker, the one who had injured the boss, knocked down four people, and was then hauled away by the police.

In truth, that was nowhere near what had happened. It was completely the opposite.

But there was nothing to be done about it. What had taken place at the stall lasted only a few minutes, and by the time the crowd of gawkers reacted, it had already reached that point.

“Hey! Did you record it? The person being taken into the police car looks like Su Chen!”

“Be more confident. Drop the words ‘looks like.’ It’s him!”

“Damn, the show said Su Chen sometimes comes here for barbecue skewers. I never thought that was actually true!”

“This is way too explosive. Going out for skewers and ending up seeing a celebrity fight with someone, and the police even showed up!”

“Hurry, hurry! Post the video on TikTok. Maybe we can gain tens of thousands of followers from this and become minor internet celebs!”

“Yes, yes! Post it quickly!”

...

After the police car drove off, the crowd at the scene burst into uproar.

More people, having heard the news, came hurrying over with their phones in hand, desperately squeezing toward the barricaded area, trying to capture footage of Su Chen fighting with others.

Some did it to satisfy their curiosity, some to brag to friends, and some simply to ride the wave of attention.

But this behavior put the assistant officers under great pressure and caused them plenty of trouble.

They kept order at the scene until three or four in the morning, when the crowd, worn out at last, gradually dispersed.

Meanwhile, Han Jiangxue had accompanied Su Chen to the hospital, where his wound was stitched up, and then ridden back with him in the police car to the station to give statements.

As for Leopard Brother and the three dyed-blond punks, they were still lying in the hospital.

They had drunk far too much, and after being knocked down by Su Chen, they still had not come to their senses.

As for the one who had wet himself, although he had not been struck and bore no real injuries, he was already trembling uncontrollably the moment he saw Su Chen. The doctor believed his mind might have been shaken and said further examination was needed to determine the cause.

Thus, the two people who had actually been the victims, Su Chen and Han Jiangxue, were the first to be taken into the station.

The two sat on the benches in the police station, waiting for the officers to come take their statements.

During that time, Han Jiangxue looked at Su Chen’s hand with deep concern and chided him, “Why are you always so stubborn? You even dared to catch shattered glass with your hand!”

“Luckily the doctor said it was only the web between your thumb and index finger. If you had damaged the tendons, you wouldn’t be able to play instruments anymore!”

Su Chen smiled. “If I can’t play, then I won’t play. Worst case, I’ll just sing from now on.”

“You!”

Seeing Su Chen’s roguish grin, Han Jiangxue felt both irritated and touched.

After all, Su Chen had been injured because of her.

The two of them spoke about what had happened earlier, the conversation flowing endlessly.

“I didn’t realize our Boss Han could fight so well. That kick you sent flying just now had me stunned,” Su Chen said teasingly.

Upon hearing this, Han Jiangxue immediately planted her hands on her hips and said with a proud air, “Of course. I’m a black belt in taekwondo. For punks like those from before, I could take on ten by myself!”

“You should’ve said so earlier. If I had known, I wouldn’t have made a move. There were only four of them anyway. I could’ve just gone to buy some sunflower seeds and peanuts and watched you perform.”

His words made Han Jiangxue’s cheeks flush faintly, but then she seemed to remember something and asked curiously, “Enough about me. Tell me about you.”

“I always thought you were like those pretty-boy idols, all show and no substance. I never expected you to be this good in a fight.”

“But where did you learn that move of yours? I’ve never seen it before.”

Of course you haven’t. That was real skill I specially sought out from a master in my previous life, the sort of thing that no longer exists now.

Su Chen thought to himself.

In his last life, after he had made his name and earned so much money he could never spend it all, he had wanted to enrich himself a little, and it was then that he learned this set of skills.

At the time, many people recommended taekwondo, sanda, and freestyle combat to him, but Su Chen looked down on them all, believing them to be nothing more than flashy tricks.

Later, by chance, Su Chen had the opportunity to work with Old Yu, the final sword saint of Hua Country, on an action film.

During the shoot, Su Chen and Old Yu got along splendidly, and Su Chen’s attitude toward the film—unafraid of hardship or exhaustion—influenced the old man as well.

On top of that, Su Chen had always been filled with curiosity about ancient martial arts, so after the filming ended, Old Yu accepted him as a disciple on behalf of his master and acknowledged Su Chen as a junior brother.

And thus Su Chen learned true martial skill.

This kind of real martial skill was completely different from the flashy forms of taekwondo. It cared nothing for appearance; it aimed only for a fatal strike. Every move was designed to inflict the greatest possible harm in the shortest time, even to take a life.

So when Su Chen had fought those punks earlier, he had been restraining his instincts as much as possible, trying to minimize the damage.

Precisely because of that, he had injured himself; otherwise, those four people would never have been able to harm him at all.

Thinking of this, Su Chen smiled and said to Han Jiangxue, “Of course you haven’t seen it. This was freestyle fighting. There’s no set pattern to it.”

“Freestyle fighting is that powerful... Looks like I’ll have to learn it when I have the time,” Han Jiangxue muttered.

Then she looked up at Su Chen, her eyes bright with a strange, sparkling light.

“And I never expected you to know medicine too!”

“I already knew you were talented, but I never imagined you were this learned and versatile!”

“Come on, tell me how many secrets you’re still hiding from me. Confess everything today!”

Hearing Han Jiangxue, Su Chen didn’t quite know how to answer.

After all, he had learned too many things—so many that he couldn’t even recall them all at once.

Just as Su Chen was thinking about how to answer her question, the police finally called them over.

What followed was simple enough: they merely had to recount what had happened. Su Chen and Han Jiangxue gave a brief explanation, then directly handed over the full video of the incident to the officers.

After watching the video, the officers said to Su Chen and Han Jiangxue, “We’re truly sorry that you had to suffer this disturbance and injury, and still come down to the station in person.”

“Please rest assured, we’ve seen the entire video as well. Although those punks were injured, your actions were clearly in self-defense. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“However...”

At the officer’s pause, the smile on Han Jiangxue’s face had not yet fully bloomed before it stiffened into a frown.

“However, what?”