Chapter 613: Chapter 604: Enthusiastic People of Jiang City
"Ah~~ Ah~~ Help, help!"
On the night of the Lantern Festival, the streets of South City Ancient Town in Jiang City suddenly erupted into chaos.
A tall, curvaceous, and beautiful woman was straddling a man, twisting his arms behind his back and pinning him firmly to the ground.
Surrounding them were three young men in their early twenties, clenching their fists, ready to rush in to assist, but in front of them stood a tall, slightly handsome man staring them down.
He was dressed in a black, tight-fitting turtleneck sweater, holding a wooden stick, presumably a mop handle, pointing at them threateningly.
The sudden commotion caused a panic among the crowd, with many people screaming and scattering, instantly clearing a space around them.
The people involved were Su Qing and Li Zijun, and the man being pinned down was the creep who had groped Sun Mumu, while the three confronting Su Qing were supposed ’accomplices,’ though calling them that was giving them too much credit, as they were really just buddies.
Rewind to ten minutes earlier; Su Qing had parted ways with Li Zijun and Sun Mumu, heading to a nearby street to search separately.
Within five minutes, a notification sounded in his mind.
{"The target is at the stinky tofu stall 50 meters ahead, with one of them making small talk."}
With the narrator’s guidance, he navigated through the crowd; it took him quite some time to traverse the 50 meters to find these jerks.
Upon arriving, he saw one of the men holding two cups of milk tea, trying to strike up a conversation with two girls, whose expressions were clearly displeased—the reason was obvious, as the men had clearly been drinking.
People tend to instinctively distance themselves from strangers who’ve been drinking, regardless of gender.
Moreover, Su Qing knew from the narrator that the milk tea in the man’s hand had been spiked with something to make people drowsy quickly.
This kind of substance used to frequently appear in venues like bars, and while it’s still around, few dare to use it openly these days.
It’s hard to tell if these guys had mustered the courage from the alcohol or were just recklessly bold, daring to use it at a crowded lantern festival—if that isn’t asking for trouble, what is?
Seeing that the two girls had no intention of drinking, he felt at ease to notify Li Zijun. Upon receiving the message, Li Zijun immediately headed over with Sun Mumu.
From the periphery, Sun Mumu instantly recognized the men, especially the one who groped her and was slapped by her; she vividly remembered him, particularly the mole beneath his mouth, visible from afar. No wonder the girls rejected him; his appearance was unappealing.
Given his sleazy look, he didn’t seem like a good person. If it were a handsome guy, the girls might have been charmed enough to drink the tea and go home with him.
Once their identities were confirmed, Li Zijun couldn’t help but laugh. Without hesitation, she approached and tapped the guy on the shoulder, pointing to Sun Mumu in the distance and asking if he had groped her.
The man’s first reaction was to become indignant, and then Li Zijun took out her phone, saying she had already called the police. Immediately, the men’s first thought was to run.
Ah, that escape was quite clever. If they hadn’t run, how could the police have justifiably caught them in the act?
As a police officer, using reasonable force during the apprehension of suspects is quite legitimate, right?
After all, during an arrest, it’s unlikely everyone will remain courteous.
Li Zijun then loudly declared she was a police officer, but unfortunately, she wasn’t in uniform, so the young men didn’t believe her. Even the creepy guy being held tried to resist, giving her an opportunity to act.
With a swift motion, she countered his move, grabbed his wrist, and with a raised leg, stomped into his abdomen, lunged forward, turned, squatted low, and executed a shoulder throw.
Amid the stunned gazes of the crowd, the slightly pudgy man was heavily slammed onto the stone pavement.
Then, shielding her actions from the onlookers with her body, Li Zijun delivered a few vicious blows, striking with great force.
The man beneath her let out a scream akin to a pig being slaughtered.
Meanwhile, as Li Zijun moved in, Su Qing picked up something handy, ready to even the odds if a fight broke out.
Sure enough, as Li Zijun moved, the men desperate to leave turned back to intervene.
In that moment, Su Qing stepped forward, shouting, "Freeze, police!"
However, they naturally didn’t believe him. Fortunately, Li Zijun produced her badge, her voice full of authority: "East City Public Security Bureau, you dare assault an officer?"
Everything happened in an instant, so fast that the onlookers barely had time to react before things escalated, and then one of the young women brandished her badge.
"We are from the East City Public Security Bureau. You are suspected of molestation and are now being summoned to come with us, understand?" Su Qing yelled loudly.
As for why they hadn’t acted sooner, well, Li Zijun had control of the main suspect, but there were still three others. If they didn’t resist, it was okay, but if they did, it could get dangerous, right?
Rather than risking that, it was better to reveal their identities and leverage the public’s support to control the situation—that was Li Zijun’s strategy too.
Indeed, upon hearing his words and seeing Li Zijun’s badge, the men panicked. Exchanging a glance, they turned and ran.
As for fighting the police? Nowadays, even ordinary citizens know how serious the crime of assaulting an officer is. In their panic, the only option they saw was to flee.
Su Qing wasn’t surprised by their reaction at all.
Throwing aside the stick, he charged forward, tackled the smallest one, and with one swift ’Arresting Skill’ maneuver, he pinned him to the ground.
"Run? You motherf**ker still running, I’ll let you run!" Su Qing shouted while resorting to dirty tactics. He didn’t have Li Zijun’s superb combat skills, nor Wang Xing’s strong physique, so naturally, he chose the weakest target. This guy was skinny, like he had done too much needlework, and looked quite weak, especially after drinking alcohol. Beating him up was like child’s play, especially since he knew the arresting skill.
"Catch those perverts! Those two guys groped a little girl’s butt! We’re the police!" Su Qing yelled.
In cases like this, once you catch one, the other three definitely can’t run away. Why bother going through more trouble when you can catch them all in one go?
This shows how good the domestic security is. In this country, the public’s recognition of the police is still quite high, especially in a city like Jiang City with a long history of heroes; of course, there is no lack of brave folks.
Also, with mostly young people around, on one side you had two young cops capturing the bad guys, and on the other a couple of sleazy guys trying to flee in panic, yet with so many people around, there was no way to get away quickly.
In the crowd, some brave soul stretched out a leg and tripped the two, making them stumble instantly.
This was the moment when a leader was needed, particularly when they were outnumbered. As long as one person made a move, the rest would follow.
"Grab those two!"
"Holy sh*t, stop them! Block them!"
"F**k your mom, you step on my foot, I’ll beat the crap out of you!"
"Motherf**ker, you bump into me, f**k your mom!"
"Big men acting like perverts, you’re a disgrace to us Jiang City men!"
"They must be outsiders, hit them!"
Whether the guys who stepped in were truly bumped into or just looking for an excuse, Su Qing saw six or seven big guys rush up, with a group of smaller-framed people following who couldn’t even get in. He even spotted Sun Mumu sneaking into the crowd, kicking blindly a couple of times, then happily running back.
Instantly, the street turned into chaos. In less than half a minute, the two running guys were knocked to the ground, unable to get up.
On his end, people also came to help, as the ’skinny monkey’ beneath him was still struggling. However, these helpers were a bit rougher, directly kicking.
Even Su Qing got kicked a couple of times, not knowing by whom. The only relatively calm scene was over by Li Zijun, as she had already subdued the suspect, making it hard for the enthusiastic crowd to do anything.
The whole scene left Su Qing and his friends dumbfounded; the enthusiasm was overwhelming. Enthusiastic to the point where Su Qing had to dodge, quickly shouting:
"Everyone calm down, don’t hit me, I’m the police, it’s the guy below me, easy now, don’t be impulsive, don’t beat him to death!"
After his loud call, people stopped hitting him, and an enthusiastic guy even helped him up.
But seeing the ’skinny monkey’ still being occasionally kicked, Su Qing had to intervene, afraid the crowd might get carried away and seriously harm him.
Even Li Zijun, the genuine police officer, was a bit bewildered; she hadn’t intended to catch them all, just one would do. She didn’t expect such a pleasant surprise.
Soon, the two who fled, along with the one Su Qing subdued, were all brought back by the enthusiastic crowd.
The mole-faced youth previously knocked down by Li Zijun, looking at his three companions now bruised and battered, felt incredibly fortunate as the main culprit among the four had actually gotten the lightest beating.
"Hey? Is that Big Qing?"
Suddenly, someone from the crowd spoke.
"Wow, it really is Big Qing, the Stock God!"
"The one who invested in ’Wandering Earth’? Isn’t he an investor? How’s he a cop now? We might have hit the wrong person!"
"Don’t talk nonsense, Big Qing is a certified consultant with Jiang City police, rest assured, there’s no mistake!"
"Hey! I remember, that’s the policewoman I follow on Jiang City Public Security’s page, no mistake, these are real cops!"
The initially restless crowd calmed down immediately after confirming the two were indeed police officers.
They only knew they helped the police catch bad guys, and as for everything else, that wasn’t something ordinary folks needed to worry about.
Just as Li Zijun was still a bit stunned, a stout, bald guy in his forties appeared next to her:
"Girl, get up, Uncle here will watch over this guy for you, don’t worry, he’s not going anywhere, get up, the ground is cold!"
"Exactly, there’s so many of us, how can they run off? I’ll break his leg first!"
Just like that, Li Zijun was helped up by the crowd with a puzzled look, while the mole-faced youth and his three accomplices squatted against the wall, surrounded by people pointing and discussing.
"Whose unlucky kid is this, coming out to act like a pervert in the middle of the night?"
"Exactly, I heard they groped a young girl’s butt, good thing we have undercover Jiang City cops here!"
"Of course, let’s quickly record a Douyin video, let everyone in Jiang City see whose unlucky kid this is, disgraceful, ugh!"
The four young men squatting in the corner were utterly disheartened, hurriedly covering their faces, as this public humiliation felt even worse.
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