Chapter 36 - Classic Scenario: Hero Saves the Beauty
Yu Liang cried very miserably and in disappointment. Even Wang Geng and Sun Zinan felt faintly sorrowful. But this was how the world worked. One had to experience the ups and downs of life, involuntariness and powerlessness, in order to grow an armor strong enough to fight against the harsh world.
He couldn’t explain to Yu Liang too much about the issues with his family, but he also didn’t know how to comfort people. He squeezed out two sentences of advice like squeezing the last bits of toothpaste out of its tube and hurriedly let Wang Geng drag Yu Liang away.
Sun Zinan stood in front of the windows in his office, staring at the floor beneath his feet. From a tattered company selling healthcare to a biotechnology enterprise, this small, broken company had come back to life in his hands. Sun Zinan didn’t dare say how much he had contributed to it; after all, this had been a mutual achievement against adversity his colleagues had worked on together. Yu Liang wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
But he still had to stand up straight and continue moving forward in order to make sure what he was abandoning would not become a memory he would regret.
Seeing that it was near the end of the year anyways, there wasn’t much work left to do. Sun Zinan simply broke the lease on his original apartment and moved in with Tang Kai.
Professor Tang seemed to enjoy this early entry into the newlywed mode of cohabitation. When he was free, he would pick Sun Zinan up from work. The two of them would go to the nearby market to buy a few groceries, putting their hands in each other’s pockets, affectionately walking home hand-in-hand in the middle of the cold winter night.
Today as usual, Tang Kai drove to the front of his apartment building. Their community was relatively old and had no parking spaces. Everyone had to find somewhere to park outside.
Tang Kai parked and was about to pull the key out when Sun Zinan suddenly raised his hand and held him down. “Wait, aren’t those people coming over here?”
It became dark early in winter. It was only just after six o’clock but the sky was already dark and their vision wasn’t clear. There were no street lights in the neighborhood. Tang Kai turned the car’s headlights on and saw four burly men walking towards their direction. Their hands seemed to be carrying something long but he couldn’t tell if they were carrying steel weapons.
“Coming for us?” Tang Kai untied his seat belt and said to Sun Zinan, “I’ll go out and take a look, stay in the car and don’t move.”
“No, you can’t!”
Sun Zinan grabbed at his sleeve, his expression frosting over. “What if it’s someone coming for revenge? Don’t take this as a joke—”
He hadn’t even finished his words before a brick flew over and hit the windshield, leaving a cobweb-like crack on the upper left corner of the window.
They were coming for them.
Tang Kai resolutely pushed his hand away and said deeply, “Call the police. Don’t worry, your husband can beat five of these with one hand. Stay here obediently and don’t come out. I won’t be able to protect you otherwise.”
After that, without waiting for Sun Zinan’s reaction, he quickly opened the door and went out, then locked Sun Zinan in the car.
Sun Zinan went crazy, pounding at the car door. “Tang Kai! Get your ass back here!”
Tang Kai pretended he didn’t hear him. He cracked his hands and looked at the big men surrounding them. He smiled. “Who are you looking for, brothers?”
The leader’s voice was thick and rough. He said rudely, “Don’t block our way, go to the side.”
”My wife is sitting in the car,“ Tang Kai smiled unconcernedly. “If you want to look for my wife, you have to ask for my consent&#k2014;”
Before he finished speaking, the sound of the wind came first. His fist hit the left side of the man’s face.
In the dark, the muffled sound of flesh colliding was horrifying.
He didn’t even make a greeting before starting. The other three froze for two seconds. Before they could even react, Tang Kai’s foot had already reached another person’s chest.
He sent two of them flying. Just as he punched the third person in the stomach, the air howled behind him and a steel pipe went down at the back of his head. Tang Kai tilted his head, but because he didn’t have enough time to dodge, his glasses were scraped off and fell to the ground, leaving behind a thin cut on his right cheek.
As he had a conversation with the operator in the car, Sun Zinan felt like he was being strangled, his heartbeat reaching 150 beats per minute.
Tang Kai felt the tingling pain at the same time he raised his hand to grab the man’s swinging arm. He pressed down on his acupuncture point and the steel pipe clattered to the ground. He clucked his tongue and didn’t let go of the man’s arm. The man stumbled and Tang Kai cut in front of him to throw him over his shoulder into the nearby trash bin.
He straightened his waist and moved his neck and shoulders coldly, then hooked his fingers at the other two surrounding him. “Come at me together.”
Sun Zinan, “…”
He hadn’t been joking when he said he could take on five with one hand?
Professor Tang looked polite and scholarly, but he had grown up in a military neighborhood after all. In order to strengthen his physical fitness, he had learned fighting and boxing. Later on, he also tried Taekwondo out of interest. He might not have been good enough to compete, but it was more than enough to deal with a few hooligans.
By the time the police and security arrived, Tang Kai had piled the four people into the trash bin. The steel pipe had been thrown aside and he only used a branch he had broken off a nearby tree to beat anyone who tried to escape. The branch looked like a teacher’s pointer, making him look even more like a professor.
After the hooligans were collectively taken to the police station, Tang Kai confirmed that they were safe before opening the door to release Sun Zinan.
Because it had been a vicious brawl, both of them had to go to the police station to make a statement. Sun Zinan was truly angry this time. His expression was like a volcano brewing before an explosion, but because they were in public, he still left him some face. Tang Kai attempted to talk to him and was rejected several times. He watched Sun Zinan’s expression, his heart trembling, thinking to himself that he was screwed. Coaxing him with his beauty wouldn’t work this time.
His thoughts churned and he remembered that he had a small wound on his face. He reached out and touched it, then drew in a cold breath.
Sun Zinan heard this movement, and couldn’t keep his expression stiff anymore as he immediately asked: “What happened? Where did you get hurt?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just a small injury. Nothing’s broken.”
Selling this miserable trick really had worked. Tang Kai immediately grabbed his hand and said softly, “Darling, Nan Nan, don’t be angry.”
Sun Zinan glared at him and said coolly, “Professor Tang doesn’t fear anything and can beat five hooligans with one hand. What’s the use of my anger?”
“I care.” Tang Kai clasped their palms together and while no one else was paying attention, leaned over and kissed his ear. “Hooligans aren’t scary, but I’m scared of you ignoring me.”
Sun Zinan stared at him for a moment before finally lowering his gaze. He sighed as he said, “I don’t blame you.”
He sighed deeply into the dead of the deep winter. He spoke slowly, trying to pull himself out of fear and worry that threatened to make him lose his mind.
“Acting heroic to save the damsel in distress should be rewarded, but not recommended.” He carefully dusted off Tang Kai’s sleeves and walked side by side with him. “Your life is your own and you have to cherish it. Besides…if anything happens to you, how can I live?”
Sometimes, Tang Kai felt like Sun Zinan was very reasonable and understood things to the point of repression. He was the model of strict self-discipline and leniency towards others. He often corrected his own biases with intellectual reasoning. Just like now, even though he was obviously not very happy, in order to not let Tang Kai feel ignored, he forcibly repressed his emotions and even affirmed Tang Kai’s actions.
However, Tang Kai was also very contradictory. On one hand, he felt sorry for Sun Zinan and wanted him to feel better. On the other hand, he felt that he had done nothing wrong.
So he could only wrap his arm around Sun Zinan’s shoulders and exclaim, “How are you so obedient?”
Sun Zinan, “Get out.”
“I know my limits. I’m not just running up to deliver myself to them.” Tang Kai said seriously, ” I know you worry for me, but you need to trust me sometimes too. I can protect you, okay?”
Sun Zinan’s anger had almost dissipated. It might have been that he had been pestered too much. He dragged out, “Okay, I know—put your hands away, don’t wrap your arms around me, walk properly.”
The two of them thought they were repressing their voices but their conversation was actually very obvious. The police officer in front of them eavesdropped intently and covered his mouth as he smiled, his ears turning red. The other police officer glared at him.
In the police station.
“I don’t know those four, I’ve never seen them before.” Tang Kai told the police, “We had just parked the car when the four of them came over with a brick and a steel pipe. They first hit my car. After I came out they started fighting me. I suspect these four people planned on following us and chose to come after us today after targeting the district. They obviously came prepared. The target wasn’t just me, it was also my lover.”
The police had to remind him that the facts could not be mixed with analysis and reasoning. Professor Tang’s speech skills were too strong and easily led the audience to his own ideas.
“…Correct, I fought back. I’ve practiced a little martial arts before and have some proficiency in it. I think it should be within the scope of self-defense, I didn’t use the steel pipe, only the branch.”
The police officers who had seen the scene pursed their lips and thought to themselves, with that combat skill, if he had really used the steel pipe, they would be piecing the hooligans together from the trash.
“Okay, there are no other issues. After confirming, please sign under the transcript. Thank you for your cooperation.”
A police officer sent them out. “In addition, please keep your phone on. If there is anything else we need for the investigation, we will contact you again.”
Tang Kai nodded at him. “Thank you, we’ve troubled you.”
Sun Zinan had sat in the car the entire time and did not participate in the fight. He was at most just a witness, so he had come out earlier than Tang Kai and was waiting for him in the hallway outside.
“Let’s go.” As the two of them left, the police officer withdrew his gaze and told his superior sitting next to him, “This little district is hiding a crouching tiger and hidden dragon ah, those hooligans met an expert.”
“Hehe, more than that.” His superior lit up a cigarette next to him and said deeply, “They don’t even know who they’ve provoked. This is running to our district, carrying lanterns to go to the bathroom.”
“Ah?”
“To find shit.”
The police officer, “…How vulgar.”
“Your neighborhood is quite close to the police station.” Sun Zinan said as he walked, “It went pretty quickly.”
“Yes, the security is very good.” Tang Kai said, “Do you know why?”
“Why?”
Tang Kai, “Because most of the residents in this district are retired faculty. I heard that a few years ago, there were a criminals who had become stupid after watching too many movies. They specifically came over to kidnap a professor from the chemical engineering department and almost succeeded. Since then, the police station in the district has been very strict. In the event of personal injury cases, everyone will be severely interrogated.”
Sun Zinan once again thought of the fear of being questioned about wireless systems and pressurized machinery.
How impressive.
Just then, someone passed by. Tang Kai’s voice stopped and he moved closer to his ear. He asked almost silently, “Do you think Sun Ziyan can run this time?”