Chapter 15: The Charm of That Kick

A flash of blade appeared before his eyes, and Wen Liang instinctively sucked in his breath, pulled in his abdomen, and took a quick step back. The cold tip of the blade grazed his nose and slid down, almost gutting him. The hair on the back of Wen Liang's neck stood up, and his arms broke out in goosebumps. Cold sweat instantly drenched his forehead and back. He didn't have time to be afraid; in the moment the blade slipped past, he moved forward instead of back, lifting his leg and kicking the man hard in the stomach.

The man grunted and staggered back a few steps, his face twisted in a grotesque expression.

At this moment, the female clerk at the back was so frightened that she crouched on the ground, wailing. Tan Xue, regaining her senses, hid behind the counter. Only Xu Yao, who was outside the door, not only did not leave but rushed in, pointing at the man and shouting, "Stop!"

The man turned his head, raised his knife, and charged at Xu Yao. Wen Liang, unable to catch up, turned pale with fear and shouted, "Run, run!"

Xu Yao seemed to be scared stiff, standing there in a daze. Seeing Wen Liang's concern, the man had the idea of taking Xu Yao as a hostage. He reached out and grabbed her waist, holding the knife to her neck.

A sudden change occurred.

Xu Yao lightly stepped her right foot between the man's legs, grabbed the pulse point of his right hand holding the knife with one hand, and twisted the index and middle fingers of his left hand with the other. Then she suddenly exerted force.

The man let out a piercing scream, and the knife clattered to the ground. Xu Yao twisted her waist, raised her shoulder, and bent her body, preparing to perform a textbook over-the-shoulder throw.

Wen Liang almost clapped in admiration, marveling at the brave and clever girl. But at this moment, something ridiculous happened. Xu Yao threw, but the man didn't move. She threw again, and he still didn't move!

Xu Yao looked up at Wen Liang with a pitiful expression, her big eyes twinkling, as if to say: He's so heavy!

"Damn!" Wen Liang almost went crazy, rushing forward. The man, recovering from the pain, struggled free and kicked Xu Yao in the buttocks, knocking her to the ground. He bent down to pick up the knife and swung it at her back.

This time, he didn't intend to take any more hostages; he wanted to kill everyone in the store.

All of this happened in a split second. In the blink of an eye, Xu Yao was in extreme danger. Wen Liang, no longer caring about his own safety, pounced to the ground, rolled with her.

"Thud!"

The knife blade struck the ground with a dull thud. The man, mad with rage, swung the knife again. Wen Liang, unable to dodge, shielded Xu Yao with his body and pushed forward with all his strength, his hands gripping the knife handle tightly.

The scene froze. The madman, the bone-chilling light, the struggling youth, and the girl staring at the back of the person protecting her with her life. This moment would be etched in their memories forever, never to fade.

Wen Liang felt the cold blade getting closer, even seeing his reflection in the blade. The man had clearly lost his mind. He no longer had any hope of a successful robbery; his only goal was to kill the person obstructing him.

Cruelly, to kill!

The struggle lasted only a few seconds before the outcome was clear. Wen Liang's arms trembled violently from the effort. In the next second, the blade, gleaming with a menacing light, might come crashing down, splitting his forehead and splitting him in two.

Sweat dripped from his face, making a dripping sound. From Xu Yao's perspective, Wen Liang's back was drenched. She finally reacted, and the years of martial arts training her brother had forced on her made her different from ordinary girls. In a critical moment, Xu Yao gathered all her strength in her legs and kicked the man's most vulnerable spot from under Wen Liang.

One good kick is better than ten mediocre ones! This was a nuclear bomb against a man!

The man's face contorted into a strange expression, his eyes bulging and rolling back as he collapsed to the ground, his body curling up and twitching.

Wen Liang, relieved, also collapsed to the ground. Unlike the criminal, he landed on a soft, fragrant surface.

From the moment the man entered the store to now, it had been no more than two minutes, but the situation had been fraught with danger. Tan Xue rushed out from behind the counter, carefully kicking the knife away. She pulled Wen Liang, her eyes filled with tears. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you hurt?"

The other female clerk, recovering from her panic, quickly called the police and ran outside to get help from the neighboring shop.

Hearing that someone had been caught robbing a jewelry store, many people rushed in. Someone found a rope and tied up the still twitching man. Xu Yao and Tan Xue helped the exhausted Wen Liang to a seat, while the other clerk, now energized, vividly recounted Wen Liang's heroic fight with the criminal. Wen Liang, listening to a few sentences, realized the girl must have read a lot of martial arts novels; her account was too fantastical.

This directly led to a flood of praise for Wen Liang. If it weren't for Xu Yao and Tan Xue, the two beautiful women by his side, some people might have even suggested him as a match for their daughters.

It wasn't until the police arrived in a rush that Wen Liang was freed from the crowd. Xu Yao seemed to have become much more obedient, standing quietly by his side, her eyes filled with concern and occasional gentle smiles. When the police came in, she stepped aside to make a call, then returned to Wen Liang's side to accompany him to the police station for a statement.

The city's Public Security Bureau Chief, Zhao Xinchuan, rushed to the bureau from a banquet. Although this violent robbery did not cause significant damage, it was a Hong Kong-funded enterprise, and such an incident would have a bad impact on Qingzhou's investment environment. More importantly, the store was partly owned by Gu Shitong, the richest man in Qingzhou.

Zhao Xinchuan could ignore the Hong Kong businessman's feelings, as that was the responsibility of the investment promotion office, but he couldn't ignore Gu Shitong's. As soon as the incident happened, he received calls from several important city officials, urging him to investigate the case quickly and minimize the impact. These included Mayor Zhou Yuanting, Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Qin Zhong, and billionaire Gu Shitong. What surprised Zhao Xinchuan the most was that he also received a call from the new Party Secretary, Xu Fuyan.

After the old Party Secretary, Zuo Jing, was promoted, Qingzhou was unofficially led by Mayor Zhou Yuanting. However, those in the know understood that Qingzhou was still under the control of the former mayor and current People's Congress Chairman, Fang Mingtang!

As for the new Party Secretary, Xu Fuyan, in the four months since he took office in March, he had shown no ability to control the overall situation, either in the Standing Committee or the Party and government joint meetings. Even within the Party Committee, he had not fully taken control.

In the political arena, this was simply described as: incompetent!

After a few initial attempts, Xu Fuyan chose silence, raising his hand to support any proposal by Zhou Yuanting in the Standing Committee, earning him the nickname "Hand-raising Secretary." His prestige in the Qingzhou political circle had plummeted to rock bottom.

It was no exaggeration to say that in the history of Qingzhou's Party and government, no second-in-command had ever pushed the first-in-command to such a low point. This political atmosphere was extremely abnormal. Unfortunately, Fang Mingtang and Zhou Yuanting were at the height of their power and did not recognize this. Especially with the recent rumors about the Qinghua Factory, Xu Fuyan's actions had been hesitant, and Zhou Yuanting's arrogance had only increased. But it seemed everyone had forgotten the saying: "When things reach their peak, they must decline."

As a police chief promoted by the old Party Secretary, Zuo Jing, Zhao Xinchuan's current position was precarious. If he weren't relatively obedient and had a good reputation in the police force, Zhou Yuanting would have replaced him with his own confidant. Therefore, when he received the call from Xu Fuyan, he couldn't help but think about the deeper meaning. Was it a signal, or something else?

After all, handling such a case, if done well, would bring no credit, but if mishandled, would cause trouble. Why would Xu Fuyan get involved unless he had lost his mind?

When he saw Xu Yao at the police station, Zhao Xinchuan broke out in a cold sweat. It turned out this little troublemaker was at the scene, which explained the strange tone in Secretary Xu's voice. If anything happened to Xu Yao under his watch, even if Xu Fuyan was just a "Hand-raising Secretary," he could still make Zhao Xinchuan's life miserable.

Wiping away the cold sweat, he asked about the case. With numerous witnesses and the crime scene investigation, although the motive was still unknown, the evidence chain was almost complete. Zhao Xinchuan knew what to do. He pretended not to recognize Xu Yao and called the Qingzhou Daily, Qingzhou Evening News, Qingzhou Radio, and Qingzhou TV, thinking it was necessary to comfort the big boss.

Zhao Xinchuan thought for a moment. Since he was giving a favor, he might as well give a big one. He called the city's Propaganda Department: "Hello, Old Li, it's like this... Yes, yes, my opinion is to give extensive coverage. This aligns with the city's recent efforts to promote spiritual civilization... Yes, good..."

After hanging up, Zhao Xinchuan hesitated but decided not to report this to Mayor Zhou Yuanting. After all, it was just about publicizing a young hero who bravely caught a criminal. Mayor Zhou shouldn't mind too much, right?

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