Chapter 16

The scene fell silent once again, even the children and teenagers who had been avoiding this area noticed something was amiss and looked over.

Calling him by his nickname and teasing him about being a couple with Muxiaolan was just a child's joke, but the words and actions of Liu Yong that followed were despicable, no different from harassing a girl. Zhao Jin naturally wouldn't let him get away with it.

When Liu Yong realized what was happening, he immediately flew into a rage, thinking it was too humiliating to be scolded by such a young boy. He gritted his teeth and said, "Boy, who are you talking about..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw only the angry little girl in front of him. Where had Zhao Jin gone? Just as he thought this, he felt a heavy blow to his abdomen, catching him off guard. He couldn't catch his breath, the pain was excruciating, and he didn't even have time to cry out before he was knocked to the ground.

Lying down wasn't the end. Zhao Jin had already mounted Liu Yong and started punching him, delivering a dozen blows.

The dozen or so children, including the Chen brothers and Muxiaolan, were all stunned. No one had expected a fight to break out, and even more surprising was that Zhao Jin was the one who started it.

Despite only ten days of training, it had been effective. Zhao Jin's fists hurt, but by the third punch, Liu Yong's nose started bleeding. After a dozen punches, Liu Yong's face was covered in blood.

Despicable as he was, Liu Yong was only about twelve years old. Being hit so hard and bleeding from the face, he started wailing by the tenth punch.

"Next time you say something like that, I'll beat you to death!" Zhao Jin threatened fiercely, then stood up from Liu Yong.

Liu Yong, who had been crying and holding his nose, trembled at Zhao Jin's words and nodded frantically on the ground.

It wasn't until then that the other teenagers who had been with Liu Yong reacted. The short one who had spoken earlier looked around and suddenly shouted, "Let's all go at him..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Jin had already run up to him and jumped, delivering a kick. The short one instinctively tried to dodge to the side, but he was still hit in the chest and immediately knocked to the ground.

The entire cargo yard fell completely silent. Everyone, whether they were watching from a distance or nearby, was stunned.

Liu Yong was still holding his nose on the ground, and the short one was just about to get up when Zhao Jin kicked him down again.

Zhao Jin's body was weak, and ten days of training hadn't made him much stronger. However, he had a lot of experience in fighting and dealing with groups. Zhao Jin knew that when outnumbered, the key was to focus on one person and beat them down. If you could take one down, you might scare the others off. Even if they didn't run, you wouldn't be at a disadvantage, which was better than being surrounded and unable to fight back.

In these kinds of disputes, where the many bully the few, there was no real resolve for a bloody fight. As soon as one side showed determination, the other side often backed down. These teenagers, led by Liu Yong, would back off once their leader was taken down and the defiant ones were dealt with.

In a one-on-one fight, Zhao Jin wouldn't have been able to beat Liu Yong, and he might not have been able to beat the short one either. But no one expected him to be so fierce and to strike first, which immediately intimidated everyone.

Zhao Jin stood there, scanning the crowd. He was short and still had a childish look, but everyone he looked at couldn't help but take a step back.

However, Zhao Jin was alone, and the teenagers behind Liu Yong, after hesitating, started to stir. At this moment, Chen Sheng had already reacted. He swung his wooden sword forward with a whoosh and shouted, "Whoever dares to touch Zhao Jin, I'll beat them!"

The teenagers in the cargo yard knew how strong Chen Sheng was and immediately stopped.

Although the scene was temporarily quiet, everyone was still watching. Chen Sheng, seeing that all the teenagers were stunned, turned to Zhao Jin with a fiery look in his eyes and said with a smile, "Zhao Jin, you're really strong. Let's have a match!"

Zhao Jin shook his head. He had lingered too long and it was almost time for the afternoon martial arts practice. He looked at all the teenagers in the cargo yard and said, "I won't fight you, but tomorrow I'll find many people to challenge you. How many points can you put up?"

Chen Sheng was taken aback and looked at Chen Hong beside him, saying, "I can put up eight points, and with Erhong's, we can have fourteen."

Hearing this, Chen Hong immediately looked at his brother nervously, thinking he still needed his share to eat.

Zhao Jin nodded and said, "Today we won't fight. Tomorrow, prepare thirty-two black wooden plaques and thirty-two white wooden plaques. Make the plaques as small as possible, and write the numbers one to thirty-two on them. You also need a large clay jar to hold all the plaques."

"What... what are you going to do?" Chen Sheng stared at Zhao Jin with wide eyes, completely puzzled. At this moment, not only he but even Liu Yong, who was lying on the ground, was listening with a curious look.

Zhao Jin didn't have time to explain. The fake strike by his uncle Zhao Zhenxing that morning had scared him enough. If he returned late, he would definitely be scolded.

"Trust me. If no one challenges you after you do this, I'll fight you!" After saying this, Zhao Jin turned and left, with Muxiaolan closely following.

Chen Sheng wanted to ask more, but hearing this, he immediately nodded with a smile.

Watching Zhao Jin walk away, Chen Sheng pulled Chen Hong and said, "Let's go pick up some stones."

However, no one cared about where Chen Sheng was going. The teenagers in the cargo yard were all staring at Zhao Jin's back, their eyes filled with surprise and fear.

Zhao Jin walked out of the cargo yard, looked up at the sun, and felt that he had wasted too much time. He was anxious and couldn't help but start running. At this point, there was a disadvantage: he could only estimate the time by the sky, without an accurate way to measure it.

The two children ran, and the boy was naturally faster than the girl. Muxiaolan couldn't keep up. After hesitating, she reached out and grabbed Zhao Jin's hand. Zhao Jin didn't think much of it, but he didn't notice that this was the first time the little girl had held his hand.

Holding hands, they ran more slowly. Zhao Jin looked back and saw the little girl's rosy cheeks and the smile on her lips. She looked so beautiful, and Zhao Jin suddenly had this thought.

On the way, they encountered Zhao Zhenxing. His uncle was walking hurriedly, his face worried. Seeing the two children running hand in hand, he relaxed, but then his expression became serious.

"Why are you so late? You can't slack off in your martial arts practice..." Zhao Zhenxing said sternly, then his expression turned stern as he pinched Zhao Jin's clothes and sniffed them, asking sternly, "What is this blood?"

Zhao Jin looked down and saw that his clothes were splattered with blood, probably from hitting Liu Yong's nose. Seeing Zhao Zhenxing's stern expression, Zhao Jin couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. He had already come to respect his uncle greatly after a few days of martial arts training.

Seeing Zhao Jin stammering, Zhao Zhenxing frowned. At this moment, Muxiaolan stepped forward and said, "Uncle, it's like this..."

Zhao Jin had never thought that Muxiaolan could speak so well and so logically. For a girl of seven or eight, this was quite rare, especially in this era.

The little girl explained the entire situation clearly, but being young, she didn't know what to say and what not to say, even mentioning helping Chen Sheng prepare for the challenge.

Zhao Zhenxing's face was initially serious, but it gradually softened. His eyes were filled with surprise as he looked at Zhao Jin, and by the end, there was even a smile and a look of approval on his face.

"Big Brother Xiaojin was helping me, Uncle, don't blame him," the little girl finished with a clear voice.

Zhao Zhenxing smiled and shook his head, then reached out and patted Zhao Jin's forehead, saying gently, "Silly child, next time when you're outnumbered, running is the most important thing."