A dozen meters ahead, a middle-aged woman with a purse was stopped by a flat-topped young man. It seemed that he was asking for directions. The woman raised her hand and pointed ahead.
Meanwhile, behind the woman, a frail young man in a black t-shirt, tweezers in hand, seized the moment she was pointing to slip the tweezers into her bag, pulling out a cell phone.
"Watch out! They're thieves!" Just as the young man in the black t-shirt was about to nab the goods, Susan, in full sprint, suddenly let out a yell.
This unexpected shout caused the young man in the black t-shirt to tense up, and flinching, he let the phone slip back into the bag.
The middle-aged woman who was previously giving directions seemed to catch on, subconsciously turning around and grabbing her bag, which also caught the thief's tweezers in the process. In panic, she asked, "What...what are you doing?"
The young man's face turned pale, without a reply, let go of the tweezers and turned towards the charging Susan with a rather menacing look. It was as if he was telling Susan off: "Bitch, you dare ruin my gig? Are you asking for trouble?!"
Seeing the young man walk away, the middle-aged woman didn't chase after him. Instead, she checked her bag frantically to see if anything was missing. When she realized nothing was stolen, she sighed in relief, and without waiting to thank Susan, she turned and walked away.
"Hey!"
Sensing the hostility in the young man's gaze, Susan, propelled by her momentum, struck with a standard side-kick.
Susan had been practicing Taekwondo since she was young, so she had some skills. The kick hit with the perfect speed, angle, and force; an average person would have no hope in defending against it.
And sure enough —
The young man in the t-shirt hadn't expected Susan to act without a word.
More unexpectedly, the seemingly frail Susan was trained in martial arts. By the time he thought to dodge, it was already too late.
"Bang!"
Susan's kick landed smack on the face of the young man in the black t-shirt, the blow sending him flying through the air.
Chen Fan, who had been closely following Susan, saw her make a move. Still, he didn't go up to help because he could see that the t-shirt guy had an unstable posture and inflated overconfidence. With Susan's skills, there was absolutely no problem.
"Ouch!"
The young man in the black t-shirt fell heavily to the ground, curling up and screaming in pain.
Seeing this, Susan's attractive face broke into a thrilled smile. Just as she was about to corner the young man, she spotted the flat-topped man from earlier, in his hand a glinting dagger, charging at her with a malignant look.
"Damn, bitch, you have a death wish!" The man saw his mate laid out flat by Susan and didn't care about the onlookers. He felt homicidal, seemingly set on taking Susan's life.
The spectating crowd did otherwise, they didn't step in to help Susan but scattered rapidly like a freaked-out herd of sheep.
Contrary to them, Susan wasn't running; facing the knife-wielding, flat-topped man, she seemed eager to get started. It was as if she didn't even take him seriously.
"This chick, really has some guts. Don't she see the guy has a knife?"
Chen Fan caught this sight, reprimanding her secretly but knowing it wouldn't be a big deal for Susan to take on the flat-top if it were a fistfight. But with the dagger in his hand, there seemed to be a certain level of danger.
Evaluating the flat-topped man's power, Chen Fan didn't rush forward but silently took out a Zippo lighter, held it in his hand, ready to intervene.
"I'm gonna disfigure you!" The flat-top noticed the crowd dispersing, leaving only Susan. A cruel smile crept onto his face.
"So, you two are partners!" Hearing the man's words, Susan's face seemed white with rage, she didn't expect them to be in cahoots.
After the brief bout of anger, Susan composed herself instantly, a deadly charming smile quickly replacing it. She purposely pushed her chest out, her blossom quivering, catching the eye.
Seeing this, Chen knew that the flat-top was in deep water.
Sure enough, Susan's action caught the flat-top's eye, and his pace slowed.
"Hey!" Seeing her beauty plan worked, Susan flexed her superbly straight leg, her instep tense, giving the flat-topped man's wrist a hard kick.
The flat-top might have been duped by Susan's chest-flaunting act, but he quickly caught up. Seeing Susan's leg kick, on instinct, he swung his dagger straight at Susan's ankle without thinking.
Catching sight of this, Susan's pupils widened in shock, and her complexion turned pale as a sheet instantly.
In principle, she intended to disarm him barehanded, but seeing the man captivated by her charm, she changed her strategy, planning to finish the fight off with a beautiful side-kick instead. She least expected him to counterattack.
All this happened in an instant; regret flooded Susan's heart, but it's too late to withdraw her kick.
"This gal's guts are too big, actually trying to kick the knife. Isn't this looking for death?" Chen Fan helplessly shook his head. Susan had a foundation in martial arts, but her skills were all showy and not practical. Moreover, her combat experience was woefully scarce. It's okay for regular play, but against vicious thugs, there's absolutely no chance of winning.
"Whoosh!"
Thinking this, Chen Fan doesn't dare dally; with a flick of his wrist, the Zippo lighter in his hand turned into a streak of white light, darting towards the man's wrist at high speed.
"Bang!"
The lighter hit the man's wrist spot on. The man let out a cry of pain, instinctively releasing the dagger.
"Crick!"
Simultaneously, Susan's side-kick arrived wind-swift, hitting the man's wrist with a crisp snap.
Originally, when Susan saw the man's counter-move, she was startled, the strength behind her kick dropped off greatly, making it impossible to break the man's wrist. It was only Chen Fan's accuracy in hitting the joint on the man's wrist that resulted in a broken wrist.
However, how would Susan know this at this point?
Observing her kick breaking the man's wrist, she didn't think about the tricks behind it, instead quickly releasing a second kick.
—-a nutcracker kick!
Seeing this, a slight tremor ran along the corner of Chen Fan's eyes, almost as if seeing the man's fate.
"Argh!!"
Just like Chen Fan imagined, the man let out a blood-curdling scream, crouched down holding his lower part, his complexion turning pale in an instant.
"You dare to use a dagger, I, your Aunt, will stomp you to death!" Recalling the ordeal, fear still lingered in Susan's heart, butmore so fury. Seeing the man crouching on the ground, she converted her anger into energy, started delivering a flurry of stomps at his face!
With his lower body hit, the man didn't have any means to counteract, he could only let Susan vent her wrath freely.
After a series of chaotic kicks, the flat-topped man fell to the ground with bloody face, emitting waves of painful grunts.
After all, Susan was an eighteen-year-old girl. After seeing blood, she felt a bit frightened and stopped her action, turning her head to find Chen Fan. But she found Chen standing five meters behind her with his shopping bag, with an amused expression.
"Chen Fan, are you even a man?" Remembering the scene where the man nearly wounded her with the dagger, she scolded angrily, "What kind of a man are you? So timid, letting me lead the charge while you hide behind and enjoy the show."
"It isn't just me who is scared, none of the men around here intervened." Chen Fan shamelessly blamed the men around him while admiring Susan's bravery secretly. After all, in this indifferent age, people as brave as Susan are becoming rarer. The blood-flowing passion in people's hearts is slowly cooling down, eroded by self-interest.
Chen Fan's shameless behavior made the men who didn't dare to step in earlier feel a surge of anger. Susan glanced at the dozens of spectators around them and felt confused. She couldn't help questioning herself, "Why didn't they step in? Was I wrong?"
"Don't be disoriented. You did everything right. You're braver than all of them." At Susan's lost moment, Chen Fan gently patted her shoulder, appearing before her with his familiar figure, and spoke softly.
Surprised, Susan lifted her head and found Chen wasn't smiling as he usually did. His expression was calm, his gaze tender, and his voice carried that distinct masculine charm.
She had never seen this expression on Chen's face. At that moment, she felt like she knew nothing about the man she'd been living with for a month.
But it was just a moment, Susan recovered and said, "I'm braver than a wuss like you, for sure!"
"Naturally. Isn't there a saying? Behind a brave woman, there's always a cowardly man hiding." Chen Fan regained his easy-going expression and laughed.
Chen had been worried that the recent events would plunge Susan into confusion, making her question if her life values were correct. Seeing her back to normal, he was notably relieved.
In Chen's eyes, despite Susan acting a head taller than she is, and enjoying the pretense of maturity, her heart was exceptionally innocent, like a blank sheet of paper.
He didn't want the dark realities of human nature to taint her pure heart prematurely.
She was only eighteen; she should be enjoying her simple, buoyant youth.