Chapter Ten: The Bicycle Rider
The little chubby boy was afraid to cry out loud, tears streaming down his face.
Under the leadership of the gang leader, they surrounded the little chubby boy, searched him, and dumped out the contents of his backpack, which clattered to the ground. The pencil case fell and opened with a snap, spilling out all the stationery inside.
After they collected all the cash they could find, the gang leader, delighted to have acquired a lot of protection money, said, “You guys tidy this up. Now this fat pig is my brother.”
The other middle school delinquents stuffed the stationery, books, and other items that had fallen to the ground into the heavy safety backpack.
The gang leader picked up the backpack, brushed off the dust, and handed it to the little chubby boy with a grin, saying, “Here you go. She won’t protect you; I will. If anyone bullies you in the future, just mention my name, and I’ll back you up. Look for an opportunity to call her out; I’ll help you teach her a lesson.”
“She… she just,” the little chubby boy choked up, wanting to defend Sister Lin: “can’t fight you guys.”
“We just wanted to greet her, and she ran away immediately. A friend like this will be the first to kick you off the bus when trouble arises,” the gang leader said, patting the little chubby boy on the shoulder, while the latter looked at him hesitantly and skeptically.
The gang leader said, “Make sure you clean yourself up. We’re just playing around, you know?”
“Really, is it really?”
“If anyone asks, you just say that, got it?”
“Got it, understood.”
“Make sure to introduce us to your friend from earlier; you promised. If you don’t keep your word, then you’ll understand you made a mistake.”
The little chubby boy didn’t say anything.
The gang leader continued with a smile, “We can help you teach her a good lesson. How could she abandon a friend? There’s no loyalty in that, don’t you think?” The little chubby boy still hadn’t spoken.
One of the middle school delinquents impatiently shoved him: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Are you mute? Didn’t dare to give the boss face?”
The little chubby boy turned pale with fear and stuttered when he tried to speak.
A sound of wheels approached.
“Xiao Pang! I’m here to help you!”
Lin Ji came riding her bicycle, one of the beer cans on the bike was gone, replaced by a wooden stick. She got off the bike, pulled out the stick, wielding it like a sword, and shouted at the middle school delinquents:
“You’re robbing someone! Come with me to the police station and turn yourselves in.”
Among her peers, Lin Ji had developed quickly, but she was just a fourth-grade elementary student, her slender body was noticeably shorter than the middle school delinquents.
Looking at Lin Ji’s cute face, despite her arched eyebrows, the wooden stick in her hand seemed to lack any lethal force. The middle school gang leader laughed broadly enough to nearly stretch his mouth to his ears. He placed one hand on the little chubby boy’s shoulder, hoisting most of his weight onto him, as he dragged him towards Lin Ji, saying:
“What? Are you back for some education?” The gang leader continued, “Fat pig, isn’t it you who wants us to educate this girl?”
The little chubby boy’s face turned red.
The middle school delinquent shouted loudly: “Isn’t it?”
“Don’t you scare my friend anymore!”
Lin Ji said: “You all stand still and wait for the police to come.”
As she spoke, she leaned against the wall beside her.
“Scream? It’s him who said you’re a disloyal person.”
The little chubby boy trembled, wanting to say no, but was too scared to be beaten, he whispered, “Yes.”
“What?! I can’t hear you; say it louder.”
Lin Ji’s sweet voice turned stern: “Enough! You’re scaring her. If he says anything, isn’t it you who gets to decide?”
“Wow, such a stubborn girl.”
After saying this, the gang leader suddenly lunged at Lin Ji, kicking her in the stomach.
But Lin Ji sidestepped; her wooden stick was longer than his leg, and she delivered a slice to the gang leader’s calf, making him grimace in pain, but he was left open. Lin Ji seized the moment, swinging the stick in an arc, striking the gang leader on the forehead.
Her small frame possessed an unexpectedly strong power, hitting the gang leader’s head until it buzzed. Just as Lin Ji was about to knock him down, another middle school delinquent rushed in, and she quickly withdrew the stick, striking the other’s arm in return.
But the other didn’t stop; although he missed, he wildly flailed his hands and grabbed hold of the stick, holding on tightly, preventing Lin Ji from pulling it out. Another middle school delinquent approached, grabbing Lin Ji in a bear hug, but Lin Ji erupted with a strength that was inconsistent with her size, kicking the groin of the delinquent who was holding her tightly, kicking twice, making him curl up in pain, stepping back.
Unable to pull out the stick, she firmly held both ends of it, stepping forward with a thrust, her waist, legs, and arms working together to jab into the other’s abdomen, inflicting enough pain for him to let go. Lin Ji pulled out the stick without hesitation and swung it vigorously, hitting the other’s neck and head repeatedly, forcing him to retreat with his arms over his head. She then immediately swept the stick at his knee, causing the delinquent to stumble and fall to the ground.
“You mother!”
The gang leader’s face turned red with rage as he shouted and charged at Lin Ji, while another middle school delinquent, who had been uninvolved, looked confused, unsure of what to do, and followed the gang leader’s rush.
The gang leader was like an enraged bull, but Lin Ji showed no fear, choosing to confront him head-on, swinging the stick towards the gang leader’s head. He instinctively lifted his hand to block, but it was merely a feint. Lin Ji, skilled in using feigned attacks, transformed it into a thrust, and the stick jabbed into the gang leader’s abdomen, and she gripped it tightly, stabbing him again and again.
The gang leader’s vision darkened from the pain, coming to a halt after a few steps. The hesitant middle school delinquent rushed in, and Lin Ji withdrew the stick, making a half-slice that struck the other’s arm—not heavy, but enough to extinguish his fighting spirit as he turned and ran away.
The little chubby boy stood frozen, watching Lin Ji take on four delinquents and defeat them effortlessly like a war god.
A Wuling van stopped at the entrance of the alley, and an adult from the window shouted, “What are you doing?”
“Robbery!” Lin Ji turned her head, her long black hair flowing, “The delinquents are robbing!”
The adult immediately got out of the car, slamming the door behind him, shouting “Don’t run!”
Seeing this, the three delinquents, having gotten up from the ground, began to flee, especially the gang leader, who sprinted particularly fast. Lin Ji chased after him, but when her stick couldn’t reach him, she simply lunged forward, embracing the gang leader’s waist and tackled him to the ground.
“Clatter.”
That was the sound of keys clashing.
Lin Ji raised her dust-covered face only to see the gang leader’s face turning red with anger as he pulled a folding knife from his pocket. Lin Ji quickly let go and dodged, while he lost his reason, cursing under his breath, with one hand grabbing Lin Ji’s hair and the other thrusting the knife towards her neck.
Lin Ji’s pupils dilated, reflecting the gleaming knife edge approaching. Just as the blade was about to stab her neck, for an instant, Lin Ji’s black pupils turned golden. At that moment, the gang leader was still seething with anger, the adrenaline making him ignore the pain in his body. In the next instant, all his rage vanished, and he fell into a dreamlike state, dazed and motionless.
The adult ran over, kicked him with force, sending the gang leader down, then struck his knife-holding hand with the wooden stick repeatedly until he dropped the folding knife.
“Are you okay?” The adult helped Lin Ji up, lifted her black hair to check her neck for any wounds, and then exhaled in relief.
The little chubby boy rushed over, panting, and asked, “Lin Ji, are you okay?”
Lin Ji smiled, “I’m fine.”
“What do you mean fine?” The adult said angrily, “You almost got stabbed to death! At your age, why are you so impulsive? If you had died, your parents would definitely blame me for lending you the stick.”
Lin Ji replied, “But if I hadn’t caught that bad person and let him go, he would’ve looked for opportunities to bully my friends again. We can’t leave hidden dangers; he needs to be punished so he won’t dare to bully anyone again.”
Upon hearing this, the little chubby boy’s nose turned sour, and tears started streaming down his face.
A few minutes later, a police car arrived. With monitoring cameras nearby, after reviewing the footage, the nature of the situation turned serious, moving beyond ordinary school bullying towards robbery charges.
The gang leader trembled in fear, thinking about giving the money back, pleading with the little chubby boy to accept his apology and pay some compensation for the matter to just go away. But sadly, that wasn’t an option.
During the recording, the little chubby boy’s parents arrived in a car, and upon seeing him, they rushed to embrace him and wouldn’t let go no matter what.
The little chubby boy pointed at Lin Ji, crying as he said, “Luckily Lin Ji saw it; if it weren’t for her help, I would have been beaten to death. They were going to beat me and almost stabbed Lin Ji to death.”
As he spoke, the little chubby boy broke into tears.
Lin Ji thought she must have misread the situation; she didn’t know why the little chubby boy’s mother’s face was particularly red.
