Chen Jing released his grip on the handrail and reached into his pocket behind him. He turned back and gave the man behind him a faint smile: "Thanks for the reminder."
The wallet in his pocket was indeed gone, but Chen Jing's expression remained unchanged.
Having roamed the martial world for many years, Chen Jing naturally knew the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
I had a thousand yuan and some change in my wallet when I went out, but today I spent over a thousand yuan on clothes for Ji Xia and gifts for my family, so I only had a few dozen yuan in my wallet.
He paid extra for the meal and drinks he just treated his brothers to, so even if his wallet was stolen, the loss would only be thirty or fifty yuan, not even worth frowning over.
He patted his pocket, then subtly tightened his grip on Ji Xia's shoulder, secretly observing the kind person who had given him the tip.
"Thank you, I understand."
The man smiled and shook his head: "It's nothing, I just couldn't stand it."
Looking at Chen Jing again, he pushed Ji Xia towards the guardrail behind the car door, and squeezed himself in as well, showing no intention of getting out of the car to chase after her.
He couldn't help but raise his voice: "Comrade, your wallet has been stolen, aren't you going to get out of the car and chase after it?"
"Let's stop here and consider this a good deed for the day. I suppose he stole money because his family is in financial difficulty."
“You—you are encouraging his habit of getting something for nothing.”
Seeing that all the passengers had disembarked and the doors were about to close, he urged again, "What you're doing is wrong. We absolutely cannot tolerate petty thieves like this—"
Chen Jing turned around with a half-smile: "You're right. I'll go to the police station to report the case after I get off the bus."
"Report the crime after you get off the bus? The thief will be long gone by then, what's the point of reporting it then?"
The doors clicked shut, the bus started moving, and Chen Jing remained standing motionless.
"If I had known you were a coward, I wouldn't have bothered reminding you."
Seeing that his attempt to persuade him had failed, the man shrugged in annoyance and began gossiping to those around him: "He's tall and strong, but he's just a coward. He can't even chase a thief."
"Is this even a man? Pretty girl, such a useless man, just dump him!"
"Yeah, beautiful lady, dump him and find a real man..."
A chorus of boos rose from the crowd, and several disdainful glances fell upon them, urging Ji Xia to open her eyes wider.
Ji Xia blushed with anger and turned around, about to say something in her defense, but Chen Jing gave her a look, signaling her not to speak.
He glanced back at the men who had spoken, memorized their faces, and smiled faintly.
"I have my reasons for not chasing after them. You're so enthusiastic and courageous, why don't you go after them?"
"And you—you—you—"
After pointing out several people, Chen Jing revealed a dangerous smile: "You're all so enthusiastic, and you're all in cahoots, so why don't you get out of the car and call the police?"
"What group are you with? We don't know them."
Several people were called out by name, and feeling guilty, they all shook their heads and turned their faces away. As for the other passengers on the bus, they were indifferent and pretended not to hear.
Chen Jing squinted at the group, sneered repeatedly, and unconsciously tightened his grip on Ji Xia's hand.
However, he subtly glanced at the last two seats on the bus, slightly relaxing a bit of his tension.
Not long after, they arrived at the bus stop in front of Tianhe Guesthouse, and Chen Jing took Ji Xia's hand and got off the bus.
It was around nine o'clock at night. Although the streetlights were still bright, there were far fewer pedestrians.
Chen Jing pulled Ji Xia along and strode towards the guesthouse. Not long after, they heard hurried footsteps behind them.
"Try to stay close to me and don't get separated."
As Chen Jing spoke, he took something out of his pocket and stuffed it into Ji Xia's hand: "If someone attacks you, spray them in the eyes."
As he spoke, he turned around quickly and saw seven or eight people chasing after him.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that some of the men were the same ones who had coaxed him off the bus.
"I knew it, you bunch of scoundrels had ulterior motives in trying to get me off the bus."
Chen Jing reached out and broke off a branch about the thickness of a baby's wrist from the tree above his head. He casually plucked off a few thin leaves and stood ready.
When the thugs saw Chen Jing's action, they immediately slowed their pace.
They had been warned that this man knew a few martial arts moves, and that usually several men couldn't get close to him.
Looking at his arm, the branch, as thick as a baby's, was broken off in just a few seconds. The others, having seen some of his abilities, immediately dared not step forward.
The leader of the thugs glanced at Ji Xia behind Chen Jing, hesitated for a moment, and then shouted fiercely, "You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to drink the penalty cup. You've offended our boss, and you still dare to be arrogant?"
Chen Jing sneered: "Your boss? Who's that?"
"You don't even know our boss?"
Just as the thug was about to spout more nonsense, he heard several men slowly walking over from across the street: "Who's your boss? Tell us, and see if we know him?"
The group of thugs subconsciously looked around and discovered that, in addition to the people across the street, there were also six or seven people walking out from behind them.
The men looked menacing, and the surrounding pedestrians scattered, no longer daring to linger.
Upon seeing the newly appeared men, the leader of the thugs' expressions changed.
Having spent a long time mingling in the underworld of Huacheng, they naturally knew all these people as Boss Song's brothers and their underlings.
Then Chen Jing smiled and greeted the people around him: "Brother Wei, Brother Feng, do you know these people?"
Wei Ge, carrying a baseball bat, lazily walked up to him, glancing sideways at the group of thugs: "Them? Who knows where these thugs came from? I don't know them at all. I'm too busy making money to deal with these bastards."
Another guy, cigarette dangling from his lips, stood casually in front of the thugs: "You guys, what do you want, blocking our Brother Jing's way? Want to test your skills? Want us to be your referees?"
"No need, no need, we're just passing by and have no intention of fighting with Brother Jing."
The group of thugs, all smiles and waving their hands, hurriedly ran away under the watchful eyes of Chen Jing and Brother Wei.
Watching them walk away, Chen Jing turned back with a cold laugh: "Brother Wei, Brother Feng, thank you. I'll treat you to drinks again tomorrow."
"Let's skip tomorrow, we have to go set up our stall at Hakuba early in the morning!"
Wei waved his hand and beckoned to the brothers behind him: "A Tang, Luo Song, come and meet Jing Ge."
Two young men, both around twenty years old, took a few steps closer. One of them had a buzz cut and was short and stocky, while the other was tall but had a darker complexion.
He nodded solemnly to Chen Jing: "Brother Jing!"
Wei Ge explained, "Ah Tang and Luo Song haven't been here long, but they both come from the Hongmen and are quite skilled. We'll have them follow you around for the next few days."
"Thanks, Brother Wei. Let's have tea sometime sometime."
Chen Jing smiled and thanked Brother Wei and Brother Feng before extending his hand to shake hands with Zheng Tang and Luo Song: "Hello, I'm Chen Jing. Thank you for your help these past few days."
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