Plenty of people were fighting, many standing back to watch from a distance, the sounds of smashing and screams occasionally echoing from within.

Mi Xue clutched Zhang Yang's arm tightly. Fortunately, they were far enough away that they couldn't see the bloody scenes inside, but even so, she was already quite frightened.

"Bang!"

Someone slid out from the fray, screaming, blood still streaming from his head—an unlucky soul who had been kicked out.

The ground was already a mess. The one kicked out was a young man, who staggered to his feet, still looking a little dazed.

"Hu Tao?"

Zhang Yang suddenly froze. The young man looked up and turned toward them. Though his head was bleeding, he recognized him—it was Hu Tao from their school's sports department.

Although Hu Tao hadn't been on good terms with them before, he was still a student at the same school. After Hu Tao left for the internet company, he had quit the student union, and none of the things Zhou Yichen did involved him.

Furthermore, it was Hu Tao who had given him advance notice about Zhou Yichen's visit to the Triumph Tower for dinner.

Mi Xue also saw Hu Tao and froze momentarily. She had only known there was a fight going on, never imagining that one of their classmates would be involved.

"Zhang Yang!"

Hu Tao, who had been momentarily dazed, finally sobered up, and the first person he saw upon regaining clarity was Zhang Yang across from him.

His expression changed abruptly, a mixture of fear and unease clouding his face. He reached up to touch his head, only to pull his hand away slick with blood.

"Zhang Yang, I just came to eat with Tingting and the others, I didn't start anything!"

Hu Tao hastily explained. He knew Zhang Yang had a good relationship with their boss, and he valued this job immensely; he definitely didn't want to be fired over a brawl.

"Who else is inside?"

Zhang Yang understood Hu Tao's worry, but this wasn't the time for that conversation. Hu Tao's presence here strongly suggested that other classmates might also be fighting inside.

"Xia Ting, the sisters Xia Lan, and Fan Sizhe with a few of his friends!"

Hu Tao replied quickly, his heart sinking with regret. He shouldn't have listened to Xia Ting and gone out to eat with Fan Sizhe. He had to be at the internet company early tomorrow; their recent performance had been excellent, and Su Zhantao had specifically assigned him a very important piece of work. But Xia Ting had wheedled and persisted until he finally agreed to come, never expecting trouble to erupt here in a fight with another table. This fight had nothing to do with him; it was Xia Lan's harsh words that had provoked the people at the adjacent table, leading to the conflict. He stood up to protect Xia Ting and was hit on the head with a beer bottle, then somehow got kicked out in a daze. Only then did he see Zhang Yang. Seeing Zhang Yang instantly reminded him of Su Zhantao; if Su Zhantao found out about this, he was certainly in for trouble. Hu Tao felt utterly miserable at that moment.

"Fan Sizhe?"

Zhang Yang's brow twitched slightly. Sure enough, there were other classmates from their school inside, but he hadn't expected it to be Fan Sizhe. Fan Sizhe and Zhang Yang had clashed before; last time, Fan Sizhe even tried to use Zhou Yichen to humiliate Zhang Yang, only to end up slinking away himself. Zhang Yang certainly disliked this person, but since he was a classmate from the same school, Zhang Yang couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

"Mi Xue, wait for me here, do not move!"

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Yang quietly instructed Mi Xue. The scene inside was growing more chaotic, and he didn't know how that guy Fan Sizhe was faring.

"Be careful!"

Mi Xue gripped Zhang Yang's arm, watching him with deep concern. When Zhang Yang said that, she knew what he intended to do. She knew Zhang Yang was capable now, but worry made her irrational; everyone had their biases, and she didn't want Zhang Yang putting himself in danger for someone else.

"It's fine, wait for me here!"

Zhang Yang nodded, glanced at Hu Tao one last time, and then quickly headed inside. A fight, a full-blown brawl, was raging inside. Everyone was clustered outside watching the spectacle, and Zhang Yang was the only one who dared to stride straight toward the center of the chaos.

Once inside, Zhang Yang could see things more clearly. There were about a dozen people inside, and five or six were already sprawled on the floor. Among those on the ground were two girls; one was crying out loudly, while a woman was straddling the other, violently slapping her face. Nearby, two men were ganging up on one man. Further away, it was even more chaotic, with eight or nine people tangled together, kicking and hitting each other in a complete mess. Fortunately, there was light; Zhang Yang immediately recognized the girl crying hysterically on the floor as Hu Tao’s girlfriend, Xia Ting. The one being slapped was her older sister, Xia Lan, and the woman slapping her kept shouting threats to beat her mouth to pulp. The place was absolute mayhem; it was no wonder no one bothered to check on Hu Tao when he was kicked out.

Zhang Yang strode quickly in, first approaching the spot where the two men were beating one person. With one hand on each, he hoisted both men up and immediately tossed them clear across the room. The man being ganged up on was Fan Sizhe. At that moment, Fan Sizhe was bruised and swollen, his nose bleeding profusely, clutching his head and moaning pitifully. If Zhang Yang hadn't arrived, he probably would have ended up much worse, likely needing a hospital stay for quite some time.

Having dealt with that area, Zhang Yang moved toward the most chaotic spot. There were more people there, and he didn't recognize any of them. He simply threw them all out, using a little hidden force when he threw them so that some couldn't even get up from the ground afterward, left immobile. Finally, Zhang Yang approached the woman.

The woman who had been slapping Xia Lan had stopped. She was still kneeling on Xia Lan. She had seen the scene of Zhang Yang dispatching so many people. Now, seeing Zhang Yang walking toward her, she immediately showed fear.

"You, don't come over here!"

The woman forgot about continuing to hit the Xia Lan beneath her and tried to stand, but failed, tumbling awkwardly to the floor with a shriek. Her fall fortunately moved her off Xia Lan. Zhang Yang couldn't be bothered to walk closer; with the disruption Zhang Yang caused, no one was fighting anymore. He scanned the area, shook his head, and walked back toward the entrance.

Hu Tao had run over by then and immediately helped up his girlfriend, Xia Ting, who was still crying hysterically, clinging to Hu Tao so tightly he couldn't tend to Xia Lan or Fan Sizhe nearby.

The sound of approaching sirens grew louder in the distance. The police response time wasn't slow this time; only a few minutes had passed since Zhang Yang made the call. Seeing that the situation was resolved, Mi Xue also walked inside. She had been extremely worried when Zhang Yang walked in alone, but seeing how many people had been thrown out and Zhang Yang was completely unharmed, she relaxed, filled with a strange sense of pride. This was her boyfriend; how could anyone not feel pleased that their own boyfriend was so formidable?

"Who was fighting?"

Seven or eight police officers walked into the crowd, the leader striding quickly toward the center with a tightly furrowed brow. Seeing the officers arrive, Zhang Yang first paused, then broke into a smile. The captain leading them was Huang Ze, the precinct captain from Wu Gorge Road Station. Zhang Yang seemed destined to run into him; he had encountered him several times during previous incidents.

"Captain Huang, we meet again!"

Zhang Yang called out a greeting. Huang Ze also froze upon seeing Zhang Yang. He had a very deep impression of Zhang Yang—someone who could warrant personal attention from the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Police Captain was a big shot he couldn't afford to offend. The issues from the last two times hadn't been fully resolved, and now this happened again. Huang Ze felt a pang of bitterness in his heart—why did he run into this troublesome young master again?

"Mr. Zhang, what exactly happened here?"

Duty had to be done. Huang Ze forced himself to step in front of Zhang Yang, speaking much more politely than his internal thoughts.

"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics; I just stopped them from fighting. There's a classmate of mine here; you can ask him," Zhang Yang replied, shaking his head and calling Hu Tao over. He genuinely didn't know how it started.

Hearing Zhang Yang say he only stopped the fight and didn't participate, Huang Ze immediately felt much more at ease. He was acutely aware of Zhang Yang's fighting prowess; if Zhang Yang had truly thrown down, many people here would probably end up in the hospital. Several of the thugs from the last incident were still hospitalized.

Because of the fight, Zhang Yang had to accompany them to the police station. After a detailed interrogation at the station, the cause of the brawl quickly became clear: it was simple. Xia Lan had apparently taken issue with a girl at the next table and made a few cutting remarks. The girl overheard her and turned out to be a bit of a street tough herself, exploding in anger on the spot. Hearing Hu Tao's description, Zhang Yang shook his head again. It was no wonder that woman kept slapping Xia Lan; if you say such nasty things to someone who hasn't provoked you, anyone would be unable to stand it. If someone dared to speak about Mi Xue that way, he would certainly step in and beat them up too.

With the cause established, Zhang Yang saw no reason to stay any longer. After giving his statement, he prepared to leave with Mi Xue.

"Zhang Yang, thank you."

As Zhang Yang was about to go, Fan Sizhe suddenly called out to him. After hearing Hu Tao's description, he also knew he owed Zhang Yang a great debt today; without Zhang Yang throwing those people out, he might have been beaten into a pulp. Though he could be petty and intensely jealous, he wasn't so ungrateful as to repay kindness with malice.

"It's nothing, we're classmates," Zhang Yang smiled faintly and shook his head. Fan Sizhe thanking him was somewhat unexpected, but he truly had no connection with this type of person and didn't wish to associate with him. They were simply not on the same path.

Fan Sizhe hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "Zhang Yang, you need to be careful when you go out these next few days. Zhou Yichen seems to want to teach you a lesson. He's been looking for people outside; I don't know if he managed to find anyone!"

Fan Sizhe had seen Zhou Yichen a few days prior and was well aware of Zhou Yichen's current miserable state. During their conversation, he sensed the deep hatred Zhou Yichen held for Zhang Yang, and Zhou Yichen had even mentioned wanting to pay someone to teach Zhang Yang a lesson. At that time, Fan Sizhe didn't think highly of Zhang Yang either, so he hadn't paid much attention to the threat; he would have been happy for someone to discipline Zhang Yang. However, since Zhang Yang had helped him today, he felt a surge of gratitude and recalled their previous encounter, which prompted him to offer this warning. Regardless of everything else, Zhang Yang had saved him today.

Sixth update. My forearm is sore and numb, but Xiao Yu can persist. It's already morning. Friends who see this update, could you spare a monthly ticket for Xiao Yu? It would make me happy occasionally when I open the book page. Xiao Yu is going back to type; there's more coming!