Huayu97: Starting with Wu Song Fighting the Tiger

The next day, around noon, Liu Xiang and Han Geng arranged to meet at Nanchansi Park.

When Liu Xiang arrived at the park, she saw Han Geng squatting under an old locust tree, laughing at a group of old men not far away. Following his gaze, she saw several old men gathered around an old-fashioned tape recorder. The tape recorder had a chipped paint on its casing and was playing Teresa Teng's "I Only Care About You." The old men were humming along, nodding their heads and swaying, while fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, looking very relaxed.

"Han Geng, you're pretty nostalgic, aren't you?" Liu Xiang walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

Han pointed mysteriously at the tape recorder, his eyes sparkling: "Brother Liu Xiang, listen, isn't this tune nice? Shall we sing a bit? Just to practice!"

Liu Xiang paused for a moment, glanced at the elderly people chatting around her, then at Han Geng's expectant eyes, and couldn't help but laugh: "Here? With so many people watching, it's so embarrassing."

"What are you afraid of!" Han Geng grabbed his arm with considerable force. "We're all just watching the show anyway!"

Before Liu Xiang could react, Han Geng ran to the old men, tilted his little face up, and smiled sweetly, "Grandpa, could we borrow your tape recorder? We'd like to dance!"

The old men, enjoying the spectacle, immediately handed him the tape recorder and joked, "Young man, dance better! We'll applaud you!"

After fiddling with it for a bit, Han Geng pressed play, and the cheerful melody immediately echoed through the park, making the old men laugh heartily.

Han Geng pulled Liu Xiang up and they jumped up. At first, Liu Xiang was a little reserved, feeling uncomfortable as everyone's eyes were on her. But seeing Han Geng's lively energy and remembering the excitement of commercial performances, he gradually relaxed and started swaying his body to the rhythm of the music.

To their astonishment, an older woman pulled out a handful of loose change from her pocket—one-cent, two-cent, and ten-cent coins—and placed them on the stone table beside them with a smile, muttering, "Young man, you dance so well! Buy some water! It's so hot!"

Immediately afterward, several more passersby added money, and the loose change on the stone table quickly piled up into a small heap, colorful and glistening like a small mountain. Liu Xiang and Han Geng exchanged bewildered glances, both seeing a mixture of amusement and exasperation in each other's eyes—they had only come to practice their dancing, how had they ended up as street performers?

Just as Liu Xiang was about to stop and explain, Han Geng grabbed his arm and blinked, "Don't stop! Brother Liu Xiang, let's finish dancing first! We're already being treated like street performers anyway!"

Liu Xiang smiled helplessly and continued dancing with Han Geng.

Just as the two were dancing happily, a discordant sound of footsteps approached. The footsteps were heavy, carrying a sleazy arrogance, and several thugs wearing floral cotton-padded jackets and sporting blond hair swaggered over.

Huang Mao glanced sideways at the money on the stone table, then looked at Liu Xiang and Han Geng.

He called out sarcastically, "Hey! Two little brats, you're pretty good at making money! Do you even know whose territory this is?"

Han Geng, startled, hid behind Liu Xiang, her small hands clutching Liu Xiang's clothes tightly, a hint of fear flashing in her eyes. Liu Xiang, however, took a step forward, her brows furrowing, her gaze turning cold. He hated nothing more than these thugs who bullied the weak, especially since he still hadn't paid off his four hundred debts of beating people up from the system; this was practically a free lunch.

"What do you want?" Liu Xiang asked coldly, her voice not loud, but carrying a sense of intimidation.

The blond-haired man kicked the stone table with his foot. With a loud crash, the loose change on the stone table was scattered all over the ground, and a few coins rolled into the grass by the roadside.

The blond-haired man sneered, "What? Pay protection money! This park is our territory. If you want to make money here, you'd better pay us! Be smart and hand over all your money, or don't blame us for being impolite!"

Several thugs behind him joined in the commotion, their iron bars clanging loudly: "Hand over the money! Or we'll beat you to a pulp!"

The elderly onlookers were so frightened that they all backed away, angry but not daring to speak. One old man wanted to step forward and say something, but the old woman next to him pulled his arm and shook her head. The old man could only sigh and remain silent.

Liu Xiang laughed, a cold smile curving his lips. He cracked his knuckles as he cracked his knuckles, his eyes icy: "Want money? Let's see if you have the ability!"

The blond-haired guy was furious that this kid dared to talk back. He stomped on the boy and roared, "You little brat! You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences! Cripple them!"

Several thugs rushed forward, yelling, and swung their iron bars with a whooshing sound, aiming to smash it down on Liu Xiang's head.

Liu Xiang took a deep breath, slightly shifted his body to the side, and dodged the oncoming iron bar, which grazed his shoulder. Liu Xiang then retaliated with a powerful punch, slamming it into the stomach of the first thug. The punch carried the force of martial arts, and the thug doubled over in pain, like a boiled shrimp, unable to straighten up for a long time, groaning and complaining of the pain.

Another thug lunged at Liu Xiang from the side, holding a broken beer bottle, intending to slash at her arm. Liu Xiang raised her leg and kicked him in the knee with her toe. With a soft "crack," the thug screamed in pain, clutching his knee and crouching on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

Seeing Liu Xiang's skills, Han Geng mustered his courage. Although he was young, he had learned a few martial arts moves from Liu Xiang, and the flexibility and coordination he had developed from dancing made him very agile. He saw a thug circle around behind Liu Xiang, intending to launch a sneak attack. Immediately, he ducked down and pounced like a little leopard, kicking the thug in the back of the knee.

The kid lost his balance and fell flat on his face with a "thud".

He slammed his chin on the stone table, drawing blood and causing him to howl in pain.

Liu Xiang's movements were powerful and forceful, each move aimed at defeating the enemy, specifically targeting their weaknesses; Han Geng's movements were agile and nimble, like an eel weaving through the thugs, specializing in sneak attacks, and the two cooperated remarkably well.

Yellow Hair watched as his men were knocked to the ground one by one, their faces bruised and swollen, groaning in pain. Enraged, he pulled a switchblade from his waist, flicked it open with a "whoosh," and glared fiercely at Liu Xiang: "Kid! I'll fight you to the death!"

As he spoke, he charged at Liu Xiang with his switchblade raised, the blade gleaming coldly, causing the elderly people around to gasp in surprise.

Liu Xiang's eyes narrowed, and he cursed inwardly, "Looking for death." He waited for the blond-haired man to rush over, then crouched down slightly, and then suddenly leaped into the air, delivering a powerful side kick to the blond-haired man's wrist.

With a "crack," the blond-haired man's wrist was kicked and twisted, the switchblade clattering to the ground. He screamed in pain, clutching his wrist and crouching on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face, crying out, "It hurts so much! My hand! My hand is broken!"

The remaining thugs looked at Liu Xiang and Han Geng, trembling with fear, and dared not approach them again.

They all hunched their necks, trying to sneak away.

Liu Xiang snorted coldly, her voice as cold as ice: "Trying to run?"

The thugs were so scared their legs went weak, and they stood there, too terrified to move, their faces showing the most cowardly expressions imaginable.

Liu Xiang walked up to the blond-haired man, looking down at him with disdain in her eyes: "Still dare to collect protection money?"

Yellow Hair shook his head frantically, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, and said, "I won't do it again! I won't do it again! Big Brother, I was wrong! I'll never do it again! Please let me go!"

Liu Xiang snorted coldly and kicked his butt: "Get lost! Don't let me see you hanging around here again! If I see you again, I'll break your legs!" The blond-haired man felt like he had been granted a pardon and quickly got up. He didn't care about the pain and led his men away in a sorry state. He almost tripped and fell while running, which made the old men and women watching laugh.

A thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the crowd. The elderly woman who had given him the money gave him a thumbs-up, beaming from ear to ear: "Young man, well done! You've rid the people of a scourge! You're truly amazing!"

Liu Xiang smiled and waved her hand, then bent down to pick up the loose change on the ground, collected it all, and stuffed it into Han Geng's hand.

"Here, all of this is for you." Liu Xiang patted his shoulder. Han Geng was stunned for a moment, looking at the change in his hand, then at Liu Xiang, and whispered, "Brother Liu Xiang, this is what we earned together..."

"Listen to me," Liu Xiang said, gently stroking his hair with a warm smile. "Your mother is waiting for your money to improve her life." The boy looked at the money in his hand, his eyes reddening again. He choked out, "Thank you, Brother Liu Xiang!" Liu Xiang waved with a smile, took out two yuan from his pocket, and pulled Han Geng toward the convenience store at the park entrance. "Don't be so polite with me. I'll treat you to some sunflower seeds! The really fragrant kind."

On a stone bench in the park, two people were cracking sunflower seeds, making a crisp sound.