Volume 1, Chapter 54: This College Student is Really Reckless

To be surrounded by unlicensed taxi drivers right after the semester starts—it has to be said that Zhao Zhengzhong certainly possessed a rather impressive flair for trouble.

Li Yan drove his car to the roadside of the Western Passenger Transport Station and stopped. He turned to Shu Qin and said, "Look, Shu Qin, a classmate of mine is in some trouble. Why don't you get out of the car here? In case things get complicated, it might drag you down with us."

Shu Qin was just a young girl; if anything genuinely dangerous happened, Li Yan would find it difficult to explain himself.

Shu Qin had heard the conversation between Li Yan and Zhao Zhengzhong just now. Instead of showing any sign of fear, her eyes flashed with determination as she said, "I'll go with you. You might not be familiar with the situation regarding these unlicensed taxi drivers in Yuncheng; they are completely unreasonable. Two heads are better than one, and if anything happens, I can help call the police. Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

Li Yan had not expected Shu Qin to choose to face the problem with him at a time like this. It exceeded his expectations, and deep down, he raised his evaluation of this former junior high school classmate.

"Very well. If any trouble breaks out later, just help us call the police. But remember not to rush to the front, so you don't get hurt."

Shu Qin nodded and said, "Mm, I know."

Given the nature of the unlicensed taxi drivers in Yuncheng—or indeed across the entire country—how could Li Yan not understand how complex and troublesome they were?

Especially the group of unlicensed taxi drivers in Yuncheng; most of them hailed from the exact same place: Zhenxiong County in Wumeng City.

They were a massive scourge in Yuncheng, universally detested and deserving of eradication.

Li Yan only hoped that the unlicensed taxi drivers surrounding Zhao Zhengzhong were not from that county; otherwise, things would get troublesome.

Because that group was hardly any different from organized crime.

Parking the car by the roadside, the sounds of a noisy dispute reached them from afar.

"Return our luggage! What are you people trying to do? Is this a robbery?"

"Young man, you asked us about the prices for ages, and now that we've already helped carry your luggage over, you're suddenly saying you won't take the ride? How can you do that? Do you think this makes any sense?"

"Did I ask you to carry my luggage? The moment I walked out of the station, you just grabbed my things. This is outright theft!"

Hearing the commotion, Li Yan slowly walked over to the scene.

Whoa~

A few tall, burly middle-aged men had surrounded four students—three boys and one girl.

Zhao Zhengzhong was prominently among them.

At this moment, Zhao Zhengzhong was arguing with a middle-aged brute, his face red and his neck veins bulging.

Yet it was painfully obvious that this middle-aged brute had Zhao Zhengzhong and his companions completely pegged and didn't take them seriously in the least.

A few out-of-town students—what capability could they possibly have? Fleece them if you can.

Right now was the prime season for them to rip off passengers and make a fortune; these students always provided a handsome income.

"Young man, we've been hauling your luggage for so long. If you aren't going to take the car, that's fine—just pay us three hundred yuan for the labor. Otherwise, this simply won't stand." The middle-aged man spoke in a thick Zhenxiong County accent, demanding three hundred yuan in fees right off the bat.

Hearing this, Zhao Zhengzhong grew even more furious.

"What? You snatched the suitcases right out of our hands, and now you want to charge us? Three hundred yuan? You might as well just rob us."

The middle-aged brute gave a disdainful laugh and said, "Well, we carried them anyway, and everyone here saw it—they can serve as witnesses. Calling the police won't do you any good. Today, either you get in the car and I'll charge you one hundred yuan per person to take you to your destination, or you hand over three hundred yuan for our trouble. How about it?"

The girl standing nearby was so anxious she was close to tears, because it was her suitcase that had been snatched.

Right now, Zhao Zhengzhong was stepping up to retrieve her luggage for her.

She had arrived in Yuncheng full of anticipation to start college, only to be taught a harsh lesson the moment she stepped out of the transport station.

She made a move to take out her wallet, prepared to pay the three hundred yuan to avert disaster and resolve the crisis.

Seeing the girl's action, several of the unlicensed drivers exchanged glances.

Three hundred yuan was about to be in the bag.

Li Yan recognized this girl; she was Zhang Xiaoyan from the next class over.

He stepped forward, shielding Zhang Xiaoyan behind him and blocking the greedy gazes of these unlicensed drivers.

From the conversation just now, he had roughly pieced together what happened.

The sequence of events was likely that Zhao Zhengzhong and his friends had just stepped out of the transport station when they were targeted by these unlicensed drivers.

Because the group had arranged to come to school together and had no parents accompanying them.

So the moment they walked out, those unlicensed drivers walked right up to them, starting with smiles as they asked if they needed a ride, and then offering to help carry their suitcases.

These naive students who had never traveled far from home knew nothing of the world's cruelty.

They must have honestly said "thank you" and handed their suitcases right over.

And then things progressed to this exact stage.

"Put your wallet away. Don't flash your wealth in public," Li Yan gently instructed Zhang Xiaoyan.

Seeing that Li Yan had arrived, Zhao Zhengzhong felt an immediate wave of relief.

This bunch of unlicensed drivers clearly looked like trouble; if a physical fight broke out, he and his friends would be the ones to suffer.

But Li Yan was different. He had witnessed Li Yan's combat record with his own eyes—taking down a whole gang of thugs single-handedly without even a speck of dust on his clothes.

"Li Yan, they're the ones who snatched our luggage and now they're demanding three hundred yuan for moving fees!" With his confidence restored, Zhao Zhengzhong pointed directly at the middle-aged brute who had seized the bags.

Li Yan nodded and said, "Mm, I know."

Seeing another male and female student arrive, the middle-aged brute paid them no mind at all.

To his surprise, Li Yan whipped out his phone, opened the camera to record a video, and rapidly snapped several photos.

That still wasn't the end of it. Without a word, Li Yan walked right up to the front of their van and took a picture of the license plate as well.

Seeing this, the middle-aged brute grew somewhat anxious.

Logically speaking, shouldn't these students be stupidly standing there arguing with them?

Yet unreasonableness was the very essence of Zhenxiong people, especially when dealing with outsiders—no one could ever win an argument against them.

" brat, what are you doing? Delete those photos right now!" The leader among them rushed forward, attempting to snatch Li Yan's phone.

"Get lost!" Li Yan barked, glaring coldly at the man.

The man was momentarily stunned by Li Yan's sharp reprimand.

However, he quickly grew embarrassed and angry, lunging directly to grab Li Yan.

Li Yan was not about to coddle them.

He reached out, grabbed the man's outstretched wrist, and squeezed hard.

Just how strong was his physique after the five-in-one fusion? Extremely strong.

He wasn't afraid of these men starting a physical fight; dealing with them would take all of two minutes.

It was simply because there were too many people around that it wasn't convenient for him to do so.

That was why he chose to gather photographic evidence first, intending to intimidate this group afterward.

In his past life, he had also suffered losses at the hands of people from Zhenxiong County, leaving him with zero favorable impression of them. Frankly, he really wanted to give this mob a proper beating.

Under Li Yan's grip, the man shrieked in pain.

He hadn't expected this student to possess such terrifying strength.

Seeing this, the other men nearby rolled up their sleeves and prepared to intervene.

Li Yan gave the man a fierce yank, sending him crashing to the ground, then pinned the man's arm around his neck, pressing him tightly against the pavement so he couldn't move.

Pointing at the approaching men with his free hand, he shouted loudly, "All of you, behave yourselves! Do you believe I'll cripple this guy right now? Zhao Zhengzhong, call the police, ignore them!"

Zhao Zhengzhong and the other students were completely dumbfounded.

Was Li Yan really this reckless?

He just slammed a guy right onto the ground like that.

Seeing that Zhao Zhengzhong was still standing there in a daze, Li Yan had no choice but to shout loudly at Shu Qin, "Shu Qin, call the police."

"Oh, oh! Right." Shu Qin was also completely bewildered by Li Yan's sequence of actions.

She had to admit, Li Yan in this exact minute was both reckless and fiercely cool.

She hurriedly took out her phone, getting ready to dial.

The remaining men panicked instantly and rushed forward to snatch her phone.

Because they had finally figured out that Li Yan had just captured their faces, license plates, and everything else on camera.

If the authorities really showed up, they would be completely in the wrong.

Li Yan roared, his voice freezing the entire scene in place: "Try grabbing that and see what happens!"

The men paused, and immediately after, they heard their companion emit a miserable, agonized wail.

"Ah, it hurts, it hurts! Let me go, let me go!"

The group hesitated instantly.

At that moment, Li Yan spoke up: "Today, either we call the police—I have a photo of every single one of you right here—or you return the luggage immediately, and we can still talk this over. Don't even think about getting physical; if any of you dare make a move, I'll cripple him."

He applied a bit more force, causing the man pinned to the ground to howl even louder.

Was this really a college student? Why did he act just like a seasoned gang boss, recklessly terrifying to this degree?

It completely defied all their expectations.