At that very moment, the thug whom Chen Zheng had been holding all this time struggled to plead for mercy.

"Brother… Brother, I can't take it anymore! Please, let me go! I'll never do it again, I swear I'll be a good person from now on!"

Chen Zheng couldn't be bothered to waste words on him. This type of person was just scum who forgot the pain the moment his wounds healed. He turned to Liu Qianqian and said, "Qian Qian, call the police!"

"Okay! I'm calling them now!" Liu Qianqian reacted instantly, pulling out her phone to dial.

BANG!

Chen Zheng casually threw the thug to the ground, then sat down and poured himself a drink, sipping it leisurely. At that moment, the System's voice echoed in his mind.

[Congratulations to the Host for completing the selection. Reward: Secret Barbecue Recipe. It has been placed in the Host's room!]

A slight smile touched Chen Zheng's lips. This recipe will come in handy when the food court opens. I wonder… will Haozi's cooking be better, or will this recipe taste even more delicious?

Liu Qianqian had already finished her call. She and Li Xia were now sitting and watching Chen Zheng with curiosity.

"Brother Chen Zheng, have you studied martial arts? I've loved action movies since I was a kid. Can I become your disciple?" Li Xia asked, her entire being buzzing with excitement.

Chen Zheng just shook his head helplessly. "You're a girl. What do you need martial arts for? Your legs and arms will get all brawny!"

"Hehe, but I like it!" Li Xia was quite straightforward. Seeing that Chen Zheng hadn't rejected her outright, she immediately clasped her fists in a formal salute. "From now on, I'll call you Master! Your disciple will treat you just like her own father!"

Hearing this, Liu Qianqian couldn't help but laugh helplessly. "Li Xia, we should be thanking Brother Chen Zheng first. If it weren't for him, we would have been done for today!"

Li Xia said breezily, "As the saying goes, 'Roar at injustice and strike when it's time to strike!' With Master's skills, he would never let us come to harm!"

Ignoring Li Xia, Liu Qianqian looked at Chen Zheng with a serious expression. "Brother Chen Zheng, I'm so sorry. I meant to treat you to a meal, but I never expected we'd run into this kind of mess!"

Chen Zheng just smiled and waved his hand. "It's nothing. Just think of it as a little interlude in life!"

Liu Qianqian nodded, a feeling of warmth spreading through her; she found Chen Zheng to be incredibly gentle.

Before long, the police arrived. Coincidentally, Li Yitong was once again leading the team.

"Whoa! Chen Zheng, you again!" As soon as Li Yitong saw him, her eyes widened in shock. "Do you have nothing better to do all day? Do you think you're Batman or something?"

Last time, he caught a murderer who had been on the run for years, and this time, he's taken down a whole group of troublemaking punks! It's hard to believe this isn't intentional!

"I'm the victim here!" Chen Zheng sighed in exasperation.

Li Yitong glanced at the punks sprawled across the floor and gave a helpless laugh. These people must have a screw loose, actually picking a fight with Chen Zheng. He's a martial arts master that even I can't beat! Even without his Tai Chi, his skills are top-tier, on the level of an elite soldier. These guys are truly blind.

"Alright, alright. Same as last time, come back to the station with me to give a statement," Li Yitong said, waving her hand to signal her subordinates to haul the unconscious thugs into the car.

"They can go with you in your car," Chen Zheng said. "I drove my own car here. If I went to the station in your vehicle, I'd have to come back tomorrow to pick it up."

Li Yitong glanced at Chen Zheng, then nodded and left with Liu Qianqian and Li Xia.

Before he left, Chen Zheng found the owner to calculate the shop's damages. He fronted the money to the owner before driving to the police station himself.

The statements were taken quickly, as the incident was uncomplicated—just some thugs attempting a robbery. After reporting the barbecue shop's losses to the police, Chen Zheng left the station with Liu Qianqian and Li Xia, unconcerned about how long the robbers would be sentenced for. He heard from Li Yitong that many of them were habitual offenders who were constantly in and out of prison; a couple of them had been released less than a week ago. After this stunt, they'd be squatting inside for another stretch.

"Chen Zheng, I'm telling you, Batman is just in the movies. You'd better keep a low profile. I really don't want to be the one to lock you up one day!" Li Yitong told him earnestly before he left.

Chen Zheng felt just as helpless. He really wasn't trying to be some kind of vigilante; both times were pure coincidence!

After leaving the police station, Chen Zheng watched Liu Qianqian and Li Xia get into a car before driving home himself.

Meanwhile, Zhao Gao and Li Hao had already returned to the villa. Exhausted after a long day of work, they collapsed onto the sofa the moment they walked in the door.

"Haozi, I was thinking… maybe we should rent a place near the food court. Chen Zheng's place is great, but it's really far…"

"Plus, if Manager Wei comes looking for Chen Zheng, it's not really convenient for us to be here!"

Hearing this, Li Hao nodded vigorously. "That's exactly what I was thinking! Distance aside, Chen Zheng has been so good to us, we have to be considerate of him, too. Let's go look for a rental near the food court in a day or two!"

Just then, Chen Zheng pushed the door open and walked in. "What's this? You guys are going to rent an apartment?"

Seeing him return, Li Hao and Zhao Gao immediately sat up straight and told Chen Zheng what they had been discussing.

Chen Zheng thought for a moment, then agreed. "I didn't realize you two had thought so much about it! But you don't need to rent. I happen to have a spare, fully-furnished, move-in ready apartment right near the food court."

With that, Chen Zheng told Zhao Gao and Li Hao the security code for his property in Tianrui Mansion.

"My god! Brother Zheng, what have you been secretly up to all these years? How do you have properties everywhere? Did you win the lottery every week for a year or something?!" Zhao Gao asked in utter shock.

Chen Zheng couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't want to hide it from you. I was just worried it might create some distance between us. The truth is, I…"

"Alright, we get it!"

"Say no more, Chen Zheng!"

Knowing he was just joking around, Zhao Gao and Li Hao deliberately cut short his boast. Afterwards, they quickly packed their bags and left the villa. To an outsider, it might have looked like they were running off with some unspeakable secret.

However, they had barely stepped out of the villa when Chen Zheng called them back. Once they were inside, Chen Zheng handed them the secret barbecue recipe he had just received before letting them leave for good.

Now alone in the villa, Chen Zheng watched a movie on the couch before getting ready for a shower and bed.

「The next day.」

After freshening up, Chen Zheng grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed out the door.

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