Fists can't cross Tianjin

Chapter 8 Driving Skills

"Master, please slow down, my legs aren't very strong."

An elderly woman in her sixties was sitting on the bus, carrying a vegetable basket filled with cabbages and radishes she had just bought from the market.

"Please sit tight."

Chen Zhuo pedaled his tricycle along the road beside the Haihe River.

This is the third job I've taken today.

The old lady needed to go from Nanshi to her relatives' house near Beiyang Bridge and needed two cents for the fare. The journey was a bit long, but as long as she was careful and avoided areas with many watchful eyes, it shouldn't be a problem.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.

The square along the Haihe River was packed with people.

If you didn't know better, you'd think some high-ranking leader was coming to inspect.

Chen Zhuo frowned.

This road is the only way to Beiyang Bridge; taking a detour would add half an hour to the journey.

"Master, what's going on?" The old lady craned her neck to look ahead.

"Qigong performance".

"Wow, qigong! I'll have to check it out!"

The old lady became interested. "I've heard that those masters can cure illnesses remotely!"

Chen Zhuo ignored her antics and instead lowered the brim of his hat: "You sit tight, I'll squeeze through."

He pushed the cart carefully toward the edge of the crowd.

Once inside, I saw an empty space in the middle.

A middle-aged man wearing a Zhongshan suit and with his hair slicked back stood there, his hands behind his back, with an inscrutable expression.

A red banner hung behind him: "Human Life Science Conference - Live Demonstration of Special Abilities".

The loudspeakers next to us were blasting rousing marches that made our eardrums buzz.

"Everyone, watch carefully!"

A host wearing a red armband shouted through a megaphone, "Master Wang will next demonstrate 'External Qi Emission'! This is using one's own powerful biomagnetic field to defeat opponents from a distance! This is science! It's the development of human potential! Who wants to come up and try it?"

"I!"

The crowd below craned their necks, their eyes filled with fervent devotion, as if they had seen a living deity.

"I'll give it a try!"

"I'll do it!"

Several people eagerly raised their hands, some even blushing with excitement.

The crowd below erupted in cheers, their hands waving like a forest.

Chen Zhuo rode his tricycle, trying to pass through the crowd from the outside.

I glanced over there and saw that Master Wang had already chosen a strong young man to come up in the arena.

The two stood one meter apart.

Master Wang took a deep breath, pushed his hands forward forcefully, and shouted, "Ha!"

The burly young man trembled violently as if he had been struck by a high-voltage electric shock, then let out a scream and fell straight backward.

"Whoosh—!"

The audience erupted in applause.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

"This is qigong! It's amazing!"

Chen Zhuo squinted, his gaze falling on Master Wang's feet.

leather shoes.

They look quite new, but the soles are abnormally thick.

"I see."

Chen Zhuo understood.

There were probably several high-energy batteries sandwiched inside the thick sole.

In Master Wang's palm, there was also a thin conductive sheet, as thin as a cicada's wing, which connected to the sole of his foot via a hidden thread in his sleeve.

That push just now was actually a way of secretly turning on the electricity.

"Jianghu tricks"

Chen Zhu sneered inwardly.

This is the current state of the "martial arts world." Those with genuine skills practiced to the point of near death are left with only half-dead bodies, while these deceptive tricks gain widespread acceptance and are revered by thousands.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out on the outskirts of the crowd.

"Get out of my way! All of you, get the hell out of my way!"

Several young men wearing military overcoats and sunglasses were rudely pushing their way in.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! They're catching homeless people on the street! Everyone move aside!"

They shouted out high-sounding reasons while staring fiercely at each of the tricycle drivers.

One of them was the thug whose teeth had been knocked out by Chen Zhuo in the alley that day.

He spotted Chen Zhuo hiding in the shadows at a glance.

Although Chen Zhuo lowered his hat, he would recognize his figure and that dilapidated tricycle even if they were reduced to ashes.

"There he is! It's him!"

The thug pointed at Chen Zhuo and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hey! You tricycle! Stop right there!"

"Hold!"

Chen Zhu cursed under his breath.

They were discovered after all.

His eyes turned cold, and he stomped his foot, speaking apologetically to the old lady behind him.

"Hold on tight!"

The dilapidated tricycle suddenly seemed to come alive, weaving left and right through the crowded throng before crashing onto the curb.

"Ouch! Slow down, driver!"

The old lady on the bus screamed in fright and clung tightly to the edge of the bus.

Chen Zhuo didn't have time to explain.

Behind them, seven or eight thugs rushed out of the crowd, carrying bricks and steel pipes, and chased after them while yelling.

Chen Zhuo used his legs alternately to exert force, each step perfectly timed. The car weaved through the crowd, fast as an eel, yet as stable as gliding on flat ground.

"Ouch!"

"Make way! Make way!"

The crowd gasped and made way.

The old lady on the bus screamed in fright, but strangely, although the bus was going fast, it didn't bump at all. Not a single cabbage or radish fell out of the basket.

"This...this person is a trained martial artist!"

An old man in the crowd with sharp eyes saw through the trick.

The thugs chased after them, but were completely blocked by the crowd.

"Get out of the way! All of you, get the fuck out of the way!"

"We're arresting someone! Get the hell out of the way!"

"Don't let him get away!"

Chen Zhuo ignored the shouts behind him.

The force from his feet traveled along the frame of the tricycle, making the entire vehicle seem to merge with him. This is the integrated power of Xingyi Quan, not brute force, but skillful power.

At this moment, two cement blocks suddenly appeared at the intersection ahead. They were roadblocks used to stop motor vehicles, with an extremely narrow gap between them, making it impossible for ordinary tricycles to pass through.

If you stop and push it, the people behind can catch up immediately.

"It's over!" The old lady closed her eyes in fright and hugged the basket of winter-stored cabbages tightly.

Chen Zhuo didn't stop.

Not only did it not stop, it accelerated suddenly.

Just as the wheel was about to hit the concrete block, he suddenly slumped to the left and yanked the handlebars to the right.

"rise!"

He mentally shouted.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

That bulky tricycle was like a circus vehicle, with its left wheel raised high and only the right wheel touching the ground, making the whole vehicle stand upright on its side!

Whoosh!

The tricycle, standing on its side like a thin blade, narrowly passed through the gap between the two concrete blocks.

"My God!"

A gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd.

After passing through the roadblock, Chen Zhuo flicked his wrist, and the car landed steadily.

boom.

The wheels touched the ground, and it continued speeding along.

The old woman in the truck bed felt her body sway and then straighten. When she opened her eyes again, the two cement blocks were already behind her. Not a single cabbage had fallen out of the basket.

"That's real skill!"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

"That 'Master Wang' from before is nothing! This rickshaw driver is the real master!"

"Did you see that? There are people sitting in the car! And it can even fly!"

"That takes a lot of strength!"

Taking advantage of the chaos, Chen Zhuo made a sharp turn and disappeared into the alley opposite.

"This works?!"

The thugs chasing after him were dumbfounded, completely blocked by the crowd, and could only watch helplessly as he disappeared into the depths of the alley.

……

Twenty minutes later.

A quiet street near Beiyang Bridge.

"call……"

Chen Zhuo stopped the car, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

"Auntie, we've arrived."

He turned around, slightly out of breath, but his expression remained calm.

"Oh my goodness..."

The old lady slowly got off the bike, holding onto the handlebars. Her legs were still a little weak, but her eyes were full of amazement. "Sir, you...you must have been trained, right? I've lived for over sixty years, and this is the first time I've ever ridden in such a 'thrilling' vehicle!"

"I'm sorry you had to go through that ordeal while trying to avoid those thugs."

Chen Zhuo didn't explain, but simply took the basket of cabbages and radishes off the handlebars and handed it to the old lady.

"Don't mention it! If you hadn't run so fast, my old bones might have been knocked down by those people."

The old lady's hands trembled as she pulled a handkerchief pouch from her pocket, unfolded it layer by layer, counted out two mao (0.2 yuan), thought for a moment, and then took out an extra mao.

"Sir, here's the fare. Please take this penny to buy some water; you really put in a lot of effort just now."

Chen Zhuo only took the two cents.

"If it's agreed to be two cents, it's two cents. The rules can't be broken."

After saying that, he put the money in his pocket, and without waiting for the old lady to persuade him again, he pushed the cart and turned to leave.

The old woman stood there, watching the thin figure disappear around the street corner, muttering to herself, "That's real skill..."

……