Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Good Deeds Come in Pairs

“That woman didn’t hesitate to confront the charging horse, not afraid to sacrifice herself, while you, a grown man, got so scared you abandoned your bike and ran away… If it were me, I’d be running for cover holding my face. Yet here you are still bragging away, tsk, tsk, you’ve really got thick skin!”

“Didn’t you hear him say it was a newly purchased bike, cost over a hundred bucks!”

“This bike of his, it’s been ridden for at least five years, right? Over a hundred? If someone buys it for eighty bucks, they’re blind.”

“More like over five years, at least ten. The bike bell is gone, the pedals have been replaced. And that chain, it doesn’t take long before it comes off again, right?”

Upon hearing this detailed analysis, people around glanced at him, and someone recognized him and called out: “Hey, isn’t this Master Li from the bike repair shop upfront? Master Li has been fixing bikes for twenty years; if he says ten years, it must be no less…”

The crowd engaged in a heated discussion, erupting in laughter.

The bicycle owner was criticized by everyone, his face turning red and white, unable to bear staying any longer. He pushed his bicycle, lowered his head, squeezed through the crowd, and left in a hurry.

Faster than Ling Chengyan and Li Haiyang!

Seeing this, the two didn’t need to worry about the cyclist anymore, waved goodbye, and squeezed out of the crowd toward the department store entrance.

After such a delay, it was already the agreed meeting time Li Haiyang mentioned, so they decided to meet up and head back to the guest house together.

Coincidentally, just as they approached the department store entrance, they saw a young man rushing out, almost bumping into Ling Chengyan and Li Haiyang in his haste, staggering a bit, and without even apologizing, he fled.

Li Haiyang muttered, “That guy…”

Ling Chengyan frowned slightly.

Just then, someone inside shouted, “Catch the thief, stop that thief!”

Upon hearing the shout, Li Haiyang took off after the young man, only to find someone rapidly passing him to chase the thief. In a few strides, with a flying kick, the thief was knocked to the ground.

Security personnel, just having finished dealing with the horse incident, quickly responded to the shout and ran over, fortunately witnessing the woman who had heroically stopped the charging horse earlier, kicking the thief down, and laughed, “Comrade, it’s you again? You really deserve praise, setting a good example for everyone to follow.”

Ling Chengyan waved her hand and turned to leave, only to find Li Haiyang looking a bit helpless and a few others approaching, surprisingly participants from Fucheng County.

The one who had been in the lead was none other than Fujiao Team’s sharpshooter Zheng Hongwei, panting heavily, unable to speak, only giving Ling Chengyan a thumbs-up, “Impressive, I’m truly convinced!”

Ling Chengyan chuckled, patting him, “With your stamina… shooting’s the best you can manage.”

“Hey, you…why are you hitting home like that?!” protested Zheng Hongwei.

Security personnel already extracted several wallets, along with some loose cash and tickets from the thief’s pocket, asking Zheng Hongwei and others, “Comrades, see if any of these are yours?”

Zheng Hongwei awkwardly stepped forward, pointing to a bundle wrapped in an embroidered handkerchief, “Five bucks, four feet of cloth tickets.”

“Whoa, this handkerchief is quite bright, your bride-to-be embroidered it, right?!” teased those behind him.

Zheng Hongwei tried to look stern, but his mouth couldn’t resist smiling, cursed, “Get lost, get lost, get lost!”

Encountering two incidents in quick succession, Zheng Hongwei collected his stolen wallet, and the group returned to the guest house, no longer daring to wander the streets.

Li Haiyang saw them off to the guest house, then hastily returned to the competition venue, not just for the matches but also because of Comrade Ling Chengyan’s two heroic acts—ideal examples for setting a model standard.

Furthermore, it was an opportunity to embarrass Deputy Director Qian and Personnel Section Chief Hou Zhengfeng—really like a pillow delivered when drowsy, even heaven favored Team Zhang!

On the other side, security wrote down Li Haiyang’s workplace unit and remembered Ling Chengyan’s name. They went back to the booth, handcuffed the unfortunate thief to the railing outside, then went inside and called the office.

Such successive acts of bravery, performed by a female comrade participating as a militia representative in a regional competition, were rare indeed. It coincided perfectly with their plan for a ’Promote Role Models and New Trends’ campaign—today’s fine exemplars were practically delivered on a silver platter!

Unaware of their plans, Ling Chengyan arrived at the guest house, where four male militia members shared a room while she had one to herself.

The room had a thermos flask for fetching hot water from the boiler room.

Her journey on a bumpy truck in the morning left her dusty and travel-worn.

Having lived in tents at the border in her past life, she wasn’t delicate and could withstand hardship, but if conditions allowed, she preferred cleanliness.

After a quick wash, Ling Chengyan lay down fully clothed on the bed and slept.

The ability to sleep and recover strength anytime, anyplace was a skill honed during her military years, enabling her to take short naps and swiftly restore her energy and stamina even between intense battles.

She slept well until Li Haiyang came over to call the group for a meal, rousing Ling Chengyan, who quickly washed her face with cold water, regained her composure, shouldered her bag, and headed out.

The regional canteen offered better meals than the county, having meat and fish for lunch.

Ling Chengyan noticed the small menu board read: Red Braised Pork, three cents and five per portion; Braised Carp, two cents and five, accompanied by two vegetable side dishes: spinach with shrimps and spinach egg drop soup, each costing one cent and five.

“Wow, Red Braised Pork costs only three cents and five—is that enough, though?” a participant from the county remarked, eyeing the lineup of militia members.

Ling Chengyan was in charge of serving dishes, while Li Huaihua queued at another station for buns.

Earlier, she’d heard the competition results from Li Haiyang; Li Huaihua hadn’t made the finals, while Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun did, though only Zhang Wanxiang placed third.

Additionally, throughout the morning, only three from Fucheng County reached the finals, with Zhang Wanxiang placing third.

Li Haiyang shared this with a laugh, saying, “The team leader mentioned our ace will shine in the afternoon’s shooting contest.”

Several gazes were cast in their direction, though Ling Chengyan astutely realized those eyes were all fixed on the sharpshooter Zheng Hongwei behind her.

With keen hearing, Ling Chengyan overheard whispers from members of other counties discussing Zheng Hongwei, after all, a two-time champion and renowned marksman indeed drew attention.

Dining at the regional canteen twice, Li Haiyang’s ration and meal tickets were generous, so Ling Chengyan didn’t hold back, getting a portion of Red Braised Pork and Spinach Egg Drop Soup.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep