Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 37 The Protector of Flowers

The lake water was cooler than I had imagined.

Wu Zhiyuan was an excellent swimmer and swam to the girl in no time.

The girl was somewhat disoriented. When she sensed someone approaching, she instinctively reached out and grabbed wildly.

Wu Zhiyuan was prepared. He nimbly dodged her grab and quickly circled behind her. He wrapped one arm around her waist from behind, letting her head break the surface of the water, and used his other hand to paddle, swimming vigorously towards the shore.

The entire process was clean and efficient, demonstrating his excellent swimming skills and adept rescue techniques.

People on the shore were filming videos with their mobile phones.

The girl was unconscious and her lips were purple after she was brought ashore; her condition was not optimistic.

"Let me see! I've learned first aid!" Liu Qingqing quickly stepped forward, knelt down beside the girl, quickly checked the situation, and then began CPR and artificial respiration without hesitation.

Wu Zhiyuan had actually studied CPR and artificial respiration in college, but since the drowning victim was a girl, physical contact was inevitable if he were to perform first aid.

Once posted online, it's possible that a few online trolls will spread nonsense.

Of course, in an emergency, if Liu Qingqing doesn't take action, he will.

Liu Qingqing behaved very professionally.

With her persistent efforts, the girl coughed a few times, spat out some water, and slowly opened her eyes.

"She's awake! She's awake!" Cheers erupted from the crowd.

The old lady hugged her granddaughter and burst into tears, repeatedly thanking Liu Qingqing and Wu Zhiyuan.

At this time, the scenic area's rescue and medical personnel also arrived and took over the follow-up work.

Liu Qingqing finally breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, her forehead covered with fine beads of sweat.

Xu Yunxi handed Liu Qingqing a wet wipe: "Aunt Qingqing, wipe your face."

She then handed Wu Zhiyuan a wet wipe.

Wu Zhiyuan thanked him, went to the restroom, took off his wet underwear, and put on only trousers and a shirt.

The three continued their sightseeing.

Xu Yunxi suddenly became more talkative, taking the initiative to speak to Wu Zhiyuan: "You're a very good swimmer."

Wu Zhiyuan laughed and said, "There is a river in my hometown. I grew up by the river. You could say I was raised in the water."

Xu Yunxi suddenly said, "You took off your clothes pretty quickly just now."

Wu Zhiyuan chuckled; Xu Yunxi's focus was quite peculiar.

He said somewhat embarrassedly, "The situation was urgent, and I couldn't think about anything else. Wearing wet clothes also made it difficult to move around."

Xu Yunxi murmured to herself, "This summer, I plan to learn to swim."

Liu Qingqing chimed in, "Yunxi, I can't swim either. Let's sign up for swimming lessons together."

Xu Yunxi pouted: "Isn't there a ready-made coach?"

Wu Zhiyuan laughed and said, "Yunxi, you overestimate me. My skills are only good for swimming around on my own, but I'm not qualified to be a coach. Don't mislead other students."

Learning to swim is safer and more systematic with a professional coach.

Xu Yunxi didn't say anything more.

At noon, Wu Zhiyuan found a local restaurant on the island, whose signature dish was hot pot with wild small fish from Qinglong Lake.

"Wow, it smells so good!" Liu Qingqing couldn't help but exclaim, picking up a spoon to scoop a small bowl for Xu Yunxi, then one for Wu Zhiyuan and herself. "It looks so appetizing, try some!"

Wu Zhiyuan explained, "This small fish hot pot is a specialty of the Qinglong Lake area."

They use wild miscellaneous fish caught fresh from the lake. Although they are small, they are extremely delicious. Because they grow slowly, their flesh is firm and they are also rich in nutrients.

Stewing the fish in a large pot over a wood-fired stove preserves its original flavor to the greatest extent possible.

The broth bursts with rich and savory flavor upon tasting, with no earthy taste whatsoever, only a refreshing sweetness from the lake.

After lunch, the three of them rested on wooden chairs by the lake.

Xu Yunxi suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Aunt Qingqing, and Brother Wu, your story of saving people has gone online and even made it to the local trending topics!"

Wu Zhiyuan and Liu Qingqing went over at the same time.

Sure enough, the second most searched topic was: Tourists bravely rescue a drowning girl at Qinglong Lake.

Click on the entry, and you'll find multiple videos shot from different angles.

The video clearly records the entire process of Wu Zhiyuan calmly taking off his clothes, decisively entering the water, skillfully performing the rescue, and Liu Qingqing kneeling down to provide professional first aid.

The video caption reads: "I witnessed a thrilling yet heartwarming scene at Qinglong Lake today. Thumbs up to these two brave men and women! May good people live long and prosper!"

In just over an hour, it had already received over 10,000 likes and thousands of comments.

The comments were almost unanimously positive:

"He's a true hero! He jumped without hesitation!"

"This young lady is beautiful inside and out, and her first aid skills are extremely professional! She saved the baby in those crucial four minutes!"

"This young man has a great physique and is so handsome! I'm in love!"

"The moment I saw the girl wake up, tears welled up in my eyes!"

"This is real positive energy! We must like and share!"

Liu Qingqing laughed: "Oh, someone actually took a picture and posted it online. Now we're 'internet celebrities'!"

In the afternoon, Wu Zhiyuan drove Liu Qingqing and Xu Yunxi to a relatively quiet but culturally rich art district on the outskirts of the city.

This place was converted from an old factory and now houses many galleries, craft workshops and bookstores. It's quiet and peaceful with few tourists.

The three strolled along the tree-lined path between the red brick walls, admiring the graffiti on the walls and the artwork in the shop windows, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

As they turned into a relatively quiet alley, four flashy-dressed young men with blond hair swaggered towards them, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, their faces flushed, and reeking of alcohol.

As they passed each other, a tall, burly man with blond hair caught sight of Liu Qingqing and Xu Yunxi. His eyes widened, he whistled, and said to his companion in a flippant tone, "Hey! Look, buddy! Those two girls are fucking hot! Hotter than movie stars!"

The other three blond-haired men also stopped, their eyes sweeping over Liu Qingqing and Xu Yunxi with undisguised ill intent.

Liu Qingqing frowned, took Xu Yunxi's hand, and whispered, "Yunxi, let's hurry up."

A hint of disgust and nervousness flashed across Xu Yunxi's face, and she subconsciously moved closer to Wu Zhiyuan.

Wu Zhiyuan immediately stepped forward, shielding Liu Qingqing and Xu Yunxi behind him, and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, please have some self-respect and make way for me."

"Oh ho? A chivalrous protector too?" The tall, blond-haired man sneered, stepping forward almost touching Wu Zhiyuan. His breath reeking of alcohol, he said, "Kid, get out of the way! We just want to make friends with these two beauties and chat. What's it to you?"

Another short, chubby man with blond hair came over and reached out to grab Liu Qingqing's arm: "Hey beautiful, don't be scared, let's have some fun..."

Wu Zhiyuan's eyes sharpened. Just as the fat man's hand was about to touch Liu Qingqing, his right hand shot out like lightning, precisely grabbing the man's wrist and twisting and pressing it down.

Ouch!

The fat man screamed in pain, wincing as Wu Zhiyuan easily subdued him, rendering him unable to move.

"Damn it! You dare to lay a hand on me? You're asking for trouble!" The tall, blond-haired man cursed and threw a punch at Wu Zhiyuan's face.

The other two blond-haired men pounced on him from the left and right.

Wu Zhiyuan dodged the punch head-on by sidestepping, his strike as swift as lightning, defeating his opponent in one move without any hesitation.

A straight punch landed on the tall, blond-haired man's stomach, and he immediately bent over and fell to the ground like a shrimp.

Immediately following was a sharp low sweeping kick that struck the back of the other person's supporting leg, causing that person to scream and fall to their knees.

The third blond-haired man pounced from the side, and Wu Zhiyuan took the opportunity to throw him over his shoulder, slamming him heavily onto the bluestone slab.

The whole process took only a minute or two, and was quick and efficient.

Seeing that things were going badly, the three blond-haired men stumbled and ran away.

Wu Zhiyuan captured one, but considering that protecting Liu Qingqing and Xu Yunxi was the priority, he did not pursue them.

Liu Qingqing had called the police earlier, and soon after, two police cars arrived with sirens blaring.

Five or six policemen got out of the car.

The leader of the team was none other than Lin Keke, the dashing deputy head of the Public Security Bureau's Public Security Detachment!