Chapter 72: Wounding with a Blade (Please Continue Reading)

The chill jade delicately set off her skin, and after singing a pure melody that could upend a golden jug, the clouds dispersed and the rain ceased, and the two descended the stairs for a meal.

Ao Xi, shaking his head and swaggering, chose a hotpot restaurant—Little Sheep Inner Mongolia Hotpot. The name alone announced its authenticity.

Zhuo Ning, cheeks puffed in anger, stared at Ao Xi. She had been thoroughly worn out by him.

Grinning, he handed her the menu. "Don't be angry. Order whatever you want."

"I won't order."

"Then I'll order. Let’s start with a portion of pig brain to nourish you."

"Why not nourish yourself!"

"Alright, alright, two portions of pig brain, we’ll both get nourished."

The waiter, resigned, said, "Sir, this is a lamb hotpot restaurant. We don’t have pig brain."

Zhuo Ning couldn’t help laughing and snatched the menu away. "Let’s have a lamb spine hotpot, two plates of lamb, lamb tripe, cabbage, gluten, tofu, bean curd skin, dried bamboo shoots, enoki mushrooms, and a glass of sour plum juice. That’ll do for now. If it’s not enough, we’ll order more."

After the waiter left with the menu, Zhuo Ning glared fiercely at Ao Xi once again.

Grinning, Ao Xi put his arm around her. "Why are you still angry? You clearly enjoyed yourself earlier, even pressed my head..."

Zhuo Ning’s cheeks flushed crimson. She quickly covered Ao Xi’s mouth. "Why do you have to say everything? Why do you have to say everything? You’re shameless!"

"I am shameless." Ao Xi slipped free from her hand, puckering his lips to kiss her.

Zhuo Ning hurriedly dodged. "You haven’t rinsed your mouth, you’re dirty, don’t kiss me."

"Who would dislike themselves for being dirty?"

The two continued their playful banter.

Suddenly, a loud quarrel erupted nearby: "I want this! I must have it!"

"Ma’am, we really don’t carry that ingredient."

"I don’t care!"

"Whether you care or not, we don’t have it."

"What’s your attitude!"

"This is my attitude. If you don’t want to eat, leave. Don’t cause trouble here."

Ao Xi glanced over and saw a white woman engaged in a heated argument with a waiter. Quarrels were commonplace; he watched briefly, then turned back to comfort Zhuo Ning.

But the white woman seemed particularly enraged. Her face was flushed, and she was breathing heavily. Upon hearing the waiter urge her to leave, she shouted and jumped up.

She grabbed the waiter’s hair and slapped her. The waiter cried out in pain but wasn’t about to back down; she grabbed the white woman’s hair in turn, and the two began to tussle right there.

There were plenty of customers dining at Little Sheep, and seeing a fight break out, they all stood up to watch.

Two women fighting—this was Lu Xiaobu’s ultimate dream.

Ao Xi enjoyed watching, too. The scuffle lasted only moments before the other Little Sheep waiters rushed over to break it up.

He noticed that the waiters were pulling unevenly, landing several blows on the white woman.

The two were separated. The waitress was unharmed, but the white woman had suffered and wasn’t ready to let it go. She broke free from the other waiters’ hands, turned, and reached for her bag.

Others assumed she was about to leave, but she pulled out a knife and stabbed toward the waitress’s head.

Ao Xi immediately stood up and strode over.

The waitress hadn’t expected a simple fight to escalate to knives. She didn’t react in time, but her head instinctively shifted aside.

The white woman’s blade sliced the waitress’s ear, leaving a gash, and she reached to stab again.

Suddenly, a powerful force knocked her to the ground, pinning her, with the knife thrown aside.

Ignoring her shouting and screaming on the floor, Ao Xi secured her hands, then lifted his shirt to reveal his police badge. "Please call the police. I’m an off-duty deputy from Los Angeles County. You’re suspected of assault with a deadly weapon. Officers will take you to the station shortly."

The white woman struggled nonstop. "Why aren’t you arresting them?! Didn’t you see they hit me?!"

"I’m a police officer. I’m restraining you because you assaulted someone with a knife. Who hit whom, what caused it, whose fault it was—you can discuss that with your lawyer and the judge, not me."

Ao Xi had Little Sheep find a rope to tie the woman’s hands, picked up the knife and placed it on the table, and asked the restaurant’s security to watch her.

Little Sheep also had surveillance; he instructed the manager to prepare a copy of the footage from the incident to hand over to the police when they arrived.

After handling everything, he returned to his meal. Seeing the dishes untouched, he asked, "Why aren’t you eating?"

"I want to wait for you," Zhuo Ning said, resting her chin on her hand, stars shining in her eyes.

Ao Xi gazed at her face, thinking of some flirtatious words, but swallowed them instead.

Soon, the pot boiled, and the two finally began to eat.

Just as they were enjoying the lamb spine hotpot, four police officers pushed open the door. "Who called the police?"

The manager of Little Sheep hurried over to explain what had happened, then pointed to the restrained white woman and the bandaged waitress, and finally to Ao Xi.

Ao Xi glanced up and saw Mark.

He waved, "Come eat with us!"

Mark had the other officers escort the white woman to the car and take statements, then walked over to chat with Ao Xi. Seeing a pot full of chili peppers, he switched off his body camera. "I’m not eating! Don’t even think about poisoning me!"

"Suit yourself. Why shout so loud? People might think I’m trying to poison you," Ao Xi said, gnawing on the lamb spine. "Why so many officers for just an assault with a knife?"

"It’s because of last night’s Bryan Rick incident. The shooter called in a false report about an assault with a knife to lure Bryan Rick out, so now every assault call gets double the officers."

Once bitten, twice shy.

"How’s Rick? I just woke up, came to eat, haven’t heard about him."

"He had surgery and is still in the ICU. The doctors say he’s doing well, thankfully the wound went all the way through and emergency treatment was timely. It’s all thanks to you."

"Sigh, it’s just my duty."

"Don’t be modest. Have you finished eating? Afterward, head to the station. There’ll be an internal review for you today."

Ao Xi was startled. "So soon!"

"Of course. Just an assault with a knife, and it takes four officers to handle it—we’re stretched thin. Every extra person helps.

And your case is tied to the Bryan Rick incident, so the department needs to close it quickly."

Ao Xi nodded, asked Mark to leave first, and spent time accompanying Zhuo Ning through the meal. She was easy to comfort; older women, not so much—they bore grudges.

By the end of the meal, the two had returned to their usual selves. Ao Xi also promised to seek her opinion in the future whenever he tried some new technique.

That promise was just to placate the little fool; Ao Xi had no intention of keeping it.

After escorting Zhuo Ning back to her apartment, he took a cab to the police station. As soon as he arrived at the station’s parking lot, he sensed something was off.

"My big Dodge Charger Pursuit—gone! Can things get stolen from a police station?"

Carles walked out of the station, shouting at Ao Xi, "What are you yelling for? Was that car even yours? How dare you drive just any car? Do you know when you drove off last night, how did the chief get back?"

That old man! Promised it to me, then took it back, and Ao Xi had no recourse.

"How did he get back... I... now I have no car."

Carles pointed. "That one’s yours—a brand new Ford Interceptor."