Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

In no time, the area was surrounded by layers upon layers of people.

Onlookers and helpers crowded together.

Seeing this, Chen Xueru panicked and rushed out of the shop, pushing through the crowd to reach the woman. Her eyes were fixed on the two facing off, and she asked urgently:

"Sister Ma, what happened?"

The woman referred to as Sister Ma was Chen Xueru.

He quickly grabbed her arm, pointed at the weasel-faced man, both angry and anxious:

"That damned thief slashed my bag!"

"I was trying on clothes in your store just now, and I took off my watch and put it in my bag. This person stole it. Luckily, this young man noticed."

"We have to take him to the police station today."

The thief, who was being stopped by Wang Anping, was truly on the verge of tears.

He's been in this line of work for twenty years and is always steady on his feet, rarely making a mistake. He had just smoothly gotten hold of a watch when he ran into this busybody.

I don't know where this person came from, but his strength is astonishing.

The long wooden poles used to hold lanterns at the shop entrance were as flexible as short sticks in this man's hands.

He knew very well that the punishment for theft was extremely severe these days, and he absolutely could not get caught today!

The thief brandished his dagger, flailing it wildly in all directions, trying to break through to safety.

But as soon as I made a move, I heard a whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

A tremendous force slammed into his arm.

The man staggered and fell heavily to the ground, immediately followed by a sharp, piercing pain that spread throughout his body.

To the onlookers, all they saw was the handsome young man raising his hand and swinging a wooden pole, knocking the thief to the ground from several meters away. The dagger in the thief's hand flew out and landed to the side.

Seeing this, the people around immediately rushed forward and quickly pinned the thief to the ground, rendering him unable to move.

[Ding dong, congratulations host for mastering combat techniques!]

A commotion broke out nearby.

The sudden system notification startled Wang Anping for a moment.

People today haven't experienced the shock of the "why help if you didn't hit him" argument, so they still have a strong sense of justice deep down.

Seeing that the thief had been subdued, several men immediately stepped forward, pinned him to the ground, and searched his body.

They quickly pulled out a handkerchief containing some loose change, clearly not the thief's own, along with an exquisite ladies' watch.

Ma Ting quickly stepped forward, pointed to the watch, and said urgently:

"This watch is mine!"

She took her recovered watch, but her anger hadn't subsided. She kicked the thief several times, cursing as she did so.

"I told you not to steal my things! I told you not to steal my things!"

He even kicked the other person in the head several times.

Even though the thief was beaten until his face was covered in blood, no one around thought it was excessive.

Even decades later, in small towns, there were still cases of thieves being tied to trees with wire and displayed with signs around their necks, let alone now.

People had little sympathy for these thieves to begin with.

Qianmen Street is a bustling area in Beijing.

Police patrol the area regularly.

The commotion had already alerted the patrolling police officers, and several officers quickly ran over.

Qin Huairu and Chen Xueru had no time to look at others. When they saw Wang Anping standing there in a daze after taking down the thief, they quickly stepped forward to ask him what was wrong.

"Brother Wang, what's wrong?"

"Anping, are you alright?"

Two concerned inquiries rang out, and Wang Anping snapped out of his reverie. He looked at the two men, smiled, and waved his hand.

"It's nothing."

He was staring at the system notification in his mind.

[Ding dong, congratulations host for mastering a new skill: Martial Arts, Martial Arts Proficiency +1.]

[Fighting Level: Beginner (1/100)]

(Can easily handle an ordinary adult male with no fighting experience; can dodge and counterattack when pushed or punched by street thugs, and will not be taken down by a sneak attack.)

Wang Anping was slightly taken aback.

The instructions for this fighting style are clearly designed for ordinary people.

His body had already been modified by the system to be extremely powerful, making it easy for him to deal with three or five ordinary adults. Now that he had mastered fighting techniques, his combat power had increased even further.

At that moment, he seemed to suddenly have a completely new understanding of "fighting," and he could subconsciously predict the opponent's movements and react accordingly.

If we were to fight that thief again...

Even with his bare hands, he was 80% confident he could easily subdue someone.

Wang Anping was puzzled. He had beaten up Jia Dongxu before, and when the system unlocked his cooking skills, he directly accumulated proficiency. But this fighting skill, he had to start from scratch.

"Does that mean all my previous fights were just brute force and random punches, nothing more than wild, uncontrolled blows?"

"It can't even be considered fighting?"

That's the only way to understand it.

The system only gave me the skill name, without giving me any techniques or moves. Does that mean I have to fight with other people repeatedly to increase my proficiency?

Wang Anping felt a sudden pang of toothache.

Could it be that I'm going to become a street fighter in the future?

However, now is clearly not the time to ponder this, as the police have already approached.

The ins and outs of the matter are clear at a glance.

Without Wang Anping needing to explain further, the surrounding onlookers, as well as the person involved, Ma Ting, quickly and clearly explained the situation to the police.

Two police officers pulled the snarling thief to his feet.

When the police saw the other person's face clearly, they were amused—this guy was a repeat offender.

The watch he stole is a valuable item these days, and he'll probably be spending several years in jail this time.

Although the general situation has been clarified.

The police eventually located Wang Anping and questioned him about what had happened.

"I came out of the store and saw this man following behind this woman, cutting open her bag with a razor blade, stealing her things and trying to run away, so I went up to stop him."

Wang Anping added in a calm tone

"I used to practice some martial arts back in my hometown, and I'm quite strong. I've always abhorred this kind of theft."

"I'm not afraid even if there's a knife."

"Such bad elements should not be tolerated and must be brought to justice."

"Besides, I am a staff member of the Yu'er Hutong Working Group, and I cannot stand idly by. This is my work ID."

Wang Anping had no reason to refuse such a generous offer, especially since the other party was armed; his actions could be considered acts of heroism.

After the police officer took the work ID and verified it, he said with a face full of gratitude:

"Comrade, thank you so much!"

"Thanks to your courageous act, we were able to catch this habitual offender."

"Once the matter has been verified, we will send a letter of thanks to your workplace."

"But I must remind you to be careful in the future if you encounter this situation. If the other party has a weapon, next time you can call for help from the people around you. In this busy city, he can't escape."

After expressing their gratitude, they escorted the thief away.

The surrounding crowd gradually dispersed, discussing amongst themselves. However, many young women passing by couldn't help but glance at Wang Anping a few more times, their eyes sparkling with interest.