The young man looked behind himself—no, there was no one there! He was sure these people were looking at him. He glanced down at his own body, then, lacking confidence, touched his own face. No, there weren’t any flowers growing on his body or face. He thought to himself, “Did I really run into a ghost first thing in the morning?” But he didn’t pay much attention to it and kept walking forward, looking at the astonished crowd. In his usual tone, he said, “What are you looking at, huh? What the hell are you staring at! Do I look like a lady to you?”

“Damn, this city management guy is so arrogant!” someone in the crowd shouted, punctuating the words by hurling a huge tomato.

The young man reached out and caught the tomato that had come flying from who knows where, instantly getting angry: “Who the hell threw that? Are you tired of living?”

The young man’s disdainful expression and cocky attitude immediately sparked a sense of shared outrage among the long-suffering vegetable vendors. Someone incited the crowd, shouting, “Come on, everyone, hit the bastard!”

What happened next was beyond anyone’s imagination. From all directions, a barrage of dark objects flew toward where the young man was standing—tomatoes, radishes, cabbage leaves, potatoes, eggplants, carrots, onions—raining down on him. An old lady selling eggs hurled eggs while muttering, “You damn bastard, that’s for impounding my cart, for taking my eggs, for bullying country folk!” After throwing a few eggs, she suddenly realized she’d just thrown away several yuan’s worth, and, feeling the pain, quickly decided to pick up some rotten vegetables from the ground and join in the attack with those instead.

The sudden turn of events left the young man completely stunned. After being pelted countless times, he was furious. He strode forward and grabbed someone who was about to throw a radish, ready to start a fight. But when he looked closely, it turned out to be an old man in his forties or fifties, with a weathered face and graying hair. The young man’s fist froze in midair. The radish-wielding old man seized the opportunity to cover his head and roll to the ground, wailing, “Help! The city management is beating people! Help! The city management is beating people!”

This left the young man both exasperated and amused. He cursed, turned around, and saw that a crowd had formed, three or four layers deep, with more and more onlookers gathering. The vegetable vendors, seeing he was alone, weren’t in any hurry to leave. They surrounded him, and every now and then, someone would toss another vegetable his way, though the young man dodged them easily. Still, he didn’t look much better for it—his clothes were now unrecognizable, covered in red tomato, green leaves, black dirt, and yellow-white egg, making him look like a walking billboard!

“Damn it, you still want to fight?!” the young man shouted in a rage. With a flick of his toe, a half-brick on the ground seemed to leap into his left hand. Then, with his right hand, he made a fist and smashed it down on the brick, shattering it into pieces. He tossed the broken pieces at the feet of the crowd, scaring the vendors into stumbling backward.

The young man, clearly provoked by the uncalled-for attack, was truly angry now. He glared, pointing a finger at the crowd, his tone both arrogant and furious: “Come on, throw! Go ahead and hit me!”

The vendors, seeing this clearly, all froze as if under a spell, some still holding vegetables they hadn’t thrown yet. The circle of vendors was genuinely shocked by his barehanded brick-breaking display. After all, that half-brick had been tested by time—it could withstand a 500-pound cart without breaking. Everyone started to feel that something was off. Usually, city management officers were notorious for bullying the weak and fearing the strong—when faced with a group of farmers, they’d run faster than rabbits. This kind of tough guy was rare.

“Today, none of you are leaving! Whoever threw something, step out and pay for my clothes and medical bills! Do you think I’m easy to bully? … If you don’t come forward, I’ll beat every last one of you country bumpkins! Believe it or not, I’ll knock all you bastards flat…”

……

As the standoff continued, the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance. The Jinxiu Police Station was less than three kilometers away, and it seemed that some early-morning onlookers had already called the police. Fights and disturbances, even cases of blocking the road to rob prostitutes, were common around Jinxiu Karaoke City, so the local police were well-trained and responded quickly.

“Break it up! Who’s causing trouble here?” Four police officers from the station pushed through the crowd with batons. One, apparently the leader, immediately spotted the young man in the center of the commotion and shouted, “Eric Smith, it’s you again! Cuff him!” Two officers at his side instantly pulled out handcuffs and moved in to restrain the young man called Eric Smith. This time, the young man didn’t resist at all. In fact, he cooperated and let them handcuff him.