Seeing the burly man jump up, the little boy laughed heartily, dancing with joy, unaware he had courted disaster.
The burly man had his back to the boy's table, so he didn't know who had stabbed him. However, a woman at his table had seen it clearly and immediately began to scold the boy's parents.
"How can you, as parents, indulge your child like this?"
"I'm so sorry, so sorry. The child is too naughty. I apologize to you all."
The little boy's father quickly got up and offered cigarettes to the men at the burly man's table. There were eight people at their table: three women and five men.
"Apologize your ass."
The burly man slapped the boy's father across the face and then kicked over their table, sending the boy and his mother tumbling to the ground.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone. People inside and outside the restaurant rushed out to watch the commotion.
"How can you hit people? My wife is pregnant. If anything happens to her, I'm not done with you."
The young father was also enraged. While he could accept being slapped for his child's misbehavior, his wife was three months pregnant, and such a fall could easily lead to complications.
But before he could help his wife, the burly man's companions immediately surrounded him, raining blows upon him. It was clear his last statement had angered them.
The little boy cried out in fear. His mother tried to intervene but worried about her child being caught in the crossfire. Terrified, she knelt on the ground and shouted, "Please, don't hit him anymore. I'll pay you compensation."
"Clang."
A young man with a blue dragon tattoo on his body smashed a beer bottle onto the boy's father's head. Blood immediately gushed out. His wife, abandoning her child, rushed towards them frantically.
But how could one woman stop five burly men from beating him? She was kicked away, rolling twice on the ground.
There were about thirty to forty onlookers, but not a single person stepped forward to break up the fight.
Yang Jian and his companions also got up and moved away. Because they were too close, their table was also overturned, making it impossible to eat.
The little boy's skewer also landed on their table. Yang Rui and the others were also quite angry, but seeing the family being beaten, they couldn't blame them anymore.
Yang Jian had no intention of getting involved in the first place. After all, the boy's family had been in the wrong, and the men were quite drunk. Even if he tried to intervene, it would be futile.
However, upon hearing that the mother was pregnant, Yang Jian couldn't stand idly by.
"Ma Ming, bring the child over. Rui Rui, check if there's anything wrong with this woman."
As Yang Jian spoke, he had already rushed forward, pushing away a man who was preparing to smash a stool down.
"All of you, stop! Someone's going to die if you keep hitting!"
"Who the hell do you think you are, meddling in our business? Beat him to death!"
Seeing Yang Jian step forward, the burly man immediately shifted his attention to him and swung a slap.
Yang Jian blocked with his left hand and kicked the man in the stomach with his right foot, sending the burly man flying backward.
Seeing Yang Jian fight back, the other four men surrounded him.
The tattooed man grabbed another beer bottle and charged forward, but before he could raise his hand, Yang Jian advanced instead of retreating. He took a step forward, jumped, and used his knee to strike the man's face.
The tattooed man collapsed on the spot, his nose and mouth bleeding. It was highly likely his nasal bridge was fractured.
The moment Yang Jian landed, he delivered a right swing kick to the chest of the man on his left. The man cried out in pain and stumbled back several steps, crouching on the ground and groaning. His ribs were likely injured.
Without pausing, he executed an over-the-shoulder throw, slamming the man attacking from the right heavily onto the ground, rendering him unable to get up.
In less than thirty seconds, all four companions were down. The last man, unwilling to approach, leaped about five meters away.
On the other side, Yang Rui was supporting the boy's mother, asking Tong Xiao to call the police and an ambulance. The young woman had bloodstains on her skirt, indicating a possible miscarriage.
"Ma Ming, Rui Rui, bring the cars over. This man is bleeding profusely and needs to be rushed to the hospital immediately."
Yang Jian lifted the boy's father and found him unconscious, his head bleeding profusely. Clearly, they couldn't wait for an ambulance.
Ma Ming immediately handed the little boy to Tong Xiao and ran to turn the car around. He was very familiar with the area and knew of a hospital called Donghu Hospital nearby.
Yang Jian first helped the man into Ma Ming's car, telling him to go ahead. Tong Xiao, carrying the child, and Song Bingbing got into his car.
He then picked up the boy's mother and put her in his own car. Yang Rui and Zhang Zihan rode with him, following Ma Ming directly to the hospital.
Fortunately, the hospital was only a five-minute drive away. The couple was immediately taken to the emergency room, and Yang Jian prepaid their medical expenses of two thousand yuan.
Ten minutes later, two police cars drove into the hospital. Six officers entered the emergency department.
"Were you the ones involved in the fight at the barbecue stall earlier?"
A police officer approached Yang Jian and sternly questioned him. With no one else in the emergency waiting hall except the on-duty nurses, Yang Jian and his group naturally drew attention.
Yang Jian stood up from his chair. "I was not involved in any fight. I intervened because I saw that family of three being beaten, and it was about to turn fatal. I don't know either of the parties involved."
"Your word alone isn't enough. Four people from the other side are injured, have been sent to the hospital, and have reported the incident. Please come with us to the police station for investigation."
The officer directly produced handcuffs.
"On what grounds are you arresting him? My brother was acting out of a sense of justice. Is saving someone a crime?"
Yang Rui, agitated, rushed forward to block her brother.
The officer frowned and glanced at Ma Ming and the others. "Are you all together? Since you are witnesses, you will all need to go to the police station to give statements."
Yang Rui was about to argue further when Yang Jian pulled her back. "We'll go with you. But what about this child? His parents are both in critical condition inside."
The little boy, who had been crying earlier, was now tired and had fallen asleep in Tong Xiao's arms.
"We have officers stationed here. Leave the child with them, and you all come with me."
The officer waved his hand, and immediately another officer came over to take the child.
Yang Jian and the others had no choice but to follow the four officers to the police station, while two officers remained at the hospital.
Just as they were leaving, a female doctor emerged from the emergency room. "Are any of the injured parties' family members here?"
An officer immediately approached. "We are the investigating officers. We don't yet know the identities of the injured. Are the injured conscious? We need to question them."
"The female patient has suffered a miscarriage and is undergoing a procedure, which will take about ten minutes. The male patient is severely injured, and we are organizing a consultation with the on-call doctors from various departments for a major surgery. However, we need family consent. Where are those young people who brought them in? Aren't they family?"
"They are not. Because they are suspected of assault, they have been taken to the police station for questioning."
"Then what should we do? The patients cannot be delayed. If it weren't for those young people bringing them in promptly, the patients might not have survived."
"Then we'll have to wait for his wife to come out before we can contact his family. We can't ascertain their identities quickly."
Perhaps due to having seen too many such incidents, the officer did not seem particularly anxious.