It's Not About Letting Water Flow, It's About Navigating Human Relationships

Old Deng: "???"

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? How did I end up on the ground in the blink of an eye?

I was careless, I didn’t dodge…

He attributed this failure to his own carelessness, underestimating Xu Mo.

The move Xu Mo used wasn’t flashy or complicated—it was a basic grappling technique that Old Deng had just taught him.

Yet, with this simple and unadorned move, Xu Mo instantly took down Old Deng, the top fighter at the Qinghe Bay Police Branch.

The officers at the Qinghe Bay Police Branch were stunned.

Their faces showed disbelief.

Old Deng was taken down in an instant?!

Everyone knew that Old Deng was the best fighter in their branch, especially skilled in grappling techniques. It was something everyone acknowledged.

No one could have imagined that Old Deng would lose to Xu Mo, and in just one move at that—with Xu Mo using the very grappling technique Old Deng had just taught him!

He had just learned it, and already he could apply it seamlessly in a real fight? Not only that, but he even managed to take down Old Deng, the one who taught him the technique.

This was somewhat unbelievable.

"Old Deng, did you go easy on him?" one officer asked suspiciously.

As soon as these words were spoken, the officers’ faces lit up with understanding.

So Old Deng had gone easy on him. That explained it.

There was no way Xu Mo could have taken down Old Deng so quickly. After all, he had just learned the technique—it made no sense for him to defeat Old Deng, a seasoned expert, in one move.

Xu Mo stopped as soon as he had subdued Old Deng, releasing his hold without applying too much force.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Old Deng quickly stood up. "You learn fast, Xu Mo. I underestimated your talent just now. Let’s go again."

Being taken down by a beginner in front of so many colleagues made him feel a bit embarrassed. He wanted to try again to save face.

Xu Mo smiled. "Let’s go."

This time, he planned to go easy on Old Deng and let him win. After all, a man’s pride is important, and Xu Mo had already taken Old Deng down as a beginner, which must have been a blow to Old Deng’s ego.

Xu Mo wasn’t going easy on Old Deng out of pity—it was a matter of social etiquette.

The two of them stepped back, assumed their stances, and the fight was about to begin.

"This time, I won’t hold back!" Old Deng said.

He realized he had underestimated Xu Mo’s learning speed. Xu Mo had a natural talent. Even though he had only seen the technique once, his performance in practice was far better than most beginners. Treating Xu Mo like a beginner was a mistake.

This time, Old Deng was serious.

Director Gao, who was watching nearby, reminded them, "Just go easy. Don’t use too much force."

"Don’t worry, Director Gao. I know my limits," Old Deng nodded.

Then he turned his attention back to Xu Mo, nodded, and charged at him.

The essence of grappling is to subdue your opponent in the shortest time possible, leaving them no room to resist. Old Deng understood this well, so he immediately went for Xu Mo’s lower body.

He quickly struck, aiming to catch Xu Mo off guard, take him down, and then subdue him. Of course, he would control his strength—this was just a sparring session, after all, and he didn’t want to hurt Xu Mo.

Xu Mo, on the other hand, was planning to go easy. He didn’t take the match seriously. As soon as Old Deng made his move, Xu Mo pretended to stumble and then let himself fall.

Seeing this, Old Deng immediately abandoned the fight and reached out to grab Xu Mo before he could hit the ground, preventing him from getting hurt.

"Are you okay?" Old Deng asked apologetically as he helped Xu Mo up. "My bad, I used a bit too much force just now. Sorry about that."

Xu Mo shook his head. "It’s fine. I didn’t even hit the ground, thanks to you catching me."

In reality, even if Old Deng hadn’t reached out to help, Xu Mo would have been fine. He had prepared for this when he decided to go easy.

The onlookers were startled by the sudden turn of events.

They thought it was a good thing Old Deng had caught Xu Mo in time. If Xu Mo had fallen like that, he might have gotten hurt.

Director Gao was also alarmed. He quickly stood up from his chair and rushed over to the two of them. After checking that Xu Mo was unharmed, he turned to Old Deng with a slight frown. "I told you not to use too much force."

As Old Deng’s superior, even though he knew Xu Mo wasn’t hurt, Director Gao still had to go through the motions of expressing concern and reprimanding Old Deng.

Like Xu Mo’s decision to go easy, this was also a matter of social etiquette.

"It’s fine, Director Gao. I’m perfectly fine. Even if I had fallen, it would’ve been my own fault for not being skilled enough. Sparring always comes with risks," Xu Mo quickly spoke up to defend Old Deng.

"Glad you’re okay. Xu Mo just helped our department with a big case. We can’t afford to have anything happen to him," Director Gao added, keeping up the polite conversation.

After what had just happened, Old Deng didn’t bring up teaching Xu Mo grappling techniques again. He was genuinely worried that he might accidentally hurt Xu Mo if he wasn’t careful.

The officers at the Qinghe Bay Police Branch also breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that what Team Leader Han had said was true—Xu Mo, the prodigy of the police force, wasn’t invincible. He had his weaknesses too.

This realization made everyone feel a bit more balanced.

The sparring and teaching session came to an end, and everyone went back to eating and chatting.

During the meal, Chen Ke, who was sitting next to Xu Mo, leaned in and whispered, "Xu Mo, did you go easy on Old Deng just now?"

As an outsider watching the match, Chen Ke had noticed something was off.

He also knew how skilled Xu Mo was. There was no way Old Deng’s move could have made Xu Mo fall. The only explanation was that Xu Mo had deliberately gone easy and pretended to lose.

Xu Mo simply replied, "No, I didn’t."

Yeah, right… Chen Ke didn’t believe a word of it.

...

The dinner lasted for over two hours before it finally ended.

At the entrance of the restaurant.

As the host, Director Gao and the other officers didn’t leave immediately. Instead, they stayed to accompany Xu Mo, Han Fei, and the five colleagues from the neighboring district who had come to help with the case while they waited for their rides.

It wouldn’t be appropriate for the hosts to leave before the guests.

Just then, a group of drunk, shirtless men stumbled out of the restaurant.

"Damn it, why is the road… hic… wobbling like this? Who the hell built this road?"

"Hey, you’re right! The road’s moving! What the hell!"

"Don’t worry, boss! I’ll straighten the road for you. Just walk confidently!" With that, the guy lay down on the ground, trying to "steady" the swaying road.

The boss, who was wearing a thick gold chain, was impressed by his subordinate’s actions and gave him an approving look.

"Good job… When we get to Red Romance later, I’ll get you an extra masseuse. You’ll have a great time."

"Thanks, boss!"

"Don’t mention it. You’re being too polite, you little… Where’s Ah Fei?"

"He’s in the bathroom, roaring like a dragon. I’ll go get him."

"Throwing up after just a few drinks? This Ah Fei… Tell him to hurry up. The brothers are waiting!"

"..."

Just from their conversation, it was clear that these men were planning to go to a massage parlor to engage in some illegal activities.

They were unlucky enough to run into a group of police officers right outside.

The officers were now staring at the group.

Noticing that they were being watched, the boss with the gold chain immediately got angry.

"What the hell are you looking at? F***… Brothers, let’s teach them a lesson!"

...