Chapter 12

Zheng Xiuyan stood with her mouth open, watching the leader of the group of students fly up and then slide several meters away before stopping, stunned and speechless.

It wasn't until several seconds later that she turned her head, her face flushed with anger, and shouted at Xia Hou Zhongying, "Are you crazy? You really dared to kick him! You'll be expelled from school for this."

Zheng Xiuyan didn't know what she was thinking. She shouldn't have cared about Xia Hou Zhongying, but she seemed to really not want him to be expelled. Her mind couldn't keep up with her instinctive reaction, and she blurted out a scolding. After scolding him, even she found it hard to believe that she had cared about him.

The leader, perhaps kicked too hard by Xia Hou Zhongying, had even shed tears in front of his subordinates, losing face. After being helped up by his subordinates, he wiped his eyes, removed the tears, hesitated for a moment, and seemed to make a big decision. He took a deep breath and said to Xia Hou Zhongying, "Kid, you've got guts. If you have the nerve, don't run after school. We'll meet you in the small forest behind the school."

After saying this, he shook off the hands of his subordinates holding his arms, held his chest with his right hand, and walked towards the gap in the wall where students often used to skip class.

The five subordinates were shocked by the leader's life-threatening declaration. After a few seconds of shock, they realized the leader had already walked several meters away and quickly caught up.

One of the subordinates, his voice trembling with fear, whispered to the leader, "Boss, we can't even beat him when we all attack together, and you still want to meet him in the small forest behind the school after school?"

The other four subordinates also chimed in, their eyes darting around, thinking about whether they should change their boss. Following this boss who knew they couldn't win but still insisted on fighting seemed to have no future. They didn't want to end up in the hospital again. Self-preservation is a human instinct, and there was no way they could beat Xia Hou Zhongying, even if they were ten of them.

The leader, unaware of his subordinates' thoughts, had a grim expression and clenched his teeth, saying, "If we don't get back at this, we won't be able to stay in school. No one will give us any respect."

"So I've decided," the leader's voice was also lowered, filled with a sense of madness. He turned and looked at Xia Hou Zhongying with hatred, saying, "Since we can't beat him, we'll find someone else. We'll get Heigou to deal with him. I don't believe he can beat Heigou."

The five subordinates were stunned by the leader's fierce expression. After a few seconds, one of them stammered, "Boss, are you really going to find Heigou? I've heard Heigou is a wolf who eats people and doesn't spit out the bones. He's ruthless and has a lot of blood on his hands. What if someone dies?"

"Maybe we should just let it go, boss," the subordinates, now afraid, gathered around the leader, trying to persuade him to give up the idea of bringing in outside help, "After all, we're still classmates. If someone dies, you'll go to jail."

"If you're afraid, you don't have to come with me. I'll go find Heigou alone," the leader, after hearing the subordinates' words, not only didn't give up on finding Heigou but became even angrier. First, he was kicked and cried by Xia Hou Zhongying, then he was provoked by the subordinates' cowardice, losing his reason. Now, he was determined to seek revenge, no matter the cost. He even hated his subordinates, pushing them away with his hands and walking off alone.

The five subordinates were left standing there, looking at each other, feeling unbrotherly for leaving the leader behind but afraid to meet Heigou.

They were just minors, influenced by movies about gangs, thinking it was cool and impressive. In reality, they weren't that bad. They could bully in school, but they didn't have the courage to get involved with gangs, especially Heigou, who was rumored to have many lives on his hands. They didn't want to become real gangsters.

Although they had a conflict with Xia Hou Zhongying, they didn't want to kill him, and they didn't have the courage to do so.

"What should we do?" one of the students, seeing the leader already a distance away, looked at the other four hesitantly, "Should we go or not?"

"It's still class time," a student, his eyes darting around, said weakly, "Skipping class will get us punished."

The other four couldn't help but roll their eyes. Why didn't you say that when we skipped class before?

"Is this too unbrotherly?" another student looked at the others hesitantly, not wanting to go but also not wanting to be seen as unbrotherly. He hoped the others would give him a good reason to stay, a typical case of wanting to be a prostitute and a saint. He asked insincerely, "Should we go and see?"

The other four remained silent, not wanting to oppose but also not daring to agree.

"Hey, what are you five doing? Class has started, and you're still hanging around the playground. Do you want to be reprimanded? Get back to class now," a furious voice suddenly came from not far away.

The five students looked in the direction of the voice and saw the school's head of discipline, a chubby figure, angrily walking towards them. They all felt a sense of relief, finding the head of discipline, whom they usually hated, now quite endearing.

With an excuse to leave, the five students couldn't help but sigh in relief. The sense of relief made their sighs particularly loud, and they could clearly hear each other's sighs. They looked at each other awkwardly and chuckled.

"Sorry, teacher, we'll go back to class right away," the five students quickly bowed to the approaching head of discipline, then quickly ran to their classrooms, feeling light and happy.

"Hey, you five, where are you from? Don't run, I'll reprimand you," the head of discipline, unable to catch up due to his weight, shouted angrily.

"Are you two again?" the head of discipline, unable to catch the fast-running students, turned his anger on Xia Hou Zhongying and Zheng Xiuyan, who were still standing as punishment, "Students like you should be expelled. You're just a waste of teachers' resources and energy. No matter how much you study, you'll still be a scoundrel. Don't you have any sense of shame? You're like mud that can't be shaped into a wall."

After scolding the two, the head of discipline stormed off, leaving Zheng Xiuyan seething, staring at his back and cursing him. She had never been scolded so harshly before.

After school, the two, with sore backs, went to Vice Principal Li's office to return the blackboard, where they were scolded again. After making numerous promises and admitting their mistakes, Vice Principal Li finally let them go.

It's often said that sharing a classroom, a gun, or a brothel can make men the best of friends. Although this doesn't include women, after this shared punishment, the relationship between Xia Hou Zhongying and Zheng Xiuyan improved significantly.

After leaving the principal's office, Zheng Xiuyan looked at Xia Hou Zhongying, who was walking with his head down, and asked, "Where should we go for lunch?"

"Anywhere," Xia Hou Zhongying, not in the mood for food, replied listlessly.

"Let's go to Xiaolongtian. Their chicken legs are the best, and you haven't tried them yet," Zheng Xiuyan, touching her sore legs, said to Xia Hou Zhongying, or perhaps to herself, "Eating chicken legs will help my legs. They're still sore from standing all morning, and I need to eat a few to recover."

Xia Hou Zhongying didn't care where they ate. Since Zheng Xiuyan wanted chicken legs, he had no objections and followed her to a small restaurant called Xiaolongtian near the school gate.

After eating, Xia Hou Zhongying saw Zheng Xiuyan lift her chin and nod, and asked curiously, "What?"

"Pay the bill," Zheng Xiuyan looked at Xia Hou Zhongying, as if surprised he would think she would pay.

"Why should I pay for you?" Xia Hou Zhongying, with a black face, was full of black lines.

"You're the older one. Are you going to make a girl pay? That would be embarrassing," Zheng Xiuyan said indignantly.

Xia Hou Zhongying, speechless at Zheng Xiuyan's righteous attitude, had no choice but to get up and pay the bill, muttering to himself about how she had ordered three chicken legs, clearly planning to make him pay.

Seeing Xia Hou Zhongying get up, Zheng Xiuyan beamed, thinking that she now had a free ATM for school meals, which would save her a lot of pocket money. She wondered if she should be nicer to him, so he wouldn't refuse to eat with her, which would be a big loss.

After lunch, they found a place to rest until it was almost time for class, then returned to the classroom.

The events of the morning had a significant impact on Xia Hou Zhongying. Being treated like a national treasure by the entire school had greatly amplified his sense of shame.

Back in the classroom, Xia Hou Zhongying unceremoniously threw himself into his chair, tilting it back so only the back two legs touched the ground, and leaned back.

The more he thought, the more uncomfortable he felt, and he couldn't help but unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt, tugging at the collar to relieve the tightness in his chest. He then looked at Zheng Xiuyan seriously and said, "Starting tomorrow, no, from now on, I will change my ways and correct all my bad habits."

He threw his backpack on his desk, looked up at the blackboard, and said with determination, "I won't let the teachers throw the eraser at me anymore, and I won't be late, leave early, or skip class."

"I won't give the teachers any reason to make me stand in the corridor," Xia Hou Zhongying, with a fierce look in his eyes, shouted, "Never again."

The students in the classroom, hearing Xia Hou Zhongying's fierce declaration, looked at him with strange expressions, thinking the morning's events had really affected him. They couldn't help but look at him with sympathy.

Zheng Xiuyan was also stunned by Xia Hou Zhongying's words, not understanding why he had suddenly gone crazy.

Just then, the Korean language teacher entered the classroom, holding a thick stack of papers, and said before reaching the podium, "There will be a surprise Korean language test. Those who fail will be punished by standing in the corridor."

"Clang, clatter." A chaotic noise filled the room, including the sound of someone falling. The entire class quickly looked up to see Xia Hou Zhongying on the floor, the chair on top of him. He was frantically trying to move the chair off and crawl to his feet.