Chapter 13

Living in the cave at Er Fangtou, Ding Hao felt very secure. The most important thing was that if Zhang Yongwei wasn't following him, it would be very hard to find this place. Even if he did follow, whether he had the courage to come down was another question. The steep cliff outside the cave could block many troublemakers for Ding Hao. If Zhang Yongwei dared to come alone, victory would still be his.

Every day, as the sky just began to brighten, Ding Hao would walk out of Er Fangtou to go to school, and quickly disappear from the school gate after classes. Yu Feng and his group followed him for several days but couldn't find where Ding Hao was hiding. Zhang Yongwei and his group, no matter how arrogant, didn't dare to cause trouble at Yun Gang No. 2 High School.

This was because many children of city and even provincial leaders attended the school, so the county police department paid great attention to the school's security management. Any disputes among the mischievous students at No. 2 High School would be resolved outside the school. This allowed Ding Hao to have a few more peaceful days.

Finally, the weekend arrived. The school's reason was that the new semester was about to start, and they were giving the students a week to relax before entering the countdown to the college entrance exam. If they wanted another break, they would have to wait until National Day or the Spring Festival. Without the school's constraints, Ding Hao moved directly into Er Fangtou, staying out during the day and coming out at night, acting very mysteriously.

Xia Lin found it strange but didn't ask much. She knew that Ding Hao was either hiding from someone or making money, and the former was more likely. He was hiding from Yu Feng, Zhang Yongwei, and even Zhou Fuquan.

What Xia Lin didn't expect was that Ding Hao was also hiding from someone else—Chen Fang! But sometimes, some things can't be avoided. Chen Fang often called Ding Hao until his phone was out of battery. He was afraid Xia Lin might need to contact him, so he often had to return to the village at midnight to charge his phone and get food. When he had free time, he would enter the space to fight monsters and level up!

Although he always thought of himself as an orphan, Ding Hao didn't feel lonely. He was determined to find a way back to Qianjiang. With this resolve, he jumped into bed and fell asleep. Perhaps it was the continuous exhaustion, or the hard ground in the cave, but that night, Ding Hao felt that his wooden bed at home was very comfortable.

The next day, it was already mid-morning when Ding Hao slowly opened his eyes. He was struggling whether to get up and wash up or go back to bed when he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Chen Fang."

"Oh, wait a moment." Hearing it was Chen Fang, Ding Hao quickly sat up, grabbed a piece of clothing, and put it on before opening the door for her.

"What's up?" Ding Hao guessed that Chen Fang hadn't seen him for a few days and probably came to seduce him again. However, Ding Hao wasn't as excited as before. After a few days of cooling off in the cave, he had developed some resistance to women. He still thought it was better to find a girl like Xia Lin to stay with. As for Chen Fang, she could only be a starter! Of course, if Chen Fang came on strong, he wouldn't mind, after all, he was a man and wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Seeing Ding Hao in a T-shirt and shorts, Chen Fang frowned. "Lazybones."

"I was too tired, slept until now. What's up?" Ding Hao asked, knowing the answer.

"I came to see you." Chen Fang lowered her head, a blush spreading across her face, looking like a newlywed wife who had been apart for a while.

"What's there to see?" Ding Hao was quite pleased by Chen Fang's clinginess.

"Actually, there's something else..."

"Go on." Ding Hao thought Chen Fang was embarrassed and put on his pants before letting her sit down to talk.

"I just saw someone asking for directions at the village store. That person also asked if you were at home. I thought it was a bit strange, so I came to tell you."

"What's strange about it?"

"After asking for your address, that person turned the car around and left. And that person looked shady, not like a good person. How do you have such a friend in the city?"

"What did that person look like? How tall?"

"About 1.7 meters, square face..."

"Does he have yellow curly hair?"

"Yes, so you really know him?"

"What was his expression like?"

"He looked very fierce. Did you offend him?"

"Trouble!" Chen Fang's description made Ding Hao realize who it was—Zhang Yongwei. He had lied and claimed to be the boyfriend of the girl, Chen Tao, and stood up for her. Zhang Yongwei definitely didn't believe him. He had felt a car following them when he sent Chen Tao to the highway. He didn't expect Zhang Yongwei to come looking for him today.

"What else did you say to him?"

"He just asked about your family situation. I didn't like that person, so I didn't say much. Oh, he seemed very concerned about you and asked if you had a girlfriend."

"How did you answer?"

"I said I didn't know."

"You've really put me in a bind..."

"What's wrong?" Chen Fang saw Ding Hao frowning and asked anxiously. She was really worried. This little Ding Hao probably didn't have a girlfriend, right? If he did, he might not be as interested in her.

Ding Hao briefly explained what happened that day. Chen Fang immediately jumped up. "Are you worried he'll come to take revenge today?"

"That bastard wouldn't come to give me a gift. He's probably gone to get more people. You should go home and hide. It looks like I need to leave early." Ding Hao started tidying up the bed as he spoke.

"Go wash up, I'll help you pack!"

"It's too late. Go home first. If he sees you with me, you'll have trouble later. Go home quickly. Don't show up unless it's necessary!"

Ding Hao knew that with Chen Fang's looks, even if they had no relationship, Zhang Yongwei might still be interested in her. Zhang Yongwei had dared to intercept a tourist from another province's capital, so he wouldn't hesitate to take a half-widowed young woman like Chen Fang.

If Zhang Yongwei found out about his relationship with Chen Fang, he would take her away as soon as Ding Hao left. Thinking of this, Ding Hao quickly pushed Chen Fang out of the house, leaving her very confused. She knew Ding Hao was worried about her, but she didn't know who Zhang Yongwei was, so she didn't ask and ran back home.

Before Ding Hao could finish packing, the sound of car engines came from outside. In a big city, this might not be strange, but in Hengmu Village, which was on the edge of the county and very quiet, the sound of modified cars was very distinctive and could be heard from far away.

Ding Hao went to the door and saw two cars. He had seen thugs fighting before, but this was the first time he saw them come in cars to seek revenge. They were too arrogant!

Zhang Yongwei must really respect him, or he was just vengeful. He had only stood up for Chen Tao, and now Zhang Yongwei was openly bringing people to seek revenge. But thinking about it, this was what thugs did. Even without the Chen Tao incident, after Ding Hao beat Yu Feng, Zhang Yongwei would probably have come to his aid.

Since they were here, Ding Hao wasn't afraid. He had been hiding at Er Fangtou to build up his strength. Now, at level 8, his strength was 148, constitution 108, agility 108, and with the advanced logistics skill, his movement speed was +15%. If he couldn't win, he could definitely run away! Hmph...

Soon, the two cars stopped in front of Ding Hao's house. The villagers, who were idle, gathered to watch the commotion.

Zhang Yongwei got out of the first car and walked briskly towards Ding Hao.

"Old classmate, you're home? You really tricked me!" He extended his hand to shake Ding Hao's. The neighbors thought it was a friend visiting and looked at Ding Hao with envy.

Ding Hao knew they were not friendly. He shook his hand and smiled at Zhang Yongwei. "You're not bad either, coming so early. What's up?"

"Nothing, I offended your girlfriend the other day. I thought it was my fault, so I came to apologize today." Zhang Yongwei spoke convincingly, and anyone else would have believed him. But Ding Hao didn't. He knew Zhang Yongwei too well. With so many villagers watching, he was deliberately embarrassing Ding Hao, trying to force him to make the first move.

"Oh, if you're really here to apologize, I'll accept it on her behalf. Now, if there's nothing else, please leave."

"Don't be like that. We came all this way. Let your girlfriend come out, and I'll apologize to her in person to show our sincerity..."

"No need, please leave."

"Old classmate, aren't you going to invite me in? Are you lying to me?"

The villagers didn't know what had happened that day. They only knew this was Ding Hao's classmate who had come to apologize. They were confused about when Ding Hao had a girlfriend. Chen Fang, hiding in the crowd, felt a chill.

"You're annoying. I have things to do."

"Ha, just let her come out, I'll apologize and leave." Zhang Yongwei still had a smile on his face. The villagers, though they didn't like him, thought he was very sincere. They wondered why Ding Hao, who was usually humble, was acting this way today.

"Are you leaving or not? If you don't, I'm going in."

Ding Hao turned to go inside, but Zhang Yongwei couldn't let him. If Ding Hao went inside, the show would be over, and he was also afraid Ding Hao would escape through the back door. He quickly signaled to the people in the car and reached out to grab Ding Hao.

Ding Hao couldn't let him catch him and shook him off, almost making Zhang Yongwei fall to the ground.

"Damn, you don't know your place. Fellow villagers, here's what happened. A few days ago, a woman from out of town hit my car. We stopped her and asked for compensation. Unexpectedly, Ding Hao claimed she was his girlfriend and asked me to give him some face. I thought, since she was an old classmate's girlfriend, I'd take the loss.

But it turned out he was lying. He just wanted her beauty and stood up for her. In fact, they didn't know each other. My car was wrecked, and the repair shop said it would cost at least 20,000 yuan. 20,000 yuan! If Ding Hao had held her hand afterward, I would have accepted it. Fellow villagers, it's not easy to make money these days. If she was really Ding Hao's girlfriend, I would have accepted it, but she's not. So, Ding Hao, you have to pay me! Fellow villagers, what do you think?"