Chapter 16

When it came to Wang Yao, the long-haired guy didn't react at all but instead said to me, "You should ask Wang Yao to protect you, right?"

Another heart-stabbing remark, how could I admit it? I said, "You bastard, if you have the guts, let's fight one-on-one." I also found it strange; the long-haired guy wasn't that smart, so why did he react so quickly this time, as if he had already planned it?

Liu Yina didn't care about any of this and immediately shouted for Wang Yao.

"Calling Wang Yao won't help; this time it was Zuo Fei who hit Zhou Kun first," another voice said. Da Mao walked over, and behind him were more than ten people. Such a large group was actually to deal with just me!

I didn't know whether to feel sad or honored.

I looked into the distance; Monkey and Huang Jie hadn't arrived yet, but Wang Yao was already panting as she ran over. Seeing her run so fast, I felt a wave of emotion.

"What's the matter now?!" Wang Yao looked very unhappy: "Da Mao, what do you mean?"

More and more people gathered.

"You're here, Wang Yao. I was just looking for you. Zuo Fei hit Zhou Kun this morning, so I had to come and check it out, right?" Da Mao said while poking the long-haired guy's face, "Look at how Zuo Fei beat him up!"

I almost couldn't hold back my laughter, but many of the onlookers laughed, and the long-haired guy's face turned very ugly. I was now sure he was being used by Da Mao, and the words he said earlier were probably taught by Da Mao!

"Zuo Fei, what happened?" Wang Yao looked at me.

"Ah, Zhou Kun and our dorm mate Ma Jie wanted two packs of Furong Wang cigarettes. How could Ma Jie, a student, have so much money? I thought I'd go talk to Zhou Kun, and then..."

Wang Yao frowned, clearly blaming me for meddling, and I suddenly felt anxious, thinking I had done something wrong.

Da Mao seized the opportunity to say, "You heard that, right? It was Zuo Fei who started it. I've given you enough face; I haven't looked for Zuo Fei these past few days, but he wants to ride over us."

"Enough with the nonsense." Wang Yao said impatiently, "He's already been hit, what more do you want? Just pay for the medical expenses." Then she took out five yuan and walked over to put it in Zhou Kun's arms.

"It's not a big deal; he can buy a bottle of Honghua oil and apply it. That's it, everyone disperse, what are you standing here for?!"

Zhou Kun was stunned, not knowing what to say, and just looked at Da Mao.

"Why are you looking at him? He's not your father! Do you think it's too little? Here, I'll give you another five yuan, but no more. This much is enough to buy Yunnan Baiyao!" Wang Yao said, and then gave Zhou Kun another five yuan, as if she were giving alms to a beggar.

"Yunnan Baiyao costs more than 30 yuan," Zhou Kun mumbled.

"Fuck you, can you have some ambition?" Da Mao cursed, and Zhou Kun quickly shut up.

"Wang Yao, you're not being fair, are you? Are you too protective of Zuo Fei?"

"No, I'm just speaking the truth. Is five yuan not enough for Honghua oil?"

"Come over, let's talk privately."

Da Mao walked to a nearby trash can, and Wang Yao followed with a nonchalant look.

The two people in charge left, and we were left staring at each other. We could only watch them talk. They were facing away from us, and it seemed they were having an argument. At that moment, I saw Da Mao's hand move.

Before I could react, Zhou Kun and his group rushed over and instantly knocked me to the ground.

It turned out Da Mao had deliberately lured Wang Yao away!

Liu Yina and Lin Ke'er immediately screamed, and then came Wang Yao's angry roar: "Da Mao, what do you mean?!" followed by Da Mao's angry roar: "Who told you to hit them? You've gone too far!" It was like an Oscar-worthy performance!

I was surrounded by four or five students, and the punches and kicks made it impossible for me to get up. This was the eighth beating at Dongcheng No. 1 High School!

"Da Mao, make them stop!"

"Stop, stop! Hey, they're not listening to me? What can I do?" Wang Yao said.

"Shit!" Wang Yao cursed and rushed over to help, but being a girl, she couldn't pull the guys apart, especially without a steel pipe like last time.

"Liu Yina, go get a brick for me!" Wang Yao shouted in anger.

"Everyone, stop." A voice came, neither cold nor warm.

Zhou Kun and his group stopped, and I lay on the ground, panting. Through the crowd, I saw Monkey finally arrive.

Monkey held a knife, a common pocketknife, the kind sold on the street for a dozen or so yuan, but it needed to be sharpened at home. Monkey's knife was already sharpened and gleamed in the sunlight, now pressed against Da Mao's neck.

Da Mao's Adam's apple moved, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead. Huang Jie stood on the other side of Da Mao, pulling his ear with a smirk: "Hey, why aren't you moving? You were so lively just now."

"If you hadn't come, your brother would have been beaten to death," Wang Yao said angrily.

"How could that happen? With you here, Zuo Fei would be fine."

"Don't flatter yourself; Da Mao isn't giving me any face."

"Sure, sure, I'll give you both face. Can you put the knife away first?" Da Mao laughed.

"Shut up." Monkey slapped Da Mao's face and asked me, lying on the ground, "Are you dead yet?"

I sat up, crossing my legs, and said, "Did you finish a game?"

"Yeah, did I delay anything?"

"Did I delay anything? Look at my clothes, covered in footprints! I just changed into new ones this morning!"

"I'll wash them for you!" Ma Jie, the little wife, suddenly said in the crowd.

"Get lost."

Ma Jie immediately retreated.

I pointed at Monkey angrily, "You're really daring, being more than an hour late?"

"No, I timed it. I thought this was the coolest time to make an entrance." Monkey smiled shamelessly.

"Don't listen to him." Huang Jie said, "He got into an argument with a Henanese, and he couldn't win, so he accused the guy of stealing manhole covers. It took him more than an hour to finish!"

I pointed at Monkey, "You're really shameless."

"Are you three done? Can we talk about the real issue?" Wang Yao finally couldn't hold back.

"Right, right, let's talk about the real issue." Monkey patted Da Mao's face with the knife, "How do we solve this?"

Da Mao kept his mouth shut, but his face turned deathly pale.

"Why don't we settle old and new grudges together? You stabbed me that day, so I'll return the favor."

"Hey, that's enough." The dozen or so instructors who had been watching walked over.

"You didn't care about the fight just now, but now you do?" Wang Yao was the first to get angry.

"Fights can be ignored, but using knives can't." The instructors surrounded Monkey, pulled him away, and took the knife from his hand. Monkey didn't resist at all, which was unlike him.

Afterward, Monkey said, "Do you think I would really stab Da Mao in front of everyone? When I stabbed Da Mao in the dorm or when he stabbed me in the park, it was all private. If I reported it, nothing would happen. But with so many people around, if I really stabbed Da Mao, I'd be expelled from school and might even go to jail. I wouldn't do such a stupid thing! I was just stalling for time until the instructors came. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a way out."

But Huang Jie rejected his explanation. Huang Jie said, "Don't listen to his nonsense. When he gets angry, he'll do anything. He could stab Da Mao in front of everyone or even kill him. But he has a weakness; he gets weak-kneed when he sees soldiers or police. You know why, right? He's just a bad guy. When those dozen soldiers appeared, he almost wet his pants. I was ready to change his pants."

I couldn't tell who was right, feeling that neither of them was telling the truth.

Regardless of the reason, I scolded him harshly afterward. If Monkey hadn't handed over the knife, we wouldn't have been beaten later.

As soon as the instructors took the knife, Da Mao became like a man on steroids, and his screams could be heard all over the playground.

"Beat them, beat them to death!"

The crowd surged forward. As I said before, I was good in one-on-one fights, but I had no chance against multiple opponents. I threw a punch, and they returned four or five, plus four or five kicks. How could I fight like that? So I was knocked down again. Fortunately, I was used to it, so I tightly protected my head and groin, curled my stomach, and let them hit me wherever else.

While being beaten, I could still peek through my fingers. Monkey held out for about two or three minutes, and I saw him take down at least four or five before falling. To my surprise, Huang Jie was even better. He jumped around, and every punch and kick took down one person, but he only lasted about four or five minutes, ultimately overwhelmed by the numbers.

Wang Yao cursed loudly, picked up a brick, and helped us fight. No one dared to touch her, so she had the upper hand, taking down one person with each brick. This time, the Nine Princes must have all come, with at least forty or fifty people surrounding us. The commotion was so big that the instructors couldn't stop it and had to report to the school. In the end, the security department had to intervene to separate us.

After making statements to the security department, the three of us sat on the steps in front of the faculty building, smoking. We were all bruised and covered in footprints, while the Nine Princes and their group left arrogantly.

Monkey and Huang Jie argued about the knife for a while, and finally, Monkey said, "Okay, I actually took this beating on purpose."

I said, "Get lost, you bastard."

Monkey laughed, "Zuo Fei, I ask you, what was our plan?"

"After the military training ends, when the Nine Princes start clearing out students who haven't paid protection fees, we'll take the opportunity to recruit those with tough tempers and good fighting skills to overthrow the Nine Princes. How does this have anything to do with you taking a beating on purpose?"

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