Chapter 2

I got so angry that I grabbed the long-haired guy by the collar and punched him in the face. After following Binzi for three years, I had been in dozens of fights, big and small!

The long-haired guy yelled and kicked me in the stomach. I stumbled, and the other two guys rushed over, each giving me a kick and knocking me down. I tried to stand up, but it was completely impossible. They kicked me relentlessly. I felt extremely desperate, realizing how weak I was. In the past, I had always won fights because of Binzi; the opponents never dared to fight back and just stood there for me to hit.

Someone shouted, "The teacher is coming!" The three guys panicked and ran away. I got up, looking disheveled, and found a circle of onlookers around me. I had never been so embarrassed in my life.

I turned to Lin Ke'er, "Are you okay?"

Those thugs had clearly been harassing her, and I had driven them away.

Lin Ke'er's expression was cold, "It's none of your business."

I got angry, "I was trying to help you, why are you talking like that?"

Lin Ke'er said, "This isn't junior high, and there's no Binzi to protect you. Don't be so arrogant in the future." She turned and walked away.

I was furious. I had been beaten and didn't even get any credit for it. It seemed that Lin Ke'er really hated me. The onlookers hadn't dispersed, and I angrily shouted, "What are you looking at?"

A few guys laughed, "We're just looking."

I wanted to curse back, but seeing their numbers, I had to hold my breath and silently walked away.

After leaving the teaching building, I found a quiet place and patted the dust off my clothes. Every part of my body hurt. I was extremely depressed. Everything that was happening to me now was exactly as the anonymous text message had predicted. Without Binzi, I was useless, and the fact that Lin Ke'er had said the same thing made me feel even more frustrated.

I wanted to turn things around, but I was alone and didn't know what to do. I decided to go back to the dormitory first.

There were eight people in the dormitory, and everyone had returned. They were lying on their beds chatting. I noticed that Ma Jie, who had recommended himself as the class monitor, was also in my dormitory. However, I wasn't in the mood to chat, so I lay down facing the wall and closed my eyes to rest.

After a while, I heard Ma Jie say, "Have you paid the protection fee? The Ninth Prince will come to collect it soon. Just give it to me to save trouble." Someone asked how much it was, and he said ten yuan, then started collecting.

When it was my turn, I said, "I don't have any money."

"Really? You don't have any money on your first day?"

"I really don't have any money." I couldn't understand why this school still had people collecting protection fees.

Ma Jie didn't say anything, took the money from the others, and left. I continued to lie in bed and rest. Soon, a few people burst into the dormitory, and Ma Jie pointed at me, "It's him!"

I sat up and recognized the long-haired guy who had beaten me earlier.

The long-haired guy also recognized me, "Damn, it's you, you little bastard." He grabbed the bed rail and kicked me, and I fell back on the bed. Then the others dragged me to the ground and started beating me again. I covered my head, waiting for them to finish. The long-haired guy said, "You were a hero saving the beauty? I'll go find Lin Ke'er again tomorrow morning. If you have the guts, save her again!" He slapped me twice and left with the others.

I sat on the bed, speechless, my face numb. The dormitory was extremely quiet, and everyone was deliberately not making any noise. I felt my eyes itch and realized I was crying.

I cried? I actually cried?!

I had never thought I would be beaten to the point of crying.

I went to the washroom, washed my face, and felt much better. I walked around the washroom, found a mop, and kicked it in half. I held it in my hand, ready to use it as a weapon. I wanted revenge; I refused to admit that I was useless without Binzi!

Just then, someone called me. I took out my phone and was surprised to see it was Binzi. I answered, pretending to be relaxed, "Asshole, you finally remembered to call me?"

"Ha, on the first day of school, I wanted to see how you were doing. Did anyone beat you up?"

I knew he was joking, but I still felt sad. I said, "Who the hell could beat me? I'll fight them to the death!"

Binzi laughed, "Ha, that's my brother. Listen, I just found out a friend of mine is also at your school. If you have any problems, you can talk to him. His name is Houzi, and I'll send you his phone number."

After hanging up, Binzi sent me a text message. I called the number, and after a while, someone answered, sounding like they were still sleeping, "Hello?"

I said, "I'm Zuo Fei, Binzi asked me to contact you."

"Oh, Zuo Fei, come over, I'm in room 305."

I went to room 305. The dormitory was empty, and someone was sleeping on the inner bed. He looked thin and frail, with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes, like a drug addict. I called him a few times, "Houzi, Houzi?"

"Damn, where's the main player? If he logs off again, I'll fly to Henan and cut him up!" I was startled, but then realized he was talking in his sleep about a game. No wonder he had such dark circles.

I shook him a few more times, and Houzi finally woke up.

"I'm Zuo Fei."

"Oh, oh." Houzi sat up, rubbed a big piece of eye gunk, "Binzi's friend, right? If you have any problems, come to me!"

He lay down and went back to sleep.

I quickly said, "I have a problem right now."

Houzi reacted quickly, opened his eyes, and said, "What is it?" Then he sat up.

I felt relieved that Binzi's friend was reliable. I told him, "I got into trouble with the Ninth Prince." I recounted the whole morning, from saving the beauty to refusing to pay the protection fee and getting beaten.

Houzi was silent for a while. I said, "If it's too much trouble, forget it."

"Hey, don't go. Tell me again, I got distracted."

"..." I was speechless. How could he get distracted while sitting and talking? I had to repeat the story.

Houzi said, "The Ninth Prince, the long-haired guy, got it. We'll find him this afternoon."

I knew Houzi must have some skills to say that, so I nodded, "I'll find you this afternoon. What class are you in?"

After finding out his class, I said, "You sleep, I'll go." I stood up to leave.

"Hey, wait."

"What?" I turned around.

"Do you have any money? Lend me five yuan, I haven't eaten."

"..." I felt strange. It wasn't that I cared about the five yuan, but borrowing money right after meeting and after I asked for help was a bit off-putting. Wasn't this the same as collecting protection fees?

Logically, Binzi wouldn't introduce me to someone like this. Although I was puzzled, I still gave him five yuan.

Houzi took the money and immediately put on his slippers and ran out, as if he was in a hurry to be reborn.

Suddenly, I was alone in the dormitory. I looked at the empty beds, stood there for a while, and then left, feeling very puzzled about Houzi.

Back in the dormitory, everyone was still chatting. I didn't say anything and lay down on my bed.

To my surprise, Ma Jie came over and said, "Pay the protection fee."

Seeing Ma Jie made me angry. I said, "What's your relationship with the Ninth Prince? Why are you helping them collect the fee?"

"We're friends, we came up together from junior high."

I knew the school had a combined junior and senior high system, and many students who started in junior high had an advantage.

I said, "I'll pay it myself this afternoon, no need for you to worry."

Ma Jie sneered, "Be careful. Kun has already remembered you and said he'll beat you up every day."

I couldn't help but say, "Tell him to be careful."

After saying that, I regretted it. Was it a bad idea to reveal my hand so early? But it was too late, and Houzi was going to help me find him this afternoon.

"You're brave. You're the first new student to challenge Kun." Ma Jie laughed and walked away.

I spent a nervous afternoon. Finally, it was time for military training, and everyone was wearing camouflage uniforms, standing in formation by class. While the formation was still chaotic, I quickly called Houzi, but he didn't answer, probably because he had set his phone to silent for training. I decided to find him during the break.

During the training, I found our instructor quite funny, making everyone giggle.

I laughed too, but not wholeheartedly, as I was still worried. During the standing posture exercise, the instructor from Class 6 came to talk to our instructor and brought their class to stand opposite us.

I was stunned because Lin Ke'er was standing right in front of me, only three meters away!

During the standing posture exercise, we had to look straight ahead, so we were facing each other.

Looking at Lin Ke'er, I thought of what had happened two years ago and felt guilty again. It had nothing to do with whether she had become prettier; I felt I should apologize and take responsibility for my mistakes.

Since we were so close, I thought of a way to apologize without speaking. I would use my mouth to form the words "I'm sorry," and she would surely see and understand. I was ready and formed the word "I'm" when Lin Ke'er turned her head away.

"???" I was surprised. Did she know what I was going to do?

"What are you doing? Don't you know the rules?" The instructor ran over and pointed at Lin Ke'er.

"I don't want to look at him." Lin Ke'er pointed at me, her voice cold.

"Why?"

"Because he's ugly."

Silence. One second, two seconds, three seconds. Both classes burst into laughter, drawing the attention of the other classes.

I was extremely embarrassed, my face red to the neck, and I wished I could find a hole to hide in.