Chapter 35

During the evening self-study, with no teacher around, Ma Jie and I sat together chatting idly. Liu Yina walked over and said, "Zuo Fei, Monkey has been going to the internet cafe a lot lately. Can't you talk to him about it?" I replied, "Sis, if you can't persuade him, do you think I can?"

Liu Yina was speechless, sat down, and started complaining. She said that when Monkey first started dating her, he had solemnly promised to go to the internet cafe less often. But within a few days, he was back to spending all his time there. After about ten minutes of grumbling, Liu Yina got up and left. Ma Jie said to me, "Monkey is really something, having such a beautiful girlfriend and still thinking about going to the internet cafe all the time!"

I chuckled, "What would you do if you were Monkey?"

"I would, I would definitely stick to her every day..." Ma Jie looked at Liu Yina's back, almost drooling.

I tapped him, "Enough, stop fantasizing about Monkey's girlfriend." At the same time, I glanced out the window and was startled to see Yi Zhen peering around outside. I jumped up and ran out, but Yi Zhen was already gone.

With no choice, I returned to the classroom. My sudden departure had startled everyone, and the classroom was now quiet. I said, "It's nothing, nothing. Everyone, keep making noise." Everyone laughed and resumed their activities. Liu Yina asked me what was wrong. I said, "It's nothing, I saw Yi Zhen. I thought he wanted to challenge me." Liu Yina laughed, "Ten Yi Zhens couldn't beat you."

I was quite pleased; it was the first time someone had acknowledged my strength. After sitting down, I felt something was off. Yi Zhen had been so provocative earlier, and now he was spying on me from outside the window. Could this guy really have some sinister intentions? I thought for a moment and went out again, with Ma Jie following me, thinking I was going to smoke. He said he had cigarettes.

I said, "I don't smoke. Just follow me." We went to Zheng Wu's class, called him out, and told him what had happened. Zheng Wu said, "That Yi Zhen? I could take him down with one finger." I said, "He's probably prepared. Tell your new recruits to be ready to come out if anything happens." Zheng Wu said, "Alright," and took out his phone to make some calls.

I didn't call Yang Zecheng and the others; I didn't feel close enough to them yet.

Zheng Wu didn't call everyone, just three or four, and told them to pass the message on. After he finished, I instinctively said, "Thanks," and Zheng Wu replied, "Don't be so formal. You're Monkey's brother, so you're my brother. I won't let anyone beat you up!"

I was speechless.

After everything was arranged, I returned to the classroom with Ma Jie. This time, I wasn't in the mood to chat. I found a chair leg and held it in my hand, constantly watching the door. Within five minutes, the door to our classroom was pushed open.

"Zuo Fei, come out here!" Yi Zhen stood at the door, glaring at me.

I wasn't afraid of him. I grabbed the chair leg and went out. When I stepped out of the classroom, I saw Yi Zhen alone in the corridor.

I laughed, "Oh, are you challenging me to a one-on-one?"

Yi Zhen said, "Yes, I want to challenge you to a one-on-one. Do you dare go to the toilet with me?"

I laughed even harder, "Do you think I'm an idiot? Are you hiding people in the toilet?"

Yi Zhen's face changed, and I said, "Stop stalling. Call your people over, I'll wait right here!"

"Alright, Monkey isn't here tonight. Let's see how you can still move around!" Yi Zhen ran towards the toilet.

I immediately shouted in the corridor, "Zheng Wu, come out!"

Zheng Wu was in the next class and immediately ran out when he heard my voice.

"What's going on?"

I was about to speak when I saw a group of about ten people coming from the end of the corridor, led by Liang Qi from the second year.

I was surprised; I didn't expect Yi Zhen to call him over again.

"Great, we meet again. This is the perfect chance to settle the score from last time!" Zheng Wu was particularly excited and held out his hand, "Zuo Fei, give me the stick!" I saw the situation and knew the stick would be more effective in his hands, so I handed it to him.

Zheng Wu took the chair leg and pointed at Liang Qi, "Come on, let's see what you've got."

But Liang Qi stopped and said, "I only want Zuo Fei. You stay out of this."

"That's not happening. Zuo Fei is my brother, and I can't just stand by," Zheng Wu replied.

I didn't know what to say. At this point, I couldn't say, "I'm not your brother," so I just kept quiet, pretending to be Zheng Wu's brother.

"Haha, then don't blame me for being rude," Liang Qi ran over and pulled out a stick from his clothes. The other ten students also took out their weapons and ran over, clearly well-prepared!

Yi Zhen shouted from the back, "Beat Zuo Fei to death, and I'll give you more money!"

I immediately shouted to the class, "Ma Jie, get me a weapon!"

The noise in the corridor caught the attention of other classes, and many students came out to watch. The new recruits we had just taken in also came out, shouting "Brother Wu" and "Brother Fei" as they ran over.

Ma Jie came out and handed me a... pointer!

Yes, a pointer, the long, thin stick teachers use in class!

I threw the pointer on the ground, "What the hell, get me a chair!"

"Oh!" Ma Jie ran back.

"Charge!" Zheng Wu shouted and led the charge with the chair leg.

"Look at these idiots, I'm Liang Qi from the second year. Who dares to come at me?"

Liang Qi shouted and led his people over.

I thought, this idiot is scaring who? A second-year student coming to our first-year class to show off. Ma Jie hadn't come out yet, but I couldn't wait for him. I followed Zheng Wu and ran over.

"Charge!" I shouted, feeling my blood boil!

But after two seconds, I felt something was wrong. I felt a chill behind me, as if no one was there.

I turned around and saw that only Zheng Wu and I had run over, while everyone else stood still, as if frozen in place!

I immediately understood. People's names and trees' shadows, they called us "Brother Wu" and "Brother Fei" and had sworn to follow us, but when they saw Liang Qi, they all froze, too scared to move.

I turned back and shouted, "Cowards!"

Then I was hit by a stick and surrounded by a dozen students who started punching and kicking me. I couldn't even stand up, just like usual. I thought to myself, this is the tenth beating at Dongcheng No. 1 High School! I had hoped Yi Zhen would break my record today, but it looks like he'll be far behind me. This record will always be mine, and I'll keep breaking it myself!

I covered my head and crotch, looking through the legs at Zheng Wu, who was fighting Liang Qi. Last time, they fought bare-handed, and the memory of the intense punches still lingered. Now, both had weapons, and their fighting power had increased several times, as had the damage. They fought fiercely, and soon both had blood on their faces.

"Brother Fei, I've brought you a chair!" Ma Jie suddenly shouted.

I thought, Ma Jie is a joke, I'm already beaten up, and now you bring me a chair. What good is that?

"Let go of Brother Fei!" Ma Jie suddenly shouted, and a student screamed in pain.

The people beating me stopped, and I looked up to see Ma Jie trembling, holding a chair, with a student lying on the ground, holding his back and moaning.

I was stunned; I never thought the weak and timid guy would fight for me!

"Damn, you're asking for it!" a student shouted, and they all rushed at Ma Jie, quickly knocking him down.

I immediately jumped up and charged into the crowd, swinging my fists at them. But my strength was limited, and I was soon knocked down again, surrounded and beaten with Ma Jie. Ma Jie, the idiot, didn't even cover his head, just reached out to protect me, crying and shouting, "Brother Fei, I'm sorry, I couldn't get you a weapon!"

I shouted, "You idiot!" and reached out to protect his head, thinking how many idiots and fools I had around me, but my eyes were involuntarily moist. Countless punches and kicks landed on me, and I vaguely saw Zheng Wu being knocked down by Liang Qi. I thought, of course, he couldn't beat them bare-handed, and even with weapons, he couldn't win.

"Beat them, beat them to death!" Yi Zhen's voice came from outside, gloating.

Seeing us in such a state and remembering that the so-called recruits didn't even dare to join in, I felt a deep sadness. Why did we always get beaten? We had just become the Nine Princes and hadn't even enjoyed it for long.

"Get lost, all of you!" a girl's voice suddenly boomed.

Wang Yao had arrived!

Wang Yao's voice was like a hurricane, "whoosh," and the people beating us were scattered.

They heard her voice and ran away like rats hearing a cat, fleeing to the other side of the corridor!

I immediately sat up, and Wang Yao ran past me like a gust of wind, holding a shiny machete!

Despite the detailed description, the whole process took less than a minute! Wang Yao's arrival was timely, and as soon as she appeared, the people ran away like rats.

I had never seen anyone with a machete at Dongcheng No. 1 High School!

Looking at her heroic back, I almost got drunk, thinking how many boys she must have captivated. But now wasn't the time to get drunk. I quickly helped Ma Jie up and asked if he was okay. Ma Jie held his head and said, "Dizzy, dizzy!"

I looked at him, and he had no injuries on his head, just some footprints on his body. The students hadn't used weapons on him, just fists and kicks. For me, except for the first hit, the rest felt like tickling, probably because I was used to it. I patted Ma Jie's head, "Dizzy? Run a few laps and you'll be fine!"

"Oh!" Ma Jie immediately stood up, running and jumping in place, drawing laughter from the onlookers.

I rubbed my forehead, "I meant run on the playground later."

"Oh!" Ma Jie stopped, and I suspected he had been hit on the head!

"Zuo Fei, are you okay?" a group of girls came over, helping me up.

Lin Ke'er grabbed my arm, very worried, asking, "How are you, how are you?"

"I'm fine, fine." I stood up and looked around. Zheng Wu was lying against the wall, his forehead bleeding, breathing heavily. In the private room that day, he and Liang Qi fought bare-handed for five minutes, but this time, with weapons, they only fought for a minute or so.

A hit on the head must have hurt a lot, and I didn't know how many hits Zheng Wu had taken!

I immediately ran over to ask if he was okay. Zheng Wu jumped up and said, "I'm fine, no problem. If Liang Qi hadn't run fast, I would have beaten him to death!" He then leaned against the wall, posing and fixing his hair.

The crowd laughed again, they were just watching, knowing Zheng Wu had been beaten.

I was furious, pointing at them and shouting, "Laugh, laugh, all of you, get lost!"

The crowd immediately dispersed, but a few people came over.

"Zuo Fei, are you okay?"

I looked up and saw Yang Zecheng and his friends, all holding weapons.

Wang Yao had just arrived, so I was satisfied that Yang Zecheng could come now, even if he missed the fight.

"I'm fine." I stood up.

"Sorry for being late. Where are they? Let's go after them!"

"Never mind, they've already gone back to the second year. We'll get them later."

I gratefully shook Yang Zecheng's hand, realizing that this beating wasn't in vain, as it helped me see who my true friends were!

"Alright, call me next time." Yang Zecheng patted me and left with his people.

I turned around, and Zheng Wu was already struggling, holding his head and squatting against the wall, looking very uncomfortable.

"Zheng Wu, should we take you to the hospital?"

"No, I'll be fine after a rest." Zheng Wu used the paper towels the girls gave him to clean the blood from his head.

"Where's Wang Yao?" Zhang Xuan suddenly said.

I turned around, and the corridor was empty. Indeed, Liang Qi and his people wouldn't dare to fight Wang Yao, so why wasn't she back yet? I felt a surge of worry and immediately picked up Zheng Wu's chair leg and ran over.

"Zuo Fei, I'll go with you." Zheng Wu wobbled behind me.

"Stay here and rest!" I shouted at him, and Zheng Wu was startled and stayed put.

I continued to charge forward with the chair leg in hand.

The wind whistled past my ears, and my blood boiled. If Liang Qi and his people dared to hurt Wang Yao, I would make them bleed all over the school building! I wasn't just thinking; I would really do it, I swear!

Rushing to the corner of the corridor, just as I was about to go upstairs, I saw someone sitting on the stairs.

"Wang Yao, what are you doing here?" I was startled.

Wang Yao was sitting on the stairs, the machete lying beside her, looking very sad.

Wang Yao looked up at me, her eyes red, "Liang Qi is my brother. We used to be very close, often drinking and playing together, but now I'm chasing him with a machete..."

My heart ached, understanding why Wang Yao was sitting there. I bent down and reached out to hug her, but she pushed me away, looking unhappy, "Zuo Fei, what are you doing?"

"Hugging you."

"No!" Wang Yao stood up, "Zuo Fei, listen to me. You and Lin Ke'er are doing well together. Do you know how happy Ke'er is with you? You two are a perfect match. You should forget about me, and I should forget about you!"

"Can you really forget?" I said with a bitter smile. "I'm with Lin Ke'er, but my heart is with you. Is that fair to Lin Ke'er? I want to talk to her soon. We're both unmarried, why can't we..."

Before I could finish, I heard a series of footsteps, "Why aren't Wang Yao and Zuo Fei coming down?" "Yeah, it's worrying. Did something happen?" The Thirteen Roses were coming.

"Final warning, no more nonsense!" Wang Yao pushed me and picked up the machete.

I took the opportunity to touch Wang Yao's hand, and she turned around and glared at me, but it made me feel sweet inside.

"Wang Yao, are you okay?" The girls turned the corner and saw Wang Yao, shouting excitedly.

"I'm fine, I'm never in trouble. Let's go back."

Wang Yao led the girls away but left Lin Ke'er behind, "Quick, check if your Zuo Fei is okay!" The girls laughed.

Lin Ke'er came over, "Are you okay?" and helped me brush off the dirt.

"I'm fine, let's go." I walked forward.

"My clothes are dirty, I can't brush them off. You take them off and wash them later."

"No need, Ma Jie will wash them."

"Why do you always make a guy wash your clothes..."

"Even though he's a guy, he washes clothes very well."

We chatted and returned to the original spot. The corridor was quiet again, with only Ma Jie and Zheng Wu still sitting against the wall. The previous commotion had completely passed, and even the teachers hadn't been disturbed.

"Go back first." I said to Lin Ke'er.

Lin Ke'er nodded and quickly returned to her class.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I called Monkey, he'll be here soon." Zheng Wu said.

I nodded and sat down next to Zheng Wu, then asked, "Ma Jie, what are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for you two to take off your clothes and wash them."

"Let's go back to the dorm and talk about it. Go back to your class first."

"Okay." Ma Jie nodded and went back to his class.

Zheng Wu looked terrible. After sending Lin Ke'er and Ma Jie away, I was about to comfort him when Zheng Wu said seriously, "Zuo Fei, you did something wrong."

"What?" I was startled. What did I do wrong?

"You're my brother, you shouldn't have been so harsh on me earlier. It made me lose face."

"…I'm not your brother."

"You're Monkey's brother, so you're my brother."

"I'm not Monkey's brother!"

"Would you still say that if Monkey were here?"

"Of course!"

"Alright, let's see when he comes!"

"Fine, let's see!"