Chapter 5: Stuff like fighting for a girl

Xu Tingsheng was stopped by Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng on his way back to the classroom after breakfast, when some time still remained before the start of the first period. The two dragged Xu Tingsheng towards the area beneath the stands at the school field.

“You really said that we threw out those words as well? Top 50?” Fu Cheng asked.

“That’s right, 10 for me and 50 for you...what, do you think yours is too little?” Xu Tingsheng chortled.

Many people made good friends in senior high, but their relationship might inevitably grow distant with time. The friendship between Xu Tingsheng, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng had sustained throughout all those years as they had always supported one another. This time, Xu Tingsheng had decided to drag the two of them up as well.

In his previous life, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng had both needed to repeat their year, and in the end, their results had still not been satisfactory. Xu Tingsheng didn’t want such a situation to play out in this life as well.

“It’s fine if you alone die, but you even dragged us into this,” The two jumped up, pressuring Xu Tingsheng down.

“We’re bros after all; we’ll ascend Mount Liang together,” Smiling for a bit, Xu Tingsheng then switched to a solemn expression, saying earnestly, “Let’s work hard together; from today on, we’ll just try and give it a go. I’m stronger in the Humanities, and I’ll help you out in that area; the two of you help me with Mathematics, and we’ll try for English together.”

“.... serious?”

“I’m serious. I feel that if we don’t go for it properly now, we will come to regret it in the future.”

The two were silent for a while.

“Alright, then let’s just give it a go.”

Finishing their conversation, the two still continued dragging Xu Tingsheng over to beneath the stands.

“Wait, haven’t we come to an agreement; where’re we still going? Back to the classroom, no?” Xu Tingsheng resisted, the trio stirring up a ruckus as they went.

“Let’s have a smoke first.”

......

Xu Tingsheng didn’t think that he would see Wu Yuewei so quickly. Yesterday night, Huang Yaming had said that she now often mixed around with a bunch of hooligans, but Xu Tingsheng had not taken it too seriously. He knew that Wu Yuewei would have a bright future ahead.

The two being in the same school, they would definitely meet sooner or later. Xu Tingsheng didn’t mind this, thinking that he would only have to bear a couple of resentful gazes at most.

However, Xu Tingsheng had not expected that their meeting would be so soon, and even less so that it would be here, under such circumstances.

When a girl decided to mix around with a bunch of hooligans, unless she herself was strong enough, she would have to have some realisations, making certain preparations. At the very least, she would have to play around with them a bit.

This was precisely the motive of those people ‘taking her out to play’.

However, Wu Yuewei clearly wasn’t this kind of girl. She was not strong, and she also didn’t have such realisations. She had originally just been a simple, pure little girl from a farming village whose results were somewhat shockingly good.

Wu Yuewei was surrounded by seven to eight hooligans, their hands reaching out towards her non-stop, dirty words being spewed from their mouths, one of them moving as if to lunge over and forcibly hug her...

She was crying, crying in horror from the bottom of her heart. She said what do you guys want to do; I will tell the teacher. Then, she began scolding them, biting them, jostling through them as she wanted to rush out of their encirclement.

The little hooligans chortled happily, pushing her back again and again. When they watched , they would worship Chen Haonan and Chicken Chiu, but as they messed around in their little gang, they would instinctively gravitate towards imitating the style of those villains, that sinister laughter, that arrogant tone, those scoundrelly movements...

Wu Yuewei fell onto the ground, curling up into the fetal position as she bawled tragically.

Xu Tingsheng didn’t know whether this event had happened in his previous life. Not having witnessed it then, it was naturally impossible for him to have reacted to it in any manner.

However, having witnessed it now, this scene happening right before his very eyes, even if that girl had been a complete stranger, he would also not leave her be. This generation of hooligans had mostly turned out this way from having watched some Hong Kong triad films in the cinemas, and were full of themselves as they imitated what they saw. From a certain perspective, they could even be considered to be even scarier that those who truly frequented the dark side of society, because they were unpredictable, not knowing how what they should and should not do, having no modicum of sensibility at all. Rape, stabbing...they might really stoop to such things.

The person there now was Wu Yuewei.

It was that pure girl whom Xu Tingsheng had had a promise to start going out with in senior high;

It was that pitiful girl who had mustered the courage to stop him by the roadside, asking him if he remembered her;

It was that bride who, before countless others, had wanted to toast a cup of pure white wine to Xu Tingsheng, at her wedding when the two next met, in the end collapsing with a single cup.

It was impossible for Xu Tingsheng to use ‘her future will be bright’ to avoid anything. The 31-year-old Xu Tingsheng overflowed with love; the 31-year-old Xu Tingsheng was filled with incomparable guilt; the 31-year-old Xu Tingsheng had rage that surged to the heavens; the 31-year-old Xu Tingsheng decided to partake in this fight for this little girl.

Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng looked at him with determined eyes.

“It’s that Bao Ming’s gang. They may be carrying knives; we have to be careful. Get rid of two of them, break the situation and run; lead them away and the people from the student affairs office will come,” Huang Yaming said in a low tone.

Xu Tingsheng and Fu Cheng both nodded. This was the right way, being much more intelligent than just blindly fighting it out based on courage and viciousness.

The three began approaching.

A hooligan with a small head was the first to react, declaring arrogantly as he turned and saw them, “What’re you looking at? Are you looking to die?!”

Xu Tingsheng had already gone past the point of exchanging yells like ‘What do you want?!’ or ‘What’re you looking at?!’ before a fight.

Exerting force with his left leg, stomping down heavily with his right leg, Xu Tingsheng did not bother with words as he sprinted over at his greatest possible speed, leaping slightly up for a short distance as he grabbed the other party’s neck with his hands, exerting force towards himself whilst at the same time raising his knee, slamming it over...

Hooking neck, slamming knee.

Generally known as ‘cannon cushion’.

Currently, Xu Tingsheng had already grown to nearly his full height, now being being 178cm tall. While he looked slightly thin, not having explosive muscles, due to having played football for a long time, the endurance and explosive power of his body was actually rather good, his waist and legs being especially powerful.

The sprinting speed could bring forth immense collision force, and the knee...was very hard.

“Bang.”

Clutching his stomach area, the small-headed hooligan collapsed.

Xu Tingsheng did not leap up high enough to slam into the other party’s lower jaw. Firstly, he was scared that he might kill the person; secondly, leaping too high would hinder his ensuing actions. After all, there were still seven others before him.

At the same time that Xu Tingsheng landed, not wasting a second of his forward momentum, he arrived before another hooligan who had just turned around, directly punching mightily at his face. As the hooligan fell backwards, Xu Tingsheng took a step forward with his left foot, then lifted his punching right arm, descending in an elbow strike, heavily striking the other party’s chest.

The second hooligan collapsed, but he hugged Xu Tingsheng’s waist at the end of it, pulling Xu Tingsheng down to the ground.

“Damn,” Xu Tingsheng hurriedly rose.

However, another hooligan had already made use of this opportunity to lunge over.

Two muffled thuds resounded.

Arriving right in time, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng both kicked out, sending that person flying. Then, they pulled Xu Tingsheng up and the trio fled.

In just a matter of seconds, three of them had been taken down. This left the remaining hooligans stunned for a few moments. When they had recovered, two of them drew out their knives as they all chased after the trio in hot pursuit. The three collapsed ones also struggled to their feet, following closely after them.

But just in that time when they had been stunned, Xu Tingsheng, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng had already dashed out from beneath the stands, arriving at the area between the school field and the school buildings.

Shrieks resounded all around. Those in the various floors of the three school buildings could see everything, and those who were passing by even more so.

Their road to the student affairs office having been blocked, with the administrative office building closer to the field, the three waited there for those of the student affairs office to appear, not daring to run randomly about. Those of the student affairs office all had rather great bulging stomachs. If they went far, the hooligans would be able to keep up with them, but the people from the office would not.

The three ran about in the empty space between the field and the school buildings.

3v8 – despite not having gained any advantage during their sneak attack, a few hooligans with the physiques of sports students, and were much stronger than they were. The three could only ‘kite’ them, of course, mainly fleeing.

Xu Tingsheng yelled, “With so many people watching, if you don’t want to go to jail, you’d better put away those knives.”

The hooligans hesitated for a moment, then kept the knives.

Suddenly stopping; lashing out a low kick; fleeing.

Xu Tingsheng continued with this series of movements all the way, this also being his only possible means of retaliation.

In fights, unless one possessed the absolute advantage, sending out high kicks was like courting death. Xu Tingsheng’s strategy was to suddenly stop, turning and sending a low kick towards his opponent’s shinbone. Then, whether or not his opponent had fallen, he would immediately turn and flee.

The power of his legs being great, most of those who had been struck did not have it good.

Of course, Xu Tingsheng himself took quite a few hits as well. Once in a while, when Huang Yaming or Fu Cheng had been cornered, he would have to rush over to get them out. Like this, he took yet some more blows, including a fist to the mouth, the corner of his lips now torn and unceasingly leaking blood.