Chapter 6: Be good, lower your head and walk away

“What’re you lot doing? Stop it right now; stand up and face the wall.”

Their saviours, the people from the student affairs office, finally arrived: the chairman, two vice-chairmans, and four deputies with their bulging stomachs all moving out.

“Huh, how come they were so slow,” Xu Tingsheng scolded within his heart, “The student affairs office should really send people over first when disciplining students.”

He stopped and patted the dust off his body, walking towards Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng, the three walking obediently to the side to wait for what would befall them. As Xu Tingsheng looked at them, the two shot him reassuring glances, seemingly not having suffered any serious injuries.

Wu Yuewei had received a very great shock. She had not thought that things would turn out like this. It had began innocently with her accepting her roommate’s ‘suggestion’, wanting to test whether Xu Tingsheng would care about her in a ‘sorry’ state, to see whether he had really forgotten about her, whether he still actually cared about her.

The pure girl’s heart had been moved for the first time, having been thinking about this person in the entire second and third years of her junior high, awaiting the day that the promise between them would be fulfilled. How would she be willing to let it go just like this? How could she do so?

She had not thought that those people whom her roommate had introduced to her that spoke frequently of loyalty would suddenly treat her like that. She had been helpless, not knowing how what to do. Then, afterwards, at the moment when her fear and despair had been the greatest, Xu Tingsheng had appeared. He had not trod on seven-coloured auspicious clouds, but he had come to save her, savage and enraged. One, two three, they had taken down three of them, and the other hooligans had pursued them, saving her from her predicament.

Wu Yuewei remained dazed for some time before she finally regained her wits. She feared and regretted her earlier actions, hated herself so, but also faintly felt a tinge of sweetness and joy, because he had cared about her, charged over like an enraged lion for her. Her mind was in chaos, not knowing at all what she should do.

When she finally came over, the corner of Xu Tingsheng’s lips was already bleeding. She had wanted to do something, but the people of the student affairs office had arrived.

A few hooligans covered their faces and attempted to flee, but were obstructed by the people of the student affairs office.

“Bao Ming, this old man recognises you, where do you think you’re running?!”

“Zhang Shanfeng,...”

Wu Yuewei came behind Xu Tingsheng, lowering her head. Not knowing what to say, she tugged lightly on Xu Tingsheng’s sleeve.

“Why did you come here; hurry up and go, quickly. Go around from the back of the field; no one has seen you anyway,” Xu Tingsheng scolded her in a low tone.

“It’s not...because of me...” Wu Yuewei met his gaze, saying hesitantly.

“Firstly, you’re a girl. If what happened there spreads, do you know how you will be evaluated? If that happens, your life would be over. You definitely can’t say anything about it, understand? Secondly, we will only be punished at most, and the school will definitely withdraw it before graduation for its passing rate and reputation. We’re leaving soon; we’re not afraid of this. You don’t have to worry about it. Thirdly, you be more obedient in the future. Just study properly, and do not let us have taken a beating for nothing. Be good, lower your head and walk away,” Xu Tingsheng followed the structure through which Humanities questions in the university entrance examinations were answered as he touched on everything clearly, point by point.

“That’s right, hurry up and go,” Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng also urged her.

“Go around from the back of the field. Wipe your tears and don’t let anyone notice them,” Xu Tingsheng elaborated.

Wu Yuewei felt that she shouldn’t go. She should actually bear it together with them, revealing the truth of the matter. That way, Xu Tingsheng and the others would not be punished, and not only that, they would also be praised for their chivalrous actions.

She wanted to say something, perhaps help Xu Tingsheng to pat off the dust on him. She also wanted to thank Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng. However, hearing Xu Tingsheng saying ‘be more obedient’, ‘don’t let us have taken this beating for nothing’ and ‘be good’, she no longer resisted. She had to be obedient, had to listen to what he had said.

Tears splattered down Wu Yuewei’s face. She bit her lips, shooting Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng a grateful look, also glancing deeply at Xu Tingsheng, finally holding back her tears as she silently lowered her head and left.

Xu Tingsheng, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng exchanged glances, as though relieved of a great burden. The only thing was that Huang Yaming’s gaze contained perhaps too subtle a meaning.

A few hooligans were thrown over, standing beside the trio. They were all already ‘notorious’ people. Let alone covering their faces, they would not be able to get away even having pulled stockings over their heads.

“What’re you looking at? All return to your classrooms.”

The people of the student affairs office shooed away the onlooking students.

Meanwhile, Xu Tingsheng slowly approached that bunch of hooligans, saying to their leader, Bao Ming, in a low tone, “If what happened there gets out, it will be attempted rape. All of you will be sent to jail, for at least ten years.”

Bao Ming was shocked, a layer of cold sweat appearing on his forehead, his expression sharp over his faltering heart, “Then I will kill your entire families before I go in.”

This little kid’s lines were really memorised well, causing Xu Tingsheng to feel secretly amused as he answered calmly, “We will not reveal what happened then, and you shouldn’t as well.”

Bao Ming looked suspiciously at Xu Tingsheng, not able to understand why he would do so. It was clearly himself that should be concerned about the earlier matter being exposed, right?

Xu Tingsheng continued, “Hide your knives well and don’t let them be found. Otherwise, the seriousness of the matter would be different. I will bear the responsibility for the fight alone, saying that there was a squabble and I was the one who started it, with it not being your fault. You should all be bearing punishment already, on the brink of being expelled? Also, don’t drag my two friends into this.”

Bao Ming was finally rendered completely dazed as he asked doubtfully, “What’s the meaning of this? You scared?”

Xu Tingsheng smiled, “I have conditions. One, this matter ends here. Nothing happens after this. Second, do not look for Wu Yuewei anymore. Don’t even speak to her.”

“Based on what?”

“Based on the fact that my friend is rich, and his handphone costs several thousand dollars, having a camera function and some pictures inside that can send the whole lot of you to jail at any time.”

Xu Tingsheng shot Fu Cheng behind him a look. Fu Cheng very cooperatively pulled out his Nokia 7650 that had been ultra cool that year, flashing it at them, although it really contained no pictures of Bao Ming and his cronies in the process bullying Wu Yuewei at all.

Fu Cheng’s father was the Vice Chief of the Trade and Industry Bureau, with him being one of the renowned rich kids in the school because of this. Bao Ming didn’t dare not believe it.

Bao Ming and the other hooligans exchanged glances. Other than the first few blows they had taken at the start, they had actually not lost out much in this fight. Xu Tingsheng’s group had taken quite a few blows to the end, and many people had also seen the process of their pursuit. They had not lost face; on the contrary, their fame should instead rise.

At the same time, after having calmed down, they also felt chills run down their backs at the prospect of having to spend ten years in jail like Xu Tingsheng had threatened.

Also, while Wu Yuewei was pretty, she was not truly that kind of girl they usually interacted with. At most, she would only go to the canteen and the field with them, then return, always maintaining a careful distance from them. They were unable to get anything off her unless they used slightly more forceful means, far from that roommate of hers who would spread her legs for them at any time. Even if they lost her, it would not be a pity at all.

With such considerations, they all felt that Xu Tingsheng’s proposition really could not be any better.

Seeing his underlings all in agreement, Bao Ming nodded, asking Xu Tingsheng, “Do your words count?”

“They count.”

“Alright, then we are agreed. You’d best not try anything funny, or afterwards you won’t even know how you died.”

“Deal.”

Xu Tingsheng even shook hands with Bao Ming, flashing his bloodstained teeth as he smiled radiantly. He was not actually afraid of these little hooligans, but Wu Yuewei’s name could not be sullied; her life could not be destroyed. She still had to study here, and if she was often harrassed, it would be the end for her. Finally, getting into a drawn out conflict with a bunch of hooligans as a thirty-year-old...really? Also, the three of them should really also be beginning to study in earnest, no longer having the time to mess around. Therefore, this was the result that Xu Tingsheng most wanted.

Bao Ming withdrew his hand as though it had been jolted by electricity. Looking at that sinister smile of Xu Tingsheng’s, or at least what he believed to be a sinister smile, pressing his chest that was still hurting intensely, he cursed inwardly, “Nutjob, his-mother-he-really-is-a-nutjob.”

“What’re you doing?”

Having shooed away the onlooking students, the people of the student affairs office found that these ‘criminals’ were actually communicating amongst themselves. Instantly, fury arose within their hearts.

“Get in line; to the student affairs office you go.”