“Voluntarily dropped out?” I was somewhat incredulous. Qin Shousheng shouldn’t have paid much attention to a small fry like Zhou Feng. If he had intervened, it would have likely been to have someone from the underworld give Zhou Feng a warning. I didn’t expect Zhou Feng to actually drop out.
“What exactly happened?” I asked Zhang Yu, puzzled.
Zhang Yu rested his head on his hand and sighed, looking helpless. “I don’t know the full details. I heard it from Wang Hu.”
“Damn it! I haven’t even had my revenge and that b*stard ran off!” Fatty joined in, stirring up trouble. I thought to myself that if Zhou Feng were in front of him right now, he wouldn’t dare make a peep.
I kept these thoughts to myself, but Zhang Yu acted on them. “You only know how to brag!” he said, giving Fatty a shove.
Fatty, caught red-handed, laughed awkwardly.
This was the life I, Xia Tian, should be living: chatting, goofing off, and napping. This phase of life in school was the most carefree.
“Hey, you in the back, pay attention!” The teacher on the podium knocked on the desk. We naturally fell silent. Although we were in our third year of high school and teachers wouldn’t take drastic measures against us, we still had to show some respect.
After class, Zhang Yu’s craving for a cigarette kicked in, and he dragged me to the restroom. I had no choice but to comply.
As soon as we stepped out of the school gate, I saw Sister Qian glaring at me with a frosty expression. I shivered and greeted her with a forced smile, “H-hello, teacher.”
“Come to my office,” Sister Qian said, turning away. I gave Zhang Yu a helpless look and followed her.
All the way to the office, I didn’t dare utter a word, fearing I’d upset Sister Qian further. I had no thoughts to spare on anything else, only praying she’d forgive me.
In the office, Sister Qian sat in her swivel chair, looking at me impassively. “You’re back?”
I forced a smile. “Yes, I’m back…”
“Weren’t you insistent on leaving?” Sister Qian poured herself a glass of water, ignoring me.
If she had scolded me, I could have accepted it. But her calm demeanor made me uncomfortable.
“Sister Qian, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn.” With a face full of regret, I didn’t know what else to say. The calmer she was, the more uneasy I felt. This was the proverbial “calm before the storm.”
“I don’t dare to consider myself your sister anymore,” she said flatly, though her words were anything but.
I bowed my head, saying nothing. I felt genuinely guilty towards her.
Even though I usually slacked off and didn’t study, playing around all day, Sister Qian never gave up on me. By the third year of high school, most teachers wouldn’t bother with students who didn’t take their studies seriously. They’d just say a few words and leave it at that, quite different from middle school.
Smack!
I don’t know why, but maybe out of guilt or just because I’m a piece of sh!t, I slapped myself hard. No pretense, just a genuine, self-inflicted slap that left me dazed.
Whether it was from the pain or something else, I started crying uncontrollably. I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t. Tears flowed freely. “Sister Qian, I’m sorry…”
Sister Qian seemed taken aback by my reaction, staring in surprise. She only snapped out of it when I spoke.
“Why don’t you ever listen!” she suddenly put down her glass and hugged me tightly. From her tone, she seemed to be crying too… It was the first time I’d ever seen Sister Qian cry.
“Xia Tian, everything I do is for your own good. Don’t you understand?” Sister Qian sobbed, her tears soaking my shoulder and T-shirt. I didn’t know what to say or do, so I stood there, stunned, her cries echoing in my ears.
“Can’t you stop worrying me and behave yourself?”
“You’re an orphan. You should understand that the college entrance exam is your only way out. You can’t mess up now!”
All that was left was Sister Qian’s sobbing.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and patted her on the shoulder. “I understand, Sister Qian. I won’t mess up again…”
Though I didn’t fully agree with her that the college entrance exam was my only way out, many people believed it was. But did they ever consider if the exam was truly fair? The admission scores varied across the country. The graduation rates in Be!jing were often dozens of times higher than elsewhere!
This disparity had led to the current prestige of She*nghua University.
“Sister Qian, um, our position…” Seeing that she had forgiven me, I relaxed, and my impure thoughts surfaced. Honestly, her ample bosom was making it hard for me to breathe.
Sister Qian blushed and knocked me on the head with a book. “You little pervert!” she laughed. “Get back to class and study. The exam is soon.”
“Okay, I’m going,” I said, leaving the office. As soon as I opened the door, a clumsy figure tumbled in.
“Heh, hello, teacher…” Damn, Zhang Yu had been eavesdropping.
Before he could finish, he stood up and dragged me away. It seemed like Sister Qian left quite an impression on him too.
“Slow down! Are you trying to kill yourself? And stop holding my hand!” I shook off his hand, feigning disgust. I didn’t want any nearby girls to think we were a couple. My reputation couldn’t take that hit.
“If we slow down, that tigress will eat me alive!” Zhang Yu panted.
“Have you been out here the whole time?” I asked, puzzled.
“I just got here,” he said, swallowing.
Good. If he had overheard my conversation with Sister Qian, it would have been bad.
“No way. Let’s go smoke in the restroom. That was too intense!” Zhang Yu seemed unaware of what had transpired. I sighed in relief.
“Smoke yourself to death, you idiot!” I joked, following him to the restroom.
We reached the restroom and saw two familiar faces squatting: Wang Hu’s lackeys. I was about to greet them when they started talking.
“Boss Hu is really something, tricking Xia Tian and Zhang Yu like that. Zhou Feng couldn’t stay in school because of him.”
“Yeah, Xia Tian may be tough, but he’s not smart. Boss Hu played him like a fiddle,” the other agreed.
They didn’t notice us. Zhang Yu looked angry, ready to confront them, but I held him back. “Let’s listen a bit more,” I whispered. I thought Wang Hu was straightforward, not one to play games.
“Those fools didn’t realize Zhou Feng was too beaten up to mess with Fatty. Boss Hu had our guys attack him and blame Zhou Feng. Brilliant!”
“It’s a shame Zhou Feng dropped out before it escalated with those fools,” the other added.
I finally understood. Fatty was attacked by Wang Hu’s men, and I’d been thanking him, thinking I owed him a favor.
Before I could react, Zhang Yu couldn’t hold back any longer. He kicked one of the guys in the face, shouting, “You f*king b*stards!” sending him sprawling into the toilet.
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