Xin Hexue discovered the gift left at his bedroom door. The racket case still carried a damp chill. He logged into his QQ account and sent Lu Yang a message. Even when he glanced at it before going to bed at ten PM, the other side still hadn’t replied.
He originally thought he would talk to him the next day when they met, but he didn’t find a good opportunity all day, and then it was time for school to end.
Anyway, their homes were only a few steps apart. Xin Hexue could thank him easily; he could just go to Lu Yang’s house during dinner time.
In Lingzhou City, middle schools ended one class earlier than usual on Fridays, giving students time for celebration between after school and the actual weekend.
Lingzhou No.1 High School and several other junior highs, high schools, and vocational schools were in the same area. This area was full of students with pocket money from their parents. The food and snack business was good, with mobile food stalls popping up like bamboo shoots after rain, and shops run by individual households or couples standing in rows. Crowds and the jingling of money converged here.
Not to mention the X-Ji Beef Offal shops every ten steps, there were two internet cafes and two billiard halls. A new boutique shop had opened this year, and the arcade at the end of the street had just been renovated last month, looking every bit like a proper commercial street.
No.1 High School had some complaints about the two internet cafes near the school, but no matter what, they were legitimate businesses with proper business licenses and the like.
As for whether they secretly let underage students in, that was another matter.
If you can’t control the business owners, can’t you control these brats?
Therefore, the No.1 High discipline director repeatedly emphasized during flag-raising ceremonies that students were prohibited from entering such entertainment venues. If anyone was found doing so, they would be asked to have their parents come for a cup of tea in the office and submit a written self-criticism.
They even arranged for homeroom teachers to take turns patrolling the area after school, just to catch those students in No.1 High uniforms heading for the internet cafes.
Despite this, even if they couldn’t get business from No.1 High, the two internet cafes were still thriving. After all, there were many other schools nearby. Across two streets was the vocational school, which wasn’t as strict. To put it bluntly, many of the troublesome students were hard to control anyway.
On the street, you could see young people wearing trendy clothes, with dyed yellow hair and earrings, mostly students from the neighboring vocational school, either skipping class or out after school.
Last semester, it was rumored that a male student from their school got his underage girlfriend pregnant. The teacher called for the parents, but ended up being beaten up in front of everyone and hospitalized.
Reportedly, he was in the hospital for two months.
Due to its location, No.1 High often got wind of such rumors, which were somewhat frightening.
Fortunately, the good student aura surrounding No.1 High students was also quite dazzling. Students from the other school wouldn’t provoke them for no reason. Students from the two schools walked the streets like well water not interfering with river water, each keeping to their own groups.
Tian Fengyu and Lu Yang had training as usual after school on Friday. Lin Oufei was at the provincial capital for his competition. Of the usual group of five, only Xin Hexue and Yu Zao were left. The two silently pushed their bicycles along the street.
“Have you tried the new milk tea shop that opened?” Yu Zao remembered to ask.
Xin Hexue shook his head.
“Do you want to try?” Yu Zao pointed with his hand towards the stall across the street. “It’s your birthday today. I’ll treat you to milk tea.”
Xin Hexue had no objections, and the two headed there immediately.
Now that the weather was cold, the milk tea sold was hot, scooped from large iron buckets behind the counter with their lids opened, mixed with water, milk, various creamer powders, and fruit-flavored powders. A plastic cup served as a container for a cup of hot milk tea.
Xin Hexue’s cup had pearls added…black pearls made from tapioca flour and caramel, which were a bit sticky. He sucked them up and chewed slowly.
Yu Zao accidentally pierced his own cup with the straw, and the shop owner said he’d make him a new one. When Yu Zao got his milk tea and turned around, Xin Hexue was being asked for his QQ number by two girls.
“Sorry, I don’t use Q.Q.”
He waved his hand in refusal, a gentle, apologetic smile on his face.
Most boys this age were tanned or dark from the sun, but Xin Hexue stood out in the crowd with his dazzling fair skin. At first glance, he was pleasing to the eye.
Looking more carefully, he was flawlessly beautiful. His eyebrows and eyes were like spring water, and his face value went without saying. His hands were also good-looking, fair and slender, with delicate knuckles. The tip of his pinky finger, pressed against the bottom of the milk tea cup, was tinged a light pink from the heat.
There was an indescribable, alluring quality about him.
The two girls who were rejected understood the polite refusal in Xin Hexue’s words and didn’t seem overly upset, and both parties parted amicably.
Yu Zao walked over, clicking his tongue and nudging Xin Hexue’s shoulder with his elbow. “Popular one, ah, popular one, ah…”
Xin Hexue turned his head in confusion. “Huh?”
Yu Zao guessed that Xin Hexue probably didn’t often browse social websites like forums, and sighed. “How come you look so…”
For a moment, he couldn’t find the right words to describe it, but fortunately, the object of his praise actually understood his own charm better than he did.
“My mother gave me good genes.” Xin Hexue said, his eyes curving.
Yu Zao was taken aback for a moment when he heard him mention the word ‘mother’.
Actually, after they became close in high school, both he and Tian Fengyu had been to Xin Hexue’s home. At first, they were also surprised that the adults in the house were addressed by Xin Hexue as “Aunt” and “Uncle,” but later they learned that Xin Hexue’s mother had passed away early.
There was just one more thing they weren’t clear about: what about Xin Hexue’s father?
It seemed he had never mentioned him.
The wind was strong today, blowing in thick clouds that gradually darkened the surrounding area.
Xin Hexue’s gaze swept across the street aimlessly until he saw what seemed like several people at the end of the street surrounding one person in the middle, dragging and pulling them into an alley. Because of the trees blocking the view and the remoteness in the area, no one noticed them.
He narrowed his eyes slightly; in that quick glance, he saw a familiar face inside.
To confirm, Xin Hexue subconsciously took two steps forward but was pulled back by Yu Zao. Turning around, he met Yu Zao’s disapproving look.
“Where are you going? Don’t tell me you’re going to be a hero.” Yu Zao said cautiously. “Those people are clearly from the neighboring vocational school. Why get involved in their internal conflicts? We might get targeted later.”
Xin Hexue frowned. “The person being cornered looked familiar.”
“Who?” Yu Zao asked, puzzled.
Xin Hexue said directly, “I saw someone had a knife. This could turn deadly. Quick, go ask the milk tea shop owner to lend us a phone to call the police.”
His volume wasn’t loud, and his voice was calm, but there was an undeniable, authoritative tone in his words. By the time Yu Zao reacted, he was already following the instructions.
But when he came out of the milk tea shop, Xin Hexue was nowhere to be seen on the street.
He couldn’t have really gone to be a hero, could he?!!
Yu Zao searched the street in a panic when he was suddenly yanked hard.
………
Xin Hexue originally thought he must have been mistaken, but upon approaching the alley entrance, he discovered the boy being cornered was indeed Cai Shu.
Cai Shu didn’t do well on the high school entrance exam, and his sports selection test results weren’t outstanding either. In the end, he didn’t get into a regular high school. Xin Hexue had only heard from Lu Yang that Cai Shu went to a vocational high school.
But there were many vocational high schools in Lingzhou City, and Xin Hexue didn’t pay attention to which one Lu Yang mentioned. In addition, he wasn’t close with Cai Shu, so he didn’t realize that Cai Shu was actually studying at the vocational school next door.
Cai Shu was already quite tall and had been a sports student in junior high. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t have been a target for bullying. However, the several boys confronting him were also tall, with dyed hair of various colors. Though they wore more clothes in winter, glimpses of tattoos could still be seen on their necks.
Xin Hexue had heard that a group from the neighboring vocational school had connections with gangs of social youth outside.
He had seen that one of them had a short knife and was worried a stabbing might really occur, so he wanted to help stall for time before the police arrived.
The group obviously noticed him too, recognized his school uniform, and whistled. “A good student from No.1 High? What are you doing here?”
Cai Shu’s face seemed to have been hit, with a bruise on his cheekbone and a cut at the corner of his mouth. His expression was very unpleasant. He lifted his head from its lowered position and, seeing it was Xin Hexue who had come, his eyes widened in shock. “Don’t worry about me, get out of here!”
The wind tousled Xin Hexue’s soft black hair. These people were all in the dim, narrow passage, while he alone stood at the lit alley entrance.
Cai Shu heard Xin Hexue’s calm voice along with the sound of the wind.
“This person is my friend. Although I don’t know what happened, if you want money, I can give it to you.” Glancing at the knife in their hands, Xin Hexue added, “You’d better not resort to violence, otherwise it will be troublesome when the police arrive.”
“What’s this?” one of them sneered. “Cai Shu, you have friends? Even ones willing to come save you?”
“Tsk tsk tsk, I never thought an ill-mannered guy like Cai Shu has friends.”
“This kid crashed into Brother Wang’s bicycle and owes us a lot of money.”
The one referred to as Brother Wang was probably the leader of the group. He turned around and scrutinized Xin Hexue.
The good student was handsome and tall, standing there like a slender bamboo, making one want to break him.
Brother Wang twirled the knife. “Originally, I planned to cut off one of his little fingers today as a lesson. How much money do you have? Let’s see if it’s enough to buy one of his fingers.”
Xin Hexue pursed his lips, and checked for his wallet in his schoolbag. Xin Zhiying and Zhuang Ping had given him money in the morning to buy his own birthday gift. “Five hundred.”
Brother Wang initially thought the good student wouldn’t have much money on him. Upon hearing this, he raised an eyebrow. “Throw the wallet over, then we’ll let him go.”
Xin Hexue’s dark eyelashes lowered slightly as he wondered when the police in this area would arrive.
He was about to do as instructed when one of the troublemakers in the group said, “I was wondering why this good student looks so familiar. I saw him at the street entrance earlier. Brother Wang, that girl you like asked him for his Q.Q number.”
Xin Hexue’s eyelid twitched involuntarily.
A cold, gleaming light flashed into his view.
At the same time, an unprecedented roar exploded, “You bastard, how dare you?!”
The movement was so swift that Xin Hexue only caught a blur in his peripheral vision. His eyelid twitched even faster, and out of concern, he subconsciously shouted to stop, “Lu Yang!”
………
The boxing champion lived up to his name.
When the police arrived, if it weren’t for the disparity in numbers, they might not have been able to tell who was ganging up on whom.
Oh, you mean this student from No.1 High single-handedly beat up these knife-wielding, tattooed delinquents to a pulp?
The police officer taking statements looked somewhat stunned.
On one side was the righteous act of intervening in an injustice, and on the other was armed extortion. The police comforted the victim, Cai Shu, and acknowledged Yu Zao and Xin Hexue’s timely call to the police. Finally, they scolded Lu Yang a bit, saying he shouldn’t charge in so impulsively next time, especially when the other side had knives.
Lu Yang said, “I was perfectly calm.”
The police said they could go home first, that they would continue dealing with those few individuals, and asked Lu Yang if he was injured anywhere and needed to get checked or treated.
Lu Yang laughed, “No, nowhere. I just got a bit of dirt at the corner of my clothes, a bit of wind and frost, that’s all.”
After giving his statement, Xin Hexue kept a cold face and didn’t speak. Lu Yang secretly glanced at his expression and stopped laughing.
When no one was looking, he secretly reached behind to hook Xin Hexue’s hand but was slapped away hard.
The parents were waiting anxiously in the lobby. Seeing them come out from the inner room, they hurried forward to check on them.
Lu Yang scanned the area and muttered, “My son’s even been to the police station, and Ms. Zhu didn’t even come to see.”
Cai Shu seemed to finally come to his senses and said to Lu Yang, “I actually came to No.1 High today to tell you about something.”
But he got cornered by those guys on the way.
Lu Yang was puzzled, “What is it?”
Xin Hexue turned back and saw that after Cai Shu said something, Lu Yang’s expression changed.
This kind of expression had almost never appeared on Lu Yang’s face before. Xin Hexue even felt he looked somewhat panicked at that moment, more severe than when facing the knife.
Then, he faintly heard Cai Shu continue, “Now your dad has been detained…is awaiting investigation… job-related embezzlement… Auntie Zhu took the train over at noon…”
Lu Yang subconsciously looked at Xin Hexue, and that glance truly made him look like a helpless and pitiful dog.
Fortunately, his master opened arms. “Come here.”
