Chapter 26: Gaining Both Fame and Fortune

  The next day, when we went to class for morning self-study, Ma Long, Zhao Ziyang and I were all a little nervous in our hearts, afraid that as soon as we stepped into the classroom, we would be taken away by the police.

  To be honest, we didn't sleep well at night, the door was locked tightly, for fear that the police would come knocking.

  It turned out that our worries were unnecessary, and until the end of the morning class, the police uncle did not appear. The stone in our hearts also fell by half, and the other half would fall completely as long as the teacher didn't come to find us today.

  So for the whole day, my mind couldn't focus and was a bit dazed, which made Lu Xiaoyu, who came to discuss questions with me during class breaks, very unhappy. I guess she thought I was thinking about Zhou Lin again.

  As for Zhou Lin, she has thoroughly become a good student these days. Apart from studying, eating and going to the toilet, I don't think I've seen her do anything else, of course it's also possible that I haven't paid much attention to her in the past two days.

  So as not to make Lu Xiaoyu angry, in the afternoon I told him about our fight with Jiang Guoping last night and also carefully explained our concerns to him.

  "After listening, Lu Xiaoyu covered her small mouth and looked around for a while before whispering: 'Will things get out of hand?'"

  I saw her worry and smiled softly: "It should be fine, a whole day has almost passed, the police and teachers haven't received any news, which means Jiang Guoping hasn't exposed the matter."

  Lu Xiaoyu finally felt at ease and nodded, as for when she was explaining the topic, I would get distracted, but she didn't pursue it further, only occasionally reminding me to continue listening carefully.

  At dinner time, Wang Chao and Huang Kui from Li Liang's class brought me a message about Chen Shao.

  It is said that Chen Shao had a big outburst in his own classroom this morning, and even beat up several troublemakers from the neighboring class. As a result, he was severely criticized by the grade director.

  Then Huang Kui leaned in close to my ear and whispered mysteriously, "Feng Ge, do you know why Chen Shao is angry? Hehe, I heard that Chen Shao's top fighter Jiang Guoping was beaten up by someone, and it's said he's quite badly injured, so he's taking two weeks off to recover at home."

  I pretended to be curious and asked: "Oh, how did you know?"

  Huang Kui said, "I saw Jiang Guoping's mother when she came to school to ask for leave today. I heard that she even quarreled with our grade leader and Jiang Guoping's class teacher. Jiang Guoping's mother kept emphasizing that her son was beaten near the school and it had something to do with the school, asking the school to investigate. However, the grade leader and Jiang Guoping's class teacher insisted that Jiang Guoping was beaten outside of school and it had nothing to do with the school. Neither side would give in, and they quarreled until Jiang Guoping's mother shouted that she wanted to transfer her son to another school."

  After listening to Huang Kui, I also broke a sweat in my heart. It seems that Jiang Guoping is also a qualified school mixer. In the end, he didn't expose me to my parents and teachers, otherwise his mother wouldn't have quarreled with the teacher, but instead came directly to the school to find me and ask for an explanation.

  Huang Kui finished speaking and saw that I didn't have any reaction, so he said in surprise: "Feng Ge, it can't be that Jiang Guoping was killed by you, right?"

  I gave a mysterious smile: "Alright, stop guessing blindly, let's go eat quickly, don't you see your sister-in-law has been waiting for me there for half a day?"

  Huang Kui turned his head and saw Lu Xiaoyu standing near my seat, waiting for me. He immediately showed a smiling face: "Ah, sorry, I'm late, I've delayed Sister and Crazy Brother from having dinner, it's all my fault."

  Lu Xiaoyu's face turned red with embarrassment: "Yi Feng, what nonsense are you talking about? What sister-in-law? I...I'm not waiting for you, I'm waiting for...I'm waiting for Ma Long. Hu Fei asked me to come and call Ma Long to eat dinner."

  Ma Long stood up immediately and said: "Alright, sister-in-law, I'll go with you now."

  The little rain on the road blushed and turned away, walking straight out the door, apparently too ashamed to stay.

  I didn't stop either, pushing open Huang Kui and Wang Chao to chase after them. At the same time, I said to the two of them: "You two classes are close to Chen Shao, be careful yourselves, also, if Li Liang comes back, tell me."

  Huang Kui and Wang Chao nodded at the same time, following us out of the classroom.

  I had just taken two steps out when I heard Huang Kui and Wang Chao discussing behind me.

  "It seems that Jiang Guoping was probably killed by Peng."

  "Yeah, Crazy Brother is awesome!"

  I caught up with Lu Xiaoyu, forcibly pulling her small hand and saying: "Alright Xiaoyu, don't be angry, besides you're my girlfriend now. It's not them calling you sister-in-law, what would they call you?"

  Lu Xiaoyu didn't know how to defend herself and could only say obediently: "But in front of so many people, I, I'm too embarrassed."

  At dinner time, I ate one more bun than usual, hmm, probably because of a good mood.

  As the saying goes, a fire cannot be wrapped in paper. After telling Jiang Guoping and the teachers about it, it became even harder to keep it under wraps. So, the news of Jiang Guoping being beaten spread quickly throughout the school, and by evening study time, almost all of Class One had heard about it.

  Just as we were halfway through our evening self-study session, the head of our grade came to our classroom and called me, Ma Long, and Zhao Ziyang out.

  My heart sank at once: could it be that our fight with Jiang Guoping had reached the teacher's ears, and if so, with any further evidence, a warning or criticism was inevitable.

  We arrived at the grade director's office, Ma Long looked at me nervously, while I smiled slightly to indicate that everything was fine; Zhao Ziyang, on the other hand, had an expression of indifference, probably not taking any punishment seriously, as he would say, "If you don't get punished a few times for being a troublemaker, it's like doing business without achieving performance."

  This time, the head teacher's office had only him in it. After entering the office, I asked proactively: "Teacher Huo, what did you want to see us about?"

  The class teacher stared at me and said, "I asked you if you went outside the school last night. Some classmates reported to me that after the school gate was locked, the three of you climbed over the wall to get back into school. Is this true?"

  The three of us shook our heads in unison and said: "No way."

  We were called by the teacher for a talk, and we three had rehearsed it long ago. No matter how the teacher asked, we three would have only one answer, that is, we did not leave the school gate yesterday, let alone know what happened.

  Seeing that we three were so consistent, the class director sneered: "Stop pretending to be garlic in front of me, a classmate has already reflected it to me and can testify against you."

  I also smiled and said, "Since that's the case, then Teacher Huo can call out the classmates who are accusing us. The three of us are willing to confront them face-to-face, and at the same time, we can serve as witnesses to prove that we were all in our dormitory last night. If Teacher Huo wants to ask questions, I can go get the person right now for Teacher Huo to question."

  I don't know why, but every time I'm in front of this guy with the surname Huo, my heart can't calm down, and I always can't help but want to retort him a few times. It's even to the point where if I don't retort him a few times, I feel uncomfortable inside.

  The informant who reported to the class director would naturally not come out to confront us, because if they did, that person would be beaten up, and our "lovely" class director would also lose this informer.

  But this time the intelligence was confirmed that we beat Jiang Guoping, as long as Jiang Guoping himself did not admit that it was us who beat him, the class director still could not punish us, so he could only glare at us fiercely and use other harsh words to coerce us.

  After more than half an hour, he saw that asking further would yield no results, so he let Ma Long and Zhao Ziyang return to the classroom first.

  After they left, the class director sneered at me and said: "Yi Feng, Yi Feng, what you did this time is really great. Jiang Guoping didn't report you, the school can't do anything to you, but I can give you the punishment you deserve."

  The class teacher slapped me in the face again.

  This time I didn't resist, because I knew that the surname Ho was forcing me to make a mistake. Last time, the more upright instructor was present, and the surname Ho couldn't talk nonsense. But this time it was different, only two people were left, me and the surname Ho. If I had fought back, no matter what I said, it would have been the teacher's word against mine, and I would have been accused of fighting with the teacher, or even assaulting the teacher. The result would have been expulsion.

  I naturally wouldn't fall for someone with the surname Huo, in my heart I was asking after the entire Huo family while gritting my teeth and enduring this scoundrel's slap after slap.

  At the same time, I secretly made up my mind: this guy with the surname Huo isn't trying to drive me out of No. 1 Middle School, is he? Well, not only will I let him fail to drive me away, but I'll also make sure to thrive in No. 1 Middle School like a fish in water. I'll make it so that An Kang and Lu Jiu are nothing compared to me; no, I'll do even better than them.

  I was slapped more than twenty times before this guy with the surname Huo stopped and said, "You're quite capable of enduring pain, okay? I won't be able to deal with you now, but remember what I'm saying: every time I hear that you've gotten into a fight, I'll beat you up once. Each time, I'll make sure it hurts you deeply, so you'd better watch yourself."

  My face has been beaten red and swollen, and my cheeks are unbearably painful.

  I still don't speak.

  Seeing me speechless, Mr. Ho knew that beating me again would be of no value, so he yelled "get out" and let me leave his office.

  When I returned to the classroom, the evening study was almost over, so the noise in the class was relatively loud. But as soon as I entered the classroom, all the noise stopped, and everyone looked at me, they saw that my face had been beaten.

  And I also had a burning fire in my heart, suddenly an idea rose up in my mind, so I took a deep breath and cursed: "What are you all looking at? I was beaten by the class director for fighting with Jiang Guoping, haven't you seen it before? If you haven't seen it before, come over and let me show you my face?"

  Everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared to make a sound.

  It wasn't until I sat back in my own seat that the murmurs of discussion began to circulate quietly throughout the classroom.

  "Is it true? I heard Jiang Guoping is really crazy and even got beaten up in hospital?"

  "No way, I heard Jiang Guoping's mom even made a scene at school today."

  "Isn't Jiang Guoping the number one thug under Chen Shao's command?"

  "It's estimated that the madman is going to start a war with Chen Shao this time, and it's expected to be a big deal."

  “……”

  Lu Xiaoyu then moved over to my side and used water from her own cup to moisten a handkerchief, which she applied to my wound.

  At the same time, she said with a heartache: "This head teacher is really something. If you hit someone, just punish them according to school regulations. Why do you have to physically punish students? You don't even have any moral integrity as a teacher."

  I forced a smile and said: "A beating in exchange for a warning or a major demerit, I think it's worth it."

  Lu Xiaoyu told me not to speak, while Zhao Ziyang brought over the remaining red flower oil from the previous fight and handed it to Lu Xiaoyu, who then began to vigorously apply it to my face.

  At the same time, he also started worrying and said: "Yi Feng, you just acknowledged on stage that you hit Jiang Guoping, won't anything happen?"

  I shook my head: "Don't worry, I admit it now. When I get to the teacher's place, I'll still be playing tricks and turning things around. They don't have any evidence, so they can't do anything to me. Since the grade director is accusing me of hitting Jiang Guoping as a 'crime', then I have no reason to let this news be buried. I want everyone to know about it, I want Chen Shao to know that I broke his arm and he's angry, I want Mr. Huo to hear that I hit Jiang Guoping and there's no evidence to punish me."

  Lu Xiaoyu worriedly said: "What if Jiang Guoping returns to school and identifies you?"

  I smiled and said, "The four words 'refuse to admit' are also valid for fighting. As long as they didn't accuse me immediately after the incident, even if they accused me a few days later, it would be useless. The incident happened so long ago that I can completely say they are framing me, and I really have witnesses who can prove that I was in school all night on the day of the incident. Even if Jiang Guo Ping confronted me face-to-face, he wouldn't be able to do anything to me. Moreover, he also couldn't explain why he would get beaten up by that wall, considering it's in the opposite direction of his home. He can't possibly say that he and his girlfriend were messing around in the woods and then jumped over the wall, right? So this matter has already taken shape."

  "What type is it?"

  "I said: 'I have gained both wealth and prestige!'"

  Lu Xiaoyu listened to my explanation and her worries lessened, she began to focus on my wound: "Hmph, you're so eloquent, it seems your cheek isn't hurting that much."

  I smiled wickedly and said: "A kiss will make it even less painful."

  After finishing the evening self-study session, Lu Xiaoyu accompanied me to the infirmary and helped me get some anti-inflammatory medication, only then did she finally put her mind at ease.

  As for how the people in the class will spread the information I revealed tonight, I don't care. The more fiercely they spread it, the happier I am.

  What I most want to see is still how the surname Ho and Yu Zichen will react tomorrow.