Some of Lin Jingzhe's fury was vented on "Azure Dragon" Zhang, but there was still a lot left for Zhou Haitang. He let it out as soon as they returned.

"You dare fool around! With f.u.c.king gangs! Do you know the marks you got on the mock exam? How many days were you absent without leave? Look at the f.u.c.king calendar!"

Zhou Haitang, who excitedly gushed about the fight as they walked back, deflated like a punctured balloon. Not daring to avoid Lin Jingzhe's blows, he stayed still and let him slap the back of his head. "How could I know gangsters were like this…"

Because his grades were poor, he didn't hold out much hope to pa.s.s the college entrance examination. However, even if he pa.s.sed, what future would he have?

Attend college? The tuition fee was fiendishly expensive. Both his parents used to work at Liyun Thermos Factory. Even earlier, when they were fairly well off, they didn't dare underestimate the tuition fee. After the last year's laid-offs, the possibility of gathering the money dwindled to pretty much nothing.

If he didn't go to college, he would either learn a vocational trade or become a migrant worker. Zhou Haitang was unwilling to do either because it meant leaving Liyun Town. Then, his parents, who were always browbeaten and taken advantage of by the factory leader, would have no one to look after them.

He was a little older than Lin Jingzhe but still younger than twenty, and wet behind the ears. Watching his parents being bullied, what he pondered on every day was how to get ahead. In the eyes of provincial kids, what was more impressive than the "gang leaders" who swaggered through the town with their retinues, throwing money left and right?

He kept planning in his mind: he'd quickly become Xu Liang's right-hand man then let both his parents and Gao Sheng's mother, Hu Yu, quit their jobs, so they'd no longer have to endure their s.h.i.+tty bosses. He'd find Gao Sheng's father a lucrative job in Liyun Town, so the man could finally live at home with his family instead of wandering as a migrant worker. And, he'd help Lin Jingzhe take care of his venomous relatives. All those difficulties dealt with, they'd live happily ever after.

But now…

Zhou Haitang recalled Xu Liang, whom he'd thought all-powerful, groveling before "Azure Dragon" Zhang, then, after Lin Jingzhe beat Zhang, before Lin Jingzhe, and finally, the scales fell from his eyes. What all-powerful? What awe-inspiring fame? The gangs he admired were nothing more than a bunch of bragging hooligans. He let himself be deceived, ignorant, naive sucker that he was.

Though he didn't know how the future would've developed as Lin Jingzhe did, at the moment, he was regretful. This regret came from shame—he wanted to boast about this "big brother," he followed, but as a result, he only showed his friends what a fool he was. Now, if someone stood in front of him, said he was the boss of the whole Qunnan Province's underworld and was willing to let him become his younger brother, Zhou Haitang would spit in his face.

He was stubborn—once he decided on something, it was almost impossible to make him change his mind. He had no idea the course of his life changed entirely because of his newfound conviction. Besides, at the moment, what came to him as the greatest shock was the scene of Lin Jingzhe beating up "Azure Dragon" Zhang, the disillusionment with the gangs a distant second.

Lin Jingzhe had always been smarter and better-looking than him; even though his character was cold, many girls secretly liked him. Zhou Haitang's only advantage over him was height and strength—or so he'd believed. He used to worry that when Lin Jingzhe left to study in some strange city alone, he would be bullied, but it seemed his fears were unfounded.

Since the person being beaten not only didn't hide but kept apologizing, Lin Jingzhe soon grew bored. Thinking that this lesson should be enough for Zhou Haitang to stay away from unsavory places, he let him off, not forgetting to throw in one last threat for good measure: "Just try to contact these people in the future, and I will break your legs!"

Instantly forgetting the pain, Zhou Haitang sat up and clung to Lin Jingzhe's legs, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "You were so bada.s.s earlier, Jingzhe!"

Lin Jingzhe frowned and turned his head away, expression disgusted, but actually, he was somewhat embarra.s.sed at being praised so sincerely.

Gao Sheng, who looked on from the side, felt his heart fill with worry.

Zhou Haitang was a bit of an idiot and tended not to think about things too deeply, but Gao Sheng was much more sensible. His reaction to what Lin Jingzhe did was not awe but anxiety.

I shouldn't have taken Jingzhe to the night market on Baima Street. He wouldn't have encountered those gangsters, Gao Sheng thought remorsefully, blaming himself.

Since his grandfather's death, Lin Jingzhe's temperament drastically changed, probably because he grieved too much. He was colder and his temper shorter, and it seemed nothing could make him cower and submit. Well, becoming more courageous was usually a good thing, but today, just now, Lin Jingzhe almost strangled someone to death!

Gao Sheng's hands still trembled with lingering fear.

What scared him was not Lin Jingzhe killing someone in cold blood but the price he'd have to pay for it.

And so, Gao Sheng's vague notion of entering a gang was successfully nipped in the bud—he worried about how to stop Lin Jingzhe from going astray instead.

No, I won't allow it. Jingzhe is a good kid. He's smart and talented. No way am I going to let him waste his life like this!

Once he found his determination, Gao Sheng's mind became clearer than ever. He swore to himself to stop Lin Jingzhe from coming into contact with bad guys ever again. Right now, diverting Lin Jingzhe's attention from fighting and killing was his top priority.

Gao Sheng gritted his teeth, opened his school bag, and took out a stack of thick and fiendishly difficult textbooks which made him feel like crying every time he saw them. With a grin, he interrupted Zhou Haitang's flattery-interspersed chatter, to which Lin Jingzhe listened with a faint smile.

He suggested earnestly, "Jingzhe, we have to hurry up and review. Zhou Haitang's not only been absent for so long, but he got a total score of 200 marks, which is even worse than me. For now, you should concentrate on him, or he won't catch up."

Zhou Haitang's mouth dropped open in shock. The look in his eyes screamed, "What the f.u.c.k, man, have you gone nuts? What did I do to you? You're f.u.c.king trying to murder me!"

Lin Jingzhe, however, felt that Gao Sheng's suggestion made sense and adopted it immediately. He raised Zhou Haitang's chin with one knee and looked down at him with an expression saying resistance was futile: "Get up and have at these math problems, or I'll break your leg."

Over thirty people beat up one—"Azure Dragon" Zhang didn't do things by halves.

Jiang Run naturally ended up in a hospital. When Jiang Xiaoyun and Liu De got the news, their hearts almost stopped. They dropped everything and rushed to their son's side.

The doctor and policemen frowned at the sight of the smartly dressed, obviously well-off couple. Remembering the confession of the people they'd arrested, they thought looks could be deceiving—the two clearly didn't know how to educate their son.

Jiang Xiaoyun's psychological defense collapsed the instant the door opened and she caught sight of Jiang Run. Her baby son, her treasure, whom she coddled and cosseted, was lying infirmly in a hospital bed, covered with injuries. The bandages wrapped almost his whole body, and what skin was visible was green and purple with bruises.

Jiang Xiaoyun burst out crying. She shrieked through tears: "Who was it? What son of a b.i.t.c.h did this!?"

She threw herself down on the floor beside the bed, looking as if she was going crazy. The doctor, afraid her heart couldn't endure, showed her the medical report and comforted, "It's all right. These injuries might look scary, but in fact, they are minor and won't have any aftereffects. Only his left hand is slightly serious; possibly because it was repeatedly stomped on, there were some dislocations—of course, it's already been taken care of. However, even though these are just flesh wounds, they're relatively painful. The patient has just fallen asleep; we'll see how he feels when he wakes up. He can be prescribed painkillers if necessary."

The gangsters who beat Jiang Run were actually pretty clever—they knew exactly how far could they go. The beating caused no major injuries, so the consequences they had to bear were minimal, but their victim felt painful enough to die.

As soon as Jiang Xiaoyun heard the words "minor injury," she blew up. Crying, she rose to her feet, approached the doctor, and shoved him: "Bulls.h.i.+t! Are you blind? My son is like this, and you say he's just slightly hurt!?"

As the doctor gaped at her, shocked, she noticed the two policemen in the room. She immediately changed the targets, grabbing the one next to her: "Comrades policemen! Comrades policemen! You have to get justice for us! My son attends Liyun No. 1 High School, he's an exemplary student! And he was beaten like this! What about his attackers, did you catch them? These animals must be shot!"

The police officer she grabbed was frowning because of her att.i.tude towards the doctor, but had no choice but to treat her with patience—he couldn't let his private opinions interfere with his duties. He replied officially, "Please calm down, ma'am, this matter is still under investigation. We need to establish the facts first."

"Establish the facts?" Jiang Xiaoyun stared at him with wide eyes. "My son is lying right there, hurt! What facts! Or, did you get something from…"

"Control your tongue, ma'am!" The policeman interrupted her, frowning. He really didn't need to listen to her insinuations. "The attackers were a group of unemployed hooligans. The police did arrest them, but the situation is a bit complicated—they claim they had a cooperative relations.h.i.+p with the victim, and that the dispute happened because they couldn't agree about how to divide the profit from stolen goods. Though we don't know if their confession is true, we need to interrogate your son too, this is the procedure. I hope you understand."

Jiang Xiaoyun stopped short. Wait, hooligans? Was it the group that was supposed to browbeat Lin Jingzhe?

Regret drowned her like a tsunami, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe. However, she was aware she must never admit their two sides cooperated. If Jiang Run got a criminal record, his future would be completely ruined!

Her hand gripping the police uniform loosened, and she staggered back, managing a pale smile, then exclaimed, "Lies! They are slandering my son! Comrades policemen, you can't possibly believe what these dregs of society are saying!"

It's not clear who's the real dregs of society, the policeman thought, inwardly shaking his head. But I'm surprised—who would've thought the student of the best school in our town would be so degenerate? It must be because of the way he was brought up—even in this situation, his mother is thick-faced enough to claim he's an exemplary student.

The reason he was certain Jiang Run and the gang members were accomplices was the evidence they had confirming it.

His colleague came over to discuss something with him in a low voice then took out a pa.s.sbook and inquired, "Mrs. Jiang, is the account number on this pa.s.sbook familiar?"

At first, Jiang Xiaoyun was puzzled, but a moment later, she realized what the policeman was holding. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.

"The owner of this account is you. Three days ago, someone used it to remit 2,000 yuan to the account with number 654*****. Can you tell us who?"

Jiang Xiaoyun felt everything go black and nearly fainted. 654***** was "Azure Dragon" Zhang's account—and it was she who went to the bank to make the transfer. 2,000 yuan was a large amount of money. At the time, she was actually reluctant but told herself the antiques were indispensable to advance her plans; once she succeeded, she would be rich enough not to care about a meager two thousand. Only then could she force herself to sign.

The policemen weren't surprised she didn't answer. They exchanged meaningful glances and continued, "Never mind, we will know once we contact the bank. Now, we need your cooperation to discover the purpose of that remittance…"

At this point, Jiang Xiaoyun stopped listening—she knew refuting would be futile. The bank could easily find both sender and recipient of such a significant sum of money. She'd had no choice at the time: "Azure Dragon" Zhang wouldn't move without receiving payment upfront. Unfortunately, now that their transaction had been discovered, she could argue until she was blue in the face that Jiang Run had no connection with the gang, but no one would believe her.

The policeman saw her stand there in a daze and repeated his questions a few times, but it was obvious she wasn't able to give coherent answers. As such, he took his colleague and left, to let her calm down first.

Then, the only people in the ward were Jiang Run, sleeping quietly, Jiang Xiaoyun, who sat on the ground next to his bed looking as if the soul had left her body, and Liu De, who sat at the stool by the door, focused on his cigarette.

The atmosphere was oppressive and still like a pool of stagnant water.

Crash—

Finally, Liu De couldn't bear it any longer. He stood, picked up the thermos, and smashed it against the windowsill with all his strength.

It shattered. The hot water mixed with the shards of gla.s.s and splashed all over the floor. He stared at the sunlight reflecting in the puddles, dizzy. In all his years, he'd never lost his temper like this.

"What a great job you did!" This was the first time he'd mustered up the courage to speak to his domineering wife. Then, tears flowing down his face, he rushed out of the ward, slamming the door shut with a deafening clang.

Jiang Xiaoyun's weeping intensified until she almost couldn't breathe.

Translator: Eques

Editor: Bet