Chapter 22-26 (1/2)

NPT C22 PART 1

NO PROTECTION TONIGHT

CHAPTER 22: PUBLIC TARGET (PART 1)

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“Mei, go buy some sensible clothes for Feng when you have some free time. It’s a bother to see him always wearing the same outfit.” Tangge said.

Tangsao did previously offer to go shopping with me for clothes, but I denied. If Tangge were to take notice, there might be some unwanted misunderstandings.

But now, Tangge was the one who brought up the issue first, and there didn’t seem to be any discontent in the tone of his voice. He didn’t seem to have a problem with me spending time with Saozi.

Though, it did make sense. Maybe Tangge had previously worried that he might be cheated on, since it wasn’t impossible that a country b.u.mpkin like me to fall for Saozi’s seductions.

However, things were different now. If others were to judge from my current standpoint, Liu Jie was a beautiful young girl of high status, and Saozi was already married; any normal guy would definitely pick Liu Jie. Still, I just had to disagree. The happiness and excitement that I experienced with Saozi was definitely something Liu Jie could never give me.

“Mm, then let’s go in the evening. We should send him back to school first, or else he’ll be late.” Saozi replied.

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the gate. To my surprise, Liu Jie was waiting for me at the entrance, and walked up to me with a big smile on her face.

She hooked her elbow with mine, and my heart started to race from the soft bounce of her chest. My mind traced back to what happened in the car.

“Feng, what took you so long? You should’ve come with me after all.” Liu Jie pouted her lips. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How on earth could the speed of Saozi’s Honda Fit compare to a million-yuan Porsche?

Of course, I could tell that Liu Jie wasn’t actually disappointed, she just missed me.

“Well, that wouldn’t have worked. Your dad was in the car, too.” I shook my head. Having a free lunch fall out of the sky was already good enough for me.

“Aye, I don’t like him at all, he always rambles on nonstop. If you were there, he would shut up.” Liu Jie complained.

“Ahem, Cla.s.smate Liu Jie, we’re on campus now, so we should keep our distance.” I let go of her, and she didn’t seem very happy about it. “Hmph, I don’t care, I’m still going to hold you.”

Then, she took my arm again, and we strolled into the school grounds. I felt powerless against her charm.

Student romance was supposed to be banned on campus, so the two of us were quite a sight.

“Who is that, how did he get with Liu Jie?”

“I know that guy, he’s the new top bra.s.s around here. His name is Zhuang Feng.”

“Zhuang Feng? That guy who f**ked up Guo Tao?”

“Who else? There’s no one with b.a.l.l.s bigger than his at our school!”

I didn’t pay attention to them, and took Liu Jie upstairs into the building. I noticed that her hands were soft and delicate, and unconsciously squeezed them. Her cheeks reddened slightly.

“Hmph, doofus.” Liu Jie rolled her eyes. She seemed rather sensitive.

When we neared the cla.s.sroom door, I saw a tall and stocky guy standing at the frame. Liu Jie’s brows furrowed at the sight.

“Li Zhiyuan, why are you here?” Liu Jie asked, annoyed.

“What, why aren’t you happy to see me? Because you’re cheating on me?” Li Zhiyuan sneered. Cheating? I remembered Guo Tao saying something about Li Zhiyuan and Liu Jie on our first encounter.

Could she be the kind of girl to have a fickle heart? That would be a relief to me, then.

“Stop lying, there’s nothing between us right now.” Liu Jie huffed.

Li Zhiyuan ignored her, and said, “Well, for now, anyways. And it’s best for you, punk, to stay away from Jie. She’s not someone you can handle.”

“What do you mean ‘handle’? You’re the worst.” Liu Jie got angry, and slapped him across the face.

NPT C22 PART 2

NO PROTECTION TONIGHT

CHAPTER 22: PUBLIC TARGET

He seemed to be stunned by her blow, and bewildered eyes all around us turned in our direction. “Oh, so you’re hitting me now? If you don’t explain yourself today, then don’t even think about walking into your cla.s.sroom!” He cried stubbornly.

“Are you sure you’re not going to let me pa.s.s?” I tried to go around him, but he moved to block me.

“You must swear to never bother Jie again, or you can wait here all day.” Li Zhiyuan declared.

I stomped on his foot. He leaped upwards with a howl, looking rather funny.

“You little sh*t, just wait!” Li Zhiyuan swore. Because the homeroom teacher had just come, he didn’t dare start anything.

During cla.s.s, Liu Jie wrote a message on a slip of paper, and had her cla.s.smates pa.s.s it to me.

“Hey, did you get angry?” Her graceful handwriting looked really cute.

In contrast, mine was like a goblin’s. “Nope.”

“Tch, liar. Don’t mind what Li Zhiyuan said earlier. I’ve been in a relations.h.i.+p with him before, but I realized that he was a complete jerk real fast. We were only together for a week before he asked me to spend the night in a hotel room like some r.e.t.a.r.d. When I denied him, he thought I had someone else on my mind, and always tried to find a chance to look through my phone. I couldn’t take him anymore, so I dumped him, but he played the victim card and spread all sorts of rumors about me in school. I hate him so much.”

With Liu Jie’s explanation, it dawned on me. Her reputation in school indeed wasn’t the best, and I had heard some gossip that she was a very unstable person with a history of careless relations.h.i.+ps. But now, after being with her, I understood that she really was quite the opposite.

Li Zhiyuan was simply a villain. He probably knew that Liu Jie had a wealthy background, so he spread those rumors to make people think that she was a shallow girl.

“Okay, well, I stood up for you, didn’t I?” It was a pain to pa.s.s slips back and forth like this, but I didn’t have a phone.

I was glad that I was now respected in the cla.s.s, having cla.s.smates willing to pa.s.s slips for me. They still teased me though, joking that I had each foot in a different boat, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g a MILF and a loli at the same time. I only blushed at their comments.

After two cla.s.s periods, it was the homeroom teacher’s subject. Teacher Liu* walked into our cla.s.s with a sour expression.

*Though they have the same phonetic sound, Teacher Liu’s surname (刘) is different from Liu Jie’s (柳).

“Round up some boys, we’re entering the basketball compet.i.tion.” Her words stirred up a buzz in the cla.s.sroom.

“What basketball, Teacher Liu? Didn’t our cla.s.s forfeit already?” Liu Sanmao asked.

“Yeah, and I heard the school approved it, too.” w.a.n.g Xiaopang agreed.

“Yes, they did say that our cla.s.s didn’t have to partic.i.p.ate, but the head of the athletic department talked to me personally, saying that it was an opportunity to exercise and strengthen the bond between our cla.s.smates. By some logic, he said that this was mandatory and more important than our studies. If we still forfeit, our finals scores will be penalized!” Teacher Liu explained. She never liked athletics, and often put more emphasis on our textbooks than on getting some fresh air.

“I know; the head of the athletics department is Li Zhiyuan’s uncle. Zhuang Feng made him angry, so he asked him to do this as revenge. We’re all f**ked.” A cla.s.smate reminded us.

“Aye, all of our boys are weak p.u.s.s.ies, we don’t have enough to make a basketball team at all.” A girl said.

“Zhuang Feng, it’s all your fault. Beating up Guo Tao was whatever, but now you’re at odds with Li Zhiyuan? What do we do?”

Their accusations made me feel more or less awkward. Li Zhiyuan really was a coward, he must’ve heard about Guo Tao’s incident and didn’t dare to fight fire with fire.

“Zhuang Feng, maybe you should go apologize, the cla.s.s’ studies won’t be affected that way.” Teacher Liu suggested.

“Yeah, take some responsibility. Look at Xiaopang’s stature, he’s not fit for sports at all.”

“Mm, and from what I heard, the basketball compet.i.tion is already at the finals, we shouldn’t meddle with something big like that.”

Our cla.s.s only had about ten or so boys, and they all looked deeply unwilling to go. But, I didn’t want to apologize, either.

“It’s fine, I’ll go, then. No pressure on you guys.” I shrugged my shoulders.

NPT C23

NO PROTECTION TONIGHT

CHAPTER 23: MEN NEED TO HAVE SOME BLOODl.u.s.t

[Donate by going to the chapter POST on the main page! It’s the “No Protection Tonight” box on plumlizi.com]

The cla.s.s was speechless, and must’ve thought I had gone insane.

“Feng, have some common sense. This is basketball, not a fistfight. It’ll be too late to regret it when they do you in.”

“Yeah, Zhuang Feng, it’s not that big of a deal to give up. Their cla.s.s’ basketball skills are famous even in our entire city.”

Teacher Liu sighed, “Hey, be more supportive, guys. He’s doing this for your sake.”

“However, we can’t just have you enter the compet.i.tion alone. Let’s just get some random people to make up the team, and I’ll go with you guys. The other teachers will be there too, so the game will most likely end if they go too far.”

Though the other boys in my cla.s.s were incredibly unwilling, they couldn’t do anything against Teacher Liu’s decision.

The girls, however, grew excited as they started to discuss handsome boys from other cla.s.ses.

“You should all start preparing for the game at four o’clock. There’s half an hour left, so you should go warm up.” Teacher Liu wasn’t really a bad person. Besides being overly strict on our studies, she didn’t have any problems otherwise.

When we walked out, we heard the neighboring cla.s.sroom making fun of us. “Look, that weak-a.s.s cla.s.s is actually going to play basketball!”

“Haha, they were forced to. Let’s go watch later, Li Zhiyuan said that he’ll pummel them!”

The other boys behind me turned white with fear, with horror written all over their face.

When we arrived at the courts, the referee was just about to announce the results. “This year’s school basketball tournament first place goes to…”

“Wait, ref, Cla.s.s Five from the third-year wants to challenge us!” Li Zhiyuan shouted in our direction.

Liu Jie followed behind me, and asked me if I had played basketball before.

“Ah, nope.” I rubbed my nose. There were no basketb.a.l.l.s in our village; having a couple marbles to shoot with was already a luxury.

“You doofus, why did you volunteer if you haven’t played before? Go apologize to Li Zhiyuan later, I’ll back you up.” Liu Jie punched me lightly.

“What should I be afraid of? It’s not like I don’t know how it works, it’ll be fine.” I was unfazed. Li Zhiyuan had to be put in his place; he had been spreading the word all afternoon how he was going to pulverize us.

If I didn’t put an end to this, I wouldn’t be able to lift my head to my cla.s.smates in the future. With this opportunity, I’d be able to teach him that I wasn’t someone he could push around.

“No, no. You’ll pay a price for trying to crash through this by yourself, I’m not allowing it!” Liu Jie pouted, showing her dominant side.

“Why do you even care?” Somehow, I had become her boyfriend. Because Liu Jie hadn’t said she loved me, I didn’t mind.

“Tch, you’re thinking too much. I’m just worried that Mei-jie* will blame me if you get hurt.” Liu Jie pinched me. Was she addicted to pinching people or something?

*The prefix –jie is the same as –ge, but feminine. It can either be used for someone older than you, or an older relative/sibling. However, this is only for people who are a few years older.

I wasn’t going to let her go so easily, and I cupped my palm against her a.s.s when n.o.body was watching. Her suppleness was pure ecstasy to touch.

Liu Jie wasn’t prepared for it at all, and gasped in surprise. Her moan was filled with enticement and temptation.

The incessant chatter around us covered Liu Jie’s squeal, but some of our cla.s.smates around us caught it. They turned their heads away with knowing smiles.

Liu Jie’s face turned red with embarra.s.sment, showing her charming and tender side. Frankly, her small frame wasn’t lacking in curves at all.

City girls nowadays don’t eat much, so they’re often lacking in nutrition. There aren’t many who don’t have a decent breast size, but at the same time, many of their busts aren’t shaped particularly well. Liu Jie was an outlier, and her beautiful yet gentle arcs, along with her delicate collarbone and pale legs, exerted a powerful aura of youth.

It really wasn’t a surprise that there would be so many boys at our school who fancied her. Though, her words earlier about Saozi worrying about me carried a feeling of sourness.

Maybe the hot tea incident at the hotel earlier was a sign that I love her, but when Tangge and the others urged me to keep it going with Liu Jie, Saozi didn’t look like she wanted to object. Could she be signaling that I shouldn’t get ahead of myself?

I felt incredibly confused and tense while thinking about these things. Playing some ball and letting this frustration out was a good way to cool off.

Soon, our cla.s.s arrived at the courts, and Li Zhiyuan’s team was deep in discussion.

“Yuan-ge, this is getting a little out of hand, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, we’ve been working our a.s.ses off for half a month, and we’ve taken first place already. Why do we have to play another match? If-”

“Stick that ‘if’ up your crotch, Year Three’s Cla.s.s Five is a load of garbage. It’s not like you guys don’t know that that guy stole my girlfriend, and made me a laughingstock in front of everyone. I’m going to crush him for all the world to see!” Li Zhiyuan’s voice surged.

It was obvious that he said that for me to hear, but our guys were still indignant at his insults. “How could he talk sh*t about us like that?”

“Yeah, that’s just over the top.”

“Are your test scores any higher than ours? All brawn, no brain.”

Our cla.s.s wasn’t backing down. It wasn’t right at all to have undercla.s.smen talk about us like that. There were a hundred or so onlookers around us, so they weren’t letting it slide.

Li Zhiyuan started to go off again. “Play hard, I think we can end the game without them scoring a single point. If that happens, I’ll pay for a big dinner, and we’ll split the reward money evenly.”

His words made me curious. “Sanmao, first place has reward money?”

“Yep, every year’s basketball team champion gets six thousand yuan*. Feng-ge, is that what you’re going after?” Liu Sanmao saw my face light up, and asked in awe.

“Exactly, Sanmao. Everyone’s gotta have some goals, and if you put in the effort, there’s not much that you can’t achieve.” I patted his shoulder, but he smiled bitterly.

“Feng-ge, I’m surprised you still have a sense of humor at this point. We’ll be nothing but target practice for them, and it’ll be a wonder if we even score a single hoop.”

I narrowed my eyes. It was my first time playing basketball, and when Liu Sanmao asked me what position I was going to play, I replied that whatever one was fine.

“Feng-ge, have you never played basketball before?” He asked awkwardly.

I nodded solemnly. “Yep, but I’ve watched basketball in my free time on the TV. Don’t worry, I won’t drag the team down.”

“We can still forfeit. I’m guessing that once the match starts, they’ll totally screw us over. Our cla.s.s is just weak as h.e.l.l.” w.a.n.g Xiaopang had already lost confidence.

“You know, I’m guessing the reason why you guys are made fun of all the time is because you give up before anything even happens. Can’t you all act like men for once?” I got frustrated, and paused. “I don’t really care whether you guys come or not, I can go by myself.”

They stood in silence for a while. “F**king h.e.l.l, it’s just basketball. The most that can happen is sc.r.a.pes and bruises, and we can even skip school on an injury excuse.” w.a.n.g Xiaopang spoke.

“Sh*t, if even pervert w.a.n.g isn’t backing down, I won’t, either. We’re all graduating this year, and n.o.body wants to do that with regrets.”

They weren’t completely hopeless. All they needed was a spark to light up their flame of resolve.

NPT C24

NO PROTECTION TONIGHT

CHAPTER 24: YOU’RE SO MEAN

[Donate by going to the chapter post! Find it on the main page.]

Their spirits lifted with my encouragement, and the two cla.s.ses soon walked onto the basketball court.

It was a rather sorry sight. Even the students from our own cla.s.s was cheering on for Li Zhiyuan, but our only cheerleader was Liu Jie.

Everyone who watched thought that we were on a suicide mission. Though, that wasn’t anything to be surprised about.

I’d heard some people talk about Cla.s.s Eight, second-year. The whole cla.s.s was pretty much all headed into athletic colleges, so their grades didn’t really matter. In every sports compet.i.tion in our school, they’d always been at the top, snagging every single athletic award possible.

With the blow of the referee’s whistle, the game started in a flash. I was quick to grab the ball in one leap.

“Hmph, let’s see how you think you’re good enough to steal my woman.” Li Zhiyuan growled, and charged towards me.

With an easy sidestep, I dodged him and rushed to the other side of the court. The other players must’ve never antic.i.p.ated that I would evade Li Zhiyuan, and were too late in trying to stop me.

I ran to the basket, and dunked the ball in with an simple jump.

“Clang”. Dead silence followed the tumble of the ball, and everybody stared in disbelief.

“F**k, am I dreaming right now?”

“Wait a second, did Cla.s.s Five just score?”

Even the referee looked bewildered that we succeeded that easily.

Li Zhiyuan’s face darkened. To him, this was a really, really big deal. “What the h.e.l.l, did you guys grow up eating c.r.a.p? You guys couldn’t block him with that many people?”

Cla.s.s Eight wasn’t too happy with his scolding. “Yuan-ge*, didn’t you fail, too?”

*Remember, the prefix -ge means “big brother”, in a friendly/familiar way. It’s the same with how Zhuang Feng’s cla.s.smates call him Feng-ge.

“Shut up, how could I fail? I was just trying to create an opportunity for you guys, or else I’d just steal the spotlight. Don’t blame me.” Li Zhiyuan grumbled.

I almost laughed out loud. This guy was insecure to the max. His teammates stood in awkward silence, and didn’t say much else.

On the contrary, our cla.s.s was at a new height of excitement. “Feng-ge, you’re the coolest!”

“I couldn’t even keep up, we scored?”

“Feng-ge, you were hiding your claws all along!”

Their reaction was as if I had already won, though I didn’t quash their joy. The hardest step for a person to take is to face their own problems, and the best way to solve them is to take slow, steady steps.

They lacked that bravery, and I was more than happy to give them a push.

In the next round, the ball fell into the other team’s hands. The guy was fierce, and pushed right through our cla.s.s. But when he shot the ball, I slapped it out of the air, resulting in it landing in w.a.n.g Xiaopang’s hands. He looked surprised and afraid, and it was clear that his limbs didn’t have any coordination from his lack of exercise. He ran only two steps before cras.h.i.+ng onto the ground.

“Haha, this fatso is too funny.” The onlookers cracked up, and even our own team started scolding him.

“Stupid fatso, you never listen to us telling you to stop jacking off all the time.”

“What an eyesore…”

They were too caught up with teasing him, and forgot to keep in track of the ball. In no time, Li Zhiyuan s.n.a.t.c.hed it up.

“What a bunch of lowlifes. Let me show you how it’s done.” Then, he shot forward like a bull. But after he sprinted a few meters, his teammates couldn’t help but remind him.

“Yuan-ge, go get the ball back, what’re you standing around for?”

“What do you mean get it back, the ball’s right h-” Just as he spoke, Li Zhiyuan looked down at his empty hands in confusion. He hadn’t realized I had already taken the ball from him.

Another beautiful dunk earned me another round of praise from our cla.s.s.

“Whoa, Feng, you’re too awesome!” Liu Jie squealed in the distance.