Chapter 8 (1/2)

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 fucking gangs! Do you know the marks you got on the mock exam? How many days were you absent without leave? Look at the fucking 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 pass the college entrance examination. However, even if he passed, 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 shitty 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 badass earlier, Jingzhe!”

Lin Jingzhe frowned and turned his head away, expression disgusted, but actually, he was somewhat embarrassed 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 fuck, man, have you gone nuts? What did I do to you? You’re fucking 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.