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Chapter 587: Chapter 374 I Want to Learn That_2
On their way to the restaurant, they happened to see Jiang Ning riding his mountain bike home in the distance.
Duan Shigang inquired, "Chi Zi, is that Jiang Ning really something?"
Last week, he and Pang Jiao got into a fight, and Duan Shigang was sent flying on the spot. If it wasn’t for Jiang Ning blocking him, Duan Shigang figured he would have been in a terrible state.
Zhang Chi glanced at Jiang Ning and dismissed him, "All he has is good grades, fighting skills, good looks, and girls willing to spend money on him. What else is there to him?"
Hearing his dismissive tone, Duan Shigang first felt the logic was off, but then he agreed:
"True, nothing special."
Zhang Chi said, "This kind of person can only shine in school. What is he out in society?"
When it came to society, Duan Shigang was a real man of the world. With a voice full of experience, he said gravely:
"Society is much harder than school."
Zhang Chi added, "In my opinion, Brother Gang, you’re the real big shot of class 8."
Duan Shigang was delighted to hear that. To him, the pride in Zhang Chi’s words meant that this high-standards person genuinely admired him, proving Duan Shigang’s own caliber.
During their conversation, Duan Shigang soon forgot about Jiang Ning and started asking Zhang Chi for information about the students of Class 8.
Previously, Cui Yu had explained it to him, but Duan Shigang wasn’t someone who only listened to one side of the story; he preferred gathering more information.
Soon, they entered the hot pot restaurant and were seated by an enthusiastic waiter.
Sitting in the air conditioning and looking at the hot pot restaurant, which was so many times more upscale than the usual small diners, Zhang Chi felt like he was part of the elite.
Duan Shigang handed him the menu to choose first.
Beef, lamb, tripe, shrimp paste, countless dishes dazzled Zhang Chi, and for a moment, he didn’t know which to order.
"Brother Gang, you’re the host, you pick!" Zhang Chi passed the menu back to avoid showing his confusion.
Duan Shigang was pleased and ordered a long list of dishes, along with some snacks.
Their conversation continued. When Hu Jun came up, Zhang Chi said, "Far too stingy, not cut out for greater things."
Regarding Wang Longlong, "He’s got some talent."
Concerning Guo Kunnan, "Indecisive, hard to accomplish anything major."
About Song Sheng, "Foolish courage, missing a few screws."
When it came to Ma Shicheng, Zhang Chi seriously said, "He’s well-liked, somewhat capable, best not to provoke."
The waiter brought the bell pepper pot, some pumpkin cakes, and fresh juice.
Duan Shigang poured him a glass, "Have some first to fill your stomach."
Zhang Chi quickly took a pumpkin cake, its fluffy sweetness made him feel like his previous days were worthless.
"Tell me about the girls in the class." Duan Shigang was particularly interested in this.
Zhang Chi: "If we’re talking about the prettiest, it’s definitely Bai Yuxia. Several guys in our class like her."
"Next is Shen Qing’e, our class’s literature and arts committee member, part of the class leader’s circle."
"And then Geng Lu." Speaking of her, Zhang Chi genuinely admired, "She can make money."
After a lengthy discussion, Zhang Chi had laid out the dynamics of Class 8 for Duan Shigang.
It was almost an hour before they barely finished the hot pot.
At the end, Zhang Chi was still not satisfied, having ordered a portion of noodles to slurp up with the spicy pot base, cleanly finishing them.
After the meal, Zhang Chi genuinely felt he was living a heavenly life.
Duan Shigang paid the bill, and Zhang Chi glanced and saw that the hot pot meal had cost 90 yuan.
Before leaving, Zhang Chi grabbed a handful of plum candies from the front desk since he had heard they were free.
"Ten minutes till class starts." Zhang Chi checked his phone, standing at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant, enjoying the breeze.
He looked down at the pedestrians around, a sense of satisfaction welling up inside him.
’See, I’m a man who’s eaten hot pot!’
Duan Shigang didn’t share his sentimental thoughts.
They walked on the concrete flower tiles on the sidewalk towards the school.
These tiles had an obvious flaw; with time, they can become loose. While they are manageable on a dry day, they can splatter up mud if it rains.
It wasn’t raining today, but some store owners were irresponsible enough to carelessly splash or drain dirty water onto the tiles, making them slick.
From afar, Zhang Chi saw a barefoot, dark-skinned little fatty deliberately stepping on the tiles, splashing filthy water around.
The child was being naughty; intentionally stepping harder when people passed by.
Two female students walked by in clean clothes, but after the little fatty stepped, their clothes got dirty, almost hitting their faces.
The child laughed loudly, finding enjoyment in his actions.
The girls, feeling helpless, ran off unable to do anything to the little fatty and hurried to wipe off with tissues.
Surrounding passersby kept out of their way, after all, dealing with such kids was always tricky.
Zhang Chi and Brother Gang continued forward, when the little boy saw them, he lashed out with a kick, but thankfully Zhang Chi dodged quickly by jumping to the side, avoiding it.
Brother Gang frowned, was he, Brother Gang, being underestimated by a bratty kid today?
But after all, Brother Gang was originally a big shot, not some petty thug with no class. He couldn’t bring himself to discipline a Little Fatty, fearing how others might gossip if they overheard.
Just as he was about to walk over, Zhang Chi suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He looked at Little Fatty with a smirk on his face that wasn’t quite a smile, "You’re causing trouble here, where are your parents?"
Little Fatty, likely accustomed to being lawless, scoffed arrogantly at someone like Zhang Chi,
"Grandpa, I came out to play all by myself!"
Zhang Chi’s expression suddenly changed, his eyebrows shot up, and his face turned fierce, "Damn it, you’re still so cocky by yourself?"
Facing the weak, Zhang Chi struck hard.
He grabbed Little Fatty by the hair as easily as uprooting a radish, hauling him over.
Zhang Chi raised his right hand and skillfully slapped him twice, "smack smack!"
With a fierce swing, the force flung Little Fatty into the air, then he dashed down, and Little Fatty hit the ground with a "thump."
Zhang Chi added a kick, making Little Fatty cry out for his parents.
Brother Gang didn’t even have time to react. What just happened?
At last, Zhang Chi kicked Little Fatty and declared,
"Motherfucker, act tough next time, and every time I see you, I’ll beat you!" 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
Aside from the thrill, Zhang Chi felt extremely relieved, walking away under the stunned gazes of the onlookers.
...
Back at school, Brother Gang went off to smoke with Deng Xiang and the others.
Zhang Chi headed straight back to class, pulling out some plum candies, and distributed one to several people in the back row, not purely out of kindness, but to show off.
Sure enough, Guo Kun Nan received the plum candy and exclaimed in surprise, "Zhang Chi, why did you buy plum candy today?"
At the same time, Wang Longlong and Dan Kaiquan looked at him.
Zhang Chi secretly thrilled, "Hey, we had hotpot after school, the waiter gave them to us!"
Cui Yu leaned in to smell it and indeed, he could smell the hotpot scent on Zhang Chi’s clothes, concluding, "It’s true."
"Why are you able to eat hotpot?" Cui Yu didn’t understand, knowing how poor Zhang Chi was, how could he afford hotpot?
Zhang Chi took offense, "Why can’t I eat hotpot? It was Brother Gang who wanted to treat me!"
Hearing this, Cui Yu exclaimed, "What, he treated you to hotpot?"
Remembering he had just declined an invitation from Brother Gang that afternoon.
Seeing their amazed expressions, Zhang Chi felt ecstatic, "Can’t help it, just look at my good luck."
...
Evening self-study.
Chen Siyu gave herself a test, spending two periods writing a math test paper.
After finishing, she handed the paper to Jiang Ning to act as the teacher and correct her answers.
Chen Siyu tightly clasped her hands together, her eyes fixed on Jiang Ning with her slightly curled eyelashes fluttering nervously as she awaited the results.
Jiang Ning corrected the paper quickly, taking less than two minutes to finish.
He put down the red marker.
Chen Siyu timidly asked, "How many points?"
At the moment, her demeanor, far from her usual confident and lively self, still, as a high school student facing crucial scores, she couldn’t ignore them.
Jiang Ning said, "115 points, not bad."
Chen Siyu’s face momentarily showed disappointment before she weakly said, "Still didn’t pass 120 points."
"Just keep practicing, don’t worry," Jiang Ning said.
As Chen Siyu felt down, she turned to Xue Yuantong sitting next to her, who was doodling in her textbook.
Thinking of Xue Yuantong’s terrifying scores, Chen Siyu sought help,
"Tongtong, my math seems to have hit a barrier, stuck at 120. It’s been the same for the last few exams."
"You’ve always done well. You must have gradually improved before, right? Can you tell me if there’s a trick to breaking past 120 points?"
After hearing this, Xue Yuantong tilted her head in thought and then said,
"Sorry Siyu, the first time I took a 150-point test, I scored 150, so I don’t have any useful advice for you."
