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Chapter 39: Chapter 37: Keeping Up with the Times, Understand? (Asking for recommendations!)_1
Pick up the money.
Su Ziwang squeezed his way through the crowd.
He left the school gate.
He arrived at Qing River next to the school and pulled out his mobile phone.
"Hello, who is it?" a loafer’s voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Is this Brother Dong? I’m Su Ziwang, the one who treated you to several nights at the Successful Internet Café last month." Su Ziwang carefully said, though he claimed to have treated them, in fact, he was coerced into giving them money.
The other party solemnly promised afterward.
Whoever dares to provoke him in the future.
He would be there to settle it for him.
Upon hearing this, Su Ziwang thought it might not be that bad having a friend from society.
Therefore, he invited them for a few more days.
Although he originally had a computer at home, he broke it from overuse, and his family, prioritizing his upcoming senior year and focusing on his studies, did not buy a new one. So, he had fewer and fewer opportunities to go there.
Su Ziwang didn’t expect this relationship to come in handy so quickly.
He couldn’t help but admire his wise decision back then.
"Oh? Is that you, kid? What’s up?" The guy on the other line instantly remembered Su Ziwang.
He was just a soft-spoken kid with a little bit of money.
"I would like Brother Dong to teach someone a lesson for me," Su Ziwang revealed his intentions.
"Who is this person?" Brother Dong asked.
He’s not stupid, he wouldn’t rush into anything without getting the full picture. He has seen many peers in society who have stumbled and fallen here because they offended someone they shouldn’t have.
"He is just a poor student who harassed my girl. I want Brother Dong to teach him a lesson, just to make him bedridden for a few days," Su Ziwang explained the whole ’reason’ in one breath.
Brother Dong heard that the other party didn’t have any significant background.
Beating up someone without the intent to cripple them wouldn’t pose much risk. A thought crossed his mind, and he said, "Ok, flat rate, five thousand."
"That’s... a bit expensive, isn’t it? It’s just to give the guy a good beating, make him hurt a bit. Brother, you’re joking with me, right?" Hearing the words on the other end of the phone, Su Ziwang was astonished.
To be honest.
Even though Su Ziwang is the only child.
The pocket money his family gives him isn’t that much.
Five thousand isn’t a small sum, it’s more than two months of his pocket money, and his total savings are only about six thousand. Spending five thousand to punish someone is a bit much for him.
"Five thousand, no bargaining. Take it or leave it," Brother Dong said coldly.
This was obviously an attempt to rip off Su Ziwang.
But he wouldn’t have any guilt about it.
Those who sought to punish others weren’t exactly decent people. Extorting from them could be seen as giving the victim some justice. Brother Dong even couldn’t help feeling self-satisfied about his own righteousness.
"Fine, five thousand it is. But Brother Dong, you’ve got to handle this job well. I can’t be implicated in any way." After some thought, Su Ziwang gritted his teeth and agreed.
"I understand. I’ll be waiting for you at your school gate in the afternoon. You point out who he is, and we’ll give him an unforgettable memory on his way home. Is there anything else you’d like to add, Brother Su?" Brother Dong said happily.
He thought these rich second generations were truly generous.
He could roost comfortably for a while now.
"Okay, no further instructions. Call me when the job is handled," Su Ziwang said.
"No problem," Brother Dong agreed.
"Goodbye," Su Ziwang hung up.
Looking at the rushing river in front of him.
He felt a surge of pride.
Now, he too was a tough guy.
At that moment.
He involuntarily envisioned Tang Qing being beaten until he couldn’t get out of bed.
Thinking about Tang Qing’s miserable future, Su Ziwang couldn’t help but laugh loudly, attracting attention from passers-by. Seeing a young man in a school uniform laughing that hard, more than a few individuals thought Su Ziwang had gone mad from studying and was about to jump into the river.
Having just transferred to this school.
Su Ziwang was unaware of Tang Qing and Lin Jiaxue’s relationship.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so worked up.
...
Noon.
In the span of a meal.
News of Tang Qing spread across the school, and Su Ziwang’s name was also known to everyone.
Naturally, Wang Yan also received this news.
Even before class began, the studious Wang Yan had already arrived in the classroom. Of course, she wasn’t as early as Tang Qing, who didn’t go home to eat. Wang Yan lived quite close, so she went home for lunch every day.
"Tang Qing, what happened at noon?" Wang Yan called Tang Qing out of the classroom.
She only knew that Tang Qing had humiliated Su Ziwang at noon, but the story had been so twisted by the time it got to her that it was thoroughly muddled. With so many different versions, the intelligent Wang Yan didn’t believe any of them.
It’s better to hear it from the person involved.
"It’s nothing, the class president wanted to buy something from me, but I didn’t want to sell," Tang Qing said with a light laugh. He didn’t plan to explain too thoroughly; he believed that with Wang Yan’s intelligence, she’d be able to guess what had transpired.
"Ah, what is it?" Wang Yan asked in surprise.
Buy something? What could be so valuable?
"Dignity," Tang Qing replied indifferently.
"Su Ziwang is too much; I’ll go talk to him," Wang Yan said, clearly upset.
When she heard the word "dignity", she immediately grasped the whole matter. It must have been because her in-class interaction with Tang Qing was spotted by Su Ziwang, and he wanted to teach Tang Qing a lesson for it.
Thinking of this,
Wang Yan was particularly furious.
"I’ve already taught him a lesson; you don’t need to bother," Tang Qing stopped her in an uncompromising tone. He’d rather Wang Yan not get involved in this to avoid complicating the situation.
"Alright, I won’t go then," Wang Yan said quietly at Tang Qing’s resolute expression. Although Tang Qing had just been stern with her, that did nothing to diminish his image in her eyes.
In fact, it made him even more attractive.
In the afternoon class.
Su Ziwang pretended like nothing had happened and continued his lessons normally.
But the sinister expression in his eyes was evident. Tang Qing, of course, noticed this but didn’t care. He considered Su Ziwang a small fry; as long as he was careful, Su couldn’t do anything to him.
He feared neither the underworld nor the authorities.
The afternoon passed.
After school,
Tang Qing noticed that Su Ziwang wasn’t heading home early as usual.
Instead, he was slowly packing up. Seeing this, Tang Qing guessed what might be coming, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. He murmured in an unfathomable voice: "This is getting interesting."
At the school gate.
After parting ways with Wang Yan and Li Kai,
Tang Qing looked around and saw four men, who clearly had no good intentions, standing at the gate as if waiting for someone. He immediately understood Su Ziwang’s reliance and back-up.
But he wasn’t scared.
Instead, he was slightly excited.
He had been hoping for a punching bag to practice on. Given his physical fitness and the lack of strength these thugs radiated, he knew he wasn’t in danger.
Realizing there was going to be a show,
Tang Qing shifted his attention to Su Ziwang behind him.
He faintly smiled and headed towards his home.
He didn’t go straight home, though, as that would be too crowded for either party to take action. Instead, he took a detour into a deserted alley.
People did live there.
Just not many.
He didn’t want innocent bystanders.
After walking into the alley a bit, Tang Qing stopped when he saw no one was around. He turned towards the group of thugs and said in a somewhat pretentious tone, "You can all come out now; let’s get this over with."
"Smart kid, you noticed us tailing you."
As he spoke, a skinny man in a black coat stepped out from around the corner. At the end of his sentence, four more guys in different outfits with dyed hair approached.
The gang slowly encircled Tang Qing.
Their intention was evident.
"What’s your name?"
After sizing up his surroundings, Tang Qing looked up at the young man who had emerged first, presumably their leader, and asked with a smile.
"People call me Brother Dong. It seems you’re not stupid; take your beating obediently now, and we can all get on with our day," the head thug replied while cracking his knuckles, smiling.
Tang Qing coughed twice.
To cover his embarrassment.
These guys.
Had no creativity whatsoever, making him feel very awkward.
Like, please.
What era are we in?
Ever heard of progress?
"Who put you up to this? Was it Su Ziwang? Or was it Su Ziwang?" Tang Qing said with a mocking smile.
The four didn’t bring any controlled knives or weapons, which reduced Tang Qing’s animosity towards Su Ziwang a bit. If Su Ziwang had told these thugs to cripple him, he would’ve definitely made him learn a hard life lesson.
After hearing what Tang Qing had said,
How could Brother Dong admit to it?
Keeping his face neutral, he said: "Heh, the guy you’re talking about, we don’t know him, never heard him. But no matter what you say today, you’ll get a beating. Don’t blame us, we’re just doing a job for someone else. Who told you to get on someone’s bad side? In the future, keep a low profile and stay safe. Isn’t that right?"
