Chapter 238

The campus is nice, and the security guards at the entrance are even better. Seeing Xie Wendong looking around in surprise in front of him, sizing him up from head to toe, Xie Wendong still wore his usual outfit, just with a black fleece jacket on top. What era is it still wearing Zhongshan suits? So outdated! The security guard snorted and stepped forward, asking, “What do you want?”
Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “Nothing, I just think there have been too many changes here.” “Tch!” The security guard sneered and mocked, “I don’t know where you came from. Even if you’ve been here before, if you have nothing to do, leave quickly. Strangers aren’t allowed in.” Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes at the security guard, holding back from reacting. If it had been a year ago, he wouldn’t have waited for the guard to finish speaking—his leather shoes would have already made close contact with the guard’s face. But now he was much more mature and dignified, knowing who deserved his action and who didn’t. He could endure; Gao Qiang didn’t have such a good temper. He stepped forward quickly, came close to the security guard, and without saying a word, punched him in the face. The security guard spun around in place, holding his face for a long time before realizing what had happened. He had never suffered such treatment before. Pointing at Gao Qiang’s nose, he was about to shout loudly when Gao Qiang pulled up his sleeve, revealing the dark handle of a gun, and said coldly, “Keep your mouth clean and know when to shut up!”
When the security guard saw what Gao Qiang had at his waist, his face turned pale immediately. Without saying a word, he silently returned to his post, acting as if nothing had happened, standing straight with a serious expression, though four fingerprints were clearly visible on his face. Xie Wendong smiled calmly and said, “Qiangzi is still as competitive as ever!”
Gao Qiang said in a low voice, “I just can’t stand people being rude to Brother Dong.” Xie Wendong felt warm inside. He patted Gao Qiang’s shoulder and said, “Wait for me at the entrance. I’ll handle this myself.” Gao Qiang nodded, said nothing more, and turned back to the car parked by the road.
The general layout of the school hadn’t changed. Xie Wendong walked straight into the main building and easily found the counselor’s office. He knocked gently on the door, but there was no response. When he turned the doorknob, it was locked. At that moment, a middle-aged man who looked like a teacher passed by and asked, “Who are you looking for?” Xie Wendong nodded and smiled politely, saying, “I’m looking for Teacher Fu.” “Oh, Teacher Fu? He might still be in the classroom and hasn’t come back yet. Go look for him in the classroom!” Xie Wendong’s face turned red with embarrassment as he asked, “Excuse me, where is the classroom?”

Xie Wendong was arguably the first student to struggle to find his class. The classroom was in Room 205 of Building 1. After thanking the middle-aged man, Xie Wendong quickly left the main building. In his imagination, Building 1 was dilapidated, with extremely poor ventilation; in winter, the temperature inside was roughly the same as outside, making one shiver after sitting there for a while. But now he realized his ideas were outdated. As soon as he entered the hall, a wave of heat hit him—proof that a day’s absence felt like years apart. He understood what that meant now.

He went up to the second floor. Before he could even look for the room number, an old man with gray hair and a moderate build came out of a classroom on the side of the corridor. Xie Wendong smiled upon seeing him—it was his advisor. He stepped forward quickly and said politely, “Teacher Fu, it’s been a year! You still seem in great health!” The advisor was startled, turned around, and saw a bright smile. He exclaimed, “Xie Wendong!” Xie Wendong scratched his head and laughed, “I didn’t expect Teacher Fu to still remember me!”

The advisor chuckled and said, “It’s the first time in decades of teaching that I’ve encountered a student who skipped class for a whole year. It’s hard not to remember you! So, why have you come back now? I was about to remove you from the school roster.” Xie Wendong kept smiling and said, “I’m back to take an exam.” Hearing this, the advisor became furious and said sternly, “An exam? After skipping class for a year without asking for permission or giving any notice, what exam do you think you can take? It seems you don’t take the school seriously at all. Go home.”

Xie Wendong didn’t bother with nonsense and said directly, “I may not take the school seriously, but I still need my graduation certificate. So, I’d like to ask Teacher Fu for help.” With that, he took out a kraft paper envelope from his pocket and handed it to the old man, saying, “A small token from a student—please buy some cigarettes with it.” The advisor didn’t want it at first, but sensing the heavy weight of the envelope—probably worth several thousand yuan—realized it was quite a sum, even if not enormous, it was still a lot for most people. The old man’s expression changed instantly. With a faceless “Mm,” he put the envelope in his bag and said in an official tone, “Your family isn’t from here, is it?” Xie Wendong nodded. The old man said regretfully, “It’s not easy for outsiders to study here. Let it go this time, but don’t do it again.” Money can get you anywhere—there’s no doubt about that. Xie Wendong sneered inwardly. “Not again” meant he’d have to give money next time. With a smile on his face, he implicitly agreed, “Sure!”

“Mm!” The counselor nodded vigorously and said, “I have other things to do, so I’m leaving first. Remember to come to the exam; otherwise, I can’t help you.” Before leaving, he whispered to Xie Wendong, “Class has just started. Since you’re here, don’t miss it. Attend at least one class as a gesture.”
Xie Wendong replied with a smile. After the old man walked away slowly, he sighed, feeling sorry for the students in the classroom. What kind of talents could such a teacher nurture? In such an environment, how many could remain pure? On the other hand, without these hypocrites, there would be no room for scoundrels either. Xie Wendong chuckled, walked to the classroom door, and gently knocked. After a moment, an impatient voice came from inside, “Come in!”
Xie Wendong pushed the door open. The classroom was large, about seventy to eighty square meters, packed with over a hundred people, but he only recognized a few. The teacher was clearly unfamiliar with Xie Wendong, which wasn’t surprising—he hadn’t attended a single class. It would have been odd if the teacher had known him. The teacher asked, “What do you want?” Over two hundred pairs of eyes in the classroom turned toward Xie Wendong, most filled with confusion. He hadn’t attended many classes at school and had only briefly met the classmates at the beginning of the term when they were still unfamiliar with each other. His appearance wasn’t outstanding, so probably no more than ten classmates could recognize him. Though being watched by a hundred people wasn’t comfortable, Xie Wendong was already used to it. Calmly, he said, “I’m here to attend class!” The teacher glared at him and asked, “Are you a student in this class?” As he spoke, he turned to look at the others for confirmation.
Most of them shook their heads, saying they didn’t know. Then a voice came from the back of the classroom, “He is! His name is Xie Wendong.”
Oh? Xie Wendong looked up. The person speaking was over six feet tall, with a full beard, broad shoulders, and a thick waist. Even after more than a year, Xie Wendong still recognized him as Lao Wu, his roommate. The teacher nodded, flipped through the roll call list for a while, and finally looked at Xie Wendong, saying, “If I’m not mistaken, you haven’t attended a single one of my classes.” Xie Wendong sighed inwardly. Not only his classes, but he hadn’t attended any of the other classes either. He apologized, “I’m truly sorry. I’m here now.”

The teacher took two deep breaths and said coldly, “Go out!” Xie Wendong blinked, lowered his head for a moment, glanced around, and saw an empty seat in the middle of the second row. He strode forward and said to the students outside, “I’m sorry, please make way; I need to go in.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an irresistible, soft power. The three girls on the outside mechanically stood up and cleared a path. Xie Wendong slipped in, brushed off the dust on the seat, and sat down.

Seeing that he neither took his words seriously nor respected his teacher, the man in his early thirties with a law degree became furious. He slammed the desk and shouted, “I told you to go out! Didn’t you hear me?”

Xie Wendong smiled slightly and said, “Since I’ve paid the tuition, I have the right to attend classes here. No one can force me to leave unless I choose to. The same goes for teachers.” “You…” The teacher pointed at Xie Wendong, unable to speak for a while. Strictly speaking, no matter how bad a student was, the teacher indeed had no right to expel them from the classroom. Xie Wendong continued, “Paying tuition is our obligation as students, while attending classes is our right. I hope the teacher won’t waste my time. By the way, what subject is this?” The female student beside him had never seen anyone as bold as Xie Wendong, daring to speak to a teacher like that. Curious, she whispered, “Criminal Law!” “Criminal Law?” Xie Wendong shook his head and laughed. “I’m very familiar with it. I’ve studied it on my own for a long time.” “Pfft!” People around them couldn’t help laughing. What Xie Wendong said was true—he had indeed put in a lot of effort into criminal law, especially regarding sentencing. He had roughly estimated that if he were to be sentenced, even if he had a hundred heads, he would still get a hundred bullets. But how many people in the world could really control Xie Wendong, let alone sentence him?!

It took the teacher half a minute to barely suppress his anger. He said slowly through gritted teeth, “Continue, class!” Turning around, he picked up a chalk and wrote on the blackboard, “Next, we’ll discuss legitimate defense and excessive defense…” “Crack!” Before he could finish speaking, the fragile chalk broke into two pieces in his trembling hand.

Xie Wendong listened for a while, finding it utterly boring. Then, a paper ball hit him on the head. Turning around, he saw Lao Wu in the back stretching his neck to wave at him. There were also five people from another dormitory nearby, all smiling with narrowed eyes, especially Lao San, who was half-standing up, sticking out his butt, waving his arm at him and shouting in a low, drawn-out voice, “Come and sit! Don’t crowd around the girls as soon as you get back!” Hearing this, Xie Wendong laughed silently, blinking but showing no intention of getting up. Though he didn’t take the teacher seriously, he didn’t want to go too far either. He was afraid the teacher might lose it if he acted recklessly in class. Maybe it was too warm in the classroom, maybe the non-stop rushing these past few days had left him exhausted, or maybe the teacher’s voice was too hypnotic—vague thoughts surged like tides. Xie Wendong lowered his head and yawned. Just as he was about to lie down on the desk and take a short nap, the girl next to him glanced at him and asked timidly, “Are you really from our class? Why have I never seen you before?” With blurred eyes, Xie Wendong nodded and said, “I’m busy. I don’t come to school often.” “Busy with what? Do you have a job?” Sighing, Xie Wendong replied helplessly, “Busy fighting, killing, setting fires, robbing!” “Hehe!” The girl giggled softly. “You’re so funny!” “Is that so?” Xie Wendong glanced at her. His first impression was that she was fair-skinned, without a trace of impurity, as pure as peeled egg white. She looked to be around eighteen or nineteen, with a delicate and graceful appearance. A few strands of her hair were dyed dark red, adding a touch of maturity and liveliness, but it couldn’t hide her innocence. Xie Wendong couldn’t tell whether her innocence was natural or pretended, nor did he want to figure it out. He simply said indifferently, “You’re the first person to call me funny!” “Huh? You don’t seem like a serious person!” The girl stared at him with her star-like eyes. Xie Wendong yawned again, leaning on the desk, his eyes gradually growing blurry as he murmured, “I’m not serious, but I’m a bad guy!”

A man who calls himself a villain, whether true or not, will be seen as joking. Especially someone as good-looking as Xie Wendong, with an average build that’s slightly thin—those who don’t know him would never associate him with a villain. The girl naturally didn’t believe him either, thinking he was joking with her. With a coquettish gaze, she said in a sweet, reproachful tone, “It seems not a word you say is true.” Her charming look was striking, but Xie Wendong wasn’t in a position to appreciate it; he let out a soft snore and fell asleep with his head on his arm. The girl’s already pale face turned even paler. She might not be the prettiest in school, but no girl in her class could compare to her, so she naturally became the center of attention. Many boys swarmed around her like flies, as had always been the case since childhood. She was used to being adored, but today she encountered a boy who didn’t take her seriously. After she tried to engage him, he simply fell asleep. The anger built in her throat—she couldn’t speak it out or swallow it. Looking at Xie Wendong’s peaceful sleeping face, she really wanted to pinch his face hard, but she held back, repeating to herself, “A lady! A lady! Stay a lady…” Thankfully, she didn’t act on her thoughts.