Chapter 239

The pretty girl was so angry she almost spat blood, but someone behind her was very happy, or rather, very proud—Huang Lei. At the beginning of school, Xie Wendong’s fierce battle with a thug near the campus left a deep impression on her. She had developed feelings for Xie Wendong, but he had always been indifferent to her. He didn’t even stay at school for long, and later disappeared completely, leaving no trace. It wasn’t until mid-second year that Huang Lei found a boyfriend. Just as she was about to forget Xie Wendong, unexpectedly, he reappeared—just as before, dressed in black, with eyes still bright enough to be hard to look at directly. The only change was that he seemed more mature. Huang Lei was proud because Xie Wendong not only ignored her but also ignored other pretty girls. After all, people always have a sense of vanity!

“Ring~” With a bell, the criminal law class finally ended. The teacher seemed unwilling to stay in the classroom even for a moment and left in a hurry. As he left quickly, a large group of people rushed in even faster, each carrying glue and pieces of paper with pre-written notes indicating the time and subject for which they wanted to reserve seats. Once inside, they quickly found seats they thought were good and stuck the notes on the desks at lightning speed. As the exam date approached, this became common—students would find out in advance where exams would take place and then reserve those seats by sticking notes, laying a “solid foundation” for passing the exams. Three boys scanned the classroom for a while before finally choosing Xie Wendong’s seat. Approaching, one of them, with a thick neck, leaned on the desk and said in a condescending tone, “Classmate, move aside—this seat’s reserved!”

“Ugh!” The girls next to Xie Wendong frowned but had no choice but to get up and give way. Reserving seats for exams had clearly become an unspoken rule among students.

Xie Wendong’s seat was in the middle, the best spot, but he didn’t move. A student with glasses pushed him, complaining, “Wake up! Stop sleeping!”

After waiting a while and seeing no reaction from Xie Wendong, the thick-necked boy raised his eyebrows and started pushing and pulling him, saying impatiently, “Get up! Stop fucking around and sleep!”

Even Xie Wendong, who usually slept the most, found it hard to stay asleep under such disturbance. He slowly opened his eyes, said nothing, and looked up at the student in confusion.

The man in charge glanced at Xie Wendong, who seemed ordinary with an academic air about him, and sneered, “Stop acting stupid. Come out now!” Before Xie Wendong could speak, he grabbed him by his clothes and pulled him out. The student wearing glasses looked at him and muttered, “Why is this guy so dumb?!” Another tall student chuckled and said, “Idiot!”

These guys seemed intent on showing off, targeting Xie Wendong as an easy target and mocking him relentlessly. As they were laughing, Xie Wendong suddenly raised his leg. Without any visible movement, he kicked out, hitting the glasses-wearing student right in the stomach. The student didn’t even have time to react; with a cry, he rolled far away and lay motionless on the ground. Seeing that Xie Wendong would strike without warning and that their companion had already suffered, the tall student screamed and raised his hand to slap Xie Wendong. But he lacked the courage to do so, facing a pair of cold, emotionless eyes with faint bloodshot veins. He felt he wasn’t dealing with a person but a deadly beast. His intuition was correct—Xie Wendong, suffering from hypoglycemia and disturbed from sleep, was indeed a lethal beast. To him, everyone was the same. With lightning-fast speed, he grabbed the tall student’s throat and pulled down. With a crack, the student’s head collided with the desk. Without much effort, the one-centimeter-thick desk sank deeply, and blood dripped onto the floor. When he looked up at the man in charge, the latter stepped back several times, overwhelmed by fear—a fear that started at his feet and reached his hair, like facing death. As a student, he couldn’t bear it. With a shrill cry, he turned and ran, shouting, “Murder! Murder!”

Xie Wendong frowned in annoyance, bent down, grabbed the chair seat, and pulled it down with force. With a swing, a one-and-a-half-foot-square piece of wood flew out. Just as the man in charge reached the classroom door, the wood hit him on the head, silencing his cries instantly. He didn’t even make a sound; a half-fist-sized bruise appeared on the back of his head, and he lost consciousness. This was still out of mercy on Xie Wendong’s part. Though furious, he retained his sanity. If he had used all his strength, the student’s head would have ended up no better than the shattered chair.

In an instant, Xie Wendong turned three lively troublemakers into sickly cats. Aside from Huang Lei and a few people in his dormitory, all the other students were shocked and began to speculate about his identity. By then, Xie Wendong had fully regained his consciousness. He scratched his head, blaming himself for being too forceful—there was no need to go that far with these people. Seeing the pretty girl who had spoken to him during class staring at him in disbelief with her mouth wide open, Xie Wendong smoothed his hair and said slowly, “Don’t be surprised. I said I’m a bad guy!” After that, he glanced at his watch and exclaimed, “Damn! I must have fallen asleep without realizing it. I forgot about Qiangzi outside, and there’s also a police officer—I definitely need to see that person too.” He said helplessly to the six people in his dormitory who stepped forward, ready to talk to him, “Don’t say anything. I have something to do now. We can talk another time!” With that, he said goodbye and hurried out of the classroom. As he passed by Glasses, who was lying on the ground, he went over to help him up and straightened his clothes, apologizing, “I’m really sorry. I was asleep just now. Please convey my apologies to your friend! My name is Xie Wendong. If you want compensation, please call me.” Saying this, he picked up a piece of paper, wrote down his phone number, and handed it to Glasses. Glasses’ face turned white and then red—even a chameleon couldn’t change colors that fast. His shoulders trembled, but he gritted his teeth and stayed silent. Xie Wendong wanted to leave, but someone prevented him. “What, you want to run away after hitting someone?” A big hand pressed on his shoulder.

Xie Wendong smiled bitterly, turned around, and saw a dark but sincere smiling face. The owner of the smile was Lao San, who shared his dormitory. He shook his head and laughed, “There’s nothing I can do. I often spend my time on the run.” Lao San curled his lips and said, “It’s not easy to see you. Even if there’s something more important today, we have to finish drinking before you leave.” Xie Wendong asked, “Drinking? What kind of drink?” At that moment, Lao Wu stepped forward and laughed, “We’re drinking because we’re all together again!” “So,” Lao Si said, “you definitely can’t run away today!”

The other brothers also gathered around. It seemed he couldn’t escape this drinking session. Xie Wendong had no choice but to say, “Give me two minutes!” With that, he walked outside. Lao San grabbed his sleeve, as if afraid he might run away, and asked, “Where are you going?” “To make a call!”

Xie Wendong stepped out of the classroom and went to a quiet place. He took out his phone and called Gao Qiang, saying, “Qiangzi, it seems I won’t be able to leave for a while. Come back to pick me up in three hours.” Gao Qiang agreed without asking why and drove away, though he didn’t go far, stopping the car in a parking lot nearby. He never questioned Xie Wendong’s words, but he was worried seeing him alone. Gao Qiang wasn’t someone who talked much, but he was very observant.

Xie Wendong hung up the phone and slowly walked back to the classroom. By then, Glasses could barely stand, and a shorter student helped support him. His two accomplices were also carried away by classmates who had come with them. When they saw Xie Wendong return, a cold glint flashed in Glasses’ eyes beneath his glasses. Without saying a word, he limped outside. As he passed by Xie Wendong, Glasses suddenly pulled out a dagger from his chest and shouted, “Die!” He thrust the dagger at Xie Wendong’s lower abdomen. Most young people are impulsive. In front of everyone, he was kicked over by Xie Wendong, losing face. His pride was hurt as if his face had been cut by a knife. In a fit of anger, ignoring the consequences, he wanted to kill his opponent.

Glasses’ attack was fast and sudden; it would be hard for an ordinary person to dodge. But he was facing Xie Wendong, whose expressions shifted rapidly—sometimes bright, sometimes dark—none of which escaped Xie Wendong’s notice. Xie Wendong had seen attacks ten times faster than this and didn’t take it seriously at all. He bent his body, stepped back, pulled up his shirt, and kicked Glasses’ wrist. His hand went numb, and the dagger flew out, bouncing over a meter high. Glasses felt a chill and instinctively stepped back. Xie Wendong stretched out his arm, caught the falling dagger, and pointed it at Glasses’ throat. He said coldly, “Do you know you’re playing with fire?”

A drop of blood flowed from Glasses’ throat, cooling the heat in his forehead. His legs turned weak, and he almost collapsed. Before he could say anything, the irritable Third Brother could no longer hold back and snapped, “Seventh, why waste words on him?” With that, he rushed forward, grabbed Glasses’ hair, pulled him down, and kicked him violently. The random kicks soon left Glasses unconscious, with a three-inch-long cut on his forehead and his face covered in blood.

Seeing the situation worsening, fearing it might lead to death if they continued, the Leader quickly grabbed Third Brother and shouted, “Do you want to kill someone?!”

After struggling for a while, Lao San took a deep breath, calmed down, looked down at his glasses, hugged his head, and spat at him while cursing, “Damn! Someone like you—every time I see you, I’ll beat you!” Xie Wendong couldn’t help but laugh and said, “It’s me he wants to target. Why are you in such a hurry?” Lao San was stunned and replied blankly, “We’re all brothers in the same dorm. If he wants to hurt you, it’s like hurting me too!” Hearing this, Xie Wendong stopped laughing. If he had met Lao San a few years earlier, he would have definitely brought him along without hesitation. But now he couldn’t do that. The deeper he got involved, the more he realized that although his path was glorious, it wasn’t easy.

The eldest brother, though less bold, was more careful. He glanced outside the classroom and said, “You guys should leave quickly. The security guards might arrive any moment.” “What’s there to fear?” Lao San glared. Xie Wendong rubbed his chin. He didn’t care about the police, let alone the security guards. But dealing with them would cause trouble. He grabbed Lao San’s arm, smiled, and said, “There’s indeed nothing to fear, but among all things in the world, nothing matters more than going out for drinks together.”

Xie Wendong’s words worked well. Lao San immediately lit up, patted his shoulder, and shouted, “Great! Let’s go drink!”

“Alcohol is the essence of food; the more you drink, the younger you become.” Who came up with this classic saying? Xie Wendong didn’t know if it made one younger, but he definitely felt his stomach swelling. The seven of them found a “pretty good” hotel. Since Xie Wendong was paying, the hotel was naturally excellent. Once in the private room, before even ordering food, the waiter brought a case of beer. In Lao Si’s words, since it had been a long time since they last saw each other, they should drink three glasses first as a gesture. A few glasses amounted to one bottle of beer. Everyone barely reacted, staying calm. Xie Wendong inwardly admired their tolerance—drinking so quickly was almost beyond his own capacity. Just as he was about to order food, Lao San stood up again, raising his glass, “Lao… Lao Qi, Third Brother, I toast to you with three glasses!” Unable to refuse such generosity, Xie Wendong had no choice but to drink three more glasses. In no time, the case of beer was left with only empty bottles. Before the food arrived, they had already drunk a lot of beer. That’s how people from the Northeast are—food can be skipped, but the beer must be drunk to the last drop, even if it means vomiting later.

Xie Wendong couldn’t remember exactly how much he had drunk; all he saw were the empty bottles piling up in the corner. Then Lao San came over to offer him morewine. Xie Wendong covered his empty glass and shook his head, saying, “I can’t drink any more.” He had strong self-control—once he realized he had had enough, he would never take another sip. Keeping himself somewhat sober was the absolute minimum for him. No matter how Lao San tried to persuade him, Xie Wendong just shook his head with a smile and refused to drink another drop. With no other choice, Lao San resorted to provoking him, looking at him with a triumphant gaze and saying, “You’re better at fighting than me, but when it comes to drinking, two of you aren’t even as good as me. Right, Lao Qi?” Unmoved, Xie Wendong nodded seriously and said calmly, “I indeed can’t drink as well as you!”

Since he wouldn’t budge under either pressure or persuasion, Lao San had no choice but to turn to others. Three people at the table were already drunk, leaving only Lao Si and Lao Wu capable of competing with him. The three of them drank another six or seven bottles, finding it boring, and said to Xie Wendong, “Lao Qi, you’ve drunk quite a lot. How about we go do some exercise later?”

“Exercise?” Xie Wendong was confused. “How do you mean?” “Of course, we’ll go dancing!” Xie Wendong checked his watch—it was already past 3 p.m., beyond the time he had planned to stay. Shaking his head, he said, “You guys go and have fun. I’ll cover all the expenses. I’m not going; I still have some things to take care of!” Lao San shook his head vigorously and said, “Isn’t it about who’s paying? The main reason we want to go is because we’re happy when you’re around. If you don’t come, what’s the point?!” Lao Si, face red and eyes blurred from drunkenness, added, “Lao San is right. It would be really boring if you didn’t come! No matter how important things are today, they can wait until tomorrow. If you don’t go, it’s clearly not showing respect to us guys.”

You should never reason with drunk people. Xie Wendong smiled bitterly. At that moment, Lao Wu stood up—a tall 1.8-meter man—who staggered toward Xie Wendong. Seeing his appearance, Xie Wendong grew worried, fearing he might collapse on him at any moment. Lao Wu leaned on his shoulder and said in a condescending tone, “You have to come today, whether you like it or not!”

Xie Wendong laughed in exasperation. “What? Am I being kidnapped by you guys?!” Lao Wu imitated his words, saying, “In this world, the drunkest person is the most important!”

Is this guy really drunk? Xie Wendong couldn’t help but think.