Chapter 7

Upon hearing this, “Little Eyes” widened his eyes and shouted, “Kid, are you looking for trouble? Get lost quick—I don’t have time to waste on you.”
“Shut your damn eyes. Even if you widen them, they’re not bigger than soybeans!”
“Little Eyes” couldn’t stand it anymore. He hated it when people said his eyes were small, and now a newcomer said it right in front of him—his anger boiled over. He pulled up his sleeve, ready to fight. Xie Wendong stepped in front of him and said, “Let it go, bro. My friend’s new here and doesn’t know better. Let’s move the bikes somewhere else.”
“Little Eyes” completely ignored Xie Wendong, pushed his hand away, and said, “What? You give up that easily? Stay back if you’ve nothing to do. Damn you! I’m gonna beat you today!”
Li Shuang exploded in anger. He hated it the most when people insulted Xie Wendong and despised it when non-friends called him fat. This “Little Eyes” had done both, infuriating him. Without a word, Li Shuang stepped forward, swung, and slapped “Little Eyes” in the face. “Little Eyes” stumbled back two steps, stars flashing before his eyes.
“Damn you! How dare you hit me?!”
“Hit you? I’m gonna show you why flowers are red!” With that, he kicked “Little Eyes” in the stomach. “Little Eyes” lost his balance and fell to the ground. Li Shuang stepped forward and kicked him repeatedly, both in the head and body.
The thin guy with “Little Eyes” tried to intervene when he saw him get beaten, but Gao Qiang stopped him. Gao Qiang glanced at Xie Wendong, seeing him smiling, and felt relieved. He said to the new guys, “Brothers, come on, let’s warm up a bit.”
None of these guys were easy to bully. Earlier, they hadn’t dared act because the boss was silent, but now, at Gao Qiang’s call, the six of them surrounded the thin guy with sinister smiles. One of them said, “Let me give him a taste!” and kicked the thin guy in the leg, making him sway.
“Stay down!” Another guy grabbed the thin guy’s hair and pulled hard. In pain, the thin guy bent over. The others pounced, punching and kicking him mercilessly.
At that moment, a man who looked like a teacher entered the shed. Since they had just graduated from middle school, they still feared teachers and stopped fighting. The man acted as if he didn’t see them, locked the bikes, and left quickly.
Li Shuang asked Gao Qiang in confusion, “Is that guy a teacher? Why didn’t he say a word?” Gao Qiang also didn’t understand and shook his head. “Who knows? There are so many weird things in this damn school!” Everyone nodded in agreement.

Xie Wendong glanced at the two people writhing on the ground and said to everyone, “That’s about it. Let’s go!” The group followed Xie Wendong and walked for a long distance before seeing a car shed several times larger than the previous one. After locking their cars, they headed to the playground. By then, quite a few people were already there. Li Shuang muttered softly, “It seems there are quite a lot of freshmen here!”

The people on the playground were grouped in threes or fives, or in groups of seven or eight, dressed in various styles. Almost everyone had a cigarette in hand (except the girls). Xie Wendong thought that perhaps all the delinquent youths in the city had gathered here. Seeing this, he became excited—he loved challenges that stirred his blood, and all he could think about was conquest.

Xie Wendong and the others stood at the front, with their brothers arriving one after another. Before long, over forty people had gathered. Xie Wendong said to Li Shuang, “Shuang, go check if there are any brothers who haven’t arrived yet.” Li Shuang nodded, stayed in place, and shouted loudly, “Everyone looking for Brother Dong, come here~~~” His voice was so loud it could be heard everywhere on the playground. Gao Qiang, standing next to Li Shuang, felt his ears ring and kicked Li Shuang in the butt, “Damn it, Brother Dong told you to go look, not to shout! You’re about to deafen yourself!”

Li Shuang laughed and said proudly, “How’s my voice? It’s pretty powerful, right? Actually, I think I’m more suitable than Li Na to sing about the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.”

With a “thud,” people fell to the ground behind them. Li Shuang’s tenor voice was indeed effective—some brothers who hadn’t found Xie Wendong rushed over one after another.

But curses still echoed around, “Who the hell is that? Shouting at your mother!” “Who the hell was howling just now? It sounded like a ghost!” Li Shuang’s face turned red with embarrassment, and he shouted angrily, “Kids, it was me, your grandfather, who shouted. If anyone disagrees, come here and face me!”

Xie Wendong waved his hand at Li Shuang’s subordinates, and they all understood and stepped aside, leaving Li Shuang alone on the playground. Xie Wendong originally didn’t want to cause trouble right away, but his restless young heart made him change his mind. He also wanted to establish his authority among the freshmen, so he didn’t stop Li Shuang.

The angry youths on the playground surrounded Li Shuang. A student in blue took the lead, “Damn it, it was you who shouted, wasn’t it?” Li Shuang glanced up and down at him and said with a smirk, “You’re no match. Go away!”

The blue-clothed student was furious—so fat like a pig yet criticizing others. He stopped talking and swung his fist at Li Shuang. Li Shuang, known for his temper and being the top fighter under Xie Wendong, had extensive fighting experience. Seeing the opponent’s fist coming, he grabbed it and with his other hand slapped the student in the face. The blow was so forceful that the student stumbled back several steps and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

Li Shuang looked around and shouted, “Who’s next? If you’re a man, don’t act like a coward! Go on!” His words angered those nearby, and seven or eight people rushed forward to surround him. “Heh, you want to gang up on me? I’ll play along with you today!” Li Shuang’s fierce expression scared them.

Realizing Li Shuang was alone and couldn’t withstand such a crowd, they suppressed their fears and attacked him all at once. Soon, everyone’s faces were covered in injuries. Xie Wendong nodded at Gao Qiang, who stepped forward quickly, grabbed one student by the collar, and punched him hard in the stomach. The student cried out in pain, curling up. With a push, Gao Qiang threw the student aside and grabbed the next one…

Li Shuang and Gao Qiang beat the group until they cried for help. Those who tried to run away were stopped by Xie Wendong’s men, who kicked them mercilessly without hesitation. When the seven or eight students were all lying motionless, Xie Wendong ordered them to stop. Li Shuang wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned, “That was great! Who else isn’t convinced? Come on! Haha~”

The new students lowered their heads, glancing at the seven or eight bloodied figures on the ground, feeling uneasy. Suddenly, Li Shuang’s expression changed. Remembering Dongge’s advice to avoid trouble, he thought, “Oh no.” He glanced at Xie Wendong, who nodded in satisfaction, and then felt relieved. He straightened up and shouted again, “I know some of you still resist, but do you know who we are? The guy behind me is Xie Wendong from No. 2 Middle School. If you want to fight us, think carefully first!”

The new students discussed it among themselves. They had heard about the new tyrant in No. 2 Middle School who enforced his dominance in and around the school—Xie Wendong. At that moment, the school’s loudspeaker announced, “All new students, gather at the playground immediately. Class assignments will begin now…” The students stopped talking and lined up. Those on the ground were helped up by their classmates and friends and stood aside.

After a while, several teachers came out of the teaching building. The leader was a middle-aged man in his fifties with some baldness, holding a megaphone. They stood on a small platform one meter high in front of the playground. The bald man picked up the megaphone and said, “Hello… hello~~~!” The sound seemed okay, so he cleared his throat and said, “Hello, everyone. I am the principal of this school. On behalf of all the teachers and students here, I welcome you to join our school community. Well, our school has a long history…” (ten thousand words omitted)

“Next, let the school’s teaching director say a few words. Please give him a round of applause!” The principal finally finished his long speech, which was 60% about the school’s history and 30% about him shaking uncontrollably and fighting against his eyelids. Seeing Li Shuang’s state, Gao Qiang pinched him on the leg, startling Li Shuang and lifting his spirits a bit.

The teaching director took the megaphone and said, “Hello~ hello~~~”

Damn, Xie Wendong felt his head was getting huge. He wondered how these people had managed to reach such positions. After testing the sound for half a minute, the teaching director began to speak, “Good morning, everyone! I am the school’s teaching director. My surname is Ma. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to come to me. The principal has already explained our school’s history clearly, but I’d like to add a few more things…” Gradually, sounds of thuds could be heard from below.

Li Shuang pulled at Xie Wendong’s clothes and whispered, “Brother Dong, why do I feel like killing someone?”

“…” Xie Wendong was speechless, as he was trying hard to suppress that thought right now.

“(five thousand words omitted)… So, everyone should feel honored to be here. Alright, let’s start dividing into classes now!” The teaching director finally said something everyone loved to hear, and enthusiastic applause erupted. Before handing the megaphone back to the principal, he still couldn’t resist shouting, “Thank you, thank you all!”

After the class division, Xie Wendong, Li Shuang, and a few others were placed in Class 6, Grade 10. Gao Qiang was assigned to Class 3, looking very unhappy. There were quite a lot of students this year—eight classes in total, with over sixty students in each class. The guys brought by Xie Wendong were scattered across various classes. Each class teacher took their students back to the classroom and had them sit down in order of height. The class teacher for Xie Wendong’s class was a man in his forties, not very tall, wearing glasses. But Xie Wendong felt that this person had a sinister aura.

Xie Wendong was seated in the middle, with an outgoing girl as his deskmate. As soon as he sat down, the girl reached out to him and said, “Hi, I’m Liu Ting.”
Xie Wendong was taken aback, but he quickly shook her hand and said, “I’m Xie Wendong. Hi!” At that moment, he took a closer look at Liu Ting’s appearance—she was very cute, with big eyes and long eyelashes that looked like little fans when she blinked.
“Xie Wendong? I seem to have heard this name before!” Liu Ting blinked, unable to recall where, and asked Xie Wendong with confusion, “Do you know anyone at No. 11 Middle School?” Xie Wendong shook his head, smiling silently.
Li Shuang sat in front of Xie Wendong, turning to look at him from time to time, her eyes filled with envy and jealousy. Seeing this, Xie Wendong patted Li Shuang’s head and asked, “Xiao Shuang, why are you always looking at me?”
Li Shuang made a sad face, pouted at the girl next to her, grabbed Xie Wendong’s hand, and said excitedly, “Brother Dong, I’m so suffering!” Her strange expression made Liu Ting giggle.
Xie Wendong glanced at Li Shuang’s deskmate. The girl, hearing the laughter behind her, also turned around. Seeing her face, Xie Wendong finally understood his brother’s troubles. Nodding seriously but with a smile in his eyes, he said, “I always thought you were very ‘patriotic.’ I never expected you to meet someone even more ‘patriotic’ than you! Your life will be very happy from now on.” Li Shuang was stunned; he didn’t expect Brother Dong to joke too. He muttered something to himself… In fact, since meeting Li Shuang, Gao Qiang, and Sanyan, Xie Wendong had become much more cheerful, though he hadn’t realized it himself.
Liu Ting tugged at Xie Wendong’s clothes and asked curiously, “What does ‘patriotic’ mean?”
Xie Wendong chuckled and lowered his voice so the girl in front of him couldn’t hear. “For example, during the War of Resistance against Japan, there was someone whose appearance could scare the Japanese invaders to death. Don’t you think he was very patriotic?”
“Thud.” Liu Ting fainted… “You’re so mean! Saying that about a girl!” “Hehe! It was just a little joke!” “Giggle~ You two are really interesting!” Hearing the laughter behind them, Li Shuang felt as if his heart was being cut apart. He sighed deeply and thought, “Sigh, I’m so talented, but it’s a pity…” He turned to look at the girl next to him. “It’s a pity I was born at the wrong time!”

At that moment, the teacher walked to the podium and tapped on the table in front of it, “Be quiet! Quiet!” The classroom fell silent. Satisfied with this effect, the teacher nodded and continued, “Now, let me introduce myself!” Then he picked up a chalk and quickly wrote three characters on the wooden blackboard, pointing at them with the chalk and saying, “This is my name!”
One student, not understanding, stood up and asked, “Teacher, I don’t recognize the characters you wrote. Could you read them aloud?”
The teacher’s expression changed, and he threw the chalk at the student’s head, “Are you an idiot? Did you just graduate from middle school and still can’t recognize this? Why are the standards of these students so low?!” Seeing the student’s face turn red, he paused and said, “Let me tell you! These three characters are—Liang Yongliang! Sit down!”
Li Shuang turned to Xie Wendong and whispered, “Damn, No.1 Middle School is really different—teachers even swear here! Damn it, what an idiotic head.”
Xie Wendong snorted and said, “People like this are everywhere, not just at No.1 Middle School!”
“Hey, what are you two talking about?” The teacher glared at Xie Wendong and Li Shuang. Li Shuang turned to look at him but held back from speaking.
The teacher picked up a piece of paper and then said loudly, “Now I’ll call names. Whoever is called should raise their hand and shout ‘Present!’ Let’s start! Lu Tao.” “Present!”
“…Wang Boyuan!” “Present!” “Li Shuang.” Li Shuang raised his hand and weakly shouted “Present!” The teacher glared at him and then continued, “Xie Wendong…” When he said this, the teacher stopped, chuckled, and said, “What a strange name. I remember there was a bandit leader in the Northeast before it was liberated who also went by Xie Wendong!” Hearing this, Li Shuang was furious and almost exploded; he tried to stand up but was pulled back by Xie Wendong.
Ignoring the dozen or so murderous looks from the students below, the teacher continued, “I really don’t know how your parents came up with such a name for you?!”
Xie Wendong slowly stood up. “Teacher, insulting someone’s name is very impolite. Haven’t your parents taught you that?”