Chapter 23: I Want to Get into No. 1 High School
The restroom was filled with smoke. Zhu Junling squatted, not daring to move. Next to him stood five third-year students, each with a cigarette in hand, their smoking postures varying.
“This crappy cigarette doesn’t taste right. Why didn’t we buy Xiaoxiangye?”
The school constantly preached against student smoking. It was precisely because of curiosity, the more they were forbidden, the more they wanted to try a puff. They didn’t necessarily like the taste of tobacco, but they liked the special feeling of doing something others didn’t dare to do.
But smoking also cost money.
“It’s good enough that we have something to smoke,” the fat boy said, suddenly kicking Zhu Junling. “We asked you to introduce a few rich kids. What kind of person did you find? Didn’t you say his family lives in South Lake Mansion? We worked hard all night and only got a few measly bucks. Are you messing with us?”
Zhu Junling supported himself on the concrete floor and didn’t fall. On closer inspection, his chest and back were covered in muddy footprints. He had been kicked quite a bit after being dragged into the restroom.
“I’m not lying to you. His family really does live in South Lake Mansion. He doesn’t talk much in class. Maybe you didn’t search carefully enough…” Zhu Junling retorted in a small voice. Seeing a shoe sole coming towards his face, he immediately covered his head and squatted down.
The boy next to the fat one, with a mole on his face, slapped him on the back of the head. “You’re full of shit. I almost took off his pants yesterday. He only had a few bills on him. And you say he lives in South Lake Mansion? I’d say he lives under the South Lake bridge.”
Peng Zhen pinched the cigarette butt between his thumb and forefinger and grabbed a handful of Zhu Junling’s hair, blowing a puff of smoke in his face.
Zhu Junling was choked and couldn’t stop coughing, but his scalp was being pulled and he couldn’t break free.
“Zhu Junling, you made us work for nothing. What did you say when we passed you a note yesterday?”
Zhu Junling’s brow furrowed. “Bro, what you asked me to do in the note is really… really difficult for me. Our class’s class fees are with the class president. Our class president… you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. I have no chance at all. She doesn’t move from her seat during breaks. When she goes to the restroom, she’s surrounded by people, her deskmate, the people in front and behind her. I have no chance to do it.”
“Anyway, we told you to do these two things at the beginning of the school year, and you haven’t done a single one right. Zhu Junling, isn’t your family well-off? We don’t care how you do it, we just want to see this,” Peng Zhen said, throwing away the cigarette butt and rubbing his fingers together, the meaning of money clear.
“Say something. Why are you playing dead? Give us a time,” the fat boy said, his temper flaring, and he kicked out.
“Bro, bro, why don’t I give you a person? She said herself that her family owns a company and a factory, and she also lives in South Lake Mansion. She has a lot of pocket money,” Zhu Junling said, remembering what Zhou Wanfeng had told him, and clinging to this last hope.
The moment the fat boy heard the words “South Lake Mansion,” he kicked out again. Zhu Junling was sent sprawling to the ground. “Still f*cking South Lake Mansion. Still trying to trick us into working for nothing.”
Zhu Junling fell to the ground and covered his head. He didn’t dare to fight back at all. If he showed the slightest resistance, it would be even harder for him in the future. But at this moment, being kicked and beaten like this, all his self-esteem was crushed.
“He’s not lying to you.” With a cold voice, Zhou Wanfeng appeared in front of Peng Zhen and his group.
The few of them who were smoking hastily threw away their cigarettes.
They looked up and saw a girl walk in. They were all momentarily stunned, looking at each other, the same thought flashing through their minds: Isn’t this the men’s restroom?
Zhou Wanfeng scanned the people standing there and walked over unhurriedly. She kicked Zhu Junling’s back. “Hey, are you still lying there?”
Zhu Junling released his arms and looked up to see the class president, Zhou Wanfeng’s, icy gaze. He was slightly taken aback and got up from the ground with his mouth agape.
Zhou Wanfeng looked up and covered her nose and mouth, her brow furrowed. Her gaze was fixed on Peng Zhen, the fat boy, and the others. She pointed at Zhu Junling. “He’s not wrong. My family lives in South Lake Mansion. We own a company, a factory. We have more money than we can spend. Next time you go robbing after school, find the right person. Four of you worked hard all night just to smoke this crappy cigarette?”
Zhou Wanfeng’s tone was sarcastic. She repeatedly ground the cigarette butt on the floor with the tip of her shoe. From her actions and expression, it was as if she were grinding not a cigarette, but the people standing next to her.
The fat boy’s brow furrowed. “Who the f*ck are you?”
“The class president of First Grade, Class Nine, Zhou Wanfeng,” Zhou Wanfeng said, introducing herself with a smile. She grabbed Zhu Junling and said with a laugh, “Zhu Junling told me that you extorted and robbed him of his pocket money, and forced him to join you in your misdeeds. He also told me that you wanted him to steal the class fees, but he was unwilling and asked me to help him.”
Zhu Junling looked at Zhou Wanfeng in horror, pointing at himself, his mouth agape. He subconsciously looked at Peng Zhen and the others. “No… I…”
Zhou Wanfeng pushed him to the side. “Poor Jiang Yi, with so little money, and he’s still being targeted. And thank you for the reminder yesterday.”
“Damn it, Zhu Junling, I knew you were a sneaky bastard,” the fat boy said, raising his foot to kick him. Zhu Junling instinctively dodged backwards, his face contorted. No one would believe him now, no matter what he said.
Zhou Wanfeng stood up straight. The moment the fat boy kicked out, she suddenly raised her leg and forced his foot back. In a fight, the body’s center of gravity and the balance of the joints were practical experiences that Zhou Wanfeng had learned from her many fights in her past life.
The fat boy’s knee was blocked by her foot. He couldn’t exert any force and stumbled backwards, caught by the boy with the mole on his face behind him.
“You’ve got guts. If this weren’t a school, I could have broken you with one hand,” the fat boy said, gritting his teeth and making a threat after he had steadied himself.
“First Grade, Class Nine is under my jurisdiction. Your hands are reaching too far. Anyone can talk big. You’re fourteen, right? Watch less Hong Kong movies. You, and you, and you, you’re just third-year graduates. If you can’t get into high school, you’ll just be loitering in the arcades. By the time you’re in your early twenties, you’ll have accomplished nothing. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a partner, get married, and have children. Without any survival skills, you, you, and you, for the sake of food, clothing, and shelter, for your children’s milk powder and school fees, you’ll be hauling bricks and plastering walls at construction sites. I can see the end of your lives at a glance,” Zhou Wanfeng said, looking down at the cigarette butt, her eyes cold and icy.
Zhu Junling sucked in a breath. He didn’t even dare to raise his head now.
Peng Zhen walked forward and sized up Zhou Wanfeng, then snorted. “This year’s first-grade new students are really… something else. First Grade, Class Nine, Zhou Wanfeng, right? Your family owns a company, a factory, right? Then you’d better be careful on your way to and from school.”
Zhou Wanfeng sneered. “It’s the class president of First Grade, Class Nine, Zhou Wanfeng. Zhu Junling is from Class Nine. He doesn’t want to fall into depravity with you. He doesn’t want to play with you. Please have some shame and don’t keep pestering him.”
“You’ve got guts. You just wait. I’ll get you sooner or later,” the boy with the mole on his face said, pointing at Zhou Wanfeng with a sinister look.
“If this weren’t in a school, damn it, I’d kill you…”
Zhou Wanfeng snorted coldly. “I’ll be waiting. Just don’t run away as fast as you did last night. Bring everyone you have, so you don’t have to come in waves and waste time.”
She turned and glanced at Zhu Junling. “What are you standing there for? Do you want to stay here and smell the stench?” With that, she turned to look at Peng Zhen and the others and said, “By the way, all the capable ones go and smoke in the principal’s office. All the useless ones who just shout and have no ability like to hide in the restroom to smoke. And you still think you’re so tough and amazing. In fact, if you go and ask at the entrance of the arcade outside, how many of them haven’t smoked in the school restroom? Or maybe one day, when you have time, you can go and ask at a construction site. You might find your predecessors there.”
“Damn it,” the fat boy said, gritting his teeth and raising his fist to rush over and hit her, but he was stopped by Peng Zhen. “Don’t be in a hurry. Anyone can talk big. We’ll see who’s the real deal in a couple of days.”
Zhou Wanfeng replied, “I’ll be waiting.”
Zhu Junling walked in front, and when he looked back, he saw Peng Zhen and his group coming out of the restroom. They were standing, squatting, half-squatting, and their eyes were like needles on his back.
“Zhou Wanfeng, you’ve ruined me. They’ll definitely not let me go,” Zhu Junling said, shrinking his head, his eyes filled with panic as he wrung his hands. The thought of the revenge he would face made his fingers tremble.
Ding Gaoming and Chen Yisen came out of the men’s restroom next door. They glanced at the third years and immediately chased after them, both of them looking guilty.
Zhou Wanfeng glanced at the two of them.
Chen Yisen explained sheepishly, “Boss, we were just listening next door. If a fight had really broken out, we would have definitely gone over. We only heard you guys talking, so we didn’t show our faces.”
Ding Gaoming nodded frantically.
Zhu Junling was still not giving up. “I’m finished. They’re definitely going to kill me,” he said, his voice on the verge of tears.
It was Ding Gaoming who was smart. He put an arm around Zhu Junling’s shoulder and comforted him. “After they’ve beaten you up and let off some steam, it’ll probably be over. Do you really want to be with them? The boss is right. Take this opportunity to make a clean break. What’s the point of dragging it out like this?”
Chen Yisen chimed in, “That’s right. And didn’t the class president also offend Peng Zhen and his group for you? When I called for people to come and get you in the classroom just now, Chen Hao and those bastards didn’t even make a sound. Only the class president came to find you.
“Peng Zhen and his group are clearly not on the same level as us. If you follow them, you’ll get into trouble sooner or later. It’s a good thing the class president helped you make a clean break.”
Zhu Junling still had a worried expression, but he couldn’t help but look at Zhou Wanfeng and ask with a puzzled expression, “Class president, you be careful. They might corner you on your way home from school soon.”
Zhou Wanfeng turned to look at Zhu Junling, Ding Gaoming, and Chen Yisen, her expression stern, her tone devoid of any mockery. “I don’t care how you three mess around. From now on, you’re in charge of the back row during class. If you don’t want to study, then lie on your desks and sleep. In short, don’t disturb others in class.”
Jiang Yi was right. She couldn’t just fight with people in every class. It would disrupt the class.
The three of them looked at each other. Ding Gaoming still didn’t understand. “Boss, do you really want to study?”
“I want to get into a key high school.”
Chen Yisen was surprised. “But Shuangshu’s promotion rate is the worst in the city. Which key high school do you want to get into?” A regular key high school might be possible.
“No. 1 High School,” Zhou Wanfeng only remembered this one. Zhou Zhiru had said that Yun Jingya wanted to go to this high school.
Zhu Junling turned to look at the restroom behind him again. Peng Zhen and his group had left from the other side. Just as he turned back, he heard the words “No. 1 High School” and said directly, “Impossible.”
“No. 1 High School, Yunhai City No. 1 High School. That’s the best high school in the city, bar none. Do you know what that means? It means you have to be the top student among all the junior high school students in the city, the cream of the crop.”
But Zhou Wanfeng just smiled nonchalantly. “What matters is the process of giving it your all. Keep an eye on the back row for me. Don’t let them get too rowdy.” She then looked at Zhu Junling with a cold gaze, her expression serious. “Zhu Junling, you can’t live on the fence. Today, if it had been anyone else, even Chen Hao, I would have come. I said I would be the class president of First Grade, Class Nine. I will not only discipline you, but also protect you. I will keep my word. But those who voluntarily follow them are another story.”
With that, Zhou Wanfeng walked straight to the classroom.
Meanwhile, Peng Zhen and his group, who had been fiercely insulted, were now walking together, cursing.
“Damn it, a first-grade girl is so arrogant. We should have taught her a lesson just now.”
“You want to fight at school? If you get another demerit, you’ll be expelled.”
“Expelled is expelled. I didn’t want to go to school anymore anyway,” the fat boy said, his temper flaring. The thought of the insults he had just received made his liver, spleen, and stomach all feel uncomfortable.
“It’s not that urgent. We’ll call a few people later and discuss it. I really want to see if she’s all talk, or if she really has the guts.”