Chapter 38
When Teacher Zhang finally finished explaining the last newspaper, there were few people left in the corridor of the teaching building.
"Okay, get out of class is over. Go back and sort out all the wrong questions. I'll check them tomorrow."
The few who couldn't sit still and were anxious to go home had already lost their focus on the class, not even paying attention to their homework. Before Teacher Zhang had even said the end of class, they had already made their way to the back door. Li An, however, taking advantage of Teacher Zhang's favor, disdained the back door and, with his schoolbag slung over one shoulder, even said goodbye to Teacher Zhang as he ran out the front door, only to be scolded by Teacher Zhang as a "brat."
"Ouch." Yin Li was cleaning up while making faces like Li Ang, "Let's go, Brother Zhang. Goodbye, Brother Zhang~"
Han Chengcheng laughed when he saw it.
"If you really hate Li An that much, then just leave him out next time you go out," Lu Bai asked her. "Why do you have to take him with you?"
"I'm a magnanimous person and don't want to ignore this pretentious wimp." Yin Li threw her schoolbag onto her back and raised her head towards Han Chengcheng. "Besides, it's more fun to go out with more people. Let's go, Chengcheng."
Lu Bai curled his lips and slowly put his homework into his schoolbag, "Tsk, you're just flattering yourself..."
"Are you ready?" Zhang Xiaotian couldn't help but interrupt him. He was really anxious watching Lu Bai slacking off. Recently, perhaps because it was nearing the end of the semester, all the teachers were still in school for evening self-study, and they often used the time to give lectures. Among them, Teacher Zhang came the most frequently, and he always stayed in class after class. The key classes had a later study time than other classes, and if they stayed in class after class, they would have to go back to school in the middle of the night if they wanted to study after returning home. Even if he could sleep less for studying, Zhang Xiaotian didn't want his body to be too tired and affect his condition the next day, so he was eager to fly home as soon as the class was over, but there was Lu Bai who was holding him back.
"Oh, why are you in such a hurry? Are you so anxious to leave me and go home?" Lu Bai hummed, his hands not moving any faster.
Zhang Xiaotian couldn't bear to watch, so he stepped in to help him. Seeing him intervene, Lu Bai smiled and moved faster. But even so, they were almost the last ones to come out except for the students on duty.
"Could you be quicker next time?"
Even the lights in the corridor were off, leaving only the emergency exit indicator light emitting a faint green glow. Zhang Xiaotian held the handrail and walked tentatively step by step, saying to Lu Bai, "At least we can catch up when the corridor lights come on. It's too dark here."
"Are you afraid of the dark, Tian'er?" Lu Bai asked him, "Last time we were in the haunted house in City B, didn't you seem scared?"
Who's scared? Zhang Xiaotian turned around to deny it, but was met with Lu Bai's approaching face. Zhang Xiaotian was startled and shrank back.
"What are you...doing?"
"I noticed it when you first came here," Lu Bai said, not expecting Zhang Xiaotian to suddenly turn around. He was also stunned. But he didn't know what he was thinking, so he moved closer and said without thinking, "Your eyelashes are so long, Tian'er."
The corridor was so dark that even the slightest glimmer of light was noticeable. Zhang Xiaotian felt that Lu Bai's eyes were frighteningly bright, as if they illuminated all his thoughts. Annoyed, Zhang Xiaotian reached out to slap Lu Bai on the head, but when he landed, his hand only covered his eyes.
Under his palm, Lu Bai's eyelids moved restlessly, but he didn't avoid it. Seeing him quietly not hiding or speaking, Zhang Xiaotian was a little distracted.
Lu Bai is so annoying.
He has never been in a relationship with anyone, so does he not even read novels or watch TV dramas? Does he know how ambiguous the relationship between the two of them is now, or does he actually know but just finds it interesting?
Zhang Xiaotian felt a little distressed. In Lu Bai's eyes, was this normal between brothers?
"Why are you covering your eyes?" Zhang Xiaotian saw the corners of Lu Bai's mouth slightly curved, "It's already dark enough that I can't see clearly...ah!"
Zhang Xiaotian kicked him.
Lu Bai jumped on one foot, covering his calf: "Kick me?!"
"I told you not to get so close, but you're still talking nonsense." Zhang Xiaotian's men used some force to push Lu Bai's head away, and continued walking down.
Lu Bai walked behind with his hands behind his back: "I just wanted to scare you, who knew you would suddenly turn around..."
Zhang Xiaotian ignored him. No matter what Lu Bai said to him, he just quickened his pace. After leaving the teaching building, the two were about to go down the stairs when they saw someone running towards them from a distance.
"Isn't that Guan Yue? Something was left in the classroom..."
Before Lu Bai could finish his words, he heard Guan Yue shouting:
"Lu Bai! This is bad! Li An asked Wen Gou to lead his men to block the way!"
What!
Before Zhang Xiaotian could react, Lu Bai had already thrown the schoolbag to him and walked quickly towards Guan Yue: "What's going on now?"
Zhang Xiaotian hurriedly caught the schoolbag and wanted to grab Lu Bai: "Wait, you..."
"Li An was arrested as soon as he left the school gate. They didn't hit or curse, they just carried him away. Li An was such a coward that he didn't even dare to say a word. They're now at the low-income housing complex across from the school. They specifically asked for you and Xiaotian to come over, saying they won't release you until they see you two."
Guan Yue spoke rapidly, only to see Zhang Xiaotian's face darken to a terrifying degree. He paused, then realized, "We definitely can't let Xiaotian go with us. Lu Bai, what do you think we should do?"
What should I do? Guan Yue, this idiot, actually asked what to do?!
Zhang Xiaotian was getting angrier and angrier. A bunch of barely grown high school students were already trying to figure out how to get along in society. Fighting and showing off was fine, but now they were brazenly blocking people at the school gate. Where were the school security? The teachers hadn't even left yet! These guys were simply trampling over school rules and regulations! Just because they had connections, they could do whatever they wanted.
"Of course my Tian'er can't go over there. His hands are for holding a pen, not fighting. I'll go with you first, and Tian'er will contact the teacher..."
Lu Bai rolled up his sleeves and tried to leave, but Zhang Xiaotian grabbed his wrist tightly. He turned around and was met with Zhang Xiaotian's roar:
"Are you childish? What do you mean my hand is for holding a pen? Your hand isn't, is it? What student of your age doesn't hold a pen with his hands? I think your IQ has dropped after hanging out with Li Ang for so long. What can you do now? There aren't that many people to beat us up. If you want to get beaten up, Li Ang is enough! We should find a way to get the teachers and the police to resolve this matter instead of just rushing in and getting beaten up like a hot-blooded fool!"
Guan Yue had never seen Zhang Xiaotian speak so loudly and so many words before, and was shocked to the point of stuttering: "Lao Zhang... Lao Zhang left a long time ago... Besides, I can't just leave Li An alone there..."
"Look, I just passed by the second floor and saw the lights were still on. Maybe Director Chi hasn't left yet. Guan Yue can go upstairs and look for him. If he can't find Director Chi, just grab any teacher who's nice and talkative and in charge."
"Oh, oh, hello!" Guan Yue was about to run away, but before leaving, he asked, "What about you two?"
Zhang Xiaotian pulled Lu Bai and ran down the stairs quickly, all the way to the mail room at the school gate, but unfortunately the mail room had already been locked.
"The door is locked?" Zhang Xiaotian ran too fast and stopped suddenly, gasping for breath. "Did he get off work earlier than Director Chi?"
"It's easy to get tired when you get older." Lu Bai, who had been silent all the way, spoke at this time.
With Zhang Xiaotian's words, Lu Bai no longer showed any signs of rushing into danger. However, leaving Li An there alone would be a crime against his conscience, and going alone with just the two of them would be like walking into a tiger's mouth. Zhang Xiaotian calmed himself down and came up with a new idea.
"Call the police?" Lu Bai hesitated, "Wouldn't that make things too big..."
"When he recruited some social media followers to block the three of us at the school gate, he didn't think about whether he was making things too big." Zhang Xiaotian held out his hand to him, "Give me your phone."
Lu Bai immediately covered his pockets with his hands: "How did you know I brought my phone?"
"...Stop messing around and give it to me."
Zhang Xiaotian took the phone and contacted the nearest police station, explaining the situation in a roundabout way. Although the police advised against going alone, Zhang Xiaotian decided to go with Lu Bai to delay as much as possible.
"Let's go." Zhang Xiaotian returned the phone to Lu Bai. Lu Bai took it and hesitated to speak.
Zhang Xiaotian saw that he had something to say, so he waited for him to speak.
Lu Bai hesitated for a while before asking, "Tian'er, do you really hate me fighting?"
Zhang Xiaotian gave him a look that looked like a fool.
"It's not that I hate you for fighting, but I hate this way of solving problems. I'm also annoyed by that thug named Wen's collective punishment."
"They're so bored!" Zhang Xiaotian suppressed his anger. Don't they have anything else to do? Have they already planned out their post-graduation path? Or have they given up and just decided to live day by day?
He thought about contacting Secretary Wang, but decided not to. After all, they were prone to being overly sensitive. He didn't mind, but he just wanted to avoid making a worse impression on Lu Bai with his mother.
Zhang Xiaotian was thinking in his mind, and Lu Bai didn't say anything else. The two of them came to the vicinity of the residential area. Seeing that everyone was in the empty parking lot here, they hid under the wall and looked inside.
It seems that Li An was not beaten much.
The gang of thugs didn't seem to want to make things too difficult, so they just surrounded Li An, muttering dirty words and occasionally kicking him. Li An didn't seem to be trying to save face. Zhang Xiaotian breathed a sigh of relief, nodded his pocket at Lu Bai, and made another move. Lu Bai understood and immediately took out his phone to start recording.
"Tian'er, I didn't..." Seeing Zhang Xiaotian also leaning over to look at the phone screen, Lu Bai lowered his voice to speak, but was interrupted by Zhang Xiaotian.
"Shh." Zhang Xiaotian pointed at his phone, signaling him to be quiet. Lu Bai pursed his lips and said nothing more.
Zhang Xiaotian knew what Lu Bai was going to say.
It was simply this: I didn't mean to fight, I just felt uneasy. After all, I was there last time, and I couldn't leave Li An here alone... Actually, Zhang Xiaotian believed Lu Bai could handle it, but his plan was definitely to exclude Zhang Xiaotian. Zhang Xiaotian didn't feel he had no right to participate, not to mention that this kind of "protection" itself was annoying.
Seeing that the situation was not tense, the two men planned to drag it on until the police and teachers arrived. At this time, a gangster said something to Li An. Li An first stretched his neck and shouted something vaguely. After being almost hit, he took out his mobile phone.
The two of them thought something was wrong, and sure enough, the next second, Lu Bai's phone rang.
"Damn!" Lu Bai hurriedly pressed the reject button, but it was too late. After hearing the phone ring, several gangsters had already walked over here.
"...Remember to keep the sound off next time you bring it to school." Zhang Xiaotian sighed.
Seeing Zhang Xiaotian and Lu Bai approaching, Wen Zhongyin stopped hiding behind the crowd. He swayed, a cigarette still dangling from his lips, and began to laugh annoyingly: "Hahaha, Li An, you have such bad relationships. Even if people come, they won't show up, just waiting to see you make a fool of yourself."
"Stop talking bullshit!" Li An retorted, and was kicked in the back again.
"We are both here, you can let him go now," said Lu Bai.
"Okay, but there's a condition." Wen Zhongyin shook his legs, "You have to make my brother pay back for the beating he received that day."
"Why?" Li An was furious. "You were the ones who started the fight!"
Wen Zhongyin turned a deaf ear and continued, "The others are fine, but that guy called Zhang Tian or something was really ruthless. My brother knelt down once that day, and then he went home and lay in bed for several days. He didn't ask you for medical expenses, but just hit him back a few times. I was very considerate of him, wasn't I?"
After he finished speaking, the people around him gathered around him. Upon closer inspection, they all looked familiar. They were the ones who had beaten up Li Ang that day.
"He's really a bully." Zhang Xiaotian couldn't help but say.
Seeing them getting closer, Lu Bai swallowed his saliva and asked Zhang Xiaotian in a low voice what to do.
"What can I do? I can't beat him, so I can only..."
Before Zhang Xiaotian could finish his words, something unexpected happened behind him. Several of the thugs who had almost completely surrounded them suddenly fell down. Li An threw down his schoolbag and ran towards the exit without looking back, shouting, "You two are idiots, run!"
Li An's timing was perfect. Zhang Xiaotian had mentally prepared himself for someone to drag him away, but reality actually slowed him down. Lu Bai grabbed Zhang Xiaotian's arm and took off running, the thugs chasing him relentlessly, but they couldn't catch up. As they got closer to the exit, the sound of footsteps approached, and Zhang Xiaotian felt his heart nearly leap out of his chest. Just as the three were about to be caught, a familiar voice rang out from the exit.
"It's the teacher over there, really!"
Guan Yue and his teacher finally arrived.
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