A rage for the blue man
The evening bell just broke the silence of the classroom. Ji Jiancheng stuffed his schoolbag into the belly of the desk, crouched next to Li Huaizhou, and gently nudged his arm with his elbow. "Let's go, let's go to the usual place. I just told the owner of the Internet cafe to reserve two computers by the window for us. The new map is released tonight. If we don't go now, they will be taken away."
Li Huaizhou paused with his pen, his mathematical formulas on the draft paper scrambling. He glanced at his homeroom teacher, who was gathering up her lesson plans, then at the gradually settling dusk outside the window. The bell for evening study was still ten minutes away, and the hallway was already filled with the smell of disinfectant from the students on duty mopping the floor. "Are you really going to run away?" He frowned, his fingertips unconsciously picking at the straps of his schoolbag. "I was just caught late by Miss Zhou last week, and now I'm skipping evening study again, and I have to write another self-criticism."
"What are you afraid of?" Ji Jiancheng patted his shoulder and lowered his voice. "The teacher has to go to a meeting tonight. The last study period is for homework. Let's sneak out through the back door and no one will notice. Besides, aren't you still holding a grudge about the last time we fought over the basketball court? After playing games, let's go eat fried skewers. I'll treat you. Just consider it a way to relax."
Mentioning the basketball court, Li Huaizhou's eyes darkened. Last Wednesday afternoon, he and Ji Jiancheng were practicing with the basketball team. Zhang Qiang, a gangster from the next class, came over with a few people and insisted on taking over the court. In the end, the argument almost turned into a fight. It was a passing physical education teacher who pulled them apart. Zhang Qiang's words "wait and see" before leaving still made him feel suffocated when he thought about it. He bit his lower lip, threw the pen into the pencil case, and grabbed the school uniform jacket on the back of the chair: "Let's go, hurry up, don't dawdle."
Crouching low, the two men slipped out the back door. The hallway was empty, the only sound coming from the distance as the cleaning lady pushed a cleaning cart. They ran down the stairs, their soles clacking softly on the steps. Just as they were about to jump over the wall, they were blocked by figures suddenly emerging from the alleyway. Zhang Qiang was accompanied by five or six other men, their elbows resting on the wall, chewing gum, their school uniforms unbuttoned, revealing skull-printed T-shirts underneath, their eyes filled with defiance.
"Hey, skipping self-study, Li Huaizhou!" Zhang Qiang spat out the gum in his mouth, which stuck to the wall like a disgusting yellow stain. "Where's the energy you had last week to grab the spot? Why are your legs weak when you see me now?" The people behind him started to make a fuss. A boy with dyed yellow hair came forward and reached out to push Li Huaizhou's shoulder. "If you know what's good for you, apologize to Brother Qiang and take out the money you have, or I'll make you two crawl back home today."
Li Huaizhou took a half step back. Ji Jiancheng was very dissatisfied: "Apologize? For what? The basketball court is for whoever gets there first to use it. You guys who came later couldn't grab it, so what's the point of blocking them now?" Li Huaizhou knew that the other side had more people and he would definitely suffer if he fought hard, but the stubbornness in his bones came out and he refused to bow his head. Zhang Qiang sneered and waved to the people behind him to come forward: "You don't know how to appreciate it, right? Then don't blame us for being rude." The yellow-haired man rushed up first and reached out to grab Li Huaizhou's collar. Li Huaizhou dodged sideways and raised his hand to push him. The yellow-haired man stumbled and hit the wall, shouting angrily: "You dare to fight back? Brothers, go!"
Ji Jiancheng was so frightened that his face turned pale. He knew he couldn't win, so he gritted his teeth and pulled Li Huaizhou's arm: "I'll go get some help, Brother Zhou, hold on." Without waiting for Li Huaizhou's response, he turned around and ran towards the teaching building, and while running, he didn't forget to turn around and shout: "Don't fight hard, I'll be back soon!"
Zhang Qiang had no intention of chasing Ji Jiancheng. He focused all his attention on Li Huaizhuo: "It doesn't matter if one of you runs away. I'll deal with you first." He waved his hand, and several people immediately surrounded him. Some pulled Li Huaizhuo's arms, and some kicked his legs. Li Huaizhuo struggled to resist, but there were more people on the other side, and he was soon pressed against the wall. His back was hurt by the impact, and his arms were held tightly, so he couldn't move.
"So arrogant?" Zhang Qiang came up to him, his voice full of sarcasm. "I heard your mother ran away a long time ago, and your father is an alcoholic. Now he's doing dirty work for the bar owner? No wonder you're so uneducated and don't even know the rules. I have the final say in this area. If you dare to compete with me for space, you're courting death." His words pierced Li Huaizhou's heart like needles. The wounds hidden in his heart were torn open fiercely. The pain made his eyes red, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing, just staring at Zhang Qiang.
At this moment, hurried footsteps were heard from the alley, and Xie Mo came jogging all the way over. He had just packed his schoolbag in the classroom and was about to go to the library when he saw Ji Jiancheng running over in a panic, saying that Li Huaizhou was blocked by someone. Before Ji Jiancheng finished speaking, he grabbed the school uniform jacket on the back of the chair and ran to the alley.
Seeing Li Huaizhou pressed against the wall, Xie Mo's eyes instantly turned cold. Without saying a word, he rushed forward, stretched out his hand to grab a boy who was pulling Li Huaizhou's arm, and pulled him back hard. The boy was caught off guard and stumbled to the ground. Zhang Qiang was stunned for a moment, turned his head and looked at Xie Mo: "Where did this bastard come from, daring to meddle in other people's business?"
Xie Mo ignored him, stepped forward, and stood in front of Li Huaizhou, his shoulders straight. He was usually quiet and even spoke softly, but the fierceness in his eyes at this moment made Zhang Qiang a little scared. "What are you going to do?" Xie Mo's voice was not loud, but it was full of unquestionable force.
"Oh, a helper has come?" Zhang Qiang sneered and waved his hand to let two people deal with Xie Mo, "Let's take care of them together, and let you know how powerful I am." The two men rushed up immediately. Xie Mo dodged sideways, raised his hand to grab one of the men's wrist, twisted it hard, and the other man cried out in pain. His hand loosened, and Li Huaizhou took the opportunity to break free. He rubbed his arm that was red from being squeezed, and rushed up to deal with those people together with Xie Mo. Xie Mo's attack was much more ruthless than Li Huaizhou's. He did not wrestle like Li Huaizhou, but focused on the opponent's arms and knees. His movements were fast and accurate. In a few strokes, he knocked the two men to the ground. Li Huaizhou was stunned for a moment, then reacted and increased his strength. The two men were back to back, cooperating with each other in an unexpected tacit understanding.
Zhang Qiang didn't expect Xie Mo to be so good at fighting. He panicked a little and just wanted to go forward to help when he heard the shrill sound of a police siren in the distance. It was Shen Qitang. He heard Ji Jiancheng say that Li Huaizhou was stuck in traffic, so he quickly found the audio of the police siren on his phone, played it at the highest volume, and deliberately ran towards the alley entrance, pretending that the police had arrived.
"The police are coming?!" Zhang Qiang's face changed. He was usually fine with blocking people, but he was really afraid of being caught by the police. "Let's go!" He waved his hand, and several people immediately ran to the end of the alley in panic. As they ran, they didn't forget to turn around and glare at Li Huaizhou, "We are not done yet!"
After Zhang Qiang and the others ran away and the sirens stopped, Shen Qitang ran over with his cell phone, panting and saying, "Fortunately, I reacted quickly, otherwise I really don't know how I would have scared them away." Ji Jiancheng also came over and saw that Li Huaizhou and Xie Mo were fine. He ran until he was really tired and leaned on his knees to catch his breath.
There were only four of them left at the alley. Li Huaizhou rubbed the red marks on his arm. Xie Mo's school uniform jacket was torn, and there was a little dust on the corner of his mouth. Shen Qitang's bangs were wet with sweat and stuck to his forehead. Ji Jiancheng's trouser legs were still stained with mud from running out just now. None of them looked decent, but looking at each other, they couldn't help laughing. Even Xie Mo curled his lips and looked at Li Huaizhou's gentle
"Thank goodness we worked so well together, otherwise we'd be in trouble today." Ji Jiancheng patted his thigh, and suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up, "Oh right, we agreed to treat you to fried skewers, but after all the commotion just now, the fried skewers don't seem to be strong enough. There's a new barbecue stall at the end of the alley. I'll treat you to barbecue. Grilled chicken wings, grilled tendons, grilled eggplant, whatever you want!"
Chen Qitang was the first to respond: "Okay, I've been running for so long and I'm already hungry. It's a good opportunity to have a meal with Master Ji." Li Huaizhou didn't object. He just looked at Xie Mo and saw him nod before following him to the end of the alley.
A barbecue stall was set up under a streetlight, oil sizzling from the iron grill, the aroma of cumin and chili powder wafting far into the distance. The owner, a bearded man, flipped the skewers rapidly. Seeing them approach, he smiled and greeted, "Oh, you little brats who skipped class, what do you want to eat?"
Ji Jiancheng waved his hand proudly: "Twenty skewers of grilled tendons, ten skewers of chicken wings, two skewers of grilled eggplant, and one grilled enoki mushroom, all slightly spicy, and four bottles of ice cola!" The boss responded and put the skewers on the grill swiftly. The oil splashed on the charcoal fire, and the "crackling" sound was heard. The smoke and fragrance washed away the tension at the alley entrance.
A few people found a small table and sat down. Shen Qitang was still bragging about the siren sound just now: "You didn't see it. Zhang Qiang's face turned pale in an instant, and he ran faster than a rabbit." Ji Jiancheng moved closer to Xie Mo, bumped his arm, and teased with a smile: "Xie Mo, you were too fierce just now. You usually look so calm and indifferent, but when you fight, you are like a completely different person. This is really 'a rage for a blue friend'. For Li Huaizhou, you even disregarded your image."
Xie Mo didn't say anything. He lowered his head and poked the empty Coke bottle on the table. He didn't refute, but just looked up at Li Huaizhou. Li Huaizhou saw it and reached out to help Xie Mo get a bunch of freshly grilled chicken wings. When he handed it to him, his fingertips gently touched the back of his hand and whispered, "Okay, eating can't stop your mouth."
Xie Mo took the chicken wing and took a bite. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with just the right amount of cumin flavor. The light from the street lamp fell on the four people, the fireworks from the grill floated in the air, and the ice cola dripped down the bottle. Ji Jiancheng and Shen Qitang chatted about games and interesting things in the class. Li Huaizhou and Xie Mo occasionally exchanged a few words, occasionally looking at each other, with a smile on their lips.
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