Chapter 96: Three Traveling Together

In truth, helping the old lady wasn’t the real problem; the most costly thing was acting on impulse! One punch could cost you ten or twenty thousand just like that! Yet young people nowadays have never witnessed bloodshed, so they have no concept of this. Only through painful experience do they come to understand the lesson—and that price is far too steep.

Why do people become more cautious as they age? It’s because only the ignorant know no fear.

Xiaocheng said he was going to report the incident, but in truth, he just wanted to teach Lv Qi a lesson—a lesson that could be worth tens of thousands.

“My dad gives me a beating—will that make you feel better?” Lv Qi asked in his simple, earnest way.

Xiaocheng shrugged, “How your dad handles it is his business. I just want to tell him what happened yesterday!”

Lv Qi considered this, then stopped and said seriously, “Can you just say I hit you, and not mention the money? No matter what I did to you, it was just one punch. My dad will beat me, maybe even break a stick on me, and that should settle the score between us, right?”

“What, trying to stash away some secret savings? You’re really willing to risk your life but not your money!” Xiaocheng sneered inwardly. He’d thought Lv Qi was working to help his family, but it turned out the guy was trying to save up money for himself.

“It’s not that…” Lv Qi hesitated for a long time before continuing, “I’ve always wanted to buy my dad an electric jackhammer. He still chisels walls with just a hammer and chisel. I checked, even the cheapest one costs 1,800. I’ve already saved over 500 this semester. With this extra thousand, I’ll be almost there. When vacation comes, I’ll haul some sand and cement, and I’ll have enough…”

Lv Qi had eaten plain buns and pickled vegetables for a whole semester to save those 500 yuan, so Zhang Peiyue’s thousand was a massive temptation.

“You fool! After hitting me, why didn’t you ask Zhang Peiyue for an extra thousand? His family’s so rich—a thousand, two thousand, it makes no difference to him, don’t you know?” Xiaocheng was about to lecture him further when he noticed the tall boy was already lost in thought. Following his gaze, he saw Ding Sina standing by the roadside, dressed in white and waving at them.

On the narrow path beneath willow trees, her black hair was like silk and her white dress shone brighter than snow. Amid the bustling traffic and crowds, everything else seemed dull and lifeless—only that black hair and white dress were vivid and alive. With no makeup, Ding Sina’s beauty was pure as a lotus emerging from the water, surpassing any artifice. Not only Lv Qi, but even Xiaocheng was momentarily entranced. He hadn’t expected that, without makeup, Ding Sina would appear so ethereal, almost like a fairy untouched by dust. Yet, in her eyes and at the corners of her lips, there was still a subtle hint of allure that stirred the heart.

“Seventh Brother! Xiaocheng!” she called.

Before the two of them could approach, Ding Sina ran over. After greeting Lv Qi, she naturally slipped her arm through Xiaocheng’s, as if she did so all the time. Xiaocheng stiffened, the sudden touch overwhelming his senses, so much so that he failed to notice the fleeting pain on Lv Qi’s face.

“What are you doing? Stop pulling and tugging!” Xiaocheng pretended to protest.

Ding Sina reluctantly let go, but her mood was unaffected and she said cheerfully, “I listened to you and didn’t wear any makeup today…” She fluttered her lashes, clearly fishing for praise.

With Lv Qi present and so many people around, Xiaocheng just nodded slightly, “Mm, you look much more pleasant like this.”

There was a difference between Wen Xiaocheng and Wen Xiaodao. The latter’s roguish style was something he simply couldn’t pull off, and after that assertive “teasing” the other day, seeing Ding Sina again just made things more awkward. Love or hate, if he was kind she drew closer; if he wasn’t, she’d look pitiful, making him feel like the villain.

This so-called “game of love” was truly a tricky business.

All three of them were lost in their own thoughts, walking quietly along. Earlier, after hearing about Lv Qi’s wish to save for a jackhammer, Xiaocheng had lost interest in tattling. But if he left now, Ding Sina would surely follow, which would only cause more misunderstandings, so he kept walking in the direction of Lv Qi’s house.

Coincidentally, Ding Sina lived in that direction as well.

By the riverside, there were fewer students around. Lv Qi pushed his bicycle, walking slowly to wait for the other two. Xiaocheng walked at a leisurely pace—one side was the tall Lv Qi, the other Ding Sina; squeezed between them, he felt awkward. Glancing back at Ding Sina, he noticed she wasn’t wearing black stockings anymore, which left him a little disappointed.

The riverside scenery was quite nice. With the wind blowing toward the opposite bank, you couldn’t smell any unpleasantness from the water. The willows leaned toward the far shore, their shade left behind. By now, they’d strayed from the direction of Xiaocheng’s home, but Ding Sina didn’t ask why, just kept her head down and followed.

Did she have something to say?

They reached the half-finished apartment complex where Xiaocheng had once arranged to fight Qiu Hui. One more intersection and they’d be at the row houses where Lv Qi’s family lived. As they walked, several young men smoking by the street waved at them. The leader was someone Xiaocheng recognized—Lei Yang, a friend of Ding Sina’s.

The reason Ding Sina was called “Sister Na” at school was because Lei Yang had her back.

To adults, Lei Yang and his crew were nothing more than a bunch of idle, unemployed youths who hung around internet cafes and shady parlors, smoking, drinking, dyeing their hair, and making trouble—a genuine threat to social order! But to the junior high students who ran in similar circles, these were big shots. You had to add “brother” to Lei Yang’s name. Anyone who knew people like him could walk the school halls with impunity.

After all, by the hierarchy of delinquents, school punks were just beginners; street punks were the advanced version.

The world looked different in the eyes of a child. The Pythagorean theorem taught in school did nothing to prepare them for the real rules of life. The strong ruled, settling grudges with flair and bravado. They imagined that the world outside school was filled with heroics, like the legendary Brother Lei Yang—leading his crew, dominating the streets—blissfully unaware of how pathetic these thugs became when caught and locked up, wetting their pants in terror.

When Xiaocheng first started school, he’d heard tales of a “Four Heavenly Kings” figure among the third-year students—a tough who’d taken a shine to Ding Sina and maybe had some other conflict as well, only to be beaten black and blue by the famous Brother Lei Yang. Lei Yang had declared on the spot, “Ding Sina is my sister—anyone who messes with her messes with me!” From then on, Ding Sina was “Sister Na,” and even the school’s former top dog, Qiu Hui, treated her with respect.

“Come here!” Lei Yang called from across the street, his group of punks jeering alongside him.

In that moment, Ding Sina lost all her earlier intimacy, shrinking behind Xiaocheng.

Lei Yang’s brow furrowed, his tone deepening with annoyance: “What, hiding from me? Damn it! Do I have to come get you myself?”

With that, he took a long drag on his cigarette, climbed off his motorcycle, stubbed out the cigarette, and strode over, his four cronies falling in behind him—chests puffed, bellies out, sporting earrings, yellow-dyed hair, thick eyeliner, and gaudy tattoos.

Xiaocheng sized them up and thought, No wonder Ding Sina’s been so clingy with me lately. He’d guessed she’d bring trouble, but he hadn’t expected it to arrive so soon.

———

I’d hoped to ask for rewards on Monday, but after so many chapters, my backlog is almost gone and it’s not even Monday yet. Don’t stop me—I’m off to have a good cry.