Feeling somewhat exhausted, I gestured with my hand, "Let him go, I don't want to see him anymore."

Zou Yang, as if granted clemency, promptly turned and walked away, disappearing several meters away in the blink of an eye.

"Stop!" came the commanding voice of Yu Chengfei.

Zou Yang had no choice but to halt, reluctantly turning back to face Yu Chengfei, his gaze withering.

"Aren't you going to help Hong Li?" Yu Chengfei furrowed his brow. "After all, he came for you. Are you just going to leave him lying there? As a fellow villager from Dongguan Town, I have to remind you. If you just walk away like this, Hong Li will come back to settle the score with you in the future."

Upon hearing this, Zou Yang hurried back and hoisted Hong Li onto his back. Zou Yang was tall and strong, so carrying Hong Li wasn't too much of a hassle.

Watching the two of them get farther away, Yu Chengfei chuckled, "Hong Li definitely won't let Zou Yang off the hook..."

I also realized that Yu Chengfei was quite adept at sowing discord...

Yu Chengfei put his arm around my shoulder, saying warmly, "How about it, Haozi? Feeling relieved enough?"

I smiled, "Very much so. Thanks a lot for this, Yu Bro."

"Ah, come on, no need for thanks," Yu Chengfei said happily. "Let's go to the internet café and hang out."

Suddenly, I remembered something and asked, "Yu Bro, have you ever fought Zou Yang before?"

Yu Chengfei nodded. "Yeah, I have. Didn't you complain to your mom about Zou Yang bullying you? Your mom told my mom about it, and I happened to be nearby. So, I thought I'd help you get some payback. One day I ran into him on the street and gave him a good beating. He promised not to bully you again, but obviously, he didn't keep his word. Seems like I went too easy on him."

Now I understood why Zou Yang bullied me even more fiercely—it was because he took out his anger on me.

"Alright, enough of that," Yu Chengfei yawned. "Now that Zou Yang is taken care of, how about we go to the internet café?"

I remembered something and asked quickly, "By the way, Yu Bro, if I hadn't found you, what would you have done?"

"I thought about it," I said honestly. "If I couldn't find you, I would have packed up and gone home. I wouldn't have gone to school anymore, to avoid being bullied by Zou Yang for another three years."

"Good, have some backbone. You should've done that earlier!" Yu Chengfei said, looking pleased.

Everyone laughed. After the laughter subsided, Yuan Shao walked over and whispered, "Yu Bro, what about Maizi?"

"Hmm..." Yu Chengfei fell into thought.

I had heard Xia Xue mention the name "Maizi" before. Maizi was quite a character at Chengnan High School, on par with Yu Chengfei. But according to Xia Xue, in Chengnan High School, Maizi wasn't the only one in charge; there were two other formidable figures, one called Old Dog and the other Brick, who were also influential.

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Yu Chengfei seemed to find Maizi particularly troublesome, as he remained silent for a long time. However, everyone else remained silent too, accustomed to keeping quiet when Yu Chengfei was lost in thought.

Yu Chengfei lowered his head, making a noise of contemplation. I felt sorry for causing him trouble like this. Was there anything I could do to help? I racked my brain, but couldn't come up with a solution.

After about five minutes, Yu Chengfei was still deep in thought.

My mind raced, and I even thought about strapping explosives to myself to take Maizi down with me.

"Yu Bro..." Yuan Shao couldn't hold back anymore and called out.

Yu Chengfei didn't respond.

"Yu Bro?" Yuan Shao called out in confusion.

Yu Chengfei still didn't react.

"Yu Bro!" Yuan Shao shouted, giving Yu Chengfei a push. "Seriously, you fell asleep standing up?! How is that even possible?!"

Everyone looked bewildered. Yuan Shao said, "I told you, Yu Bro fell asleep again! I knew it! Yu Bro can fall asleep standing up, that's a skill not everyone can master."

Yu Chengfei indeed had fallen asleep. Now he opened his eyes groggily, looking at everyone with a confused expression.

"Huh, wasn't I in the dorm? How did I end up here?" Yu Chengfei said.

Everyone responded with a mixture of laughter and tears. Yuan Shao said, "Yu Bro, you've been here for half a day already. Didn't you help Haozi deal with Hong Li and Zou Yang just now?" As he spoke, he looked at me with a "you know how he is, just go along with it" expression.

Yu Chengfei's sleeping skill wasn't new to me, so I just laughed along. My mom had once told me, "Yu Chengfei is a good kid, but he lacks vitality. Always looks dazed, not afraid to bump into telephone poles while walking?!"

Yu Chengfei looked at me and said, "Haozi, when did you get here? Why didn't you say hello?"

I slapped my forehead. Oh no, Yu Chengfei's narcolepsy was getting worse. Now he had amnesia too.

"Yu Bro," I said helplessly, "we were just talking a moment ago. How could you forget?"

Yu Chengfei chuckled, "I was just messing with you guys. Did you really think I forgot everything? Actually, I wasn't asleep, I was just thinking."

Everyone responded with a skeptical "hmm." Yuan Shao said, "So, Yu Bro, after all that thinking, do you have a plan? What about Maizi from Chenggao? We beat up Hong Li just now, so he won't let it go."

"Heh heh, Maizi," Yu Chengfei chuckled. "That bastard's in the detention center now. Otherwise, would I dare to beat up Hong Li like that? What? In the detention center?" Yuan Shao's expression was both shocked and delighted.

"Yeah," Yu Chengfei said. "About half an hour ago, Maizi got into a fight with the boss while eating liangpi outside, so he probably won't be out for at least fifteen days."

"When did this happen? How come we didn't know about it?" Yuan Shao said excitedly. "That bastard is probably getting a taste of his own medicine in detention, I hope he gets stabbed a hundred times in the ass."

"When did it happen?" I was surprised. Yu Chengfei had been here for almost half an hour, so if Maizi had also been detained half an hour ago, how did he know?

I looked at Yuan Shao, and it seemed he had the same question.

"Can't figure it out?" Yu Chengfei looked at everyone triumphantly. "Of course I arranged it in advance. When Hong Li came to negotiate with you, I had already informed Maizi in advance to avoid any conflict. Maizi and his gang were eating liangpi outside, ready to come over and fight at any moment. I wasn't afraid of them, but since you were here, I was worried you might get hurt accidentally. So, I arranged for the liangpi vendor to pick a fight with Maizi, and he deliberately put a whole can of chili peppers in his bowl. Maizi couldn't resist and lost his temper. Ha ha..."

So that's what happened! I felt even more grateful to Yu Chengfei and admired his cunning.

Yuan Shao clapped his hands. "Brilliant, brilliant! Yu Bro, you're my idol. I just wanted to ask, what about after fifteen days?"

Yu Chengfei turned to me. "Haozi, for your safety, drop out of school."

"What... what?" I was stunned.

"Drop out of school," Yu Chengfei said to me. "If you stay at Chengnan High School, Maizi and his gang will probably kill you."

"But, but..." My mind was in chaos. I hadn't expected this outcome at all. I had worked hard to get into Chengnan High School to escape Zou Yang's bullying. But now...

"There's no 'but'," Yu Chengfei said firmly. "With your academic performance, even if you transfer to a vocational school, you'll still be successful. Chengnan High School is a worse environment than junior high. Let me tell you, Maizi is a hundred times worse than Zou Yang."

"Yeah," Yuan Shao added. "Haozi, didn't you say you'd rather not study than be bullied again? I told Yu Bro all about it, so he came up with this plan to help you."

Vocational school! From childhood to adulthood, that term was synonymous with "delinquent" students. Most of the students there were troublemakers.