Everyone laughed for a while, and the atmosphere became increasingly lively. Once the floodgate of conversation opened, it couldn't be stopped. Everyone treated Mai Zi as the imaginary enemy, discussing how to deal with him ruthlessly. After talking for a while, I suddenly asked, "Liu Zihong, why aren't you saying anything? Don't tell me you don't want to beat up Mai Zi?"

Liu Zihong hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't even dare to think about it. The only thing I dare to think about is giving a beating to Li Jie in our class..."

Everyone laughed heartily, teasing Liu Zihong for being too timid. After all, it was just a thought, what was there to be afraid of? I curiously asked, "Why do you want to beat up Li Jie?"

Liu Zihong replied, "At the beginning of the school year, Li Jie and Zou Yang instigated classmates in our class to ostracize you, right? At that time, although I didn't pay much attention to you, we were still desk mates and had talked a few times. Once they saw us talking, they dragged me to the restroom after class, slapped me twice, and demanded ten yuan from me..."

After Liu Zihong finished speaking, the dormitory fell silent. I didn't say anything, but my fists were clenched tightly.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I felt angry. How could I fight back if I didn't know about it? How unfortunate!

"Tell you?" Liu Zihong looked at me and sighed, "Brother Hao, I admit, you're awesome now, and you're much braver than before. But at that time, you were like a mud Buddha crossing the river, struggling to survive. Zou Yang bullied you so badly... Although you turned the tables later, you never completely got rid of trouble. After beating Zou Yang, there was Hong Li; after beating Hong Li, there was Mai Zi. Do you think it would have been useful for me to tell you about this? Sigh..."

I felt extremely sad looking at Liu Zihong's expression. If even my brothers couldn't protect me, what was the point of challenging Mai Zi? I stood up and asked slowly, "How many times have you imagined beating up Li Jie?"

"At least ten times," Liu Zihong said. "Sometimes during class, I would imagine this."

"Tell me, how did you imagine it?"

"I imagined dragging him to the restroom, slapping him hard a few times, then slapping money onto his face while cursing, 'You wanted money, right? Come and take it!' Something like that, it always felt satisfying to think about."

I smiled at him, "Alright, this afternoon, we'll turn that fantasy into reality!"

Liu Zihong's eyes lit up, "Brother Hao, really?" The others looked at me incredulously.

"When have I ever lied to you guys?" I smiled and said, "If we can't even handle Li Jie, how can we talk about taking down Mai Zi?"

The crowd erupted into cheers, indicating that they had been eyeing Li Jie for a while.

Next, we began to discuss the detailed plan to beat up Li Jie. This could be considered an appetizer before confronting Mai Zi officially, a way to boost our courage, rally our comrades, in gangster terms, it was a declaration of war. After beating Li Jie, we would officially become a gang, sharing blessings and hardships together.

In the afternoon.

We intentionally arrived a little late to the classroom. Most of the classmates had already arrived, but the class bell hadn't rung yet. We five strolled into the classroom leisurely. There's a detail here, which seems silly to mention now, but back then, we thought it was cool. Before entering the classroom, we all agreed to put our hands in our pockets, it made us look more imposing.

It may seem silly now, but we thought it was cool back then. Five of us walked into the classroom with our hands in our pockets, looking around like we owned the place. Everyone in the class noticed our actions, curious about what we were up to. By the time they were wondering, we had already quickly approached Li Jie's desk and surrounded him.

Li Jie and his friends were sitting in the front row by the wall. Li Jie, with his dyed blonde hair, looked a little flustered, but as a small hoodlum who had been around for a while, he quickly regained his composure and asked, "Wang Hao, what do you want?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

At the same time, several students around Li Jie stood up, glaring at us.

If a fight broke out, my friends and I probably couldn't beat Li Jie and his crew. But I wasn't planning on starting a brawl. I was just trying to intimidate them. "Heh heh, what do I want?" I propped one leg on Li Jie's desk, then the other, and sat cross-legged on his desk, looking down at him like an old Buddha, "Of course, I want to settle some scores between us."

Li Jie's face turned ugly, "What scores do we have to settle? Didn't we already clear things up in the dormitory the other day? Hong Li later was called by Zou Yang, it has nothing to do with me."

The classroom fell silent. Upon hearing this, I straightened my neck and looked at Zou Yang, shouting, "Zou Yang, I'm asking you. Did you find Hong Li yourself, or did Li Jie take you to find him? You'd better tell the truth, or I won't be polite!"

Zou Yang's mouth moved, but he didn't speak. Instead, he buried his head deeply.

As soon as Zou Yang lowered his head, I couldn't see him anymore. I stretched my neck, but Li Jie's friends were standing around, blocking my view. Irritated, I said, "All of you sit down, how come you're all so tall?"

Li Jie's friends looked at each other, but none of them moved. I angrily said, "Didn't you hear me tell you to sit down? Do I need to come over and help you sit down myself?" After saying this, I secretly felt pleased, quite imposing, indeed.

This line worked like a charm, and they all sat down one after another.

I nodded in satisfaction and looked at Zou Yang again. Zou Yang stubbornly kept his head down, refusing to lift it, apparently lacking the courage to rat out Li Jie. I reached out and touched Li Jie's hair, smiling, "Li Jie, do you think I'm stupid? Did you and Zou Yang, like me, suddenly have an older brother appear out of nowhere when you came here and no one knew anyone?"

"Hehe, do you know Yu Chengfei?" Li Jie avoided my hand and retorted.

Without saying a word, I backhanded him across the face, shouting, "Did you call Yu Chengfei yourself?!"

The slap caught Li Jie off guard, and he didn't react immediately. It made a crisp sound, making the classroom even quieter. Li Jie stood up abruptly, his face turning red quickly. "Wang Hao, don't push your luck too far!" he exclaimed. As he stood up, his friends also stood up, but none dared to make a move.

Seeing this, Gong Ning and the others gestured with their hands, saying, "Sit down, sit down, let Hao Ge and Jie Ge talk. The rest of us should stay quiet and not disturb them!" Heh heh, these guys learned fast.

Standing up, Li Jie was now slightly taller than me, who was sitting on the desk.

Impatiently, I showed a disdainful expression, "Sit down, sit down, I said." At the same time, I used my hand to press on his shoulder.

Li Jie glared at me hatefully, but eventually sat down, and his friends followed suit.

"Wang Hao, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you have some backing," Li Jie said bitterly. "Don't forget, Mai Zi hasn't let you off yet. As long as he catches an opportunity, you'll be in much worse shape than now!"

"Sure," I grinned, "I might be done for, but I'll definitely drag you down with me. And between me and Mai Zi, who knows who'll be worse off? Don't believe me? Go ask him if he dares to mess with me now."

Everyone knew about my connections, not only with Yu Chengfei from the vocational school but also with Bricks from the city. Although I knew Bricks couldn't be relied upon, others didn't know that. They all thought Bricks would definitely help me.

Li Jie looked incredulous after hearing my words. He probably didn't expect me to be so arrogant.

"Forget about Mai Zi for now," I chuckled, "Let's continue our conversation." I gently brushed Li Jie's face with the back of my hand, making it seem like a lover's gesture, but everyone knew it was the prelude to the next slap!

Li Jie's head tilted back slightly, trying to avoid my hand, while also wary of when the next slap might come. This process must have been agonizing for him. His spirit was almost on the verge of collapse in front of me.

Slapping him was one thing, but the most embarrassing part for Li Jie was being humiliated in front of the entire class. I noticed Xia Xue trying to rush over several times to stop me, but I stopped her with a sharp look. Xia Xue kept watching me nervously, her expression showing signs of anxiety. Every time I glanced at her, my heart softened a bit. So I decided not to look at her and focused on Li Jie in front of me instead. I retracted my hand and pretended to be kind, "Or, shall we go to the restroom?" Li Jie's forehead was dripping with sweat as he replied, "Wang Hao, it wasn't me who took Zou Yang to find Hong Li. If you don't believe me, call Zou Yang over and ask. He found Hong Li himself with his own money; it really has nothing to do with me."

I yawned, "If we're not going to the restroom, let's settle it here."

Li Jie looked at me and finally lowered his head, "I'll go to the restroom."

"Alright," I jumped off the desk and walked out. Li Jie followed behind me, slinking over. Gong Ning and the others followed us solemnly, while Li Jie's little friends also wanted to follow.

"Don't bother," halfway there, I turned back to Li Jie's friends and said, "I don't think Li Jie wants you guys to come. Right? It's not a fight, why do you need so many people here?"

Li Jie nodded along, "Yeah, yeah, you guys stay. I'm just talking things out with Wang Hao." He probably appreciated me maintaining his face in front of everyone.

Actually, he didn't know that I just wanted to help Liu Zihong turn his dream into reality.

Liu Zihong's dream was to beat up Li Jie fiercely in the restroom, not in front of everyone in the classroom.