I flicked the cigarette butt away and said, "Alright, enough joking. Let me tell you something. When those four guys were beating me, they kept saying I shouldn't compete with Ye Zhan for the boss's position, and that I wasn't even qualified to challenge him."

Ye Zhan's face changed dramatically upon hearing this. "It wasn't my doing!" His brothers echoed, "Yeah, Brother Hao, it wasn't Ye Ge who sent them. He has always agreed with you being the boss." "Our Ye Ge isn't that despicable. Don't let anyone stir things up between you." "Someone is definitely trying to sow discord. Let's go find them tonight!"

I spoke seriously, "Of course, I know someone is trying to stir things up!"

When I said this, they all quieted down, and Ye Zhan let out a sigh of relief, clearly worried that I might be swayed.

"Brother Hao is wise," one of Ye Zhan's followers said. "Ye Ge has always been loyal and righteous. That's why we follow him. We don't want to see any misunderstandings between you two. As for who should be the boss, we have no objections to either of you."

I smiled and said, "I know what kind of person Ye Zhan is. I said it before, don't mention 'boss' anymore. We're all equals here, not like in feudal times. Besides, I have a suspect in mind for who is trying to stir things up between me and Ye Zhan. Do you want to hear?"

"Brother Hao, tell us!" "Brother Hao, just say the word and we'll go beat him up." "Who is this troublemaker?" "He won't live long."

I lit another cigarette and slowly exhaled three words: "Su Xiaobai."

As soon as I said those three words, the entire dormitory fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, unable to say anything. After a while, Ye Zhan spoke up, "Haozi, is there some misunderstanding between you and Su Xiaobai? This morning, he was just speaking casually in front of the bulletin board. He's not the kind to use such despicable methods. I've known him for years and never seen him call anyone to beat someone up."

Sure enough, Su Xiaobai held some weight in Ye Zhan's heart.

"That's because no one has ever crossed him," I said slowly. "His life has been smooth, so he can afford to be the good guy."

Ye Zhan looked at me, puzzled. "Did you provoke him?"

"Even though everyone told me to get along with Su Xiaobai," I said with a bitter smile, "I let you all down. Not only did I fail to get along with him, but we've also become enemies, vowing not to stop until one of us is dead."

"How did this happen?!" Ye Zhan looked even more surprised. "Haozi, you're not the type to cause trouble. And Su Xiaobai wouldn't randomly pick on someone. Both of you have such mild temperaments. How did it come to this?"

"This is a long story," I said, flicking the ash off my cigarette. I slowly recounted the history of my grudge with Su Xiaobai. When I talked about how Su Xiaobai tried to flirt with Taozi right in front of me, everyone was indignant. "How could Su Xiaobai do that?!" "We're all friends, but he really disregarded people like that!" "Su Xiaobai is such a jerk, but Taozi is great for rejecting him right away!"

I said, "This sort of thing must have happened before. Those who got betrayed could only be angry without daring to say anything."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with me. Not everyone was willing to offend Su Xiaobai. I continued, explaining that our relationship truly broke down during a conversation outside the girls' dormitory. Su Xiaobai threatened that if I didn't give up on Taozi, he would get Xia Xue back, leaving me with nothing. "Do you believe that as soon as I wave at Xia Xue, she'll come running back to me?" I repeated what Su Xiaobai had said.

"That bastard." Ye Zhan clenched his fist angrily. "This is too much!" Everyone else was also angry, upset at Su Xiaobai's actions. "Not manly at all!" "Why does he look down on others like that?"

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Someone else asked, "Brother Hao, did Xia Xue leave you? Did she get back with Su Xiaobai?"

"Listen on," I said, and continued my story. I described how Su Xiaobai deliberately called Xia Xue out in front of me, how he touched her hair intimately. "Actually, Xia Xue didn't agree to be with him," I said.

"Haha." Ye Zhan clapped his hands and said, "Xia Xue is a good girl. Haozi, I see why you're so troubled."

The others cursed Su Xiaobai for his increasingly despicable tactics. I continued, explaining how I ran into Ye Qianqian when I went downstairs. "Ye Qianqian is one of Su Xiaobai's girlfriends. She was the one at the bulletin board this morning," I explained. Everyone nodded, remembering her. "She looks pretty good," someone remarked.

I went on, describing how Ye Qianqian scolded Su Xiaobai and cried pitifully. Ye Zhan asked suspiciously, "Wasn't she sent by Su Xiaobai?"

I nodded and continued, "When we got to the secluded path near the hot water room, Ye Qianqian suddenly fell into my arms." Ye Zhan laughed, "Haha, Haozi, you fell for the honey trap?" Someone else said, "If Ye Qianqian fell into my arms, I wouldn't be able to resist." "Brother Hao, you're so lucky with women. I'm so jealous."

I shook my head and smiled bitterly, "I wanted to push Ye Qianqian away, but she cried and begged to lean on me for a while. I softened and let her lean on me." I demonstrated with my hands, "It was like this. She was crying in my arms, but I didn't hug her. My hands were in my pockets."

"Brother Hao, you're so composed!" Someone gave a thumbs up, "Having a beauty in your arms and staying calm, I admire you."

"Actually, I was thinking that dealing with Xia Xue and Taozi was already troublesome enough. I couldn't handle another one."

"Tell us what happened next?" Ye Zhan asked eagerly. "Did Taozi and Su Xiaobai show up? Was it really as dramatic as Su Xiaobai said, making you lose both girls?"

I shrugged. "It was exactly that dramatic. Su Xiaobai brought Taozi there just to show her what kind of person I am. At that moment, Su Xiaobai said sarcastically, 'Wang Hao, why are you holding my girlfriend?' Ye Qianqian also pushed me away, crying, 'Wang Hao seduced me first!' To be fair, they acted really well."

"Fuck." Ye Zhan cursed. "Wang Hao, what are you waiting for? You should have punched Su Xiaobai right then!" Others chimed in, "We never knew Su Xiaobai was this despicable. Using such dirty tricks!"

I continued, "At that moment, Taozi turned and left..."

Ye Zhan couldn't wait to ask, "Did you explain everything to Taozi?"

"Finally, let me tell you this," I continued. "After Taozi left, Su Xiaobai looked at me smugly and said, 'It's not too late to beg for mercy. If you beg me, I'll immediately dump Xia Xue and let her come back to you.' Then..."

"Then what?!" Ye Zhan shouted, "Fight! Fight! Haozi, don't tell me you held back!"

"Held back?" I said calmly, "I'm done holding back."

Everyone fell silent, realizing I had indeed made a move. "He threatened to rally all the school's thugs against me and get me expelled," I said. "I found him annoying, so I kicked him in the mouth."

"Well done," Ye Zhan said sincerely, "Very well done."

"Brother Hao, you're awesome!" everyone exclaimed, "Su Xiaobai deserved it!" Gong Ning nodded, finally understanding the whole story.

"This is how Su Xiaobai and I became enemies," I said slowly. "Whether it's over Taozi and Xia Xue, or because I beat him up, there's no way we can reconcile." I said this last sentence to Ye Zhan. He had previously mentioned trying to mediate between us at Dawei Spicy Hot Pot.

"Mediation my ass?" Ye Zhan said, "Let's fight him! We dealt with Mai Zi, we can handle Su Xiaobai too!"

I looked at Ye Zhan and smiled. This guy, why do I like him so much? "Then the bulletin board incident happened. The words he said might not have meant much to you, but I knew he was trying to stir up trouble between me and Ye Zhan." I took a breath. "That's why I reacted so strongly. I was terrified of losing you guys, my good brothers."

"Brother Hao, what are you saying? No one can stir things up between us!" "Yeah, Brother Hao, you're our leader, and no one can change that!" "Brother Ye has told us many times to follow you willingly!" "Now that we know who it is, let's take action and shut him up!"

Ye Zhan concluded, "I didn't think much about it this morning. But I could see you two had a misunderstanding. I was even thinking about how to help reconcile you. But now it seems unnecessary. Su Xiaobai doesn't deserve our reconciliation. Tonight's incident must be his doing; there's no doubt about it. I used to respect him, but now I see he wanted to use me to get rid of Wang Hao. I finally see what kind of person he really is!"

Ye Zhan sat down beside me, put his arm around my shoulder, and said with a big smile, "Haozi, let's go after him, shall we?"

I smiled back at him. "Aren't you afraid of becoming the enemy of all the school's thugs?"

Ye Zhan smiled back at me. "I know you'll have a way. Haozi, just tell us what to do, and we'll do it!"

I laughed heartily, "Alright, let's take him on and see what this so-called 'master of both the underworld and the respectable world' is made of!"