"This has to be handled nicely," Meng Liang glanced sideways at Ye Zhan.

"Don't worry!" Ye Zhan gave a sincere smile.

"Alright, let's go online first!" Meng Liang led me, Ye Zhan, and a few of Ye Zhan's buddies to the internet cafe.

At the internet cafe, we walked in on Yuan Shao slamming the keyboard and laughing heartily, "Finally got this equipment!"

As we entered, Yuan Shao stood up, looking puzzled at Meng Liang, "What's going on, where's Yu Ge?"

Meng Liang explained, "I figured Yu Ge was still asleep, and if we disturbed him, it wouldn't end well. Later, I asked Wang Hao, and his matter was nothing much, so I could handle it myself without bothering Yu Ge." He recounted the process.

"Alright, you take care of it," Yuan Shao said, "After all, we need to treat Yu Ge's brothers well, don't mess this up."

"Don't worry." Meng Liang finished and assigned computers to me, Ye Zhan, and others. We sat together and started playing games.

Sitting there felt like an eternity. I eagerly awaited lunchtime while feeling anxious about potential problems. Meng Liang, Ye Zhan, and their friends were having a blast playing games, shouting and cursing from time to time. Eventually, I got bored and joined their game, mindlessly fighting monsters at the newbie village entrance.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was noon. I nudged Meng Liang's arm, "Li Guang, it's twelve o'clock."

"Oh, oh, it's twelve o'clock!" Meng Liang turned around, "Ye Zhan, quickly handle my brother's matter!"

"Li Guang, why the rush? It's just after school now, students from three schools could drown me!" Ye Zhan swiftly operated the computer, "Let me finish killing this monster first. Besides, Zou Yang and the others have to eat first. After they finish eating and return to the dorm, it'll be at least half an hour later."

Meng Liang thought about it and nodded, "Alright, don't rush. Let's go back in half an hour."

I nodded. Going out now with students flooding the streets, going against the flow would be difficult. And Zou Yang and the others would definitely eat first; they wouldn't wait for me on an empty stomach in the dorm. My influence hadn't reached that level yet.

Speaking of eating, Yuan Shao suddenly perked up, banging the table and shouting, "It's time for lunch, let's go order some food!"

A student in the corner immediately stood up, counting the number of people. Meng Liang added, "Include my little brothers!"

After the count, the student hurried out of the internet cafe. I thought to myself, these guys were really thoughtful. Not only did they help me out of trouble, but they also treated me to a meal. It would be too embarrassing not to express my gratitude, so I left the internet cafe and went to the nearby convenience store, buying two packs of cigarettes and distributing them to everyone. I didn't have much weekly allowance, so I couldn't afford expensive cigarettes, but they didn't seem to mind and smoked happily.

After lunch, Ye Zhan stretched and said, "Wang Hao, it's about time, let's go."

I had been waiting all morning for this moment, so I immediately took off my headphones and stood up, feeling a bit excited.

Ye Zhan and his buddies also stood up, and Meng Liang smiled, "Alright, wish you guys a triumphant return!"

Ye Zhan disdainfully said, "Alright Li Guang, it's just a small matter, leave it to me. Wang Hao, let's go!"

I was a bit surprised, "Li Guang, aren't you coming?" I still hoped he would, as I was worried whether Ye Zhan could suppress Li Jie.

"I won't go," Meng Liang said, "After all, it's your school, it wouldn't be appropriate for me, a vocational college student, to go."

I instantly understood. No matter how well Meng Liang was doing, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to walk into our school alone. Ye Zhan put his arm around my shoulder, "Let's go, Wang Hao, I'll make sure everything is sorted out for you today!" Then he pulled me out of the internet cafe.

There weren't many students on the road, just a few scattered around, and we quickly arrived at the male dormitory building of South City High School.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Ye Zhan and his friends chatted and laughed all the way, while I remained silent. As we approached our dormitory door, Ye Zhan suddenly said, "You go in first, I need to use the restroom." Then he turned into the restroom, and his buddies followed.

I had intended to wait for him at the restroom door, but I was afraid of being looked down upon, so I gritted my teeth and walked to our dormitory door, pushing it open and stepping inside.

The dormitory was crowded, filled with classmates from our class, sitting on various beds smoking cigarettes, making the room hazy. Someone's blanket was on the floor, and Zou Yang, Li Jie, and others were sitting on it playing cards. I glanced at my bed, which was empty, indicating it was my blanket.

As soon as I entered, the noisy dormitory fell silent. Zou Yang turned around and joked, "You're back?"

Li Jie and the others stood up, their dirty shoes trampling on my blanket, all looking at me with a cold expression.

Seeing my blanket treated like this, the flames in my heart naturally erupted.

I walked up to Zou Yang with a cold face.

"Your blanket is pretty soft," Zou Yang said, rubbing his foot against it with his shoe, "I didn't expect you to dare to come back. I thought you had run back to Dongguan Town."

The dormitory was quiet, everyone was looking at me. Except for Zou Yang, Li Jie, and their group, the other students who came over were just spectators.

They probably all thought I was doomed to be beaten up.

"What's wrong with being from Dongguan Town?" I suppressed my anger.

"What's wrong with being from Dongguan Town?" Zou Yang blew smoke in my face, "I just like bullying you, what can you do about it?"

I didn't say anything, just stared coldly at him, calculating when Ye Zhan and the others would come in.

"What are you looking at?" Zou Yang smirked, "Didn't you say you'd hit me again at noon? I'm standing here, come on, hit me if you dare!"

I couldn't wait any longer.

I raised my hand and swiftly slapped Zou Yang's face with lightning speed!

"Damn you, dare to hit me?!"

Just like in the classroom, Zou Yang never expected me to really hit him!

Zou Yang's eyes immediately turned red, his ferocious face resembling an angry tiger, swinging his fist the size of a pot toward me.

I stepped back, avoiding his punch. Li Jie and the others immediately surrounded me, someone directly holding my arms. The dormitory erupted into chaos. I heard someone say, "Hit him, hit him!" It seemed to be our dormitory mates, really enjoying the spectacle.

I couldn't move, just watched helplessly as Zou Yang swung his fist at me again.

Just then, the door was pushed open.

"What's going on?!" Ye Zhan's voice finally sounded. I couldn't see him, but I was extremely excited.

Ye Zhan quickly stood in front of me and kicked Zou Yang's stomach fiercely.

To be fair, Ye Zhan's physique was no match for Zou Yang's. But he was a notorious troublemaker in the senior year. Zou Yang stared at him with wide eyes, completely clueless about what was happening. The dormitory fell silent once again, everyone utterly shocked, even Li Jie and their group were dumbfounded.

"So you dare to hit my brother too, huh?" Ye Zhan's aura was intimidating as he grabbed Zou Yang by the collar.

Zou Yang, bold as he was, dared not confront Ye Zhan. Instead, he looked towards Li Jie for help.

Li Jie stood next to me, waved his hand first, and the people holding my arms stepped aside. "Ye Zhan, are you close with him?" Li Jie furrowed his brows, clearly unable to figure out the relationship between me and Ye Zhan.

"Li Jie, are you guys bullying people too much?" Ye Zhan ignored his question and said, "Stepping on my brother's blanket?"

"Wang Hao hit Zou Yang first in the classroom!" Li Jie complained.

"Zou Yang threw chicken bones at his head first!" Ye Zhan said bluntly, "Who can tolerate such disrespect? If it were me, I would have twisted Zou Yang's head off. Wang Hao is lucky to have a good temper; he just gave him a beating."

I could see that the power balance between the two sides was evenly matched. The fight couldn't be restarted, so they were arguing over who was right and who was wrong.

"Regardless, hitting people is wrong. Wang Hao needs to give us an explanation," Li Jie said earnestly.

"What explanation do you want?" Ye Zhan glared at Li Jie. "Wang Hao is such an honest kid. Is it fun for you guys to bully him every day?"

"When did we bully him?" Li Jie retorted. "Zou Yang was just playing with him, and he went crazy. Who knows what's wrong with him?!"

"Hey, was throwing chewed chicken bones at someone's head considered playing?" Ye Zhan's voice was fierce. "Li Jie, we've been in this game for a long time. Stop using these misleading words to fool the kids!"

Li Jie was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say. He could only wave his hand and say, "Let go of Zou Yang first."

Ye Zhan still had Zou Yang by the collar. After hearing Li Jie's words, he must have felt that he needed to give some face, so he retracted his hand.

"The situation has come to this, so let's all take a step back," Ye Zhan suggested. "Give me some face, and let's call it even. How about it?"

For a moment, no one said anything. Although I had slapped Zou Yang earlier, I hadn't completely vented my anger. And Zou Yang's side had lost this time, they probably wouldn't let it go easily.

"What's the matter with you guys? Can't even give this little face?" Ye Zhan looked at Li Jie dissatisfiedly.

"How much money?" Zou Yang suddenly asked. "What?" Ye Zhan was confused. "What money?"

I was also puzzled. Why was Zou Yang suddenly asking about money? It's not like we were at a market buying groceries. I looked at the others, and they all seemed confused too, as if they didn't understand what Zou Yang meant. Only Li Jie showed a relaxed smile, looking satisfied as he looked at Zou Yang.

"Wang Hao, come here. How much did you spend?" Zou Yang said slowly. "I'll pay double."

It became clear. Everyone understood. It seemed that Zou Yang thought Ye Zhan was sticking up for me because he had received some benefit. It's no wonder; someone as meek and timid as me, how could I know someone like Ye Zhan? But this time, Zou Yang guessed wrong.