"Damned!" Ye Zhan slapped him across the face. "Who the hell do you think I am? Wang Hao is my brother, my blood!"

Zou Yang held his face in disbelief as he looked at Ye Zhan. Li Jie's smile froze on his face, probably wondering when Ye Zhan had gained another brother, why he had never mentioned it, and why I had never seen them together.

"So, you think you can buy me off with some dirty money, huh?" Ye Zhan kept tapping Zou Yang's face with his hand. Although not very hard, his voice was sharp and piercing. "Looks like you've been buttering up Li Jie, spending how much money to get him to cover for you?!"

Watching Zou Yang take the brunt of it, I felt a sense of satisfaction mixed with a tinge of melancholy. If I weren't Yu Chengfei's brother, Meng Liang wouldn't have helped me, and Ye Zhan wouldn't have stood up for me. If I didn't know Yu Chengfei, it would be me taking the beating.

It suddenly dawned on me how cruel this world could be. Nobody could shield you forever. Even if your father was an official, he would eventually step down. This path was inevitable; it was just a matter of time. To establish oneself in this world, one had to become strong!

Lost in these thoughts about the future, I didn't pay much attention to the exchange between Ye Zhan and Zou Yang. Suddenly, I heard Li Jie shout, "Ye Zhan, that's enough!"

"What's the matter?" Ye Zhan looked at Li Jie with a cold smirk, his hand still on Zou Yang's face. There were red palm prints on both sides of Zou Yang's face.

The other students in the dorm remained motionless, as if time had frozen.

"I've given you enough face." Li Jie said, somewhat dissatisfied. "We've never had any issues, right? Fine, Wang Hao is your brother, I won't touch him anymore; but Zou Yang is my brother. You keep hitting him like this, isn't it a bit much?" Li Jie walked over and pulled Ye Zhan's hand away.

"Let's figure out how to resolve this matter. It's not productive to keep holding grudges like this, don't you agree?" Li Jie looked at Ye Zhan.

Ye Zhan nodded. "I just said that, but then Zou Yang asked me how much money. Ha, do you think I can be bought off with money?" He said, looking meaningfully at Li Jie, a strange smile playing on his lips.

Li Jie cleared his throat and said, "Alright, let's drop it. We're all classmates here. Look up to each other. I suggest Wang Hao apologizes to Zou Yang, and then we all go out for a meal. Let's settle it that way."

My mind buzzed. Apologize and a meal?!

"No way." Ye Zhan said bluntly. "Wang Hao didn't do anything wrong in this matter, and I'll stand by him to the end. Apologies and meals, that's out of the question."

Seeing Ye Zhan's firm stance, Li Jie turned to Zou Yang. "What do you think?"

Zou Yang's gaze darkened. "I don't want an apology from Wang Hao, and I don't want him to take us out to eat. I just want to face him one-on-one."

Li Jie clapped his hands and chuckled. "That works too. Ye Zhan, how about we stay out of it and let them sort it out themselves?"

My mind buzzed even more. One-on-one fight?! With Zou Yang's build, I couldn't even take on two of him! He's asking for a one-on-one fight, clearly wanting to beat me up openly! Ye Zhan was also infuriated. "I'm going to hell, you look like a bear, why do you get to fight Wang Hao one-on-one? If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one. If I don't kill you today, my name isn't Ye!"

"I won't fight you one-on-one." Zou Yang said to Ye Zhan. "I want to fight Wang Hao one-on-one. If he doesn't dare, then forget it."

"I'm going to hell..." Ye Zhan continued to curse.

"I agree." I suddenly spoke up. I didn't know where the courage came from, but I uttered those three words.

Perhaps I've been hoping for this day for a long time. I know for sure that I can't beat Zou Yang, but I still want to face him openly. Because throughout middle school, he and his gang bullied me every time. And because they outnumbered me, I had to swallow my pride repeatedly, often thinking to myself, "If it were just Zou Yang alone, I would definitely hit him hard!"

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This opportunity is now right in front of me. I want to see if I have the courage to face such a formidable opponent, with no advantage whatsoever and no possibility of a surprise attack.

If I want to become stronger, I have to take this step!

"You..." Ye Zhan looked at me in astonishment.

"Let me face him one-on-one." I looked at Zou Yang, at the person who had bullied me for three whole years.

"Wang Hao, you don't need to face him alone. What era is it? Who still fights one-on-one? Don't worry, as long as I'm here, they won't dare touch you." Ye Zhan said, putting his hand on my shoulder, making me feel warm inside.

But ultimately, he was doing it for Meng Liang's sake, not because he genuinely wanted to protect me.

I saw it very clearly, very clearly. My blood began to boil. Ye Zhan's physique was far inferior to Zou Yang's, yet Zou Yang wouldn't dare to make a move against him. Why? Because Ye Zhan was ruthless enough. It was his ruthlessness that had earned him his reputation and made others fear him.

I wanted to be like Ye Zhan, not someone who needed protection from him.

"I'll do it myself." I heard my voice clearly. "This time, I'll handle it myself."

Ye Zhan didn't say anything; he saw my determination.

"Where are we having this one-on-one?" I asked Zou Yang.

"Right here, in this dorm room." Zou Yang said. "Everyone is watching us, and no one can interfere."

"Okay." I nodded.

"Are you sure about this, Wang Hao?" Ye Zhan furrowed his brow. He still didn't want me to face Zou Yang one-on-one.

"Yeah." I smiled at him.

He looked at me with an indescribable expression, unsure if it was resignation or a wry smile. Ye Zhan finally said, "Alright. One-on-one it is, but let's establish some ground rules. First, no hair pulling. Second, no face grabbing. Third, no hitting below the belt. Clear?"

Both Zou Yang and I nodded. My expression was serious, while Zou Yang gradually began to smirk. Seeing this, Li Jie sat directly on the nearby bed, happily smoking a cigarette, not at all worried that Zou Yang might lose.

"Let's get started." Ye Zhan shook his head, looking worriedly at me.

I took a deep breath and then lunged forward with my fist. Zou Yang was naturally prepared and grabbed my wrist, then kicked towards my chest. I was immobilized by his grip, and his kick landed solidly on my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe. But in the process, I also managed to grab Zou Yang's foot and forcefully drag it backward. Our beddings were crushed under our feet, losing their shape.

Zou Yang's strength was clearly much greater. His other hand swung over and struck my head heavily. His fist felt like a heavy hammer, and my head darkened for a moment, with many stars appearing before my eyes.

"Think you're tough, huh?" Zou Yang kept hitting me while cursing, and in no time, he had hit me more than a dozen times.

But I gritted my teeth and continued to drag his foot, relentlessly pulling it backward.

"Feeling tough after attending Chengnan High School, huh? I'll f*** your mother." Zou Yang continued to curse and hit me, while the foot I was holding struggled. However, I concentrated all my strength on my arms, so his foot couldn't break free for a moment.

"Wang Hao, stop holding his foot and punch him in the face!" Ye Zhan was anxious on the side, teaching me how to fight.

Some people in the dorm couldn't help but laugh. They probably found it funny that I was holding Zou Yang's foot.

"Laugh your ass off!" Ye Zhan yelled at those people, and they finally restrained themselves.

But Li Jie laughed and said, "Ye Zhan, don't be angry. This is a one-on-one fight, and you can't help anyway."

I tightly held Zou Yang's foot while enduring the blows to my head. Zou Yang's foot was large, at least size 45, like a big ship. Suddenly, I shouted loudly, and my body tilted back, causing Zou Yang to lose his balance completely and fall to the ground.

"Ah..." I roared, pouncing on Zou Yang's body and fiercely punching his face with both fists.

This moment, I had been waiting for a long, long time.

Though I had punched and kicked Zou Yang in the classroom before, it was always when he was off guard. Now was different; I had him pinned beneath me, raining punches on his face. I didn't know how long I could maintain my advantage, but I knew Zou Yang was strong enough to push me away at any moment, perhaps even reverse the situation and rain his hammer-like fists on my face.

But it's okay, this moment is enough.

I roared, exerting all my strength, raining punches on his face like pounding garlic.

My mind went blank, my eyes blurred. I vaguely saw Li Jie standing up, and other dormmates standing up too; I vaguely heard footsteps in the corridor outside the dorm, it seemed like many students wanted to see what was happening; I vaguely saw Zou Yang's nose bleeding from my blows, blood flowing down his mouth, staining my hands; I vaguely heard Ye Zhan's excited shouts: "Well done, Wang Hao!"

I didn't know how many punches I had thrown, then suddenly Zou Yang kicked me over. His kick was really strong, and I fell heavily to the ground, my head touching the cold floor. Above me was the white ceiling, but soon, Zou Yang stood up and rushed towards me.

I took a long breath, it was finally coming to an end, then closed my eyes.

With a loud "bang," my cheek stung fiercely, Zou Yang's fist was so dominant!

"Go to hell!" Zou Yang shouted angrily, but I found it oddly satisfying.

I waited for Zou Yang's fist to continue descending, but time seemed to freeze, and there was no movement for a long time.

With my eyes closed, I could hear my breath, Zou Yang's breath, but the fist never came down.