"You two, listen up..." As soon as Shen Xingkong dragged Chang Le out of the classroom, they heard Wang Lei's voice behind them. "I told you all before, everyone had to come to my birthday party. Anyone who didn't come was disrespecting me. Shen Xingkong, you didn't show up, so you disrespected me. But I'm a big-hearted guy, so I won’t hold it against you, hahaha..."

"Hahaha!" Wang Lei and his cronies burst into raucous laughter together.

Shen Xingkong suddenly stopped in his tracks. He pushed Chang Le further away and then turned around, fixing Wang Lei with an icy glare. He spoke each word slowly and deliberately: "You listen to me. Whoever trashed my home will pay the price."

The school bell rang, signaling the start of class, but Shen Xingkong and Chang Le didn’t go back to the classroom. Instead, they found a secluded spot in a small grove on the east side of the campus, where there were two hanging chairs.

The atmosphere was heavy, and neither of them spoke. Both wore dark expressions, their moods as somber as the quiet grove around them. The area was so serene that they could hear the crickets chirping, and no sunlight penetrated the thick canopy. The teaching and office buildings were far away, so unless someone came here on purpose, there was no chance of being disturbed.

As time passed, the tension between them remained. After what seemed like ages, Chang Le’s anger began to subside, and suddenly he remembered something.

"Hey, Old Shen, you asked me yesterday to find a wealthy woman. I found one."

"So quickly?" Shen Xingkong was taken aback. Was Chang Le really this efficient?

"Yeah, yeah. She’s... an aunt of mine. She and her husband came to our house last night, and I mentioned your thing to her. She’s really interested and kept asking when we could set up a meeting with you to try your grandfather’s beauty secret."

"How about tonight? Does that work?" Shen Xingkong momentarily pushed aside thoughts of his vandalized home.

"Sure, where do we meet?"

"At my place... uh, no, wait. Let’s meet at your place. Is that convenient?"

"No problem. My dad flew out this morning, so I’ve got the house to myself." Chang Le agreed without hesitation, and since his mother had passed away years ago and his father never remarried, they wouldn’t be interrupted.

"Pure brotherhood!" Shen Xingkong gave Chang Le a thumbs up.

"Hehe, you know it!" Chang Le grinned, shaking his head in a cocky manner.

At that moment, they suddenly heard voices approaching from outside the grove—a man and a woman. The voices sounded familiar.

Since the grove was so secluded, Shen Xingkong had chosen it to avoid any disturbances, so the presence of others here was surprising.

"Come on, why are you in such a hurry? We shouldn’t be doing this here..."

"Quit acting all innocent. Get in here, quick."

"This isn’t the right place; someone might come by!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Who’s gonna come here? Maybe a ghost, but no people. Hey, you’re not wearing anything under your skirt, you little minx. And you say I’m the one who’s eager?"

As soon as they heard this, Shen Xingkong and Chang Le exchanged complex glances. They instantly recognized the voices. Was this what people meant by a narrow escape? Almost simultaneously, they jumped up from their swings and ducked behind the trees, holding their breath.

It didn’t take long before a pair of lovers entered the grove. They were practically devouring each other, kissing hungrily and groping each other’s bodies as if they couldn’t wait any longer.

The girl was a student, not particularly attractive. She had a pair of thick, bushy eyebrows and a wide mouth that seemed to stretch all the way to her ears when she grinned—she almost looked like the reincarnation of Zhang Fei. As for the boy, there was nothing noteworthy about him—short and somewhat sleazy-looking, the only distinctive feature being the bright pink streak of long hair on his forehead.

Watching this live-action AV scene from behind the trees, Shen Xingkong and Chang Le quickly realized why they hadn’t seen Xu Jianhui in the classroom earlier that morning. He had ditched class to meet up with a girl, and now he had brought her here for some outdoor fun.

"Xu Jianhui, where do you think you’re going?" Chang Le suddenly jumped out from behind the tree, shouting at Xu Jianhui, who was in the process of taking off his clothes.

Xu Jianhui and his girl nearly fainted from shock. When Xu Jianhui saw that it was Chang Le, he was completely baffled. Especially Xu Jianhui—he immediately wondered if the girl he was hooking up with belonged to Chang Le. Why else would Chang Le look like he wanted to tear him apart? He hadn’t done anything to provoke him, after all.

"Xu Jianhui, why did you trash my home?" Shen Xingkong also stepped out, this time from behind a tree on Xu Jianhui’s other side.

When Chang Le jumped out to startle Xu Jianhui, Shen Xingkong had anticipated that Xu Jianhui might try to run away in panic. That’s why he hadn’t revealed himself alongside Chang Le, instead sneaking around to the other side. This way, they could trap Xu Jianhui between them, making it impossible for the sleazy creep to escape.

Seeing Shen Xingkong, Xu Jianhui finally pieced it all together. Without a word, he grabbed his pants and tried to bolt, completely abandoning the girl.

"You bastard, trying to run?" Chang Le was ruthless, quickly picking up a paving stone and hurling it at Xu Jianhui’s head.

"Whoosh..."

"Whack!"

"Ouch..." Xu Jianhui screamed and collapsed to the ground. Chang Le’s aim wasn’t perfect, so he missed Xu Jianhui’s head, but the stone landed squarely on his shoulder blade.

The paving stone was as big as a fist, and Chang Le had thrown it with all his might. Xu Jianhui was lucky his shoulder blade didn’t shatter into pieces.

Shen Xingkong moved just as swiftly, pouncing on Xu Jianhui and pinning him to the ground. Chang Le rushed over and delivered a few more kicks, making Xu Jianhui cry out in pain. His girl took off running in fear.

"Big... big brother... stop hitting me... please, big brother... spare me!"

"Xu Jianhui, did you or did you not trash my home yesterday?" Shen Xingkong knelt on Xu Jianhui’s back, pressing down hard to keep him immobilized. Xu Jianhui’s spine felt like it was about to snap.

"Ah, ah... it wasn’t me... it wasn’t me..." Xu Jianhui stubbornly refused to admit it, even though he was in excruciating pain.

"Still trying to play dumb? Let me show you what happens!" Chang Le’s fury knew no bounds as he lifted his foot to stomp on Xu Jianhui again. With his family’s wealth, even if he crippled Xu Jianhui for life, they could easily afford to pay compensation.

"Enough!" Shen Xingkong suddenly waved Chang Le’s Adidas-clad foot aside. If they kept beating Xu Jianhui like this, he might end up seriously injured, and they’d both end up in jail.

Even if they didn’t seriously injure Xu Jianhui, if that little weasel went to the school administration afterward and reported Shen Xingkong and Chang Le, they’d both get expelled. Since they hadn’t beaten him too badly yet, and Xu Jianhui didn’t have any serious injuries, Shen Xingkong had a better idea.

Shen Xingkong reached into his waist pouch and pulled out his leather needle case.

"Old Shen, what are you doing?" Chang Le was stunned.

"Heh, just watch. I’ll have him reciting his entire family tree for me in a minute." A sinister grin flashed across Shen Xingkong’s face as he pulled out a needle from the case—an ordinary one, not his mysterious golden bee-tail needle.

"Old Chang, hold his legs down." Shen Xingkong was kneeling on Xu Jianhui’s upper body and couldn’t pin down his legs, so he needed Chang Le’s help.