Consequences of Public Outrage

The lead gangster shouted, "Shut the hell up! What are you talking about? Didn't you hear me tell you to get the hell out of here?"

"Huh?" One of the young men behind the gangster whispered something into his ear. He then turned his head to look at the head table, immediately grinned, and said, "Well, well. Didn't expect you to be here too, kid."

"Ah! Brother Hai, y-you..." Wang Lisheng stood up somewhat evasively.

"I'm not doing well at all. Didn't expect to run into you here. When are you paying back the money you owe us? Have you figured it out yet?" Brother Hai stepped forward and patted Wang Lisheng's face as he spoke.

"Brother Hai, I'll pay it back, I will! Just give me a few more days. One week—I'll have the money for you in one week," Wang Lisheng said fearfully.

"Heh! One week? That's not what you said at the gambling table. Didn't you say your old man had money? Go ask him for it!" Brother Hai said with a sinister grin.

"Ah? Um, well..." Wang Lisheng stammered. His father did have money, but it was not Wang Lisheng's money. He had lost several hundred thousand to Brother Hai in a mahjong game and had been worrying about how to repay it. He had never expected to run into them just by coming out for a meal.

"Oh? Your girl?" Brother Hai saw Gong Hui tugging at Wang Lisheng beside him, and an unsettling gleam immediately appeared in his eyes.

"Brother Hai, Brother Hai! Um..." Wang Lisheng hurriedly called out.

"How about this? Let your girl keep me company for one day, and I'll give you another week. What do you say?" Brother Hai's eyes were filled with lecherous desire.

"Ah! No!" Gong Hui screamed as one of Brother Hai's hands reached for her arm and grabbed at her.

"Brother Hai, don't! Brother Hai, please don't!" Other than shouting, Wang Lisheng did nothing. He did not even make a move to stop him. His mouth was yelling, but his body did not move at all. He had been so arrogant when he entered the dining room, yet the moment he saw Brother Hai, he turned into an obedient child. Every classmate present felt that he had completely lost face.

His behavior made Brother Hai and the young men who had followed him in burst into contemptuous laughter. Brother Hai pulled Gong Hui over to his side, and just as he reached toward her chest, a beer bottle flew through the air and smashed directly onto his head. Crash! The glass bottle shattered, and beer mixed with blood ran down his face.

Everyone had been watching Gong Hui and Brother Hai, so when they saw Brother Hai get hit by the bottle, they were all stunned. No one had expected somebody to throw a bottle at his head at that moment. Because of their angle, however, no one saw who had thrown it—not even Brother Hai's subordinates.

"Who was that? Which little bastard did it? Step out here! Damn it! If no one steps out, beat every single one of them in turns until he comes forward!" Brother Hai's head was surprisingly hard. Blood covered his face after the blow, but he still did not go down. He turned and shouted wildly at everyone around him. What an impressive gangster!

Chen Mo had thrown that beer bottle. He looked down on Wang Lisheng, but the class monitor and Gong Hui were innocent. These people had barged in, hitting and cursing others, ruining a perfectly good class gathering. They were utterly tasteless.

Seeing Brother Hai still shouting, several young men around him pulled out steel pipes and waved them as they prepared to swing at the classmates. Chen Mo immediately grabbed another beer bottle, aimed at Brother Hai, and hurled it at him, shouting, "Throw the beer bottles!" Though he had not reached Qi Refining Layer One after years of cultivation, his aim when throwing things was extremely accurate. The bottle struck Brother Hai's head again. Dealing with thugs like these gangsters was simply too easy.

At once, all the classmates snapped out of it. Every male classmate grabbed beer bottles from the tables and hurled them at the group, making them howl in pain. Each table had more than a dozen bottles of beer. Full or empty, they were all thrown out in a frenzy. Two of the people Brother Hai had brought were struck on the spot, and the others did not fare much better.

Chen Mo charged forward, snatched the steel pipe from one young man's hand, and smashed it into his back, knocking him flat onto the floor. He could not use too much force, or someone might die. Though he had never learned any fighting techniques, his strength and speed were simply unfair. None of the thugs could withstand even one exchange. A single strike from the steel pipe knocked each of them down, and before Chen Mo had even hit them many times, they were almost all sprawled on the ground.

When Li Rui and his group saw Chen Mo rush forward, they shouted and charged in as well. This spurred all the male classmates to move up, surround the people Brother Hai had brought, and knock them to the ground. The smart ones protected only their heads and endured the classmates' punches and kicks. The foolish ones tried to protect every part of their bodies, only to protect nothing at all.

Several female classmates also quietly stepped up and kicked them a few times, making the returning Chen Mo sigh inwardly. These gangsters were truly bored. They had come here acting tough—did they not know students could not stand being provoked? Once someone took the lead, with nearly seventy people present, even after excluding the old, weak, sick, and disabled, there were still thirty or forty of them. Coming here to throw their weight around and getting beaten only meant they had no eye for trouble!

Brother Hai had fortunately been beaten unconscious, so he had no idea what Chen Mo was thinking. If he had known, he could only have said, Is that my fault?

"Stop hitting them! Stop!" Seeing that things had become chaotic and that all the gangsters had been beaten to the ground, the class counselor shouted. He was afraid someone would be beaten to death. These students had no sense of restraint.

The crowd gradually stopped, revealing that every gangster was covered in blood. Fortunately, none of them had suffered serious injuries. They only appeared to have superficial wounds.

"Class monitor, call police at 110. All of you remember this: when the police get here, say unanimously that it was self-defense, understand? Don't worry about anything else. Just tell the truth," the counselor said after discussing it with several teachers.

There were no surveillance cameras on the Second Layer, so they could only agree on their story first. As for the hotel Boss, seeing the situation, he could only pretend he had heard nothing. Besides, the students had acted afterward, so it counted as self-defense.

Seeing the gangsters lying amid shattered glass, no one reached out to help them up. Everyone merely watched from the side, feeling greatly satisfied. When people got too cocky, no good came of it; when horses got too cocky, they got diarrhea!

The police arrived quickly, and when they saw the scene on the Second Layer, they had quite a headache. Not only that, one of the school's vice principals also rushed over after being notified by the counselor on the scene.

After both sides jointly confirmed and explained what had happened, all the students were released as though nothing had occurred.

Brother Hai had started the provocation, so no one else could be blamed. Besides, if he wanted to act tough, fine—but he had acted tough in front of dozens of students. Did he not understand that students were at their most hot-blooded age? They could not stand provocation. Once someone took the lead, there was strength in numbers. Taking down a few gangsters was far too easy.

As for Chen Mo, who had thrown the first beer bottle, he also explained his reason: he could not let bad people bully a female classmate. Before throwing the bottle, he had seen Brother Hai trying to humiliate Gong Hui, so he had no choice but to throw it and stop it from happening.

Well, with so many students testifying for him, the matter of Chen Mo taking the lead in throwing beer bottles was quietly dropped. It did not quite count as a heroic deed, but at the very least, he had taken the lead in stopping bad people. This made all the classmates remember him. No one had expected that Chen Mo, who was usually quiet and somewhat withdrawn, could be so dependable when it mattered.

"Chen Mo, thank you for today!" Gong Hui said to Chen Mo. Wang Lisheng stood far away. He did not want to face Chen Mo because he was embarrassed. He had tried to show off today, only to get humiliated instead, and had thoroughly lost face.

"No need to thank me. If it had been anyone else, I would have done the same. We're classmates. If you see a girl being bullied and still refuse to help, what kind of man are you?" Chen Mo said calmly.

"I didn't expect you to be such a male chauvinist, but I still have to thank you. If you hadn't stepped in today, I..." Gong Hui suddenly did not know what to say and trailed off.

"Let's not talk about it. You should go. That one of yours is still waiting for you," Chen Mo said with a smile. He did not want to say anything more, so he urged her to leave.

"All right, then. Goodbye!" Hearing that Chen Mo did not want to continue chatting, Gong Hui nodded and turned to leave. But what each of them was thinking in their hearts was known only to the two of them.