Cecil laughed for over a minute before he finally stopped.
Then he moved closer to Li Qiwei and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"By the way, I have some bad news for you."
"In a few days, an alliance of eight nations will attack the Qing Dynasty again."
"I'd love to go see your country being ravaged."
Li Qiwei's expression turned cold, and his brow furrowed. He had almost forgotten about this.
The infamous Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China had apparently begun in May that year.
As the grandson of the current British prime minister, Cecil might well have known about it.
Although Li Qiwei had no fondness for the Qing Dynasty itself, he wasn't sure how he felt about the war.
But no matter what, it was ordinary people in Huaxia who would suffer in the end.
Those in power wouldn't be troubled in the slightest. Even if the country later had to cede land and pay reparations, the burden would ultimately fall on the people.
And the thought that so many precious relics would be lost or looted during the war made his heart ache.
There was nothing to be done. A backward nation was bound to be bullied.
He was only a fragile transmigrator, and for now, he couldn't stand against the tide of history.
Even if he went back right now, he wouldn't be able to change a thing.
Still, he could take his anger out on the hateful man right in front of him.
Seeing Li Qiwei's expression change drastically, Cecil thought he had struck a nerve.
He was feeling rather pleased with himself. At last, he'd seen Li Qiwei take a hit.
So he kept laughing mockingly, then ended with a vicious threat:
"When the time comes, we'll break through your capital again."
"We'll kill all the men and turn all the women into prostitutes, so your country can never rise again."
"You worthless mongrels!"
Li Qiwei was already seething with rage. Those words finally set him off.
His fury erupted like a volcano.
"Fuck your mother!"
Li Qiwei swore in Chinese, grabbed the rest of the liquor on the table, and splashed it all over Cecil's face.
As Cecil cried out in shock, Li Qiwei suddenly kicked him, sending him sprawling face-first onto the floor.
Everyone around them was stunned, frozen in place.
Raymond and the others hadn't even had time to react before they saw Cecil lying on the floor, howling in pain.
Even Wilson stood there, dumbfounded.
What was going on? How had things turned violent so suddenly?
And the one being beaten was the current British prime minister's grandson.
Li Qiwei didn't care about any of that. When your enemy was down, you had to finish him off.
He stepped forward, straddled Cecil, and rained blows down on his head.
Cecil curled up, crying and calling for help.
At last, Wilson snapped out of it and hurried over to pull Li Qiwei away.
"Calm down, Bruce. If you keep going, this is going to end badly."
"You'll get expelled from the university for fighting."
Raymond and the others hurried over too, but none of them dared lay a hand on Li Qiwei.
They were terrified.
They hadn't expected this Qing man to be so unreasonable, attacking someone in public without the slightest trace of a gentleman's manners.
Raymond didn't dare touch Li Qiwei at all. Instead, he clung tightly to Cecil, hoping to pull them apart.
Cecil had provoked Li Qiwei today partly to stand up for him.
But Raymond alone knew that Li Qiwei wasn't some weakling who would let people beat and insult him. He was a hard man.
The two sides tugged at their respective men, trying to stop the fight.
Li Qiwei didn't stop until he was exhausted. Only then did he heed Wilson's pleas and let up.
Panting heavily, he continued to shout at Cecil:
"If you slander me again, I'll beat you every time I see you."
"Get lost!"
With the others' help, Cecil struggled to his feet.
Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his face was swollen and misshapen. Trembling, he pointed at Li Qiwei.
"Damn it! B-Bruce, just you wait."
"I'll ruin your reputation and get you kicked out of Cambridge for good."
Cecil had never suffered such humiliation before. But the beating had hurt too much, and he couldn't retaliate right away.
He was the prime minister's grandson, and he considered himself a gentleman. He couldn't act like a brute and make a scene in front of a crowd.
What he didn't know was that Li Qiwei had counted on him not daring to fight back. That was why he'd struck first and beaten him before anything else.
After all, Li Qiwei had been in the right, and he wasn't afraid of losing face.
If things really blew up, Cecil's grandfather, the prime minister, would be in trouble too.
Cecil glared at Li Qiwei, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
He swore he'd use his connections and, no matter the cost, make Li Qiwei pack his bags and leave.
Beside him, Raymond supported Cecil and stole a glance at Li Qiwei.
He hadn't lifted a finger just now. He could only pray he wouldn't get dragged into this.
Wilson, meanwhile, felt an immense sense of satisfaction, even greater than he'd felt while drinking.
Damn the aristocrats!
You people controlled Britain's capital and kept the rest of us from living decent lives.
As a representative of the poor, Wilson began to hate the privileged classes.
Everyone had their own thoughts, but Li Qiwei alone acted as if nothing had happened.
After beating Cecil senseless, perhaps no one would dare bully the Chinese so casually again.
As for whether Cecil would seek revenge, Li Qiwei didn't care.
As long as he didn't provoke the wrath of the entire crowd, no one would gang up on him.
Britain itself wasn't united.
The prime minister had a lot of power, but he wasn't all-powerful. Plenty of people paid him no mind.
Besides, once his paper was published, he was sure his reputation would be enough to stand up to a spoiled third-generation heir.
So Li Qiwei issued a threat of his own:
"Trash. I'll be waiting for you to come after me."
Then he glanced at Raymond, making him jump. Raymond hurriedly lowered his head.
Finally, to everyone's utter shock, the two sides left the Eagle Bar one after the other.
Before long, lively discussion filled the bar.
By the next morning, this explosive news would have spread throughout Cambridge University.
On the way back to the laboratory, Wilson appeared to sigh in dismay, but inside he was secretly delighted.
"Ah, drinking really does get you into trouble. I should drink less from now on."
"Bruce, you've got quite a temper. After class tomorrow, you should come back to the lab and study with me."
"I'm afraid you'll get yourself into trouble again."
"But that Cecil really did deserve it."
"We work ourselves to the bone on research, while he gets to enjoy the fruits of our labor without lifting a finger."
"..."
Li Qiwei paid no attention to Wilson's endless chatter.
He felt refreshed, but also a little sad.
Who here could possibly understand what he was feeling right now?
So what if he beat a hundred Cecils? What if he even beat up the prime minister, his grandfather?
It still wouldn't change what awaited the people of that suffering country, thousands of miles away.
As the cool breeze brushed his face, Li Qiwei silently resolved that he would change the fate of himself and Huaxia.
One day, he would make Cecil kneel and apologize.
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