Stick Your Ass Up Higher

Li Yichen strolled along, stopping now and then to buy a drink or an ice cream.

Whenever he stopped, Yellow Hair and his buddies would pretend to be taking a casual stroll or duck into a shop along the street.

Li Yichen found it hilarious. With tailing skills like that, anyone who failed to notice them had to be blind or an idiot.

When he reached a corner in an alley, he stopped again, picked up a small piece of brick, and began drawing on the wall, stroke by stroke.

As he drew, he kept chuckling to himself.

Not far away, Little Yellow Hair and his buddies dove into a steamed bun shop.

Little Yellow Hair gripped the edge of a steamer tray with one hand while craning his neck to peer toward Li Yichen.

"Yellow Hair," one of the young guys asked as he watched, "what do you think that guy's drawing? And why's he grinning like such a pervert?"

"How should I know?" Little Yellow Hair rolled his eyes at him. "We'll find out when we go take a look, won't we?"

"Oh, right." The young guy saw the light, then asked in puzzlement, "Yellow Hair, isn't your hand burning?"

"My hand?" Little Yellow Hair froze, then noticed steam hissing from the spot he was gripping.

"Ow!" Yellow Hair howled and immediately pulled his hand away, puffing out his cheeks and blowing hard on it.

"Yellow Hair, he's leaving," someone reminded him just then.

"Then get after him!" Yellow Hair snapped out of it. Forgetting the pain in his hand, he hurried out after him.

But when they reached the spot where Li Yichen had been drawing, they all stopped involuntarily and looked at the wall.

Drawn in red brick on the wall was a half-clenched fist, its raised middle finger particularly eye-catching.

On either side of the drawing were two conspicuous letters: "SB."

"I can tell that's a middle finger, but what does SB mean?" one of the young punks asked in confusion. "Could it stand for 'start business'?"

"So with the middle finger, it means 'I hate starting business,' right?" the punk said with a grin.

"Could it mean 'stupid bastard'?" another punk ventured.

"Fuck!" Little Yellow Hair wasn't entirely stupid. "That guy spotted us ages ago! He's fucking insulting us! Get after him! I'm gonna kill him!"

With Little Yellow Hair in the lead, the whole group rushed around the corner into the alley.

But they hadn't gone far before they reached the end. It was a dead end, and Li Yichen was already nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck, where is he?" Little Yellow Hair shouted furiously. "We saw him come in here! Did he sprout wings and fly away?"

"Looking for me?" Just then, a mocking voice came from behind them.

Little Yellow Hair spun around and saw Li Yichen standing with his arms folded, looking at them with contempt.

"You really must be an idiot. You knew we were after you, and you still dared to show yourself." Little Yellow Hair signaled the young punks with his eyes.

The young guys were fairly quick on the uptake when it came to this sort of thing. They immediately spread out and surrounded Li Yichen.

Once he saw Li Yichen surrounded, Little Yellow Hair relaxed and shouted arrogantly, "Someone's paying us to take out one of your legs, kid. Lie down nicely and let us earn our money, and you won't have to suffer as much."

As he spoke, he pulled a telescopic baton from his sleeve, snapped it open, and struck the wall beside him. A chunk broke off its already flaking surface.

"See that?" Little Yellow Hair waved the baton smugly. "If you don't cooperate, I might just break both your legs."

"Dumbass." Li Yichen immediately flipped him off.

"You dare call me a dumbass?" Little Yellow Hair flew into a rage. They might have been nobodies, but nothing angered them more than being looked down on. Perhaps that was the tragedy of being a nobody.

"I wasn't calling you a dumbass," Li Yichen continued. "Sorry, let me correct that. I wasn't saying you're a dumbass. I was saying everyone here is a dumbass."

"Fuck you! You think you can mess with me?" Little Yellow Hair's eyes went red. Pointing at Li Yichen in fury, he shouted, "Are you guys fucking dead? Pin him down! I'm going to cripple him today!"

"Fuck!" The young punks around him were furious too, lunging at him with their arms flailing.

Seeing how scrawny they all were, like praying mantises, and how feeble their movements looked, Li Yichen curled his lip disdainfully and gave them a light sweep of his hand.

He swore it really had been just a light sweep, but these young men, who each weighed at least a hundred pounds, instantly flew backward, slammed into the wall, and couldn't get up.

"Ow..." The young guys lay on the ground, some clutching their arms, others their legs, all groaning nonstop.

What the hell? Li Yichen was stunned too. I barely used any strength. It should've just thrown them back, not left them unable to get up.

He couldn't be bothered with them, either. For someone of his standing to take a bunch of young punks seriously would be beneath him.

So he merely glanced at them before turning toward Little Yellow Hair.

Fuck, is this guy even human? Little Yellow Hair nearly pissed himself in terror. A single wave of his hand had sent several young men flying. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were filming a movie.

Li Yichen stared at Little Yellow Hair with a wicked grin, then walked toward him step by step.

"Y-you... stay back!" Little Yellow Hair was on the verge of tears. His baton hand trembled uncontrollably, and his legs were shaking badly too.

Before Li Yichen even reached him, his legs gave out. He dropped to his knees and shouted, "Please spare me, great hero!"

Li Yichen nearly burst out laughing. This guy really was something else. The moment he realized things were going badly, he surrendered without the slightest hesitation.

Li Yichen snorted and held out his right hand toward Little Yellow Hair.

"D-don't kill me!" Little Yellow Hair stared in terror at Li Yichen's hand. Then the stench of urine wafted into Li Yichen's nostrils. This time, Little Yellow Hair really had pissed himself.

"Get lost!" Li Yichen snatched the baton from his hand and casually whipped it across his face.

Little Yellow Hair went tumbling away. When he groggily raised his head again, a bright red welt marked his left cheek.

Tears streamed from the pain, but he didn't dare wipe them away.

Li Yichen glanced at him and said, "Kneel properly and stick your ass up."

"Huh?" Little Yellow Hair's face immediately turned green. "You're not going to fuck me in the ass, are you? I haven't showered today."

For fuck's sake. Li Yichen nearly threw up. The mental image made his stomach churn. He had to hand it to the guy's imagination.

Another casual strike of the baton silenced him. Wiping away his tears, he stuck his ass way up in the air.

"Stop crying. Stick it up higher." Li Yichen gave him an impatient look.

Frightened into silence, he raised his ass as high as he possibly could.