Then I'll Just Lie Down

The dark-skinned student athlete entered the convenience store and soon spotted Yu Xian hard at work.

First, he puffed out his pecs at the glass door, as though that would make him look more handsome. Then he pressed his lips into a stern line and strode toward the register, using his imposing size to shove several other customers aside along the way.

Some of them had tempers, too. They were already halfway through "Fuck your mother," but one look at his build made them swallow the rest.

At the register, the athlete planted both palms on the counter and leaned forward slightly, striking what he believed was a commanding pose that showed off his physique.

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Yu Xian had been looking down, tallying payments, when she suddenly sensed that the queue seemed to have shrunk. She looked up and discovered this freak.

He was hogging the register, leaving everyone who needed to pay waiting behind him.

Seeing him disrupt business like this, Yu Xian barely hesitated before parting her red lips. "Are you out of your mind?"

Sometimes, when a girl called a boy crazy, a hint of reproach, coyness, or helpless affection in her tone meant he could take it as something other than an insult.

But disgust, contempt for his stupidity, and disdain were written all over Yu Xian's face. She was clearly sick of him.

Yet the athlete noticed none of it. Still brimming with confidence, he opened his mouth and made himself even more repulsive. "I'm not crazy. I'm just here to demand an explanation. I-"

Yu Xian couldn't be bothered to exchange another word with him and cut him off. "Buy something if you're buying. Otherwise, get out! Sir, you behind him, come over first. One bottle of water, right...?"

And just like that, the dark-skinned athlete was left hanging in front of the register.

Every customer who came up to pay gave him a curious look, too.

Worse still, whenever he tried to say something, Yu Xian immediately called the next customer over. She had no intention of acknowledging him.

After standing there like an idiot for a while, the athlete finally realized how humiliating this was and angrily made his next move.

He suddenly rolled both sleeves of his T-shirt all the way up to his shoulders, exposing his hefty biceps.

Now that's a classic move.

Chen Zhu watched the spectacle and thought to himself.

Once his biceps were exposed, the athlete seemed to regain the confidence he'd had when he first entered. He blocked the next customer trying to pay, waved his bare arms, and aggressively declared to Yu Xian:

"In all my years, I, Zhang Chao, have never been slapped before. I once swore that the only women allowed to slap me were my mom and my wife."

Ohhh.

It dawned on Chen Zhu. So this was the young hero who'd tried to hold her hand, failed, and earned himself a slap instead.

That slap had also cemented Yu Xian's reputation as a fiery beauty. Even the boys in the first and second years knew that their senior Yu Xian might be gorgeous, but she was not to be messed with.

The confrontation drew Huang Bohan's and Zhao Yuanyuan's attention, too.

The chubby girl looked up for a moment, apparently decided this was less interesting than her fish ball noodles, and lowered her head to concentrate on her food again.

Huang Bohan was just as he'd always been, quietly discussing the drama with Chen Zhu as soon as he spotted it. He even knew Zhang Chao was on the school basketball team.

"Zhang Chao used to have a girlfriend. I heard he dumped her to chase Yu Xian."

Huang Bohan kept his voice low.

"You even know that?"

Given Huang Bohan's bottom-rung status at Zhixin Middle School, Chen Zhu hadn't thought the campus celebrities would let him into their circles.

"Hehe."

Huang Bohan grinned smugly. "I overheard someone in the next stall while I was taking a dump once. But athletes all seem pretty hotheaded. They might follow the rules at school, but out here, things could get messy."

"You make it sound like Yu Xian has a great temper."

Chen Zhu gave a sardonic chuckle.

Yu Xian was like the most exquisite flower in a thicket of thorns. Touch her once, and you'd be bleeding all over.

So even her response to Zhang Chao's intimidation was quintessentially Yu Xian.

"Sure."

Yu Xian said flatly, "Being your girlfriend is out of the question, but I suppose I could lower myself to being your mom."

Quite a few customers in the convenience store immediately burst out laughing. They all thought this young man who loved flexing his muscles didn't seem particularly bright.

"What the fuck are you laughing at? Stop laughing... Fuck!"

Zhang Chao felt humiliated. Combined with that earlier slap at school, his old resentment and fresh anger boiled over, and he charged forward to hit Yu Xian.

Yu Xian didn't retreat a single step. She quietly tightened her grip on a ballpoint pen and glared coldly at him.

At that very moment, two figures rushed forward.

Chen Zhu reacted fastest. Huang Bohan saw his friend move and followed without hesitation. Neither of them stood six foot three, but they weren't short, either, and together they finally managed to stop Zhang Chao.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Without thinking, Chen Zhu slipped into the authoritative manner of a deputy division chief and declared sternly, "If you have something to say, talk it out! Assaulting someone or deliberately inflicting bodily harm carries five to ten days of detention. In serious cases, you could face up to three years in prison. Do you understand?"

Both Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan were wearing their Zhixin Middle School uniforms. Chen Zhu in particular had left a strong impression with his confident speech at the First Mock Exam review meeting.

Zhang Chao recognized this newly risen campus celebrity, too, which helped him calm down a little.

Chen Zhu had stepped in entirely on instinct. He would have done the same even if it had been another woman instead of Yu Xian.

But now that he'd intervened, he figured he might as well say a few words and at least defuse the immediate situation.

How? With the classic three-step approach:

Step one: assign blame to both sides.

Step two: explain how escalation would harm everyone involved.

Step three: give the victim a little hope.

"I think both of you bear some responsibility here."

Chen Zhu launched into step one with practiced ease. "Yu Xian, you shouldn't have slapped someone in front of everyone, even if he was in the wrong first. Zhang Chao, you shouldn't have come to the convenience store to cause trouble, either. That constitutes disturbing public order..."

"You're both about to take the Gaokao. That's a major turning point in your lives. What if something goes wrong here and affects your exams?"

That was step two: laying out the harm escalation could cause.

"Zhang Chao, how about this?"

Chen Zhu began offering the victim a little hope. "Let me have a proper talk with Yu Xian and find out exactly what happened. Once I have all the facts, we can sit down and discuss this again. Go back for now. Don't let this interfere with your training."

This spiel left Zhang Chao thoroughly bamboozled. He even obediently took two steps toward the door before suddenly remembering to ask, "Um... how long will finding out the facts take?"

"Ninety working days, I'd say."

Chen Zhu did a quick calculation before answering.

"What?"

Zhang Chao immediately objected. In ninety days, the Gaokao would already be over. Would he even be able to see Yu Xian then?

"No!"

Zhang Chao demanded crudely and belligerently, "If Yu Xian won't be my girlfriend, then she has to kiss me today."

As if Yu Xian would tolerate that humiliation. She immediately sneered. "Keep dreaming. I'd kiss a dog before I kissed you!"

"Fuck!"

Such undisguised contempt wounded Zhang Chao's pride again. To show his anger, he rolled his T-shirt sleeves up to his shoulders once more.

Who knew what was wrong with him? It was as though life couldn't go on unless everyone could see his biceps.

Chen Zhu was getting a headache, too. The three-step approach was a highly practical way to resolve disputes at the grassroots level. Who could have expected Zhang Chao and Yu Xian to be so completely out of touch with that approach?

He had no choice but to block Zhang Chao again. This time, however, Zhang Chao seemed to have gone mad. Seeing Chen Zhu repeatedly obstruct him, he redirected his rage.

He grabbed Chen Zhu by the collar and snarled, "So you're fucking Chen Zhu, huh? Huh? Think you can fight, do you? Huh?"

Though physically restrained, Chen Zhu wasn't panicked in the slightest. First, he pressed both hands downward, signaling Huang Bohan, Yu Xian, and Zhao Yuanyuan to stay back so they wouldn't get hurt accidentally.

Then he glanced up at the convenience store's security camera and calmly said, "I suggest you don't do anything rash. If you keep this up, you may not be able to bear the consequences."

"What consequences?"

Zhang Chao snorted contemptuously, not taking Chen Zhu seriously at all.

Young men his age, relying on their physical strength, thought only heaven ranked above them. They had no awareness of the law and believed force could settle anything.

Only after something really happened and the iron fist of the state put them in their place would they learn just how harsh reality could be.

"Consequences you might regret. Zhang Chao, are you sure there's no way to settle this peacefully?"

Chen Zhu backed away step by step, slowly moving into a spot outside the camera's view.

"No way!"

Zhang Chao saw this as a matter of pride. He absolutely couldn't back down.

"Very good."

Chen Zhu suddenly gave a faint smile. "Then I'll just lie down."

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(End of chapter)