The thugs were having a grand old time beating him when they suddenly spotted people approaching with flashlights. They abandoned "Chen Zhu" and scattered.
At that moment, the real Chen Zhu walked over and helped the boy lying on the ground to his feet. He couldn't help being startled.
"Huh? Changhua, why is it you?"
"Boo-hoo! It's me, all right!"
Wang Changhua's eyes were swollen from the beating, and his face was covered in bruises. Sniffling, he said, "Didn't you say some girl on the track team confessed to you? The exams had just ended, and I was bored, so I thought I'd sneak over and take a look..."
"And then!"
Wang Changhua wiped away his tears. "They pinned me down and started beating me for no reason! They even insisted I admit I was Chen Zhu. Those animals..."
"..."
For a moment, Chen Zhu didn't know whether to blame himself for joking around or Wang Changhua for being too curious. Still, this was entirely in keeping with his old classmate's usual antics.
Just then, Chen Zhu caught sight of the year director, Cao Jingjun, and his homeroom teacher, Yin Yanqiu, approaching. He lowered his voice. "If you want revenge, don't settle this privately. Make sure you report it to the police first."
"Huh?"
Wang Changhua looked at Chen Zhu through tear-blurred eyes. Seeing his calm, resolute expression, he nodded and decided to trust his old classmate one more time.
Cao Jingjun and Yin Yanqiu came over with their flashlights and shone them across Wang Changhua's face. Neither recognized him, but they were certain he was a student at Zhizhong High School-he was still wearing its uniform.
"Let's get you to the hospital first!"
Cao Jingjun decisively chose to get him treated first and figure out how to resolve the matter along the way.
As the saying went, where you sat determined how you thought. As a middle-ranking school administrator, Cao's approach to problems was bound to be to play down serious matters and quietly make minor ones disappear, keeping them from becoming public and damaging the school's reputation.
But Wang Changhua, who had already been warned, refused outright. Wiping his nose, he shouted, "I'm not going to the hospital! I'm going to the Public Security Bureau to report this! I'm not taking a beating for nothing! I want those bastards shot! Boo-hoo..."
"Nobody said you couldn't report it. We're just going to the hospital first. Which class are you in? Look, your nose is bleeding. You need to trust your teachers..."
Cao Jingjun still hoped to calm Wang Changhua down with those words. After all, once they went to the police station, the matter could blow up and become difficult to control.
"No! I have to report it first!"
Wang Changhua had probably also realized that Cao Jingjun wanted to handle this quietly. But how could he possibly swallow that anger? This was even more fucking unfair than joining the Nationalist army in 1949.
Chen Zhu remained silent. Deep down, he wanted them to go to the police station.
Wang Changhua's face was swollen like a pig's head. Once he walked into the police station, those thugs would be finished.
But that was certainly not the outcome Cao Jingjun wanted.
Chen Zhu didn't want to openly defy Cao yet, so after offering his suggestion, he silently watched the tug-of-war between him and Changhua.
Still, Wang Changhua was the victim and had more say in the matter. In the end, he even got himself up off the ground and began hobbling toward the police station, clutching his backside.
Yin Yanqiu, a female teacher, couldn't bear to watch any longer. Frowning, she said, "Director Cao, let's go to the police station first..."
She glanced outside the parking lot, where some students and nearby residents had already gathered to watch. With a sigh, she added, "As long as we handle this fairly, any rumors will die down."
"All right, let's go. I'll call Principal He."
Cao had no choice but to agree. As he passed Chen Zhu, he deliberately gave him a couple of puzzled looks.
Weren't those thugs supposed to be looking for Chen Zhu to have a talk?
The thugs had shown up.
They'd had their talk.
So why was some other student the one who got beaten?
Naturally, Chen Zhu accompanied Wang Changhua to the police station.
Logically speaking, if he really had come out alone tonight, he might have avoided a beating by staying sharp.
But as things had turned out, Wang Changhua had taken a beating in his place.
He had actually been bloodied. They had to get his injuries formally assessed, and those thugs were definitely going into detention.
However, nobody in the classroom knew what had happened. Huang Bohan had only seen Li Jianming call Chen Zhu outside, after which he hadn't returned for a long time.
"That's odd. Where is he?"
Big Huang was a little worried about his friend. After all, Chen Zhu had offended Li Jianming before.
When the first evening study period ended, Huang Bohan even made a round of the sports field and the toilets, but he couldn't find Chen Zhu anywhere.
By the end of the second evening study period, Chen Zhu still hadn't returned.
Huang Bohan immediately ran to the office to report this to their homeroom teacher, Yin Yanqiu.
But she wasn't at her desk either. Stacks of marked exam papers sat on the otherwise empty desktop, rustling in the breeze.
What could be more important to Ms. Yin than the Second Mock Exam results?
Huang Bohan's concern suddenly intensified. He hurried to the door of Senior Year Class 5 and called Li Jianming out.
"Where's Chen Zhu?"
Big Huang asked with a grim expression.
"Huh? He hasn't come back yet?"
Li Jianming was taken aback too.
Normally, calling someone out to scare him wouldn't take more than half an hour. Why hadn't Chen Zhu come back yet?
"I'm asking you where he is!"
Huang Bohan demanded anxiously.
"What are you getting so worked up for?"
Li Jianming was somewhat afraid of Chen Zhu, but he certainly wasn't afraid of Huang Bohan, who looked like a harmless, honest kid at first glance. Pressing his lips together, he said, "Someone asked him to go to the nearby parking lot for a chat. Nothing's going to happen..."
Before he could finish, Huang Bohan thundered down the stairs. Li Jianming stood there blankly for a moment, then hurried after him.
As Huang Bohan passed the school gate, several security guards stopped him. "Where are you going, young man?"
It was evening study time. A student running out of school in such a panic surely meant something was wrong.
"I-I'm going to the parking lot next door."
Rubbing his chest, Huang Bohan said breathlessly, "Someone called my friend outside, and he hasn't come back for ages."
"Who's your friend?"
A young security guard who had been at the scene waved a hand. "Anyway, don't go over there. A student got beaten up. They've gone to the police station now."
Huang Bohan panicked at once. "Who got beaten up? Was his name Chen Zhu?"
The young guard thought back. Those thugs had seemed to be shouting that name as they beat the boy, so he nodded.
Huang Bohan's head rang, and his mind went blank. Even Li Jianming, standing behind him, was so frightened that his legs went weak.
I warned them! I told them over and over not to hit him...
Why did they still do it...
And now they'd gone to the police station...
After a while, Huang Bohan took several deep breaths and tried not to imagine the worst. Perhaps Chen Zhu wasn't badly hurt?
But Big Huang was only eighteen, after all. He had no idea what he should do now.
Instinctively, he started walking back to the classroom, then turned back after a few steps. He felt he should go to the police station to see Chen Zhu first, but his things were still in the classroom...
His mind was a mess. Beside him, Li Jianming kept offering explanations. "I really only wanted them to scare Chen Zhu. I didn't think they'd actually hit him. I really didn't..."
"Fuck you! Get lost!"
Finally, Huang Bohan, who rarely used language like that, couldn't take it anymore and roared at Li Jianming. Even after returning to the classroom, he was still breathing hard, trying to calm himself down.
Liu Han, the girl sitting in front of him, turned around and asked with concern and confusion, "What's wrong? Why are you so pale?"
"Chen-Chen Zhu..."
Huang Bohan's throat felt terribly dry. His hands trembled as he packed up his stationery. He tried to speak calmly, but couldn't manage it at all. "He-he was beaten up by people Li Jianming called in. They've gone to the police station. I'm going to find him..."
People unconsciously raised their voices when nervous. But even if he hadn't, those words would have landed like a bomb in the quiet evening-study classroom.
The classroom instantly erupted. Most of the students were shocked and concerned. Chen Zhu was their classmate, after all.
Not Kang Liangsong. He blinked, then prepared to celebrate by tackling a couple of math problems with gusto.
"Weiwei, did you hear that?"
After her initial shock passed, Mou Jiawen turned to Song Shiwei and asked dazedly. She had another question on her mind too: Could this be because of you...?
Song Shiwei suddenly walked out of the classroom without a word.
"Weiwei! Weiwei..."
When several calls received no response, Mou Jiawen hesitated briefly, then hurried after her.
In 2007, Zhizhong High School didn't allow students to bring communication devices. Of course, they could sneak them in, but if a teacher discovered one, it would be confiscated and only returned when the holidays began.
So most students didn't bring phones or anything like that. It was too much trouble.
Song Shiwei walked to the phone booth by the school shop and calmly dialed a number. "Dad..."
After packing his things, Huang Bohan left the classroom under his classmates' watchful eyes.
He asked for the police station's address at the security booth by the school gate. After walking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something, rummaged through his schoolbag for an address book, and dialed a number he found inside. "Auntie Mao? It's Huang Bohan... Chen Zhu-Chen Zhu's been beaten up..."
"Hello, Yu Xian? Are you still at the convenience store?"
Holding the receiver, Wu Yu spoke urgently. "Chen Zhu's been beaten up... I don't know what happened either. Everyone in our year is talking about it... Don't panic. Let's go over together..."
This was destined to be an eventful night.
(The high school storyline is almost over too. Please vote, please vote.)
(End of chapter)
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