Chen Ying looked at the stack of money Wu Jie handed him. At a glance, there were about five or six hundred dollars, more than an ordinary person earned in a month.
"What do I need money for?"
Wu Jie sighed.
"It'll come in handy. Just think of it as paying for peace. Granny doesn't want you drawing trouble by standing out, either."
Paying for peace?
Chen Ying turned and glanced at the punks loitering by the entrance, getting a rough idea of what was going on.
No wonder Hua Shanrong called him Tongwen's number one pretty-faced good-for-nothing. Apparently, his fine reputation had spread far and wide.
"Stay safe and keep out of trouble." Wu Jie looked at Chen Ying with some concern. "Husband, weren't you saying just a couple of days ago that the greatest hermits hide in the city?"
"Principles are always meant for other people."
Chen Ying sighed and put the money in his pocket.
"Those boomerangs really hit home every time."
"Husband, what's a boomerang?"
Wu Jie asked curiously.
Chen Ying suddenly remembered that this world had no land called Australia. Boomerangs, kangaroos, and platypuses had never even had a chance to become legends.
"I heard Mr. Wen say it's an incredibly powerful weapon used by many assassins in the martial world. It might not hit the enemy, but it's guaranteed to give its user a good whack, one hundred percent of the time."
"I see, but what does that have to do with..."
"Nothing. I'm off to school."
Chen Ying shut the car door and headed straight for the school gates.
Strictly speaking, Tongwen Academy was a secondary school covering both junior and senior high school, and at seventeen, he was currently in his second year of senior high.
That was by his previous life's reckoning, of course.
The Holy Union Empire's education system had four stages: early childhood education beginning at five, primary education from seven to eleven, and secondary education from eleven to sixteen.
Above that was the preparatory stage, where students prepared for examinations to enter higher-level university studies.
If this were Fusang, I'd be invincible.
Looking at the dilapidated school gates, Chen Ying thought, All I'd have to do is claim that king's seat by the window in the second-to-last row, and I'd become a true harem king.
Unfortunately, this world's Fusang was still embroiled in chaotic warfare. The papers frequently carried reports of daimyo forming alliances and encirclements to gang up on one another.
They fought and fought without getting anywhere.
There was no trouble entering the grounds. The punks clustered around the gates merely glanced at Chen Ying from a distance. Getting into the school was even less trouble, as everyone inside was busy with their own affairs.
They were either kissing passionately on the sports field or feeling each other up in the corridors. Youthful exuberance was everywhere.
Those actually studying were all in the classrooms.
Chen Ying soon found his class, grade 12, class 8.
Those numbers have a nice ring to them.
The classroom was not particularly large, and only a handful of students were studying inside. Most were wandering around outside.
As soon as Chen Ying reached the doorway, someone came over to greet him.
"Hey, Deadbeat Ying, you over your illness?"
Chen Ying turned to see a somewhat attractive girl looking at him with her arms folded and a lollipop in her mouth.
"I'm better."
Chen Ying glanced around the classroom, unsure which seat was his.
After all, there was no way Wu Jie would know that.
"A guy like you thinks he can chase girls? I'm telling you, I would never-"
"Excuse me, classmate. What's your surname?"
Chen Ying looked at her and asked very politely.
"Are you nuts? You don't recognize me? Just a few months ago, you were like a dog..."
"Miss Gou? A pleasure to meet you. Do you know where my seat is?"
"You-damn you! My name is..."
The girl took two steps back, looking Chen Ying up and down as though considering where to attack.
"I suggest you don't get any ideas. I'm a firm believer in gender equality. Male or female, I'll hit you just the same. Lay a finger on me and I'll kick you out the window. We're on the third floor. I guarantee you'll have more funeral offerings than you can stomach..."
Chen Ying explained very patiently.
Fuck, is the legal system in Hong Kong and Kowloon really that good? These people don't even know fear.
"Chen Ying, your seat is the second one from the left in the front row."
A girl with round glasses, short hair, and straight bangs stood up at her desk.
"And threatening your classmates with violence is nothing to be proud of..."
Fuck, the front row? What kind of animal was the old me?
Chen Ying was now nearly six feet tall, yet he sat in the front row. There was only one conclusion: the original Chen Ying must have been the sort who was both cowardly and disruptive.
Because a genuine troublemaker who never studied would definitely have been dumped in the back row.
Playing lapdog to some delinquent girl, going to dance halls to get fleeced, and sitting here breathing chalk dust... the sooner that loser died, the better.
Phew.
Chen Ying let out a stale breath.
No problem. Watch me work.
Forget it. There's nothing I can do.
"Fuck it. If all else fails, I'll find somewhere to start a fire later and get this shitty school to expel me. Then I can start over somewhere else."
At that thought, Chen Ying suddenly felt a sense of relief.
Phew. As the tidal surge arrives upon the Qiantang River, only today do I know myself for who I am.
"Oh, right, miss. What's your surname?"
"My name is Feng Huimin. I'm our class monitor. And pretending you don't recognize anyone isn't funny. It's extremely childish..."
"All right. Thank you, class monitor. I'll treat you to tea sometime."
Chen Ying sat down at his desk, took the pile of things out of his schoolbag, and began sorting them out.
Fuck, there's rubbish all over this desk, inside and out. Was the old me being bullied, or was he just a complete slob?
Tissues, glass bottles, a rotten apple dried right out...
His slovenliness practically rivaled that of the mad monk Jigong.
Chen Ying looked it over and decided not to clean up. After all, he would be setting a fire and heading straight home shortly, so he might as well leave the job to someone else.
"Oh, class monitor, is Hua Shanrong in our class?"
The girl named Feng Huimin was in the third row. She raised her head and stared at Chen Ying, her eyes holding the frustration of someone disappointed in his failure to improve.
"Hua Shan... Deng Rong hasn't come to school for several days."
"Right, Deng Rong."
Chen Ying nodded. He had no idea how the kid was doing lately, whether Su Xiong's men had taken him away or Wo On Sing had subjected him to gang discipline.
Ah, these underworld outfits in Hong Kong and Kowloon start recruiting them young. They're following bosses around at fourteen or fifteen. That's their whole life sorted.
"Chen Ying, you weren't like this before. I remember that in primary school, even though your grades weren't good, you still worked very hard. I hope this illness has awakened something in you, and made you appreciate how precious your youth is..."
"Amitabha. Thank you, Reverend Mother."
Chen Ying pressed his palms together.
"This pose of wild abandon is just a cover for the emptiness inside you..."
Just then, a voice from the doorway rescued Chen Ying's wretched morning.
"Hey, Ying, you feeling better? Wow, you have no idea how short of spending money we've been without you."
A male student with a face covered in acne called from the classroom doorway.
"Good to have you back. Brother Cheng wants you on the rooftop. Remember to bring the good stuff."
Finally, someone acting like a human being.
Looking at him, Chen Ying suddenly felt that even the classroom had grown a little brighter.
"Chen Ying, you can refuse them. Let's go find Teacher Li."
The class monitor's voice came from behind him.
"Wow, Four-Eyes Min really knows how to spoil the mood."
The boy outside narrowed his eyes at Chen Ying.
"Young Master Ying, don't tell me you want Brother Cheng to come down and invite you himself? I never knew you liked being a punching bag so much."
"You must be joking."
Chen Ying stood up with a smile.
"Although we've never met, I've been missing you for ages. Come on, let's go upstairs together."
Before you continue