Getting Some Air

Stepping out of the auto repair shop, Junzi gave a dry laugh. "That's it?"

"Many things can be reasoned out... The point isn't who's right or wrong, but whose logic can leverage momentum..." Qin An talked eloquently. He had no intention of winning Junzi over or treating him like a lackey; life was just life, and for no reason at all, who would pledge absolute allegiance to someone just because they radiated an aura of supreme dominance?

He merely figured he might still have use for Junzi in some matters down the line, and didn't want him to always treat him like a kid who understood nothing of the world...

Qin An remembered that these years were precisely a period of severe crackdowns, with over a hundred people executed by firing squad in the neighboring county, boasting full-town mourning. Qingshan Town hadn't gone that far yet, but if there was a genuine intent to clean things up, policies could be called down at any moment, and Qingshan Town would also have to execute a bunch of people...

Zhu Hongzhi might just vanish like that. Qin An had never paid attention to the life and death of such a figure, but Tu Ji would definitely ask around, and the news of the crackdown wouldn't fail to reach his ears. Leveraging such momentum, Qin An didn't believe Tu Ji would truly dare to stick his neck out for his son...

There was some unlucky bastard who snatched a woman's bag, only to find it contained just a single yuan, and the man was executed by firing squad. This incident made the news and carried a strong deterrent effect...

Many matters weren't major, but if the characterization was severe, the consequences would be completely different. This was the real reason why Tu Ji, once he figured it out, wouldn't arbitrarily meddle...

Tu Gang and Qin An fighting-no matter how they fought, they were just two kids. Neither of them could be characterized as ruffians causing a disturbance or disrupting public security. Once Tu Ji and his auto mechanics got mixed up in it, the nature of the matter changed completely... Qin An's only fear was that Tu Ji wouldn't think of this. Once he thought of it, no matter how hot-headed Tu Ji was, he would have to endure it.

"When we handled things in the past, we just looked at who was more ruthless, who spoke with more backbone... Watching you handle this cleanly just now, I didn't think much of it... But the moment you mentioned leveraging momentum, it actually reminded me of something Secretary Tang said: this official world is all about creating and leveraging momentum. It looks like you're cut out for officialdom too, kid..." Junzi made an exception to say a few extra words, mainly because Qin An's remark pierced through a tiny sliver of his doubt, as he had originally felt the matter shouldn't just end like that...

"You flatter me... Officialdom is too complex. Someone like me wouldn't have the mental capacity for it even if I lived a few more lifetimes... Come on, let me treat you to a game of pool..." Qin An pulled Junzi along and headed to a pool hall...

Qin An used to play often in his university's student activity center and later at his own school's faculty recreation center. Qingshan Town didn't go in for that elegant snooker nonsense, and Qin An liked the straight-shooting nature of nine-ball-it was simple to judge victory or defeat, required no excessive brainpower, and just depended on who shot accurately.

After playing a few rounds of pool, Junzi left because he had business to attend to. Pool halls in this era often connected to arcade rooms, and Qin An went into the arcade to play a few tokens, feeling his form was all right. It was just that playing alone wasn't very interesting, and he would have to call Sun Pao over another day to let him taste what true emperor-grade super-demonic button-mashing was like.

Returning to school to retrieve his bicycle, the exams were already over. Ye Zhulan hadn't been able to go catch crabs with Qin An and, feeling somewhat displeased and out of sorts, had gone home. Passing by the teachers' dormitory building for resident faculty, however, Qin An saw Sun Pao standing crestfallen right outside his head teacher Liu Changqing's door.

"What, in trouble again?" Qin An's expression was unspeakably gloating. In truth, he merely recalled the many things he and Sun Pao had pulled off together, every memory of which was worth savoring. The moment he saw Sun Pao looking like this, he felt an intense surge of fondness.

"Hey, I didn't even do anything..." Sun Pao glared at Qin An's bicycle. "You're getting on pretty well with basketball..."

"Tell me, what exactly did you do wrong? I'll help you shoulder some of it..." Qin An found this much more interesting.

"I just wanted to ask Li Xinlan this morning, but we're all pretty familiar with each other, living in the same courtyard and all, so it felt a bit awkward asking... I just wanted to know if girls grow body hair too, so I asked a girl in our class whether she grew it..." Sun Pao didn't feel particularly embarrassed around each other; the shameful things the two of them had done together were countless.

Qin An couldn't help laughing out loud. So that was why Sun Pao had intercepted Li Xinlan in the morning-he had wanted to ask her that question. Fortunately he hadn't asked, otherwise Li Xinlan would have been so mortified and angry that she wouldn't even give Qin An the time of day either.

"Did she tell the teacher you were acting like a hooligan?"

"No, she just stared at me. She stared until I felt embarrassed, and she didn't speak either, then walked a few steps away and started crying. Just kept crying. Do you think there's something wrong with her? I was even thinking that if she grew it too, I'd advise her to pluck it out..." Sun Pao felt deeply resentful that his backup plan for making trouble hadn't come into play.

Liu Changqing assumed Sun Pao had bullied the girl. Since Sun Pao was a habitual offender anyway and incorrigible, he had simply hauled him over to stand in the corner as punishment.

Qin An had no way to share the burden of this matter for Sun Pao. Liu Changqing, however, walked out and called out to him, "Qin An, take this stack of homework over to Teacher Liao's room..."

Teacher Liao was Liao Yu. When she was pregnant and hadn't yet taken her maternity leave, the school, considering that her health required frequent rests, had also arranged a separate room for her on campus. There were plenty of separate little rooms on campus now anyway, and it wasn't any remarkable perk, so Liao Yu hadn't returned the room yet.

Teachers ordering students to run errands was the most normal thing in the world. Qin An parked his bicycle, picked up a stack of homework books, and hurried over.

The outer room was an office, and the inner compartment was where Liao Yu rested. Qin An didn't bother standing on ceremony with Liao Yu either; he pushed open the outer room's door with a heavy shove, and hearing no response, pushed open the inner door as well...

Liao Yu was bare above the waist. Her figure, which hadn't grown plump from childbirth, remained slim and slender. The curtains blocked out the sunlight, and her fair skin didn't appear glaring in the dim room, instead emanating a soft halo. Her petite waist naturally gave her the capital to wear navel-baring dance costumes; it was soft and full of elasticity, appearing somewhat fragile between the exaggerated curves of her breasts and hips, yet possessing a quality that made one feel it could be encircled in a single hand.

A black skirt tightly wrapped around her massive, rounded buttocks, with slender legs extending out from the hem. The leg curves outlined by light-black cotton stockings were eye-catching.

The most striking feature, naturally, was the trembling, towering fullness at her chest. A pair of perfect water-drop shapes proudly jutted out, which, matched with her snowy, smooth skin, made the allure of a young, plump, and mature woman's body stand out cleanly and thoroughly.

Even the entire air radiated that teasing, heart-enticing fragrance that held equal temptation for infants and adult men.

Two flushed areolas dotted the pinkish mounds, and a few drops of milky-white liquid were seeping out. Liao Yu's hands were supporting one breast each, left and right, her expression of pain frozen in a daze due to Qin An's barging in. Looking at Qin An and failing to snap out of it, she blurted out in astonishment, "Didn't I close the door?"

"Heh heh, taking them out to get some air?" Qin An's throat was dry, and without knowing why, he simply spoke those words in a casual tone...