Do you know who my dad is?!

A few students sat scattered around the cafeteria in twos and threes, all wearing old clothes washed pale, wolfing down the vegetable mush and cornbread buns in front of them.

Jiang Xun carried his bowl to an empty table and sat down. At the next table, several boys had their heads down, shoveling food into their mouths as though they were starving ghosts reborn.

One short boy had even licked the bottom of his bowl clean and was still using his cornbread bun to wipe up the vegetable broth clinging to the sides.

Jiang Xun was just about to tuck his remaining cornbread bun into his pocket when a loud kick came from the cafeteria door.

"Move, move! Out of the way!"

A boy with a buzz cut swaggered in, followed by two lackeys, one carrying his schoolbag and the other carrying his lunch boxes.

The buzz-cut boy wore a brand-new basketball jersey and white sneakers the village children had never even seen before. He sat down at the table right in the middle, and his lackeys immediately lined up three stainless steel lunch boxes.

The moment the lids came off, the aroma filled the entire cafeteria.

The braised pork glistened with oil, the sweet-and-sour ribs were golden and coated in sauce, and the plump grains of white rice gave off steam.

Every chewing sound in the cafeteria stopped at once. Everyone's eyes were glued to those three lunch boxes.

The short boy beside Jiang Xun swallowed and muttered to his companion, "Zhao Pengfei's here again. He brings meat to school every day to show off."

"His dad's the village chief. His family has money, so he can bring whatever he wants." His companion lowered his voice. "Stop looking. You'll only crave it more."

Zhao Pengfei clearly enjoyed having everyone's attention.

He picked up a piece of braised pork with his chopsticks, deliberately held it high, then slowly put it into his mouth and chewed with loud smacks.

Oil seeped from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it off with the back of his hand and waggled his eyebrows at the next table.

"Smells good, doesn't it? Want some?"

The students lowered their heads without a word. The short boy tightened his grip on his cornbread bun.

"I heard your family had wild vegetable porridge again last night?" Zhao Pengfei pointed his chopsticks at the short boy, his grin practically begging for a punch.

"Did your dad trade your relief grain for booze again? You and your siblings don't even live as well as the pigs in our pigpen."

The short boy's face flushed crimson. He shot to his feet, his lips trembling for a long time, but he didn't dare say a word.

The two lackeys behind Zhao Pengfei rolled up their sleeves and took their places on either side of him, clenching their fists until their knuckles cracked.

The short boy gritted his teeth and sat back down.

Satisfied, Zhao Pengfei looked away. He took a couple of bites out of a rib, then suddenly turned toward Jiang Xun's table.

"You're the one from the city?" He brought his lunch box over and plopped down opposite Jiang Xun with a malicious snort.

"I heard you were pretty damn cocky yesterday. You dared throw dates at my mom's head? Do you know who my dad is?"

"Your mom never even told you who your dad is?" Jiang Xun sounded so sincere that he seemed genuinely concerned for him. "Then you really are pretty pitiful."

Zhao Pengfei's expression instantly darkened.

He slapped his chopsticks onto the table and leaned back, crooking a finger at Jiang Xun. "I won't hold it against you. My mom said you'll be out of this village before a month is up."

His lackeys chimed in to back him up, but Zhao Pengfei shook his head, looking every bit the magnanimous adult overlooking a lesser person's faults.

"But seriously, if you aren't getting enough to eat here, just say the word." He patted a lunch box lid.

"See this? Braised pork, sweet-and-sour ribs. We eat this every day at my house. If you're eating with Shen Wangjing's family, you'll never get anything this good in your life."

"That deadbeat dad of his borrowed money from every relative and friend he had before jumping into the river. Nobody in the whole village likes those Shens. That tight-lipped Shen Yuxing is so gutless at school he doesn't even dare let out a fart, and Shen Wangjing's up to his ass in debt but still acts all high and mighty."

Zhao Pengfei grinned, growing more animated as he spoke.

"Why would a rich city boy like you hang around with that family of useless Shens? They're so poor they don't even have a spare pair of pants. That crippled grandpa of theirs will starve to death in bed sooner or later-"

The next second, a cornbread bun flew straight into his mouth before he could close it.

The force snapped his head back, and the back of his skull hit the earthen wall with a thud, sending flakes of plaster raining down his neck.

The coarse cornmeal scraped his tongue and the roof of his mouth, choking him until his throat tightened.

He instinctively spat it out. The cornbread bun sprayed from his mouth along with his saliva, scattering crumbs all over the table.

"Fuck-"

Jiang Xun slowly rose from the long bench and brushed the remaining cornmeal crumbs from his hands.

"Sorry. My hand slipped."

His eyes curved when he smiled, making him look like the very model of an exemplary student.

But Zhao Pengfei wasn't fooled. He was already nearly mad with rage and roared, his words slurred, "Are you fucking crazy?! Do you know who my dad is? My dad's the village chief! I'm telling my dad..."

"What does your dad being the village chief have to do with me? I'm not your grandpa. Your dad's not mine to discipline." Jiang Xun looked at him with a smile.

"Didn't your mom teach you not to talk while you're eating? Oh, right. Her mouth's even filthier than yours. Even if she taught you, it wouldn't do any good."

Zhao Pengfei trembled with rage.

He had thrown his weight around Shiban Village for over a decade. With his father being the village chief, every child in the village had to steer clear of him.

And today someone had actually dared hit him in the face with a cornbread bun? And even insult him?!

"Say that one more fucking time!"

Zhao Pengfei charged forward several steps.

He stood almost half a head taller than Jiang Xun, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, like a wall of flesh. Veins bulged on his clenched fists.

Jiang Xun didn't so much as blink an extra time. He walked up to Zhao Pengfei and stopped, looking up at him as though inspecting a pig blocking his path.

"I said, have you ever looked in a mirror before insulting other people? Looking like that, you have the nerve to call anyone else useless? When Shen Wangjing was carrying a hoe to support his whole family by himself, you were probably still sucking on the bottle your mom gave you."

"You-" Zhao Pengfei's meager vocabulary was utterly incapable of handling an attack of this caliber. His whole face turned liver-red, and the veins at his temples throbbed.

His lips trembled for a long time. Finally, he abandoned the idea of beating Jiang Xun in a war of words, let out a furious roar, and swung his fist at Jiang Xun's face.