The phone in his trouser pocket suddenly vibrated.
[Dog Yan: Wangwang, come back us up!]
[Dog Yan: Son, your dad can't hold out anymore!]
[Shen Zhao: Waaa, fuck, I'll kill those bastards sooner or later!]
Gu Wang couldn't tell what they were shouting about, so he called. It was noisy on the other end, and Song Zhiyan yelled at the top of his lungs, "Wangwang, fuck, we got into a fight at the internet cafe!"
Shen Zhao swore beside him.
Gu Wang thought, So this is how colorful a failing student's life is.
Whether Gu Wang was listening or not, Song Zhiyan kept shouting, "They're from No. 2 High next door. Fuck, they're shameless! We agreed on five versus five, losers buy hot pot, all you can eat, and then they used cheats..."
"You dare say you weren't cheating? Swear on your dicks!" That definitely wasn't directed at Gu Wang. Song Zhiyan wouldn't joke about his brothers' family jewels.
But Song Zhiyan's language was so crude and vicious that the boys on the other side dragged over stools, ready to fight in their humiliation and anger, shouting, "You just can't stand losing! New money is new money. No class at all."
"Where's Gu Wang? Why didn't he come? Chickened out?"
Gu Wang was the richest of the three. If he were there, they could fleece him for a hefty sum.
Song Zhiyan thoroughly despised how little of the world those guys had seen. Even as he talked to Gu Wang on the phone, he kept trading insults with them.
"You're the biggest cowards on earth! You use cheats because you can't win, and you'll throw away all your dignity for money. Zhao, give them the money. Ask them how much they want!" Song Zhiyan's words actually cut far deeper than Shen Zhao's, and he was also the fiercest fighter of the three.
"Sure," Shen Zhao answered, bending down to get the schoolbag beside his computer. He had just taken out his wallet when someone hurled a bag straight at his head. Shen Zhao toppled straight to the floor. The schoolbag landed with a thud, nothing like the pleasant sound of books.
"What did you put in your bag?" the leader across from them asked his lackey, sensing something wasn't right. If it was books, why had that kid passed out?
The lackey paused, then looked as though he was about to cry. "I put a brick in it!"
"A brick?!" Song Zhiyan's voice instantly rose even higher. After giving Gu Wang the internet cafe's address, he hung up, grabbed a broom from nearby, and charged, radiating murderous intent, as if he held a cleaver rather than a broom.
The leader tossed his cigarette butt onto the floor and gritted his teeth. "Who cares? Even if we're in the wrong, we're not admitting it. Take care of Song first!"
He had barely finished speaking when a dark mass shoved straight into his face. The mixture of smells was nauseating, and unidentified bits of stuff still clung to the broom.
"Song Zhiyan, you asked for this!" Song Zhiyan was alone now, anyway. The teammates he'd recruited earlier were all random players, and they'd long since fled. He refused to believe the five of them couldn't beat one!
Song Zhiyan wasted no words and kicked one of them in the stomach. The scene descended into utter chaos. Behind the counter, the internet cafe's owner touched up her makeup, checked that it was flawless, then picked up the landline and made a call.
"Yes, that's right, a fight. They're about to beat someone to death. Hurry over!" The owner had called the police. Propping up her chin, she watched them grapple, not remotely worried about the damage. She could get their parents to pay for it later. Internet cafes near schools were like this: fights broke out every few days, and the stools and chairs lost their arms and legs in the brawls.
The blow had knocked Shen Zhao senseless. When he woke, he heard police sirens outside. Song Zhiyan spotted him waking up. Someone was clinging to Song Zhiyan and biting his thigh, and he grimaced as he shouted, "Zhao, hurry up and help!"
The police came into view. Inspiration struck Shen Zhao, and he "fainted" again.
"Fuck your ancestors, Shen Zhao!" Song Zhiyan shouted.
The officers who came in drew the batons at their waists and hauled the brats up, bellowing, "Too well-fed with nothing to do, huh?! Your parents sent you to school to fight?"
The middle-aged man's voice boomed from deep in his chest, loud enough to lift the internet cafe's ceiling. The people gaming nearby remained absorbed in their games. One bald officer shot a sharp look at the owner, who had started painting her nails again behind the counter. "This place of yours..."
The woman covered her mouth and smiled. "Sir, we're a legitimate business. No ID, no entry."
The bald officer withdrew his gaze, with no further questions.
Shen Zhao was hauled away in the end anyway. Song Zhiyan sneered. "Well, well, which award-winning actor do we have here?"
Shen Zhao leaned over with a cheeky grin. "Dog Yan, if even one of us gets away, that's something, right? We're brothers. It's wrong of you to be so petty."
The bald officer shoved Shen Zhao. "Still in the mood to laugh!"
Song Zhiyan stopped talking to Shen Zhao. He frowned, his expression somewhat grave. While the officer went to lecture the others, Shen Zhao leaned his head over and whispered, "What's wrong? You're not actually mad, are you?"
"No," Song Zhiyan said. "I called Wangwang. He should be... almost here..."
Shen Zhao's expression froze. "You're kidding."
Gu Wang arrived carrying a stick he'd picked up outside the alley leading to the internet cafe. From a distance, he spotted the place, called "Tsinghua Internet Cafe," and nearly tripped. First, he hadn't expected Tsinghua to exist in the book too, though he didn't know whether it was the same Tsinghua as in his own world. Second, Tsinghua was the university Gu Wang attended. Seeing those two characters gave him a sense of belonging, but... now it was an internet cafe.
As he neared the entrance, Gu Wang saw Shen Zhao coming out, a dark bruise on his forehead. Shen Zhao spotted him too and frantically tried to signal him with his eyes. Unfortunately, his eyes were swollen, making the signals impossible to recognize. Instead, he looked as if he'd been beaten into twitching.
Gu Wang's heart clenched. Dragging the stick, he ran over. "Who the fuck did this to you?" For the moment, he had eyes only for Shen Zhao.
It had been less than a week since he entered the book, but Gu Wang had already adapted very well to his role as Gu Wang, the failing high school student.
Shen Zhao didn't dare speak. Behind him, several wilted-looking boys were pushed out of the dim internet cafe, followed closely by several police officers. The bald officer came out first and saw an exceptionally well-behaved-looking boy who looked every inch a model student.
He had meant to ask him to move aside, until he saw the stick in Gu Wang's hand. He laughed. "Oh, reinforcements too?"
He waved a hand. "Take him along, take him along!"
Gu Wang was stunned.
Song Zhiyan came out and snapped viciously at Shen Zhao, "I fucking told you to stop Gu Wang from coming over when you saw him!"
Shen Zhao lowered his voice, deeply aggrieved. "I signaled him with my eyes. Wangwang didn't understand. How is that my fault?"
"..." Song Zhiyan glanced at Shen Zhao's battered face. Eye signals? Even if he rolled his eyes up to the sky, nobody would understand.
Author's note: Gu Wang: Unlucky. Seriously.
Chapter 7
Li Shuya was going to a conference in the neighboring city tomorrow and had to leave tonight. She had already left school when she received a call from the local police station.
She had gentle features and an elegant air, but her face darkened at the officer's words. She told herself to stay calm, then held back the urge to explode and asked, "Is Gu Wang there?"
The officer had only mentioned Shen Zhao's name, because Shen Zhao had the worst visible injuries and drew the most attention. Holding the phone, he turned toward the boys lined up beside him. "Is Gu Wang here?"
The boy who looked most like a model student raised his hand. "Here."
The officer nodded, then returned to the call. "He's here."
Li Shuya felt faint. He had handed in a written self-criticism just an hour ago, and now he was at the district police station because of a fight.
The officer added, "He wasn't involved. It's nothing serious."
Only then did Li Shuya feel she could breathe a little easier. The officer asked whether she could come over now. Li Shuya frowned. The conference was annual and very important, but she couldn't leave her students at the police station. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Could I have one of my students come over?"
She had originally considered asking another teacher at the school to go, but remembering their attitudes toward Gu Wang and his friends, they might cheerfully agree even if the police suggested detaining them for two days. These weren't their students, and they caused trouble all day long. The other teachers wouldn't take it to heart at all.
The officer paused. "A student?"
"Yes. I'm not at school right now, and the other teachers aren't very familiar with their situation. Could I send the class monitor?"
"That works too," the officer said, agreeing reluctantly. Normally, it had to be either the homeroom teacher or a guardian, but there were always exceptions. Besides, their precinct covered plenty of schools, and students got into fights all the time. Those kids still had long futures ahead of them. They wouldn't really give them criminal records, just go through the motions and give them a scare.
Gu Wang stood in the middle with his uniform worn properly and his eyes meekly lowered, utterly out of place beside the battered Shen Zhao, Song Zhiyan covered in footprints, and the boys from No. 2 High dressed like street punks.
Gu Wang was spacing out. He had never imagined he'd find himself in a police station in his lifetime!
Over the past few days, he'd experienced the full range of a failing student's life: arriving late to class, sleeping all day, and playing on his phone whenever he wasn't sleeping. Song Zhiyan thought he was sleeping, but he was actually listening in class; he thought he was playing on his phone, but he was actually studying online. Putting on an act of being useless was enough. Gu Wang couldn't really let himself become a good-for-nothing.
But ending up at the police station had been beyond Gu Wang's expectations.
He had only just promised Li Shuya he would behave and stay out of trouble, and then he'd gone and caused trouble.
Beside him, Song Zhiyan had started arguing in low voices again with the leader next to him, the one with a full sleeve of tattoos.
"Is your Gu Wang doing cosplan?" Tattoo Sleeve had never seen Gu Wang wear his uniform properly. He was always covered head to toe in designer brands, with frighteningly huge logos, as if afraid people wouldn't know he was rich.
Song Zhiyan rolled his eyes. "Correction: it's cosplay, you loser."
Tattoo Sleeve kicked Song Zhiyan from behind. "You want another beating?"
When no one was looking, Song Zhiyan gave Tattoo Sleeve a hard shove. "Who says you'd be the one doing the beating?"
Caught off guard, Tattoo Sleeve was shoved right over into his lackey beside him. He lost control at once and charged up to Song Zhiyan, spitting threats. "Come on! Let's go again! One on one!"
Song Zhiyan was about to speak when Gu Wang quietly tugged the hem of his clothes from behind, signaling him to keep quiet.
Song Zhiyan saw the bald officer stub out his cigarette in the ashtray and walk toward them. He immediately lowered his head, not forgetting to give Tattoo Sleeve a frightened look. As he bowed his head, Gu Wang even heard him let out a few affected sniffles.
Gu Wang thought, ...Not bad, Song Zhiyan. You really know how to apply what you've learned.
The bald officer walked straight over and kicked Tattoo Sleeve. "Still throwing your weight around in the police station? You lot think you're above the law!"
Tattoo Sleeve took the kick squarely, immediately returned to his place, and huffed.
The bald officer pretended not to notice. He dragged over a chair and sat in front of the row of boys, leaning back with his arms folded. "Tell me. Why were you fighting?"
"We weren't fighting!" Shen Zhao protested. "I was getting beaten, one-sidedly. Officer, you have to get justice for us."
He glanced at Shen Zhao. A distinct square red mark showed on his face, and an enormous lump had risen beside his eye. He looked miserable. As for the others... they were all much the same, their clothes covered in black and white patches, their faces sporting various bruises. Only Gu Wang was clean and unmarked, as though he'd walked through the wrong door.
Song Zhiyan raised his hand. "I can testify. They hit first."
Tattoo Sleeve didn't argue. They had indeed thrown a brick at Shen Zhao first. He sneaked a glance at Shen Zhao, feeling somewhat relieved. Luckily, they hadn't drawn blood. That had been a brick, after all!
The bald officer almost laughed in exasperation. "You're testifying for yourself?"
"Enough. Explain exactly what happened, write it down, and once someone from your school arrives, you can leave." It was already eight in the evening. He had no intention of keeping these brats at the station overnight.
In the end, Song Zhiyan gave the account. The moment Tattoo Sleeve saw the bald officer's gaze, he started stammering so badly he couldn't get his words out. His guilty conscience was practically written all over his face.
The paperwork simply involved each of them writing a self-criticism, explaining what had happened and admitting their mistakes, then having their photos taken.
The bald officer gave each of them a plastic stool and had them crouch out in the corridor to write. Gu Wang spread out his paper and wrote swiftly.
Biting the end of his pen, Shen Zhao craned his neck to look at Song Zhiyan's and discovered he'd stalled after writing nothing but "I was wrong." So Shen Zhao once again