Chapter Ten: Kang Shun Causes Trouble

My master saw that I wasn't saying anything and spoke again, "What's wrong with you, boy? You look troubled."

Looking at him, I replied, "It's nothing, master. Today was a good day, and..." At that, I started to chuckle, "Besides, my deskmate is a girl. She's quite pretty, hehe."

"A girl? So you went to school to study or to find yourself a wife? You're so young and already thinking about these things. What's her name?" my master asked.

I looked at him and said, "Her name is Chu Mengxi. I heard from other classmates that her family background is quite significant."

"Chu Mengxi? That name sounds familiar," my master said, stroking his chin.

I glanced at him, puzzled. After a while, he suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed, "I remember now! She's the young lady of the Chu family. Is she attending the same school as you?"

I nodded and then asked, "Master, what's the story behind the Chu family?"

Leaning back on the sofa, my master let out a long breath and said, "They’re a big deal, a real power in the circle. You’ll find out in time."

I nodded again. Later, I went out for dinner with my master, and after we returned, I went to bed early. The next day, as usual, I rode my master's electric bike to school. When we reached the school gate, many students were staring at me. I smiled at my master, feeling awkward, but he didn't care at all and said, "What are you grinning for? Off to class with you."

I scampered into the school. When I entered the classroom, Chu Mengxi was already sitting at her desk. I walked over, and when she saw me, she greeted me. I smiled, waved back, and plopped down onto my chair.

"Lin Xuan, you're here early," Chu Mengxi said.

I scratched my head and replied, "Yeah, I’m used to it back home. You’re here early too."

She laughed softly but didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled a book from her backpack, handed it to me, and said, "I know you haven't received your textbooks yet. You can look at this one for now—today’s class will use it anyway."

I nodded, took the book, and glanced at the cover: it was a history book. That was perfect since I was interested in history. The book was still new, so I carefully turned the pages, afraid of damaging it. As I flipped through, more students entered the classroom. I kept my head down, engrossed in the book, not paying attention to who was coming in.

After a while, I sensed four or five people walking toward me. I looked up—it was the same group who mocked me yesterday. I ignored them and kept reading, but just as I turned the next page, a hand slapped down on the book, ripping the pages in half.

Startled, I followed the hand and saw a boy with a buzz cut and a single earring standing beside me. I recognized him as one of yesterday’s taunters. He looked at me and said, "Hey, new kid, don't you know the rules? When you see Brother Kang, don’t you know to greet him?"

I sneered and replied, "Brother Kang? What, you think you’re some gangster? Seen too many movies, haven't you?"

The buzz-cut guy was stunned by my words. Another boy beside him snarled, "What did you say? Say it again if you want a beating!"

I refused to back down and shot to my feet. Though they outnumbered me, I felt no fear. Back home, whenever I argued with Fatty and his gang, I’d get beaten up anyway. At worst, it would just be another beating. But if I didn’t resist today, they’d never stop picking on me.

My reaction caught the group off guard. Chu Mengxi, who had been sitting nearby, stood up as well and tugged at my arm. "Lin Xuan, what are you doing? Don't be reckless," she urged.

The buzz-cut guy saw her step in and shouted, "Chu Mengxi, this has nothing to do with you. Move aside, or you’ll get beaten too."

By now, more and more students had gathered to watch, yet no one stepped in. I even heard someone whisper in the crowd, "Hey, look, that new kid must be crazy, daring to go against Brother Kang. Everyone knows Brother Kang’s family runs this part of town. That new guy is going to get a real beating today."

"Yeah, not just in our class—no one in the whole school dares mess with Brother Kang. This kid is overestimating himself. Let’s just watch; no need to get involved," another voice responded.

The boy standing in the middle of the group, upon hearing buzz-cut threaten Chu Mengxi, smacked him on the head and barked, "What did you just say? Say it again and I’ll beat you up myself!"

Buzz-cut instantly wilted and apologized quickly. Seeing this, I realized this must be the Brother Kang he was talking about.

Brother Kang looked at me and said, "Hey, you’re Lin Xuan, right? I’m not really a thug. If you apologize and let me slap you once, I’ll let you go today."

I laughed outright, brushed off Chu Mengxi’s hand, dug in my ear, and said to Brother Kang, "Did I hear you wrong, or did you misspeak? I apologize? Who started this? You just ruined Mengxi’s book—so who should be apologizing to whom?"

At my words, the crowd let out a collective hiss, and someone even called out, "Mengxi, wow, calling her so intimately!"

Brother Kang heard this, turned abruptly to locate the speaker, and instantly, all muttering ceased.

I turned to look at Chu Mengxi. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were growing red. I wanted to explain, but she just sat down, burying her head in her arms.

Brother Kang turned his icy gaze back to me. "You’re pretty cocky, kid. Doesn’t everyone know my dad is the Director of the Education Bureau? If you don’t apologize today, you’ll suffer for it."

I was getting angry too. "If you want me to apologize, you’re not qualified," I shot back.

That did it—Brother Kang was furious. He turned to the others. "Beat him till he begs for mercy!"

The four nodded and clenched their fists. Buzz-cut, especially, looked savage as he swung at me. I dodged quickly and kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing to the floor and toppling a desk. The onlookers stumbled backward in panic.

The boy next to buzz-cut cursed and kicked at me. The other two also rushed at me with fists. I blocked two blows, but then a kick landed on my thigh, making my leg give out—I fell to the ground. Brother Kang grabbed a broken mop handle from the classroom corner, stalked over, and snarled, "Too stubborn to apologize? Fine, since you’re so tough, I’ll make sure your arm takes three months to heal!"

He was about to swing the stick when the boy who’d kicked me tried to stop him, mumbling, "Brother Kang, a beating is enough. If you hit him with that, something bad might happen."

"Fang Xin, what are you afraid of? My dad is the Director of the Education Bureau. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. Move! Qian Yang, Sun Xiaofeng, hold down his arm!"

Fang Xin saw Kang was determined to break my arm and stepped aside. Qian Yang and Sun Xiaofeng grabbed my arms, and I struggled, cursing at Brother Kang, but couldn’t break free. Buzz-cut and Fang Xin held down my legs.

Brother Kang weighed the stick in his hand and said viciously, "You dared offend me. I’ll show you what happens to kids from the countryside who cross me."

He raised the stick and swung it hard at my right arm. I watched as it sliced through the air, struggling desperately but unable to break free. Just as the stick was about to hit, I felt a surge of heat in my right arm. Suddenly, the two koi tattoos on my arm flew out—one black, one white. The black one smashed the stick in two, while the white one sent Brother Kang flying across the room, crashing into the desks by the podium and knocking several over.

The four holding me were stunned. They let go and rushed to help Brother Kang up. I scrambled to my feet, brushed off the dust, and flexed my right arm. Brother Kang, after being helped up, coughed for a while and looked at his friends. "What happened?"

They all shook their heads, bewildered. Clutching his chest, he glanced at me, unharmed, and couldn’t believe his eyes. After a few more coughs, blushing and gasping for breath, he demanded, "What did you just do?"

I shrugged, as baffled as he was. Chu Mengxi, having witnessed the whole scene, looked at me with astonishment.

Brother Kang, still holding his chest, said, "Damn it, you got lucky today. Next time, I won’t go easy on you. Let’s go—take me to... urgh!" Before he could finish, he doubled over and vomited. His cronies, terrified, hurried him to the school infirmary.

The crowd stared at me in shock. I said nothing, limped back to my seat, clutching my bruised leg. Chu Mengxi looked at me in disbelief. "Lin Xuan, are you alright?"

I waved her off, trying to hide the pain on my face. Damn, that was a heavy kick—I could still feel it throbbing.

After a moment, I apologized, "Sorry about earlier, for causing you trouble in front of everyone and for messing up your book. When I get my textbooks, I’ll replace it for you."

She blushed again and whispered, "It's fine."

I nodded and asked, "Who exactly is this Brother Kang? Why is everyone so afraid of him?"

She hesitated, then replied, "His name is Kang Shun. His dad is the Director of the Education Bureau. He bullies people all the time, so everyone is scared of him. You're the first to stand up to him." As she spoke, she glanced at my right arm.

I was about to reply when a hand patted my shoulder. I turned to see a clean-cut boy with glasses smiling at me.

Puzzled, I asked, "Can I help you?"

"Don’t call me ‘classmate,’ that sounds too formal. My name is Yu Wenzhou. You're Lin Chegan, right? You were awesome just now—one punch and Kang Shun went flying! You're the only one who dares stand up to him. Let’s be friends," Yu Wenzhou grinned.

I nodded, then shook my head. Seeing this, Yu Wenzhou scratched his head in confusion. Embarrassed, I explained, "Uh... my surname is Lin, but it’s Lin Xuan, not Lin Chegan. Don’t split the characters up. I just couldn’t stand them throwing their weight around. Since I’m new here, it’s good to make friends."

Yu Wenzhou smiled and nodded. He was about to say more when someone at the classroom door shouted, "The teacher’s coming!" Everyone hurried to clean up the mess and returned to their seats, Yu Wenzhou scampering back to his desk.

Soon after, a male teacher entered the classroom, holding a history book. Everyone stood up and greeted him, "Good morning, Mr. Han!"

"Sit down," Mr. Han said, waving his hand. He placed the book on the lectern and announced, "Your Chinese teacher has something to attend to, so I’ll be substituting this period. Take out your history books and turn to the first lesson. Today, we'll get to know the earliest inhabitants of our country."

Following his instructions, I placed the history book in the center of the desk and shared it with Chu Mengxi. As I turned to the first lesson, Mr. Han began, "The earliest known humans in our country were the Yuanmou people, dating back 1.7 million years..."

I was genuinely interested in history, and Mr. Han explained it well, making it easy for us to remember key points.

The day went by quickly, and soon it was time for school to end. After bidding goodbye to Chu Mengxi, I left the classroom, ran out of the school, and, as before, found my master waiting on his electric bike. Glancing around at the crowd, I hurried over, jumped on, and urged him to leave quickly.

He turned to me, puzzled, "What’s the rush? Is someone after you?"

I didn’t answer, just kept urging him to go. My master shook his head helplessly, started up the bike, and we headed home.