Chapter 52 — Brother Black Panther

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By the time Wei Zhao entered the classroom, the lesson was more than half over. Soon the bell rang for the end of class; Ms. Liu assigned homework and then left the room.

Kang Xiaofeng turned around and looked at Wei Zhao, complaining, "Boss, you scared me to death. I thought you weren't coming today."

"What? Afraid Zhong Yongliang and those two would come looking for trouble with you? Didn't they fail to show up too?" Wei Zhao laughed. True enough, if Kang Xiaofeng had been alone, he would never have been able to handle Zhong Yongliang and the others, so his worry was only natural.

"How do you mean they didn't come? They came this morning—Zhang Naipao even had band-aids on his face," Kang Xiaofeng said. "But for some reason, they just took a look around and left. You don't think they left because you hadn't shown up, do you?"

"Oh? They came?" That was a little beyond Wei Zhao's expectations. But whether they came or not, or came and then left, made no difference to him. "Let them do as they like."

"That's true—they're no match for you, boss. But I'm just afraid they might bring in outside help," Kang Xiaofeng said with some concern.

"Bring in help? What do you mean?" Wei Zhao did not quite understand what Kang Xiaofeng meant.

"I mean, when they can't beat someone themselves, they go find help from the streets," Kang Xiaofeng explained. "Boss, you need to be careful."

"They even have ties to people on the streets?" Wei Zhao frowned at this. As far as he was concerned, no matter how cocky Zhong Yongliang was, he was still just a student, and his way of doing things was limited to what went on at school. He had never expected that, from what Kang Xiaofeng was saying, these people were connected to outsiders as well—and would call in reinforcements when they could not win.

"Of course they do. Zou Ruoming, one of the school's Four Young Devils—his older brother runs with the underworld," Kang Xiaofeng said. "Last time he fought the leader from No. 2 Middle School, he brought his brother along. Man, his brother was shirtless and looked savage, covered in tattoos. Several of his men were carrying steel pipes and machetes. The leader from No. 2 Middle School hadn't even started fighting before he was scared shitless, kneeling on the ground begging for mercy."

The more Wei Zhao heard, the more he frowned. He had not expected these students to be so arrogant; it was somewhat beyond what he had imagined. Had his lesson to them yesterday been a bit too light?

"Let's go—it's time for the recess exercises. We can talk on the way." Kang Xiaofeng waited until most of the people in the classroom had left, then stood up and said to Wei Zhao.

He and Wei Zhao sat at the back of the class, so they had to wait until most of the others had gone before they stood up and walked out of the classroom.

"What do the recess exercises here involve?" Wei Zhao asked. The day before, during recess exercises, he had been called to the restroom by Zhong Yongliang, so he had not taken part.

"You didn't go yesterday...? Oh, right, I don't think I saw you yesterday," Kang Xiaofeng said after a moment's thought. "The recess exercises are just a set of radio calisthenics the school made up themselves. Very simple—you'll learn it in no time. There's a P.E. teacher up front leading."

After leaving the classroom, Kang Xiaofeng quickly led Wei Zhao to their class's spot. Kang Xiaofeng was tall, so he stood at the very back; Wei Zhao was not short either, so he stood beside him.

At last, Zhong Yongliang had waited for Brother Black Panther at the school gate.

A burly, bald man jumped down from a white Nissan van, followed by two thugs of similar build.

"Young Master Zhong." This bald man was Brother Black Panther.

Zhong Yongliang nodded and said to his two lackeys, "Hurry up and greet Brother Black Panther."

"Brother Black Panther," Gao Xiaofu and Zhang Naipao hastily said in greeting.

"Young Master Zhong, where's the kid? Let me settle him quick so I can get back to the joint. If the boss finds out I came to help you fight, I'm done for." The "boss" Brother Black Panther spoke of was, of course, Zhong Yongliang's father. Brother Black Panther also knew that the boss did not like Zhong Yongliang stirring up trouble, which was why he had put it off for quite a while before coming.

"He's inside, right in the middle of the recess exercises," Zhong Yongliang said.

Brother Black Panther nodded, a cigarette dangling arrogantly from his lips, and walked toward the school. He had just reached the gate when the old gatekeeper stopped him. "Hey, what are you here for? This is a school—you can't just walk in."

Brother Black Panther turned back with a scornful air, glanced at the leading man, and blew a smoke ring into his face. "Old man, if you don't want to die, stay put."

The leading man looked at Brother Black Panther, shrank back, and said no more. These underworld types were not something an old man like him could afford to cross, so he could only pretend he had not seen them and let them through. The school was in the middle of its morning exercise anyway; the teachers would see them and drive them off soon enough.

The whole school was out for morning exercise when six thoroughly out-of-place figures came walking in through the school gate toward the sports ground. The three in front were tolerable; Zhong Yongliang, Gao Xiaofu, and Zhang Naipao still looked more or less like students. But the men behind them, Brother Black Panther and the others, clearly did not look like decent people at all.

Brother Black Panther strutted across the sports ground without a care, utterly indifferent to the strange looks thrown his way.

"Where is he?" Brother Black Panther asked.

"Over there, that's our class. Wei Zhao will definitely be out for morning exercise too." Though it was too far to see clearly, Zhong Yongliang was certain Wei Zhao would be out there.

"Boss, it's Zhong Yongliang and his lot. They've brought help." Their group was so conspicuous that Kang Xiaofeng spotted them at a glance.

Before Kang Xiaofeng spoke, Wei Zhao had already seen Zhong Yongliang and the others. After all, at this hour, with them showing up on the school sports ground, practically the whole school could see them.

Soon Zhong Yongliang and Brother Black Panther reached the front of Class Five's formation, and Zhong Yongliang spotted Wei Zhao at once, standing at the very back of the class. He pointed at Wei Zhao and said to Brother Black Panther, "That's him, at the back of this row, the one in the school uniform."

Brother Black Panther nodded and strode quickly toward Wei Zhao. From a distance, Wei Zhao did indeed look very ordinary, tall and lean, not at all like someone who could really fight. Brother Black Panther was rather puzzled. Was this one man worth him handling personally?

Apart from being a bit handsome, Brother Black Panther could find no merit in Wei Zhao whatsoever. However he looked at him, he seemed like a poor student, not the sort who could fight at all.

But since the young master had given the order, Brother Black Panther prepared to end the fight as quickly as possible and hurry back to the nightclub.

"You're Wei Zhao?" Brother Black Panther walked up to Wei Zhao, bit down on his cigarette, and asked with a sidelong glance.

"Yes," Wei Zhao said mildly.

"Do you know what I've come to find you for?" Seeing that Wei Zhao was indeed rather cocky, Brother Black Panther asked with an unfriendly expression.

"No." Wei Zhao frowned and said with some impatience, "Don't block me. I'm trying to learn the exercises from the person in front, and with you swaying around in front of me I can't even see."