Chapter 68 — Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold Even After Ten Years (Vote for Me, Bookmark, and Give Me All Kinds of Support)
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Wang Zhifeng knew that Wei Zhao had been introduced by Gu Pengzhan, so he wanted to use this as an opportunity to extend a courtesy to Wei Zhao. After all, in the senior year the elite classes were not limited to Class Five; there was also the paired Class Six, and transferring Wei Zhao to Class Six would also prevent any further clashes with Zhong Yongliang.
Hearing Wang Zhifeng's words, Wei Zhao could not help but laugh to himself. So it was that Wang Zhifeng was afraid Zhong Yongliang and his lot might make trouble for him again. But Wei Zhao's true purpose was to stay by Gu Mengyao's side — if Gu Mengyao did not change classes, how could he casually switch?
Besides, Wei Zhao had never taken clowns like Zhong Yongliang seriously. He trusted they would not dare prance about in front of him again.
"Thank you, Director Wang, but I'm doing quite well in this class. I've only just gotten used to the environment, and I'd rather not switch again." Wei Zhao politely declined Wang Zhifeng's kindness.
"Is that so? Well, all right then. In the future, if anything happens, don't be too impulsive — report it to the school right away, and the school will handle it properly." Seeing Wei Zhao insist, Wang Zhifeng said nothing more.
After this episode, he supposed, Zhong Yongliang and the others would behave themselves for a while.
During evening self-study, the English test results came out. As befitted an elite class at an elite high school, even though Kang Xiaofeng had said the questions were somewhat difficult, with a full score of one hundred and fifty, several students had actually scored above one hundred and thirty. Kang Xiaofeng had gotten one hundred and eleven; Wei Zhao, one hundred and nine.
Wei Zhao, of course, had done it on purpose, keeping his score in the lower-middle range of the class so as not to draw too much attention.
What made Wei Zhao's jaw drop, however, was that among those scoring above one hundred and thirty, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had each claimed a spot.
So these two rich girls were not empty-headed after all, Wei Zhao thought to himself.
"Boss, not bad — good grades on your very first test." Seeing that Wei Zhao was only two points behind him, Kang Xiaofeng was secretly astonished.
"Some of it was luck, I suppose." Wei Zhao thought to himself that if he had known the test would be this hard, he would have deliberately missed a few more.
"Want to grab a bite tonight? My treat?" Kang Xiaofeng had brought this up with Wei Zhao at noon, but Wei Zhao had not agreed at the time, saying they would talk it over in the evening.
"How about the weekend? My home's rather far from school, and if I go back too late there won't be any buses." Wei Zhao spoke to Kang Xiaofeng with a note of apology.
"I see. Makes sense — there are only so many buses near the school. We'll talk about it this weekend, then." Kang Xiaofeng had clearly misunderstood Wei Zhao's meaning.
Wei Zhao thought Kang Xiaofeng was a decent person and did not want to deceive him, but since Kang Xiaofeng had misunderstood on his own, Wei Zhao would not spell it out. His real reason was indeed that Gu Mengyao's villa was rather far from school, and Uncle Qing's car could not possibly wait for him indefinitely — once it got late, there would be no ride...
After school, Wei Zhao again left the school gate together with Kang Xiaofeng. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu get into Uncle Qing's Bentley, and only then did he say to Kang Xiaofeng, "I'm off. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow..." Kang Xiaofeng had been in a state of high excitement all day. He had wanted to have a meal and a couple of drinks with Wei Zhao that evening and feel like a man for once, but since Wei Zhao had no time, he had no choice but to let it go.
"What's the rush? Get back here!" The sudden voice gave Kang Xiaofeng a fright. He looked up and saw Zhong Yongliang, Zhang Naipao, and Gao Xiaofu blocking his way. The one who had spoken was Gao Xiaofu.
During the class break, Zhong Yongliang had called home and learned that Black Panther had shouldered all the blame himself. Even so, Zhong Yongliang had been roundly cursed out by his father, and he grew all the more sullen. All of this was Wei Zhao's doing — and yet Wei Zhao was someone he simply could not afford to provoke. Zhong Yongliang could only stew in silent rage.
Seeing this, Gao Xiaofu hatched a plan. Since they could not touch Wei Zhao for now, that Kang Xiaofeng fellow at his side could be taught a lesson. Yesterday on the rooftop the kid had been rather impressive, and today he had charged in again and kicked Black Panther right in the crotch. If they did not fix him, why keep him around?
At these words, Zhong Yongliang's eyes lit up at once. Right — they could not afford to provoke Wei Zhao, but giving that soft egg Kang Xiaofeng a good beating to vent their spleen was still worthwhile.
"W-what are you all doing?" Kang Xiaofeng might have felt like a man these past two days, but that was with Wei Zhao around. Now he was alone, and though he wanted to put on a brave face, he would have needed the strength to back it up. Clearly the three of them meant no good, and fear welled up in Kang Xiaofeng's heart.
"What are we doing? Don't you know what you've been up to these past two days?" Zhong Yongliang sneered, reached out, and slapped Kang Xiaofeng hard across the cheek. "Kang Xiaofeng, I never realized before — you're quite the hidden character, aren't you?"
"What did I do?" Kang Xiaofeng knew that even if he begged for mercy now, it would do no good. Since the feud with Zhong Yongliang had already been set in stone, he might as well offend him to the bitter end. Worst case, he'd take a beating — it wasn't as if they could kill him.
"Still stubborn, are we?" Zhong Yongliang wore the air of a man who already had Kang Xiaofeng firmly in his grip. "What's the matter? Dare to do it but won't own up to it? Or did your transfer-student backer walk off and leave you without the nerve?"
Truth be told, Zhong Yongliang had only just now finally vented a long-suppressed burst of satisfaction. But thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel somewhat humiliated — to think he had sunk so low as to take out his fury on an ordinary classmate.
Kang Xiaofeng knew the beating was inescapable today. Dead was dead either way. He thrust out his chin, and a surge of heroic defiance rose up through him. "Zhong Yongliang, if you lay a hand on me today, I swear I'll pay you back a hundred times over. Come at me if you've got the guts!"
With that, Kang Xiaofeng closed his eyes, his bearing that of a martyr walking to his death.
"Holy shit, still talking tough? That's rich. Brothers, what are you standing around for? Get him!" Seeing that Kang Xiaofeng would not fall to his knees and beg, Zhong Yongliang lost interest and stopped wasting breath on him.
"Brother Liang..." Gao Xiaofu suddenly tugged nervously at Zhong Yongliang's sleeve.
"What?" Zhong Yongliang frowned. "What is it?"
Gao Xiaofu pointed to a spot not far off, then said in a somewhat panicked voice, "Brother Liang, look over there..."
"What?" Zhong Yongliang glanced impatiently in the direction Gao Xiaofu was indicating. The moment he looked, his blood ran cold. Wei Zhao was walking over toward them, grinning from ear to ear. But in Zhong Yongliang's eyes, that grin had turned into the smile of a demon.
Why was he back? Hadn't he already left? Zhong Yongliang was shaken to the core. Wei Zhao was a madman — once he arrived, what good could possibly come of it?
Though shame and fury churned in his heart, even so, Zhong Yongliang dared not go head-to-head with Wei Zhao. ** A gentleman's revenge is never too late. Today's humiliation, he would pay back a hundred times over.
What Zhong Yongliang had not anticipated was that Kang Xiaofeng's bold and defiant words would, in the blink of an eye, be borrowed right back by him.