Chapter 43: 41

The phrase in Xu Sheng’s heart all morning: ‘It’s just military training, it’s not an issue even if we switch bodies, it’s all trivial as long as we don’t have to take tests’, had come back to slap him harshly in the face.

How was this trivial. 

There were five or six people across from him, each of them looking like a youth who had meddled with gang society. If they took off their military training uniforms and walked out of the premises of Green Boat Base, they could stand on the main road and immediately begin collecting protection fees.

Their aura wasn’t exactly like the young, self-styled blonde guys from the PC cafe last time.

 

 

Their gazes carried an indescribable hostility…these were real ‘gangsters’.

Xu Sheng didn’t actually go out to pick fights with others, and his Lin Jiang Sixth High ‘school tyrant’ label had also arisen from a rumour—whenever he skipped class and jumped over the wall to get out, he was either going to a PC cafe with Zhang Feng, or using the rest of the time running to that abandoned warehouse to face an easel and stacks of paintings. The first time the rumour spread that he was getting into fights outside of school, he had been called by his homeroom teacher to their office, but he hadn’t explained himself. 

“Some students said they saw you leaving school without permission. Did you fight or not?”

 

“Didn’t fight.”

“Didn’t fight, do you think I’d believe you just because you said you didn’t fight? Then can you tell me where you were last night?”

Xu Sheng had fallen silent.

 

He couldn’t reveal that he had been painting outside last night. If this reached Xu Yaping’s ears she would make a complete scene again.

Xu Sheng only said that he didn’t get into a fight, but didn’t say where or what he was doing last night. Finally, he decided he might as well gaze down with an attitude of ‘I’ll just go with whatever you say’. In the teacher’s eyes, this basically meant that he was silently acquiescing. Thus, the rumour that he was always jumping over the wall to fight outside became bigger the longer it sat. Because they hadn’t caught him in the act, teachers could only verbally admonish him.

Although there wasn’t much substance behind Xu Sheng’s title of school tyrant.

 

It didn’t mean he had a distaste for this kind of thing. 

Youths had the wildness of being young; just because one didn’t like fighting didn’t mean one wouldn’t wave back their fists if others waved their fists in front of them.

Xu Sheng had followed Xu Yaping all over the place and had met many people. His childhood environment wasn’t very good, and there were many things he wasn’t willing to tell Xu Yaping. He knew she was busy, busy to no end just to maintain their survival. “What’s wrong with your hand?”

Xu Sheng looked down and glanced at it, he didn’t say it was from fighting, and merely said casually, “Scraped it.”

Xu Yaping frowned. “Scraped it into this state?” She didn’t think much of it and said wearily, “Bring the medicine box over, don’t let it touch water for a few days.” 

Afterwards, when he went to the art studio, Kang Kai’s school also had a group of bullies. Their district wasn’t very safe from the start, and for a time, Kang Kai always returned to the studio with wounds all over his body, bruises hidden within his sleeves. Xu Sheng had only discovered this when he was helping him fix his art.

“Don’t pretend you fell down or anything,” Xu Sheng said, “I’ve already used up this excuse. If you can fall into this state, then go outside and show me how to fall like this. Who did you beat up?”

The order is wrong, I’m the one who got beaten up.” Kang Kai said with a long face, “That, don’t tell my mom…it’s our school’s school tyrant, he’s been collecting protection fees recently.”

Kang Kai’s two hands were incredible at drawing and had zero skill in fighting. 

Kang Kai had merely been venting. After all, Xu Sheng also didn’t really look like he could put up a fight; whenever he wasn’t painting, he was finding a place to sprawl over and sleep. But Kang Kai hadn’t thought that the next day after school, when the school tyrant clutched at his bag and dragged him towards the alleyway, a silhouette would walk over from the school entrance.

“I’ll say this one time.” Xu Sheng spoke facing against the light, “Let go.”

 

The Kang Kai who believed art students could only hold a brush, once again received a shock to his worldly views that day.

The speed at which the ‘school tyrants’ were beaten down by Xu Sheng was astonishing. 

Kang Kai was still unable to forget it long after the event. In his heart, Xu Sheng’s title had become daddy.

The Hong Hai Fourth High students in front of him walked up, encircling Xu Sheng.

The one who had just called out Shao Zhan’s name was obviously the leader. The others responsibly made way and cleared out a path. When he approached closer, Xu Sheng could clearly smell the opposing party’s scent of tobacco. “I saw you earlier when you were making a speech on stage. I originally wanted to go look for you, but never thought I’d meet you by coincidence…” He smiled as he spoke. “This is fate.”

Xu Sheng’s mind quickly spun in circles: Acquaintance? 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Qtja gfijalbcrtlq? Mglfcv bg obf?

We Vtfcu atbeuta atja la werac’a yf abb ylu bo j gfijalbcrtlq. Lf uefrrfv atja la kjr pera jc biv mijrrwjaf ugffalcu tlw. Dea atfc tf mtjcufv tlr wlcv, jcv atbeuta jybea atja ajaabb bc Vtjb Itjc’r rtbeivfg yijvf, atf kjs tf ibbxfv ktfc tf obeuta, jcv fnfc atja uilwqrf bo j ugbeq mtja mbcnfgrjalbc tf tjv bcmf jmmlvfcajiis rffc. Lf lwwfvljafis bnfgatgfk tlr mbcmierlbc pera cbk: la kjrc’a cfmfrrjglis lwqbrrlyif.

Having thought up to here, Xu Sheng chose an opening phrase that wouldn’t cause any issues. “Can I help.”

The opposing party chewed on those three words for a bit, then said, “Not much, just that I saw you getting by at Lin Jiang Second High pretty well. You’re the student representative aren’t you, I don’t know if your group of classmates now…” 

“Lin Jiang Sixth High,” Xu Sheng interrupted.

The opposing party paused. “…”

“You can continue,” Xu Sheng said.

Xu Sheng had a feeling that the second half of his sentence was going to have something to do with that tattoo hidden on Shao Zhan’s body. 

The originally tense atmosphere dissipated a bit after Xu Sheng’s unexpected interruptions, but the other guy tried to forcefully bring it back. He suddenly dropped his voice deliberately, and said lowly, “Your group of classmates now, do they know about your past history?”

Xu Sheng could now confirm, this was definitely not a friend, this person had beef with Shao Zhan.

“You’re just like your dad.” That person’s voice drawled, devoid of any good intentions. “The son of a rat knows how to burrow and hide, what kind of good student are you pretending to be—”

Shao Zhan’s dad? 

It was very strange to hear others talk about these things while in Shao Zhan’s body.

It was so strange, compared to his curiosity over what exactly had happened to Shao Zhan in the past, and what had happened between Shao Zhan and his dad, Xu Sheng’s strongest feeling was actually discomfort.

 

What the fuck was this hooligan spouting out.

Bullshit. 

Xu Sheng wanted to say this the most: Fuck, who allowed you to say bad things about my deskmate?

It was a pity he wasn’t currently in his own body, and he couldn’t directly say it out loud.

Xu Sheng didn’t have the patience to stand there and deal with these fools. He retracted his careless aura. When he looked up again, he displayed an attitude similar to Shao Zhan’s usual coldness. “Are you done speaking?”

The opposing side’s harsh words had only been half spoken when they were interrupted by Xu Sheng. 

“I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense,” Xu Sheng said. “Get…”

‘Get lost’ was a phrase too harsh and unlike Shao Zhan to say. Finally, Xu Sheng changed it to, “Let me through.”

His disrespectful phrases made the already tense atmosphere reach its peak. The person across from him took out the cigarette he had been chewing on, and said, “Fuck.”

At the climax of this crisis, Hong Hai’s homeroom teacher came out looking for someone along the shadowed path. They saw these problem students from the class circling around from a distance, and shouted, “—Yang Shiwei, the bunch of you, what are you doing over there?” 

Although this group of people didn’t usually listen to the teacher’s warnings, they still had to uphold a reputation on the surface, and immediately dispersed after hearing this.

The one being called Yang Shiwei was the one in the lead. He stared steadily at Xu Sheng, retreated two steps, and finally left him with this phrase: “Just you wait.”

I’m afraid you can’t.

Xu Sheng’s steps did not halt, and he didn’t pay him any attention. He returned to the lodging within exactly five minutes. 

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Instructor Wang had just finished folding a quilt. “I will leave the remaining time to yourselves. Put the covers on the quilts properly and fold the quilts neatly as per the requirements. After a while I’ll come back and check.”

Xu Sheng was sleeping in the bottom bunk. He sat at the edge of the bedframe and began following the others in putting the covers on the quilt. Hou Jun was sleeping above him, entangling his covers into a mess. A long strip fell down, hitting Xu Sheng in the forehead. “…”

Hou Jun, “Sorry, I have yet to master this skill.”

Tan Kai, who was sleeping across from Hou Jun, had tunnelled his entire body into the quilt covers. After squirming about for a while, he let out a howl. “Damn, the quilt cover seems to be zipped! Can someone come save me.” 

“…”

Xu Sheng let out a sigh and discovered that the only person in this lodging who knew how to put covers on a blanket was Shao Zhan.

 

While they were all stumbling over themselves, the Shao Zhan separated from him by just a narrow walkway had already finished folding his quilt neatly, almost exactly like how the instructor had demonstrated it.

Was a school tyrant supposed to learn everything this quickly. 

After Shao Zhan finished folding, he glanced at Xu Sheng. “Do you know how to do it?”

“Not really.” Xu Sheng hadn’t even listened, so how could he know? He pulled at his hair and finally decided to throw all his shame away. He reached out and pulled at the corner of Shao Zhan’s shirt, saying, “Teacher, how about you teach me?”

Shao Zhan leaned against the bedpost, looking down at Xu Sheng’s hand that was grabbing at the corner of his shirt.

A moment later, he looked up and uttered four words. “No problem, beg me.” 

These words had a hint of an attempt to tease him.

Shao Zhan had merely said this as an aside, and didn’t think Xu Sheng could actually bend to his will and was willing to literally say anything in order to not have to do things himself. After they became close, he felt even less pressured by these things. The youth suppressed his originally arrogant voice, and said lowly, “…I’m begging you.”

Shao Zhan seldom wanted to express such rough sentiments in his thoughts.

Exactly who was teasing whom here? 

Shao Zhan fell silent for two seconds, and finally walked towards him. “Get up.”

Xu Sheng scooted over to the side, but didn’t stand up, merely sitting there with his legs crossed and watched Shao Zhan put the cover on his quilt. The people who were trying to pick a fight just now arose unwittingly in his mind.

Should he tell him?

Xu Sheng hesitated. 

When he was almost done organising, Xu Sheng finally cleared his throat. No matter what, his two phrases earlier were just adding fuel to flames; something might actually come up. “When I went out earlier I came across some people from Hong Hai.”

“The ones who gave you that note?”

“No,” Xu Sheng said, “A few guys, smoking. They seemed to be your former classmates, and said a bunch of nonsense.”

Xu Sheng skimmed over the specific details, then said, “What was he called, Yang Shiwei.” 

Shao Zhan’s movements halted.

There weren’t many activities scheduled for the first day. They had a movie about national defence education in the auditorium planned for that night.

 

“Seventh company, salute!”

“Sit!” 

Before the movie began, Instructor Wang led them in practice several times, straightening their backs and using their strength to shout, shouting until their rising and sitting movements were completely uniform.

Instructor Wang, “Take off your hats. Maintain your silence later, and pay attention to your discipline.”

After Shao Zhan took off his hat, he subconsciously wanted to unbutton his buttons, but by the time he had raised his hands, he discovered that Xu Sheng had already solved everything for him.

At exactly eight o’clock, the movie started. 

After the lights went out, the entire auditorium plunged into darkness. There was no light in front of Shao Zhan’s eyes, until the screen in front slowly began lighting up, slowly revealing a line of names. At this point, the auditorium was barely lit up. The speakers were placed on both sides, but the sound quality was not good. When the volume increased sharply, it carried an obvious feedback noise.

Shao Zhan didn’t take a close look at the words on the screen.

The current darkness of the auditorium was perfect for hiding his emotions. The words Yang Shiwei continuously echoed in his ears.

Xu Sheng heard movement at his side and his gaze left the screen. He turned around to discover that Shao Zhan’s seat was empty. 

Hou Jun had also noticed that sound of movement. Mostly because the movie was too boring, his attention was distracted. “No wonder it’s Sheng ge, he can even leave during a movie. I also want to leave but I don’t dare to. This movie is really boring…how is this a movie, it’s a lecture film.”

The moment Hou Jun’s voice stopped, he heard another sound of movement.

He immediately saw that the law-abiding study god Shao Zhan had also risen, skillfully stooped down, and unobtrusively walked out along the side aisle. “…”

He seemed to have once again broken through some big secret. 

Xu Sheng walked along the aisle and pushed open the door to leave. The third floor lobby was outside the auditorium; he didn’t know which direction Shao Zhan had left in, and could only blindly wander around in all directions.

There was no place for anyone to hide. Xu Sheng finally pushed open the door of an unknown passage—the light in the passage was a little broken and very dim, but even so, he saw the image of the boy sitting on the windowsill at the end of the corridor. The window behind Shao Zhan had opened a crack and the wind blew in from outside. The boy’s palm was propped on the edge of the windowsill. When he saw someone pushing the door, he looked up and towards him.

Shao Zhan, “What are you here for.”

Xu Sheng closed the door and said casually, “My study god deskmate has already learned how to skip class, why can’t I come out for a breath of fresh air?” 

Xu Sheng leaned against the wall and then asked, “Can we talk about that thing on your body now, and that something that happened, what’s up with that?”

In fact, this Yang Shiwei’s name wasn’t anything of significance. Shao Zhan’s relation with this person was also very shallow, but this name had actually brought back the past, triggering countless memories, but they were only shattered fragments pieced together.

 

The first scenario pieced together was police cars, a thunderstorm, and television news reports.

“…Police have successfully arrested the suspect, Shao Ruiming.” 

The background of the scene on TV was the Nanping Bus Terminal ticketing gate. The female anchor at the scene was wearing a raincoat, her speech calm, emotionlessly reporting according to the broadcast script.

Nanping District was a small place.

Even who and whose family’s son arguing with their wife could be known to all. In Shao Zhan’s memories, the rumours spread like wildfire after Shao Ruiming’s sentence. Little by little, everyone began addressing him as the criminal’s son.

Small places always gave birth to many ignorant things. 

For example, some adults didn’t want their children being close to him; for example, being the subject of others’ gossip no matter where he went.

Shao Zhan had been hot-headed in his youth. Because the others had said things that crossed the line, he had fought with someone for the first time. Then, they all said: No wonder he’s xxx’s son.

He really had muddled about, out of control.

But a part of his consciousness kept struggling. 

All the way until around a hundred days before the high school entrance exams, a teacher who had never given up on him had called him over. “What other people say about you isn’t important. What’s important is what kind of person you want to become.”

He pulled at himself, and pulled himself out of this place.

In that year’s high school entrance exams, Shao Zhan achieved the top score in the entire county.

The memories shattered apart. Finally, Shao Zhan looked at him and said, “Middle school classmate.” 

Xu Sheng motioned for him to continue.

Shao Zhan summarised it concisely, using two words to describe his relationship with Yang Shiwei. “We’ve fought.”

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