Chapter 83 — The New Four Great Scoundrels

Wei Zhao went upstairs and arrived before the door of Class 5, Grade 12. He glanced inside through the window by the door: it was a self-study period, and there was no teacher present.

Wei Zhao pushed the door open and walked straight in. Many heads lifted for a look; when they saw it was Wei Zhao, they went right back to burying their heads in their own work. Senior year was a tense time, and nobody cared to mind anyone else's business.

Shen Yushu poked Gu Mengyao beside her with a finger. "Yao-jie, Arrow-Shield Bro's here."

"So he's here. What's that got to do with me?" Gu Mengyao knitted her brows, a little displeased at Shen Yushu's behavior. "Xiaoshu, why are you so fixated on him? I'm telling you, you haven't actually fallen for him, have you?"

"A living, breathing person walked into the classroom and I looked up and saw him. What do you expect?" Shen Yushu shrugged. "Since he's got nothing to do with you, I won't mention him again."

"..." Gu Mengyao opened her mouth, said nothing, shook her head at herself, and went back to the review materials in her hands.

Shen Yushu took in Gu Mengyao's expression, smiled faintly, and busied herself with her own affairs as well.

"Xiaoshu, what do you make of this Wei Zhao? He gets up first thing in the morning to change his dressing, so why does he only show up in the afternoon? Don't tell me he's hooked up with Qiu Lingshan again?" Gu Mengyao suddenly turned her head and asked.

"Huh? Weren't you done paying attention to him?" Shen Yushu looked at Gu Mengyao with a smiling face.

"My daddy paid good money to bring him in as my arrow-shield. If he won't stay honestly at my side and goes off running wild outside, of course I'm not happy about it." Gu Mengyao could not say why she was suspicious of Wei Zhao, but she had found herself an excellent reason: her father had hired Wei Zhao with money, so he had to earn that pay.

"Then go talk to him about it. Tell him he's not allowed to be fickle, that he can only be your arrow-shield and yours alone." Shen Yushu offered this suggestion quite casually.

"What do you mean, mine alone?" A flush of red surged onto Gu Mengyao's face. "Xiaoshu, the way you put that is so wicked, so ambiguous."

"Well, he is yours alone. Your daddy hired him, not mine," Shen Yushu said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "And if you think that's inappropriate, then let him be my arrow-shield too. We probably won't need one in high school anymore, but you never know, it might come in handy in university."

"Get out of here. You've already got your brother, what do you need an arrow-shield for?" Gu Mengyao laughed, though she felt a little uncomfortable inside, especially since Shen Yushu made it sound as if she were snatching something of hers...

When Wei Zhao came into the classroom, Zhong Yongliang instinctively shrank his neck. His father had already given him a thorough dressing-down and told him to behave himself from now on. As he saw it, all of this was Wei Zhao's doing.

But he also knew that bare-handed, he was no match for Wei Zhao at all—and not just bare-handed; even Brother Black Panther with a pistol was no match for Wei Zhao. That kid was just too fierce.

So Zhong Yongliang wanted revenge, and he knew he could not use the usual methods anymore. He was waiting for an opportunity, a chance to teach Wei Zhao a lesson through some other means.

As for Kang Xiaofeng, Zhong Yongliang had thought it over carefully after going home yesterday. Since Wei Zhao was so protective of the kid, he would just let him be. If he beat the kid up and then got beaten up by Wei Zhao in return, that would hardly be worth the trouble.

"Hey, Boss, you're finally here!" Kang Xiaofeng was thrilled to see Wei Zhao; the moment Wei Zhao entered the classroom, he waved at him.

"What are you doing, sitting there waving? You think you're the president?" Wei Zhao kicked Kang Xiaofeng with a laugh and sat down at his own desk.

"Boss, you wouldn't believe it—Zhong Yongliang's been keeping a really low profile today. You weren't here, and he didn't give me any trouble," Kang Xiaofeng said.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Wei Zhao said. "Anything happen today?"

"No. Just yesterday's business—the school put out a brief notice saying some people from off campus came to make trouble and have been taken into criminal custody by the police." Kang Xiaofeng said, "Damn it, it's all because Zhong Yongliang's family has connections. The school's covering for him. Everyone knows those guys were hired by Zhong Yongliang."

"Heh—" Wei Zhao had already heard about it today from Uncle Qing. Since Zhong Yongliang's uncle was a director of the Gu Group, he was naturally one of the school's shareholders as well, so it was only normal for the school to protect Zhong Yongliang.

"By the way, Boss, guess how everyone's describing you now?" Kang Xiaofeng lowered his voice, excited.

"Describe me? Describe me how?" Wei Zhao was more than a little baffled.

"Boss, you're one of the school's Four Great Young Tyrants now! You've replaced Zhong Yongliang and taken his place as the new number three among them," Kang Xiaofeng said, carrying on as though he were boasting about something worthy of immense pride.

"Four Great Young Tyrants?" A chill ran down Wei Zhao's spine. Since when had he become one of the Four Great Young Tyrants? He had always stuck to the principle of keeping as low-profile as humanly possible -- he did not even dare to perform well on exams -- and yet just like that, he had become this notorious?

What was more, the way Kang Xiaofeng carried himself, it seemed as though becoming one of the Four Great Young Tyrants was something to be proud of, which left Wei Zhao thoroughly speechless.

"That's right, Boss! If you take down number two, you'll move right up to the number two spot among the Four Great Young Tyrants," Kang Xiaofeng added.

"Number two?" Dark lines seemed to spread across Wei Zhao's entire forehead. The number two among the Four Great Young Tyrants... that would be even worse than number three.

Still, there was nothing Wei Zhao could do about it. After all, yesterday's brawl with the outsiders was an established fact. Even though it had been Black Panther who came to the school looking for trouble, others certainly would not see it that way. They would assume Wei Zhao was just another student who loved to pick fights. He had taken out all of Zhong Yongliang's men, after all -- it was only fitting that he earned a spot among the Four Great Young Tyrants on campus.

The bell for the end of class rang, cutting short the conversation between Wei Zhao and Kang Xiaofeng. As for the title of the Four Great Young Tyrants, Wei Zhao had little interest in it -- but mouths belonged to other people, and he could hardly control what they chose to say.

Still, Wei Zhao figured that since he already had this kind of image, playing the shield for Gu Mengyao would go a little more smoothly from now on. Just stand there, and anyone who looked would immediately think, "Don't mess with her" -- "She's got one fierce protector."

The last class on Friday was a free period -- the so-called physical activity class was really just time with no set curriculum, where students could go outside to exercise or stay in the classroom to study. It was the only relaxing period that all of the senior class shared each week.

Even those classmates who studied themselves half to death would generally choose to use this period to unwind -- strolling around the campus, or heading to the shops near the school gate: the music and video stores, the snack street, the accessories shops, and the like.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu walked out of the classroom together. Zhong Yongliang called out to his two followers and hurried after them. Although he had already declared a truce with Wei Zhao, his pursuit of Gu Mengyao had not stopped. He followed them out, hoping to find an opportunity to curry her favor.