Chapter 240 — A Slap to the Face

"Ah... not at all, it's nothing, nothing at all..." Wang Zhifeng was deeply depressed. It was all his own fault for lacking self-control; caught red-handed in his office by Wei Zhao, he would not otherwise have had to act this way.

Wei Zhao nodded, then pulled the somewhat flustered Tang Zhi toward Zou Ruoming. Tang Zhi shrank back a little, trying to slip her hand out of his, but she was no match for his strength...

By now Tang Zhi was thoroughly dazed. Holding hands with a boy right in front of the dean of academic affairs was something she had never dared even imagine! She would probably be expelled for this... And yet... Director Wang seemed not to have noticed at all, still wearing that amiable, kindly expression toward Wei Zhao.

To be honest, Tang Zhi was afraid of Zou Ruoming, deep down. It was a fear that lived in the mind. Zou Ruoming did as he pleased, and she could never know whether his next step would be something done to her.

But with Wei Zhao there was no such feeling. There never had been, and now there certainly never would be...

Smack! A resounding slap landed across Zou Ruoming's face.

Wang Zhifeng was stunned. Zou Ruoming's lackeys in the room were stunned. Even Tang Zhi stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief!

He had actually slapped Zou Ruoming across the face, right in front of the dean of academic affairs?

After the initial shock, Zou Ruoming's eyes filled with deep hatred and fear! He really was somewhat afraid of Wei Zhao. The kid was ruthless, not merely ruthless but ruthless beyond the ordinary.

"One slap is just to clear your head. Tang Zhi is my woman! If you set your sights on her again, I will make you disappear from this school!" Wei Zhao's words were ambiguous. Disappear from this school... in truth, what he meant was disappear from the face of the earth.

Domineering! Brazen! Arrogant!

That was how the students who witnessed the scene summed up Wei Zhao.

Slapping someone's face in front of the dean of discipline—who, tell me, could do such a thing? Who would dare? Yet Wei Zhao did it, and Wang Zhifeng said not a single word against it!

Not only that, but in front of Wang Zhifeng, Wei Zhao declared that Tang Zhi was his woman... From ancient times to the present, since the founding of First High School, there had likely never been a second person who dared such a thing!

Even the legendary leader of the four great schoolyard villains of the past had never been as arrogant as Wei Zhao, had he?

Tang Zhi's face was bright red. She was a little angry, yet deep in her heart there was a trace of delight... In front of the dean of academic affairs, Wei Zhao had said she was his woman?

Such a mad thing gave Tang Zhi, who had always been the school's good girl, a sudden thrill of rebellion.

"All right, Director Wang, carry on. I think these few just need a good beating—wouldn't you agree?" Having finished with Zou Ruoming, Wei Zhao turned to Wang Zhifeng and spoke as though nothing had happened, as if that slap had not been his.

"Heh heh..." Wang Zhifeng gave two dry laughs. He had no heart left to scold Zou Ruoming further, and waved his hand to dismiss them.

Wei Zhao, too, led Tang Zhi off toward the classroom building.

"Let go of me..." After a couple of steps, Tang Zhi came back to herself and hurriedly swung her arm, trying to break free of Wei Zhao's hand.

Wei Zhao had only been holding on earlier for fear she would run off; now, naturally, there was no need, so he released her hand.

"Why did you say I was your... your woman?" Tang Zhi glared at him, eyes wide, looking as though she were interrogating him. "What am I supposed to do from now on? How embarrassing is that?"

"Ha, I just wanted you to see that there is nothing to be afraid of in Zou Ruoming," Wei Zhao said, not answering her question directly. "I could feel your fear of him, so I told you with my actions that I can beat him up whenever I like—even slap his face right in front of the dean of academic affairs!"

"Ah..." Tang Zhi was slightly taken aback. She had not expected that this was the reason for what Wei Zhao had done... and a wave of emotion welled up in her heart. Now, thinking it over carefully, Zou Ruoming did seem truly not as frightening as before.

A villain hurled thunderously down from his altar by Wei Zhao, a villain who could be slapped across the face at any moment by Wei Zhao yet dared not utter a word of complaint—was such a creature still a villain at all?

Though Tang Zhi did not much approve of Wei Zhao resorting to violence, there was a saying that hit the mark: to grind a villain down, you need a villain of your own.

"Even so, you didn't have to say it in front of all those people... she's a girl, after all. Not like you, with no sense of shame!" Though Tang Zhi was touched, she refused to take back her words.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao did not answer. "Let's go. Class is about to start..."

"Mm..." Tang Zhi had only been venting and did not argue further. For some reason, deep in her heart, the old resistance she had felt toward Wei Zhao was gone. Even after what he had said, she felt no aversion at all. "By the way, yesterday... when you helped flush the drug out of my body, how did you do it?"

Yesterday had been too rushed for Tang Zhi to ask. Now that it came back to her today, she hastened to pose the question.

"That? It's just a form of traditional Chinese massage and manipulation, not unlike acupuncture." Naturally, Wei Zhao would not explain the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art or the matter of energy elements; even if he did, Tang Zhi would not understand.

"I see... Then, Wei Zhao, could you cure Xiaofen's illness?" Tang Zhi had been mulling over this question since yesterday. She did not know where Wei Zhao had learned his medical skills, but after two demonstrations, they had proven quite effective.

Once when Xiaofen had fallen ill, and once yesterday when he had drawn the poison from her own body—that showed Wei Zhao truly had real skill. So Tang Zhi thought: if that was the case, could Wei Zhao cure Xiaofen's illness?

"I should be able to, but not right now..." Wei Zhao had no nerve-stimulating medication on hand. He had only prepared some back home, the kind the old man had once used to strengthen his own constitution, and he had not brought any with him.

Xiaofen's legs would have to be restored through acupuncture combined with nerve-stimulating drugs; acupuncture alone would not accomplish much.

"Oh..." Tang Zhi, however, took this to mean that Wei Zhao's medical skill was not advanced enough to reach the level needed to cure Xiaofen's illness, and she nodded with some disappointment.

The bell for class rang. Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi quickened their pace. As they neared the classroom of Grade Twelve, Class Nine, Tang Zhi suddenly sped up, evidently wanting to put some distance between herself and Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao smiled and did not follow. Only after Tang Zhi had entered the classroom did he hurry back to his own class.

"Boss, you were so cool just now!" No sooner had Wei Zhao sat down than Kang Xiaofeng turned around and gave him a thumbs-up.

"What do you mean?" Wei Zhao was startled, though inwardly he wondered: could this kid have seen something?

"I was at the window in the corridor just now and saw you slap Zou Ruoming—right in front of Director Wang! Boss, you're a real legend!" Kang Xiaofeng was brimming with admiration.

"No one else saw, did they?" Wei Zhao frowned. He had not expected Kang Xiaofeng to witness that scene.

"No one, just me." Kang Xiaofeng nodded.

"Good." Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the young lady had not seen it, all was well; otherwise there would be trouble again once he got home. "By the way, what was it you wanted me for earlier?"