Chapter 29 — What Was Bound to Come, Came
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
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The last class of the afternoon was a self-study period. Zhong Yongliang rose from his seat and walked over to Wei Zhao, rapping twice on his desk with his knuckles.
"What is it?" Wei Zhao lifted his head and asked flatly, a flicker of impatience in his eyes.
Kang Xiaofeng turned around too, staring at Wei Zhao and Zhong Yongliang with some astonishment, unable to fathom how the two of them had come to harbor a grudge—after all, Zhong Yongliang was not a man Wei Zhao could afford to provoke.
"If you've got the guts, come with me," Zhong Yongliang said, brash and arrogant.
"Sorry, no time. I have self-study." Wei Zhao lowered his head and went on leafing through the math textbook in his hands.
"Scared already? Spineless coward," Zhong Yongliang sneered. "You can dodge the first day, but not the fifteenth. Just wait till school lets out."
With that, he turned and went back to his own seat without so much as a backward glance.
"Say, brother, how did you offend this big shot?" Kang Xiaofeng whispered to Wei Zhao. "He's not someone to cross. Is there some misunderstanding here?"
Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? I had no quarrel with him—so why the hell would I make an enemy of him? Isn't it all because of Gu Mengyao? If not for her, would I have gone and kicked Zhong Yongliang's backside yesterday? Of course, none of this could be said to Kang Xiaofeng.
"It's nothing. Earlier this morning, Zhang Naipao stuck out a leg to trip me, and I ended up stepping on his foot. That's probably what it's about," Wei Zhao said, pinning the matter on the morning.
"Ah!" Kang Xiaofeng was startled, and his brows knit at once. "Zhang Naipao is the type who never forgets a grudge. Looks like Zhong Yongliang has come to make trouble for you on his brother's behalf."
"No matter. Let them do as they please. What can they do to me in school?" Wei Zhao shrugged indifferently. In his eyes, however arrogant and domineering Zhong Yongliang might be, he was still just a student.
He thought back to those war-torn years of his, to braving death amid a hail of bullets—an enemy of Zhong Yongliang's caliber was simply too childish. Just like today's morning exercises, Wei Zhao had taught Zhong Yongliang a lesson by rather underhanded means rather than beating him soundly.
If Wei Zhao had truly wanted to hurt someone, Zhong Yongliang would be lying in the morgue by now.
"What do you mean?" Kang Xiaofeng sighed. Wei Zhao had only just transferred here, so it was only natural he didn't know a thing or two about the school. So he explained, "Zhong Yongliang and his crowd are the tyrants of this school. Plenty of students who crossed them got beaten up—some couldn't even come to school for days."
"That ruthless?" Wei Zhao hadn't expected Zhong Yongliang and his lot to beat people so badly they couldn't attend school. That was hitting rather too hard.
"Yeah. Ah, it's my fault for not warning you earlier," Kang Xiaofeng sighed. "If you'd said a few soft words back there, maybe this would have blown over. But now…"
"Now what?" Wei Zhao asked with keen interest.
"Now it's going to be a real mess," Kang Xiaofeng said with some indignation. "Zhang Naipao, that little bitch—looks just like a milk bubble, but he never lets a slight go unanswered, petty as they come. Over a thing like this—when he was clearly in the wrong first—he actually went and got Zhong Yongliang to take revenge. He's a real piece of work, that one."
"Forget it. Let them do whatever they want. Don't you worry—I'm not so easy to push around." Wei Zhao patted Kang Xiaofeng on the shoulder to set his mind at ease.
Kang Xiaofeng pursed his lips as if to say something, but in the end did not speak.
What was bound to come would come in the end. Before the final "big class" of the day, Zhong Yongliang came looking for Wei Zhao.