Chapter 52 — Brother Black Panther
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
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By the time Wei Zhao entered the classroom, the lesson was more than half over. Soon the bell rang for the end of class; Ms. Liu assigned homework and then left the room.
Kang Xiaofeng turned around and looked at Wei Zhao, complaining, "Boss, you scared me to death. I thought you weren't coming today."
"What? Afraid Zhong Yongliang and those two would come looking for trouble with you? Didn't they fail to show up too?" Wei Zhao laughed. True enough, if Kang Xiaofeng had been alone, he would never have been able to handle Zhong Yongliang and the others, so his worry was only natural.
"How do you mean they didn't come? They came this morning—Zhang Naipao even had band-aids on his face," Kang Xiaofeng said. "But for some reason, they just took a look around and left. You don't think they left because you hadn't shown up, do you?"
"Oh? They came?" That was a little beyond Wei Zhao's expectations. But whether they came or not, or came and then left, made no difference to him. "Let them do as they like."
"That's true—they're no match for you, boss. But I'm just afraid they might bring in outside help," Kang Xiaofeng said with some concern.
"Bring in help? What do you mean?" Wei Zhao did not quite understand what Kang Xiaofeng meant.
"I mean, when they can't beat someone themselves, they go find help from the streets," Kang Xiaofeng explained. "Boss, you need to be careful."
"They even have ties to people on the streets?" Wei Zhao frowned at this. As far as he was concerned, no matter how cocky Zhong Yongliang was, he was still just a student, and his way of doing things was limited to what went on at school. He had never expected that, from what Kang Xiaofeng was saying, these people were connected to outsiders as well—and would call in reinforcements when they could not win.
"Of course they do. Zou Ruoming, one of the school's Four Young Devils—his older brother runs with the underworld," Kang Xiaofeng said. "Last time he fought the leader from No. 2 Middle School, he brought his brother along. Man, his brother was shirtless and looked savage, covered in tattoos. Several of his men were carrying steel pipes and machetes. The leader from No. 2 Middle School hadn't even started fighting before he was scared shitless, kneeling on the ground begging for mercy."
The more Wei Zhao heard, the more he frowned. He had not expected these students to be so arrogant; it was somewhat beyond what he had imagined. Had his lesson to them yesterday been a bit too light?
"Let's go—it's time for the recess exercises. We can talk on the way." Kang Xiaofeng waited until most of the people in the classroom had left, then stood up and said to Wei Zhao.
He and Wei Zhao sat at the back of the class, so they had to wait until most of the others had gone before they stood up and walked out of the classroom.
"What do the recess exercises here involve?" Wei Zhao asked. The day before, during recess exercises, he had been called to the restroom by Zhong Yongliang, so he had not taken part.
"You didn't go yesterday...? Oh, right, I don't think I saw you yesterday," Kang Xiaofeng said after a moment's thought. "The recess exercises are just a set of radio calisthenics the school made up themselves. Very simple—you'll learn it in no time. There's a P.E. teacher up front leading."
After leaving the classroom, Kang Xiaofeng quickly led Wei Zhao to their class's spot. Kang Xiaofeng was tall, so he stood at the very back; Wei Zhao was not short either, so he stood beside him.
At last, Zhong Yongliang had waited for Brother Black Panther at the school gate.
A burly, bald man jumped down from a white Nissan van, followed by two thugs of similar build.
"Young Master Zhong." This bald man was Brother Black Panther.
Zhong Yongliang nodded and said to his two lackeys, "Hurry up and greet Brother Black Panther."
"Brother Black Panther," Gao Xiaofu and Zhang Naipao hastily said in greeting.