Chapter 73 The Fat Ox Delivers Judgment

In the principal’s office, a row of filthy, unfortunate boys stood against the wall, heads hanging low, drained of all spirit. Only Wen Xiaocheng slumped weakly in a chair. Fat Niu wiped his face with a handkerchief, then turned and glared menacingly at those lined up by the wall. Director Bai Xuesong, seeing the principal had decided to handle the matter personally, offered a brief nod and withdrew, but not before pointing at the group with a fierce expression, as if to say, “Just wait, you’re in for it!”

Principal Niu heaved his corpulent body, storming to his chair, which groaned pitifully beneath his weight. He drummed his fingers on the desk, his gaze sweeping over the group, then began calling them out, one by one.

“Chen Guo! Last semester you were caught skipping class by climbing the fence, security apprehended you. Didn’t I warn you then? Hmm? What did you promise at the time?”

“Wu Xiaodong! Remember when I called your father in? How did he punish you? I shouldn’t have stopped him! It was too soft!”

“Shi Jianfeng! What did you guarantee back then? Where’s your written promise? In black and white! Did you think it was all empty words?”

…

There were more than a dozen troublemakers, each with their own “record.” Principal Niu seemed to have a knack for remembering every misdeed committed under his watch. Even those with no prior offenses weren’t spared: “XXX, you’ve fallen in with them, look at your grades now!”

After scolding them all, he finally turned to Qiu Hui. Even Wen Xiaocheng was curious about what Fat Niu would say to the son of his own superior.

“Qiu Hui! Your father and I go back twenty years! On your first day here, he took my hand and entrusted you to me—said I could beat you, scold you, whatever it took. These past three years, I haven’t laid a finger on you! And you? Look at the mess you’ve made! The whole school is in chaos! This is a school, not a gang! If I don’t get a handle on you, you’ll all turn into gangsters! How am I supposed to explain this to your father?”

A gang beaten up by an eighth grader? Qiu Hui felt wronged—he’d disgraced the gang.

“So, what happened today?”

The unlucky bunch waited anxiously—why wasn’t Xiaocheng being questioned?

It wasn’t that Xiaocheng was spared; he’d already been questioned. Fat Niu couldn’t handle his slippery answers—a confrontation would risk Xiaocheng’s defiance, and if these troublemakers learned his tricks, the principal would lose control entirely.

It was partly favoritism, partly ignorance; he didn’t know the truth. He’d been eating lunch when a teacher called about students fighting. At first, he didn’t pay much attention, but the calls kept coming, each more urgent than the last. Realizing the severity, he summoned Director Bai Xuesong, and together they rushed back by taxi. Upon arriving, they summoned security to the hill behind the school. From afar, they saw Chen Guo leading a final charge—though the details were unclear, students were rolling and crawling everywhere. When he appeared, everyone stopped fighting. In the pavilion, Xiaocheng lay weakly on the ground, Qiu Hui seemed to have taken a beating but stood there dazed.

Seeing this scene, his first thought was that Qiu Hui had led the group and beaten Xiaocheng to death! The principal’s heart nearly stopped. When he found Xiaocheng unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, thanking his lucky stars.

Principal Niu imagined the events like this: Xiaocheng challenged Qiu Hui, or had already fought him, but underestimated Qiu Hui’s influence. One against a dozen was hopeless—he’d fought and run, finally cornered in the pavilion, where these kids, not knowing their own strength, exacted brutal revenge, leaving Xiaocheng unconscious and Qiu Hui stunned.

Having the boys recount the events was merely to confirm his suspicions. Principal Niu, seasoned in such matters, had confidence in his judgment.

“We went to Class 8, Grade 2 to confront Wen Xiaocheng…”

“He attacked us!”

“He said he wanted a one-on-one…”

They all spoke at once, a jumble of voices. The principal slammed the desk; everyone flinched and fell silent. Fat Niu pointed to Chen Guo, first in line: “You, speak!”

Chen Guo had been through this before, and today’s events were relatively justified, with so many brothers backing him up—not too scary. He recounted the midday events in detail:

“During lunch, Hui led us to Class 8, Grade 2 to confront Wen Xiaocheng.”

Qiu Hui rolled his eyes, Xiaocheng stifled laughter on the sofa.

“We went down as soon as the bell rang, but were a bit late. By the time we got there, most were gone, Xiaocheng wasn’t there. Hui got angry and kicked Xiaocheng’s desk. Then we heard the loudspeaker—Wen Xiaocheng challenged Hui to a duel.”

The loudspeaker? That surprised Principal Niu; he glanced at Xiaocheng, who straightened up and declared, “Yes! I used the song request broadcast to issue a challenge, declaring a one-on-one duel with Qiu Hui!”

Principal Niu waved him off; if he didn’t, Xiaocheng would launch into some speech about purifying school culture and fighting evil influences.

“You! Continue!”

“Hearing him boast, we were furious! We all ran to the broadcast room, planning to trap Wen Xiaocheng inside. But when we got there, the door was locked, he wouldn’t come out. I turned to ask Hui what to do, but Hui was gone. Asked the others, none saw him either.”

Now it was Qiu Hui’s turn, his face flushed. “Halfway there, Wen Xiaocheng intercepted me, grabbed my hair, dragged me to the hill, and beat me!”

The principal looked back at Chen Guo, gesturing for him to continue.

“He was flaunting his challenge on the broadcast, so we waited outside the room, sure he’d have to come out. Later, he jumped out the window and went off to fight Hui. We got word, so we all rushed to the hill, and then saw…” Chen Guo hesitated—it was humiliating to admit their leader was tied to a pillar and beaten. He glanced at Qiu Hui, who turned away.

“Then we saw Xiaocheng beating Hui, and he was ruthless!”

After much hesitation, he still didn’t mention the pillar. Chen Guo thought, let Hui admit it himself; after all, he’d already acknowledged being beaten.

“We couldn’t stand for it, so we all charged up the hill, but Xiaocheng beat us all back alone. He used a branch to hit my leg—it still hurts!”

“Yeah, all of us were beaten by Xiaocheng. I still have injuries!”

Principal Niu didn’t accept just one side of the story, so he asked Xiaocheng, “Is that how it happened?”

Wen Xiaocheng snorted, “You’re saying I took on all ten or so of you alone?”

“Yes!” “It was you!” The unlucky boys at the wall chimed in.

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