Chapter 93: A Thousand-Gold Reward

The next morning, Wen Xiaocheng arrived at school very early. He did not return to his own seat, but instead sat brazenly in Zhang Peiyue’s place, leaning back with a relaxed air. His short-sleeved undershirt, caked with dust from the ground, was spread across the desktop. As students came into the classroom one after another, anyone who saw that pose was startled; both boys and girls could tell there was a spectacle coming. Liang Qing’er even ran to the back specially and asked Wen Xiaocheng, “I’m asking for my Shanshan here—what’s going on?”

Wen Xiaocheng rolled his eyes. “Tell her to come ask me herself.”

Yang Liushan, of course, was not coming back to ask.

By around ten past seven, Zhang Peiyue arrived with his schoolbag on his back. The instant he saw Wen Xiaocheng sitting in his seat, he gave a shiver.

“Big Young Master Zhang,” Wen Xiaocheng said in a tone like some underling running back to complain to his boss, “I got beaten up yesterday!”

Zhang Peiyue knew at once this was not going to end easily. He forced himself to say, “What does that have to do with me?”

“What, nothing to do with you?” Wen Xiaocheng leaned back, one foot propped on the desk, a cold smile on his face.

It was not yet time for morning self-study, and the teacher had not come. The whole class turned to watch Wen Xiaocheng’s performance. What everyone had not expected was that he did not launch into a fight. Instead, he smiled.

“Zhang Peiyue, look at the grudge between us. After all, this is an internal conflict within the class. I got beaten by people from another class—doesn’t that make our Class Eight look bad? As the boss of our class, shouldn’t you stand up for me?”

When Wen Xiaocheng said this, the class broke into a series of snickers. Zhang Peiyue had indeed once bragged that he would take responsibility for anything in Class Eight and so on. No one had expected Wen Xiaocheng to drag that back out now and tease him with it.

Zhang Peiyue’s face turned red, and he said nothing.

“Come on, Brother Yue. We’re classmates in the same class. If you don’t give me face, you’re not giving yourself face either. You have to help me settle this.” Wen Xiaocheng stood up from his seat and grabbed Zhang Peiyue’s schoolbag, tugging him toward the door. Zhang Peiyue knew he could not dodge the beating anyway, so he simply resigned himself to it. Only inwardly did he curse Lu Qi for selling him out.

Less than five minutes before the morning bell rang, nearly everyone from the various classes had arrived, except for a few who showed up at the very last second. Wen Xiaocheng dragged Zhang Peiyue out of the classroom and straight downstairs.

The door to Class Four of the third year was open. Wen Xiaocheng stuck half his body in, tapped twice on the open door with a finger, and everyone inside looked over.

“Seventh Master, come out for a moment. There’s something I need.” Wen Xiaocheng called to Lu Qi with a grin, looking nothing like someone who had just fought yesterday.

There were a few reformed troublemakers in Class Four of the third year who were busy copying homework from each other. When Wen Xiaocheng poked his head in, they all jumped in fright. Seeing that he was not there to trouble them, they let out long breaths of relief.

Calling Lu Qi out? Was he going to take a swing at Lu Invincible as well after finishing off Qiu Hui?

Lu Qi came out from the last row. Seeing Wen Xiaocheng together with Zhang Peiyue left him confused too. He followed them to the stairwell landing, studying the two of them with uncertainty, unable to tell what was going on.

“Seventh Master, yesterday you blocked me on the road I had to pass to get home, didn’t you?”

Lu Qi was an honest sort. He lifted his chin and said, “Yeah.”

“Yesterday you hit me so hard you even broke the brick. That happened, didn’t it?”

Wen Xiaocheng did not say that he had punched the brick with his fist. Hearing this, Zhang Peiyue even thought Lu Qi had smashed a brick against Wen Xiaocheng until it shattered.

Lu Qi still nodded. “That happened!”

“There’s a saying: a life for a life, debts repaid in money. Ever heard it?”

Zhang Peiyue was nearly dumbfounded. Was this the start of a revenge trip against Lu Qi? Lu Invincible? Lu the Tyrant?

Lu Qi nodded. “Heard it!”

Wen Xiaocheng turned to Zhang Peiyue. “Then settle up. You promised him a thousand after the job was done, and he even broke the brick. Hurry up and pay the balance.”

Only then did Zhang Peiyue understand that the point was in the second half of the sentence: debts repaid in money.

If the three of them were to be described according to yesterday’s little business, their roles would have been the mastermind who hired the thug, the thug who did the hitting, and the victim. But now the victim was telling the mastermind to pay the thug...

Both the mastermind and the accomplice felt rather awkward.

At this point, Zhang Peiyue could not very well refuse. In front of Lu Qi, if he now claimed there was nothing of the sort, and Lu Qi took it as him trying to default on payment, that would be troublesome. Lu Qi himself felt a little uncomfortable too, but since this was money being demanded on his behalf, he had little to say.

Five bright-red banknotes were counted out and handed to Lu Qi. Wen Xiaocheng stood there like an official witness, nodded, then turned and asked Zhang Peiyue, “The account between the two of you is settled. Now it’s my turn. Let me ask you first: who’s paying for my medical bills? You were the one who ordered it, and Seventh Master was the one who struck. Why don’t the two of you discuss it?”

What was there to discuss with Seventh Master? Hand over the money.

“How much?” Zhang Peiyue looked as if his own father had just died.

“The one doing the hitting got a thousand. I was the one getting hit. Surely I can’t take less than that, can I? They even broke the brick on me. I don’t even know whether I’ve suffered internal injuries. Forget it—we’re in the same class, and I won’t try to fleece you. With injuries this serious, asking you for two thousand is already me doing you a favor, isn’t it?”

One punch, two thousand.

Lu Qi blinked and thought it over. There was no future in being a hired thug. It really did not pay as well as staging injury claims.

Zhang Peiyue looked as though he had lost the will to live. He seemed to understand something—could it be that Lu Qi and Wen Xiaocheng had teamed up to scam him? Even if his family had money, his pocket money was still limited. Pulling out three thousand at once hurt. It had already eaten into the New Year’s money he had saved.

With two thousand tucked into his pocket, Wen Xiaocheng nodded, looped an arm around Zhang Peiyue’s shoulder, and smiled. “Now I’ve got money to see a doctor. Even if this punch leaves me with lasting damage later, I still won’t come back looking for you. That’s how fair I am. But, Big Young Master Zhang, since the medical bill’s paid, you should cover my clothes too.”

Now he wanted compensation for the clothes too?

Wen Xiaocheng shrugged. “Isn’t that only natural? Because of you, my clothes got filthy and torn. Didn’t you see them? They were spread right across your desk. Those were a limited-edition Nike shirt. If you don’t believe me, go take a walk through the specialty store—you absolutely won’t find the same model. It’s out of print now. I had a friend help me buy it back then, and I’m not asking for much: five hundred.”

Zhang Peiyue looked ready to cry. Of course the specialty store did not have your model. The Nike swoosh on yours runs the wrong way.

That brought the total to twenty-five hundred. Lu Qi blinked as he watched, considering whether to switch careers and take up the promising trade of fake injury claims.

“That’s more like it.” Wen Xiaocheng stuffed the five hundred into his pocket as well. “See? What conflict can’t be resolved with a face-to-face talk? Why go out of your way to find people from another class to beat me? Why make such a fuss? I got beaten, you spent money. Honestly, if you had just paid me twenty-five hundred directly, I might even have let you punch me once in the back. Big Young Master Zhang, from now on let’s do it this way. Isn’t your family rich? Next time I annoy you, just slap a thousand onto my face and shout, ‘Reward for the alliance leader, give me an extra chapter!’ Then all your resentment is vented, right?”

Zhang Peiyue’s emotions, which had already been on the verge of explosion, finally collapsed. He took the remaining little over a thousand from his wallet and flung it all into Wen Xiaocheng’s face.

“Damn you! Bow your head and pick it up for me!”

That was what happened that morning. Everyone should be mentally prepared: this day was going to be a long one.