Chapter 62: Bro
Chapter 62: Bro
After lunch, Su Chunfeng went to Li Zhichao’s dormitory.
The guy was inside shooting the breeze with a bunch of new friends from all over, completely dazzling them.
Li Zhichao was naturally good at talking, the kind of person who could quickly gather a group of friends anywhere he went. Plus, because his family was well-off and he himself had an open and generous personality, he easily made a good impression on people.
However, Su Chunfeng knew that while Li Zhichao seemed careless and lavish with his money, he was actually extremely shrewd and stingy. His generosity and openness mostly came from his gift of gab. If you wanted him to actually be generous in a real, tangible way… he would only do that for a very select few, like Su Chunfeng. Or, if there was a profit to be made, he would grasp the best opportunity accurately and pay without hesitation, very willingly.
And whenever Li Zhichao did pay, he would make sure everyone clearly recognized that he had paid, that he was generous, that he was open, that he was a good guy! It never seemed forced; instead, people would naturally think, “Li Zhichao really is someone worth making friends with, deep friends!”
“Hey, bros, I never brag,” Li Zhichao said, sitting grandly on the head of his bed, waving a folding fan and pointing at another boy. “If you don’t believe me, ask Feng Gang.”
What a coincidence. Feng Gang, who had also studied for three years at Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School—though in a different class but the same grade and dormitory—had been assigned to the same dorm room as Li Zhichao after registering this morning. Moreover, Feng Gang had taken part in that bloody fight from back then, the one against the gang called the Ten Brothers.
Mentioning that fight, Feng Gang was also proud of it, but he pretended to be modest, waving his hand and sighing as if with some emotion. “Ah, don’t bring it up. Several were seriously injured, and we almost killed someone, nearly causing a huge disaster. We were lucky to be able to take the High School Entrance Examination smoothly. Otherwise, would we be here together in the same dorm room now? We’d have been thrown in jail long ago.”
“True,” Li Zhichao said with the deep air of someone who’s been through it all. “So that’s why they say taking a step back broadens the horizon, yielding three points brings peace of mind. All that fighting and killing, it’s no good.”
The others all looked impressed.
Li Zhichao was eloquent and could talk a good game. Although his build wasn’t particularly tall or burly, being over 1.7 meters tall definitely wasn’t short for his age group. Combined with his demeanor and gestures when he spoke, his words sounded very credible to these students.
“Hey, the main character’s here!” Li Zhichao jumped up from the bed, nearly hitting his head on the upper bunk, and jogged over to grab Su Chunfeng, who had just walked in smiling. He said very seriously, “Let me introduce you. This is the Su Chunfeng I was talking about, Brother Feng! My childhood friend… let me tell you, don’t let Brother Feng’s quiet, gentle appearance fool you. He’s the real deal, skilled in both literature and martial arts. All the guys in our dorm, even three of you tied together, wouldn’t be a match for Brother Feng. Believe it or not?”
Seeing this, Su Chunfeng knew Li Zhichao was shooting the breeze in the dorm again, so he said with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, “Alright now, you’re just talking nonsense.”
“Chunfeng,” Feng Gang stood up from the side, greeting him with some excitement.
“Feng Gang, what a coincidence…” Su Chunfeng smiled and gently punched Feng Gang’s chest. “What? You’re in the same dorm as Zhichao?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“That’s great.” Su Chunfeng said, “Oh, right. Later, we should find everyone who came to County No.1 High School from our Dongwangzhuang school and get together sometime.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Feng Gang nodded excitedly in agreement.
“Alright, you guys rest up. We’ll get a chance to sit down and get to know each other sometime.” Su Chunfeng smiled and exchanged polite words with the students in the dorm who he didn’t know, their expressions a mix of surprise, admiration, and doubt. Then he turned and patted Li Zhichao’s shoulder, walking out. “Zhichao, let’s go out for a walk.”
“Sure thing!” Li Zhichao stylishly flicked his parted hair in front of his roommates, turned, and followed Su Chunfeng out.
In the dorm, several students looked at each other for a moment. Finally, one couldn’t help but ask, “Feng Gang, is this Su Chunfeng really that awesome?”
“Yeah,” Feng Gang nodded, his face full of pride.
“He doesn’t look like it,” a sturdy-built student said dismissively, lazily adding, “With a build like that, wouldn’t he fall over if you just touched him?”
“Fall over if touched?” Feng Gang sneered. “Zheng Shijiang, if you’re brave enough, go try it…” At this point, Feng Gang stretched and lay down on his bed, saying nonchalantly, “To be honest, Chunfeng is diligent and studious; his grades are among the best in our entire school. He really is someone who never looks for trouble. In fact, he’s kind of honest and kind, and likes to help others. But, at our school, anyone who messed with him ended up in a bad way. Believe it or not.”
Zheng Shijiang pursed his lips and mumbled, as if with a trace of fear, “I didn’t say I was going to mess with him.”
Feng Gang’s words and attitude, combined with the unabashed praise that the seemingly righteous, open, and confident Li Zhichao had just showered on Su Chunfeng, as well as Li Zhichao’s slightly deferential behavior upon seeing him, made everyone in the dorm believe it even more and sparked an interest in getting to know Su Chunfeng.
…
Walking on the wide campus path, Su Chunfeng said calmly, “Zhichao, try to mention me less around classmates in the future.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about beating up Han Qiang today,” Li Zhichao quickly stated.
“I’m not talking about that,” Su Chunfeng smiled. “The tallest tree catches the most wind. No matter where you are, being too noticeable when it comes to fighting and showing off isn’t a good thing. We came here to go to school, to study, not to be part of some gang life. Besides, what if we run into someone we can’t afford to mess with? If we can’t win a fight, and giving in hurts our pride, but you’ve already bragged big… what do we do then?”
“Hey, we just won’t mess with them.”
“You might not mess with others, but what if others mess with you?” Su Chunfeng glared at Li Zhichao. “Think about our days at Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School. How many fights happened around us? What reason did they need? If you have a reputation, naturally someone will try to step on you to make a name for themselves! Understand?”
Li Zhichao pursed his lips and said, “Then why did you just knock Han Qiang down on your very first day here?”
“Is that the same thing?” Su Chunfeng’s face became serious. He patted Li Zhichao’s shoulder solemnly. “We don’t look for trouble, but that doesn’t mean we swallow our anger and are afraid of it.”
“Oh.” Seeing that Su Chunfeng seemed a bit angry, Li Zhichao quickly changed the subject. “Oh, right. There’s someone in my dorm who went to school with Han Qiang, both from Heyi Town Middle School. Apparently, this Han Qiang guy really isn’t ordinary; almost no one at Heyi Town Middle School dared to mess with him. And there are quite a few students from Heyi Town at County No.1 High School, sophomores and seniors Han Qiang knows. After we beat him up this time, we gotta be careful he doesn’t secretly get people for revenge.”
Su Chunfeng thought for a moment and waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. That kid is already scared from the beating.”
Li Zhichao immediately gave a thumbs-up. “Chunfeng, I really admire you!”
Su Chunfeng smiled and shook his head.
As they talked, the two arrived in front of the teaching building. They wandered around, each found where their classrooms were, familiarized themselves with the surroundings, and then strolled toward the school gate—a few days ago, Zhang Lifei had called Li Zhichao’s house and asked Li Zhichao to tell Su Chunfan that she and Wang Haifei would be coming to register on the afternoon of the enrollment period.
So, the two of them thought they’d come over to take a look and greet them.
Li Zhichao bought two ice pops. They found a shaded step to sit on, chatted idly, and kept an eye on the school gate.
After two o’clock, students and parents coming to register gradually increased.
Su Chunfeng stayed seated without moving. Li Zhichao, however, was growing impatient and stood up to look outside. Not long after, he called out, “They’re here, they’re here, Chunfeng, they’re here… Damn, they have parents with them! What’s the point of us helping then!”
“Sit down,” Su Chunfeng said, amused and exasperated.
He had long figured that Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei would naturally have parents accompanying them when they came to register, so he hadn’t really planned on coming to help carry bags anyway—since parents were bringing their daughters to school, and in this era where rural thinking was still relatively conservative, Su Chunfeng and Li Zhichao, being boys, certainly couldn’t just run over eagerly to offer help. It’s just that after not seeing them for many days, Su Chunfeng missed Wang Haifei quite a bit. And since they had nothing to do in the afternoon, of course, they had to come take a look. It also saved Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei, the two girls, from having to search all over for him later.
Besides, Zhang Lifei had specifically called. It wouldn’t be right not to come greet them.
Thinking this, he looked toward the school gate. Among the crowd outside the main gate, Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei were lining up to enter, with two middle-aged men of completely different clothing and bearing carrying bags and walking beside them, chatting and laughing.
Clearly, the middle-aged man dressed cleanly but obviously very rustic-looking, with a hint of unease in his expression, was Wang Haifei’s father. The other middle-aged man, holding his head high with an exceptional air about him, was naturally Zhang Lifei’s father—Zhang Kaida, the boss of Jinzhou County’s Kaida Activated Carbon Factory.
“Not even a chance to show off, sigh,” Li Zhichao sat down rather dejectedly, then said, “Hey, Chunfeng, are you really planning to date both Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei?”
“Nonsense,” Su Chunfeng laughed and cursed.
Li Zhichao then ventured softly, “Then, then I’m going to pursue Zhang Lifei, okay?”
Su Chunfeng was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said as if he didn’t care at all, “If you have the ability, go ahead and pursue her. But let’s get this straight first: you can’t let it affect Zhang Lifei’s studies, got it?”
“Alright, I won’t pursue her then,” Li Zhichao said with a sly grin, a mischievous look on his face. “Because you hesitated just now.”
“Get lost!” Su Chunfeng laughed and gave Li Zhichao a push, but inside, he felt a bit sour.
To say a man doesn’t have a bit of a wandering eye is absolutely impossible. Admittedly, the mature-minded Su Chunfeng loved only Wang Haifei wholeheartedly and hadn’t thought about having two girlfriends at once. But in his heart, he knew very well that Zhang Lifei liked him, and indeed, the cheerful, lively, and lovely Zhang Lifei was someone he truly liked too. Although this liking was completely different from “love,” the inherent male nature of strength and possessiveness made Su Chunfeng feel somewhat displeased, or a tiny bit jealous, when he heard Li Zhichao wanted to pursue Zhang Lifei.
In this world, there are always some things you can’t share with a brother, or generously give up.
And feelings are an even more personal thing—you might have the capability, but you don’t have the right, to take away someone else’s feelings for any reason.