Chapter 69: The Protective Umbrella

The bloody brawl that happened a few months ago on the playground of Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School shocked the entire campus, and even the two villages of Dongwangzhuang and Tunbing Camp. The notorious “Ten Brothers,” whom almost no one dared to provoke, had gotten into a mess where they least expected it. They were surrounded and beaten up by a group of middle school students, which ended with two of them seriously injured and several others with minor wounds. Among the Ten Brothers, the fourth one, Hou Gang, was stabbed twice in the stomach and nearly lost his life.

The leaders of the student side in that brawl were none other than Su Chunfeng and Li Zhichao!

Back when Su Chunfeng and Li Zhichao teamed up to beat Wang Liqiu and his gang, eventually forcing Wang Liqiu to drop out of school out of shame and never dare set foot in Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School again, Su Chunfeng, who had Zhao Shangang as his backer at the time, had already become the school bully in name only. He did not bully others, but no one dared to provoke him.

Then came that bloody brawl, which made all the students feel lingering fear!

Now, even though he had been away for several months, and even though Ren Qiang, Feng Xiaojun, and Wang Haibin in front of him had already graduated and become troublemakers outside of school, the lingering prestige of Su Chunfeng and Li Zhichao remained. Who would not fear them?

“Zhichao, let him go,” Su Chunfeng said calmly.

Li Zhichao pushed Ren Qiang away roughly, raising his head with a look of provocation and disdain, as if saying, “I dare you to try and lay a hand on me!”

“Looks like a big misunderstanding…” Wang Haibin forced a smile and tried to smooth things over. “Chunfeng, we didn’t know he was your brother.”

Su Chunfeng nodded slightly and smiled. “What exactly happened?”

“Ah.” Wang Haibin said with a pained smile, “To be honest, it’s not entirely our fault. Your brother beat up Xiaojun’s younger brother… When something like this happens, it’s only natural for Xiaojun, as an older brother, to stand up for his brother, don’t you think so, Chunfeng?”

“It was Feng Xiaoming who kicked my lunchbox first, that’s why I fought him. And… and I didn’t even get the better of him,” Su Chunyu said angrily.

“What really happened?” Su Chunfeng looked at his younger brother kindly. “No rush, take your time.”

Perhaps because his older brother was backing him up and clearly had an intimidating presence in front of these guys, Su Chunyu’s courage instantly multiplied several times over. Puffing out his chest, glaring angrily, he pointed at the student named Feng Xiaoming and said, “It was him. He’s in the second year of middle school now. During breakfast time, he came to our dormitory and told me to buy him a pack of cigarettes. I ignored him, so he kicked my lunchbox.”

“Oh.” Su Chunfeng smiled and nodded, showing no sign of anger. He seemed to think of his own time studying there. It wasn’t that strange. He looked at the student named Feng Xiaoming and asked kindly, “You, why did you ask Su Chunyu to buy you a pack of cigarettes?”

That kind of question…

Feng Xiaojun, Ren Qiang, and Wang Haibin all looked embarrassed. Wasn’t this a deliberate question? And how could such a question even be answered?

“Chunfeng, it was all a misunderstanding,” Wang Haibin explained with a bitter smile.

“Right. I noticed Xiaojun and Ren Qiang seem a bit upset. After all, we were classmates. It’s better to clear up any misunderstandings,” Su Chunfeng said with a smile, looking at Feng Xiaoming again. “I’m asking you a question. Speak up. Your brother and the others are here, so don’t be afraid. Speak boldly.”

Feng Xiaoming’s stiff neck finally softened. “I, I was just playing around with him.”

“Oh, just playing around, and you knocked over Su Chunyu’s lunchbox?” Su Chunfeng’s gentle expression suddenly turned cold and gloomy. He turned to his brother and said, “Xiao Yu, did you lose out when you fought him?”

“No.” Su Chunyu proudly raised his head.

“That’s good.” Su Chunfeng nodded with satisfaction and looked at Feng Xiaojun and the others. “You all know me. I never liked to stir up trouble. I’ve never bullied anyone. Sometimes if I was bullied a little, I could just endure it and let it pass. But you also know whether I have a temper or not… Today, my brother didn’t lose out, so I’ll let this go. I won’t hold it against you. But if this happens again, I’m laying down my words right here!” At this point, his tone suddenly turned fierce and cold. “I’ll take down as many as I can!” With that, he ignored their reactions, turned around, and pulled his brother toward the school.

Su Chunyu’s two companions quickly followed, their little faces full of excitement — Wow, Su Chunyu’s brother is so awesome. Those guys were all scared of him.

Li Zhichao tilted his head, looking roguish and full of provocation and warning as he glanced back at Feng Xiaojun’s group while walking toward the school.

Following closely behind his brother, Su Chunyu put on a flattering smile and asked, “Brother, why did you come?”

“Afraid I’d come, huh?” Su Chunfeng said sternly.

“Not at all.” Su Chunyu shrank his head back.

“Hmph!” Su Chunfeng snorted coldly. As he walked, he scolded sternly, “Misbehaving and not studying hard — that’s Teacher Li’s evaluation of you!”

Su Chunyu quickly replied, “That’s unfair! I’ve always studied hard!”

“You dare say that again!”

“I… brother, I know I was wrong.” Su Chunyu immediately calmed down.

Su Chunfeng slapped the back of his brother’s head and warned sharply, “Listen, Xiao Yu. From now on, study hard at school. If you get good grades, I guarantee no one will bully you at school, and I might even let you swagger around a bit… But if your grades don’t improve, I’ll personally arrange for someone to come to school every day and beat you up!”

“Brother!” Su Chunyu grimaced painfully.

“Don’t think I’m joking!” Su Chunfeng angrily dragged Su Chunyu into Teacher Li Jichun’s office. In front of Li Jichun, he scolded his brother harshly again.

This attitude pleased Li Jichun greatly. He quickly put on a kind, teacherly demeanor and even said a few good words on Su Chunyu’s behalf.

Only when the class bell rang did Su Chunfeng order Su Chunyu to hurry to class, then bid farewell to Li Jichun along with Li Zhichao.

Li Jichun smiled and said, “This is my class. Su Chunyu, go see your brother off. See how much your brother cares about you!”

“Okay.” Su Chunyu nodded and hurriedly followed.

The noisy, bustling campus had already quieted down.

Su Chunfeng pushed his bicycle as he walked and said, “Xiao Yu, do you have enough money and food coupons?”

“Enough.”

“Don’t blame me for being too strict on you. It’s all for your own good, understand?”

“Yes.”

“If anything happens at school in the future, come tell me…”

“Hm.”

…

Just as the three of them reached the school gate, they saw over a dozen people rushing in from outside the school. They ranged from around twenty years old down to fourteen or fifteen, still wearing school uniforms. All of them looked fierce and aggressive.

Feng Xiaojun, leading the group, pointed at Su Chunfeng and the others and shouted, “It’s them!”

“Beat them up!”

“Kill them!”

“You dare act tough in our Dongwangzhuang…”

“Beat them!”

Seeing things turning bad, Su Chunfeng quickly shouted, “Xiao Yu, run…” As he said this, instead of running, he pushed his bicycle and charged forward.

Seeing this, Li Zhichao wasted no time and also pushed his bicycle forward. He reached into the front basket and pulled out the chain lock he usually used to lock his bike at school. With furious eyes and a face full of Malignant Qi, he roared fearlessly, “Fuck you! I’ll fight you to the death today!”

Whoosh!

Su Chunfeng, who was charging ahead, grabbed his bicycle handle and suddenly lifted and swung it, smashing the front wheel hard into Feng Xiaojun. Feng Xiaojun staggered and fell to the ground. Su Chunfeng then turned his bike around, grabbing the handlebar with one hand and the diagonal frame with the other, lifting it high and smashing it hard into the crowd rushing toward him.

At the same time, Li Zhichao pushed his bicycle and barged into the crowd, then kicked it over, causing two people to stumble and falter.

“Fuck you!” Li Zhichao swung the iron chain lock.

Made of solid steel with a heavy lock head, the chain lock was swung with all his might by the tall and burly Li Zhichao. You could imagine its destructive power. In an instant, with a series of thuds, two people were smashed until their heads bled.

Over here, two others were scraped and injured on their hands and faces by the bicycle Su Chunfeng had fiercely thrown.

A whole group of people shouted and cursed as they swarmed forward.

Su Chunfeng remained calm in danger. He raised his arm to block a fist swinging down at him from one person, twisted his arm, and used his elbow to lock the other’s arm, lifting it upward. At the same time, he kicked another person in the chest, sending him stumbling backward. The person whose arm was locked let out a shrill, terrifying scream, “Ah…”

Over there, the screams didn’t stop either. Li Zhichao, this guy, struck extremely viciously. The iron chain lock in his hand swung so tightly that not even wind or rain could get through. Those who got close to him first either got injured or had lumps on their heads.

But unfortunately, two fists are no match for four hands, and a good fighter is no match for many.

This wasn’t a martial arts novel. So naturally, after Li Zhichao initially benefited from having a “divine weapon,” he was soon swarmed by people, shoved, and knocked to the ground.

What a Li Zhichao!

Even after being knocked to the ground and enduring the pain of being kicked and punched, he wrapped the chain lock around his hand, struck with iron fists, and kicked wildly with his legs. He even grabbed one who had fallen and bit down, making his mouth drip with blood. Amidst the shrill screams, he struggled up like a devil and swung the chain to fight again.

As for Su Chunfeng, he benefited greatly from luck. The one whose arm he had locked, screaming and begging for mercy, happened to be the oldest and probably the core of this group.

In this situation, no one dared to charge forward.

A few people surrounded Su Chunfeng, shouting and yelling.

Ren Qiang picked up a brick and sneaked around from behind, attempting to ambush Su Chunfeng. However, he was knocked to the ground by a brick swung by Su Chunyu, who had mustered his courage and charged forward, brick in hand.

“Everyone stop!”

Su Chunfeng, who had never spoken during the fight, finally couldn’t hold back his shout. He saw Li Zhichau being beaten to the ground and surrounded by several people, and his younger brother also being shoved down and beaten by two people.

However, his roar, along with the continuous miserable wails of the guy he had pinned down, failed to stop the others from fighting.

This wasn’t a TV drama or movie plot!

The strategy of “capture the leader first to capture the gang” wasn’t working!

Vroom… vroom…

Suddenly, the violent, roaring sound of a motorcycle engine, like a wild beast, came from outside the school gate.

A Yamaha 400 motorcycle sped into the campus, then screeched to a halt with a sharp brake, making a 180-degree skid turn before stopping steadily.

Zhao Shangang was initially somewhat surprised, but as soon as he saw Su Chunfeng and Li Zhichao being surrounded and beaten, anger arose in his heart and malice surfaced. He took off his helmet with one hand, charged into the crowd, and swung the helmet, hitting them hard. Each swing took down one person, smashing them until they all covered their heads, screaming and retreating. They opened their mouths to curse but saw it was Zhao Shangang, and immediately fell silent, not daring to make a sound.

The chaotic fight came to an abrupt stop.