Chapter 55: Something Big Was Going to Happen…

In the small, cozy office, the lights were bright.

Su Chunfeng sat shirtless on a small stool, clutching a dirty T-shirt in his hands. His pants and sneakers were also covered in dirt. On his face, which had several red, swollen, bluish-purple bruises, he wore a slightly embarrassed and shy expression. He chuckled awkwardly and said, “It’s really nothing. I’ll be fine after resting for a couple of days.”

“Don’t move!” Xiao Qian scolded gently. She poured some bone-setting liniment into her palm, which was as fair and delicate as scallion stems or lotus roots, and pressed it onto Su Chunfeng’s left shoulder and back, rubbing it in.

On his thin left shoulder and back, there was a frightening deep blue whip mark nearly a foot long, dotted with tiny blood spots.

“Why did you save me?” Xiao Qian asked softly, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes. She chided, “There were so many of them. If they had really hurt you badly, teacher… teacher…”

Su Chunfeng gave a simple smile. “Didn’t you say it yourself? We’re friends, so I had to be righteous!” As soon as he finished speaking, the pain intensified where she pressed and rubbed, making him grit his teeth and suck in sharp breaths through them.

“Does it hurt?” Xiao Qian asked anxiously.

“It’s fine, it’s fine…” Su Chunfeng chuckled. He felt the gentle rubbing of her smooth, boneless little hand on the wound on his back. Even though it hurt, there was a strange comfort to it.

Xiao Qian reduced the pressure from her hand slightly. She bit her lip lightly as she looked at the bruises and marks on Su Chunfeng’s shoulders, back, and cheeks… She recalled how, after Zuo Hongbin had left timidly and she had already lost hope, Su Chunfeng had charged out bravely and fearlessly like a hero from a movie or novel. With his thin frame, he had shielded her.

In that moment, Su Chunfeng, who was neither tall nor robust, seemed like a mountain ridge, a peak in Xiao Qian’s eyes!

Majestically standing tall, looking down upon the world!

Suddenly, she remembered something else. As soon as Su Chunfeng had rushed into the crowd to protect her, he had arrogantly uttered those words full of disdain and provocation to the village thugs: “A few grown men bullying a weak woman? Are your balls made of dough?” Xiao Qian couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

It was vulgar language, but it was truly manly!

Wasn’t it?

“What are you laughing at?” Su Chunfeng asked in surprise, thinking, This woman is so weird. She was just sobbing and choking up a moment ago, and now she’s laughing?

Xiao Qian quickly pressed her lips together to suppress her laughter and said softly, “Thank you!”

“Don’t be so formal,” Su Chunfeng said with a slight shake of his head and a smile. “Not to mention that you consider me a friend, even just the fact that you’re my teacher means I couldn’t just stand by and watch those scumbags bully you.”

Warmth spread in Xiao Qian’s heart. She thought about how Su Chunfeng had boldly stepped forward to protect her from harm, fighting one against many, taking down three people consecutively. His fighting prowess was truly impressive. But one fist is no match for four hands. Soon after, he was beaten to the ground. The terrifying scene of eight or nine people surrounding and assaulting him… And now, looking at him covered in bruises… Tears welled up in Xiao Qian’s eyes again and fell onto Su Chunfeng’s neck.

Feeling the cool touch and hearing her soft sobs, Su Chunfeng hurriedly said, “Hey, hey, teacher, please don’t cry!”

“No, I’m not crying…” Xiao Qian sniffled hard. While continuing to rub his back, she tried her best to keep her voice steady and asked, “Weren’t you… scared at the time?”

“I was!” Su Chunfeng answered honestly. “Anyone would be scared in that situation! There were several of them!”

“Then why did you still…”

“Heh, I had Li Zhichao go call for help. I had a plan,” Su Chunfeng said with a smug grin, looking very much like a half-grown kid who had gotten the advantage and stolen the spotlight.

Xiao Qian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, she thought of something and said with concern, “But what if… they come back for revenge?”

“No problem!” Su Chunfeng waved his hand dismissively. “The High School Entrance Examination is next week. At worst, our group just won’t come to school starting tomorrow. We can ask close classmates to help collect our exam admission tickets for us, and on exam day, we’ll go directly to the county town to take the test. Would they dare chase us to our village to fight?” After saying this, Su Chunfeng couldn’t help but sigh and mutter, “Sigh, if it weren’t for this exam, the guys in the dorm wouldn’t have dared to go crazy today either. Speaking of which, us boarding students really have it tough. What’s the point of studying away from home, traveling over ten miles? Count every one of the boys in the dorms, every single one. Among the boarding students at Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School, has there been anyone who hasn’t been bullied by local students or gangs from outside the school? So everyone’s been bottling up a bellyful of anger. Today, they probably got to vent it all out!”

Xiao Qian’s heart trembled. She hadn’t realized that students in a rural middle school had such bitter experiences in their pursuit of education.

Although during her own school days, there were inevitably some bully boys who picked on classmates, she was a girl, had good grades, and her parents were officials. Therefore, she received special care from school leaders and teachers. From elementary school through university, everything had been smooth sailing for her. How could she understand the situation of rural students?

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Xiao Qian hesitated. She had already guessed who it might be, given that it was already 11 PM. But she still softly said, “Come in.”

The door slowly opened.

Zuo Hongbin, who had been pacing outside for several minutes, walked in with an awkward and dejected expression. Seeing Su Chunfeng sitting there shirtless and Xiao Qian rubbing his wounds, he couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. Then, full of shame and self-reproach, he lowered his head and said apologetically, “Teacher Xiao, I… I’m sorry… I was useless. I let you get frightened.”

Xiao Qian didn’t look at him. While continuing to rub Su Chunfeng’s shoulders and back, she said gently, “It’s nothing. I still want to thank you. You tried to help me get away at the beginning and ended up being humiliated because of it. And later, you still stepped in to save me.”

“This… I…” Zuo Hongbin shook his head with a bitter smile.

He knew very well in his heart that he had initially thought he could scare off those thugs, but instead ended up being scared into becoming a coward who retreated into his shell. The reason he dared to act at the last minute was mostly because he saw that group of students wielding clubs charging out from the darkness. That’s when he timely rushed to the front and protected Xiao Qian from being harmed by those two despicable village thugs. Thinking back now, he felt truly ashamed and regretful!

“Did the fight finish?” Su Chunfeng suddenly asked.

“Yeah,” Zuo Hongbin sighed. “I was afraid someone might get killed, so I stopped the students in time. Those village thugs were all beaten pretty badly. Two of them had to be carried away by their buddies.”

Su Chunfeng nodded. “You did the right thing.”

Zuo Hongbin was slightly taken aback. Su Chunfeng’s expression and tone were like those of an adult, a leader, giving his actions approval and praise. A flicker of pain crossed Zuo Hongbin’s face, and he said seriously, “Su Chunfeng, you were very brave today. In front of you, I feel ashamed.”

“It’s nothing,” Su Chunfeng shook his head and smiled. “It’s human nature. It’s hard to find anyone in this world who wouldn’t be scared when one person faces eight or nine fierce thugs… So your choice at that time is understandable.”

Zuo Hongbin was stunned. He had thought that Su Chunfeng, with whom he had some past friction, would seize the opportunity to mock and ridicule him as much as possible in front of Xiao Qian. He hadn’t expected Su Chunfeng to say something fair on his behalf instead. This filled Zuo Hongbin’s heart with deep remorse, and he felt even more ashamed of his own pettiness compared to such a broad-minded third-year middle school student. But he still asked with some confusion, “Weren’t you scared at the time?”

Su Chunfeng smiled. “You saw it too. I had backup, so of course I wasn’t scared.”

This rather witty reply made both Zuo Hongbin and Xiao Qian smile.

“Chunfeng, Chunfeng…”

Suddenly, Li Zhichao’s somewhat anxious voice came from outside the door.

Su Chunfeng frowned. Just as he was about to get up, Xiao Qian spoke first. “Li Zhichao, come in and talk! Why are you shouting outside? It’s so late.”

Li Zhichao seemed to hesitate outside for about two seconds before he pushed the door open and walked in with an awkward chuckle. As soon as he saw the scene inside the room, his face showed helplessness and anxiety. He had originally wanted to call Su Chunfeng out to discuss something, but now Teacher Xiao was applying medicine to Su Chunfeng. How could he ask him to come out now?

But the matter was urgent.

“What is it? Are you avoiding us?” Xiao Qian chided gently.

“What happened?” Su Chunfeng’s heart suddenly tightened. A sense of foreboding arose—he remembered the fancy new dagger Li Zhichao had proudly shown off to him a few days ago.

Li Zhichao’s eyes shifted. He looked nervous and said, “The fight this time… seems like it went a bit too far. I followed the Ten Brothers gang from a distance to see. Right outside the school gate, the guy who kept howling in pain stopped moving… A few people were screaming for help on the street, and then they carried the motionless guy and ran towards the clinic.”

Su Chunfeng suddenly stood up, his brows tightly knit.

Xiao Qian was startled by Su Chunfeng’s sudden move, but she was also alarmed by what Li Zhichao had just said. Her mind raced: if something major really happened, what should they do?

Zuo Hongbin also couldn’t hide his shock and fear.

“I’m afraid… afraid it might be a death,” Li Zhichao whispered, signaling to Su Chunfeng with his eyes.

“This… this…” Zuo Hongbin panicked—if someone really died, the students who fought were young and there were mitigating circumstances, so they might not bear heavy criminal responsibility. But he was an adult, a People’s Teacher. Regardless of the reasons, he would ultimately bear the greatest responsibility.

Su Chunfeng frowned deeply, momentarily at a loss. He truly hadn’t expected this!

Suddenly, Xiao Qian reached out, picked up her bag from the table, and said with urgency and authority, “Chunfeng, you and Li Zhichao take all the students involved and go home tonight to prevent retaliation from their families! Teacher Zuo, you ride your motorcycle and take me to the Police Station to report this. After we get to the Police Station, you go to the principal’s house to inform him… Hurry!”

As she spoke, Xiao Qian had already strode out of the room.

Seeing this, Zuo Hongbin didn’t have time to say anything else and quickly followed. As he went out, he remembered to turn his head and call out, “Su Chunfeng, remember to lock the door!”

“Okay!” Su Chunfeng agreed. Then he grabbed the still-dazed Li Zhichao. “Let’s go!”

“Chunfeng, actually, I…”

“No need to say it. I guessed!” Su Chunfeng said with a grim expression, pulling Li Zhichao out. He locked the door behind them, and the two hurriedly ran towards the dormitories.

A few minutes later…

Under the heavy night sky, dozens of students riding bicycles poured out from the second-year and third-year boys’ dormitory area on campus. Each one looking tense, they pedaled hard and left Dongwangzhuang Township Middle School.