Chapter 15: Weren’t you two fighting one-on-one?
The situation in the alley became chaotic because of the fight between Yu Xun and the person opposite him.
Peng Yiyuan hid in the corner, not daring to move. Yu Xun only had two hands; no matter how strong his combat abilities were, he couldn’t manage so many people. In the crucial moment, Yun Ci reached out and grabbed the collar of one of the people trying to slip away, directly pulling him back.
The person being pulled had no power to fight back.
…
He rarely ever fought.
Yun Ci thought while holding the person’s collar.
Although he used to be quite influential at West High, with many brothers and having split into two factions with Yu Xun’s people, at most they would fight over the basketball court, compare grades, and be warned by Yan Yue not to disrupt the hallway order.
He was a model student for several consecutive years in high school.
The number of times he had fought could be counted on one hand.
He had never imagined today’s turn of events when he went out with Wang Zhuang to buy a cake.
Or rather, every time he encountered someone with the surname Yu, there would always be many unpredictable developments.
“I,” Peng Yiyuan looked at them, making a certain decision, “I’ll help you too.”
However, Peng Yiyuan’s light punch was immediately swatted away.
The person opposite, irritated, swatted away his punch directly: “If you can’t fight, don’t fight!”
“Go to the side! Don’t get in the way! Don’t block our retreat.”
Peng Yiyuan: “…oh qwq.”
Meanwhile, the person under Yun Ci’s hand was wailing: “Bro, can you let go? Bro, my nose is about to break. Aren’t you students from Nanyang University? Students should be studying well at school, not coming out to fight like us social scum.”
Yun Ci: “You know that too.”
The person was momentarily confused: “Know what?”
Yun Ci: “Know that you are social scum.”
The person: “…”
Yun Ci, occasionally, perhaps due to being influenced by what he heard and saw, would habitually come out with a few Yan Yue-style remarks: “Have you ever thought about what your future will be like?”
“Now you are young and strong, and can still extort and blackmail at Nanyang University.”
“In a few more years, you will only be able to pick up garbage on the streets.”
“…”
The person felt that these remarks had a distant, indescribable flavor from the depths of his memory.
In the end, he could only wail internally, “Big brother! If you’re going to fight, just fight. Why are you bringing up life anxieties?”
About five or six minutes later, the scene began to calm down a bit.
But the police still hadn’t arrived.
Yun Ci held the man down for a while and went to check on Yu Xun’s situation.
It turns out that when restraining someone, you can’t get distracted. This group might not have enough strength, but they definitely have more social experience than them, always taking advantage of any opportunity and using plenty of dirty tricks. The man seized the two or three seconds when Yun Ci got distracted, suddenly exerted his strength, and broke free from Yun Ci’s grasp.
He immediately pulled something out of his pants pocket.
Yun Ci didn’t see it clearly, only a flash of cold light.
Someone reacted faster than him. By the time Yun Ci realized, his vision was already blocked by someone. A moment later, he heard a “ding” sound — the sound of a folding knife hitting the ground.
Then came Yu Xun’s voice, which, unusually, had almost no hint of a smile. For the first time, Yun Ci found that his voice, when not smiling, was actually quite chilling: “Do you know what kind of sentence you can get for carrying a knife and injuring someone? If you really want to go in, there’s no need to try so hard. The amount you’ve extorted is already enough to fulfill your wish.”
Yun Ci was shielded behind him, with only a two to three centimeter height difference between them.
Looking at the folding knife, he was just about to say, “Are you f***ing okay?”
Just then, footsteps echoed from near the alley, sounding like a lot of people coming from different directions.
“Hurry up!”
“Speed is crucial in supporting!”
“Don’t let them finish fighting before we get there!”
“…..”
Yun Ci was stunned for a moment, and the words on the tip of his tongue changed to: “You called for reinforcements?”
Yu Xun was also stunned and said, “No, did you?”
Of course, he hadn’t.
“Being able to call the police already took all I had,” Yun Ci said. “How could I have time to call for help?”
As the two of them were both a bit confused, people started pouring into the alley from all directions, one after another.
Leading the charge were two people with very familiar faces to him.
One with curly hair in a ponytail.
One with blond hair, his brother.
Just as Yu Xun released his grip and shielded Yun Ci, the man who Yu Xun had initially caught tried to sneak away. But halfway through, he was blocked by the thirty or so people who came rushing in: “…..”
Thirty.
Enough to form a class.
The man, surrounded and greatly shaken, really wanted to shout, “Who’s really the thug here??”
“Who is he?” The guy with the ponytail grabbed the man’s collar and dragged him back, puzzled. “Weren’t you two fighting one-on-one? Who’s this guy?”
One-on-one.
Who with whom?
Him and Yu Xun?
Liu Zi was still ranting: “Never seen him before. Surname Yun, is this one of your guys?”
Without waiting for Yun Ci’s response, he directly told his brothers, “Forget it, doesn’t matter. We’ll just count him as one of their guys and fight together.”
Yun Ci had a rough idea why the guy with the ponytail had brought people over.
But—
Liu Zi was on the same street, working with Yu Xun. Him coming over after hearing the noise was absurd but somewhat understandable. But how did his nephew and the people his nephew brought over get involved?
Li Yan rushed into the alley and adjusted his posture. He couldn’t pull off that distinctive slanted posture or that trademark sideways glance like Liu Zi, so he leaned against a wall, pretending to be deep in thought.
Until his uncle gestured with a nod and said, “Explain.”
Li Yan, pretending to be deep, said, “Explain what.”
“Explain why you,” Yun Ci paused, “are here.”
After saying this, he added, “Speak properly.”
Li Yan returned to normal: “Oh, it’s like this, I got the message and came over immediately.”
“I planted a spy in their preparation group chat.”
“About ten minutes ago, there was some activity in their group, so I immediately called our people.”
“How’s that? Pretty quick response, right? I didn’t embarrass my brothers, did I? I roughly estimated that the numbers on both sides are about equal, but it’s still uncertain who will win. I always said that with you two sharing a dorm room, a fight is inevitable. But I didn’t expect it to be today, the gathering was a bit sudden, and my preparation was also rushed, so let’s just make do and fight as is.”
“……”
Having heard everything from the side, Liu Zi burst out: “Li Yan, you planted a spy in my group???”
Li Yan justified himself: “So what? It’s my strategy.”
Liu Zi: “You use such dirty tactics?”
Li Yan: “What do you mean dirty? Watch your words.”
It wasn’t until then that the faint sound of police sirens could be heard in the alley.
“………”
Yun Ci looked at the alley packed with people, feeling a headache coming on.
***
An hour later. The counselor’s office.
Gao Pingyang sat in his chair, facing not just a wall of delinquent students, but an entire office full of people, thirty-two in total, filling the office to the brim.
Other department counselors had to squeeze along the walls to get in and out.
Gao Pingyang numbly remarked, “You know, the last time I saw so many people standing together like this was during the military training closing ceremony when each class marched in formation.”
“…..”
“You guys this year have really opened my eyes.”
No one in the office spoke.
“Yun Ci,” Gao Pingyang turned to him, “I heard from your dad that you were quite disciplined. I believed it back then.”
Yun Ci was silent for a moment and argued, “I am.”
Gao Pingyang slapped the table: “Disciplined, my ass!!! How long has the school year started, and how many incidents have there been? Do you know how I felt when I had to bail out so many of you from the police station just now? I’ve been a counselor for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve encountered something like this. When the police asked me if these people were students from our university, I was too embarrassed to speak!”
“It’s not that embarrassing,” Yu Xun, who insisted on standing next to him, lazily spoke up, “we were just acting in self-defense, protecting a roommate being extorted off-campus.”
Gao Pingyang: “But what kind of self-defense requires so many people, huh? You were so ‘brave’ that the three or four people on the other side are at the police station crying to our principal to complain.”
Yu Xun: “Can’t help it, Nanyang University students are indeed united.”
Gao Pingyang: “…..”
Fine, you guys are united.
Gao Pingyang’s expression gradually returned to calm, but in the current situation, this calmness seemed even more eerie.
The situation was actually a bit complicated.
According to the police investigation, the self-defense was genuine. The other side extorted nearly thirty thousand yuan from a student.
When the figure of thirty thousand came out, everyone looked at Peng Yiyuan in the corner: “How could you be extorted for thirty thousand? No, how could you even have thirty thousand on you?”
Peng Yiyuan silently explained, “My family has a bit of money.”
But gathering people, forming two groups, and causing such a scene was also true.
He looked at Yun Ci and Yu Xun calmly and said, “When you two became roommates, and you told me you’d fight, I was presumptuous. I didn’t expect you two could cause such a big scene.”
“Two ambulances might not be enough, you’ll need thirty. All the ambulances in the city would have to be called for you.”
Yun Ci: “…..”
How to explain that they didn’t.
Yun Ci had no strength to explain, so he seized the chance to ask: “So can we change dorms?”
Gao Pingyang: “No.”
Yun Ci: “Even after causing such a big mess, we can’t?”
Gao Pingyang said: “Precisely because of this big mess, you definitely can’t change. If we let you change now, it would confirm the issue, making the impact even greater.”
“And if we set a precedent for you, what do I do? If everyone comes to me wanting to change dorms and can’t, they’ll imitate you and cause trouble with two groups — what kind of reputation would Nanyang University have then?”
Yun Ci: “…..”
Since there was no hope for changing dorms, Yun Ci had nothing more to say.
He leaned back against the wall, listening to Gao Pingyang continue with their ideological education.
“You need to be harmonious and friendly.”
“You’re college students now, you can’t be impulsive. How will you handle things when you enter society if you’re this impulsive?”
“As classmates, you share a bond, you’re at Nanyang University to learn together, to help each other…”
After his speech, Gao Pingyang was parched, and the students were left reeling.
Finally, he waved his hand and pulled out a stack of white paper from a drawer: “Alright, onto the next task, writing a self-reflection, 1,200 words each, one page per person, come get your paper.”
Getting the reflection paper felt quite ironic.
University, as Yun Ci initially saw it, was a significant life milestone.
It was a pivotal point in transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. In Yun Ci’s imagination, entering university meant becoming more mature and stable, making steady progress in law school. Perhaps he didn’t realize that he was envisioning his university life in the way Yan Yue had envisioned for him.
But it seemed this path would always be influenced by someone, just like in high school.
With more than thirty people, there was no room to squat in the office.
So after getting his paper, Yun Ci went to the hallway to find a spot to write. As soon as he stood by the window and laid out his reflection paper, someone quickly occupied the empty spot beside him. Yu Xun, holding his paper, asked, “Is this spot taken? If not, I’ll stand here.”
Yun Ci was about to say “yes.”
Yu Xun: “Even if it is taken, I’m standing here. In matters like these, it’s first come, first served.”
“…..”
Then why ask?
Yun Ci fell silent.
He wanted to change spots, but a glance showed that all other spots were already quickly taken by the remaining people.
He held his pen, thinking that if he went to the next building to write his reflection, the already fuming Gao Pingyang might pass out.
Luckily, Yu Xun was quiet while writing his reflection.
Yun Ci wrote his reflection with a clear structure, outlining a framework before starting, reflecting on his actions from three aspects, and even looking ahead to the future. He soon filled a whole page.
During this time, his phone buzzed a few times.
Li Yan: [Uncle]
Li Yan: [I’m bad at writing, can’t think of anything, help me out]
Yun Ci replied during a break in flipping pages: [How much do you need?]
Li Yan: [A 1,200-word reflection, just help me write 1,150 words, I’ll manage the remaining 50 myself.]
[…..]
Yun Ci: [Why not ask me to write it all for you, what’s 50 more words?]
Li Yan, overjoyed: [Can you?]
Yun Ci: [What do you think?]
Yun Ci: [Copy something from the internet yourself.]
After replying, a voice ingrained in his DNA arose, and he instinctively wanted to see whose reflection was faster, his or Yu Xun’s.
Just a glance.
However, when Yun Ci glanced at Yu Xun’s reflection paper, he found he had only written three to five lines.
Not only was it far from the speed he had in high school, where writing reflections would earn five extra, but it also didn’t match a normal person’s speed. By now, even Li Yan would have written six lines.
He often heard Yan Yue discussing with other teachers on the phone about how skilled this person was at writing reflections, being able to submit them within two classes if told in the morning. Writing reflections had no deterrent effect on him, and they wondered if there were other ways to discipline students.
So Yun Ci’s gaze lingered on Yu Xun’s reflection paper for a few more seconds.
Then, he quickly realized something was wrong.
Yu Xun’s grip on the pen was a bit strange, as if his palm couldn’t fully close. Following his line of sight, Yun Ci saw faint traces of blood.
The cut wasn’t deep, but it was long, running from the base of the thumb to the little finger.
Yun Ci was momentarily stunned.
Then he realized that the other guy’s knife had cut him earlier.
Yun Ci’s hand holding the pen paused, and he couldn’t write the next line on the blank page in front of him.
He wanted to say something, like “How did you get hurt?” or “Are you okay?” but none of these usual phrases between normal people could come out when directed at Yu Xun.
The sense of opposition between them had always been too strong.
If it weren’t for Peng Yiyuan, they would never have set aside their personal differences to work together on the same task like today.
On WeChat.
Li Yan was still frantically messaging him: [I heard university papers need to be checked for plagiarism. Who knows if Gao Pingyang has a habit of checking self-reflections for plagiarism? If he finds out, it won’t just be 1,200 words.]
Li Yan: [Just 1,100 words then.]
Li Yan: [1,000 words.]
Li Yan: [Help me with 800 words, is that fair? Are we still brothers?]
Yun Ci exited the chat with Li Yan and stared at the black avatar in his friend list for a while.
Clearly, the owner of the black avatar was right beside him.
He pursed his lips and clicked in.
Two minutes later.
In the chat full of one-sided messages from the black avatar, there was a new message from a white avatar.
yc: [What happened to your hand]
