Chapter 17: Not Going

Moreover, Chen Ciyi was intimidated by him yesterday and now obediently follows his lead—a wealthy yet easily manipulated pushover!

Li Wei seemed to have found a way to save himself and couldn’t help but inwardly marvel at his own cleverness, though fear and tension still dominated his emotions.

Yet, a sliver of remaining conscience made him feel a tiny twinge of guilt. Though he felt somewhat bad for Chen Ciyi, those vocational school guys were clearly just after money and wouldn’t actually do anything serious to Chen Ciyi.

Li Wei turned to the nearest vocational school guy with the flashy haircut, suppressing his fear as best he could to make his words sound at least somewhat coherent. “So, uh, bros, how about this, okay?” His voice still trembled with nervousness, and his mind was blank, but he scrambled for the right words to convince them and get himself released quickly. “There’s this new transfer student in our class—super rich. Oh yeah! The headphones…” He immediately recalled their earlier mention of the headphones. “These Apple headphones? I snatched them from him. I just said I’d borrow them, and since he’s new and timid, he handed them over right away. Plus, I heard his sneakers cost thousands, and his allowance must be way bigger than mine. How about I bring him here after school? And then you guys… you won’t hit me, right? And you’ll leave me alone from now on?”

A few vocational high school students across the street were smoking, one squatting on the steps and three standing. They waited impatiently for him to finish his last sentence. The buzz-cut guy flicked away his cigarette butt and spat to the side, laughing as if he’d heard something hilarious. The guy with the flashy haircut stepped forward, slapping the wallet against his face twice. “You got kicked in the head by a donkey or what? Daring to negotiate with us?”

The buzzcut guy next to him stopped the stylist from continuing his gesture. “Give him a chance, don’t scare the kid.”

The buzz-cut guy took Li Wei’s wallet from the hands of the hairstylist, then politely placed it back into the pocket of Li Wei’s school uniform jacket and patted it. He looked at Li Wei and asked, “Can you remember the way back here?”

Although he had been too nervous to clearly recall the small paths they took on the way here, Li Wei could still find this place. As if sensing salvation, he immediately nodded, his voice even trembling with excitement, “Yes, yes, I can!”

The buzz-cut guy seemed satisfied: “Alright, go back now. Don’t be late for evening self-study, and don’t forget to bring your classmate here after school. Got it!”

Li Wei nodded immediately again: “Heard it, heard it.”

Afterward, seeing that the vocational high school students didn’t speak anymore, Li Wei’s legs felt weak as he shuffled a few steps to the side. “Can… can I go now?”

“Go ahead. If anyone asks when you get back, you know what to say, right?” the buzz-cut guy asked.

“Know it, know it. You just brought me over to chat, nothing else. I’ll bring the wallet—no, my classmate—right after school.” Hearing Li Wei’s repeated assurances, the buzz-cut guy waved his hand. Once confirmed, Li Wei quickly moved out of their sight, though his legs were still weak. He couldn’t run just yet, but as he neared the iron gate, he gradually regained his strength and then bolted out of the dark residential area. After a few steps, he tripped over an uneven tile that had somehow lifted from the ground. Staggering, he immediately resumed running without daring to stop for even a second.

As he was about to reach the school, he sent Zhang Qiang a message saying that it was getting late and he wouldn’t join them for dinner, heading straight back to the classroom for self-study instead.

Shortly after, Zhang Qiang called. Li Wei had already entered the school gate. Looking at the brightly lit campus, the students in uniform around him, and the security guard at the entrance sipping tea from a large mug… The peaceful scene finally eased his heart, which had been pounding nonstop from fear and tension. Staring at his phone, which had been vibrating for a while, he hesitated briefly before finally answering the call.

Zhang Qiang’s voice immediately came through on the other end, “How are you? Did you make it to the classroom? They didn’t give you any trouble, did they?”

Remembering the two girls on the other end of the line, Li Wei steadied his emotions—though it wasn’t entirely because of them, but also because of the terrifying threat from the buzz-cut guy earlier. “It’s fine. They just wanted to ask me about something. Once it was done, they let me go. You guys go ahead and eat. I’ll head back to the classroom first.”

After finishing their conversation, Li Wei put away his phone and headed straight into the teaching building. Now, only one last thing remained—the simplest task—to have Chen Ciyi leave school with him.

Originally, he had thought that if Chen Ciyi wasn’t around, he would go find him after the first self-study class. But as soon as he entered the classroom, he spotted Chen Ciyi sitting in the back row. He was in the classroom after all.

Li Wei happily walked over. Now that he saw Chen Ciyi, he didn’t feel as cowardly as he had earlier in the residential area’s side alley facing vocational school students. Seeing someone easy to handle instantly lifted his spirits.

Li Wei tapped on Chen Ciyi’s desk. At that moment, Chen Ciyi was working on his “Five-Three” exercise book. Lately, there hadn’t been any new problems to solve—he had already finished the practice papers from No. 2 High School and the affiliated school that someone had gotten for him. With no new competitions in the past month, he had nothing better to do and decided to go through the “Five-Three” again.

Although he usually lacks enthusiasm for many things, when it comes to studying, once he starts, he easily slips into a state of complete absorption—as if everything around him disappears. His focus narrows to the problems before him, and he barely hears any surrounding sounds. So when Li Wei knocked for the third time, Chen Ciyi suddenly snapped out of it, startled by his own intense concentration.

He frowned and was just about to raise his head to curse, “Fuck your ancestors,” but as soon as he opened his mouth, he remembered this was the classroom. He was still pretending to be weak because he was too eager to find out what was going on with Xu Yannuo. Having just started this act, acting so aggressive now wouldn’t fit his persona.

He took a deep breath, raised his head, looked at Li Wei, cursed in his heart, “Damn it, sooner or later I’ll fuck your ancestors,” and then asked with a smile, “What’s up?”

Li Wei cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Let’s walk home together after school. Come with me to a place.”

Chen Ci looked at him. “Not going.” He planned to go home after school and catch up on his nap first.

Li Wei didn’t expect Chen Ciyi to dare refuse, but this matter didn’t allow for refusal. Mimicking the tone of the vocational school guy from earlier, he said, “Who said you could refuse? How dare you refuse? You damn…”

Li Wei threatened with the expression of a class bully, though inwardly he wasn’t confident—what if Chen Ciyi simply refused to go? What would he do then?

Across from him, Chen Ciyi stared at Li Wei with vacant eyes, not hearing a single word he said, because suddenly, he remembered Xu Yannuo.