Chapter 32: That Slap Sounded Crisp

  “Zhang Yang?” Among the crowd, several girls immediately recognized the tall, clean-cut, handsome young man.

  “That’s right, I’m Zhang Yang—the rumored guy Xu Danlu supposedly cheated with.” Zhang Yang put an arm around the trembling Xu Danlu. “Her real boyfriend.”

  “Shameless! Xu Danlu is clearly Bai Liangfeng’s girlfriend!” One of the ugly short fatties, Luo Yifeng, got up and shouted.

  “I’m not! You are!” Xu Danlu, with tears in her voice, snapped back before Zhang Yang could answer.

  “You are! Would Bai Liangfeng lie?” Guo Dachun chimed in.

  Zhang Yang gently patted Xu Danlu’s back and whispered, “Lulu, take a break. Don’t talk to ugly short fatties—it’ll only hurt your beauty.”

  Then he looked up at Luo Yifeng and said with a grin, “You must be the legendary Sister Feng’s little sister, right? You said my Lulu is Bai Liangfeng’s girlfriend? Okay, I’ll give you thirty minutes. Get him here. Let him say it himself.”

  “Fine, you think I won’t?” Luo Yifeng immediately pulled out her phone, dialing Bai Liangfeng’s number and turning on speaker so everyone could hear.

  “Hello? Brother Liangfeng? It’s Luo Yifeng!”

  “Uh… what is it?” Bai Liangfeng’s voice was clearly filled with annoyance.

  “We’ve got that slut Xu Danlu cornered,” Luo Yifeng said in a falsely sweet tone.

  “Oh.”

  “You should come over—she’s denying being your girlfriend and even denies borrowing that 100,000 yuan from you!”

  “Cough… cough, really? You can handle it. I’m busy.”

  “No, you have to come! People won’t believe it otherwise. Please, okay?” Luo Yifeng pinched her voice even higher, acting all cutesy. Everyone around, even her own ‘allies,’ cringed in disgust.

  Bai Liangfeng on the other end was probably disgusted too, because after a long pause, he reluctantly said, “Fine… I’ll come.”

  “Great! Hurry, Brother Liangfeng.” Luo Yifeng proudly waved her phone at Zhang Yang, then added into the mic, “Come quick, or that Zhang Yang might run away!”

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  “Zhang Yang?” A loud clatter came through the phone, like something falling. Bai Liangfeng suddenly went silent.

  “Yeah! The guy who stole your girlfriend! Hahaha, you won’t believe how funny this is—he’s actually asking you to come admit she’s your girlfriend! Come on, don’t keep us waiting!”

  Silence.

  “Brother Liangfeng?”

  Silence.

  “Brother Liangfeng?”

  Silence.

  Still silence—then came the rapid beeps of a disconnected call.

  Luo Yifeng’s face turned awkward, but she lifted her chin proudly and said, “He must be so angry knowing you’re here that he hung up and is rushing over. You’re dead meat.”

  “Oh no, I’m so scared.” Zhang Yang gently wiped the tears off Xu Danlu’s cheeks, smiling calmly. “But tell him to hurry up—my Lulu doesn’t have all day to waste with two ugly freaks.”

  “You—!” The insult clearly hit home. Luo Yifeng and Guo Dachun nearly choked with rage, but when they saw Zhang Yang’s smiling face and the cold gleam in his eyes, remembering how easily he’d lifted them earlier, they shivered and shut their mouths.

  “Just wait!” the two finally spat out in anger.

  Zhang Yang chuckled and ignored them.

  Time passed. The crowd grew larger. Students whispered as they heard what happened, and even more curious onlookers gathered.

  Ten minutes passed. Bai Liangfeng didn’t show.

  Luo Yifeng, feeling uneasy under all the stares, said, “He’s driving himself—must be traffic.”

  Twenty minutes later, still no sign of Bai Liangfeng. Now she was nervous. She knew he lived off-campus, barely five minutes away by car. Twenty minutes was too long.

  Uneasy, she redialed—only to find his phone turned off.

  Seeing the strange looks around her, she and Guo Dachun forced awkward smiles. “He must’ve been in class earlier. He’ll be here in, uh, five—no, ten minutes tops.”

  “Ten minutes? You sure?” Zhang Yang grinned.

  “I’m sure! Just wait—Brother Liangfeng will bring backup!” Luo Yifeng’s palms were sweating, but she kept her voice tough.

  “Alright.” Zhang Yang shrugged, leading Xu Danlu to a nearby stone table to rest.

  Xu Danlu looked at him worriedly. “What if Bai Liangfeng went to find gangsters? Maybe we should go?”

  Zhang Yang smiled and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m here.”

  Bai Liangfeng hadn’t shown—probably really off looking for thugs. But Ah Gou had just been beaten up by Zhang Yang not long ago. Who else could he even find?

  Ever since teaching Ah Gou that lesson, Zhang Yang had full confidence in his Advanced Combat Technique. He believed even Bai Gang, a trained fighter, wouldn’t be his match now. In fact, he was hoping those brothers would show up—he’d love to beat the crap out of them and maybe earn some system points while he was at it.

  But after waiting so long, neither appeared, leaving him disappointed.

  Another ten minutes passed. More students arrived, the area around Peony Ten packed shoulder to shoulder, everyone waiting for a showdown between Zhang Yang and Bai Liangfeng.

  Seeing the growing crowd, Guo Dachun and Luo Yifeng started panicking. They desperately wished Bai Liangfeng would swoop in and save them—but it was looking less and less likely.

  “Hey, ugly, where’s your Brother Liangfeng?” Zhang Yang was getting impatient. Even if Bai Liangfeng went to get backup, an hour was too long—what, was he putting on makeup?

  Guo Dachun glanced at Luo Yifeng, despair creeping in. She glared at her and hissed, “Well? Still can’t reach him?”

  “How should I know? He—he turned off his phone!”

  Guo Dachun snapped. “That bastard’s ditching us, isn’t he? Luo Yifeng, this is all your fault! You’re the one who called him. If he doesn’t come, we’re screwed!”

  “Bullshit! You’re the one who said to call him! Don’t blame me now!”

  The two started bickering. Surrounded by skeptical stares, they instinctively began backing toward the dorm.

  The crowd burst into laughter, jeering loudly. The humiliation made Guo Dachun and Luo Yifeng wish they could dig a hole and disappear. Their so-called allies fell silent too.

  Zhang Yang took Xu Danlu’s hand and walked forward through the crowd. In front of the two girls and everyone watching, he held her hand tightly, looked her in the eyes, and smiled. “Lulu, in front of all these people, can I ask you something?”

  Xu Danlu was still dazed. Seeing her bullies now cowed into silence, her anger had melted away. In fact, she’d never felt so happy. Hearing Zhang Yang speak in front of everyone, she nodded repeatedly. “Mm!”

  “Will you be my girlfriend?”

  Xu Danlu froze, then tears rolled down her face. Covering her mouth with one hand, she pounded his chest with the other, and before everyone’s eyes, pressed her chest tightly against him, sobbing. “Yes, of course I will!”

  “Hehe.” While no one was looking, Zhang Yang’s mischievous hand slid toward her chest. He whispered in her ear, “Let’s get a room.”

  “Dream on!” she said—but her body softened in his arms.