Chapter 18: Beating Up Whitehead

  Monday morning, Zhang Yang had no class. He was planning to go out job hunting, but Dongzi reminded him that the gang hanging around the school gate had been loitering there, and told him not to wander outside for a while. So Zhang Yang had no choice but to pull the blanket over his head and keep sleeping.

  But before nine o’clock, Li Jindong went to take a dump, and Bai Gang came by, bringing along Zhang Yang’s homeroom teacher, who he had barely seen once in his four years at university.

  The homeroom teacher looked at him with regret, while Bai Gang arrogantly tossed over a sheet of paper. “Zhang Yang, given that you’ve failed to complete credits for several courses, and often cause fights and trouble, refusing to reform, and have even extorted your classmates, which already constitutes a criminal offense, the school doesn’t want to escalate matters, so it hasn’t called the police. But your behavior can no longer be tolerated. The department recommends that you voluntarily withdraw. If you refuse, the school has the right to expel you.”

  Zhang Yang took the paper. Sure enough, it bore the official seal of the College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, but it was a withdrawal notice.

  It sounded slightly better than expulsion but worse than suspension. In any case, he was no longer a student of Meining University College of Chemical Engineering.

  Of course, there were still a few formalities he had to go through.

  Zhang Yang was dazed. When Li Jindong had told him about it, he hadn’t really felt it, but now that he saw the withdrawal notice in person, his heart tightened. After struggling through four long years, getting forced to leave right before graduation—anyone would find that hard to accept.

  He stared at his homeroom teacher’s hesitant expression, sneered, waved the notice, and asked, “That’s it?”

  “That’s plenty, Zhang Yang.” Bai Gang glanced at the teacher, then turned back. “Be smart, handle the paperwork yourself. Don’t make me call the campus police.”

  “Your mother, who said you could talk?” Zhang Yang suddenly pulled an iron pipe from beside his bed—something he’d prepared in case Bai Liangfeng brought people to cause trouble—and in a fit of rage, swung it straight at Bai Gang’s head.

  Bai Gang really had some training; he ducked his head just in time, but his shoulder took the hit.

  The teacher was dumbfounded, pushing up his glasses and mumbling for Zhang Yang to calm down.

  But Zhang Yang couldn’t hear a word. He swung again across the bedboard. Bai Gang finally reacted. Seeing Zhang Yang had a steel pipe, he didn’t dare fight back and bolted straight for the door.

  But luck wasn’t on his side—before he reached it, his foot caught on something, and he fell flat on his face.

  Then Zhang Yang stepped on him and began beating him mercilessly. “Motherfucker, didn’t you say I’m a thug? I’ll show you what a real thug looks like today!”

  Bai Gang might have trained, but Zhang Yang was taller, and now had him pinned down with a pipe in hand. He could only cover his head as Zhang Yang unleashed all his pent-up anger—new grudges and old grievances together—raining down blows with metallic clangs.

  The bespectacled teacher didn’t dare intervene or run to call for help. Several onlookers blocked the doorway, but when they saw Bai Gang was the one being beaten, they ignored it. Clearly, they hated this department counselor too.

  Although Zhang Yang hit hard, he avoided vital spots. After a while, he was exhausted. Just then, Li Jindong, hearing the commotion, rushed back from the bathroom. Seeing the chaos, he hurriedly pulled Zhang Yang away.

  Bai Gang rolled over and got up immediately, wanting to counterattack, but Li Jindong stopped him, pointing at the students at the door holding up their phones, ready to record. “Brother Bai, that’s not a good idea, is it?”

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  Seeing the students awkwardly put their phones away, Bai Gang’s face darkened. If a video of him fighting a student went online, his career would be over.

  Clutching his aching body, he could only point at Zhang Yang and curse loudly, “You bastard, just you wait! If you’ve got guts, don’t move an inch!”

  Zhang Yang ignored him because right after beating Bai Gang, the system suddenly popped up a message.

  【Beating up scum. Reward: 2 system points. Current total: -43 points. Title: Vile Scum Overflowing with Evil. Please keep up the good work, scum.】

  In other words, beating Bai Gang was actually the right thing to do. So when Bai Gang cursed him, Zhang Yang just laughed. If Bai Gang weren’t already standing again and harder to deal with, Zhang Yang might have gone another round—just to see if he’d earn more points.

  Seeing Zhang Yang laughing silently, Bai Gang fumed but didn’t dare attack again with all those people watching. And if a fight really broke out, that burly guy Li Jindong would definitely take Zhang Yang’s side. So Bai Gang just glared at the crowd, then stormed off—probably to call the campus police.

  Once he left, the homeroom teacher sighed, looked at Zhang Yang without saying a word, shook his head, and left too.

  Li Jindong grabbed the withdrawal notice from Zhang Yang’s hand, skimmed it, and then angrily threw it to the ground. “What the fuck, that damn Whitehead really is a bastard! Should’ve let you finish him off…” He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. “I’ll have my old man check this out.”

  Zhang Yang held his hand down and shook his head. “Forget it. I beat that bastard today anyway. I never planned on getting that diploma.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Li Jindong glared at him.

  “What do you think? ‘Assaulting a classmate, extorting a female student…’” Zhang Yang picked up the notice and read off the charges. “‘Failed to complete course credits…’ Now I’ve got another one to add—‘assaulting a department counselor.’”

  Halfway through, Li Jindong groaned. “Damn, you’re starting to look more like a thug than me.”

  “Enough. Let’s drink tonight—call it an early graduation.” Zhang Yang tossed the pipe on the bed. His tone was tough, but his heart felt heavy.

  “Fine, call Lu Su and the nerd too.” Li Jindong patted Zhang Yang’s shoulder and said, “It’s just a diploma. I’ve got an idea for you—wanna hear it?”

  “You’re gonna tell me to work at your dad’s company again?” Zhang Yang shot him a look. “You don’t even go there yourself.”

  “Come on, at least it’s related to our field.”

  Zhang Yang widened his eyes. “Dongzi, your dad runs a fishing company. How the hell is that related?”

  “Uh… bioengineering, right? Fish are living things too!”

  “Fuck!” Zhang Yang waved helplessly. He knew that while Li Jindong’s family did own a large fishing company—with over a hundred boats and other businesses—his dad was also a member of Meining City’s political consultative conference. Getting Zhang Yang a job would’ve been easy.

  But Zhang Yang’s personality didn’t allow him to accept that kind of favor.

  ****

  Sure enough, Bai Gang shamelessly called the campus police and even had the homeroom teacher testify that Zhang Yang assaulted him. But surprisingly, the teacher stood firm and refused, leaving Bai Gang to testify himself.

  The campus cops checked things over and pulled him aside. “Brother Bai, you don’t have any serious injuries. Even if we took him in, it’d just be for a little lecture.”

  Bai Gang cursed under his breath and asked them to rough Zhang Yang up a bit before kicking him out of school, saying he’d already been expelled.

  The two officers straightened up, put on serious faces, and took Zhang Yang to the security office.

  But Li Jindong showed up, pulled the two aside, and whispered a few words. They exchanged looks, twitching at the corners of their mouths.

  In the end, Bai Gang didn’t get what he wanted, but Zhang Yang didn’t fare much better either—he was told to leave Meining University within three days and write a self-criticism.

  “Write your self-reflection, and you can go.” One of the officers said kindly, handing him pen and paper like the Big Bad Wolf offering candy to a lamb.

  Without a word, Zhang Yang took them and wrote quickly. The officer was about to praise him for being cooperative but froze after reading it, torn between laughing and crying. He glanced at Bai Gang with a look that clearly said: you’re screwed.

  “Today I fought with the beast Whitehead, also known as the department counselor Bai Gang. As a student, I deeply regret my mistake. The main issue was that I hit too lightly and didn’t beat him to death, leaving him able to still talk shit…”

  Bai Gang saw that and exploded. By now, a crowd of students had gathered outside the door. Bai Liangfeng had also arrived and shouted, “Zhang Yang, let’s see how long you can keep acting tough!”

  Zhang Yang shot him a look and ignored him. He’d promised Xu Danlu to go with her to take her father to Xiangyun Group for a PET-CT exam, but now this crap had tied him down.

  Just then, Xu Danlu called, asking where he was.

  Zhang Yang thought for a moment and said, “Just woke up, heading over now.” Hanging up, he glanced at Bai Gang and said coldly, “Bai Gang, you know whether I deserve expulsion or not. But fine, I’ll accept it. Withdraw me, expel me, whatever you want. As for writing a reflection—let’s see if you can make me.”

  With that, he walked straight out of the security office. Bai Gang froze and didn’t dare stop him.

  The two officers exchanged looks, then turned to Li Jindong, and quietly muttered to Bai Gang, “Brother Bai, he’s gone. What’s the point of that reflection now, huh?”

  Bai Gang glanced at Li Jindong. He knew damn well it was his doing but didn’t dare cause a scene. Rumor had it the Li family had some shady ties. Even though he was the Bai Group chairman’s nephew, not being the direct son meant little—and even a direct son might not stand up to the Lis, those local tyrants.

  Seems he’d have to deal with Zhang Yang outside school. Bai Gang cast a cold glance at Li Jindong, thinking, You can’t protect him forever. Still, he walked off reluctantly.

  Zhang Yang made it out smoothly and spotted Bai Liangfeng still there. He couldn’t help walking up, poking at the guy’s bandaged chest with a smirk. “Asshole, didn’t you say your ribs were broken? What, so eager to study now?”

  Bai Liangfeng winced in pain, his face twisting in fury, but after being beaten once, he still had trauma. Only after Zhang Yang walked a few steps away did he shout, “Don’t get cocky! Try stepping outside the gate!”

  Clearly, he’d set up an ambush there already. Zhang Yang hesitated, not wanting to drag Li Jindong into trouble. As he debated, a flashy white Audi R8 screeched to a stop near the security office, drawing everyone’s attention. Many gasped in awe.

  The first gasp was for the car itself—an Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro 2012 limited edition, barely released and worth nearly three million. The second was for the tall, ponytailed beauty behind the wheel. Beauty and machine—a perfect match.

  But the driver looked familiar to Zhang Yang. Wasn’t that the gorgeous medical school master’s student, Qiao Xier?