Read Novel Full Chapter 109 Part 2 – Study Well and You Will Be Praised for Fighting (II)
Chapter 109 Part 2 – Study Well and You Will Be Praised for Fighting (II)
Xia Mian saw Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen climbing over the wall too and blinked. “Wait, you guys came too?”
The two rushed over and grabbed her to check her over. “Are you okay?”
Sun Yuexin burst out swearing, “F*ck, if they laid a finger on you, I’d have to make a comeback and return to the streets!”
Xia Mian felt both touched and amused. “I’m fine. You know me—I’m good at convincing people with reason.”
She quickly pulled Zhao Cheng back as he was gearing up for a fight. “And I prefer logic over violence.”
The guy looked around at the group and realized there really wasn’t any tension in the air anymore. He finally relaxed. “The whole way here, I was picturing you getting beaten up. I almost lost it.”
“Honestly, I’ve never seen Old Han this mad. He was kinda scary today.”
Xia Mian chuckled. “You guys should have more faith in me.”
Zhao Cheng said, “We trust you when it comes to civilized people, but the Thirteen Protectors have a reputation, especially after Hao Jian joined…”
While they were talking, Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen were already squabbling with Fan Xiaoman’s two female underlings.
Well, they’d once shared the same “profession” and exchanged fists. Meeting again, a few jabs were inevitable.
Ear-Piercing Girl glanced at Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen with a mocking tone. “Hey, what’s a couple of little thugs doing hanging out with top students now? Aren’t you worried they’ll look down on you?”
“Well, well, if it isn’t our Dongdong,” Sun Yuexin’s street-tough attitude kicked right in. “What, you guys are branching out now? From fighting to full-on kidnapping?”
Ponytail Girl scoffed. “What, the Iron Gang turned into softies now?” She looked at Xia Mian with disdain. “Cozying up to good students so you can go to college?”
“Ha! That’s exactly what it did.” Li Lizhen crossed her arms proudly. “I’m now ranked in the top 100 in the whole school—my scores are over 500!”
She tilted her chin up at Ear-Piercing Girl. “I’m not just hanging with good students, I am one now! What about you? How’d you do on your final exams last semester? Break 200 yet?”
Ear-Piercing Girl and Ponytail Girl choked on that. This was probably the first time they’d ever seen gang rivalry fought with academic performance—and they’d been hit right where it hurt most. No comeback.
Just two years ago, they’d all been the same—skipping class, fighting, grades in the gutter.
But now, even if Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen still got into fights, they stood tall and proud, full of confidence. And soon, the rest would find out where that confidence came from.
Ponytail Girl didn’t want to admit that the other side was more impressive. She sneered, “So what if your grades are good? What’s there to be so smug about?”
“There’s a lot to be smug about,” Sun Yuexin shot back. “Anyone can fight when they suck at school. But being able to fight and ace exams? Now that’s badass.”
All that effort over the past year—Sun Yuexin knew it was way harder than any street fight. No way she’d let someone dismiss it.
Li Lizhen echoed one of Xia Mian’s signature lines, “If you suck at school and fight, that’s gang violence. If you’re top of your class and fight, get into the police academy later—that’s a heroic feat.”
Sun Yuexin kept pouring salt over the wounds. “So years from now, when people talk about the Iron Gang from our school, they’ll say: they all went to college, some even became cops—everyone wanted to be like them. Maybe the school’ll even use us as role models. But the Thirteen Protectors…”
She looked straight at Ponytail Girl and Ear-Piercing Girl. “You tell me—what’s the best outcome people will expect for you?”
The two had no words. A gang so good that the school would support it? That’s quite a grandiose dream!
After Fan Xiaoman finished explaining everything to Han Haoyan, the tension visibly left his face. “I misunderstood you before, and I apologize. If anything comes up in the future, just talk to me directly. Don’t do something like this again—it’s not right.”
Fan Xiaoman nodded. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, “You believe me? That Tian Xueya, she…”
Han Haoyan’s expression grew cold. “I have a general idea of what kind of person she is. But… she did take a beating because of me.”
Fan Xiaoman said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
Han Haoyan smiled slightly. “It’s fine. As long as we’ve cleared the air.”
Fan Xiaoman looked at him. He was really too good—excellent, kind, understanding, warm. There might not be a better person in the world.
And yet…
Xia Mian’s words rang in her mind. Even if she did manage to win him over, so what? Never mind teachers and neighbors; even her parents’ first reaction would probably be: Is Xiaoman hanging out with bad company again?
She’d never cared about that before. She used to think those people were just nitpicking.
But in this moment, when she imagined how he might be misunderstood, gossiped about, insulted… because of her, she suddenly started to doubt whether she had really been wrong all along.
The kind of confession she used to toss out without hesitation suddenly stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
Seeing her expression, Han Haoyan asked gently, “Is there something else you want to say?”
Fan Xiaoman shook her head. And at that moment, she became painfully aware: those wasted years, those squandered days, had become regrets she could never make up for.
She looked toward Xia Mian—was it because she had worked hard, step by step, that she could be so calm and confident now?
Was there still time… for her?
Xia Mian had no idea what Fan Xiaoman was thinking. She was just bored—when she saw a kid worth saving, her teacher instinct kicked in, and she couldn’t help but try to educate them.
Now that the two had finished talking, she was ready to go home.
Zhao Cheng was already picking out a brick. “If everything’s cool now, let’s go. Xia Mian, how’d you get in?”
Sun Yuexin said, “I checked earlier. That wall over there’s easy to climb. You can wedge your foot in.”
Xia Mian shook her head. “No climbing. I’m using the front gate.”
Zhao Cheng persuaded, “The old guy guarding the gate is strict. No way you’re getting through. Don’t worry, Han Haoyan and I will catch you. You won’t fall.”
Li Lizhen chimed in, “Yup, Yuexin and I will hold you steady. You’re good.”
Xia Mian honestly didn’t get why these guys were so obsessed with climbing when there was a perfectly fine gate. She was about to speak when the skinny guy said with confusion, “Why is Hao Jian here?”
Fan Xiaoman frowned and walked over. When she saw Hao Jian leading a dozen people—many of them carrying sticks—her expression shifted slightly.
Ear-Piercing Girl muttered, “Something doesn’t feel right about this…”
Xia Mian said, “Of course it doesn’t. It’s clearly about to turn into a full-blown fight.”
“Did the Thirteen Protectors have an internal split or something? This clearly looks premeditated.”
Ear-Piercing Girl fumed, “Hmph! That bunch of money-worshipping idiots—Hao Jian bought them out. They thought it’s cool to follow a guy who’s already done time.”
Xia Mian gave her a surprised look.
Ear-Piercing Girl snapped, “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” Xia Mian said. “Just surprised your sense of right and wrong isn’t completely broken.”
Fan Xiaoman had already stepped forward, one hand in her pocket, facing the group head-on. For a moment, she gave off real gang boss energy. “Hao Jian, what are you doing here?”
Hao Jian twirled the stick in his hand and said, “I came to back you up, Sister Fan. I heard Zhao Cheng and the others were here. Thought your group might be outmatched.”
Fan Xiaoman said, “We were just here to talk. There’s no need for your lot.”
Hao Jian said, “Come on, Sister Fan. You girls are too soft. They’re climbing over walls and bullying you at your doorstep, and you accept their talk?”
He cast a sleazy look at Han Haoyan and sneered, “Sister Fan, for a guy like that, you’re throwing away the reputation of the whole Thirteen Protectors?”
Xia Mian finally understood why Zhao Cheng always frowned every time Hao Jian was mentioned.
After more than a year without seeing him, Hao Jian looked even more sleazy. If she hadn’t known he was still in school, she would never have guessed he was a teenager. The dull, greasy look in his eyes made him look exactly like some washed-up street scum.
He had his left arm around a girl dressed rather provocatively, and his hand casually groped her chest from time to time, not even trying to hide it.
Everyone in Fan Xiaoman’s group frowned in disgust. Fan Xiaoman said coldly, “This is my personal business today. It has nothing to do with you. Leave—we’re leaving too.”
She turned to go, but Hao Jian stepped in her way. He didn’t even look at her, just spoke directly to Zhao Cheng, “You guys have some guts. Just a few of you dared to break into our No. 14 High. You think this is your backyard—come and go as you please?”
“Perfect timing,” he said, a vicious glint in his eyes. “Let’s settle old and new scores all at once!”
The men behind him immediately started laughing and twirling their sticks, making them whistle ominously through the air.
Hao Jian’s gaze slithered toward Xia Mian like a snake’s tongue. He sneered, “Miss Xia, long time no see!”
Zhao Cheng and Han Haoyan simultaneously stepped in front of Xia Mian. Zhao Cheng said coldly, “Hao Jian, you looking to end up behind bars again?”
Hao Jian let out a low chuckle. “If I’m in, we’re all in. This is a gang fight now. With enough of us, they won’t target anyone in particular—just a few days in lockup at most.”
“Anyway, I’ve been inside before, so adding one more record won’t make a difference. But you university-prep kids? If you end up with a record… can you even still get into college?”
Oh wow, look at that. Guy’s done his homework and learned some legal jargon.
It was obvious now. Hao Jian had come for them, and he’d been planning it for a while. It was summer break, so the school wouldn’t interfere, and as long as they avoided the cops, they’d be fine. And now, they were trapped on the school sports field—reporting it to the police wouldn’t even be easy.
Sun Yuexin snapped, “Hao Jian, aren’t you afraid Xia Mian’s brother will come down on your whole family for this?”
“Oh, thanks for the reminder.” Hao Jian suddenly grinned, then turned to his men. “You guys brought the DV and the cameras, right?”
He pointed at Sun Yuexin, Li Lizhen, and Xia Mian. “Strip them. Film it. Get some photos and videos.”
His eyes were full of disgusting malice, grinning lecherously at the girls. “Xia Mian, you breathe a word to your brother, and I’ll make sure your photos are plastered all over town. I’ll screen the video at every rental shop.”
“No one gets out of this clean!”
Looks like he had thought this through.
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Author’s Note:
Xia Mian: “Been a while since I last sent someone to jail…”
Before:
Xia Mian: “No, little angels don’t climb walls.”
Later: Who climbed the wall the fastest? Yep, that’s her.