PDLP Chapter 9: The Couple Finally Gives Out Some Sweet Moments!
Chapter 9: The Couple Finally Gives Out Some Sweet Moments!
"Brother Niu, I've found out. School just started today, and this kid has been assigned to Class 2 of the third year of high school."
Sun Niu exhaled a smoke ring, stared at the video of Ma Cong smashing a wall with a punch, and sneered.
"This video is obviously special effects, a publicity stunt."
He admitted that Ma Cong was good at fighting, but to smash a load-bearing wall with one punch? That's ridiculous.
"But this kid's a social media influencer now. What does being an influencer mean? It means being rich!"
Greed gleamed in Sun Niu's eyes.
"Let's go and have a word with him, and ask him to give the brothers some compensation for their hard work. Isn't that a bit much?"
One of the henchmen said with some concern, "Brother Niu, this kid is really strange, what should we do..."
"What's there to be afraid of!"
Sun Niu slapped the underling on the back of the head. "Even if he's a good fighter, can he take on ten or a hundred?"
How many of us are there?
Another quick-witted henchman immediately replied, "Brother Niu, I just called in some men—our own people, plus a few brothers from nearby factories who aren't working, and a few students who skip school. By the time school lets out this afternoon, we can definitely gather about a hundred men!"
There were about a hundred people.
Sun Niu is now confident.
He refused to believe that a group of over a hundred people could scare away a high school student.
He stubbed out his cigarette and ground it on the sole of his shoe.
"Ambush him after school."
"Just tell him that Brother Niu has taken a liking to him and wants to treat him to a meal. Make him come up with 50,000 yuan, and that'll settle the matter."
Fifty thousand yuan.
For this group of thugs who usually make a living by extorting a few dollars or tens of dollars from students or by engaging in petty theft, this is a huge sum of money that they never dared to dream of.
They could almost picture Ma Cong obediently handing over his money, surrounded by more than a hundred people.
.....
The school bell became the only end point of the classroom today.
The homeroom teacher gave a few instructions on the start of the school year from the podium, then waved and dismissed the class.
In the classroom of Class 2, Grade 12, the students lazily tidied up their almost untouched books.
The first day of school is always the same.
The teachers either hold class meetings or their own meetings, leaving the students with nothing to do.
This situation is expected to continue for a few more days.
Many people have already made plans to go to internet cafes to play games together, or to sit in bubble tea shops.
Ma Cong stuffed the books back into his bag, picked it up with one hand, and prepared to leave.
His action caused several classmates to stop what they were doing.
"Huh? Brother Cong isn't doing extra practice today?"
"Yeah, I remember Cong-ge has been doing this every day since his first year of high school, rain or shine. He was even practicing boxing in the woods on the day it hailed. What's gotten into him today?"
"Could it be that he got tired from boxing yesterday?"
In the past two years, Ma Conglei's unwavering practice of boxing after school has become a unique sight at No. 16 Middle School.
Now that this scenic view has suddenly been interrupted, everyone feels a strange sense of unease.
.....
Zhou Xing gripped the strap of his schoolbag so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
She was conflicted all day.
From seeing Ma Cong eat the breakfast he brought in the morning to later seeing his video of fighting four people alone on Douyin.
Her heart felt like it was on a rollercoaster.
She wanted to ask him if he was injured, and why he went to such a dangerous place.
But the words just wouldn't come out.
Now, she has finally found a less presumptuous entry point.
She walked to Ma Cong's desk, mustered her courage, and asked softly, "Ma Cong...aren't you going to martial arts practice today?"
Ma Cong stopped and looked back at her.
"My skills have reached a certain level, so there's no need to push my body like I used to."
He answered casually, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.
This answer surprised Zhou Xing.
This left the students who had been eavesdropping nearby looking at each other in bewilderment.
That's incredibly arrogant.
But considering the video on Douyin of someone smashing a cement wall with a single punch, they felt that Ma Cong seemed to have the right to say that.
Ma Cong didn't explain further. He had a martial arts space that was ten times more efficient than the outside world, and he had plenty of resources. There was really no need for him to spend his time outside in the wind and sun to train his muscles and bones.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and said to Zhou Xing, who was still a little dazed, "Let's go home together."
"what?"
Zhou Xing's brain has gone blank.
Ma Cong repeated it again, adding, "I see you every day on my way to school, so our routes home should be similar, it's on our way home."
Drop by?
Zhou Xing's cheeks flushed instantly, and his heart skipped a beat.
Her best friend Zhang Li, who was standing next to her, could no longer hold back.
"On the way, my foot!"
This roar drew the attention of the entire class.
Zhang Li, like a lioness protecting her cubs, stood with her hands on her hips and pointed at Ma Cong's nose.
"She lives in the east of the city! You live in the south! Is that what you call going the same way?"
"To be on the same route as you, you blockhead, she gets up at six every morning, takes an hour-long bus ride to the bus stop near your house in the south of the city, just so she can go to school with you!"
"After school, she followed you to the entrance of your alley, watched you go inside, and then took a bus for over an hour to get back to the east side of the city by herself!"
"Two whole years! Rain or shine! Ma Cong, you're a stubborn, unyielding rock!"
Zhang Li shouted out all the words she had held back for two years in one breath. Even after she finished shouting, she still felt unsatisfied, and her chest heaved violently.
The entire classroom.
Everyone was stunned by the amount of information contained in those words.
Zhou Xing's face was so red it looked like it could bleed; she wished she could disappear into the ground. She kept grabbing Zhang Li's arm, pleading, "Lili, stop talking, stop talking..."
Her voice was already trembling with tears.
Ma Cong stood still.
He knew Zhou Xing's feelings for him, but he never knew that these feelings were so heavy and so persistent.
Two years.
More than seven hundred days and nights.
A girl from a wealthy family spends three hours on the road every day just for a short "on-the-way" trip.
His world used to consist only of practicing boxing and studying; he had never paid attention to these things.
But now, he is no longer the boy who only knew how to bury himself in hard training.
He looked at the girl who seemed to want to bury her head in her chest, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Then, he strode over to her.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire class, he said in an unprecedentedly gentle tone, "Let's go."
Zhou Xing looked up, his eyes brimming with tears: "Where...where are we going?"
"I'll take you home."
Ma Cong's voice carried clearly throughout the classroom.
Zhou Xing was completely stunned.
After a brief hesitation, she hastily wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
She followed silently behind Ma Cong, watching his broad back, her heart feeling as if it were soaking in a honey pot, both sour and sweet.
A collective sigh of relief and suppressed cheers filled the classroom.
"Holy crap, he's finally got it! Brother Cong has finally figured it out!"
"Waaaaah, my favorite couple from two years has finally given us some sweet moments!"
Zhang Li watched the two figures leave, a relieved smile appearing on her face.
……
at the same time.
Outside the gate of Jincheng No. 16 Middle School, in that secluded alley.
Smoke swirled around.
There were cigarette butts scattered all over the ground at Sun Niu's feet.
He was surrounded by a dense crowd of people.
These people wore all sorts of school uniforms, some from No. 16 Middle School, some from nearby vocational high schools and middle schools, and some were simply young people who had dropped out of school and were working in factories.
They were all thuggish and had fierce eyes.
A rough count revealed that there were at least a hundred people.
A clever henchman started distributing "weapons" from a tattered backpack.
They were short steel pipes cut into half-meter lengths, with glaring metal burrs on the edges.
The scene was quite intimidating.