Chapter 7

Lin Jingzhe maintained his position and looked at Xu Lian condescendingly. His beautiful face and slender figure looked just as respectable as a moment ago, and his school uniform was clean and neat—the very image of a quiet, frail high school student.

Yet, when Xu Liang saw the smile on his face, he began to sweat profusely. He unconsciously took a step back and tripped over a chair behind him, his fat body tumbling to the ground with a dull thud.

The surface of Lin Jingzhe’s narrow black belt was gradually soaked red with blood. Not able to breathe, “Azure Dragon” Zhang struggled less and less, like a fish dying on a riverbank.

This scene was too shocking for the people present, brutal enough to completely exceed their imagination. In a provincial town in the early nineties, the so-called gangsters lacked most of the qualities people in their occupation should have. Though they swaggered through town calling themselves “mafia,” what they did was nothing more than petty theft, intimidating law-abiding citizens, and collecting protection fees.

And now, a life was being harvested right in front of them. Zhang struggled desperately, face contorted in a hideous grimace, eyes bulging, legs kicking, and a loud wheeze coming from his wide-open mouth…

However, what filled them with terror was not the suffocating Zhang but the person holding the belt behind him—Lin Jingzhe. He looked perfectly calm and unruffled as if he didn’t think he was doing anything terrible.

They often used the phrase “kill without batting an eye.” Now, for the first time, they understood what it really meant.

The people on both sides were scared stiff. “Azure Dragon” Zhang’s men stood a few meters away, watching, yet none dared come forward and stop what was happening. The nearest even moved farther away, for fear they would be next when Lin Jingzhe was done with Zhang.

Zhang desperately clawed at the belt. His nails scratched his neck bloody, but he couldn’t feel the pain. There was a voice in his heart, that he didn’t want to believe, telling him his life was going to end.

Unexpectedly, the first ones to snap out of it were Zhou Haitang and Gao Sheng. When Xu Liang backed away, scared of Zhang, they stayed close to Lin Jingzhe, ready to defend him to death. What happened next, however, was exactly opposite of what they’d expected and, for a moment, they could only stare blankly. Zhou Haitang moved first. He charged forward like a tiger and… grabbed Zhang’s kicking legs.

Lin Jingzhe looked at him, expressionless: “……”

Sure enough, Zhou Haitang was just as stupid in this life as he was in the previous. He rushed to help his friend without a second thought, unconcerned with the consequences.

“You idiot, stop making things worse! Get up!” Thankfully, Gao Sheng was smarter. He pushed away Zhou Haitang, who tried his best to hold Zhang’s legs down, then clamped his hands on Lin Jingzhe’s wrists, trying to make him loosen his grip on the belt. He leaned closer and whispered in a soothing voice, “Jingzhe, Jingzhe, come on, stop it. Let’s go home, don’t bother with them.”

Lin Jingzhe didn’t really plan to kill anyone—it was all just a little play. The public order in Liyun Town was poor, but not so poor as to let someone get away with murder. There was no way he’d sacrifice his precious second chance at life for some insignificant punk.

Zhang almost stopped struggling, it was about time to let go. He loosened his hold, lifted his foot, and kicked the oh-so-domineering a moment ago “Azure Dragon” aside like a dead dog.

Unexpectedly snatched from the jaws of death, Zhang didn’t react for a moment, lying on the ground in a daze. Then he hyperventilated and scrambled violently in an attempt to crawl further away from Lin Jingzhe.

As he did, shivering all the while, he glanced back to observe Lin Jingzhe’s reaction. The teenager stared at him blankly, playing with the belt. His expression was almost the same as a moment ago when he tried to strangle him to death.

His dark eyes resembled an abyss.

The fear in Zhang’s heart reached its peak the second he met them.

His brothers finally found their courage. They came forward and surrounded him, helped him up, then cautiously backed off. Though logically, odds should’ve been in their favor, none of them wanted to provoke Lin Jingzhe.

And so, the group of people who’d swaggered in and made a ruckus planned to leave quietly. Before they managed to slink away, though, Lin Jingzhe broke the silence: “Wait.”

His tone was casual, but everyone felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Zhang’s men didn’t dare move; Zhang, lying on one’s back, started and froze. Under their frightened gazes, Lin Jingzhe shook off Gao Sheng’s hand and stepped closer, scrutinizing Zhang’s bloody face.

Then, with a slight smile, he put the belt that almost took his life on Zhang’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Brother Zhang, it turned out you came here for nothing. Here, I’ll give you this belt as a gift to commemorate our first meeting.”

When the man carrying Zhang on his back heard this, his knees buckled, and he stumbled, almost falling to the ground.

At the moment, in everyone’s perception, the bloodstained belt appeared to be a venom-spitting viper, but no one dared protest. Seeing Zhang obediently close his hand on it, Lin Jingzhe nodded with satisfaction and stepped back. “I won’t see you off.”

Five seconds later, there was no one left in front of him.

Lin Jingzhe was certain they wouldn’t report him. Every single one of them probably had at least a minor offense on their record—would they go to the police and cry about being assaulted by a high school student?

So he let them go and turned around. His attention focused on Jiang Run, who suddenly found himself left alone.

Not too long ago, Jiang Run proudly followed “Azure Dragon” Zhang in, wanting to teach Lin Jingzhe a lesson. Now, with Lin Jingzhe looking at him meaningfully, he wished he’d never left home.

“Cou… Cousin…” Afraid he would get the same treatment as Zhang, he grabbed the table to keep himself upright, and slowly backed away.

Lin Jingzhe lifted his chin in his direction. The gangsters behind Jiang Run, who were supposed to obey Xu Liang, but whose ability to judge the situation was quite astute, grabbed his shoulders and pressed him to the ground.

“Jiang Run.” Lin Jingzhe motioned them to sit the other teenager in a chair. He clamped Jiang Run’s chin between two fingers and looked down at his panic-filled face.

He leaned close and whispered something in his ear. His voice was gentle, but his words caused Jiang Run’s eyes to fly open wide: “Go back and tell your parents that if something like this happens again, they’d better get your coffin ready.”

He straightened and waved his hand, at which the gangsters obediently released their hold. Jiang Run fell from the chair with a bang, scared enough to almost piss himself. He never expected Lin Jingzhe to guess the real instigator of today’s events.

From early childhood, he believed his cousin was nothing more than a shy, introverted wimp. This impression was now completely overturned.

He didn’t dare say anything more, just got up and ran. His legs were soft, and he fell after a few steps but was afraid to stop even for a moment. He scrambled to his feet and fled as if all the devils from hell were chasing him.

Almost everything had been dealt with, leaving only Xu Liang and the subordinates he’d brought.

Xu Liang’s shiny forehead was covered with large beads of sweat. When Lin Jingzhe’s gaze moved to him, he gulped then struggled to put a smile on his face. “Brother… Brother Lin…”

Called that, Lin Jingzhe frowned but soon his forehead smoothed out. He looked down on Xu Liang and held out a hand. “How come you’re sitting on the ground, Brother Xu? Let me help you up.”

“No, it’s fine!” Where did Xu Liang have the courage to take a hand still stained with “Azure Dragon” Zhang’s blood? He turned over and climbed to his feet with difficulty, fat shaking. He wiped the sweat on his face and quickly straightened his clothes, then felt about for a plastic chair. Upon touching one, he grabbed it, and zealously pushed it towards Lin Jingzhe: “Here, please sit down.”

“No need. I haven’t finished doing my homework yet.” Lin Jingzhe picked up a paper napkin on the table, calmly and deliberately unfolded it, then, staring into Xu Liang’s eyes, wiped the blood on his hands. With a warm smile, he said, “I made such a mess. Brother Xu, you must laugh at me.”

Xu Liang shuddered. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and shook his head violently. “No, no, why would I laugh?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Lin Jingzhe looked at him with a smile. “Wasn’t Brother Zhang funny just now?”

Xu Liang gawked at him. A few seconds later, his hands began to tremble, and his mouth cracked in a smile uglier than a grimace. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Yeah! It was funny! So funny!”

Lin Jingzhe nodded, threw the bloody napkin on the table, and patted Xu Liang on the shoulder. The fat man’s body softened and almost fell to the ground under that light touch.

“Since we had fun, it’s time to scatter, isn’t it?”

Xu Liang nodded so hard his head was about to fall off: “Yes! Leave! Leave!”

Lin Jingzhe seemed satisfied. He reached for an unopened bottle of beer on the table. “I didn’t expect to meet such an important person like Brother Xu today—please take care of me from now on. Before we leave, let me pay my respect and offer you a toast.”

Xu Liang almost jumped to grab the bottle. He hurriedly opened it, took a swig, then smiled widely. “How can this be? No need! I’ll drink!”

He hated that he couldn’t turn back time to before meeting this demon and slap himself. What if the teenager felt disrespected by his actions from back then and wanted to get even?

Despite his cry, Lin Jingzhe didn’t stop. He took another bottle, emptied it until there wasn’t even foam left, then gave a polite smile: “No, I must, or I would be too rude.”

“How could I let you?” Xu Liang’s sweat increased. As long as Lin Jingzhe spoke, he would drink every bottle on the table.

Lin Jingzhe didn’t embarrass him but simply gave a slight nod. “Then I’ll take my leave?”

Xu Liang followed him to the stall’s gate like an eager dog. “I’ll see you off, I’ll see you off.”

Lin Jingzhe’s eyes swept around the food stall. He took a wallet from his schoolbag, pulled out two hundred yuan and put it on the table, gently saying to the owner, who shrank under the cash register in fright, “I’m sorry for the trouble. Please take this in recompense for the business you lost tonight.”

“How could I dare let you pay!” Xu Liang’s voice rose sharply. He grabbed the money and shoved it back into Lin Jingzhe’s hands and took out all the bills he had in his pockets, pilling them on the table. “I’ll pay, I’ll pay, I invited you here, so of course it’s on me.”

Lin Jingzhe’ mouth twitched. As he looked around, his gaze fell on Gao Sheng and Zhou Haitang and stayed on them for a few seconds. Abruptly, his face sank. “Why are you standing there like fools?”

No longer paying attention to Xu Liang, he turned around, lifted his school bag to put it on his shoulder, and marched away.

Gao Sheng and Zhou Haitang pushed through the crowd and ran after him.

Seeing the three backs disappear in the distance, Xu Liang finally felt the mountain-like pressure lift off his shoulders. He leaned on the bar, lips white. He didn’t want to see Lin Jingzhe’s gentle smile ever again.

Jiang Run, scared out of his wits, staggered away and fled. However, as he rounded a second corner and ran into a narrow back alley, he was blocked by a group of people who waited there for him.

“Azure Dragon” Zhang was fortunate enough to get away with his life, but he still couldn’t walk and had to hang off somebody’s back. Though Lin Jingzhe had nearly killed him, he daren’t hate him. And so, his resentment fell on the chief culprit behind today’s trouble—Jiang Run.

Jiang Run stared in horror as the gangsters spread out and surrounded him, backing away with shaking steps until his back hit a wall.

Near the entrance to the alley, someone heard the commotion and turned to look. “Why is it so noisy inside?”

His companion hastily pushed him forward. “Come on, let’s go. It must be a fight between gangs again, don’t be too curious or you might get involved too. The order in our town is getting worse and worse lately.”