By the time I carried Linda back to Qingyun Mountain, it was already close to dawn. The entire class was still sound asleep at the student campsite. To avoid causing unnecessary panic, I only woke up a few people—Bucktooth, Big Luo, and Little Luo.
Still half-asleep, they asked me what happened. I briefly explained the situation. They already knew I had a photo of David on my phone, but they never expected David to actually hire gangsters to handle the issue, even nearly getting Mr. Zhang killed. They were instantly enraged.
Linda was beautiful. Although some at school gossiped about her, calling her promiscuous, our classmates had always respected and defended her. That's because Linda truly treated the students in our class well. She had a strong, protective personality. Every time we had conflicts with students from other classes, she always took our side. Everyone liked her, and Bucktooth even threatened to take revenge on David.
I told them not to rush into things—Mr. Zhang had been injured and needed to go to the hospital first.
Seeing me drenched in sweat and completely exhausted, they rushed over to Linda, offering to carry her down the mountain instead. But Linda glanced at me and said, "Andrew is my distant cousin. Let him carry me."
Though I felt like a dead dog from fatigue, deep down I wasn't comfortable with them carrying Linda either. After all, she was my "wife" in name. Letting another guy carry her—what would that look like?
Plus, Linda had specifically asked for me, so I obediently continued to carry her down the mountain. Sigh… she'd taken a stab for me tonight. That left me feeling indebted. In the future, if she bullies me again, I'll have even less courage to fight back. What a sorry excuse for a husband I'd be.
The guys followed me carefully as we descended, their eyes full of envy. They probably thought carrying a gorgeous woman like Linda was worth dying for.
By the time we finished everything at the hospital, the sun had already risen.
Luckily, this morning's plan was just to have fun and eat at Qingyun Villa. Linda put the class officers in charge of keeping order while she went to get some sleep. The rest of the class didn't know what had happened the night before, and they were all having a great time.
Qingyun Villa was like a resort. Our school rented out the large courtyard for a BBQ party. It was the size of two football fields, filled with students in groups—some grilling food, some playing cards or mahjong, and even a crowd around a billiard table in the corner.
"Andrew, wanna come BBQ? I'll grill for you!"
I had barely slept two hours before Ni Anqi, Bucktooth, Big Luo, and Little Luo barged in and dragged me out to join them.
"No thanks, I'm not really hungry yet."
At that moment, class monitor Harper spotted me with Ni Anqi from a distance. She frowned slightly and walked over, asking with concern, "Andrew, you look half-awake. What were you doing last night?"
Yawning, I replied, "I was on night duty with our homeroom teacher. I'm exhausted."
Harper handed me a lemon tea and half-scolded the others, "You guys are too much. Andrew needs rest. Why drag him out?"
Bucktooth and the Luo brothers exchanged awkward looks. Ni Anqi just curled her lips and said, "Andrew's tough. Missing a bit of sleep won't kill him. If he doesn't come out to have fun, what's the point?"
Now their expressions became even weirder. Their eyes darted between me and the two girls. The class's two prettiest girls arguing over me? Of course they'd start to wonder what kind of relationship I had with them.
To be honest, I was just as confused. Harper was a close friend—a competitive academic peer and a caring companion, the textbook definition of a good friend. Ni Anqi was a good friend too—she once rescued me in an alley, and I genuinely appreciated her. She also seemed to like hanging out with me.
But Harper and Ni Anqi always seemed to have this subtle hostility between them. I couldn't figure it out. Every time I stood between them, I felt stuck—like now, completely unsure how to mediate.
Just then, a group of five or six students from another class walked up. Leading them was a buzz-cut guy—it was none other than Zheng Zhantao's lackey, Song Dongyang.
Song Dongyang swaggered over with his crew. As he passed our classmate Xu Jie, he snatched a freshly grilled hot dog from her hands, took a bite, and said smugly, "Not bad."
Xu Jie, shocked and angry at this stranger stealing her food, snapped, "Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to eat my food?"
Song shrugged, then glanced at her well-developed chest with a pervy grin. "It's just a hot dog, no big deal. But if it means that much to you, I'll let you have my big hot dog later."
"Pervert!"
Xu Jie shouted in outrage. It was clear to everyone that these Class 165 students were here to stir up trouble.
Song Dongyang was the ringleader of Class 165. Now that he came swaggering into our territory, John—our self-proclaimed leader of Class 163—couldn't just sit back. He stepped forward with his crew: Bighead, Pillar, and Skinny Monkey. Staring coldly at Song, he said, "Turkey, are you here to start something?"
"Heh, relax John. I just came to catch up with Andrew. Why so nervous?"
Normally, if students from another class came looking for trouble, our class boss would definitely step up. But when John realized Song was here for me, his expression changed. He glanced over at me and my group, then turned back to Song and said coldly, "Go talk to Andrew. But if you mess with any of the girls again, don't blame me for being rude."
Song shrugged and walked toward me with his crew, everyone in the class now watching.
Bucktooth leaned in and whispered, "What the hell? John calls himself our class boss, but when someone comes to mess with us, he turns into a coward."
I chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Don't forget, John and I aren't exactly friends. Him not teaming up with outsiders to screw me over is already a blessing. And you expect him to help me?"
Before Bucktooth could reply, Song Dongyang was already in front of us. When he saw me standing beside Ni Anqi, a flash of resentment crossed his eyes. But his tone was all casual as he said, "Andrew, how's life treating you lately? Whoa, those are some serious dark circles. Didn't sleep well, huh? Must be hard knowing you won't last long at Second High, huh?"
Everyone knew that Zheng Zhantao had threatened to kick me out of school within a month, so all eyes were now on me.
Truth was, I'd been dealing with a ton of crap lately, mostly because of my conflict with David. While the tension between us played a role, the real instigator behind everything was Zheng Zhantao. Without him pulling strings in the background, things wouldn't have escalated this far.
I hated Zheng Zhantao. He was the sneaky, manipulative type—far more dangerous than hotheads like John. But while I was wary of Zheng, I didn't see Song Dongyang as any real threat. In fact, I didn't think he even qualified as a rival. So I remained calm and asked, "You came here just to say that?"
Song chuckled darkly. "I heard you've been having a rough time. That's great. Since you'll be out of here soon, I figured I'd drop by and have a little fun."
My eyes narrowed. I sneered, "I hope you can handle the fun that's coming."