There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone.

“Probably not yet. Who can figure out what Young Master Chu Ji is thinking? Hey, why are you asking about Young Master Chu Ji? Didn’t I tell you? Spread whatever rumors you want, but don’t drag Young Master Chu Ji into it. If our business ends up implicating him, and he gets angry, the three of us will pay dearly. Got it?”

Tang De replied nervously.

“Brother Wang, what are you saying? You could give me three extra lives, and I still wouldn’t dare sell out Young Master Chu Ji.”

“Hmph. Who knows if you young people know when to keep your mouths shut? Forget it. Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”

“No, that’s all. Thanks for the trouble, Brother Wang.”

Tang De put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Zhou Heng anxiously.

Zhou Heng turned to Zhang Xuan.

Honestly, after all that, Zhou Heng was already eighty percent convinced. But if Zhang Xuan could point out a lie in Tang De’s story, Zhou Heng wouldn’t hesitate to throw out everything he believed.

But Zhang Xuan didn’t say what Zhou Heng had hoped to hear.

“There probably isn’t any doubt. Just look at how resolute Wang Ping was in front of the principal. A few punks couldn’t possibly have pushed him into acting like that.”

Zhou Heng clicked his tongue and kicked Tang De.

“Get lost.”

Tang De scrambled out of the bathroom.

Seeing that, Lu Yile came in from the doorway, asking as he entered,

“Get it out of him?”

Zhou Heng didn’t even look at Lu Yile. His voice was low and dejected as he replied,

“Yeah. I found out. I messed with someone I can’t afford to mess with.”

Zhang Xuan walked over and recounted what Tang De had said to Lu Yile. As soon as he finished explaining, Lu Yile’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Chu Ji? You actually messed with Chu Ji? Zhou Heng, you’ve got some nerve. You managed to get on the wrong side of someone that powerful. I’ve gotta hand it to you—you really know how to get into trouble.”

Zhou Heng glared at Lu Yile.

“Quit running your mouth. That kid Tang De talks a lot of shit, and we don’t even know if any of it’s true. What do you think—is it possible Tang De and those two punks made the whole thing up to bluff me?”

Lu Yile’s eyes shifted as he rubbed his chin.

“Could be a bluff. Hard to say. Hang on, Zhou Heng.”

Lu Yile pulled out his phone, made a few calls, and talked things over with several people. When he slipped the phone back into his pocket, he nodded.

“Whether it’s true that Chu Ji holds a grudge against you or not, at least what Tang De said earlier about Chu Ji is true.”

“Chu Ji really has been pursuing Yang Yun these past few months. And that idiot Wang Ping really was competing with Chu Ji for her. Afterward, he mocked Chu Ji’s family in front of the whole class, saying they’d made their fortune through the underworld and that three generations of them were rotten.”

Zhang Xuan couldn’t help commenting from the side,

“If I didn’t know what a piece of crap Wang Ping was, just hearing that would make me think he was somebody important.”

Zhou Heng spread his hands.

“So you’re saying Tang De was telling the truth?”

Lu Yile shook his head, his expression grave.

“Hard to say. Here’s what we’ll do. Class is about to start, so let’s all head back. I’ll look into what kind of history Chu Ji and Wang Ping have while I’m in class. If I hear anything, I’ll message you.”

That made sense. The three of them split up in the bathroom and went back to their classrooms.

The first class that morning was English.

With the name Chu Ji weighing on his mind, Zhou Heng, sitting in the last row, couldn’t focus on the lesson at all. He took out his phone, opened the group chat with Lu Yile and Zhang Xuan, and sent a message.

“Any news yet?”

Lu Yile: Give it a little longer. I’ve already asked someone to look into it. We should hear back soon.

Zhang Xuan: Zhou Heng, have you thought about what you’ll do if it turns out you really did offend Chu Ji?

Zhou Heng: What can I do? Money probably won’t be enough. Who knows if he’ll keep coming after me? I’m thinking I should go talk to him, explain that it was a misunderstanding, and see if I can get Young Master Chu to forgive me.

Lu Yile: That won’t work. Zhou Heng, you’d be putting yourself at a huge disadvantage. It’d be just like begging Chu Ji to go easy on you. What if Chu Ji gets a kick out of it and, once he sees you backing down, decides to stomp on you a few times?

Zhang Xuan: What are you trying to say, Lu Yile?

Lu Yile: What do you think? Sure, we don’t have the whole picture yet, but based on my experience, there’s no doubt our Zhou here really did offend Chu Ji. I’m just thinking about how Zhou Heng should handle it if things go as badly as they can.

Zhou Heng: From the way you’re talking, Lu Yile, do you have a solution?

Lu Yile: It’s not exactly a solution. Hey, Zhou Heng, let me tell you a story. Once, there was a punk who offended a mob boss. The boss swore he’d kill him. So what did the punk do?

He took a knife to the man he’d offended and told him, “If you hate me this much, stab me in the gut a few times.” Then, without waiting for an answer, he stabbed himself a few times in the thigh, the arm, and the chest, and tossed the bloodied knife in front of the man.

Guess what the man did after that?

Zhou Heng: ???

Zhou Heng: ???

Lu Yile: Heh, you can’t figure it out? The man backed down and called off the hit. Know why?

Zhang Xuan: ???

Zhou Heng: ???

Lu Yile: Because that punk was a real hard case. He didn’t even care if he lived or died, so who knew what he might do? And he’d already humbled himself and given the man a way to save face, so the man took it.

Zhou Heng: You’re saying I should take a knife to meet Chu Ji and stab a few holes in myself to show him I’m tougher?

Lu Yile: What? No! We’re students. We don’t need to pull some gangster move like that. Here’s the plan: once I confirm Chu Ji’s behind everything that’s happened to you, Zhou Heng, find a chance to meet him. Apologize first. Tell him saving Wang Ping was just an honest mistake, and keep your attitude humble.

“If Chu Ji forgives you, great. If he doesn’t, tell him you’ve got a butterfly knife on you and let him decide whether he’s willing to forgive you.”

Zhang Xuan: Are you sure this plan will work? What if it doesn’t solve anything and just makes Chu Ji hate you even more?

Lu Yile: It should be fine. What kind of person is Chu Ji? He’s a rich young master from high society, practically born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Why would someone that far above us bother holding a grudge against ordinary people like us?

“Maybe Zhou Heng said something that annoyed him, so he decided to mess with Zhou Heng a little. To Chu Ji, it was like seeing an ant he didn’t like and deciding to crush it. But if, just as he’s about to crush the ant, he finds out it’s poisonous and can bite back, that changes things.”

Zhou Heng: I hate to admit it, but that actually kind of makes sense.

Zhang Xuan: Yeah. If you can actually get face-to-face with Chu Ji, this plan shouldn’t be a problem. All right, I’m with Lu Yile on this.

They chatted for a few more minutes. Then Lu Yile suddenly went quiet. When he showed up again, he sent a message.

“Zhou Heng, come get the butterfly knife from me after second period. I’ll go with you to the sports field during third period. Chu Ji has PE there.”

Zhou Heng leaned back in his chair.

The young man felt a little helpless.

Damn it. Had it really come to this after all?