"Boss, are you okay?"
Kang Xiaobo had been in a state of high excitement all morning; these past two days had been the most "manly" days of his life.
Kang Xiaobo had once read a post online about things a man should do before the age of thirty, and one of them was to have been in a fight.
Previously, Kang Xiaobo thought he would never be able to achieve this, but he never expected to accomplish it unexpectedly on the eve of the college entrance exams.
During the morning exercise, Kang Xiaobo was so hyper that he almost went to the police station with Lin Yi, but fortunately, he was stopped in time by a look from Lin Yi.
Lin Yi himself didn't care; he had come here on a mission assigned by the old man anyway, though the mission was somewhat nonsensical and its special nature had yet to become apparent.
As for schooling, it was secondary, but Kang Xiaobo was different. If this incident left a stain on his permanent record, it would affect him for a lifetime.
"I'm fine. The police figured it out quickly. It was Black Panther bringing social elements into the school to cause trouble."
As Lin Yi spoke, he saw Zhong Pinliang standing not far away, ears pricked, and couldn't help but find it amusing. Was this kid afraid Black Panther would implicate him?
"That's good then."
Kang Xiaobo breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't gone to the police station with Lin Yi this morning for fear that Lin Yi would think he lacked loyalty. Now that Lin Yi was fine, he was naturally happy: "Boss, I'll treat you to something after school to help you calm your nerves?"
"After school? We'll see when the time comes."
Lin Yi glanced at Chu Mengyao ahead of him, thinking to himself that he would have to go back with them after school; he had no choice in the matter.
The first class in the afternoon was with their homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu. It was evident that although Mr. Liu suspected the morning's events were related to Zhong Pinliang, he didn't mention it much. After all, such matters were best handled discreetly to avoid affecting the other students.
"The monthly exams are coming up, so we'll do a small quiz today."
Mr. Liu divided the exam papers into stacks and distributed them to the students in the front row of each group, instructing them to pass them down.
In the senior year of high school, it was common practice to have small tests every two days and major exams every week; many students were already used to it.
Although the morning's events had brought a ripple of excitement to their otherwise dull academic lives, in the precious, time-sensitive life of a high school senior, there was no extra time to dwell on things unrelated to studying.
While the morning's incident had caused endless shock among the tenth and eleventh graders, for the hardworking seniors, it was merely a small interlude in their intense studies.
Except, of course, for those few delinquent campus bullies who didn't study.
The paper passed to Lin Yi was an English exam. English was one of Lin Yi's strengths; he was not only proficient in English but also in several other world languages, which he had learned for the sake of his mission.
Lin Yi did not want to stand out too much. In a top class of a key high school, maintaining a middle-of-the-pack level was enough to get into a decent university, so there was no need for him to have excessively high grades.
He was here to accompany Chu Mengyao through her studies anyway; there was no telling how long that would last.
Therefore, while answering the questions, Lin Yi deliberately got some wrong, and when class ended, he had Kang Xiaobo help him turn it in.
"Boss, how was the test? This one was pretty hard. There were a lot of new words I've never seen before!"
Kang Xiaobo's grades weren't outstanding; he was just at an average level.
"It was alright," Lin Yi smiled. "Not too good."
"Education in the city is definitely stronger than in your village, so the exam questions will be more difficult."
Thinking that Lin Yi hadn't adapted yet, Kang Xiaobo comforted him: "You'll get used to it."
"Yeah."
Lin Yi nodded, unable to explain much to Kang Xiaobo.
Although Lin Yi thought Kang Xiaobo was a good friend, he couldn't tell him about his own business.
Because they simply lived in different worlds.
During the second period of the afternoon, a staff member from the Dean's Office came to notify them that Director Wang Zhifeng wanted to speak with Lin Yi, Zhong Pinliang, Gao Xiaofu, Zhang Naipao, and a few others.
Lin Yi said nothing and simply stood up to walk out of the classroom. Kang Xiaobo was somewhat worried that the school might discipline Lin Yi; after all, carrying a disciplinary record near graduation would be more trouble than it was worth.
However, Lin Yi had no such concerns. Firstly, he held leverage over Wang Zhifeng, and secondly, he was only here to accompany a "princess," and his records were forged anyway; he didn't care about disciplinary actions.
Zhong Pinliang's expression changed. He hesitated for a moment before standing up. Seeing him rise, Gao Xiaofu and Zhang Naipao followed him out.
At the door, Zhong Pinliang stopped and said to Gao Xiaofu and Zhang Naipao, "If Wang Zhifeng asks about this morning, we all say we don't know. Just say Brother Black Panther doesn't have any personal grudge against Lin Yi, and that we only know Black Panther. If he asks who Lin Yi is, we'll just point him out. Everything else has nothing to do with us!"
Gao Xiaofu and Zhang Naipao had also been worried that the school would punish them for this incident. After all, their family backgrounds were not as powerful as Zhong Pinliang's. Zhong Pinliang might be fine, but they might end up as scapegoats.
Hearing Zhong Pinliang's instructions, they immediately nodded in agreement.
Zhong Pinliang looked at Lin Yi's retreating back and clenched his fists in resentment. Today's incident had caused him great embarrassment, and it was all thanks to this transfer student.
He hadn't expected Lin Yi to be so skilled in combat; it seemed his usual way of settling things with fists wouldn't work here.
When they arrived at Wang Zhifeng's office, the Director naturally knew their stories were fabricated after hearing them.
News had already come from the police station: that Black Panther was the security captain at the nightclub owned by Zhong Pinliang's father. Why would a security captain come to a school to cause trouble for Lin Yi for no reason?
If Wang Zhifeng were to claim this had nothing to do with Zhong Pinliang, no one would believe him.
However, Wang Zhifeng had already consulted the principal, and given Zhong Pinliang's family background, the matter could only be handled quietly.
At the police station, Black Panther had already taken full responsibility for everything, so there was no need for Wang Zhifeng to offend anyone further.
Thus, after lecturing Zhong Pinliang and the others, he sent them on their way.
When only Lin Yi remained, Wang Zhifeng didn't ask much about the morning's events. It was obvious that the incident had nothing to do with Lin Yi, so there was no need to press him.
He had kept Lin Yi behind alone to seek his opinion
"Lin Yi, those boys like Zhong Pinliang aren't good people, but because of his family connections, the school can't really do much to them. How about I transfer you to a different class?"
(End of Chapter)