“Do you dare to fight back with your kung fu?” Ma Lisong lashed out again. The teaching stick was just a bamboo rod, about the thickness of a pinky finger. Ma Lisong controlled his strength well. It would certainly hurt when it hit, but it wouldn’t break the skin. At most, it would leave a red mark that would fade by the end of the day.
Liu Gusheng, unable to do anything about Ma Lisong, simply shut his mouth and stopped speaking.
Seeing Liu Gusheng fall silent, Ma Lisong also stopped hitting him. “Hold that stance well. If I see you move, I’ll hit you ten times.”
The class bell rang, and the kids went to the classroom, leaving Liu Gusheng alone on the ping-pong table. After standing for about ten minutes, he was already sweating profusely, his legs trembling. But he was too afraid of Ma Lisong’s stick to stop, so he gritted his teeth and persevered.
Dumb and Zhang Jiaohua sat at the last desk by the window, grinning as they watched Liu Gusheng practicing his horse stance outside.
If it had been other kids, Gong Ziyuan would have thrown a blackboard eraser at them long ago, but seeing Zhang Jiaohua there, he pretended not to notice.
Liu Gusheng could hold on for only about three more minutes before his legs gave out, and he sat heavily on the ping-pong table. Fearing another beating from Ma Lisong, he burst into loud sobs.
“Why are you crying?” Ma Lisong appeared out of nowhere but didn’t hit him again. “Hurry up and get back to class. Don’t do this again. Or else, see how I’ll deal with you.”
Relieved, Liu Gusheng quickly ran back to the classroom.
Liu Gusheng sat next to Zhang Jiaohua and Dumb. Seeing them laughing, he couldn’t contain his anger.
“Dumb, Jiaohua, just wait until class is over. I’ll deal with you!” Liu Gusheng threatened, shaking his fist.
However, as he sat down, one side of his chair lifted, and he fell to the ground.
Dumb and Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Gong Ziyuan frowned, “What’s going on back there? This is a classroom, not a pasture! Keep it down, others are trying to study.”
Zhang Jiaohua and Dumb tried to suppress their laughter, lying on their desks, shoulders shaking. For kids, holding back laughter is a very hard task.
Liu Gusheng’s fall hurt, but who could he blame? Why did the chair suddenly flip over? He was furious and kept glaring at Zhang Jiaohua and Dumb, waiting for class to end to teach them a lesson.
Neither Zhang Jiaohua nor Dumb liked studying much. Anyway, first-grade material was simple. Especially Zhang Jiaohua, who had learned many ancient characters in his dreams from his Taoist master, practicing calligraphy by drawing talismans and refining water. His handwriting was good. Gong Ziyuan always thought Zhang Jiaohua could be salvaged, but Zhang Jiaohua’s playful nature meant he never followed the expected path.
After class, Liu Gusheng, knowing he couldn’t handle Zhang Jiaohua and Dumb alone, went to get his senior brothers. They were higher grade students who had been practicing martial arts for two to three years. Dealing with Zhang Jiaohua and Dumb would be a piece of cake for them.
As soon as the bell rang, Gong Ziyuan announced the end of class. Liu Gusheng ran out, pulling the door open and charging forward. But unexpectedly, the door rebounded and hit him on the head.
“Bang!”
A dull thud sounded, and Liu Gusheng’s head smacked into the door.
Dumb and Zhang Jiaohua watched him crash into the door, feeling a bit sympathetic. It was too miserable. They didn’t know Liu Gusheng was rushing to bring help to deal with them. Otherwise, they might have laughed even more.
Liu Gusheng, feeling a bit dizzy, slowly opened the door again and walked out before running.
After a while, Zhang Yuanbao came running, panting, “Jiaohua, Dumb, you should go home quickly. Liu Gusheng is bringing people to beat you up.”
“Zhang Yuanbao, how dare you warn them?” Before Zhang Yuanbao finished speaking, a shout came from behind.
Zhang Jiaohua peeked out and saw Liu Gusheng leading some older students. He and Dumb were confused about why Liu Gusheng wanted to beat them up.
“Why is he bringing people to hit us? We didn’t offend him.” Dumb was puzzled and a bit scared.
Zhang Yuanbao was also scared, his voice trembling. But in front of his cousin, he wanted to show his brotherly protection.
“If you want to hit my cousin, you have to get past me first!”
Among Liu Gusheng’s group was Chen Guizhong, who was in the same class as Zhang Yuanbao and often bullied him.
“Fatty, move aside. Grandpa doesn’t want to deal with you today. Hurry up and get out of here, or you’ll regret it.” Chen Guizhong grabbed Zhang Yuanbao’s clothes, trying to pull him aside.
Just then, a tile fell from the roof and hit Chen Guizhong on the head.
“Crack!”
The tile shattered into pieces. Chen Guizhong touched his head and saw his hand covered in blood.
“Oh my god!” Chen Guizhong cried, thinking his head was split open and that he was going to die.
Chen Shunlin, tall and burly, looking like an adult, walked over and kicked Chen Guizhong. “It’s just a scratch, stop whining. With your attitude, you dare to practice martial arts? Go home and drink your mom’s milk.”
Chen Guizhong, afraid of Chen Shunlin, immediately stopped crying. Even his parents weren’t as effective.
Zhang Yuanbao looked up, wondering why tiles were falling. He saw another tile about to fall and ran away.
“Don’t run!” Chen Shunlin shouted, not understanding why Zhang Yuanbao ran.
Crash!
A large piece of tiles rained down. Chen Shunlin and the others couldn’t escape and were hit, bleeding.
“Karma, really karma.” Dumb laughed, relieved to have escaped.
Chen Shunlin and the others, injured and bleeding, couldn’t continue fighting Zhang Jiaohua and Dumb.
Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t surprised. He knew what was going on. Jin Hu and the others were on the roof, throwing tiles down. They asked for trouble by picking on Zhang Jiaohua.
Dumb worried that Chen Shunlin and the others would come back for revenge, remaining anxious.
Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t concerned.
That night, something happened in Meiziao that grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Howl…”
Under the moonlight, a large green wolf howled on the ridge of Duimen Mountain, breaking the peace of Meiziao.
The big green wolf was back!
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