“Alas, I have a difficult life.”
He had a bitter look on his face. He then slowly got up while whining. He felt a little nervous as he walked over. Although he was aiming for a serious look, he came off as fierce.
“Junior.”
Xiao Ma hesitated for a moment when he approached her. He tapped on Mengmeng’s table and attracted their attention. Then, the image of an arrogant male lead in dramas appeared in Xiao Ma’s mind.
The corners of his lips were lifted gently and he wore a slightly sinister smile. He did resemble the images in his mind to some extent, but if a grown-up were to see that, he would definitely be deemed as stupid.
“Let’s be friends. My elder brother Lei wants to know you and he’s sincere about it. He’s very famous in school, and even some high school students know him. No one would dare to trouble you in school if you make friends with Brother Lei. What do you say?”
“Us being friends?” Mengmeng tilted her head slightly and narrowed her big eyes.
Li Muen, who knew her very well, was worried that Mengmeng would roast this eighth grade senior while he was probably being wrong.
“Yes, friends are also divided into different categories. There are ordinary friends, familiar friends, close friends, confidants, even boyfriends and girlfriends. No matter what kind of friend you want to be, our elder brother Lei can agree to it,” said Xiao Ma with a smile.
“I see…”
Mengmeng was just about to roast him when…
Bang!
Standing opposite him, next to Li Muen, Bei Jin’nan suddenly slammed the table.
His face was a little red due to his flaring anger.
“This is already the third time.”
Bei Jin’nan’s voice was trembling like an injured bull.
“Oh?”
Xiao Ma was stunned for a moment, and then he realized what was going on.
Elder brother Lei had asked him to come and look for this junior, but he had failed the first two times and was even humiliated. Two days prior, on his second visit, that little escort had told him that Mengmeng was unwilling so they should stop provoking her. He just ignored whatever he had said.
This day happened to be the third time.
Was he getting impatient?
Xiao San was already in the eighth grade. He was the one in charge of the bullying while following elder brother Lei. Who would dare to speak this harshly to him?
“Are you looking for death?” Xiao Ma directly lashed out at him.
“What did you say?”
“How can you talk to Nan like that?”
The two little sidekicks beside Bei Jin’nan suddenly stood up. There were several tables around them where more than a dozen students were seated. They started making noises upon seeing the commotion unfold, and eight or so gathered around to see.
That seemed to have angered Xiao Ma a little.
“Haha.” Xiao Ma laughed at him and then shouted, “Elder brother Lei, someone is looking for trouble!”
Blah blah blah!
Zhou Lei had been looking in that direction; he had a cold expression on his face.
Several students around him—as well as those who knew Zhou Lei in that area of the canteen—got up at once and gathered around him.
More than thirty people were gathered around them in no time.
The students gathered around Bei Jin’nan; those who had gone over to help started to panic.
They were in the class that received the most attention. All of them were good at studying, but they were completely incapable of fighting. In the entire First Middle School, there were also many specially-admitted students in the ordinary classes who had paid to get in. There were many who were not good in their studies; they loved to play around and waste their time doing other things.
“Little bastard, you’re new here and you’re already this arrogant?”
“You guys don’t want to stay in this school? You even dare to provoke elder brother Lei?”
“…”
There were many students who loved drama. Many people moved closer to see when they saw the commotion; then they saw it was Zhou Lei from the eighth grade. All those who knew him came over and a crowd of more than forty was formed in less than half a minute.
Some of the sixth graders who were new to the school were also watching them. They felt a little terrified; they were already going to meet the big shot from the eighth grade after only a few days of entering the school.
Inside the canteen, many people standing close to Xiao Ma were pointing at Bei Jin’nan and scolding him.
Bei Jin’nan was a little nervous, but he did not panic. Although Zhou Lei had more people on his side, they would never start a fight in the canteen if they didn’t have enough people.
He was very smart. At this point in time, he remained silent and waited for their elder brother Lei.
Soon, under everyone’s watchful gaze, Zhou Lei stood up and walked over with a frown. The crowd cleared a long, straight path for him.
This scene shocked many. It felt as if Zhou Lei was the ‘big brother’ of that group of people.
In fact, most of them were just there for the drama.
Zhou Lei walked towards the center of the commotion without anyone obstructing him. He glanced at Bei Jin’nan without saying a word.
Zhou Lei’s big brother was also a tough guy. When he first met him, he had felt that the former was very handsome; he always learned something from him, all the things that would make himself look cool, such as how he presented himself.
He did not say a word, and yet his presence was overwhelming.
Some people carried themselves differently, but Zhou Lei’s demeanor came with the dozens of people beside him. He stared directly into Bei Jin’nan’s eyes for three seconds.
He did not expect that guy to hold the stare without a trace of fear.
“Interesting.”
Zhou Lei grinned and sneered.
Then, he looked at Mengmeng and said, “I’ve heard of your name. Zhang Yumeng, are you interested in being my friend?”
Seeing this, Mengmeng looked up and pondered for two seconds.
“Will I look cool being your friend?”
“What do you think?”
Zhou Lei spread out his arms towards her.
“Still, I think I can also be cool.” Mengmeng’s pondering gaze returned and she looked at the dozens of people around her.
“I just want us to be friends. There’s no reason to refuse me, right?” Zhou Lei looked at Mengmeng with heightened interest.
She looked beautiful from afar, and now that they were closer he was able to have a better view; she looked even more beautiful.
He finally experienced what it was like for his heart to thump for someone.
Unexpectedly, Bei Jin’nan was furious as he stood beside them.
“Enough!” Bei Jin’nan gritted his teeth. “Don’t disturb us again, or I’ll make you regret it.”
“What the heck?”
Xiao Ma’s eyes widened furiously and he was about to go forward to teach that arrogant fella a lesson.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Lei waved his hand.
He had already caught sight of a few teachers who were quickly making their way over.
“Let’s go outside if you have the guts. We can talk by the school’s side gate,” Zhou Lei said.
“You have this many people and you’re picking on the few of us?” Bei Jin’nan clenched his fists. He wanted to go, but he knew that he would be beaten up if he did. He felt a little embarrassed, so he could only fight him through other means. He took a deep breath and said, “Why don’t we meet another time?”
“Hmm?”
Zhou Lei was stunned.
“Did he just provoke me?”
“Set the time then.” Zhou Lei frowned.
“After school, at the side gate you mentioned.”
“Okay, that’s what you said.”
Zhou Lei nodded and took one last glance at Mengmeng. “Think about it. I’ll come find you again tomorrow.”
After that, Zhou Lei turned around and left, walking towards the entrance of the canteen.
“You better watch out!” Xiao Ma pointed to Bei Jin’nan and said loudly, “If you don’t come today, I’ll teach you a lesson tomorrow. Son of a bitch, remember it!”
The whole canteen was a little quiet.
A few teachers ran in and started scolding them loudly by then.
“What are all of you doing? What are you trying to do by gathering like this? Disperse immediately!”
“…”
The crowd dispersed instantly like a trace of smoke upon hearing the teacher’s reprimand.
Bei Jin’nan sat down with an angered look.
“Nan, what the heck! I’ll contact our old classmates later. So what if they’re in eighth grade? I’m not afraid of them.”
“But there are so many of them.”
The two students next to him were a little worried. They felt that Zhou Lei was very powerful.
“Nan, he just wants to get to know Zhang Yumeng. Why do you care so much?” Ning Hui was a little angry and said, “Let them be! It has nothing to do with you!”
“What do you mean?”
Bei Jin’nan seemed to be triggered by what she had said. He replied harshly, “I like her, so how is it none of my business? And what has this got to do with you?”
“Nan, you…”
Pfft. It went straight to the heart. She was very upset.
Ning Hui burst into tears and ran away covering her face.
Bei Jin’nan scratched his head and looked at Mengmeng. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone disturb you. I’ll deal with those eighth graders tonight.”
“Don’t, don’t.”
Mengmeng made herself smaller. “Beibei, don’t like me. It’s dangerous to like me.”
Mengmeng felt that it wasn’t right to not care about him when he had gotten himself into all that trouble because of her.
She pouted and said, “Don’t throw a tantrum. I’ll ask my Dad to go there tonight. It’s not a big deal anyway, he can solve it by just saying something. Since he wants to be my friend, he can take this chance to say this to my Dad.”
“You can’t do that. Mengmeng, you can’t meddle with this matter. I’m only going to talk to them after school. I won’t get rough with them.” Bei Jin’nan’s face became serious.
“It’s up to you then.”
Mengmeng pouted her lips and quickly looked at Li Muen. “Muen, those eighth graders looked so cool! Should we start a club?”
“Ah? What club?” Li Muen was stunned.
“Just an ordinary club. I want to be a big sister and see what it’s like,” Mengmeng muttered.
“Big sister? Okay, I’ll be your secretary,” Li Muen said with a smile. She felt the idea was quite novel.
“But I have to ask my Daddy about it.”
Mengmeng curled her lips again and said, “My father spoils me, he’ll agree to anything, but my Mummy doesn’t. She’ll definitely disagree if she knows about it. Ah, I’ll think about it later when I get home.”
It seemed that Mengmeng knew full well how things worked.
Bei Jin’nan became a little intoxicated after seeing Mengmeng’s pouted lips.
“I’ll go out first.”
Bei Jin’nan flashed them a smile and walked out of the canteen. He took out his mobile phone and dialed a number.
“Brother, someone wants to beat me up. Tonight, at the east gate of our school…”
At the same time, on Zhou Lei’s side, Xiao Ma and the others were also thinking.
“That dude seemed very confident, seeing that he decided on the time right away. It seems like he’s not scared, either. Will he be bringing outside help?”
“I don’t care who he brings. He’s too arrogant while he’s only a sixth-grader. We have to make sure he understands the rules around here.”
“Forget it,” Zhou Lei frowned and said, “Don’t bring a big crowd tonight. I’ll ask my brother to come over just in case.”
Jealousy in relationships was something that teachers were worried about and it happened frequently.
During the afternoon, the atmosphere was a little strange in Zhou Lei’s eighth-grade class. Several classmates were looking forward to the end of their classes.
Finally, the bell rang.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
More than a dozen of his male classmates left the classroom building together and headed to the east gate.
By the time they reached the eighth grade, many students went home on their own as they lived close by.
As soon as he had arrived at the playground, he saw more than twenty people waiting.
A few of them were Zhou Lei’s eighth-grade friends. They played around a lot and were infamous. Several of them belonged to the same clique, which was the most powerful one in their grade.
“Lei, let’s go and see who is brave enough to look for you!”
Two friends walked up to Zhou Lei and said with a smile, “I heard you called your big brother, so we didn’t call too many people, in case it gets too messy.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Lei nodded and led the crowd to the east gate of the school.
It was a very remote place at the back of a neighborhood. There was a small forest dozens of meters away, where a small fight was about to break out.
