Chapter 12

That day, the middle-aged man talked to them for nearly a whole day. Perhaps he truly regarded these children in front of him as his own. Without him, they would have been arrested, and might have even faced charges! This middle-aged man was Liu Qijin, the secretary of the Hailing Municipal Committee. It was also he who fiercely defended these students in the government meeting.

On March 10, 2010, Longbai Mountain in Puhua District of Hailing City was crowded with over ten thousand people. Leading the procession were three students from Shengze College. They wore mourning clothes and held a black-and-white photo in their hands, their eyes filled with tears. With each step, they were heartbroken by the memories of what the person in the photo had told them. That person in the photo was the same middle-aged man, Liu Qijin, the secretary of the Hailing Municipal Committee. He tragically lost his life in an inexplicable car accident. He had no wife or children; the ones mourning for him were Ye Chen, Cai Erman, Mingzi, and the entire faculty and students of Shengze College. He had bestowed great kindness upon Shengze, without which Shengze would not be what it is today.

The deceased has passed, so what about the current Hailing Municipal Government?

Outside Shengze’s school gates, chaos continued with fighting, people falling, bleeding, struggling, and moaning… Is today going to witness another river of blood at Shengze’s gates?

“Knock knock!”

“Who is it?”

“Zina, it’s Xiao Wei.”

“Xiao Wei? Zina, you…”

“It’s okay, sis, she’s my roommate.”

Zina whispered to Yixuan, who then got up to open the door, and a chubby girl burst into the room!

“Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong!…” The chubby girl almost stumbled to the floor, gasping for breath.

“Take your time, what happened?” Zina looked up at Xiao Wei and asked.

“Your… your brother and his friends got into a fight with some people at the north gate…” Xiao Wei took a deep breath, struggling to express what she meant. Just as Zina was about to get up, she heard Xiao Wei mention Mingzi was involved in the fight and, wide-eyed, collapsed back onto the bed before suddenly jumping up and rushing out the door. Yixuan followed quickly, with Xiao Wei desperately trailing behind.

“Wait… wait for me… oh dear…” Xiao Wei’s small legs couldn’t keep up with the pressure her body exerted, and she lost balance, falling to the ground with a “thud.”

“How could they get into a fight? How…” Yixuan anxiously questioned as they entered the elevator behind Zina.

“Sis, when they get into a fight, it’s a big deal! Oh, what to do! What to do! What to do!…” Zina was on the verge of a breakdown because she knew that these three getting into a fight would definitely be a big deal!

“Zina, don’t worry, don’t worry now.” Yixuan comforted Zina by holding her hand, although she herself was equally anxious in that moment.

In the Administration Office of Shengze College, the elder asked Xiao Yang, “What’s going on outside?”

“Director, it looks like there’s going to be trouble. I heard that our students are fighting with the Fu brothers.”

“Fu family? Which Fu family?”

“The Fu family of Hailing City, of course. There isn’t another Fu family in the city that would be that notable.”

Hearing Xiao Yang’s reply, the elder stood up and quickly walked out of the office. Xiao Yang watched him with a puzzled expression, blinking repeatedly. As the elder left the office, the north gate of the school came into view. He hurriedly descended from the fourth floor and headed briskly toward the north gate.

“Please, open the door. I need to get out, I need to get out!” Zina urgently said to the security guard at the north gate.

“Are you out of your mind? No, you can’t go out!” the crooked-faced security guard shouted as he shook his head.

“I want to go out, open the door!” Just then, a voice as powerful as the ocean came from behind Zina. The stability and authoritarian tone in the voice immediately grabbed the guard’s attention, and both Zina and Yixuan turned to look back at him.

The crooked-faced security guard turned and shouted, “No way! Not even the principal can go out now!”

“Open the door! I’ll take full responsibility for anything that happens! Quickly!” The person behind Zina suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the crooked-faced guard by the collar, and yelled angrily.

The guard quickly glanced at the badge on the man’s chest, which read “Director of the Administration Office,” and grudgingly said, “This… this is on you then!”

The guard opened the door just wide enough for one person to pass through, and the elder from the Administration Office went out.

“You two can’t go out!” the guard said as he attempted to press the button to close the door.

“Ah! Madam President is coming!” At that moment, a chubby student shouted from the bluestone path directly facing the security booth, looking to the right. The guard, hearing this, looked toward the direction of the office building. Taking advantage of this distraction, Zina and Yixuan slipped out of the school gate.

The chubby girl saw Zina and Yixuan make it out, and she plopped down on the ground, breathlessly saying, “Zina, you must… must stop… your brother and the others!”

With Xiao Se’s intelligence, he certainly knew how much the Hailing Municipal Government valued Shengze College. He also must have been aware that the police had already been notified. Knowing all this, it was bold of him to bring people to create trouble and then linger around as if nothing had happened, even with such an infuriating nonchalance. This time, it seems he’s here for more than just standing up for Fu Lei.

In the midst of the mêlée, Xiao Se took the opportunity to move closer to Ye Chen.

“Hell, wearing a trench coat doesn’t make you Mark Lee!”¹ the little guy on the ground muttered defiantly as he glared at Xiao Se.

Meanwhile, outside the north gate of Shengze, on the opposite side of Municipal Road 670 and less than 30 meters from the brawling crowd, a Mercedes-Benz SLK pulled over. Its window lowered, revealing a young man with dyed blond hair. He scrutinized the crowd sharply, then rolled up the window and drove away from the entrance of Shengze College.

When Xiao Se was within five meters of Ye Chen, he suddenly reached into his right boot and pulled out a dagger.

“Damn! The guy means business…” The little guy on the ground naturally saw the dagger in Xiao Se’s hand. Lying there, he frantically searched for something he needed.

“Damn it, watch me take you down, you gangster!” the little guy smirked triumphantly, grabbing an iron rod from the ground and swinging it at Xiao Se.

“Ah!” Xiao Se shouted, reaching for his face, only to pull back his hand and see it covered in blood. The little guy’s swing had been slightly off, striking Xiao Se in the face instead of his intended target, the back of Xiao Se’s head. Seeing his strike land, the little guy quickly flattened himself against the ground like a mouse who, after seeing the cat strike, knew it had narrowly escaped. But, alas, the cat was chasing another big mouse. A mouse can never deceive a cat, unless the cat isn’t interested in eating you!

Suddenly, a faint yet piercing sound reached Xiao Se’s ears. He raised his gun with his left hand and fired three shots at a person involved in the fight. All three shots hit their target, and the person fell to the ground, motionless in a pool of blood.

“Damn it! Go all out!” The fighting crowd quieted momentarily upon hearing the gunshots, then someone shouted, and over ten people charged at Xiao Se, armed with iron rods, daggers, and cleavers.

Xiao Se used only one foot to skillfully knock each assailant to the ground as they approached.

He continued to search for his next target.

“Ah! Brother!” the little guy shouted as he crawled toward the person Xiao Se had just shot.

“Move, move…!” It seemed the little guy had an unusual bond with Ye Chen.

“Uncle Xiao, the police cars are on their way here!” Suddenly, a man dressed in black shouted at Xiao Se, standing right in front of him. Xiao Se ignored him. A flash of light appeared in Xiao Se’s eyes as he aimed his gun at another person. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a hand pressed down on the gun in his grasp, redirecting its aim to the ground.

Xiao Se looked at the elder standing before him, eyes wide with shock and amazement. Who could command such respect and deference from someone as haughty as Xiao Se?

“Take your people and leave quickly,” the elder said, glancing at him before turning to walk toward the school gate.

Xiao Se stared at his retreating figure, shaking his head in disbelief. Once he was sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him, he shouted, “Retreat!”

By this time, the police cars were less than 3 kilometers from Shengze College, their sirens audible, signaling an impending presence before their actual arrival.

At Xiao Se’s command to “Retreat!”, his men moved with the efficiency of well-trained soldiers. In just two minutes, even those who were incapacitated were taken away, and all vehicles had vacated the premises. As the students of Shengze College heard the sirens, they too ceased their brawling, for the injured lying on the ground spoke volumes about the chaos. The immediate concern was to rush those on the ground to the hospital.

The sound of sirens grew louder as the police and Armed Police Force finally arrived at the scene.

“Quick! Dispatch ten vehicles to take the injured to the Armed Police Hospital in Hailing City!” a fat policeman shouted as he emerged from the foremost police car.

“Move! Move! Quick, get him to the hospital!”

“Ye… Ye Chen!”

“Ye Chen…”

Cai Erman heard the little guy shouting and looked in the direction of the sound, seeing him desperately supporting a bloodied Ye Chen.

Mingzi, wiping blood from his face, was initially startled upon hearing Ye Chen’s name. Turning his head, he saw Ye Chen being dragged and his mind went blank for a moment before he rushed over.

“Quick! Make way!” shouted Cai Erman and Mingzi, as they helped get Ye Chen into the fat policeman’s car. The police car stayed running, and as soon as the three got inside, the fat policeman waved to the driver, who accelerated toward the Armed Police Hospital.

Meanwhile, two girls appeared in the car’s wake, waving their hands, but the people inside couldn’t see them.

“Uncle, where are they going?” Zina asked a nearby policeman.

“To the Armed Police Hospital.”

Zina and Yixuan hailed a taxi and headed straight for the hospital.

“Captain, how should we handle these kids?”

“What do you mean handle them? Get the injured children to the hospital immediately!” the fat policeman snapped, clearly displeased with the previous suggestion.

“Investigate! Investigate! I want a thorough investigation!” the fat policeman demanded, growing more hysterical as he surveyed the injured students.

His eyes were filled with anger, urgency, and frustration. He moved through the crowd, helping one student, touching another, despite his large frame, appearing somehow fragile and insubstantial.

As dusk approached, the sky lacked the colorful clouds of May; there were no couples nestled beneath the willow branches; a somber group of people stood, dreams nowhere in sight; enveloped in a society they were born into and must face, the original tranquility and beauty seemed utterly shattered…

The little guy, tears streaming down his face, watched the direction the car had sped off in, wiping his face with a sleeve before slowly turning away.

After sending the injured students to the hospital, the fat policeman immediately ordered that all students involved in the brawl return to the school’s meeting room to await investigation. He also instructed the security guard to ensure all Shengze male students were only allowed to enter, not leave, without his permission.

Footnote:

1. Mark Lee(小马哥):Mark Lee, known as “小马哥” in Chinese, is a reference to the iconic character played by Chow Yun-fat in the 1986 Hong Kong film “A Better Tomorrow”. The character is famous for his trench coat and tough persona.