BTO CH46

Inside the dorm just a single step away, the voices of Hou Jun and the others writing their self-reflections while chatting could still be faintly heard. Then those sounds gradually faded into the distance. In the end, all that remained in Xu Sheng’s ears was a subtle breeze kicked up as Shao Zhan leaned in, alongside the boy’s exceptionally faint breathing.

Xu Sheng shifted his fingers uncomfortably. His slightly curled knuckles were quickly straightened out by Shao Zhan again: “Don’t move around.”

“…” After his heartbeat inexplicably skipped a beat, Xu Sheng could only find something to say to break the silence: “It’s just a minor injury, probably accidentally scraped against the wall earlier. It’s nothing.”

Shao Zhan applied the medicine very gently. Holding Xu Sheng’s hand, he used a cotton swab to meticulously clean the wound.

A moment later, he asked: “Why did you fight?”

Xu Sheng: “What ‘why’ is there for fighting? Does seeing them be eyesores count as a reason? Us school tyrants are just like this. Whenever we see someone who dares act arrogantly in front of Lord Xu, we just can’t resist wanting to beat them up to establish dominance, letting them know who the true boss of Linjiang is.”

Shao Zhan tightened the medicine bottle cap with one hand and raised his eyes to look at him: “Bullshit.”

Xu Sheng: “…”

Shao Zhan: “Keep bullshitting.”

Xu Sheng originally didn’t want to say it. Thinking about the fight felt embarrassing no matter how he looked at it. Fighting was satisfying in the moment, but what was there to say afterward? Besides, he didn’t want to bring up that Honghai gang in front of Shao Zhan.

After capping the bottle, Shao Zhan was about to let go of Xu Sheng’s wrist, but before he could pull away, Xu Sheng grabbed him back.

“Because of you,” Xu Sheng said. Since few people walked around here, the motion-sensor light in the hallway had dimmed. With his T-shirt still disheveled from the fight, the black cord slipped out from his neck, exposing his deeply set collarbones. “Because I didn’t want them talking trash about you.”

“What kind of person you are—rather than listening to what others say, it’s better to look with your own eyes.”

Xu Sheng didn’t want to talk about the fight, but there were some words he couldn’t help wanting to tell him. He scratched his hair, the emotions he wanted to express being too complex, leaving his language organization skills offline: “…Not everyone is like that Honghai gang. Look at Monkey and the rest… they…”

They are fucking normal people!

Don’t waste your energy on garbage. That trash isn’t worth letting them bother you.

Just then, someone returned from outside. Footsteps sounded, and the dimmed motion-sensor light lit up along with them.

The moment the light turned on, Xu Sheng seemed to see a flicker deep within Shao Zhan’s eyes. That minute, fragmented light was hidden deeply, finally settling into the teenager’s naturally cold, deep eyes.

Inside the dorm.

Writing a self-reflection for the first time, Hou Jun was scratching his head in frustration: “…I was wrong, I have deeply recognized my mistake… Holy crap, how am I supposed to stretch this to three thousand words?” After scratching his head, he turned to see the two pushing the door open: “Sheng-ge, come claim your A4 paper!”

Xu Sheng froze, then realized there was still the self-reflection matter to deal with.

Walking behind Shao Zhan, he was about to reach out to take it, but saw Shao Zhan place the plastic bag of medicine on the table, then naturally take the stack of paper Hou Jun handed over: “Got a pen?”

Hou Jun: “…” Isn’t this Xu Sheng’s self-reflection? What’s with the Study God acting like he’s going to write it?

“Yeah,” Hou Jun dug out a pen from the side. “There’s another one here.”

Shao Zhan took it, paused for a moment, and said: “Thanks.”

When Shao Zhan said this thank you, he didn’t look at the pen. Hou Jun quickly understood what Shao Zhan was thanking them for: “No problem, no problem! If it were any other classmate in our class, we’d all have rushed up there too.”

Tan Kai also said: “Yeah, it’s really nothing. Though the feeling of fighting… was actually pretty thrilling.”

Old Meng had come too suddenly earlier, giving them no time to savor it. Now while writing their reflections, they reminisced about the scene back then. Yuan Ziqiang said: “Monkey-ge, holy crap, you were truly fierce! I watched with wide eyes as your slipper went flying out, and then you just threw off the other shoe too, beating the Honghai guys senseless with that slipper! I couldn’t tell usually, but your combat power is insane.”

Hou Jun clasped his hands while holding the pen: “You flatter me, you flatter me!”

It was unclear who laughed out loud first, but in the end, the dorm was filled with a chorus of wheezing laughter.

Xu Sheng laughed too. He pulled out a chair to sit down while laughing, asking: “What are you taking the paper for?”

Using his left hand, Shao Zhan deftly wrote the two words ‘Xu Sheng’ in the top-left corner, his knuckles bending as he held the pen, without looking up: “Do you want to write it yourself?”

Getting someone to write a self-reflection for free—he was more than happy to accept. There was no reason to decline.

Xu Sheng: “I don’t.”

Shao Zhan had been “Xu Sheng” for a period of time and had written reflections before. Imitating Xu Sheng’s handwriting to write another reflection wasn’t difficult for him at all. Hou Jun and the others, however, watched in total disbelief, immersed in the bewildering reality that the Study God was actually helping the School Tyrant write a self-reflection.

Morning march was a daily mandatory routine. On the third day of National Defense Education, after the march ended, the students of the four schools weren’t arranged to go to the cafeteria to eat like the past two days. Instead, led by the instructors, they headed toward the plaza they had visited on the opening ceremony day.

Looking at the familiar audio equipment on the plaza, students from each school buzzed with discussion: “Aren’t we supposed to go to the cafeteria?”

“Don’t know. Could some school leader be giving another speech?”

“Probably. Don’t school leaders always love pulling stuff like this? Right now I just hope it ends quickly, I’m starving to death.”

“…”

The commotion was too loud, so the chief instructor barked: “Quiet down, everyone! Do you all want to stand at attention?!”

The four schools were divided into four color blocks, standing neatly within the plaza area waiting for the “leaders” to speak. After debugging the equipment, a leader indeed stepped up.

Director Gu had an iron-blue face. Before coming, he had a premonition that Xu Sheng wouldn’t behave, but he hadn’t expected the nightmare to come true so fast: “My apologies for taking up a bit of everyone’s time. Due to students of our school engaging in fighting and causing trouble during military training… they will deliver a serious self-reflection to all students.”

The moment the word “fighting” came out, a huge uproar erupted across all schools.

The people from Sixth High were fine. Tempered by Xu Sheng’s countless self-reflections, they appeared exceptionally calm in the face of this situation.

Students from other schools were different. How could they have witnessed something so thrilling? Just two days into military training, and they already got a fight and self-reflection combo! “Self-reflection?! Who the hell is so wild?”

Sixth High students glanced at them sideways, thinking in their hearts: Minor scene. Who else could it be? Linjiang Sixth High’s school tyrant, the nightmare of countless teachers—

Director Gu began reading the list of names: “Company Seven, Xu Sheng.”

Director Gu put the main culprit first. After reading his name alone, he caught his breath before continuing: “…Hou Jun, Tan Kai, Yuan Ziqiang. The four of you, step forward.”

When Xu Sheng stepped out from the crowd, the sensation caused was no smaller than when Shao Zhan went up as student representative on the first day.

Handsome guys attracted attention wherever they went, let alone a handsome guy fresh out of a fight. Xu Sheng wasn’t wearing his military cap, nor could his appearance be called compliant with regulations. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Stepping up to the stage in a few strides, he casually grabbed the microphone from the side and handed it to Hou Jun.

What was up with Sixth High? Both times people went on stage, they had this level of looks?

“I was wrong, and I have deeply reflected on my behavior this time,” Hou Jun was the first to reflect. Lacking experience, he was inevitably nervous, and his content was very standard. “I shouldn’t have violated regulations and hurt the students of Honghai…”

Tan Kai and Yuan Ziqiang’s self-reflections were much the same as Hou Jun’s, reading straight from top to bottom to finish it off.

Normally, others should be anxious about not being able to eat breakfast yet, but Xu Sheng, standing at the very end of the line having not spoken yet, held down the crowd. Many people were quietly waiting for him to speak.

Ten-plus minutes later, Yuan Ziqiang stammered through his script: “Our Linjiang Sixth High’s school motto is civilization and harmony. In my future academic career, I will firmly keep it in mind at all times. My self-reflection has concluded, thank you everyone.”

The microphone finally reached Xu Sheng’s hands.

Xu Sheng held the self-reflection script handed to Meng Guowei this morning. Shao Zhan’s writing level was indeed high, opening with a famous quote to elevate the reflection. The morning sun was too fierce; after standing in the sun for half a day, Xu Sheng felt a bit warm all over. He stared at the words on the script, held the microphone, and suddenly changed his mind before opening his mouth.

Standing in the back row of the formation, Shao Zhan looked across the crowd and saw Xu Sheng fold those few sheets of A4 paper up in two or three moves. Then the teenager, with empty hands, spoke into the microphone: “Hello, respected teachers and fellow students. I won’t take up too much of everyone’s time, so I’ll make a brief self-reflection. I feel deeply ashamed, and I have indeed committed a mistake that shouldn’t have been made this time.”

Xu Sheng’s expression was completely natural, entirely different from the three nervous ones reading from scripts earlier, radiating an aura of ‘This is my turf.’

The first half of Xu Sheng’s speech was relatively normal. Just as everyone thought he was actually behaving for once, he suddenly pivoted back to the “mistake” mentioned at the beginning: “The main mistake I made this time is—I shouldn’t have beaten people inside Lüzhou Base.”

Director Gu’s face, which hadn’t even had time to brighten up, turned pitch black. As Xu Sheng’s speech content gradually veered off track, he picked up a familiar scent: “Hurry up and unplug the microphone cord! Get Xu Sheng off the stage! Make him shut up! Has he lost his mind?! Doing whatever he wants at school is one thing, but in front of so many schools this time, does he want to fly into the sky?!”

However, the speed of unplugging the cord couldn’t catch up with Xu Sheng’s speech rate.

“Fighting is prohibited inside Lüzhou Base, and students have an obligation to abide by the base’s rules. I should have gone outside to beat them up.”

The teenager’s voice was flamboyant. Perhaps because he hadn’t slept enough before morning march and had been lounging in the sun for half a day, his voice carried a hint of laziness. He smiled toward Yang Shiwei below the stage: “If certain people say another word they shouldn’t next time, I’ll beat them up every single time I see them.”

“Self-reflector, Xu Sheng.”

As soon as Xu Sheng finished speaking, the whole venue erupted in uproar!

Xu Sheng’s words formed a stark contrast with the “civilization, harmony” school motto used as the closing line by the previous self-reflector, Yuan Ziqiang.

Director Gu: “…”

Meng Guowei: “…”

All teachers and leaders of Linjiang Sixth High: “…” Their Linjiang Sixth High was completely ruined.

After finishing his reflection, Xu Sheng wanted to hand the microphone back to the instructor beside him, but the instructor actually didn’t dare take it.

All the students from other schools below exploded: “Holy shit, this bro is wild as fuck! Is he reading a self-reflection?!”

When had they ever heard this kind of self-reflection? Summarized into four words: I’ll fight next time.

Is he crazy?!

Arrogant to this extent?

“Impressed,” someone below actually applauded. “A hero isn’t judged by his origin. Even though this bro isn’t from our school, I’m thoroughly impressed.”

Director Gu could no longer suppress his towering rage. He didn’t care about all those schools watching below or maintaining an elegant image. His image had been utterly destroyed by Xu Sheng’s few sentences. He took off the jacket he was wearing for shade, threw it into Meng Guowei’s hands, rolled up his sleeves, and sprinted onto the stage: “Xu Sheng! You like fighting so much, don’t you? I’ll let you know what beatings from society feel like! Don’t run, stand right there, you little brat! What the hell were you saying up there? I see you’ve forgotten why flowers are so red again—”

Director Gu’s entrance plunged the scene into chaos. Meng Guowei ran up to hold him back: “What… calm down, everyone calm down…”

Meng Guowei was in a fluster, failing to notice that the pride of Sixth High, Student Shao Zhan, who shouldn’t have appeared on stage right now, also stepped out from the formation and stepped onto the stage in a few strides.

The only ones who noticed were the students below the stage.

Students from all schools had a deep impression of Sixth High’s exceptionally aloof student representative from opening day. Many girls had him on their minds, not expecting to see him step onto the stage right now… Their thoughts paused collectively for a moment before continuing to think: he went up onto the stage to protect the one who fought.

Midst the chaos, utilizing whatever was at hand.

Xu Sheng simply hid behind Shao Zhan, dodging while saying: “Yeah, Director Gu, calm down a bit.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to calm down!” Director Gu pointed at Xu Sheng, searching around for a handy prop. “Today it’s either me dying or you little brat perishing—”

Xu Sheng’s buddy Zhang Feng stood below the stage, utterly flabbergasted: “Holy shit.”

Today’s battle of Xu Sheng’s could be recorded into the history books of Linjiang Sixth High.

Things were far too chaotic on stage. Shao Zhan couldn’t get a solid footing, quickly getting bumped into again by a panicked Hou Jun. Hou Jun couldn’t handle it and wanted to find a chance to slip off stage. Before stepping down, Hou Jun offered sincere praise: “Zhan-ge, being able to step forward at a time like this makes you a real man! You hold the line, I’m out.”

Shao Zhan: “…”

Under the scorching sun, the plaza was in total chaos.

Shao Zhan had zoned out for a moment while standing below watching Xu Sheng and the others deliver their self-reflections earlier. His gaze had crossed through layers of crowd, finally landing on the person on stage.

Linjiang Sixth High held no special significance for him prior to his sophomore year.

It was merely a different environment where nobody knew him, allowing him to pull back all his thoughts and emotions to focus on studying.

Pulling them back to act as a “model student.”

Habitually keeping his distance from the crowd.

From when did it start? Shao Zhan asked himself.

From when did things start to change?

Time rewound back to the day the two of them met for the first time. The wind had been strong that day, the summer cicadas buzzing incessantly. A teenager in a black T-shirt squatted high up on the wall before jumping down, leaping straight into his world.