Chapter Thirty-Six: Utterly Unjust

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“F-... Fei... Fei, why did you hit me?” Fang Hao clutched the back of his head, staring in shock at Fei, whose face now twisted with anger. His heart trembled—he had no idea what had provoked this man. That slap had been vicious, the sound crisp and echoing. The force of it left Fang Hao reeling, his mind spinning.

“Hit you? Hell, I should have kicked you! You blind idiot, don’t you know who you’re messing with? Go looking for trouble if you want, but don’t drag me down with you!” The buzz-cut youth spat out his words, then immediately forced a smile in Qin Anyi’s direction. In his agitation, he forgot Qin Anyi’s name again and could only bow awkwardly. “Uh... It’s all a misunderstanding. Just a misunderstanding...”

“I believe your original goal was me. That doesn’t sound like a misunderstanding,” Qin Anyi replied calmly.

The buzz-cut youth was a professional thug who loitered around the school. Fights were nothing new to him; they were as much a part of his job as anything else. Normally, meeting someone stronger wouldn’t scare him so badly—after all, if fists weren’t enough, you could use knives, and if weapons failed, you could always call more people. There was always a solution.

But the impression Qin Anyi left was different—utterly different. More than a dozen men, steel pipes, cleavers, and all sorts of weapons, and yet with just a single encounter, they’d all been knocked out. Who could imagine what kind of gap that was? In the buzz-cut youth’s mind, a monster who could dispatch more than ten men in an instant wouldn’t be stopped even if you surrounded him with an army.

He didn’t know that the fight yesterday afternoon had left Qin Anyi completely exhausted. If he had, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so terrified now. People always fear the unknown, and what they don’t understand. As for what they do know, no matter how frightening, it’s always bearable.

“N-no, really, it’s a misunderstanding! Fang Hao didn’t tell me who we were dealing with. If I’d known it was you, even if you lent me a few extra lives, I wouldn’t dare!” The buzz-cut youth grinned obsequiously.

The other hoodlums, still in the dark, looked on in confusion. One tried to ask what was going on, but was quickly tugged back by a companion—one of the two who’d been knocked down by Qin Anyi the day before. Seeing the others’ questioning faces, he briefly recounted the events of the previous afternoon.

“What? You mean all of our guys ended up in the hospital because of him?” one of them blurted out, then quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, turning in terror to glance at Qin Anyi.

They’d heard rumors of the fight yesterday but didn’t know the details. All they knew was that their boss had led a dozen men and all of them had landed in the hospital at the hands of one opponent. They never imagined that opponent was just a regular high school student. They’d assumed they’d run into some pro fighter.

Fang Hao and his friends were utterly dumbfounded. This was not at all how things were supposed to go. In the blink of an eye, the helpers they’d called seemed to have switched sides and were now acting like the other guy’s lackeys. Fang Hao couldn’t make sense of it. But, as he’d been taught since childhood, when you don’t understand, you should ask.

He was just about to speak up when Fei glared at him with wide eyes and, out of nowhere, slapped him across the face.

Smack.

Fang Hao was stunned, clutching his cheek, his eyes full of disbelief. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally managing to stammer, “Fei... Fei, why did you hit me?”

“Why are you even asking? Hurry up and apologize! You want to get us all killed?” the buzz-cut youth shouted, thoroughly exasperated, especially since Qin Anyi had just calmly spoken to him and was now slowly walking his way. He had no idea why, but the pressure was suffocating, making his whole body tense up. Without thinking, he lashed out at Fang Hao, hoping to distract Qin Anyi.

“Enough. We’re at the school gates. Don’t make a mess. Go on, get out of here. It’s not good to block the entrance with so many people. Don’t show up in front of me again, or I can’t guarantee your safety,” Qin Anyi waved his hand dismissively, bored. These people didn’t interest him at all.

“Yes, yes, we’re leaving now. Take care!” The buzz-cut youth bowed repeatedly as he pulled Fang Hao away, rushing to leave.

“Oh, one more thing,” Qin Anyi suddenly called out.

The buzz-cut youth froze, then turned back with a sycophantic grin. “Yes? What would you like?”

“Hei Pi A-Si still owes me money. When you visit him at the hospital, remind him to pay me back when he gets out,” Qin Anyi said.

Only then did the buzz-cut youth remember that Hei Pi A-Si still owed him over three hundred yuan—a sum he’d earned, and he intended to reclaim it. “Oh? He owes you money? Yes, I’ll be sure to tell him. Is there… anything else? If not, we’ll go now...” Craving only to leave this dangerous place, he agreed without hesitation.

Once Qin Anyi waved them off, the buzz-cut youth and his crew fled at top speed, all bluster gone.

“Fei, what on earth happened? Why... why are you all...” Fang Hao trotted after them, finally out of sight of Qin Anyi and his friends, unable to contain his questions a moment longer. His mind was filled with confusion.

“Fang Hao, it’s no use explaining—you wouldn’t understand. Just remember: this guy is way out of your league. If you see him at school, stay away. Not just you—even Jie couldn’t take him on, let alone me,” the buzz-cut youth said, finally daring to let his nerves show now that they were alone. “You heard Jie ended up in the hospital yesterday, right? That was this guy’s doing. If anyone higher up wants to step in, maybe we’ll be fine. But if no one bothers, just endure it—after all, it’s only one more year. Sometimes you have to bend to survive.”

The mention of Jie left Fang Hao dumbstruck. Qin Anyi had sent Fei’s boss to the hospital? That was a joke, surely—Jie was a big name in the area, known for his fighting skills. Fang Hao’s mouth hung open, realizing there was no hope of revenge today. He could only thank Fei, “Thanks, Fei. Anyway, I appreciate you and the guys coming out. Drinks are on me tonight, just to thank you all for the trouble.”

“Ah, Hao, you’re too generous. We’ll take you up on that,” Fei replied with a forced smile, though inside he was fuming at how unfair it all was. What kind of situation was this? Hired to do a job, failed to deliver, got slapped for his trouble, and still had to pay up—there was no justice in the world!