Chapter 20 – Beating People

Ma Xiaoding sent him the address.

Linqing Road, which was near No.1 High School, was a leisure and entertainment street. Internet cafes, chess and card rooms, KTVs, billiards halls, and other such venues were all available there. It was a place where many students from the No.1 High School went to play after class, and was also a gathering place for gangsters.

Song Yu looked around everywhere after getting off the bus, but couldn’t find the place.

So, he asked Ma Xiaoding.

[ I’ve arrived on Linqing Road. What’s the specific location. ]

The Sadako profile image paused for a long time. Ma Xiaoding thought for a moment but didn’t know how to explain it. The location was too remote, and there was no specific landmark.

Finally, he shifted his gaze and looked outside. Inspiration hit, and the literary, artistic part of his soul came out to give it a try.

[ Sadako Won’t Forget Those Who Dug The Well: Brother Yu, look up at the sky. ]

Song Yu held his cell phone and fell into a daze for a few seconds. A strange impulse overtook him, and he listened to him and looked up at the sky.

There were some birds roosting on the utility poles. The blue sky was endless, with many clouds in the sky. There was nothing special about it, and even after paying careful attention, he couldn’t find anyone looking out the window and waving at him.

Song Yu didn’t get it, so he typed.

[ ? ]

Ma Xiaoding’s reply came especially quickly this time.

[ Do you see a cloud that looks like a marshmallow. ]

Song Yu: “……”

Ma Xiaoding was beside himself with delight.

[ I’m to the right side of that cloud! Follow it and you’ll find me! Brother Yu, my game is about to start! Talk later! ]

Song Yu: “……”

Was he crazy!

Xie Sui looked at his expression and smiled, “What’s the matter?”

Song Yu turned off his cell phone and said expressionlessly, “Nothing much. The number of people to beat up may have just increased by one.”

Xie Sui couldn’t help laughing. He asked gently, “What’s the internet cafe called?”

Song Yu thought for a moment, “Something with ‘Hua’ in it.”

Xie Sui lifted his gaze and looked at the street they were on. Jing City was a place that he remembered very clearly from his childhood. At the beginning, in order to make money, he’d basically run through all the areas around No.1 High School. The name had ‘Hua’ in it, the location was remote, and it wouldn’t be easily found by teachers. He soon remembered. His pupils contracted slightly and he hefted the plastic bag as his long legs strode forward, “Follow me.”

As a newcomer to the city, Song Yu was naturally well-behaved and obedient.

They crossed the road and made their way into an alley between two buildings. After taking a few steps into the alley, there was a staircase.

Xie Sui said, “Second floor.”

Song Yu’s mouth dropped open. He was very surprised, “This internet cafe is so remote. How do you know about it?”

Xie Sui smiled briefly, “I used to work here.”

Song Yu’s brain stalled for a second, “You’ve really had a large variety of part-time jobs.”

Xie Sui didn’t answer this question. His eyes narrowed slightly, “You’re going to beat people up, but you don’t even know the location?”

Song Yu waved his hand, “Not to mention the location, I don’t even know what kind of person I’m going to fight.”

Xie Sui: “……”

This was very much Song Yu’s style.

Second floor, internet cafe.

When Song Yu walked in, Ma Xiaoding had already lost. He slapped the table and tore off his headphones in a rage, smacking the little fatty beside him with his hand, “In the last wave, I told you not to go up, I told you not to go up! But you insisted on playing recklessly! I’m so angry! You’re taking the blame for losing this game!”

The little fatty wrapped his arms around his head in pain, “I was wrong, I was wrong, Brother Ding, I was wrong.”

“Tsk.” In a seat some distance away from them, a tall and thin youth in a white t-shirt sneered, “Enough, Marksman. You’d better take the blame honestly like you should. You were the breakthrough point for your team. A 1/9 marksman1, badass, badass.”

Ma Xiaoding refused to accept this, “A website popped up halfway through the game! It doesn’t count! Again!”

The youth with the white t-shirt smirked, “Tsk, just admit it if you can’t afford to lose. Why come up with so many excuses.”

Ma Xiaoding: “… F*ck, you’re going crazy just because you won a game. Tonight at nine o’clock, the dormitory entrance. Me and you will have a fight. If you don’t come, you’re a grands––”

His trash talk suddenly came to a stop and the last ‘son’ was swallowed back down. He stared, wide-eyed, at the people who’d just come in.

Song Yu had been calling Ma Xiaoding constantly as he went up the stairs. Yet as a result, Ma Xiaoding was fully focused on the game and ignored his vibrating phone. He hadn’t picked it up at all.

Now that he was seeing him in person.

Song Yu’s expression was cold as he hung up the phone.

Ma Xiaoding looked at him. He was stupefied all over, “……” How did Brother Yu get here so fast!!

It was just that he hadn’t yet had time to explain when Song Yu had already strode over with big steps, his expression so dark that it was clear he wished he could chop him to bits.

Ma Xiaoding raised his hands up in surrender, “Brother Yu, I can explain, just now, I really didn’t hear the cell phone ringing.”

Song Yu sneered and pulled up their chat conversation, “Don’t be anxious. You can start off by first explaining, where is this marshmallow shaped cloud?”

Ma Xiaoding: “……”

??? Didn’t people have any sense of romance these days?

Wasn’t it particularly poetic to follow the clouds?

*

Ma Xiaoding covered his beaten forehead and walked ahead of him, “When I went out to use the toilet, I heard them talking about those nasty stories as they walked. It was really irritating. Let’s go, Brother Yu, we’ll go challenge them.”

“Third floor, third floor, I personally watched them go up to the third floor.”

Song Yu, who’d been planning to give up his career as a school bully, turned down the corners of his lips and didn’t want to talk to this negative influence of a youth about these things. He purposely slowed down his steps and waited for Xie Sui.

Ma Xiaoding’s little followers were frightened when they saw this young man who could make their big brother bow and show so much respect.

His appearance was delicate and tender, but there was no hesitation in his actions when he attacked, his moves ruthless and unreasonable. It was clear with a glance that he wasn’t good to provoke.

And the key point was… wasn’t the person following behind him Xie Sui?

These people and Xie Sui went to junior high together. In their impression of him, other than his outstanding school performance and appearance, he was silent, gloomy, and lonely.

It was just that the Xie Sui right now was a little different from the one they remembered.

There were still some similarities. That cold aura that rejected people from thousands of miles away hadn’t changed.

However, it gave people a very different feeling.

In the past, Xie Sui was like a vine growing tenaciously in the dark, wrapping his body with thorns as he lived in a repressed and numb manner. It only took a glance at him to feel his gloominess.

Now, it was different. That gloominess had become a kind of indescribable temperament, and his every move seemed very elegant and leisurely. His eyes were a little cold regardless of whether they held a smile or not, and he looked careless, yet dangerous.

These little followers trailed behind them in silence.

In the corridor, Song Yu raised up his head and asked him, “Do you remember what I said to you about beating up Zhu Zhixing at the start of school?”

Xie Sui’s steps paused. He instantly came to a conclusion, his dark eyes gazing at him as he laughed lightly, “So, what you said about beating people up is actually getting revenge for me?”

“Ah?” Song Yu reflected on whether or not he was being too involved. Those who were courteous for no reason were usually preparing for treachery or theft. He felt a little guilty as he covered up, “That’s not it, it’s that their restaurant’s cooking is too black-hearted.”

Xie Sui: “Oh?”

Ma Xiaoding now regarded Xie Sui as one of his own people. After all, any desk mate of Brother Yu’s was a friend of his.

He was leading the way up ahead, and his hearing wasn’t very good. He only heard Xie Sui’s question.

In order to reestablish his image in Brother Yu’s heart, he rushed up to build up credit for Song Yu, “Isn’t that the case? Brother Yu originally didn’t intend to come. He was planning to study properly and ignore all these messy things. Yet as a result, as soon as he heard me mention that Zhu Zhixing was plotting against you, and that it seemed that he wanted to beat you up, Brother Yu’s words changed immediately! He asked me for the address! And he came all the way over without stopping! You tell me, does it mean anything? Tsk, Xie Sui, hey, our Brother Yu is very sincere towards you.”

Song Yu: “……”

Damn it, Ma Xiaoding, you’re dead.

The lighting in the corridor was very dark and the two people were standing very close together. Song Yu could clearly hear Xie Sui’s chuckle.

His breath was a little hot, and the laughter in his ears left an almost physical touch.

Song Yu gritted his teeth, “Don’t listen to him, he’s talking blindly.”

Xie Sui had always indulged him. His eyes seemed to hold starlight in the darkness, and his tone carried a smile, “Okay.”

Song Yu deliberately slowed down his steps as he recalled what Ma Xiaoding had said about him. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he was.

In <Gentle Control>, Xie Sui had suffered too much bullying and insults during his school days. Regarding this person, Chen Zhijie, he didn’t have much of an impression of him from back when he was skimming through the original book. However, using Xie Sui’s grandmother as a threat was something that Gong #2 from the original novel had done before, forcing Xie Sui to accompany him.

Using close relatives as a threat was too low of a blow. He couldn’t figure out how a high school student could come up with such a trick.

Song Yu said, “I still feel that he should give you an apology for your three years in junior high.”

Xie Sui’s eyelashes trembled and he gave a smile that wasn’t a smile.

Song Yu stared at the stairs and walked forward step by step. He spoke quietly to himself, “Yeah, that’s it.”

Based on Zhu Zhixing’s character, he’d been scared off by Ma Xiaoding and wouldn’t dare to spread rumors. However, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn’t do anything more than that in the future.

It was better to give him a memory he couldn’t forget, so that he would always have a deep understanding of what could and couldn’t be said.

Ma Xiaoding stormed up to the third floor, which was a small billiards hall.