Chapter 14: Night Market Horror (1)

  The new semester has started quietly, everyone is no longer a freshman, everything is familiar.

  Xu Shaojie went straight to school, Xu Yijie followed Zhang Shaocai directly, without needing Xu Shaojie's concern. The car drove all the way to the school gate, and Xu Shaojie carried his luggage into the school by himself. Now the most important thing is not that he goes to school, but that Xu Yijie needs to quickly start doing things and integrate into society as soon as possible.

  Arrived at the dormitory, Ma Jianhua, Du Yuxin and Sun Yong had already arrived. Although they were a bit far apart, transportation was much more convenient than Xu Shaojie's. At the beginning of the new year, everyone brought some snacks from home, now each took them out to taste, for a while, the dormitory was very lively.

  Xu Shaojie had two things to do. First, he prepared a gift and planned to go to the branch secretary's office tomorrow to give it to him, which also counted as New Year's greetings. Second, he wanted to see Zheng Yuxin, as the winter break was over and he didn't know how she was doing. In the evening, a group of people were chatting and laughing in the dormitory. After going through a semester, the closeness or distance between them had become apparent. In college, those who got along well were generally not classmates, but brothers from the same dormitory, who were the closest.

  After class, Xu Shaojie stayed in the dormitory for a while before getting up and heading to the secretary's office. The gifts were not expensive, mainly some local snacks that seemed warm and intimate. The secretary was delighted when he saw the gifts and learned that some of the snacks were made by Xu Shaojie's mother herself, clean and hygienic. The secretary was moved and patted Xu Shaojie's shoulder hard, saying nothing. Xu Shaojie returned to the dormitory and saw that it was almost 5:30. This time, Zhang Shaocai gave Xu Shaojie a watch, saying that students need to grasp time. Xu Shaojie looked at the flowing time and felt some excitement in his heart, secretly looking forward to seeing Zheng Yuxin. Although nothing had happened between him and Zheng Yuxin, their relationship was very pure and clean, but that feeling had already sprouted in Xu Shaojie's heart. Xu Shaojie knew he was young, and his main task now was to study, but this primitive emotion could not be restrained and was irrepressible.

  At 5:30, Xu Shaojie appeared on time in the cafeteria. Before he even entered the cafeteria, he saw Zheng Yuxin holding a rice bowl and waiting at the entrance of the cafeteria. After a holiday, Zheng Yuxin hadn't changed much, wearing a red cotton-padded jacket, her skin looked even whiter. When she saw Xu Shaojie, a smile appeared on her face.

  "Hello Xu Ban Zhang, Happy New Year."

  "Zheng Yuxin, hello, happy new year."

  The two walked into the cafeteria side by side, lining up at the back of the queue. This time, Zheng Yuxin stood in front and Xu Shaojie stood behind. They rarely stood together like this, and neither of them spoke again.

  Zheng Yuxin's home is in Xilin City, her father Zheng Qingshan is the deputy director of the Municipal Finance Bureau, a regular county-level leader. So, Zheng Yuxin's family conditions are very good, deeply loved by her parents, and she is the youngest at home, with two older brothers who have already started working, also in the financial system. Her eldest brother Zheng Wenru is in the Deyang City Finance Bureau, and her second brother Zheng Wenbin is in the Huaiyang City Finance Bureau. Almost the whole family is engaged in finance, of course, thanks to Zheng Qingshan's efforts. Zheng Wenru and Zheng Wenbin are not yet married, both want to return to Xilin City, insisting on not talking about friends below, but currently facing some difficulties.

  Zheng Yuxin had long been moved by Xu Shaojie, but didn't know why. The first time Zheng Yuxin mentioned Xu Shaojie, her heart skipped a beat. A girl's thoughts are sensitive and emotional, and Zheng Yuxin had an innate shyness that made her hesitant to speak out.

  Zheng Yuxin was a beauty from the journalism department and one of the school flowers. Many senior boys tried every means to confess their love to her, but she remained unmoved. Some of them were in excellent condition, including one who was even the son of a municipal party leader.

  Zheng Yuxin didn't know why she felt this way, but she secretly made up her mind that she would only marry Xu Shaojie in this lifetime. Of course, it's still too early to say these things now. The emotions of university students are pure and flawless, but also fragile in the face of reality.

  Zheng Yuxin's best confidant is her roommate, Tan Lingli. Tan Lingli's appearance is quite ordinary and belongs to the type that can easily blend into a crowd. Tan Lingli knows Zheng Yuxin's thoughts and has taken time to investigate Xu Shaojie's situation. However, she is not very satisfied with Xu Shaojie's family background, especially since his older brother is said to be in prison. Therefore, Tan Lingli does not fully support Zheng Yuxin's choice.

  The first day of school was quiet, with time passing slowly. The thing that made Xu Shaojie most satisfied was that Xu Yijie quickly became familiar with the environment. Perhaps it was because the people he interacted with were mostly from rural areas and were very simple-minded. Xu Yijie gradually regained his vitality and could be seen smiling again. Unlike Xu Shaojie, Xu Yijie quickly learned to swear, but in reality, there was no need to learn as he had already heard all sorts of profanity in prison. This environment suited Xu Yijie more. When the two brothers met, Xu Yijie became much more cheerful. Strictly speaking, Xu Yijie and Zhang Shaocai's temperaments were quite compatible, even surpassing Xu Shaojie's because Xu Shaojie belonged to a different level of people.

  The weather is slowly getting hotter, and Xu Shaojie and Zheng Yuxin still meet every day in the cafeteria. Both of them are focused on studying, and Xu Shaojie often goes to the library. He had already applied for a library card, and usually borrows books to read back in his dormitory. Xu Shaojie mainly reads biographies of famous people. After reading many books, Xu Shaojie has gained a lot of insights. He realizes that there are differences between famous people and ordinary people, which can be divided into three stages: the tumultuous stage of youth, where one experiences the hardships of life; the stubborn stage of young adulthood, where one pursues truth; and middle age, where one's career takes off and they exert great influence. Now, Xu Shaojie summarizes his thoughts as he reads. The academic atmosphere in the dormitory is good, and everyone likes to read books. First-year students are still focused on studying.

  Because they were familiar with each other, classmates spent more time hanging out outside of school. Xu Shaojie often went out with his dorm brothers, and most of the time it was Xu Shaojie who paid the bill. There were also times when they got drunk, but they had become smarter, mainly because Sun Yong no longer sang at night. After getting drunk, they would quickly return to their dorm room, go to bed, and sleep. The old man on duty at the door had become familiar with Xu Shaojie and his friends, often smiling and opening the door while holding a cigarette that Xu Shaojie had given him as a gift.

  Late spring and early summer, the weather is very good, it's just that there's a bit too much rain.

  That night, Xu Shaojie did not go out and stayed in the dormitory reading books. Ma Jianhua and others were also lying on their beds reading books. The dormitory was very quiet, no different from usual.

  The old man who was guarding the door suddenly came in and spoke to Xu Shaojie.

  "Xu Shaojie, there's a girl at the door looking for you, still wiping away tears. I don't know what's going on. Sigh, you young people, so young and naive, what do you understand?"

  The old man shook his head and left while talking.

  Xu Shaojie jumped up from the bed, saying that such a thing would not happen. However, Xu Shaojie couldn't think of so much anymore. The dormitory was very quiet, and everyone heard what Lao Tou said. No one had ever seen Xu Shaojie make friends with girls before. Everyone still believed in Xu Shaojie because there was no time; every night they were together, and during the day, they had to attend classes. Xu Shaojie was the class monitor and would never skip class to talk about relationships. Moreover, Xu Shaojie's grades were all excellent, and if he were dating someone, his grades wouldn't be that good.

  Just as Xu Shaojie got up, everyone else had gotten out of bed.

  "Xu Ban Zhang, we'll follow you and take a look. Don't worry, we'll keep a safe distance. If there's any trouble, we'll help you out. We're dormitory comrades, no need to say more."

  Xu Shaojie nodded, and he vaguely felt that something was wrong.

  The one at the door is Tan Lingli.

  "Tan Lingli, what's wrong with you? Is there something on your mind?"

  "Xu Shaojie, something's happened, come with me quickly."

  "Wait, tell us what's going on, make it clear, so we can understand too."

  Tan Lingli also knew she was too hasty, so she quickly spoke out, Ma Jianhua, Du Yuxin and Sun Yong had already noticed that something was wrong and all surrounded her. Tan Lingli saw so many people and felt a little more at ease in her heart.

  It turned out that a few people from the journalism department had invited them to go out for an interview in the afternoon, and they went out to practice social skills. After eating dinner outside, they went to a night market to conduct interviews at night. However, they didn't know how high the sky was or how thick the earth was. The night market was crowded with young people from all walks of life. Originally, there wasn't much going on, as long as everyone didn't interfere with each other. But now, the social security outside is not very good, and the school teachers have repeatedly reminded them to be careful. When they saw those who looked fierce, especially those with tattoos, they had to avoid them and stay far away. Zheng Yuxin probably thought of her own home in Xilin City, so she didn't care, plus it was close to the school, so she decided to try to explore the secrets of the night market. Zheng Yuxin was very beautiful, which had already caught the attention of a group of thugs at the night market. These people quickly approached Zheng Yuxin and started talking to her. Zheng Yuxin looked down on them, and a verbal conflict broke out between the two sides. Zheng Yuxin scolded them as hooligans, which triggered the incident. A group of thugs surrounded Zheng Yuxin and her friends, demanding that they apologize and accompany them for a midnight snack and to watch a movie at night. The other side was a group of thugs from society, and it seemed like they had knives on them. There were over 10 people, but these thugs didn't dare to openly use violence. They just made it clear that Zheng Yuxin should play with them, otherwise, this matter wouldn't be over, and they would come to the school every day.

  Zheng Yuxin would not agree, and the two sides were at a stalemate. The students didn't have much experience dealing with thugs like this in society. Mainly because what the thugs said made everyone nervous, calling the police was useless. If these thugs came every day, even the police couldn't do anything about it. They didn't fight or hurt anyone, so no one had any way to deal with them.

  Now, Zheng Yuxin and others are still in the night market. Zheng Yuxin has already started crying and doesn't know what to do. The other side has more than 10 people, seemingly playing a game of cat and mouse, strolling through the night.

  "Come on, let's go with Xu, the class leader! We'll have a fight with those hooligans!"

  Sun Yong was impulsive and blurted out, Xu Shaojie also had a hot head at first, almost rushing out, but he quickly calmed down. On his side were students, even the school teachers were headache about these thugs, how could students be their match? If they fought back, it would still be the students who suffered, and might even be accused of gang fighting. Besides, those thugs had nothing to do every day, if they kept coming to harass, it was the most annoying thing, where did students have such energy to deal with them? So this matter must be thoroughly handled, letting those thugs never dare to appear near the school again, and not even dare to bother Zheng Yuexin.

  "Wait for me for a few minutes, I'll go make a phone call."

  Xu Shaojie spoke up, and everyone was stunned. Now that things were so urgent, making a phone call was useless. However, Xu Shaojie had always been calm and composed when doing things, so everyone could only wait. Tan Lingli was anxious to the point of stamping her feet, but she also had no way out. What she thought of now was for Xu Shaojie to hurry up and rescue Zheng Yuexin; other matters would be discussed later.

  Xu Shaojie has already thought of a solution. This matter requires Zhang Shaocai to come forward and resolve it. The migrant workers are physically strong, and when facing thugs, they are not intimidated at all. On the contrary, the thugs rely on their strength to bully the weak, appearing fierce on the surface but actually being weak at heart.

  The phone was answered quickly, Xu Yijie picked up the phone and heard that Xu Shaojie had been threatened. Xu Yijie almost dropped the phone, he told Xu Shaojie to hold on for 20 minutes, people from this side would arrive immediately. After asking clearly about the location, Xu Yijie hung up the phone. Xu Shaojie looked at his watch, it was 9:20 pm.

  "Comrades, this time we're going, there's danger, have you thought it through?"

  Just a few minutes after Xu Shaojie left, more than 20 people had gathered at the entrance. These people were all filled with righteous indignation and prepared to follow him out. Xu Shaojie knew that the more people there were, the bigger the trouble would be. The students had no experience, and if they got hurt, it wouldn't be good. But no one retreated, and Xu Shaojie simply said that everyone should listen to him. A line of people left the dormitory building and walked towards the outside of the school.

  Xu Shaojie asked everyone to keep it a secret and not to spread the word, but no one understood what Xu Shaojie meant. Normally, the more people involved in such matters, the better, so why the need for secrecy? Xu Shaojie walked at the front, his face stern and determined. Tan Lingli originally had opinions about Xu Shaojie's arrangements, thinking that with only over 10 people on their side, the more people they had, the better it would be. Seeing Xu Shaojie's determined expression, Tan Lingli ultimately didn't speak up. At this moment, seeing Xu Shaojie's face, she suddenly understood why Zheng Yuexin was so infatuated with a man from an ordinary family background. The maturity and stability revealed on Xu Shaojie's face weren't they the very qualities that countless women sought in their Prince Charming?

  The team soon approached the night market, and there was no particular reaction around them. It seemed that nothing had happened for the time being. Although Xu Shaojie was anxious, he had to remain calm. A hot head would only make things worse. The more critical the moment, the calmer one needed to be. This was an experience Xu Shaojie gained from reading books.