Those things that happened in those years

Chapter 55 Conflicts and Disputes

Zou Jianmin covered his head with both hands, struggling to dodge while frantically shouting, "Why are you hitting me? Who are you? When did I offend you?"

One of them spat at him and cursed, "You motherfucker, you broke your promise! You forgot what you promised someone last year? You dare to flirt with girls? If we don't beat you up today, you'll never know your place!"

Another person chimed in with a curse: "Fuck you, you won't learn your lesson until I beat you up! See if you dare to cause trouble again."

Upon hearing this, Zou Jianmin finally understood a bit more—last year he and Liu Guochen had a verbal agreement in which he agreed to give up pursuing Qiao Shuang in exchange for Liu Guochen giving him a semester's worth of living expenses.

But later Liu Guochen was beaten up and never came to school again, so he naturally didn't get the benefits.

After entering the second year of junior high school, Zou Jianmin saw that Liu Guochen had disappeared and thought that his chance had returned, so he started to have designs on Qiao Shuang again.

Little did he know that he wasn't the only one eyeing Qiao Shuang; countless others were secretly plotting to take him down!

Beautiful women always seem to be... the source of conflict. Just like the ten-year Trojan War, which was started by the beautiful Helen; and Wu Sangui's "anger for a beauty" was ultimately also for the sake of a beautiful woman.

There's nothing wrong with being beautiful in itself. The problem lies in the fact that liking a beautiful woman can never be shared; it can only be enjoyed by one person. To enjoy something exclusively, you have to eliminate potential rivals, and conflict naturally arises.

Fa Zi glanced at Hong Liguo, his eyes filled with the question, "Did you arrange this?" He clearly thought that Hong Liguo had hired someone to deal with Zou Jianmin.

Hong Liguo gently shook his head, indicating that he hadn't arranged it and knew nothing about it. But he couldn't help but wonder: Who could have done this? Besides himself, could there be someone else in the class who secretly liked Qiao Shuang? How come he hadn't noticed at all? This person was really good at hiding it, and seemed even more aggressive than himself. He'd better be more careful in the future.

Just then, Zou Jianmin was already bleeding from his nose and mouth. Fortunately, he was tall, and taking advantage of a moment when the three men slowed down, he shoved the person in front of him aside, jumped over the desk, and stumbled out of the door.

After he ran away, he was never seen again—from then on, Zou Jianmin never came to school again, and even his schoolbag had to be carried back by a classmate from the same village. As for whether he transferred schools or dropped out, Hong Liguo and the others had no idea.

Everyone clearly heard what those people said. Others might not understand the implications, but Hong Liguo knew exactly what was going on.

Last year, in order to join forces with them to deal with the Dragon Tiger Brothers, Sun Changlin hired someone to teach Liu Guochen a lesson. At that time, Liu Guochen and Zou Jianmin had a verbal agreement—to exchange a semester's living expenses for Zou Jianmin to stop getting close to Qiao Shuang.

Could it be that Liu Guochen hasn't given up on Qiao Shuang, and knows that Zou Jianmin is targeting Qiao Shuang again, so he hired someone to retaliate against Zou Jianmin?

Hong Liguo thought it was unlikely—after all, Liu Guochen had been gone for so long, neither appearing again nor having anyone inquired about Qiao Shuang's whereabouts. Perhaps he already had someone new he liked at his new school.

So who exactly hired someone to beat up Zou Jianmin? The more Hong Liguo thought about it, the more he felt that this person might be his strongest competitor.

Soon, the classroom gradually returned to calm. When Qiao Shuang and several other girls returned from outside, they had no idea that just moments before, a fierce fight had broken out in the classroom because of her.

In the days that followed, Hong Liguo suddenly noticed that Fa Zi's gaze, which had been fixed on Zhang Yulan, had shifted to another girl in the class.

Hong Liguo couldn't understand why Fa Zi would give up Zhang Yulan and fall in love with that pretty girl named Guo Xianmei.

Guo Xianmei was indeed beautiful, with a pair of captivating big eyes and long, thick eyelashes that fluttered alluringly; moreover, her cheeks always had a natural blush, like the rising sunset, exceptionally bright. And that... energy she possessed, just like Zhang Qiaoyun's striking appearance, always gave people an indescribable allure.

Did Fa Zi fail to win Zhang Yulan's heart? But judging from Zhang Yulan's usual behavior, that doesn't seem like it. Did Fa Zi realize he couldn't win Zhang Yulan's heart and give up? That doesn't make sense either—Fa Zi is handsome and dashing; he shouldn't be so insecure. Or perhaps Fa Zi thinks Guo Xianmei is prettier and more suitable for him? After all, falling for someone else is quite common at that age.

Hong Liguo had asked Fa Zi about this privately, but Fa Zi just blushed and stammered, without giving a specific reason. It's not good to press for answers about such matters of the heart, so Hong Liguo didn't press further—no matter who Fa Zi liked, he would support him.

As for Lin Menglong, he had secretly liked Wang Yuxin since the beginning of junior high school, and had even received a strong warning from Yu Deshui because of it. However, what Yu Deshui didn't know was that the seemingly honest and kind Lin Menglong was not someone to be easily manipulated. Since being warned by Yu Deshui, Lin Menglong had been looking for an opportunity to retaliate, but hadn't yet come up with a good plan.

The incident of Zou Jianmin being beaten gave Lin Menglong an idea: since he couldn't fight back or beat Yu Deshui, why not learn from others and find some idle people in society to stand up for him? In this way, he could vent his anger, make Yu Deshui back down, and also get rid of a rival in love. It was a win-win situation.

With that thought in mind, Lin Menglong asked someone to find two people from the underworld, offered them some benefits, and asked them to help deal with Yu Deshui.

Back then, their school didn't have a proper school gate at all. The so-called "school gate" was just a gap in the wall, and there were no security guards. Outsiders could freely enter and leave the school without anyone asking or interfering.

As luck would have it, the two vagrants Lin Menglong hired knew Yu Deshui's brother. Just as they were clenching their fists, preparing to attack Yu Deshui, his brother learned of the situation and rushed over, thus saving Yu Deshui from disaster.

Although Yu Deshui wasn't beaten up, he was given a "political lesson" by his brother and the two idle people in society. They warned him not to offend others for Wang Yuxin's sake, because he wouldn't always be so lucky as to run into acquaintances.

After that, Yu Deshui stopped actively caring about Wang Yuxin. As for the reason, no one could say for sure—perhaps he had fallen for someone else and had a new crush; or perhaps he was genuinely afraid of Lin Menglong, worried that if Lin Menglong hadn't managed to beat him up this time, he would send someone else to deal with him next time. After all, Yu Deshui wasn't good at fighting, and he didn't have many people in the underworld who could help him, so it was understandable that he backed down.

But things are never as simple as they seem; one problem after another arises.