NPT C22 Part 2

No Protection Tonight

 

Chapter 22: Public Target

 

He seemed to be stunned by her blow, and bewildered eyes all around us turned in our direction. “Oh, so you’re hitting me now? If you don’t explain yourself today, then don’t even think about walking into your classroom!” He cried stubbornly.

“Are you sure you’re not going to let me pass?” I tried to go around him, but he moved to block me.

“You must swear to never bother Jie again, or you can wait here all day.” Li Zhiyuan declared.

I stomped on his foot. He leaped upwards with a howl, looking rather funny.

“You little sh*t, just wait!” Li Zhiyuan swore. Because the homeroom teacher had just come, he didn’t dare start anything.

During class, Liu Jie wrote a message on a slip of paper, and had her classmates pass it to me.

“Hey, did you get angry?” Her graceful handwriting looked really cute.

In contrast, mine was like a goblin’s. “Nope.”

“Tch, liar. Don’t mind what Li Zhiyuan said earlier. I’ve been in a relationship with him before, but I realized that he was a complete jerk real fast. We were only together for a week before he asked me to spend the night in a hotel room like some retard. When I denied him, he thought I had someone else on my mind, and always tried to find a chance to look through my phone. I couldn’t take him anymore, so I dumped him, but he played the victim card and spread all sorts of rumors about me in school. I hate him so much.”

With Liu Jie’s explanation, it dawned on me. Her reputation in school indeed wasn’t the best, and I had heard some gossip that she was a very unstable person with a history of careless relationships. But now, after being with her, I understood that she really was quite the opposite.

Li Zhiyuan was simply a villain. He probably knew that Liu Jie had a wealthy background, so he spread those rumors to make people think that she was a shallow girl.

“Okay, well, I stood up for you, didn’t I?” It was a pain to pass slips back and forth like this, but I didn’t have a phone.

I was glad that I was now respected in the class, having classmates willing to pass slips for me. They still teased me though, joking that I had each foot in a different boat, screwing a MILF and a loli at the same time. I only blushed at their comments.

After two class periods, it was the homeroom teacher’s subject. Teacher Liu* walked into our class with a sour expression.

*Though they have the same phonetic sound, Teacher Liu’s surname (刘) is different from Liu Jie’s (柳).

“Round up some boys, we’re entering the basketball competition.” Her words stirred up a buzz in the classroom.

“What basketball, Teacher Liu? Didn’t our class forfeit already?” Liu Sanmao asked.

“Yeah, and I heard the school approved it, too.” Wang Xiaopang agreed.

“Yes, they did say that our class didn’t have to participate, but the head of the athletic department talked to me personally, saying that it was an opportunity to exercise and strengthen the bond between our classmates. By some logic, he said that this was mandatory and more important than our studies. If we still forfeit, our finals scores will be penalized!” Teacher Liu explained. She never liked athletics, and often put more emphasis on our textbooks than on getting some fresh air.

“I know; the head of the athletics department is Li Zhiyuan’s uncle. Zhuang Feng made him angry, so he asked him to do this as revenge. We’re all f**ked.” A classmate reminded us.

“Aye, all of our boys are weak pussies, we don’t have enough to make a basketball team at all.” A girl said.

“Zhuang Feng, it’s all your fault. Beating up Guo Tao was whatever, but now you’re at odds with Li Zhiyuan? What do we do?”

Their accusations made me feel more or less awkward. Li Zhiyuan really was a coward, he must’ve heard about Guo Tao’s incident and didn’t dare to fight fire with fire.

“Zhuang Feng, maybe you should go apologize, the class’ studies won’t be affected that way.” Teacher Liu suggested.

“Yeah, take some responsibility. Look at Xiaopang’s stature, he’s not fit for sports at all.”

“Mm, and from what I heard, the basketball competition is already at the finals, we shouldn’t meddle with something big like that.”

Our class only had about ten or so boys, and they all looked deeply unwilling to go. But, I didn’t want to apologize, either.

“It’s fine, I’ll go, then. No pressure on you guys.” I shrugged my shoulders.