The technician went, “It’s serious this time.”
Everyone suffered an impact yet again. They had really suffered quite a number of blows today. If not for Xu Tingsheng having been persistently keeping up the mood, the atmosphere might long since have been overwhelmed by tragic sighs.
What was so ‘serious’?
The post this time consisted mainly of photographs.
The start of the post contained around a dozen photographs of two groups of students fighting. In each of these photographs, Xu Tingsheng and Old Wai were circled out in red as a reminder that the two of them were two key personnel of Hucheng.
What were they doing? Fighting.
There was no one who was still in a joking mood any longer as Xu Tingsheng and Old Wai exchanged glances, “It’s one of our own. We’ve been betrayed.”
The contents captured within were of Xu Tingsheng and Old Wai, along with their roommates, having engaged in a fight against those people who had come looking for Tan Yao just a few days earlier.
Meanwhile, the angle from which the photographs had been taken was clearly to the side of and behind where the roommates had been in the midst of an intense battle back then.
Actually, there was no real need to guess about this at all. The next few photographs were the most solid proof. These were all recent photographs of Old Wai and Xu Tingsheng as they smoked inside their dorm or gazed through binoculars at the girls of the medical institute just opposite.
Beneath these photographs was written: Being of such quality, do you think that if a dispute occurs someday, it can be resolved in a satisfactory manner? Or is it that you yourselves are already prepared to get into a fight with Hucheng Education?
The second part of the post contained photographs of the riverside residence.
Of course, these wouldn’t display the rows of shiny new computers that lined the office on the third floor. What these displayed were the dilapidated outer walls of the riverside residence, its dirty corners as well as a few eaves that were already teetering at the point of collapse due to many years of disrepair.
What was their purpose of posting these photographs?
It was displayed right below:
Unprincipled part-time students who spend their time fighting, smoking and spying on female students and rented such a broken house-this is Hucheng Education. Can it really be trusted?
Also, if some incident crops up someday, will they be able to provide compensation?
Xu Tingsheng looked at the replies to the post. The winds of public sentiment had already shifted completely. There was no longer anyone who was considering that these two people were not the teachers of their own children, merely being personnel of an intermediary service.
Xu Tingsheng and Old Wai had been described as very terrifying such that no one was willing to undergo needless interactions with this kind of person, even if it was merely as an intermediary.
Also, this Hucheng Education really seemed like it was completely unreliable.
“I really look rather handsome in these photographs, and very valiant as well. Look at you, Old Wai. Your face’s all crooked(Wai) inside.”
Xu Tingsheng cracked a joke amidst the silence, but no one laughed. Hucheng’s two working telephones were both currently ringing non-stop.
The two female employees directed inquiring gazes at Xu Tingsheng.
“Just answer them. Face them with your usual professional attitude and answer their questions honestly,” Xu Tingsheng said.
The two female employees began picking up calls non-stop, warding off the inquiries of the parents.
“Who exactly are you? And who exactly did you introduce to my child?”
“Would you be able to take responsibility if something goes wrong?”
“A bunch of hooligans, what education are you doing? Go delete my account for me.”
……
After silently eating dinner, nearly everyone had already learnt of the news. Xu Tingsheng began receiving calls from all around. There were his roommates like Li Xingming, Lu Xu and Zhang Ninglang as well as Huang Yaming, Fu Cheng, Song Ni, Fang Yuqing, his soccer mates…
Fang Chen arrived at the riverside residence as well. However, where public sentiment was concerned, there was nothing that she could do to turn the current situation around as well.
Xu Tingsheng received a call from Tan Yao.
“Bro Xu, it’s all my fault. I’ve let you guys down,” Tan Yao said despondently, “Don’t worry, we all know who did it. He hasn’t gotten back yet. When he returns, we’ll properly beat him up for you.”
Xu Tingsheng scolded ‘bastard’ before saying in a severe tone, “Tan Yao, if you really feel that you’ve let me and Old Wai down, hold it in and don’t say a thing. Wait till Old Wai and I have returned. Understand?”
“Bro Xu, I…”
“I asked ‘understand’?”
“Understood.”
If it were usually, Xu Tingsheng actually wouldn’t be this cautious. He wouldn’t mind Tan Yao and the others beating Huang Keshen up first to vent and let off steam.
However, they were amidst an incomparably sensitive period right now. Just a few days ago, the media had reported heavily on the ‘Ma Jiajue’ incident. In the first two weeks of this month, he had successively killed four of his roommates in three days…
While some people would occasionally joke about this matter, in truth, any tensions and conflicts between roommates over this period of time would become an incomparably sensitive issue between the two. As a result, schools were much more concerned about such matters as well.
Amidst such a tense atmosphere, Xu Tingsheng definitely couldn’t allow Tan Yao to act against Huang Keshen. If he did so, the university might react in an excessively harsh manner, effectively making an example out of him.
Just having hung up from his conversation with Tan Yao, Xu Tingsheng’s phone rang again.
“Are we still playing?” Zhang Xingke’s voice resounded from the other end.
“Oh, why not?” Xu Tingsheng replied.
“Not shedding tears till the coffin appears?”
“The earth shakes on the high mountains, the beautiful western mountains flourish eternally.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you were exchanging poetic lines with me. Weren’t you?”
“Nutjob,” Zhang Xingke scolded before hanging up.
There had once been someone who had thought Xu Tingsheng to be a nutjob as well. He was Bao Ming. If Bao Ming knew Zhang Xingke, he would definitely warn him, “You should steer far from the one called Xu Tingsheng. He’s a nutjob, there’s nothing that he’s not capable of doing.”
Yet, Old Wai and the others discovered that the current Xu Tingsheng seemed not to be intending to do anything at all as there was also nothing that he could do. Hucheng and Xu Tingsheng were just sitting obediently there covering their heads passively taking a beating.
As Xu Tingsheng was smoking in his room, Lu Zhixin opened the door.
“Don’t be too worried, rest well. There’s still me over here. I’ll deal with it first,” Lu Zhixin said.
“It’s been tough on you,” Xu Tingsheng told her.
“It’s fine. I’ll be going up first then.”
“Okay.”
“Actually, facing a setback might not be a bad thing for you. Even if Hucheng really collapses, we can just start all over again at the very most,” Lu Zhixin finally said before she left, not waiting for Xu Tingsheng to answer before she hurriedly exited the room.
She had said ‘we’.
……
Old Wai found Xu Tingsheng, “Are we still returning to the dorm to sleep later?”
“Yeah.”
Xu Tingsheng and Old Wai returned to their dormitory. Their roommates were all rather silent. Xu Tingsheng tried a few times to start a conversation, but they would just answer rather stiffly, the atmosphere ever remaining rather tense. He specifically brought Tan Yao out to the balcony, instructing him on some things for a bit.
Huang Keshen returned, feigning calmness, “It looks like I’m the last one back today?”
Everyone ignored him.
At 10.30pm, the lights of the dorm turned off. The sound of tossing and turning about in bed could intermittently be heard.
Old Wai was finally just unable to resist it as he asked in a rather pained and conflicted tone, “Keshen, why? While we didn’t become bros, all of us have never done anything against you in our usual interactions. I just can’t understand-just why did you do this? It hadn’t reached that point between us.”
All the tossing and turning about came to a halt as everyone awaited Huang Keshen’s words.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean. What did I do?” Huang Keshen instead asked.
Everyone was rendered speechless.
“Haah…haah…” Tan Yao’s lengthy exhalations could be heard over from his bed as he worked to repress his fury.
Huang Keshen continued, “I know that that whatever Hucheng of yours was done in by someone today. Still, even if you’re feeling upset, that’s no fault of mine. What, you want to vent it out on me? I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”
From Huang Keshen’s tone, it was evident that he was currently feeling very good about himself as he felt that he had due cause for confidence. Zhang Xingke’s side had clearly promised him something, and as he saw it, Zhang Xingke was not someone whom the likes of Xu Tingsheng and Tan Yao could afford to aggravate.
“Got your money?” Lu Xu asked coldly from the corner of the room.
Huang Keshen clacked his teeth in the darkness and chuckled coldly.
“Many days lie ahead,” Tan Yao said.
“Whatever, I’ll take on every one of you who comes. I’ll be waiting,” Huang Keshen replied.
“Yeah, count me in,” suddenly piped in Zhang Ninglang who was usually docile and honest, a good kid who would apologise first even if someone stepped on his foot.
He called Apple Sister-in-law, being a spy in broad daylight. Xu Tingsheng usually took care of him as he would a younger brother.
Comments