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Chapter One Hundred: The Medicine in the Gourd
Zeng Fan felt a pang of discomfort as he saw his spotlight being stolen by Liu Xiaolong and his brother. He fixed his gaze on Liu Xiaolong, fearing that he might declare war. Originally, it was supposed to be a duel between him and Zhang Qiu, but now Liu Xiaolong had taken the lead, and Liu Xiaofei was also meddling. The more Zeng Fan thought about it, the angrier and more anxious he became. If a fight broke out because of Liu Xiaolong's words, it would overshadow his own announcement.
Zeng Fan immediately decided that he had to regain control. He shouted, "Wait!"
In an instant, Zeng Fan's thoughts had only taken a few seconds, but as soon as he spoke, he effectively cut off Liu Xiaolong's words. The attention of everyone present was successfully drawn back to Zeng Fan. Zhang Qiu, who was already prepared, looked at Zeng Fan with interest, curious about what he was up to.
Seeing himself back in the spotlight, Zeng Fan nodded in satisfaction and patted Wang Zhen on the shoulder, signaling him to follow as he walked into the midst of both groups.
Zhang Qiu looked at Zeng Fan, and Zeng Fan stared back at Zhang Qiu. Wang Zhen stood slightly behind Zeng Fan, glaring fiercely at Zhang Qiu. He had been holding onto the grudge from that night study session.
Zeng Fan asked Zhang Qiu, "Do you know why I wanted to challenge you?"
Before Zhang Qiu could respond, Zeng Fan provided his own answer: "Because you can't stay put. Why can't you just focus on studying? You have to start a club and even hurt my people. Are you looking for trouble?"
Zhang Qiu laughed and said, "Stop talking nonsense. It was your people who came looking for me. If they can't handle it and got beaten up, who can they blame?" Zhang Qiu shot a glance at Wang Zhen standing behind Zeng Fan.
"Damn!" Wang Zhen cursed angrily and stepped forward, but Gao Zhi blocked him with an iron pipe held horizontally in front of Zhang Qiu, raising his chin at Wang Zhen as if to say that if he took another step forward, there would be consequences.
Zeng Fan stopped Wang Zhen while pointing at Gao Zhi and said to Zhang Qiu, "Your brother here is quite something. But right now he can stand in front of you; what about later? Once the fight starts, it won't take long before we knock him down. Even if you have weapons or if you've practiced some moves, what difference does it make? We have so many people here; we could easily pick up a stone as a weapon. The result of fighting me is that all of you will end up in the hospital. Don't you think so?"
Zeng Fan's words struck a chord with Zhang Qiu; deep down, he didn't want to fight this battle. No matter how tough he was or how determined he felt, being alone meant that Zhang Qiu wouldn't say anything further. As the leader of a group with dozens of followers under him, the disparity in strength between both parties was evident. If a fight broke out, it would undoubtedly be his people who suffered the consequences.
Zhang Qiu did not respond to Zeng Fan's words but instead retorted, "What do you mean? If you want to fight, then let's fight; if not, then let's disperse. Don't waste my time with all this back and forth." From Zeng Fan's words, Zhang Qiu vaguely sensed that this fight might not be unavoidable.
When Zeng Fan first proposed the fight, he indeed wanted to teach Zhang Qiu a lesson. However, as time passed, that passionate desire faded. Upon seeing that Zhang Qiu and his group were all armed with sticks, Zeng Fan hesitated even more. Who would have thought that these seemingly honest students following Zhang Qiu would be so fierce at a critical moment, each wielding baseball bats and iron pipes? This made Zeng Fan concerned; if they fought, it wouldn't be a joke.
In Zeng Fan's view, what he wanted was face. As long as he could make Zhang Qiu lose enough face, that would be the best outcome. Why not have Zhang Qiu apologize to him? Although this wouldn't be as convincing as a physical confrontation, it could avoid bloodshed. The costs of fighting versus not fighting, of getting injured versus remaining unscathed, were different. Even if the fight didn't happen in the end, having so many brothers come to support him meant he wouldn't look cowardly. Ending with an apology from Zhang Qiu would keep things from escalating while still preserving his own face. It was a win-win situation.
Zeng Fan suddenly sneered and said deliberately, "Actually, all of this can be avoided. Just kneel down and admit your mistake, and I won't touch you." He added, "You need to weigh what's more important: your face or the safety of your brothers."
Zeng Fan's words were quite harsh. If Zhang Qiu knelt down, he would completely lose face. If he refused to kneel, it would seem like he didn't care about his brothers' safety. For a moment, everyone fell silent and looked at Zhang Qiu to see what choice he would make.
Hearing Zeng Fan's words, Zhang Qiu fell into a dilemma. He certainly wanted to fight; he wanted nothing more than to smash the iron pipe over Zeng Fan's head. But after hearing the latter part of Zeng Fan's statement, he hesitated again. Zhang Qiu couldn't stop thinking about the consequences of this fight; if it escalated into violence, injuries were inevitable. More seriously, if his brothers—especially those in their senior year—got hurt before the college entrance exams, it wouldn't just be a matter of injury anymore. However, having to kneel down before Zeng Fan...
Liu Xiaofei watched anxiously from the side; he feared that the fight might not happen at all. He whispered to Liu Xiaolong, "Brother, we need to act quickly; Zeng Fan looks like he's about to back down."
Liu Xiaolong agreed wholeheartedly. He believed that all his recent misfortunes were due to Zhang Qiu. The downfall of his brother-in-law had significantly weakened his influence; even the number of people seeking his help had decreased by more than half.
"Zeng Fan, we're not here just to watch you two talk! If we're going to fight, let's get on with it; our brothers are getting impatient," Liu Xiaolong said, and the brothers who came with him echoed in agreement.
Seeing this situation unfold, Zhang Qiu could no longer afford to think too much. Gritting his teeth, he said, "If I apologize to you, then you must promise not to bully my brothers in the future and especially not affect their studies. You have to agree to this for me to apologize."
Seeing Zhang Qiu soften up, Zeng Fan was excited and directly ignored Liu Xiaolong's words but managed to conceal his excitement well as he emphasized while pointing at the ground beneath him: "Then kneel down and apologize."
"As long as you agree to my request, I will agree to yours," Zhang Qiu looked directly into Zeng Fan's eyes and spoke firmly and resolutely.
"Alright, then kneel down." Zeng Fan laughed inwardly, cursing silently, what a fool, you really are going to kneel. Go ahead, once you kneel, you won't be able to get up again. In the future, Beiluan No. 1 High School will still be under my control. Moreover, this scene today can spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, carrying over from this year to next. Let those who want to go against me weigh their own worth carefully.
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