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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Three: Adding Fuel to the Fire
A wonderful Language Class concluded amidst enthusiastic applause. After class, Lucia could not hide her amazement and praised, "Your students are incredible; they can comprehend such profound classical texts so clearly." Zhang Qiu smiled slightly, choosing not to expose the truth, as it was better to leave a good impression on the international friends.
The next scheduled class was Physical Education, and this time Zhang Qiu decided not to participate in anything and said goodbye to Director Zhao. Director Zhao was more than happy that Zhang Qiu would not be following along and immediately agreed. Zhang Qiu whispered a few words to Jiang Xue and then told Lucia, "I'll wait for you after school."
"It's a deal."
Zhang Qiu was surprised that Lucia knew Chinese idioms and gave her a thumbs up in appreciation. Once they all followed Director Zhao to the playground, Zhang Qiu returned to the classroom. Since his punishment had been lifted, he should go back to class openly and take a look at his Brothers.
Zhang Qiu returned to the classroom just as the break began. As soon as he entered, the entire room fell silent, only to be broken by Gao Zhi's loud voice shouting, "Brother Qiu, you're back!"
Zhang Qiu smiled happily as he saw his Brothers rushing towards him from their seats. The bright sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a golden glow over Zhang Qiu and his Brothers. No student except Jiang Xue knew about Zhang Qiu's return, making it a delightful surprise for the Hall Society's Brothers.
"Brother Qiu, you’re not leaving again, right?" Gao Zhi exclaimed as he enveloped Zhang Qiu in a bear hug that nearly took his breath away.
"Let go! Look at Brother Qiu; his face is turning red," Wang Zhengxiang said while pulling at Gao Zhi. "Brother Qiu, it's great that you're back. I got caught by the teacher again during self-study this morning."
Zhang Qiu laughed heartily, "Who told you to keep sleeping?"
"Oh, Zhang Qiu is back?" Xu Qing Chu walked in with a stack of papers and was pleasantly surprised to see Zhang Qiu. She quickly added with a smile, "Hurry up and get ready; it's your turn to teach."
Zhang Qiu felt like he might choke on blood; he had rushed back without reviewing the schedule. How could he possibly be ready for Language Class? He had no preparation at all.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up," Xu Qing Chu urged Zhang Qiu while handing out papers to the class representative.
Zhang Qiu forced a smile and pleaded, "Teacher, can we postpone my turn until next time? I’m not prepared yet."
Xu Qing Chu frowned, "It's been so long; you’re still not ready?"
"I came back too suddenly this time; just two hours ago I didn’t even know I could return," Zhang Qiu explained in hopes that Xu Qing Chu would relent. She did relent but set a condition: "Since you can't teach today, you can sing today's song instead. That should work, right?"
"Sure," Zhang Qiu agreed readily. Not being able to teach was understandable due to unforeseen circumstances; refusing to sing would be unacceptable.
Xu Qing Chu shooed the students back to their seats, and when the bell rang for class, she said, "Zhang Qiu, go ahead."
Zhang Qiu stood up from his seat, waiting for the bell to finish ringing. As soon as it did, he chose the song he wanted to sing; what could express his current feelings better than this song?
"Today, I watch the snow drifting in the cold night..." As Zhang Qiu began to sing, the classroom erupted in a chorus of screams. Zhang Qiu continued singing, smiling with satisfaction. For a year, Zhang Qiu had listened to music, watched dramas, and read the news, all to learn fluent Cantonese. While not reaching the level of a native speaker, it was more than sufficient for communication and singing.
"Forgive me for this life of unrestrained freedom; I may fear falling at times..." As the song reached the chorus, Zhang Qiu successfully prompted a sing-along from the entire class. Due to the heat, with both doors and windows open, the sound of the senior class's chorus echoed throughout the hallway. Unfortunately, Zhao Guohong was walking up to the second floor and heard the singing. Her expression darkened as she suspected it was her own class again.
Zhao Guohong hurriedly made her way to the classroom, feeling increasingly agitated by the singing that jolted through her like an electric current. She entered through the back door and saw Zhang Qiu standing and singing. Initially surprised, she wondered why he was back in class singing instead of reflecting.
"Zhang Qiu, come out here!" Zhao Guohong shouted, finally overpowering the singing. Upon hearing their homeroom teacher's voice, the students immediately quieted down, lowering their heads to read their books seriously.
Zhang Qiu had long been accustomed to being called out by the homeroom teacher. Calmly leaving his seat, he followed Zhao Guohong into the Director's Office. Director Zhao was busy welcoming a delegation from Aton High School, and the office was empty. Once the door closed, Zhao Guohong asked, "You’re back?"
"I’m back."
"Who told you to come back?"
"This morning, Director Zhao called and asked me to return. I arrived just in time for class and didn’t have a chance to inform you," Zhang Qiu explained earnestly. Although Zhao Guohong had a fiery temper, she genuinely cared for her students. Especially after seeing her so busy preparing lessons last time that she barely had time to eat, he felt reluctant to provoke her anger.
"Oh." Zhao Guohong nodded thoughtfully; she completely believed Zhang Qiu. The situation regarding him was indeed chaotic; after years of teaching, it was her first time witnessing such a complicated relationship between a school and its students. But that wasn't the main issue; Zhao Guohong asked, "You can come back whenever you want, but why did you start singing as soon as you returned?"
"The Language Class was my turn to present, but I was only notified this morning about coming back without any preparation, so I ended up singing," Zhang Qiu explained honestly. Zhao Guohong nodded slightly and said, "Go back to class."
"Teacher, I'm leaving now." Seeing Zhao Guohong's displeased expression, Zhang Qiu didn't want to linger and quickly left the Director's Office. Back in the classroom, another student had already started presenting; this was Zhang Qiu's first experience with the revamped Language Class format. He sat down patiently listening.
The new format was indeed interesting; students assigned topics would go up to write them down and then explain them while Xu Qing Chu would summarize at the end. Zhang Qiu thought to himself that this new language teacher was quite knowledgeable and handled these random topics with ease.
Meanwhile, in an office on the second floor of Blue Rose Entertainment City in Beilan County, a robust man leaned back on a sofa smoking a Chinese cigarette. His eye bags were heavy and darkened as he squinted slightly. A burly man with a buzz cut stood nervously in front of him reporting: "Brother Tiger, there’s news about Zhang Qiu; something big happened at Beiluan No. 1 High School recently."
Chen Hu gestured for him to sit down as he took a drag from his cigarette and said in a low voice: "Sit down."
"Okay, thank you Brother Tiger." Mao Tong sat respectfully in one corner of the sofa without lighting his cigarette but holding it tightly in his hand as he continued speaking to Brother Tiger: "The eldest son of Jin Hao Group in our city, Lu Bin, got beaten up by Zhang Qiu at Beiluan No. 1 High School. That’s not all; at Abiao’s bar, Zhang Qiu beat him up again and publicly humiliated him regarding his identity."
Brother Tiger nodded: "I already know about this incident; is there anything else?"
"Brother Tiger, there is indeed more." Mao Tong leaned closer to Chen Hu and whispered mysteriously: "There was a large-scale strike at Beiluan No. 1 High School yesterday involving both Sophomore and Senior Year students."
"The seniors are striking too?" Chen Hu became interested; a strike among seniors was indeed significant news—especially happening at Beiluan No. 1 High School, the top institution in Beilan County.
"Yes, Brother Tiger. It all started because of Lu Bin; apparently he went to investigate at No. 1 High School intending to invest in building a gymnasium. As a result, Zhang Qiu ended up beating him into a pit of filth. The school dealt with Zhang Qiu by sending him back for reflection right before this large-scale strike erupted. This time around, Zhang Qiu and his Hall Society have really made headlines; teachers couldn't even enter classrooms as banners were hung outside demanding Zhang Qiu's return to school. This is undoubtedly asking for trouble; how could the school let him off easily!"
Mao Tong danced with excitement, spitting out words as he spoke, while Chen Hu leaned back at a distance, waiting for Mao Tong to finish, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. This Zhang Qiu is indeed interesting; no wonder the second-in-command of the Stone Dagger Gang has taken a liking to a high school student as a disciple.
"Brother Tiger, should we take this opportunity to give him some trouble and test him?" Mao Tong said with a flattering smile, naturally recalling the humiliation he suffered from Zhang Qiu that night in the Red-Light District.
"I see you want to get revenge for yourself!" Chen Hu saw through Mao Tong's thoughts immediately. He knew his disciple all too well—lecherous, gambling-prone, and impatient, which made him unstable. However, he had one major advantage: loyalty. Mao Tong was absolutely loyal to him, and Chen Hu had no doubt about that, so he was willing to entrust many matters to Mao Tong.
Mao Tong chuckled, having been seen through but still hoping that Brother Tiger would accept his suggestion.
Chen Hu squinted his eyes again, took a deep drag from his cigarette, and blew out several smoke rings before slowly saying, "Alright, you take a few people to test Zhang Qiu and go to White Day Fire. But remember, don't make too much noise."
"Yes." Mao Tong hurriedly agreed, feeling extremely excited inside. With Brother Tiger's approval, he could confidently seek revenge.
Chen Hu waved his hand. "Alright, go arrange it. Choose a time when there are more people to act."
Mao Tong responded again and retreated from the office.
Chen Hu extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray and lit another one, revealing a glint in his eyes. During the gang meeting, Tao Ge announced a state of emergency; the leader of the Stone Dagger Gang was in poor health and could die at any moment. When that time came, the Stone Dagger Gang, which had long dominated Beilan County's underworld, would surely fall apart. In the meantime, they needed to create significant disturbances against the Stone Dagger Gang to pour gasoline on the smoldering fire.
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