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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Twenty-Eight: No Faking
Zhang Qiu marveled at Brother Leopard's impressive intelligence capabilities, but he also understood that to be the Second Brother of the largest gang in Beilan County, one must possess certain skills. When Brother Leopard posed a question, Zhang Qiu did not rush to answer. Instead, he pulled out a lollipop-sized ball from his pocket—exactly the colorful ones sold for fifty cents on the street—and handed it to Brother Leopard with a smile, saying, "The mysterious smoke comes from this. You can find them at the shop by the entrance for fifty cents each."
Rui Rui helped Zhang Qiu pass the ball to Brother Leopard, who examined it closely and burst into laughter. "You used this thing to scare off that dead tiger's crew?"
"Yes, once I threw this out, all the Brothers on site ran away in fright."
Zhang Qiu proudly explained to Brother Leopard how effective these fifty-cent balls were, causing Brother Leopard to laugh heartily. Even Abiao, who was sitting nearby with an unhappy expression, seemed to lighten up. Brother Leopard called over Abiao and said, "In my opinion, we should popularize this thing. It's cheap and effective; if we use a few before a fight, wouldn't that be quite imposing? Hahaha."
"Alright." Abiao nodded in agreement. "Zhang Qiu, you handle this matter. Is there enough money in the card?"
"Yes." Zhang Qiu paused, stood up, and bowed slightly. "Biao Ge, I apologize for taking matters into my own hands this time."
From the moment he entered, Zhang Qiu could tell that Biao Ge was not in a good mood. He understood why; his people had done something so significant without consulting the organization. Now that Brother Leopard was here, Biao Ge's expression was understandably grim. However, Zhang Qiu had no regrets; he would do it again if given the chance and could only sincerely apologize.
Abiao twitched his mouth a couple of times before looking at Zhang Qiu and slowly saying, "Alright, sit down. In the future, let me know before you do anything; don’t just act without a word."
"Abiao is right about this. Zhang Qiu, you must communicate any matters that arise. Everyone here has more experience than you; if you want to go far, you cannot ignore the wisdom of those who came before you."
"I understand, Brother Leopard."
"Okay, okay, let’s have a drink and put this matter behind us." Brother Leopard raised his glass as a mediator; one side was his long-time brother while the other was his chosen newcomer. The gap between them needed to be completely bridged.
After toasting, Brother Leopard continued, "Using these balls to confuse them is a clever idea; truly impressive for an intellectual. But can we rely on smoke to completely evade their eyes?"
"Yes. Before we made our move, I switched out the surveillance cameras. Even if they check the footage, they will only see me drinking with Jiang Xue. The twenty-first century is an era of science."
Brother Leopard exclaimed, "You can do this?" In his impression, high school students nowadays, aside from studying, were naturally fond of playing the piano, violin, and other such pursuits. How could they engage in something so unorthodox?
Zhang Qiu smiled and replied, "Of course I can't, but my friend can. I have made ample preparations for this operation."
"Good, good, good." Brother Leopard repeated three times, "I did not misjudge you." He then said to Abiao, "In my opinion, let's officially hand over White Day Fire to Zhang Qiu to manage."
"Alright, Brother Leopard." Abiao readily agreed. Brother Leopard smiled and asked, "So, Zhang Qiu, feeling any pressure?"
"I feel motivated; I still owe you that one million."
"Hahaha, I have high hopes for you."
Brother Leopard did not linger at White Day Fire for long and left with Abiao. Recently, the boss's health had been poor, and he was directly hospitalized under the care of professional doctors. Major responsibilities in the club fell on Scorpion, which meant that Third Brother was always restless. He had to remain vigilant and avoid any major incidents while the boss was ill. As for White Day Fire, based on Zhang Qiu's demonstrated abilities, managing the venue was no problem at all. Brother Leopard felt reassured handing over the venue to Zhang Qiu.
In the afternoon, Zhang Qiu returned to school and enlisted the help of a classmate with neat handwriting to copy the problems onto the blackboard, thanks to Jiang Xue's assistance. By the time Xu Qing Chu arrived in the classroom, the blackboard was neatly filled with problems. During this time, the homeroom teacher Zhao Guohong came by, saw the problems written on the board, and left.
After Xu Qing Chu arrived and looked at the problems on the board, he nodded in satisfaction and announced the start. According to the rules, Zhang Qiu could randomly call on classmates to solve problems. Without prior notice, he called up Gao Zhi, Zhao Pingchuan, Wang Zhengxiang, and Yao Yu. While Gao Zhi and Yao Yu were fine with it, Zhao Pingchuan and Wang Zhengxiang exchanged glances with Zhang Qiu. He chuckled softly, "The college entrance exam is coming up; let's work hard."
Wang Zhengxiang, nearly in tears, stared at the awkward sentence problem on the board. The first two were manageable; he could tell where they were wrong after reading them once. However, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the third one no matter how hard he tried. Within a few minutes, all problems on the board were solved except for those that were impossible to tackle. Zhang Qiu graded each of them—Gao Zhi, Yao Yu, Zhao Pingchuan, and Wang Zhengxiang—and explained from the first problem to the last. For the ancient poetry section, Xu Qing Chu came up to explain. After a thorough explanation, Zhang Qiu successfully passed this hurdle.
After class, Zhang Qiu sat at his desk in a daze. It was rare to spend a peaceful day at school—calm and steady—just studying at his desk. Two months had passed since his father was injured; during these two months, too many unimaginable things had occurred. Zhang Qiu recalled Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken":
In a yellow wood, two roads diverged; alas, I could not travel both
And be one traveler long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,
And I— I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The only difference was that for Zhang Qiu, this path was chosen for him by others.
Dinner was arranged with Song Weidong's father, and as soon as the last class of the afternoon ended, Zhang Qiu hurried to find the homeroom teacher to request a leave note. Zhao Guohong looked at Zhang Qiu and Jiang Xue and asked, "Are your families having dinner together again?"
Jiang Xue's face flushed suddenly, and she whispered, "No." Zhang Qiu quickly picked up the conversation, laughing, "Teacher, during the May Day Holiday, I did a good deed, and someone is thanking me tonight by treating me and Jiang Xue to dinner."
"Stop joking around. It's good to do good deeds; the teacher absolutely supports that. However, with the college entrance exams approaching, you should focus on studying at school instead of thinking about going out. How can that be acceptable?"
"Teacher, this is a special situation. I promise it won't interfere with my studies."
Seeing that Zhang Qiu was unyielding, Zhao Guohong turned to Jiang Xue and asked, "Jiang Xue, since Zhang Qiu did a good deed and got invited, did you do a good deed too?"
"Teacher, we did a good deed together."
Zhao Guohong interrupted Zhang Qiu: "I'm asking Jiang Xue; you don't need to speak."
Jiang Xue mustered her courage and said to Zhao Guohong, "Teacher, it was indeed a good deed we both did together. They specifically invited Zhang Qiu and me." Facing Zhao Guohong made Jiang Xue feel an undeniable nervousness that she couldn't shake off.
Zhao Guohong frowned slightly at the two disobedient students and asked, "What good deed did you two do?"
"Teacher, in a remote park in Southern Luan Ancient City, we prevented a kidnapping."
Zhang Qiu thought that after hearing about such a significant good deed, Zhao Guohong would praise him or at least offer some encouragement. Unexpectedly, Zhao Guohong responded, "It's your last holiday; instead of studying well at home, you went to Nanlan County for fun?"
Qiu Wan was speechless; there was really no way to answer the homeroom teacher's question. Zhang Qiu shook his head helplessly and said again, "Teacher, please grant us leave; we have an appointment and are afraid of being late."
Zhao Guohong extended his hand, shook his head with a sigh, and said, "This is the last time; come back early."
Zhang Qiu quickly handed the leave request to Zhao Guohong, who solemnly wrote down his name and reminded him, "Be careful on the road."
"Goodbye, teacher."
Having received the leave request, Zhang Qiu had already pulled Jiang Xue away, leaving only the echo of his words lingering in the office. Zhao Guohong sighed again, "These two kids, sigh!"
Zhang Qiu and Jiang Xue called Song Weidong from the first floor and headed together to the Director's Office to sign. When Director Zhao saw Zhang Qiu and Song Weidong appear together, he immediately frowned and said before Zhang Qiu could speak, "Zhang Qiu, Song Weidong, what brings you two here together?"
"Director, I want to take a leave; here’s my request." As Zhang Qiu handed over the leave request, Song Weidong also presented his own and said, "Director, I want to take leave too."
Director Zhao took a glance at the leave requests and read aloud, "Leave for personal matters. What exactly is it for?"
Zhang Qiu and Song Weidong replied in unison, "To eat."
"To eat? Is eating such an important matter? Does the school not provide you with food or something? You need to take leave just to go eat? The college entrance exams are approaching; can't you focus on your studies?"
Director Zhao's expression was displeased. Since Zhang Qiu received his video, he had started acting out of line. Ever since the class boycott, he had become increasingly unreasonable—taking leave just to go eat. More importantly, what kind of meal were he and Song Weidong having together? Were they planning some big news again?
Director Zhao said sternly, "Even though your homeroom teachers have signed off on this, I cannot approve your leave."
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