CH 32

Running out of the classroom, Huo Ran saw that Kou Chen had already gone down one flight of stairs. As he was debating if he should just slide down the handrails, Kou Chen took a leap.

Swoosh— 

He leapt over one flight of stairs, landing on the ground.

He didn’t even need to put a hand on the ground to support himself, immediately shooting out of the building.

Of course, him going down the stairs in such a way was mainly out of worry for Old Yuan.

But Huo Ran felt that it also had something to do with how a bunch of people had come out of their classrooms. To land in such a cool way in front of a crowd of girls… 

It was flashier than him sliding down the handrails.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

Huo Ran looked behind him, seeing that everyone else’s imitation skills were pretty good. Xu Zhifan and the others all followed him down the stairs in the same way.

And behind them were the other guys in their class.

They all slid down the handrails one after the other.

Just like that, it made the scene feel grand.

People even cheered and clapped as they ran out of the building.

Huo Ran genuinely felt that The Seven of them could debut. 

Old Yuan’s office was on the second floor, and they could already hear the yelling from the first floor.

A woman yelled: “Don’t be so rash! Stop it! Stop fighting!”

A man was roaring furiously, but they couldn’t hear exactly what.

Then was the dean’s loud voice: “Call the police! Call security! If you don’t stop now there will be consequences!” 

On the second floor, Huo Ran saw that Kou Chen was already only two or three metres away from the office. A few students stood in the hallway, filming what was happening.

Two of them were even watching the commotion with a smile.

Huo Ran felt disgusted, and as he was about to yell at them, Kou Chen waved his hand as he passed them.

Clatter. 

Three phones fell to the floor.

“What are you doing?!” One of them yelled angrily.

“Shut the fuck up!” Huo Ran ran over and pointed at them.

The rest of the class passed them aggressively, and they all went quiet, too scared to even pick up their phones right away. 

The office was a mess. Kou Chen rushed in and couldn’t see Old Yuan, only knowing that they were all piled up by the desk. There were even two female teachers there.

Seeing that, he knew that it wasn’t just one person hitting Old Yuan.

“Old Yuan!” Kou Chen yelled. 

“Kou Chen! Don’t do anything reckless!” Even at a time like this Old Yuan could recognize his voice and realize that he wasn’t alone, even reminding them all to not be reckless.

Kou Chen rushed over without hesitation. His eyes fell on a man who was being tugged at by Teacher A, so he pulled him away by the back of his collar.

But how could he not be reckless in such a situation?

The man was still swinging his fists as he was pulled out of the group of people. 

“Beat him up!” A woman snarled.

Kou Chen started. Apart from the mom that was hiding by the door, there were only two female teachers in the room. The voice just now was close to him, so it was probably Teacher A, their civics teacher, Miss Sun.

“Get out!” She pushed the man harshly.

But that push didn’t do anything at all, except anger the man. He raised his hand and was about to slap her face. 

“Fuck you!” Kou Chen punched him.

The man’s head flung back, and he stumbled backwards before tripping over his own feet.

“What’s going on?! Old Yuan!” Huo Ran and the others yelled as they rushed into the office.

“Xfa atfw boo!” Zlrr Vec sfiifv jr rtf rjk jii atf tfiq atja jgglnfv. Vtf qblcafv ja atf qlif bo qfbqif, “Zg. Tejc’r ja atf ybaabw! Xfa atfw boo! Leggs!” 

Leb Ejc gjc bnfg jcv rwjmxfv atf ragjcufg ktb kjr tbivlcu Yiv Tejc vbkc bc atf tfjv.

Vlwlijg ab tbk tf yibmxfv qfbqif lc yjrxfayjii.

See? Playing basketball has its advantages.

Immediately after, Kou Chen tugged the person away. 

The Seven of them joined in together, with most of their male classmates hot on their heels.

It was a strange and fanatical scene. You could hear cursing, the chairs and desks creaking as they were shoved aside, along with books and mugs falling to the ground.

Without pause, they pulled everyone off of Old Yuan. 

The dean, Thousand Years, one teacher, two teachers… After they were pulled off, Jiang Lei and Wei Chaoren raised their fists from the back.

“Dean?”

“Mr. Li.”

“Mr. Zhang, are you okay?!” 

Jiang Lei became worried, and he yelled angrily: “Where’s Old Yuan! Get Old Yuan out! He’s gonna suffocate! Old Yuan—”

As Old Yuan finally appeared in front of everyone, the office was a complete mess. There were three men that were pulled out, and they were currently fighting with the security officers.

“Old Yuan!” Without care for anything else, they rushed over to him.

“Wait! Wait!” Xu Zhifan stopped them, “Hold on!” 

He laid on the desk and looked at Old Yuan: “Old Yuan, don’t get up yet. Does anything hurt? Can you move?”

Huo Ran looked over as well, and saw that the corner of Old Yuan’s eye was split, blood running down his face. His lip was swollen and bleeding as well.

“Fuck!” Huo Ran was pissed. He jumped up and kicked the nearest man who was still fighting the security, “You guys should go fucking die!”

The man was kicked to the floor, and the security took the chance and got him under control. 

Huo Ran finally got why Kou Chen’s dad said he could take on eight Kou Chens singlehandedly. The difference in strength between trained middle aged men and late bloomer teens like them was pretty big.

These guys should be just be someone’s parents, but they looked like thugs, and it took a while to get them under control even with all of their help.

Old Yuan supported himself on the desk and stood up slowly.

“Mr. Yuan, are you okay?” The dean checked Old Yuan all over like he was patting him down. 

“I’m fine.” Old Yuan wiped his mouth. He looked at the dean, and then at the other teachers. “Are you guys okay?”

They finally found time to look each other over.

The teachers were all a bit worse for wear. The male teachers’ clothes were disheveled, and a lens was missing from Thousand Years’ glasses. Miss Sun’s ponytail had moved up to the top of her head somehow, and the other female teacher’s hair was messed up.

“Students, take the teachers to the infirmary.” The dean said. “I’ll wait here for the police.” 

“You have the nerve to call the police?!” The mom hiding at the door said. “You’re a top school! The teachers are encouraging students into relationships, and it’s on us now that something happened?!”

“If you want to have a civil conversation then sit down.” The dean said. “If not, we can talk at the police station. It’s only a two minute walk.”

“He can’t leave!” One of the men pointed at Old Yuan.

“What do you want now?!” The guys all yelled, pointed at him. 

Kou Chen and Huo Ran immediately stepped in front of Old Yuan.

“It’s fine.” Old Yuan stepped between them to look at the parents. “I recommend you look up the word ‘encourage’ in the dictionary first. You can even do it on your phones”

The parents froze.

“I could’ve ignored the situation completely. They’re not my students, and they have nothing do with me.” Old Yuan continued. “The absence of communication and companionship, along with this kind of attitude, will only distance your child. The fact that she was willing to tell you about her relationship meant that she still wanted to communicate, and hoped that you will understand. Yet this is how you chose to respond.” 

“Stop with the nonsense!” The dad yelled. “My daughter was always a good girl! She listened! And now you taught her how to get into a relationship!”

“Shut the fuck up.” Kou Chen glared at him. “You need someone to teach you how to get into a relationship? Did you and your wife learn it in class? Or did you get a tutor?”

“This is your student? This is the kind of student you’ve brought up?” The dad glared at the dean.

“He can think for himself and express his feelings without blindly obeying.” Old Yuan said. “Those are qualities that I want my students to have… Alright, I’ll go to the infirmary first.” 

Old Yuan patted Huo Ran and Kou Chen on the shoulders, and walked out of the office with their support. And he didn’t forget to say: “Everyone else, go back to class.”

When they arrived at the infirmary, Tao Rui was standing by the door.

She ran over when she saw them approach: “How is it?” 

“I thought you were away?” Huo Ran didn’t have time to think about it too much, “How did you know we were coming?”

“There was too much commotion.” Tao Rui said as she started to check over the teachers. “Two cops just went in, and I felt that people probably got hurt.”

“It’s nothing serious, we’re fine.” Old Yuan said.

“Good thing Dr. Zhang is here today too,” Tao Rui said. “I’ll check you over first, if something feels off then we have to get to the hospital as soon as possible.” 

The teachers went in the infirmary, and Huo Ran and Kou Chen leaned against the door looking in.

“They should be fine.” Huo Ran said. “Just some cuts and bruises.”

“For the other teachers probably,” Kou Chen said. “But I think Old Yuan’s are more serious.”

“Fuck.” Huo Ran frowned. “Whose parents are those? The lovebirds in Thousand Years’ class?” 

Huo Ran was still angry, so he spoke pretty loudly. Inside the room, Thousand Years adjusted his glasses and glanced at him: “No.”

“Mr. Li.” Huo Ran startled, immediately bowing, “I’m sorry.”

Thousand Years waved him off.

“It doesn’t matter whose parents they are.” Old Yuan said. “Nobody would want their parents to cause such a scene at school.” 

Huo Ran and Kou Chen agreed.

“Miss Sun joined the fight?” Tao Rui was disinfecting her injury, “It’s pretty deep.”

“I don’t even know when I got it.” Miss Sun said. “It doesn’t even hurt.”

“She was yelling and punching.” Kou Chen said. 

“That impressive?” Tao Rui laughed, “I never expected that.”

“If you were there, you would’ve joined as well. It’s infuriating.” Miss Sun said. “I’ve never seen such unreasonable parents in my five years of teaching!”

“Wait until you see my dad.” Kou Chen said.

“Don’t say that.” Old Yuan said. “You’re dad is a good person.” 

The other teachers only had small cuts and bruises, so they left after applying some ointment.

Old Yuan’s situation seemed pretty serious. Dr. Zhang pressed down on his ribs: “Is this where it hurts?”

“Yes.” Old Yuan nodded. “Even when you’re not pressing on it.” 

“You were lying on the desk, right?” Tao Rui frowned. “It’s probably broken.”

“Get to the hospital.” Dr. Zhang said, before pointing at Huo Ran and Kou Chen. “You two, call a cab. Go with Mr. Yuan to the hospital.”

“Okay.” Huo Ran took out his phone.

“I told you not to bring your phones to class.” Old Yuan looked at him. “I might have to resort to confiscating them.” 

“You never forget your job.” Huo Ran sighed, scrolling through his phone.

“Do you guys have the money?” Tao Rui grabbed her bag. “Mr. Yuan probably doesn’t have his wallet on him, I’ll get you some…”

“We do, we do, Jie.” Kou Chen immediately said. “I have money.”

“Okay,” Tao Rui nodded. “Then hurry.” 

As they helped Old Yuan into the car, the dean and principal ran out.

“I heard it’s broken?” The principal stuffed a wad of cash into Old Yuan’s pocket. “Do all the necessary exams, and stay overnight if needed. Old Peng and I will head over as soon as we’re done here.”

“We have money.” Kou Chen said. 

“Is the school gonna let a student pay for everything?” The principal said. “You two go with Mr. Yuan. Call me or the dean if anything happens.”

“Got it.” Huo Ran nodded.

In the backseat of the car, they sat on both sides of Old Yuan.

“One of you go in front,” Old Yuan said. “Why do you have to squeeze in like this?” 

“What if the car swerves and you hit the side?” Kou Chen said.

“I’ll drive carefully.” The driver said, “Don’t worry.”

In the ER, the doctor quickly concluded that it was most likely a fractured rib, and arranged an X-ray. 

Huo Ran and Kou Chen paid, and the nurse brought them a wheelchair.

Huo Ran finally felt that he was starting to calm down once they were waiting for the X-ray.

His head was buzzing the whole way, and he didn’t know if it was because he got hit on the head or not.

“The police took those guys away.” Kou Chen scrolled through his phone. The others were reporting the situation in the group chat. “The dean went with them.” 

“Did stuff like this happen at your old school?” Huo Ran turned to look at him.

“Parents hitting teachers?” Kou Chen said. “Nope, the students will just do it, they don’t need their parents.”

“Damn.” Huo Ran thought about the rumor that Kou Chen transferred because he hit a teacher.

“Damn.” Kou Chen repeated, before turning around and waving his phone at him. “Wanna know whose parents it was?” 

“Whose?” Huo Ran asked as he got out his own phone.

Kou Chen showed him the screen, and he saw Xu Chuan’s message.

-I heard it’s Li Jiaying’s parents and her two uncles

“…Who is she dating?” Huo Ran was shocked. The people that were always with her just looked like her cronies, and he couldn’t tell if she was dating any of them. 

“That I dunno.” Kou Chen said. “How surprising… But what the fuck does Li Jiaying’s relationship have anything to do with Old Yuan?”

“The whole school knows about our class discussion. They’re all jealous as hell.” Huo Ran said.

“Old Yuan isn’t gonna have to be responsible for everything, is he?” Kou Chen sighed.

Huo Ran sighed too, not saying anything. 

Huo Ran was still leaning against the wall and spacing out as Old Yuan was pushed into the room.

Beside him, Kou Chen was busy texting everyone.

A while later, he suddenly leaned into Huo Ran’s ear and said: “Jiang Lei said Chaoren hit him in the fight.” 

Huo Ran laughed: “Really? The whole thing was a mess, I was scared I accidentally hit the dean or something.”

“You didn’t,” Kou Chen was still next to his ear, “I wasn’t gonna say, but your knee hit my grim reaper in the face.”

“…What?” Huo Ran turned to him.

“Your knee hit my grim reaper in the face.” Kou Chen turned around and lifted his shirt, pointing at the grim reaper. He was pretty accurate with his pointing too. “Right here, is there a bruise?” 

“Sorry,” Huo Ran looked at his back. “Your grim reaper’s hat is too big, I can’t see if his face is bruised or not.”

There really was quite a big bruise, spreading out from the grim reaper’s head.

But he didn’t know if it was actually caused by his knee. You could never trust Kou Chen’s words.

“Rub it for him.” Kou Chen said. 

“That’ll make it worse.” Huo Ran said.

“…You’re so annoying.” Kou Chen turned his head. “Comfort him, it’s been ages since I got hurt like that.”

“Didn’t the grim reaper’s face get hurt last time you made someone fly?” Huo Ran said.

“Can you just shut up?” Kou Chen said. 

Huo Ran didn’t reply. He reached out and patted Kou Chen’s lower back gently: “Sorry for your pain.”