Think back to the very beginning.

He had guessed right—Heipi did want revenge. This was a serious grudge; how could he let it go unavenged? But the target wasn’t one of his lackeys—it was him. After getting beaten up, Heipi looked into the situation at Number 119 Middle School and found out that the one he’d fought was a second-year student... It was mortifying. How could he keep his reputation after being thrashed by an eighth grader? This grudge had to be settled.

The problem was, even if he got his revenge, once word got out, it would be shameful—a bunch of grown men bullying a middle schooler? But regardless, he had to go through with it. So he showed up Monday afternoon.

Heipi brought more than twenty people, arriving in seven cars that waited on a nearby street, leaving two underlings at the school gate to watch for their target. They already knew Li Yingxiong was on campus.

And so, they waited until the end of the school day.

Li Yingxiong left the teaching building early, standing lazily at the school gate, watching his classmates leave before stepping out himself. He felt responsible for the ones who’d helped him.

As soon as Li Yingxiong left, the two lookouts called Heipi and reported that he was alone. Heipi wasn’t in a hurry and sent another man to wait on the next street, making sure Li Yingxiong was under surveillance the whole way.

Luck was on Li Yingxiong’s side. Zhang Pa, who shared his job, was also around. As soon as school ended, Zhang Pa stood at the gate, eyeing the crowd for troublemakers. After a while, he noticed two suspicious figures across the street. Their gaze toward Li Yingxiong was off, and then he saw them make a phone call—he realized at once they were planning to get to Li Yingxiong first.

Sensing something was wrong, Zhang Pa kept the students from leaving the school. If they left in groups and got ambushed, what then? The students respected him; as long as he didn’t give the word, they hung around on the sports field, watching Li Yingxiong at the gate and snickering at his behavior: “Idiot.”

Most of these kids weren’t afraid of fights; young and reckless, they didn’t care about rules. Some would even say, “Worst case, I’ll pay with my life.”

They stayed on campus, saw Li Yingxiong leave first, then watched Zhang Pa follow. Li Shan, sharp as ever, tugged on Yun Zheng and asked, “Why did teacher leave alone?” Yun Zheng caught on immediately. “Something’s wrong.” He dashed out of the school.

Li Shan followed, and Yu Yuan, seeing the excitement, couldn’t miss out. Then Wang Jiang and Old Pi joined in... soon, all the students had left the campus.

Ahead of them, before Zhang Pa, Li Yingxiong wandered forward, not sure where he was going, just away from home.

Suddenly, four cars pulled up to the curb. One blocked the front, three stopped alongside. Almost simultaneously, six or seven men jumped out and charged at Li Yingxiong.

Li Yingxiong reacted instantly, sprinting away, weaving around the blockading car... but Heipi hadn't brought only four cars. As soon as Li Yingxiong got past, another car stopped ahead, its door flew open, and two men leaped out. Then another car blocked the road up front.

Mobilizing so many people just to get Li Yingxiong—Heipi would be the laughingstock. But there was no choice; they had to catch him and make an example.

A fight broke out. Li Yingxiong was boxed in by cars and surrounded. The attackers were prepared—after a few blows, Li Yingxiong’s head was already bleeding.

Luckily, Zhang Pa charged onto the scene from behind.

He could have pretended not to see, kept silent and out of it—after all, he didn’t know Li Yingxiong. But Heipi’s crew wouldn’t just go after Li Yingxiong; they’d target his students too, and with those three unlucky cases in his class already, Zhang Pa couldn’t stand by. He had to settle things with Heipi’s gang once and for all.

Zhang Pa’s fists were like sledgehammers. He charged forward, swinging as he ran. In no time, he reached Li Yingxiong, dropping four men behind him, each with a single punch.

Li Yingxiong was an experienced fighter, cool-headed. Seeing Zhang Pa, he immediately turned to face the attackers on the other side, confidently leaving his back for Zhang Pa to guard.

In a fight, you have to stay calm; otherwise, you can’t make decisions. Many people have never fought before—when conflict erupts, the adrenaline rush makes them frantic. They swing blindly, unable to see their opponent, let alone strategize. Such fighting is pure instinct, without a thought.

Li Yingxiong, a veteran, analyzed the situation coolly and adjusted his response. Zhang Pa shook his head with a smile—this was interesting.

Judging by his composure, he didn’t seem like a typical eighth grader.

Zhang Pa quickly moved to Li Yingxiong’s side, turning to face the enemy, leaving his back to Li Yingxiong.

Heipi’s side had the advantage—over twenty men, some armed. Seeing Zhang Pa’s ferocity, someone ran to a car for knives and clubs, and they charged at Zhang Pa and Li Yingxiong.

Behind Zhang Pa, Yun Zheng and the other students had been following. Suddenly they saw the street blocked with cars and a fight breaking out ahead... Yun Zheng shouted, “Teacher’s fighting!” and dashed into the fray.

With Yun Zheng leading the charge, Wang Jiang, Li Shan, Yu Yuan, and the rest followed. Except for the two sick ones, all forty-one students dove into the brawl, once again fighting side by side with their teacher, beating up the punks who’d come to cause trouble.

It was a wild fight. Yu Yuan and his crew had been cooped up in the classroom for days, itching for action. Now, unleashed, they took it out on Heipi’s gang with redoubled force.

In less than two minutes, Heipi’s men were beaten and running for their lives again.

Yu Yuan and the others, still unsatisfied, were about to smash the cars. Zhang Pa hurried to stop them.

The fight had been satisfying, but the injuries were serious. Heipi’s side had over twenty men, some with weapons. Class eighteen had the numbers but no weapons.

In the clash, it was mostly two-on-one fights, quickly overwhelming Heipi’s men, but the students took their share of injuries as well.

Afterwards, the students were exhilarated. It was their third mass brawl alongside their teacher—what a wonderful, understanding teacher!

Zhang Pa was less pleased. How did another fight break out? He thought, “Number 119 Middle School, you’re really something.”

After the fight, he gathered the injured students to check their wounds. Luckily, most were superficial; only three needed to go to the hospital.

The three refused, but Zhang Pa insisted, hailing a cab and taking them to the hospital, instructing Yun Zheng and the others to disperse and head home.

On the way, the principal called, saying he was heading out for dinner. Zhang Pa declined, explaining what had just happened. The principal was annoyed, “You’re so irresponsible. We agreed on this—how can you just change your mind?”

Zhang Pa apologized, promising to drink with him next time, but he had to take his students to the hospital now.

Principal Qin, unable to argue, went off to eat alone.

Zhang Pa stopped at a bank along the way for cash, then hurried to the hospital.

They were lucky—no broken bones. The doctor treated their wounds and released them.

Zhang Pa escorted each of the three students home before returning to Xingfuli.

Yun Zheng and his five little monkeys were already home, making a racket next door, raving about how thrilling the fight was and how awesome Zhang Pa was.

Zhang Pa looked in on them, sighed, “Get to bed early,” then left to check on Zhang Lao Si.

Judging by the evidence the police had found, Zhang Lao Si still hadn’t been released—probably a forty-eight-hour detention.

Heading back, Zhang Pa heard, even from a distance, someone banging on a door. It was Wang Baihe’s worthless father.

Wang Baihe and Sun Yi weren’t home. That wretch was kicking and pounding on the door, shouting, “Come out! Come out!”

He was causing a scene downstairs, with Yun Zheng and his five monkeys watching from the stairwell.

Zhang Pa was frustrated. He kept telling himself there were plenty of good people in the world, yet every day he saw plenty of bastards—like this one, the worst of all.

He glanced at the ground, picked up a small brick, and flung it.

His aim was perfect. Wang Baihe’s father yelped, spun around looking for his attacker.

No use looking. In no time, blood was streaming down half his face. He rushed to the corner store for a handkerchief, pressing the wound as he made his way to the pharmacy.

Zhang Pa curled his lip. If murder weren’t a crime, he’d have finished that scoundrel off.

He climbed the stairs. Old Pi asked, “Bro, was that you?”

“Nonsense! Get in and go to bed.” Zhang Pa entered his own room, grabbed his laptop, locked the door, and headed to Hexinyuan.

His bicycle was at school. When he left Xingfuli, he hesitated a moment but decided to take a cab straight to Hexinyuan.

The two big dogs were still lying quietly, as if they were fake—neither eating nor barking nor moving. He asked the fat man and learned the dogs hadn’t been fed, so he quickly gave them food. Once they’d eaten, he brought them back to his room to rest.

The next morning, the principal arrived early at Class Eighteen, standing at the podium and scanning every student.

He was the most worried about the students—more so than Zhang Pa. No matter how unruly, mischievous, or even wicked they were, he couldn’t bear to see them hurt.

If the story got out online, no matter how justified he was, the principal would be berated, the school’s reputation tarnished, and the education bureau would have grounds to criticize him.

At seven-thirty, seeing nothing amiss, the principal left the classroom, still disgruntled.

Leaning against the corridor wall, Zhang Pa asked, “Satisfied now?”

“Not at all! Come with me.” The principal led him away, up the stairs, and back to his office.

What followed was a negotiation. The principal said, “You can’t keep going on like this. You’ve only been here a few days and already led your students into three mass fights. Are you a teacher or a gang boss?”

“Of course I’m a teacher,” Zhang Pa replied.

“Is this how a teacher should behave?” the principal snapped, then paused. “I saw several with bandages. They’re all right, aren’t they?”

“They’re fine. If they weren’t, they’d be in the hospital,” Zhang Pa said. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Principal Qin frowned. “What is it?”

“It’s a good thing. You should agree,” said Zhang Pa.

“Agree to what? If you don’t tell me what it is, how can I agree?” the principal retorted.

Zhang Pa hesitated. “It’s about the students in my class.”

“Stop right there! I’m already trying my best to stay out of your class’s way. Now you want me to agree to something? Impossible. Just keep things as they are.”