It's happy, it's joyful.

Luo Chengcai was choked up for a moment, then after a long silence said, "Liu Yue is adamant. She says if they send her to the capital, she'll go on a hunger strike, she'll skip school, she'll even run back. She told Uncle Liu not to waste his effort. Liu Yue's dad was furious and wanted to hit her, but he didn't..."

Listening to what the classmate said, Zhang Pa asked, "Do you call him Uncle Liu, or Liu Yue's father?"

Luo Chengcai was choked up again. After a pause, he said, "That's not important. What's important is that Uncle Liu needs a guarantee. Uncle Liu said that if Liu Yue really can attend school every day, she doesn't have to go to the capital. But the question is, who can guarantee that? That's when I thought of you, Teacher. Let Liu Yue join our class too. From now on, I guarantee I'll attend school every day, and Liu Yue will too."

Zhang Pa was stunned by what he heard. What was this rhythm? He thought for a moment and asked, "So, Liu Yue's father doesn't mind you two having a puppy love relationship?"

Luo Chengcai said, "He definitely minds, but we're already living together, so his minding doesn't do any good. Besides, Liu Yue has a very stubborn temper. Uncle Liu talked to her for a long time and got nowhere."

"Living together?" Zhang Pa hesitated, then asked, "You slept together?"

Luo Chengcai paused for a good long while, then answered with an "Mm."

Zhang Pa's heart shattered with a crack, shattered completely and thoroughly: I'm thirty and still a virgin, and you little punk at fifteen already did that? Damn, this is depressing as hell. Does this world even let people live?

In an instant, Zhang Pa lost all thought, no interest in talking. Looking at He Shengsheng beside him, he had no interest in rescuing the two classmates either.

Then he remembered the marriage proposal that morning. Luo Shengnan's beautiful legs must have been held and felt up by someone again and again... Ah! So unfair!

After a long silence, he said into the phone, "What exactly do you want me to guarantee?"

"Uncle Liu will transfer Liu Yue to your class. She'll be in her third year of middle school, perfect fit. You can supervise us anytime. We also guarantee we'll pass our exams. As long as one condition isn't met, you can report us, and Liu Yue will have to go to the capital. At that point, according to the agreed conditions, she can't run back on her own." Luo Chengcai explained very clearly.

Zhang Pa gave a bitter smile. "Chengcai, Chengcai, that really is a good name."

Luo Chengcai asked, "Teacher, can you help us?"

Zhang Pa said, "There's not even a female rat in this class, and you want to bring in a girl? Are you kidding?"

"There wasn't one before, but there can be from now on," Luo Chengcai said.

Zhang Pa didn't agree: "The whole class is boys. Adding her as the only girl—how am I supposed to manage that? How are the boys in the class supposed to get along?"

"You can take in a few more girl delinquents as students," Luo Chengcai suggested.

Zhang Pa didn't even want to talk anymore. After thinking it over, he replied, "Let me think about it."

Luo Chengcai said, "You can't think too long. Uncle Liu needs to book plane tickets."

"When is he leaving?" Zhang Pa asked.

"He's going home today to pack. I don't know when he'll leave." Luo Chengcai suddenly said, "Teacher, please. Our class isn't a boys' school. Just take Liu Yue in."

Zhang Pa rubbed his nose. "Suppose—just suppose—suppose I take Liu Yue in. Can you and Sheng Yang stop skipping class and actually study hard enough to pass your exams?"

"I can guarantee it," Luo Chengcai answered immediately.

Zhang Pa said, "Ask Sheng Yang about it. After all, you're not him. Also, once you're in Class Eighteen, you can't leave before graduation. You can't contact people outside school either. Whatever gangsters or underworld types—tell them all to stay far away."

Luo Chengcai hesitated, then said, "We'll try our best."

"I don't want your best. I want certainty," Zhang Pa said. "That's the basic duty of a student. Can't you do that?"

Luo Chengcai gritted his teeth. "Fine. As long as you talk it over with Uncle Liu, whatever you say goes."

Zhang Pa said, "Alright. Come to school tomorrow morning. We'll all talk together."

Luo Chengcai said okay, then thanked the teacher and ended the call.

The phone call had gone on for a long time, and He Shengsheng was frantic with worry. Finally seeing Zhang Pa put away his phone, he hurried forward. "It's just ahead."

Zhang Pa walked and asked, "How much money do they want?"

"Thirty thousand. They said they're not extorting us—each person pays ten thousand," He Shengsheng replied.

Zhang Pa laughed. "Kidnapping for ransom. Does this guy not know how to spell 'death'?"

He Shengsheng didn't respond.

Zhang Pa thought it over and sensed something wrong. He asked, "They made you write an IOU?"

"They did," He Shengsheng said. "If I hadn't written the IOU, they wouldn't have let me out."

Zhang Pa said angrily, "Are you a pig? You can't write something like that!"

He Shengsheng said, "I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. They kept beating the three of us. I just wanted to find someone quickly to get us out."

Zhang Pa grunted. "It's fine. Even if you wrote it, it's fine. Counting by full years, you're not yet sixteen, right?"

"No, not yet," He Shengsheng said.

"Then it's fine. No matter how many IOUs you write, they don't count. Write as many as you want," Zhang Pa replied.

"Really?" He Shengsheng asked.

"See? I told you to study hard, but you refused. If you'd studied hard like I said and gotten into law school, then when you do bad things in the future, you could exploit loopholes to your heart's content," Zhang Pa said. "You're young. Your future can be anything you make it. Learn the law, and what can't you do?"

He Shengsheng gave a small acknowledgment, but didn't say whether he'd study or not.

Zhang Pa didn't press further. He kept walking, and soon they arrived at the karaoke bar.

There weren't many people singing in the afternoon, but there were some. Zhang Pa walked in with He Shengsheng. In the main lobby by the entrance sat six or seven young women, all in stockings and short skirts, heads down playing with their phones.

It had nothing to do with beauty. A prostitute wears stockings to give herself one extra layer of protection.

Seeing someone come in, several of the girls looked up at once. Zhang Pa glanced over them. They were decent-looking enough; they might consider breaking into the mistress market instead of peddling their flesh.

A few male waiters stood in the lobby too. Seeing He Shengsheng, one of them scurried upstairs, while the others didn't move at all.

He Shengsheng said to Zhang Pa, "They're upstairs," and headed up.

In a large private room, since there were no customers, Heipi sat with six or seven of his men. Beer bottles were scattered on the coffee table, and two people were crouching in the corner.

As He Shengsheng entered, he saw the waiter who had just gone up standing behind Heipi, whispering something.

Seeing He Shengsheng come in, and then Zhang Pa behind him, Heipi stood up and walked over. "Pretty bold, coming here alone."

Heipi had had a rough time of it. He'd gone to the school to play the big shot and ended up getting thoroughly beaten—Zhang Pa hadn't even needed to lift a finger; the students had handled it easily.

He knew Zhang Pa, knew he was the ringleader of the kids. He stopped three steps away. "You bring the money?"

Zhang Pa said, "You legally illiterate idiot. They're only fifteen. They can't support themselves. No matter how many IOUs they write, it's useless. The law doesn't recognize it."

"Recognized or not, you still pay. Thirty thousand, not a cent less," Heipi said.

Zhang Pa said, "Are you stupid? Right now you're committing kidnapping and extortion. One arrest and you're looking at several years. I really don't know what you've been using that head of yours for. Take my advice—you've had your fill of hitting them. Let them go."

"Let them go, my ass." Everyone on the sofa stood up. Several of them picked up beer bottles and walked over.

Zhang Pa said, "You want to fight?"

"So what if I do?" The one who spoke suddenly hurled his arm, and a beer bottle flew through the air.

Zhang Pa dodged aside. A crisp crack sounded as the bottle smashed against the glass in front of the TV. That glass, rather dishonorably, split with a crack line.

Zhang Pa shook his head with a smile. "Smashing your own stuff? How interesting."

Heipi cursed, then led the charge.

What happened next needed no further discussion. They fought. Zhang Pa and He Shengsheng took on many people, two against a crowd, a chaotic brawl.

Not long after they started, the two people crouching in the corner stood up and charged into the fray.

They'd been crouching for a long time, so their reactions were slow. They fought while shaking off the numbness, and as a result, they got thoroughly beaten.

Zhang Pa charged to the front, enduring hits to take them on one-on-one.

Of course he won, but he took many blows to the body, and his head was split open and bleeding from a beer bottle. Fortunately, he was fierce and capable in a fight. Before long, the large private room was a complete mess.

Zhang Pa's side didn't come out well either. He Shengsheng and the other two students were already injured; this added insult to injury, and they looked miserable. Zhang Pa had a face of ferocious blood, rather frightening.

Even though the kids' IOUs had no legal force, it was still better to get them back. Zhang Pa found the IOUs on Heipi, tossed down a parting line—"If you've got a problem with that, come find me at No. 119 Middle School"—and left with the three students.

While they were fighting, the commotion downstairs had already drawn notice, and someone had gone to call for reinforcements.

These reinforcements meant only fighting help. This street was lined with karaoke bars and massage parlors, with plenty of manpower. The thugs on this street were shared resources—whenever anyone had trouble, they all gathered at that place.

At this moment, they were summoned here. In a short while, a crowd filled the door and spilled outside.

Zhang Pa led the three students out.

These thugs weren't fools like Heipi, brawling in a private room. When they saw Zhang Pa come downstairs, the people in the lobby slowly backed away.

By the time Zhang Pa walked out of the lobby, he could see no fewer than a hundred people standing in front of him.

The earlier incident could be interpreted as Zhang Pa damaging the karaoke bar's property, which could justify calling the police. But before calling the police, these people at the bar still had some anger to vent. You come alone to Xianqian Street to cause trouble—do you look down on us?

Over a hundred people against me alone?

Zhang Pa wasn't an idiot. He turned and ran...

The final outcome was that Zhang Pa escaped successfully with the three students. On the way, they found a small restaurant, had dinner, and then went their separate ways.

As for Heipi and his crew, Zhang Pa simply couldn't be bothered. Whenever he had the chance, he'd set them up, and send them to jail where they belonged.

That Wednesday, Zhang Pa hadn't managed to go on his date smoothly, and he was in a foul mood. Combined with his inherent laziness, he finally gave up on the manuscript. That evening he went back to Xingfuli, ate dinner, and went straight to sleep. It was a rare early night, a rare indulgence.

Thursday morning: for the first time since Class Eighteen was founded, every single member was present! And there was even an extra girl.

Luo Chengcai didn't care about any of that. He'd somehow stolen a chair from somewhere and openly sat together with Liu Yue.

Liu Zhengyang was in the principal's office. He had a great deal to say to the principal and to Zhang Pa.

He didn't believe Zhang Pa could manage his child, nor did he believe his child could really attend school every day. But the child was getting older, so he decided to have a conversation between adults. The two sides negotiated and set conditions. As long as Liu Yue could meet them...

Actually, she couldn't. In Liu Zhengyang's mind, he'd lay out conditions for her. When she failed to meet them, she couldn't blame him for taking her to the capital.