Chapter 117: As Becomes the Young Lord of the Cheng Family

The boy who had been hit by the ball was Hu Gaoyang. In the Chemical Faculty building, he was already notorious for a fierce temper and a swaggering manner.
He had never liked Cheng Xingye, that young master born with a silver spoon. Seeing him throw a punch and still have the nerve to demand explanations, he lost his temper at once and shoved him hard on the shoulder.
“None of your business!”

Cheng Xingye’s shoulder twitched from the push. Lou Zhao and Chen Shujie, seeing him move first, immediately closed in, unwilling to yield.
“You’re looking for a fight?”

There were three on their side as well, and they were not afraid at all. On the court the two groups faced each other like this, neither side ready to back down.
Cheng Xingye, face cold, asked again in clipped, deliberate tones.
“What did you just say you wanted to do with her?”

Hu Gaoyang said, “She’s your girlfriend, so why do you care? I wanted to…”

Before he could finish the word, someone suddenly landed a hard punch in his stomach.
Hu Gaoyang had never expected such force; his bravado vanished instantly.
He crouched over, curling into a little ball, sweat dotted all over his forehead, and knelt on the ground, then after ten-odd seconds he only then seemed to come to his senses.
The other two who came with him were stunned by that wet impact and for a moment didn’t react, until Hu Gaoyang hissed, and only then did they bend down to help him up.

Being caught off guard like that, his face was ruined beyond keeping composure. He almost swung back at once.
“So, you thought a sucker punch was the play, eh?”

Seeing that, Lou Zhao and Chen Shujie rushed in, jumping before the punch could come down.
The court by the dorms had been there for years; the iron mesh was covered in rusty spots, and any touch sent little rings of dust floating into the air.
Evening light swept across the court while the sounds of flesh and fists never stopped, sometimes interrupted by crude insults.
A conflict that big drew all the nearby players to run over.

In the confusion, someone shouted,
“The counselor’s here!”

With a burst of noisy footsteps, a stern male voice carried through.
“What are you all doing? Want to get yourselves written up?”

Zhou Biao pushed through the crowd in haste, ready to denounce them for fighting on campus, but as soon as he saw what was happening, his words stuck in his throat.
“Cheng Xingye?”

Cheng Xingye loosened his hand from the other man’s collar, slowly rose, and rubbed at the corner of his lip.
When he saw the counselor, he showed no hint of guilt or panic, only a light hum of acknowledgment.
Zhou Biao’s angry eyes softened at once.
“What happened?”

Who at Jiang University did not know Cheng Xingye?
Even though Zhou Biao was the counselor for the Chemical Faculty, he certainly knew him.
He came from a privileged background and had striking looks, yet he still walked out each year with scholarships in hand. A person like that should not, in theory, touch any misconduct. It was surprising that Zhou Biao hurried over to handle a fight.

Someone who had watched from the start stepped forward and explained what had happened.
Zhou Biao furrowed his brow and swept his gaze over both sides.
“Who moved first?”

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Someone testified that it was Hu Gaoyang who had shoved Cheng Xingye first.
When Zhou Biao heard that Cheng Xingye had not started it, he let out a small breath of relief.
It wasn’t that he was currying favor with the Cheng clan’s young prince; the truth was that the entire Mingsi Building had been donated by their family, and no one dared offend that benefactor.

He set his face firm, about to turn and scold Hu Gaoyang, but when he turned, he saw Hu’s face blue and purple in spots—clearly beaten into this shape by someone’s hard hitting.
Zhou Biao muttered under his breath.
“You start it and end up looking like that? You came here hoping to throw in your head for someone, didn’t you?”
He drew in a deep breath, resentful of how undisciplined his students were, and tried to downplay a bigger matter into something small.

“Fine! Let’s end it here.”

Hu Gaoyang, to no one’s surprise, was not satisfied. Abruptly he cut in,
“How can it be over? My face is ruined like this—are you saying I’m to take this for nothing?”

Zhou Biao gave him a sharp, angry look and warned,
“You think a fight is something to brag about?”

But Hu Gaoyang failed to read the sign and let out a cold laugh.
“No wonder he’s a Cheng prince—you can swing first and then erase it all.”

Zhou Biao’s face remained hard.
“What do you expect, then?”

Hu Gaoyang, still not catching on, prodded at his chin with his tongue.
“Punish me however you like. You’re not worried about offending a rich family, are you?”

Zhou Biao, half-exasperated enough to laugh, said bluntly,
“Alright then—one major demerit each.”

He assumed Hu Gaoyang would back off after that. Instead Hu lifted his brow and replied,
“Fine! Fairness all the way—just keep it even. Don’t let a few tattered bills from his family make you meek and grovel.”

Zhou Biao was furious enough to grit his teeth.
What an idiot. His family owns a listed company; after graduation he may return home to take over the business, so whether he gets punished or not means nothing to him.
But this ordinary graduate with no background—if he loses his certificate because of a demerit, there will be a day he deeply regrets it.

Zhou Biao massaged his temple, trying to find a way to steer this through cleanly, when Cheng Xingye spoke evenly:
“Fine. Let both of us get a demerit. I have no objection.”

Zhou Biao stared for a long moment, expression tight.
“....You have money like a mine, of course you don’t mind.”

In a complicated look and a long silence, he thought: he hadn’t protected his students, and he’d offended this little prince as well.

Afterward, Cheng Xingye checked his wristwatch and only then realized it was almost six o’clock in the evening.
The playground was empty, and the freshmen were long gone.

Lou Zhao and Chen Shujie urged him to go to the pharmacy and treat whatever was on him.
Cheng Xingye felt there was hardly anything worth treating. The other side had only hot air; his skills were actually poor. After half an hour of it, he had only been punched in the abdomen and had a small scrape at the lip.

He lazily refused,
“No.”

“That’s not going anywhere, then?” Chen Shujie asked, confused.

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Cheng Xingye didn’t answer. He pulled out his phone and saw a message Lu Qingyue had sent him half an hour ago.
[Lu Dian-Dian]: Training is over. I’ll shower first, then come find you later, okay?

Only then did he remember: tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn mini-vacation. Their freshman training also happened to end today.
He exhaled and replied:
[hOShinO]: Come down in thirty minutes.

After sending it, he put the phone away.
“You two go eat by yourselves. Send me the bill later. I need to go see Dian-Dian.”

Chen Shujie immediately brightened.
“Thanks, bro!”

With this young master paying, they’d definitely eat to their hearts’ content—after all, this bro’s family is so rich they only seem poor in other things because there’s still money left.

Cheng Xingye turned to leave, then stopped suddenly as if remembering something and asked Lou Zhao,
“Does my face look okay?”

Lou Zhao, not understanding, instantly thought he was showing off and offered flattery on instinct.
“Looking sharp, bro.”

Cheng Xingye shot him a dry glance.
“I’m asking whether there are any marks—don’t want to scare that little girl when she sees me.”

Lou Zhao understood then and let out a sly laugh.
“Hmm. Our Wild Brother is particular. You fought for her and you still won’t tell her?”

Chen Shujie added,
“Exactly. If Dian-Dian knew you fought for her, she’d be moved enough to throw herself at you.”

Cheng Xingye thought that might not happen, but making a move when the chance came was possible.
He sighed,
“Why tell her? So she worries about me?”

Chen Shujie nodded.
“Of course. The more she worries, the more it proves she loves you.”

What need had he of lessons from such a hapless fool?

At the mere thought that the young girl might be confused and worried, he let out a self-mocking laugh.
“Forget it. If she worries, I’ll be the one comforting her.”

After checking the corner of his lip once more for obvious marks, he hurried toward the women’s dormitory.
Lou Zhao and Chen Shujie watched him go and savored his words with knowing smiles.

Chen Shujie clicked his tongue.
“I feel like Wild Brother has the sort of potential to be controlled by his wife, you know?”

Lou Zhao nodded in agreement.
“Good thing he even has a dog, otherwise his position at home would be the lowest.”

After a moment’s thought, Chen Shujie, though it felt impolite, corrected carefully,
“Even though he has a dog, I don’t think a dog always has to be at the bottom.”

Lou Zhao stared blankly.
“???