Chapter 285

Zheng Tan had once heard Jiao Yuan complain about some things at school; Jiao Yuan's class and Class Five of the same grade were always at odds, from sports meets to basketball games to end-of-term evaluations, from top students to the lowest, everyone knew it—don't say good things about Class Five in Class One, and don't say how awesome Class One is in Class Five; even if you truly think they're great, you have to keep it in, otherwise speaking up will provoke public anger.

And this also involves the two class teachers; those two teachers have been opposed for a long time. In daily class meetings, when they bring up negative examples, the teacher of Class Five always first cites Class One. Back when they were in first grade, Fu Lei was still that 'lone wolf' at the bottom, often used by the Class Five teacher as an example for criticism; in private he even once declared that this student was a 'piece of dog shit', and so Fu Lei has kept this grudge.

As for the good examples of the two classes, people from both classes could avoid mentioning them, but once you make a mistake, heh, they'll spray you without question.

The ones who most harshly criticize Jiao Yuan and the other children of university teachers are only those from Class Five; students from other classes just watch the fun, since there is competition between classes of each grade—Class One and Class Five are fiercely rivals, so they just watch from the sidelines, no need to get involved; both are tough to provoke.

"What's up, goodie? Why aren't you doing your homework and instead hanging out here?" said a boy about the same age as Jiao Yuan and them, pulling a cocky attitude.

Several over there were from Class Five, and even if not, they could be from other classes, all about the same age. To Zheng Tan, they still seemed childish.

"You haven't been in here before, have you?" the person said, pointing behind him at 'Kai Xuan', looking at Jiao Yuan and them with a mocking expression, as if laughing at their lack of experience. "Hey, think about it—you're goodie kids; karaoke halls, dance halls, bars, game rooms… which of you would dare go in?"

Jiao Yuan and the others stayed silent; in fact they'd been to those places, but they didn't say so—admitting it would be asking for trouble, and they'd get scolded when they got back. They weren't like the guys in front of them, who flaunt any rebellious act as a badge of honor.

"According to relevant national laws and regulations, certain commercial entertainment venues are unsuitable for minors to enter. In some places this is outright prohibited." Jiao Yuan said, righteous and unflinching.

Su An and the others glanced at Jiao Yuan, then continued their silence; they absolutely felt no guilt.

Those over there burst out laughing at Jiao Yuan's words, as if he'd told a hilarious joke—various snickers and contempt, thinking Jiao Yuan and them were just weaklings.

Xiong Xiong, unable to contain his anger, prepared to retaliate, but Lan Tian Zhu tugged him, saying, "No need to waste words with those lunatics. Let's go check out somewhere else, don't waste time here."

Xiong Xiong thought about it and agreed; their outing time was limited, and coming home late would definitely mean family punishment. Moreover, if they started a conflict here, a little investigation would reveal the cause—even if they weren't the ones provoking, once their families found out they'd never be allowed to come here again, so there's no point hanging out with these idiots and spouting nonsense.

Jiao Yuan and them had just taken a step when the people over there blocked their way.

The speaker who had just been talking was about to step forward and jab a couple more sentences, but Fu Lei stepped in front of Jiao Yuan and Su An, blocking them, rolled his shoulders, clenched his fists, and looked at the person ahead with a hostile expression.

Seeing Fu Lei approach, that person hurriedly stepped back a few paces; he knew Fu Lei could fight—he'd taken on third‑year students in first grade—and didn't want to be beaten, but retreating so fast made him look cowardly in front of his friends, losing face. Before he could speak, a voice came from behind him.

"Oh my, isn't this the Class One Five Tyrant?"

Hearing that voice, Jiao Yuan and them changed expression; the Class Five folks were still manageable, but this person… he's clearly not friendly.

The few from Class Five also stopped charging forward, stepping back; some even wanted to slip away, for they didn't dare offend this person. Recently they'd heard that these individuals, for unknown reasons, had been urged to withdraw or transfer schools—yet here they were, running into this person today. They hadn't checked the almanac before leaving; their luck was truly terrible.

Zheng Tan, who had been standing aside observing the developments, saw the group walking over, their attire obviously mature, and thought they'd be hard to handle. The earlier bunch, even if they tried to act cool, still had a bit of student air, but these… seemed already mixed into society; even if they looked young on the surface, that outfit instantly aged them. The slightly older ones nearby were probably from a nearby high school, or already out in society.

The speaker who had just been talking tossed his cigarette to the ground and ground it out with his foot, then looked at Jiao Yuan and them, his eyes gloomy: "Perfect, I also wanted to have a good chat with you guys!"

After these people appeared, Zheng Tan clearly sensed Jiao Yuan and them growing tense—even Fu Lei, who usually feared nothing and had the strongest fists, looked grave. Listening to their conversation behind them, Zheng Tan pieced together from fragments that these individuals were related to the recent problematic milk‑tea powder incident.

When Fu Lei shouted out the name of the leader, Zheng Tan recalled that this person appeared on the message he'd sent to Xiao Luo; Jiao Yuan had mentioned him before—among the few who had supplied them with the problematic milk‑tea powder, this one was the toughest to deal with, rumored to be mixed up in the underworld. After the incident the school said they were advised to withdraw, but in fact it was more serious: he had been criminally detained at the time, and I heard a few were sent to labor reform. Yet since he's able to stand here, he obviously has some means. And hearing his words, he thinks he himself almost got dragged in, while Jiao Yuan and the others exerted effort in this, making it impossible for him to swallow this anger.

Just as it looked like they were about to fight, a voice suddenly interjected.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you kids over there, if you want to exchange feelings, please don't do it here."

The words were polite, but the tone carried a strong warning and allowed no refusal.

Zheng Tan looked over; the person was wearing a 'Kai Xuan' security uniform. Since 'Kai Xuan' has strict appearance requirements for its on‑duty staff, even a guard in that outfit looks quite imposing—especially since these individuals were personally selected and trained by Ye Hao from his subordinates, and they don't take the antics of middle‑school kids seriously. Recently opened. These little brats fighting can't happen here, or the impact would be bad; if they fought today, tomorrow the locals would talk about how terrible the security around 'Kai Xuan' is, and then their livelihoods wouldn't be secure—Ye Boss wouldn't pay them such high wages just to run errands. This bunch of hot‑headed, low‑IQ troublemakers who love to stir up trouble for no reason running here to 'play'—isn't that just asking for trouble?

The guy who had just been acting tough shrank when he met the guard's gaze, then noticed the 'Kai Xuan' badge on the guard's chest. He hurried over, offered a cigarette, and smiled, "Really sorry, we're leaving now." Usually he can act big, presenting himself as a 'man of the streets,' but that only works among clueless students. Facing the people at 'Kai Xuan,' he doesn't have the guts—he knows what kind of figures stand behind 'Kai Xuan.'

The guard raised his hand to block the offered cigarette, gave a professional smile to the person who'd offered it, and said, "Thanks for cooperating."

Although the security guard was smiling, the person handing over the cigarette already had sweat on his forehead, the hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly; he felt that in front of this person, he didn't have the guts to lift his head at all, and the guard's smile, no matter how you look at it, made him feel chilled inside.

However, that person had no intention of just letting Jiao Yuan and the others go; he signaled with his eyes for a few accomplices to keep an eye on Jiao Yuan and the others, then move to another place to have a good chat.

Jiao Yuan was thinking about how to escape when he suddenly felt a push from behind, and his shoulder felt heavy all at once.

"Oh my goodness! Hei Tan, what are you doing here?!"

Just now, while he was deeply engrossed in thinking about a problem, Zheng Tan's sudden jump made Jiao Yuan almost lose his balance and fall.

The few people around had varied reactions to Zheng Tan's sudden appearance; regardless of what they were thinking, Zheng Tan had no mind to pay attention, and instead directly looked at the security guard who was about to turn and leave to continue his patrol at Triumph.

The security guard found the sudden appearance of a cat quite interesting, but when he saw the round tag hanging from the cat's neck, he was startled and said, "Wait!"

The few people over there who were about to act paused, looking puzzled at that security guard.

After the security guard approached, his gaze swept over Zheng Tan, lingered briefly on the round tag, and then he said to Jiao Yuan and the others, "You few kids, please come with me for a moment."

Having been around for years, he could see the situation at a glance, so there was no need for Jiao Yuan and the others to explain in detail; the security guard could also tell that if he just ignored them, those few well-behaved-looking kids would probably suffer a big loss.

Although Jiao Yuan and the others actually disliked being called "kids," this wasn't the time to quibble; even though they were doubtful, following the security guard was still better than being forced to leave by those obviously ill‑intentioned people.

Zheng Tan didn't need the security guard to say anything; he simply led the way in front, Jiao Yuan followed behind Zheng Tan, and Su An and the others exchanged a glance before also following.

"What should we do now?" asked the one who stayed behind.

"What else can we do?" another person jerked his chin toward Triumph, saying, "The 'VIP‑only' door—can you get in?"

No. Even if he was unwilling, he wouldn't dare go past.

Zheng Tan directly led Jiao Yuan and the others in through the door of the VIP user passage; as for the security guard, he had already contacted the person in charge of VIP guests here, confirmed that the round tag Zheng Tan was wearing was a genuine Triumph VIP user card, and immediately contacted Baizi.

Baizi was entertaining several customers with huge development potential; when the call came, he initially thought it wasn't important and would just have his subordinates handle it, but he hadn't expected it to be about Zheng Tan, concerning this extremely special VIP user, so Baizi could only go himself.

Since the place had just opened, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Baizi didn't let these obviously underage kids of Jiao Yuan's group stay inside for long, but instead had someone send them back to Chu Hua Da Xue.

On the way back to Chu Hua Da Xue, Lan Tianzhu laughed and joked, "Jiao Yuan, over there they just swipe cards, but you guys literally swipe a cat—and it's even VIP!"

Jiao Yuan: "... hehe."

And speaking of Zheng Tan, he didn't go back with Jiao Yuan and the others; he met Feng Bai Jin, wearing ordinary sportswear, at Triumph. (To be continued…)

PS: The World Cup has started; I wish everyone enjoyable viewing and remind you to adjust your schedule properly.