Chapter 16: School Gate

At the beginning of the semester, when Li Wei was walking home from school and passing by a residential area near the school, he saw these vocational high school boys and another familiar-looking boy from another class in their school through the open iron gate at the entrance of the neighborhood. At that time, the familiar boy stood with his head down, facing the wall, looking like a timid pushover who didn’t dare to speak. The vocational high school boys stood around him, with one of them even hitting the familiar boy’s calf with a stick. Then, the group of vocational high school boys came out, and Li Wei immediately averted his gaze, not daring to look any longer. He nervously quickened his pace and hurried away from the residential area. After that, he ran all the way home—hopefully without being noticed by them.

So, what were these guys doing here today?

Were they here to find that familiar-looking boy again? As Li Wei and his friends walked by, the vocational high school boys kept staring in their direction. When they got closer, one of the vocational high school boys waved at Li Wei.

Li Wei froze for a moment, too afraid to respond, and immediately looked away, avoiding eye contact. There were quite a few people at the school gate—who knew who they were waving at? It probably wasn’t him. Besides, it had been over a month since the last incident. Even if they had spotted him during his panicked escape back then, it was unlikely they were here for revenge now.

Li Wei felt a bit nervous and quickened his pace, pulling his companion along.

Zhao Qiang, his companion, was asking him, “What’s wrong? Why are you walking so…” The word “fast” hadn’t even left his mouth when the vocational high school students approached, stopping right in front of them.

Zhao Qiang swallowed the word “fast.” He looked at the clearly unfriendly boys from the vocational high school, trembling with fear. He wanted to ask what they wanted, but after opening his mouth, he still didn’t dare to speak.

One of the vocational high school students, a guy with a crew cut, casually pointed at Li Wei and said, “You, were you ignoring us when we called you, huh?”

Li Wei was a bit nervous, “I—I really didn’t notice. There were too many people at the school gate. I didn’t know you—you were calling out to me.”

The buzz-cut guy looked at him, “Do you know now?”

Li Wei immediately nodded, “I know, I know.”

The buzz-cut guy patted his face approvingly, then glanced at the boy and two girls standing behind Li Wei—clearly his classmates who had come out to eat together—before shifting his gaze back to Li Wei’s panicked face. “Now that you know, let’s go.” He pointed to the street in the opposite direction of the food stalls. “Let your classmates go eat first. We’ve got some business to discuss—let’s chat over there, huh?”

Li Wei wanted to refuse, but seeing the buzz-cut guy’s clearly threatening gaze fixed on him, he opened his mouth but didn’t dare to speak. Instead, he turned back to Zhao Qiang and the others and said, “You guys go ahead and eat first. I’ll catch up with you later.” After that, he followed the vocational school students led by the buzz-cut guy.

Actually, he wanted Zhao Qiang to come along, but with girls present, he was afraid of losing face.

Those vocational school students led him into that side street, then turned corner after corner, passing through alley after alley. The further they went, the fewer people they saw, the more desolate it became, and the sparser the streetlights grew… Li Wei walked in a daze, not daring to ask a single question, just following silently in the middle of the group.

The evening was quiet, and all Li Wei could hear were their footsteps, the crunch of gravel underfoot, his own breathing, and his rapidly beating heart from nervousness.

After walking for a few more minutes, Li Wei spotted a familiar large iron gate—the same residential area he’d seen last time, just approached from a different direction than before.

They brought him here too. Li Wei felt slightly uneasy, but this subtle discomfort was quickly overshadowed by tension and fear.

After leading him through the large iron gate, they stopped at a secluded doorway within the residential area. Li Wei glanced around—it was already pitch dark outside, with no lights on in most homes since it wasn’t yet time for people to return from work. Even if someone happened to pass by, it would be hard for them to see what the group was doing here. Besides, no one was around at the moment. Surrounded by the men standing close, he didn’t dare make a sound, let alone cry for help—he could barely breathe.

It was the buzz-cut guy who spoke first, “You know why we called you here, right?”

Li Wei shook his head, but as his eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light, he saw the dissatisfied expression on the buzz-cut guy’s face and sensed the oppressive atmosphere from the group across from him. He recalled the scene he had witnessed at the start of the semester—they hadn’t beaten up that familiar-looking guy, so they were probably just here to extort some money?

Li Wei quickly nodded and immediately pulled out his wallet from his school uniform pocket. Before he could even extend his hand to offer it, the buzz-cut guy across from him snatched the wallet and flipped it open to inspect the contents.

The buzzcut guy pulled out the 87 yuan inside, his face visibly darkening even more. Then he directly flung the empty wallet at Li Wei’s face. With a “smack,” the wallet landed at Li Wei’s feet, but Li Wei just kept his head down, not daring to bend over to pick it up.

“You fucking—with this little money, you still take girls out to eat? Are you some kind of gigolo? Looking at your outfit and those damn Apple earphones, I thought you were loaded. Should’ve just robbed the guy next to you instead. Fuck this shit!”

The surroundings fell silent for two seconds before another vocational school guy with a dyed and permed hairstyle walked over, cigarette dangling from his mouth. He bent down, picked up the wallet, and handed it to Li Wei.

Li Wei hesitated, not daring to take it. The vocational school guy impatiently said, “Take it.”

Li Wei quickly reached out to take the wallet, immediately thanking him repeatedly, but as he grasped one corner of the wallet, he noticed the other corner was still tightly held by the vocational school boy with the flashy haircut, who refused to let go.

Then, he heard the vocational school boy’s voice, “Take it if I give it to you, you looking for a beating or what?”

Terrified, Li Wei’s legs went weak, and he instantly let go. The boy with the flashy haircut then added, “Don’t want a beating? Fine. Bring 500 bucks after school. One cent short, and I’ll be waiting for you every damn day!”

Li Wei was stunned—500 yuan? For a student whose daily allowance was just enough for snacks and dinner, this was no small sum. Without prior preparation and demanded immediately after school, where was he supposed to get 500 yuan? Even if he tried borrowing or scraping it together, with such little time, there was no guarantee he could gather the full amount.

But what if he can’t gather enough? Does that mean he’ll get beaten up?

Just as Li Wei was about to beg for mercy, he suddenly remembered the Apple earbuds mentioned by the buzz-cut guy earlier, and then, Chen Ci-yi came to mind.

He had taken Chen Ci-yi’s earbuds worth several hundred yuan, and Chen Ci-yi didn’t hesitate at all—just smiled obediently and handed them over. He also remembered how Zhang Qiang had looked at him enviously during the day, telling him to check out the shoes Chen Ci-yi was wearing—those limited-edition sneakers cost at least 4,000 bucks a pair!

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