"Oh! Cheng Mo? You haven't gone back yet?" The newcomer's voice was warm and smiling.
Cheng Mo looked up; it was Li Yangchuan.
He was carrying an expensive-looking shoulder bag, and his face held his usual, cheerful and generous smile.
"Yeah, I'm leaving now," Cheng Mo nodded.
He and Li Yangchuan didn't interact much, but the latter came from a good family, was helpful, enthusiastic, and outgoing, making him extremely popular in class.
Cheng Mo's impression of him was quite good, and he had no idea what kind of thoughts were hidden beneath that sunny exterior.
"What's wrong? You're frowning; did you run into a problem?"
Li Yangchuan naturally walked out alongside him, asking casually, his tone full of concern.
Cheng Mo didn't really want to mention his predicament, so he just vaguely said, "Nothing, just a small matter."
However, Li Yangchuan seemed not to notice his evasion, sighing to himself and beginning to "complain."
"Sigh, speaking of which, I'm also troubled. It's my cousin; she's really worrying me to death."
Cheng Mo didn't respond, just listened.
"She's in her rebellious phase now, constantly fighting with her family, and absolutely refuses to go to school. The family hired several tutors for her, but she scared them all away. My uncle and aunt are practically dying of anxiety."
Li Yangchuan spread his hands, looking helpless.
"As her cousin, I'm anxious too, but I don't have any good ideas. You can't hit her, you can't scold her; she's a young girl, very sensitive."
Cheng Mo's heart stirred slightly.
Tutor?
He subconsciously squeezed his backpack strap, his mind calculating.
Tutoring a rebellious young girl sounded like quite a challenge, but perhaps… it was an opportunity?
He was confident in his ability to tutor… Cheng Mo wanted to volunteer but found it somewhat difficult to speak up.
After all, his relationship with Li Yangchuan wasn't that close, and directly asking for a job introduction would seem too abrupt.
The corner of Li Yangchuan's eye had been observing Cheng Mo's expression, taking in his subtle hesitation and interest.
He sneered inwardly, but on his face, he showed a look of sudden realization, as if he had "just thought of it," and clapped Cheng Mo's shoulder forcefully, saying enthusiastically:
"Hey! Look at me, my brain! How could I not have thought of you!"
Cheng Mo was startled by the pat.
Li Yangchuan smiled even more brightly, his tone incredibly sincere: "Cheng Mo, your grades are so good, you're handsome, and you're patient when explaining problems. You have a great reputation among the girls in our class! Maybe my cousin will respond to you?"
"How about it? Do a buddy a favor, give it a try? Don't worry about the pay; it'll definitely be higher than the market rate!"
This proposal was like a pillow for a sleepy head, hitting exactly where Cheng Mo needed it.
He barely hesitated, immediately nodding in agreement: "Okay, I can try! Thank you, Yangchuan!"
He even felt a sense of gratitude and flattered by Li Yangchuan's "help in a time of need."
"Hey! What are you thanking me for? We're classmates; helping each other is what we do!"
Li Yangchuan laughed heartily, but a cold glint of a successful scheme flashed in his eyes.
"Then it's settled! I'll send you the address and time tomorrow!"
The next day, Cheng Mo indeed received a text message from Li Yangchuan.
It contained a detailed address and a meeting time of 8 PM.
After school, Cheng Mo specifically went home, quickly ate dinner, told his parents he was going to a classmate's house to study, and then followed the address.
The place was some distance from both the school and his home, an old-looking residential area.
The streetlights were dim, the stairwells narrow, and the walls were plastered with various small advertisements.
Cheng Mo stood downstairs, looking at the somewhat dilapidated residential building in front of him, a hint of surprise subtly rising in his heart.
Li Yangchuan's cousin… why would she live in a place like this?
Just as he was hesitating, wondering if he had the wrong address or if Li Yangchuan had sent the wrong information, a sudden flurry of footsteps came from behind him!
Before he could even turn around, two thick arms suddenly clamped down on him from both sides!
The force was so great that he instantly lost his balance.
"What are you doing?!"
Cheng Mo was both shocked and angry, struggling to break free.
But as a student who spent years poring over books, how could his strength compare to these youths who roamed the streets?
"Shut up! Kid, come with us!"
A hooligan with dyed yellow hair and reeking of cigarette smoke growled fiercely into his ear, and without further ado, he and the other two men forcibly dragged him, pushing and shoving, into a narrower, darker, junk-filled dead-end alley nearby.
Deeper in the alley, three or four more people were waiting.
Each had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, their eyes unfriendly, and one of them was casually twirling a metal baton in his hand, which gleamed coldly in the dim light.
Cheng Mo's heart sank to rock bottom, his blood seemingly frozen.
He had never experienced such a situation; immense fear instantly seized him, and his mind went blank.
"Is this the damn kid?"
The one twirling the baton seemed to be the leader, squinting as he looked Cheng Mo up and down, who had been shoved against the wall, and exhaled a puff of smoke.
"The one Young Master Li told us to 'take care of,' that's him!" one of the hooligans holding Cheng Mo replied fawningly.
The leading hooligan sneered.
He stepped forward and poked Cheng Mo's chest with the baton, not too hard, not too soft, his tone utterly insulting:
"Tsk, this wimp? The bookworm's scared silly, huh?"
"Heard you're good at studying? What good is that! A pauper who can't even pay his competition fees!"
Another hooligan joined in the jeering, his words even more vicious: "Don't you ever look in a mirror and see what kind of person you are! How dare a toad dream of eating swan meat? Some people aren't for poor wretches like you to aspire to, understand?"
"So what if you're a top student? Hard fists are what matter! Today, us brothers will loosen your bones and teach you a lesson!"
These dirty, deliberately targeted insults, like poisoned knives, pierced Cheng Mo's heart.
His face instantly turned ashen, not from fear, but from extreme anger and humiliation!
They even knew about the competition fees… It was Li Yangchuan!
There was no cousin or tutoring; this was a complete and utter trap!
Before he could think further, a barrage of punches and kicks rained down.
Cheng Mo was knocked to the ground, only able to curl up his body, desperately protecting his head and vital areas.
Pain came from all directions.
But he clenched his teeth, not uttering a sound, and refused to beg for mercy.
In his clear, cold eyes, flames of anger and stubbornness burned.
"Damn it! He's quite tough!"
The hooligans hit harder, their punches and kicks whistling through the air as they landed on his back and legs, causing waves of intense pain.
"Leave him with a 'souvenir'! Make him remember today for the rest of his life!" the leading hooligan yelled, seemingly intending to strike even harder.