Kong Xianrong looked at the empty seat, unable to suppress the anger in his heart. This wasn't the first time; Liu Jian now habitually arrived late, and sometimes he disappeared for two or three days at a time, without a leave note or a phone call, as if he could come and go as he pleased.
Kong Xianrong felt it was necessary to contact Liu Jian's parents. He thought they might not be aware of Liu Jian's situation, probably believing he was attending school every day. In case something happened one day and he was blamed by Liu Jian's parents, he couldn't bear that responsibility, nor did he want to.
Before Kong Xianrong could put his plan into action, he saw Liu Jian standing at the door. What was particularly infuriating was that Liu Jian was just standing at the classroom door, not coming in, lighting a cigarette, and smoking away in a cloud of smoke.
Kong Xianrong was reading a text, and looking at the complacent Liu Jian at the door, he wished he could slam the book to the ground and ask this kid what he was trying to do. What did he think the school was?
Liu Jian didn't realize the danger that was approaching. After finishing his cigarette, he sat on the windowsill by the door, thinking about the next steps for the sales department. He definitely needed to hire people, but he hadn't figured out how to hire them, or how many to hire.
Lost in thought, Liu Jian noticed a pair of legs in front of him. Looking up, he saw his homeroom teacher, Kong Xianrong, standing there. Liu Jian looked around, class hadn't ended, so why was he out here?
Kong Xianrong said, "Come with me." He then walked towards the office.
Liu Jian was stunned, what was going on now?
When he arrived at the office, Kong Xianrong slammed the table and shouted, "Liu Jian, are you even a student? Look at you, how many classes have you attended this month? Have you attended a single morning or evening study session? And now you've skipped classes for several days in a row, what have you been doing? I don't know how many people your parents asked for help, or how much money they spent, but it certainly wasn't a small number. Is this how you repay your parents? Can you face them? Have you ever thought about how they would feel if they knew you were skipping classes every day?" Liu Jian looked at Kong Xianrong, who was spitting as he spoke, feeling as if he was seeing him for the first time. In his previous life, Liu Jian skipped a lot of classes, but it didn't cause much of a reaction. What was going on?
Liu Jian had forgotten that in his previous life, although he skipped classes, it wasn't this outrageous. He was basically challenging the bottom line of his homeroom teacher.
Still, what needs to be said must be said. Liu Jian said, "Teacher Kong, I've said before, I'm just here to coast, and when I skip class, it's not for fun, I have work to do. There's no need for you to react so strongly. As for my parents, they've always been very aware of my situation."
After speaking, Liu Jian took out his phone and dialed Liu Fu: "Dad, the homeroom teacher, Teacher Kong, wants to talk to you. About what? How would I know, you guys talk."
Looking at the phone being handed over, Kong Xianrong really felt a little overwhelmed, not knowing how he took the call, listening to the unfamiliar voice on the other end, and not knowing what he said.
After hanging up the phone, Kong Xianrong looked at Liu Jian and said, "Go back to class for now. I'm going to meet with your parents tonight. There are some things we need to discuss in person."
Liu Jian nodded and said, "That would be great. Teacher, if you're busy, I'll go back if there's nothing else."
Liu Jian couldn't say he respected Kong Xianrong. In his previous life, he hadn't cared about him. Perhaps if he had given him a hand, he wouldn't have gotten into such a poor school. So Liu Jian only felt strange and inexplicable about Kong Xianrong's concern for him. Perhaps it was the principal personally arranging his enrollment that had drawn his attention.
Looking at Liu Jian beside him, Meng Qing asked, "Bro, you're awesome, really awesome. I've never seen a student like you who comes and goes as they please, so free."
Liu Jian gave a wry smile and said, "You don't understand. With my grades, even if I went to class every day and studied until 12 every night, I still wouldn't get into a good school in the end. Instead of working myself to death and getting into a garbage school, I'd rather use that time to do what I enjoy."
Meng Qing was stunned and asked, "Really? Are your grades that bad?"
Liu Jian chuckled and said, "My grades are probably the lowest in our school. So why should I study so hard? Does hard work guarantee me a spot at Peking University? Besides diligence, learning also requires a certain talent."
Meng Qing asked strangely, "Then why did you even go to high school?"
Liu Jian looked at Zhang Ying, who was studying with her head down, and said, "First, my parents forced me to go to school. Second, I promised someone that I would go to high school and then college with her. I won't be able to go to college, but I can still accompany her through high school."
Following Liu Jian's gaze, Meng Qing saw Zhang Ying, the prettiest girl in the class, and gaped, "No way, you and her, you guys...?"
He didn't know what to say, but the fire of gossip was burning fiercely. The cunning Meng Qing always perked up at this kind of thing. Judging by his serious attitude, Liu Jian believed that if he put even a fraction of that effort into studying, Meng Qing could get into Tsinghua or Peking University.
Liu Jian put his arm around Meng Qing's neck and said, "Alright, just knowing is enough. Don't spread it around, or I won't let you off the hook."
Meng Qing nodded incessantly. Liu Jian looked at the wretched face in front of him and felt incredibly uneasy.
The noisy classroom suddenly fell silent. At the door of the classroom, several students stood, seemingly looking for someone.
Liu Jian suddenly stood up. Meng Qing was startled and quickly grabbed Liu Jian's arm, saying, "What are you doing? Those guys are thugs. They've had several fights with the seniors in the eleventh and twelfth grades recently. Sit down!"
Liu Jian pushed Meng Qing's hand away and walked out of the classroom. His usually calm heart, since his rebirth, seemed to burn like fire.
The first student in line was at least 1.85 meters tall and weighed 80 kilograms. Dark-skinned with a buzz cut, he grinned when he saw Liu Jian come out and said, "You bastard, you didn't even tell us you were coming to First High. At first, we thought you weren't going to study anymore. Later, we heard you were here, and we looked for you a few times, but you weren't around. What have you been doing, you're ditching classes even more than we are."
Liu Jian went over and hugged them one by one, saying, "I missed you guys so much too. Let's go out for a drink. I've been too busy lately and forgot to say hello, it's my fault. Come on, Lao Sha, forget class, it's on me tonight, let's drink our fill."
A few people were roughhousing and fooling around. Once they had walked away, the classroom suddenly burst into lively chatter. Everyone was speculating about who this Liu Jian was, and how he got mixed up with those people. In an instant, countless classmates gave Liu Jian a big question mark and added him to their list of strangers.
Only Zhang Ying had a slight smile on her lips, thinking, "With your brothers, you won't feel lonely anymore, right? As long as you're happy." Then she picked up her book and continued to wander in the sea of books.
Sha Wanli, Gao Xiaobao, Qi Zhenyu, Wang Yajun, plus Liu Jian, were known as the "Five Tiger Generals" of Fourth High School, a title earned through countless fights. Their friendship was forged in the same way.
Liu Jian entered the Fourth Middle School, which was undergoing reforms during his junior high school years. Boys and girls were in separate classes, with over eighty boys in a single class. It was inevitable that they would be full of energy, and fighting became a common occurrence. Over time, they naturally divided into countless small groups, among which their group of five was the most eye-catching and the most powerful. Liu Jian was personally taught by Liu Fu and knew a lot of military combat techniques. Sha Wanli was a sports student who could throw the shot put incredibly far. Gao Xiaobao, Qi Zhenyu, and Wang Yajun were all basketball enthusiasts. The five of them originally came together because of playing basketball, but after a few fights, their relationship became unbreakable.
The biggest test of their relationship came when Liu Jian offended a high school student once. When evening self-study ended, more than twenty high school students came to block Liu Jian. Most of the students in the class slipped away, and the rest were watching the excitement. Only Sha Wanli and the other three dismantled the school's desks and chairs and rushed up together. Miraculously, they fought their way out of the school gate. From then on, the relationship between these few people became unbreakable. In his previous life, Liu Jian had a miserable time. When he was in trouble, he didn't even have money to eat. As long as he called these friends, they would transfer money to him without asking why.
Liu Jian had wanted to contact these brothers for a long time, but he had been too busy recently. Liu Jian was also re-adjusting to his identity, so he had delayed it. He didn't expect that these brothers, after learning of his news, would come to find him every day, making him feel extremely ashamed.
Five people sat down at a table at the skewers shop near the school gate. Liu Jian immediately ordered two hundred skewers, ten chicken wings, five squids, and a whole case of beer. No one held back, and they chugged it down. The more they drank, the higher the atmosphere became. Eating skewers and drinking beer so early in the morning was something only they would do.
While they were drinking and getting lively, someone came in the door, glanced at the people drinking, and then left the restaurant. The five were drinking, and no one noticed.
Just as they came out of the skewers shop after finishing their drinks, Liu Jian saw more than ten people coming from the school gate, and it was obvious from their posture that they were coming for them.
Liu Jian hiccuped and said, "Old Sha, what's going on? Are they here to block you?"
Sha Wanli looked closely and said, "Damn, it's these guys again. We taught them a lesson last week, and they haven't learned anything."
Liu Jian said drunkenly, "Oh, you've fought them before, so they've come looking for revenge. Brothers, what do you say we do?"
Qi Zhenyu chuckled and said, "Boss, what's there to say? Let's beat them to a pulp, otherwise they won't know why the flowers are so red!"
Liu Jian had also had a bit too much to drink. As these people approached, intending to say something, he picked up his unfinished bottle of wine and swung it at them, clanging and banging, crashing and smashing. Later, Liu Jian didn't even know how many he had knocked down. When he woke up again, he found himself lying in his own bed.
Liu Jian rubbed his aching head and left the bedroom, finding Liu Fu and his mother sitting on the sofa watching TV. Seeing Liu Jian looking hungover, they couldn't help but laugh.
Liu Jian asked strangely, "Dad, how did I get home? I seem to remember I was fighting."
Liu's mother chuckled and said, "Not bad, you still remember fighting. Jian, you're something else! You were so drunk early in the morning that you couldn't tell north from south. You guys are pretty impressive, taking down ten or so people with just the five of you."
Liu Jian asked, "Then how did I get home?"
Liu Fu smiled wryly and said, "And you're still talking about it? Those students were all beaten into submission by you guys, but you still wouldn't let them go, chasing them all the way into the school. The principal had to step in and called me to get you guys to stop."
Hearing this, Liu Jian asked somewhat embarrassedly, "Is everything alright?"
Liu Fu said, "What's alright? They all got demerits, and you're still asking? You're really something. The homeroom teacher called this morning wanting to talk to me, and before I even saw the homeroom teacher, I got a call from your principal. You're really something else."
Liu Jian smiled wryly, this time he had really screwed up big time. He wondered what kind of rumors would be spreading around school tomorrow. He hadn't attended school meetings in ages, how did he get caught up in this again? In reality, neither Liu Jian nor the Liu Fu couple took this matter to heart. The focus of their family had long shifted away from Liu Jian's studies and onto the bustling Sanbao Winery.