After chatting for a while, she said she was going to sleep. I told her goodnight and logged off WeChat. But my mind was racing, and I didn't fall asleep until past 2 AM.
The next morning, I was dead tired. I skipped morning self-study, telling Curly to ask the class monitor for leave—"Just say I've got diarrhea and went to the infirmary."
I dragged myself to first period, yawning the whole way. The moment I sat down, Curly nudged me. "Dude, you're famous."
"What?"
He pulled out his phone. "Someone posted your love letter to Xia Shi on the school forum."
My stomach dropped. I grabbed his phone—and sure enough, the post had blown up. The comments were brutal:
"LOL this guy actually thought he had a chance?"
"Bro thinks he's Romeo."
But the one that really pissed me off:
"A toad lusting after swan meat."
"Who the hell posted this?" I hissed.
Curly shrugged. "Had to be someone in our class. Who else knew about the letter?"
During the mid-morning break, a group of guys blocked us in the hallway. Leading them was Li Dehai, a junior from Class 2-3.
I had no beef with this guy. Why was he coming at me?
Curly—big guy, zero courage—turned pale. But Li Dehai only had eyes for me. "You're Zhang Cheng?"
"What's it to you?"
He smirked. "Heard you wrote Xia Shi a love letter."
"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"
"Xia Shi's my brother's girl." His voice dripped contempt. "You made him look like a joke."
"Who's your brother?"
"Li Delong."
Oh. That explained why Xia Shi had ignored every guy who hit on her.
Li Dehai left me with a warning: "Stay the hell away from her."
That afternoon, Xia Shi wore a skirt again. I stole glances like always, but knowing she was taken killed my mood.
The next day, Li Dehai cornered me by the basketball hoops after class.
"You live on the third floor, right?" He cracked his knuckles. "Watch your back."
After school, Curly and I grabbed dinner in the cafeteria. Back in the dorm, we'd barely finished eating when chaos erupted in the hallway. Curly peeked out. "Shit—Li Dehai's here with his crew!"
I reached under my blanket, grabbed the wooden bat I kept hidden, and swung hard at Li Dehai's head.
They hadn't expected a fight. For a second, everyone froze.
The ruckus brought campus security running. Without asking questions, they hauled me and Li Dehai's gang to the office.