Chapter One: The Schoolyard Girl

Zhuo Nan carried his schoolbag on his back and strolled through the campus of the First Middle School in Deqing City with an air of harmlessness. September 1, 1998, was a special day for him. After his rebirth, he had officially received his admission notice to a key provincial high school, and now he was on his way to the academic affairs office to register.

As he recalled the evening a week earlier, Fu Xinxin had been in tears when she told him, “Hubby, I’m sorry, I can’t go to First Middle School with you anymore.”

Zhuo Nan had asked in surprise, “Wife, why? Why not come to First Middle School with me?”

Fu Xinxin wiped at her tears and said sadly, “Hubby, I didn’t score high enough. I can only go to Sixth Middle School.”

“Ah... then, wife, I’ll go to Sixth Middle School with you too...” Zhuo Nan had said excitedly, as though heaven itself would collapse if he could not study with Fu Xinxin.

Hastily, Fu Xinxin covered his mouth and said nervously, “Hubby, don’t talk nonsense. You worked so hard to get into First Middle School. Don’t give up such a good opportunity because of me. Don’t worry, even though we won’t be at the same school, I promise I won’t change my heart.”

Zhuo Nan’s expression turned grave. He lowered his voice. “Wife, that won’t do. We agreed to attend the same school. I can’t just leave you behind.”

Fu Xinxin was moved to the point of tears. She threw her arms around Zhuo Nan and kissed him fiercely. After a bout of wild passion, Fu Xinxin panted and slowly said, “Hubby, I know you can’t bear to part with me, but believe me, I’ll take good care of myself.”

Then she added, “Hubby, you must understand that a provincial key school isn’t somewhere you can just enter if you want to. Since you got in, why give it up? Besides, even if we’re not at the same school, we’re still in the same city. We still live in the same neighborhood, so there’ll be plenty of chances to see each other. Hubby, don’t do anything foolish for me, all right?” Fu Xinxin gently shook his arm.

Seeing how serious she sounded, Zhuo Nan could only let out a soft sigh and nod in agreement, though his heart remained full of disappointment.

Still replaying that memory in his mind, he failed to notice what was happening behind him.

A sharp, continuous honking rang out.

When Zhuo Nan turned around, he saw a flashy black-and-red road bike charging straight toward him at nearly fifty miles an hour. In alarm, his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. In the blink of an eye, he kicked off the ground hard and flipped backward, neatly leaping aside. At that exact moment, came a piercing screech of brakes, and the black-and-red bike stopped right in front of him. What was even more infuriating was that the rear wheel lifted up as if flaunting itself in challenge.

Zhuo Nan was just about to step forward and reason with the rider when the person took off the helmet and shook out her hair.

Damn it—it was a woman.

She wore a ponytail, a black shiny leather top, black shiny leather pants, and a pair of black mid-calf leather boots. Zhuo Nan thought, What the hell, in this heat, how can she even stand dressing like that?

Looking at her face, he saw fair skin and a pair of clear, bright eyes. Most striking of all were her ridiculously long eyelashes, obviously fake at a glance. Her lipstick was actually blue, and around her neck hung a bullet-shaped pendant. Zhuo Nan rolled his eyes. No need to say it—she was the textbook example of a street punk girl. He had never expected that even a place like First Middle School would have such a delinquent girl hanging around.

Zhuo Nan was about to speak when the punk girl planted her hands on her hips, thrust out her not-particularly-large chest, and started cursing, “Are you deaf? I honked so many times and you didn’t hear a thing?”

Zhuo Nan frowned inwardly. This woman seems unreasonable. With unreasonable women, you can’t hit them, can’t insult them, and can’t just walk away, or they’ll cling to you forever. In that case, there’s only one way to deal with her.

With a smile on his face, he said, “Sorry, I was thinking about something just now and didn’t notice.”

By rights, since Zhuo Nan had already lowered himself this much, the punk girl should have let him off. But that was not how it went. Seeing that he looked so honest and obedient, and although his face was decent enough, he still seemed somewhat spineless to her, she decided to give this hard-of-hearing fool a proper lesson.

“Kid, what are you staring at? Not convinced, huh? A good dog doesn’t block the road. You blocked this young lady’s way, so what now? You’d better figure it out.” Her vicious manner drew a crowd from all around.

At First Middle School, most students wore glasses thicker than their textbooks, though there were also a small number who didn’t study seriously, had no ambition, and had slipped in through connections and money. At a moment like this, no matter what level they belonged to, they all stopped to see how this fierce punk girl would deal with the honest boy.

Zhuo Nan thought, Damn it, I’ve run into a little girl who doesn’t know the height of heaven or the depth of earth. A good man doesn’t fight with a vicious woman. I can’t be bothered with her right now.

He turned away without looking back and was about to leave.

The punk girl had been preparing to teach this blind fool a lesson, but she never expected him to just walk off like that. Feeling humiliated, she kicked out at Zhuo Nan. If that kick landed, he would surely end up face-first in the dirt. But did our Brother Nan not see through her little trick? He smiled faintly, shifted his body aside, and the punk girl immediately missed her target. Since the kick had already been thrown, she could not pull it back.

“Ouch!” With a cry, the punk girl kicked air and fell flat on her backside, pain twisting her face. The surrounding students burst into laughter at the sight.

“Crazy woman, just what the hell do you want?” Zhuo Nan was truly angry this time. This girl was practically asking for a beating, and he decided to teach her a proper lesson.

The punk girl climbed to her feet, glaring furiously. “You little punk, you actually called me a crazy woman? If you’ve got the guts, let’s fight again!”

“Idiot. Who has time to fight with you? A good dog doesn’t block the road. I still have to report to the academic affairs office,” Zhuo Nan said without so much as glancing at her.

“Who are you calling a dog?” The punk girl clenched her little fists fiercely and fixed Zhuo Nan with a murderous glare, as if she would tear him to pieces on the spot.

Zhuo Nan rolled his eyes. He was utterly speechless at this sort of punk girl. “Whoever answers is the dog.”

Another wave of laughter erupted from the crowd.

The punk girl’s face flushed crimson. Pointing at Zhuo Nan, she stammered, “You... you... you...” but after a long while, she could not get a single complete sentence out.

“Too lazy to deal with you.” Zhuo Nan said this and was about to walk past her.

“Stop right there!”

A righteous voice rang out from the crowd.

Zhuo Nan followed the sound and saw a boy at least six feet two inches tall stepping out from among the onlookers. He wore casual clothes, had a neat side-parted hairstyle, and looked bright and sunny. More importantly, he was fairly handsome.

Zhuo Nan thought, Here comes a show-off.

“Classmate, as a boy, is it really appropriate for you to treat a female classmate like this?” The words were spoken with such righteous force that it almost seemed all the fault lay with Zhuo Nan.

Zhuo Nan lifted his eyes and looked up at a forty-five-degree angle. Their gazes met. At that moment, he sent his mental power into the boy’s brain. Very quickly, a set of images appeared before Zhuo Nan.

Zhang Fei, eighteen years old, class monitor of Senior Class One, captain of the school basketball team, from Cloud City. Transferred to First Middle School in Deqing last year. Both parents are in Cloud City. Reason for transfer...

Zhuo Nan rarely used his mind to pry into other people’s privacy. It was only because, during that brief exchange of glances, he could sense a sinister light in Zhang Fei’s eyes that he had probed him a little. Sure enough, he learned something. He sneered inwardly. So he’s a sanctimonious hypocrite. With a name like Zhang Fei, you’re insulting the legendary warrior.

His method of dealing with such people was simple: ignore them completely. Zhuo Nan gave him a glance, said nothing, and turned to leave without looking back.

“Stop! Stop right there!” the punk girl shouted repeatedly, but no matter how much she yelled, Zhuo Nan never turned around. His rear still hurt, and he did not dare risk another ambush. She could only stand there grinding her feet in frustration.

Those who had come to watch the drama saw that one side had fled first. Since there was no more excitement to see, they might as well go back to their own business.

Having been made to lose face for the first time since transferring, Zhang Fei had originally wanted to teach Zhuo Nan a good lesson. But the punk girl was still nearby, and the reason he had “stood up for justice” in the first place was that he had noticed the girl was rather attractive. Naturally, he now had to have a proper chat with her.

“Classmate, are you all right?” Zhang Fei walked over with an expression of great concern and care for his juniors and seniors, then said, “My name is Zhang Fei. I’m the class monitor of Senior Class One and also the captain of the school basketball team. What’s your name?”

The punk girl swung onto her motorcycle with effortless cool and completely ignored him. “Get lost. If it weren’t for you, how could that brat have gotten away? Mind your own business.”

With that, she twisted the throttle hard. The bike shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Zhang Fei stood there stupidly, staring darkly at the girl’s retreating figure. In his heart he cursed, Damn it, you stinking bitch, ungrateful little thing. And that first-year brat too—don’t let me catch you, or I’ll make you pay.