TAO | Chapter 7

After Fang Zhixin and his dog and lackeys had left, Wei Xiaochi finally dared to return down the alley.

He stood at the entrance, peering around with a suspicious expression that looked downright sneaky.

The alpha’s features were cast in shadow, his pitch-black gaze rebellious and cold, with bruised cheeks and a cigarette hanging from his split lips.

It was, well, oddly appealing.

But like a rose—beautiful yet thorny—Wei Xiaochi didn’t let himself be seduced by the allure in front of him.

“Still haven’t had enough of a beating, have you?” Jiang Zhan’s eyes shot him a sharp glare, full of malice.

“I—uh—I was the one who took that Husky earlier,” Wei Xiaochi hurriedly said. “I’m not with them.”

Jiang Zhan gave him a cursory glance, then replied nonchalantly, “Oh, so it was you.”

Wei Xiaochi couldn’t tell whether Jiang Zhan had recognized him, but he cautiously shuffled forward, moving slowly toward him.

Wei Xiaochi was puzzled by how Jiang Zhan’s cigarette had yet to be lit. Only when he got closer did he realize that it was actually a cigarette-shaped candy.

Jiang Zhan chewed on the candy’s end, his face scrunched up in disgust as it seemed to stick to his teeth. With a frown, he spat it out.

Wei Xiaochi: ...

Jiang Zhan suddenly spoke. “Thanks for earlier.”

Wei Xiaochi didn’t expect the school bully to be polite and quickly waved his hands, signaling that no thanks were needed.

Jiang Zhan took two steps forward, standing in front of Wei Xiaochi. He bent down slightly, his dark eyes resembling those of a beast, gleaming with cold and menacing light.

“Don’t tell anyone about today.”

His words carried a threat, and Wei Xiaochi, intimidated, quickly nodded in agreement, his glasses slipping down his nose as he anxiously moved them back up. He looked clueless and silly.

Seeing that Wei Xiaochi understood, Jiang Zhan straightened up, preparing to leave, but Wei Xiaochi hesitated and shakily called out to him.

“Uh, wait.”

Jiang Zhan turned to look at him. “What now?”

Wei Xiaochi asked, “Do you remember me?”

Jiang Zhan raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that clearly said, "Who are you?" He was as dismissive as could be.

Wei Xiaochi had finally created an opportunity to cash in on Jiang Zhan’s favor, and he definitely couldn’t let it slip away.

“Last Tuesday, you stopped me on my bike and asked to borrow fifty for a taxi. You remember, right?” He nervously looked at Jiang Zhan, afraid he might say he didn’t remember.

Fortunately, Jiang Zhan wasn’t that shameless. After looking at Wei Xiaochi for a moment, he suddenly remembered, “Oh, it’s you—the guy with glasses. I remember now.”

Jiang Zhan had a mild case of face blindness and could only remember people based on their physical features. He pulled out his phone. “Fifty, right?”

Wei Xiaochi’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly said, “No, you borrowed fifty from me, but I gave you a hundred seventy-six.”

Jiang Zhan didn’t care about the details. He simply said, “WeChat.”

Wei Xiaochi paused for a moment before realizing that Jiang Zhan meant he wanted to be paid via WeChat. He hastily pulled out his phone and opened the app.

Wei Xiaochi rarely used his phone, and his WeChat and Alipay weren’t even linked to a bank card. He had never shopped online, and he preferred paying with cash.

Wei Xiaochi felt that online payments made it hard to keep track of spending, leading to easy pitfalls in overspending. Cash, on the other hand, kept his shopping urges in check.

After fumbling for a bit, he managed to pull up the QR code just before Jiang Zhan’s patience ran out.

Jiang Zhan scanned it but failed to get it to work. He lifted his eyelids and looked at Wei Xiaochi’s QR code. “Receive payment.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Zhan’s tone was impatient. “The payment QR code.”

Wei Xiaochi wasn’t familiar with the process, so he didn’t immediately get what Jiang Zhan meant. Too shy to ask directly, he muttered, “Isn’t this just the QR code?”

“You idiot, this is your WeChat contact card, not the payment QR code.”

Jiang Zhan was annoyed with Wei Xiaochi’s slow pace and snatched his phone away. He tapped it for a while, but the phone didn’t respond.

Frustrated, Jiang Zhan muttered, “Why isn’t it working? Damn it.”

Wei Xiaochi shrank back, “It might be stuck.”

This phone was a hand-me-down from Wei Dongjia, his father, and had been used for over three years. It wasn’t particularly high-tech, and Wei Xiaochi mainly used it just to make calls and check the school group chat.

He didn’t play games, had no interest in them, and wasn’t picky about his phone’s specs.

Jiang Zhan glared at him with irritation.

Wei Xiaochi, though, was even more anxious inside. After all, this was a rare opportunity to get the money back, and his malfunctioning phone was ruining it.

Jiang Zhan, still fuming, added Wei Xiaochi on WeChat. “I’ll send you a red envelope.”

Wei Xiaochi peeked at Jiang Zhan’s phone. “Did you send it?”

Jiang Zhan threw his phone at Wei Xiaochi. “You didn’t accept my friend request. Who am I supposed to send it to?”

Wei Xiaochi grabbed the burning hot phone with both hands, silently praying for it to work, and hastily accepted the friend request, hoping the phone would finally let him proceed.

Clearly, Jiang Zhan didn’t have the time nor the patience to wait for Wei Xiaochi’s phone to miraculously cooperate. He walked off with long strides, leaving Wei Xiaochi to follow him.

Jiang Zhan glanced back, noticing Wei Xiaochi trailing behind, and was about to say something when a sudden cry interrupted.

“Hey, alright, alright.”

Wei Xiaochi was about to burst into tears. He quickly accepted Jiang Zhan’s friend request and stared at him expectantly, waiting for the red envelope.

His gaze was like a puppy begging for food. If not for his glasses, Jiang Zhan might have sworn he could see stars in his eyes.

That eager look made Jiang Zhan almost feel like he owed him a hundred and eighty thousand.

After staring at Wei Xiaochi for a moment, Jiang Zhan finally sent him five hundred.

Wei Xiaochi blinked in surprise, looking at the amount before looking up at Jiang Zhan.

“Don’t tell anyone about today,” Jiang Zhan warned again, his gaze turning icy.

It seemed like the extra money was hush money, and Wei Xiaochi took it without hesitation, nodding vigorously. “I won’t say a word.”

Jiang Zhan seemed satisfied. “Now we’re even. Don’t follow me anymore.”

Wei Xiaochi particularly liked the sound of “we’re even.” Not only did it mean the debt was settled, but it also meant Jiang Zhan wouldn’t ask for the extra money back. After all, if they were even, neither owed the other anything.

---

Now, his phone was loaded with five hundred, three hundred of which were a windfall. It was like a lucky break from the sky.

Of course, it could also be seen as a mental compensation from Jiang Zhan. After all, Wei Xiaochi had lost many brain cells and even looked frail from all the efforts spent on collecting the debt.

Wei Xiaochi thought about using the five hundred at the milk tea shop over the weekend, exchanging it for five real bills and then depositing it in the bank.

Wei Xiaochi was conservative by nature. He always felt that money was safest in the bank.

That night, Wei Xiaochi finally had a peaceful night’s sleep for the first time in days. The next morning, he woke up feeling refreshed and full of energy. Even the sight of Zhang Mingyang and Xu Yang didn’t bother him as much.

It turned out that one shouldn’t be too cocky, or disaster would follow.

On Tuesday, after doing his duty, Wei Xiaochi was blocked by Fang Zhixin as soon as he left school.

Fang Zhixin, with his arm casually draped around Wei Xiaochi’s neck, wore a grin. “Long time no see, old classmate. Let’s go somewhere quiet to catch up.”

His words sounded polite, but his actions were far from it.

The PTSD triggered by Wei Xiaochi’s previous trauma made his legs feel like limp noodles, and he couldn’t even make a sound as he was dragged off to a secluded spot.

Fang Zhixin wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by two yellow-haired boys, both with bruised faces.

Once they were in a deserted area, Fang Zhixin revealed his true nature, grabbing Wei Xiaochi by the hair.

“Was it you last night?” Fang Zhixin’s eyes were filled with malice. “You think I didn’t recognize your voice just because I didn’t see your face clearly?”

Wei Xiaochi felt a burning pain on his scalp. As he struggled, one of the yellow-haired boys kicked him behind the knee, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Enjoying seeing me get beaten? Huh?” Fang Zhixin kicked him in the stomach.

Wei Xiaochi curled up, clutching his head with one hand while protecting his vulnerable stomach with the other. “No… no…”

“No?” Fang Zhixin yanked on his hair, shoving his face into the ground. “Wasn’t it you who sent the dog away? What, afraid I’d set it on Jiang Zhan?”

Wei Xiaochi’s face was pressed into the dirt, and sand scraped against his cheek. His glasses were knocked askew, and as the yellow-haired boy kicked him again, they flew off and got crushed under Fang Zhixin’s foot.

Wei Xiaochi was severely myopic. Without his glasses, everything beyond five meters was a blur.

“Let you go? Don’t get ahead of yourself. This isn’t over.” Fang Zhixin motioned for the yellow-haired boy to hold Wei Xiaochi’s arms.

Wei Xiaochi couldn’t move, and panic gripped him as his voice wavered. “What are you going to do?”

Fang Zhixin lifted his foot and pressed it on Wei Xiaochi’s shoulder, sneering as he took out his phone.

Wei Xiaochi thought he was about to take some compromising photos, and fear surged through him, making him struggle desperately.

One of the yellow-haired boys punched Wei Xiaochi. “Shut up and behave.”

The punch scraped his nose, and blood started to trickle down.

In that moment, he didn’t care about the pain. His whole body seemed to be driven by the fear of having his future ruined. His neck bulged with veins, and his eyes were bloodshot as he screamed, “Let go of me!”

He was terrified.

He feared that Fang Zhixin would strip him and take those disgusting photos, sending them to everyone he knew, ruining his life.

Wei Xiaochi had worked so hard in middle school to escape people like Fang Zhixin. He just wanted to live a good life, get into a decent university, get a respectable job, maybe even marry a quiet wife and have a well-behaved child.

Wei Xiaochi was terrified that Fang Zhixin would ruin everything. He had already destroyed his middle school life.

“Let go of me.”

Wei Xiaochi flailed his arms and kicked his legs, trying to wriggle free.

Just as the boys were about to overpower him, the yellow-haired boy raised his fist again, but Fang Zhixin stopped him.

“Don’t actually hit him. We’ll have to spend the night in a holding cell,” Fang Zhixin warned.

Just as he finished speaking, Wei Xiaochi managed to land a kick to his abdomen.

Fang Zhixin staggered back, winded, and slapped Wei Xiaochi twice.

“Why are you yelling like that?” Fang Zhixin sneered. “Like it’s some kind of assault. I’m just gonna send a video of you getting beaten to Jiang Zhan.”

They couldn’t beat Jiang Zhan, but annoying his little brother would be satisfying.

But Wei Xiaochi heard nothing anymore, trapped in the overwhelming fear of his future being destroyed. His body was now fueled by panic and desperation, and he suddenly broke free from Fang Zhixin’s grip.

No one knew where he found the strength, but Wei Xiaochi managed to break free, stumbling as he ran away.

He ran so fast, too scared to notice his surroundings, and before he knew it, a truck was speeding toward him.

It wasn’t until the sharp sound of a horn blasted in his ear that Wei Xiaochi snapped out of his daze. His mind went blank, and his legs froze, unable to move.

In the blink of an eye, a hand grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him back onto the sidewalk.

Wei Xiaochi’s body tensed, and he slowly turned his neck, only to crash into a pair of cold, proud eyes.

The person seemed like they had just come from the sports field. Their pale skin had a touch of flush from exercise, their hair was damp and messy, and there was a wild, untamed aura about them.

Once Wei Xiaochi saw that this person wasn’t Fang Zhixin, he finally broke down, tears streaming down his face.

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Author’s Note:
Jiang Zhan: Who the hell made him cry?