Are You Addicted?

The first monthly exam results had been distributed to all of the students..

Gu Hai reviewed his scores, and saw that they were much higher than his expectations. His face brightened; he felt quite proud that he did so well despite the fact that he hardly studied.

"What is your score?"

Gu Hai really wanted to know how Bai Luo Yin scored on his exams; a boy who slept through all of his cla.s.ses.

“Are you talking about the total score?”

Gu Hai nodded, “I got 521, how about you?”

"I haven"t added it up yet."

“Give it to me, I’ll add it up for you.”

Without waiting for his consent, Gu Hai s.n.a.t.c.hed all of Bai Luo Yin"s exam papers. He intended to use the scores to taunt Bai Luo Yin. After all, except for his advantage in sports, Gu Hai can’t beat Bai Luo Yin in any other subject.

“Math, 150…”

Gu Hai was extremely surprised. He glanced at the name on the exam to ensure that it really was Bai Luo Yin"s – which it was.  Furthermore it was a perfect score. Although the average score for Math was relatively high in their cla.s.s, seeing another student"s perfect score made him feel quite embarra.s.sed.

“Chinese Literature, 126…”

Gu Hai was once again dumbfounded. He looked at his own score which was 96 points – a difference of  30 points! Gu Hai browsed through the rest of Bai Luo Yin’s exam results and discovered that his composition score was only 15 points from the perfect score in that subject.

“This is not fair…” Gu Hai tried to stay calm. “Even if you were to exchange your composition with my handwriting, certainly it’s not worth 40 points.”

Bai Luo Yin did not want to acknowledge this kind of person.

“Comprehensive Science 237, English 131… Total score is 694? ”

With these scores, Bai Luo Yin can certainly take the college entrance exam in Beijing University and come out as the top scorer. How is this possible? Gu Hai cannot  believe it! Bai Luo Yin is always sleeping in cla.s.s, and yet he can do this well on his exams? Where is the justice?

“Did you cheat?”

“The person in front of me is You Qi, and the person behind me is you. Who can I possibly cheat from?”

You Qi’s total score was around 400 points, which was much lower than Gu Hai"s.

A female student beside them noticed Gu Hai’s disbelief, and couldn’t resist adding a few words, “Bai Luo Yin’s rank is the highest in this cla.s.s. He has always ranked as one of the top five in this school.”

Gu Hai finally understood the reason why Luo Xiao Yu was so pa.s.sive towards Bai Luo Yin. It was because the students around him had always praised him as a particularly intelligent student. Originally, Gu Hai had mistakenly a.s.sumed this person as apathetic and absentminded; someone who was always sleeping and not paying attention.  After quarreling for half a day, a calculating plan actually exists in this person’s brain. No matter how frustrating it is, in the end, you are the one who always hold back.  But it turned out that Bai Luo Yin"s mind was extremely active – always scheming and plotting against him.  In the end, Gu Hai was always the one who had to yield.

“You are too terrible!”

Gu Hai chucked Bai Luo Yin’s neck once.

I’m terrible? Bai Luo Yin thought to himself, if it were up to Heaven’s justice, the person behind him would have been chopped to death..

“How am I terrible?”

“You’ve destroyed my ability to gain knowledge.”

Bai Luo Yin sneered and fought back ruthlessly, “You’ve also destroyed my ability to tolerate foolish people!”

Gu Hai had yet to respond when a thunderous sound suddenly diverted everyone’s attention towards the door. A stranger used his foot to kick the back door, causing paper to scatter everywhere.   The expression on this person"s face was one of viciousness; his body language implied an aura akin to a character in Street Fighter.

“Bai Luo Yin, you f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

The unexpected vulgarity caused the rowdy cla.s.s to fall silent in an instant.

Bai Luo Yin coldly shifted his gaze and his eyes landed on the face that he abhorred the most. This person was called Wu Fang. Since the beginning of high school, he and Bai Luo Yin did not get along. The reason was very simple, – the girl Wu Fang had tried to pursue was secretly in love with Bai Luo Yin. Furthermore, his family was well-off; he had a chauffeur, was the son of a wealthy and influential government official, and was respected by the school officials. That was why he couldn’t bear the thought of losing to a poor person like Bai Luo Yin.

“Bai Luo Yin, I’ll tell you this. You better be good to me, or else I’ll expose your shameful past. And suppose if I really do expose it, let’s see if you still have the guts to attend this school! Don’t think that just because you"ve got good  grades, you can do whatever you like. Although you have the highest rank in the whole school, the day you p.i.s.s me off will be day you get out of here.”

Bai Luo Yin stood up and headed towards Wu Fang, his words icy sharp yet calm.

“What kind of shameful past do I have? Why don’t you say it out loud, – I’ll listen to you.”

Wu Fang laughed flippantly and presumptuously. “You really want me to say it? I’m afraid that when I’m finished, you will be crying, kneeling on the ground and begging me to spare you.”

A brief yet chilly voice sounded out: “If you have the guts, then say it.”

“Fine, remember that you are the one who allowed me to speak. Everyone listen up. I’ll only say this once. Your cla.s.smate, Bai Luo Yin is a motherless b.a.s.t.a.r.d whose mother gave birth to him, but abandoned him. Do you all realize what his mother is? If I say it, you will be very shocked. Wait a minute. It’s not called that anymore, the term has changed. Now it’s referred as "the young woman who has taken a wrong step in life"… Hahaha…”

The cla.s.s was filled with boos and hisses. Some expressed their shock, while others showed their disgust.  Most of them didn’t believe that Bai Luo Yin had that kind of mother. They all thought that Wu Fang was envious, so he intentionally fabricated that story to humiliate Bai Luo Yin.

From the beginning to the end, Bai Luo Yin didn’t utter a single word. His expression was blank – only the blood vessels of his upper arms stood out, pulsating continuously.

“Look at Bai Luo Yin. You can see that he really is his mother’s illegitimate child. A motherless person will have the same alarmed look as he has now.”

Bai Luo Yin walked up to Wu Fang and lifted his arms, ready to strike.

At that same moment, Bai Luo Yin’s face was suddenly sprayed with a gush of blood.

Wu Fang had yet to understand what just happened.   Bai Luo Yin was also astonished. Gu Hai raised his fist a second time and punched Wu Fang again. One side of Wu Fang’s face became deformed immediately.  . A huge spurt of blood flowed down from his nostrils to the gap between his teeth, with Wu Fang crying ‘ow ow’ repeatedly.

“f.u.c.k you! You dare to punch me?”

Wu Fang pounced at Gu Hai but Gu Hai used his foot to kick Wu Fang’s kneecap ruthlessly. A loud sound of cracked bones could be heard, causing extreme terror. Wu Fang gave a bloodcurdling scream and fell to the ground. Then, Gu Hai grabbed his uniform collar and dragged him from the cla.s.sroom’s back entrance  to the front door.

Bang!

Everyone in the corridors could hear the sound of a slap.

At first, there were people running towards them, trying to stop the fight.. However, after witnessing the scene on the ground, everyone became frightened and turned a blind eye. Wu Fang’s entire face was battered. He was repeatedly beaten by Gu Hai until his face resembled a pile of tattered cotton. His chin was crooked and Gu Hai’s fists connected with his mouth, causing four of Wu Fang’s teeth to fall off.  Wu Fang could hardly breathe as he tried to spit them out.

“Apologize!”

Gu Hai pointed at Bai Luo Yin.

Wu Fang wept, “d.a.m.n it, why should I apologize to him? You hit me one more time and tomorrow I will put you behind bars. If you don’t believe me, just try it!.”

Wu Fang’s words made sense. If Gu Hai was an ordinary high school student with an ordinary background, beating up the son of a government official would inevitably put him behind bars.

Gu Hai’s fists were covered with blood. He placed his left hand on Wu Fang’s head while his right hand repeatedly punched  Wu Fang.

A sound of shattering could be heard.

Half of Wu Fang’s face had collapsed inwards.

A few girls who pa.s.sed by were so scared that they immediately shrieked. This also frightened the teachers that happened to pa.s.s by as well. Rather than stopping the scene straightaway, they hastily called security to intervene instead.

“Apologize!”

Wu Fang’s tears flooded from his eyes. He was groaning in pain while crying, as if he was quickly approaching death.

One male student from the cla.s.s who had watched the scene carefully couldn’t stand by and do nothing any longer. He walked to Gu Hai’s side and warned him with good intentions, “Gu Hai, stop beating him! You will get into trouble!”

Gu Hai didn’t listen and continued to kick Wu Fang’s thigh.

“Apologize!”

Wu Fang’s body recoiled in pain, twitching on the ground like a small shrimp.

Bai Luo Yin quietly stood at the corner. He was so shocked that he became speechless. He could not  understand why Gu Hai would go to such extremes to defend his honor.

You Qi pushed Bai Luo Yin and said, “You have to persuade him to stop. If this continues, someone may be killed.”

Bai Luo Yin walked towards Gu Hai. But before he could say anything, Gu Hai lifted up three fingers.

“I’m going to count to three. If you still refuse to apologize, I will throw you out the window. If you don’t believe me, just try it.”

“One, two,…”

Wu Fang suddenly held tightly onto Gu Hai’s leg. His face was so badly mangled that people wouldn’t be able to recognize him.

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

As soon as Wu Fang opened his mouth, a huge flow of blood splurted out. When the bystanders saw this, they became so scared that they took a step back.

Gu Hai abruptly manhandled Wu Fang, forcing him to kneel on the ground and pushed his head down in front of Bai Luo Yin’s feet.

“Say that you are his grandson, and that you are a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. ”

Wu Fang paused.

Bai Luo Yin realized that this was not a good turn of events. He had wanted to intervene and stop Gu Hai from going overboard, but unfortunately he was one step too late. Gu Hai landed a punch and Wu Fang’s gums swelled up.

“Enough!” Bai Luo Yin yanked Gu Hai firmly. “Hurry up and take him to the hospital.”

“Stand up!”

Gu Hai roared at Bai Luo Yin.

Since the time Bai Luo Yin met Gu Hai, he had never seen Gu Hai acting like this. There weren"t enough words to describe how cruel and terrifying he was now.

“Apologize!”

Gu Hai’s furious voice echoed throughout the whole corridor. Even the sunlight outside didn’t dare to shine on this particular dark and ice-cold corner.

Wu Fang’s face was still plastered to Bai Luo Yin’s feet

“I am… your… grandson… */sob/*… I am a bas-… b.a.s.t.a.r.d… */sob/*”

Gu Hai tossed Wu Fang away and stood up. The entire front of his uniform was stained with blood.

Bai Luo Yin stood silently between the two boys, his heart hollow.

The siren of the 120 Ambulance Service [1] resonated. The crowd of students watching the scene dispersed as their knees weakened. Nearly everyone went back to their cla.s.srooms. The medical personnel hastily ran towards the cla.s.sroom door. On the verge of shock, they supported and lifted Wu Fang up on the stretcher.

Ten minutes later, everything returned back to their normal, peaceful state.

The blood outside had been thoroughly cleaned up by the janitors, who scrubbed the stains carefully. Nevertheless, the metallic smell of blood still seeped through the windows and drifted into the cla.s.sroom, causing everyone’s heart to shudder.

“Gu Hai, come out for a moment.”

Bai Luo Yin turned his head to look at Gu Hai for a long period of time. His seat was already empty. Many students were now deliberating whether or not Gu Hai could possibly return to school after this incident.

Translator Note :

[1] 120 is speed dial for ambulance service in Beijing.