Chapter 28: You Can Try It Too

“Y-You…”

Staggering, Xu Qing fell to the ground, struggling to get up.

His face and body burned fiercely, the once pale complexion visibly flushed red, his brain so congested with blood it was hard to think clearly.

“What’s wrong with me? You wanna fight me?”

Lu Liang smiled faintly.

Rejected by a girl, and now he wanted to vent his anger on him? Too bad Xu Qing picked the wrong target. Lu Liang was only somewhat weak in front of Magical Girls; ordinary people posed no threat to him at all.

“You…”

After being publicly humiliated by Bai Wanqing, Xu Qing naturally wanted to lunge at Lu Liang and start a fight.

But seeing the bulging muscles and well-proportioned physique on Lu Liang, and then looking down at his own flat stomach with some flabby flesh, he immediately calmed down.

He picked up his dirty glasses from the ground, blew on them, and put them back on:

“I’m not going to fight you. I’m a reasonable person.”

Reasonable?

Lu Liang almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

There’s always this kind of person in the world—if you take their insults quietly, they bully you to no end; if you get a little fierce, they suddenly want to “reason” with you.

Suppressing a laugh, Lu Liang said:

“So how do you want to reason with me?”

Lu Ansheng and the others hadn’t returned yet, so Lu Liang decided to play along with this kid.

Xu Qing pushed up his glasses.

Having just been frustrated, he suddenly felt this was a good chance to redeem himself in front of the Goddess:

“You’re an outsider. Little Bai and I are classmates. I was just kindly going to escort her home, and you, without knowing the situation, attacked someone. Do you think that’s right?”

This was pure distortion of facts.

If it were someone else, their blood pressure might have risen on the spot, but not Lu Liang.

He had different approaches for different people.

For a pretentious loser like Xu Qing, the best way was not to indulge his so-called “reasoning” but to hit hard, or else he’d only drag himself deeper into the trap of self-justification:

“So what? I’m a thug. I don’t need you teaching me how to do things.”

Lu Liang smirked roguishly:

“Got a problem with that?”

He pushed Xu Qing roughly, sending him stumbling back several steps.

Xu Qing barely regained his footing and realized he might have really pissed off someone with no limits.

This guy actually knew how to fight!

Realizing arguing was useless against Lu Liang’s unreasonable nature, Xu Qing’s face paled and his momentum weakened.

He began sweating profusely.

“N-No problem. I just think this isn’t right,” Xu Qing said weakly.

His eyes glanced at Bai Wanqing behind Lu Liang, and summoning unknown courage, he gritted his teeth:

“Little Bai, you shouldn’t hang out with people like this. Otherwise… if the Teacher finds out, they’ll think you’re a bad influence too.”

Was that a threat? To tattle to the Teacher?

High schoolers still using that tactic?

This time, Lu Liang genuinely laughed.

He felt talking to Xu Qing was truly beneath him.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing a high schooler whining like a grade schooler, Lu Liang lost interest in playing along.

He grabbed Bai Wanqing by the shoulder:

“Don’t pay attention to this idiot.”

“Ugh, eh?” Bai Wanqing exclaimed, whispering to Lu Liang:

“B-But, Xu Qing said…”

Although Lu Liang didn’t take Xu Qing seriously, Bai Wanqing was naive and kind-hearted, easy to get flustered by a few words of threat.

“Don’t worry, he won’t dare.”

Lu Liang sneered.

Just as Xu Qing, embarrassed by the ridicule in front of the Goddess, was about to angrily shout “I dare!”, a group approached from a distance, led by Lu Ansheng:

“Bro! I’m here! Sorry to keep you waiting!”

After some effort, Lu Ansheng had gathered five or six reliable, tight-lipped, hardworking Yellow-haired Brothers who weren’t all bad.

He hurriedly found Lu Liang:

“Bro, what do you want us to do? When do we start? Just say the word! We’ll follow you!”

The other Yellow-haired Brothers were friends of Lu Ansheng.

Hearing there was a capable and loyal big brother leading them to do something great, they came without asking for details out of trust.

Meeting Lu Liang for the first time, most were shy and friendly with a smile, quietly observing his character, as not everyone was as outgoing as Lu Ansheng.

But in Xu Qing’s eyes, this scene looked very different.

He had thought Lu Liang was a low-level thug.

Though scared, he wasn’t overly timid.

But seeing so many people show up, apparently all summoned by Lu Liang alone, his heart stopped.

With this scale, Lu Liang wasn’t just any thug—someone surrounded by so many must be at least a Little Leader.

Xu Qing’s knees weakly trembled as he calculated whether to apologize to Lu Liang first.

It would save face, and he might avoid a beating.

But Lu Liang didn’t even glance at him.

Instead, he called to Lu Ansheng and the others:

“No need to talk business now. None of you have had dinner, right? Let’s eat first. My treat.”

Most indeed hadn’t eaten much dinner.

Even among hoodlums, there were levels.

Lu Ansheng and his brothers were definitely bottom-tier—barely enough coins in their pockets.

Many of them became Yellow-haired Brothers not to be gangsters but because they couldn’t get into high school and banded together for warmth.

Hearing Lu Liang would pay, their first impression of him improved greatly.

They all brightened up but, out of Chinese politeness and habit, still demurred:

“That’s too kind.”

“First time meeting and you’re already spending money? Not right.”

“Nothing wrong with that, we’re brothers! Let’s go! You lead the way!”

Lu Liang gave Lu Ansheng a look.

Lu Ansheng immediately understood and called out to his brothers:

“Our bro said it, we can’t refuse! Let’s go, there’s a great dai pai dong over on North Alley Street. The Boss there cooks really well—you’ve got to try it!”

With Lu Liang and Lu Ansheng speaking up, everyone stopped hesitating and hurried off.

Lu Liang walked last.

He first said to Bai Wanqing:

“Bai Hanhang, you’re coming too.”

Tonight, Xu Qing’s prestige took a hit.

People like Xu Qing bowed to the strong but vented their anger on the weak.

To avoid accidents, Lu Liang planned to keep an eye on Bai Wanqing tonight.

“Eh?” Bai Wanqing hesitated.

“B-But, I still have to go home…”

“No problem. I’ll take you home afterwards.”

Bai Wanqing still hesitated, not because she didn’t trust Lu Liang, but because she wasn’t familiar with Lu Ansheng and the others.

Seeing her doubt, Lu Liang leaned close and said into her ear:

“If you don’t come, it’s like you’re disrespecting me. Next time I see you, who knows what I might do.”

He even wiggled his fingers, making a mock pinching motion at her face.

Hearing this, Bai Wanqing blinked like a silly deer from the Three Fools of the Northeast, blankly looking at Lu Liang before nodding absentmindedly:

“Alright, I’ll go, Lu Liang… but you’re not allowed to bully me anymore.”

“Deal!”

“You better keep your word!”

“Okay, I promise I’ll keep my word.”

After getting Lu Liang’s promise, Bai Hanhang weakly said to Xu Qing:

“Xu Qing, I’m just going out to eat with friends. Can you not tell the Teacher?”

With Lu Liang’s backing, Xu Qing reluctantly nodded with a sour face.

Bai Wanqing finally relaxed and happily strode ahead.

After a few steps, noticing Lu Liang hadn’t followed, she suddenly stopped and turned back.

Without a word, she just stared steadily at him.

Lu Liang knew this was her urging him to catch up.

He chuckled and quickly caught up.

Passing beside Xu Qing, he quietly said:

“I like to return favors. If you have the guts, you can try.”

The implication was a warning: don’t bring trouble upon yourself.

Xu Qing shuddered but dared not say more.

Watching Lu Liang’s confident retreating figure, Xu Qing silently walked toward his home, still looking refined and scholarly, only his back noticeably more hunched than before.