The Young Master Ting that everyone was clamoring over was an arrogant-looking fella with slick, gelled hair. He even dyed his hair blond, probably because he thought it looked cool, and combed it back to expose his forehead. Surrounded by an entourage that reminded me of Qi Fu Ren's cronies, he practically pranced across the library.
Why the fuck was he carrying a bouquet of roses, though? This was the library, not a florist's shop.
Well, it was none of my business if he wanted to behave like an idiot. Disappointed that it wasn't Tong Xue who had stepped into the library, I resumed studying, Gao Kao was about a few months away and I couldn't spare the time to bother with other people's nonsense. This Shi Ting fella could probably depend on his parents to buy him a place in university. Given my parents' financial circumstances, I didn't have such luxuries. And even if they could afford it, I wouldn't. I had my pride as a man.
However, for some reason, Shi Ting and his lackeys were strolling in my direction. They were clearly approaching my desk.
"Ugh. Why does he have to show up now?"
Hearing Na Lan Yan Ran groan under her breath, I immediately understood that Shi Ting was here for her. Good. Take this bitch away please. Then I wouldn't have to explain to Tong Xue why I was unable to chase her out of his seat.
Shi Ting paused in front of my desk, casting a sharp glare in my direction.
"Huh? Who is this brat?"
I ignored him. The fuck was he calling a brat? He was the brat here. Honestly, he could fuck off. I would have probably told him that (albeit in a more polite manner), but this was the library. So I clamped down on my irritation and focused on my workbook.
Tightening his grip, Shi Ting then crouched by the desk and presented the bouquet of roses to the beautiful girl sitting by the side.
"Yan Ran, this bouquet of flowers is for you. Ah, I'm here to invite you to have lunch with me at the cafeteria today. It's my treat!"
"Sorry, I have already eaten lunch."
"O…oh. But could you come with me for a bit? I have an important matter to discuss with you."
Na Lan Yan Ran sighed and leaned back in her chair, swinging her hand flippantly.
"What important matter? Surely it's nothing insidious, right? Just discuss it with me right here and right now."
"No…no, of course not." Shi Ting forced a laugh. However, I raised my hand.
"Actually, you two should discuss it somewhere else. This is the library, so I would appreciate it if you could keep your volume down."
"Who the fuck are you?!" Shi Ting snapped at me. "Shut up and don't get involved!"
"You're the one who should shut up," I retorted, controlling my anger and keeping my voice down. "Again, this is the library. Stop whining."
"Even the librarian didn't say anything! Who are you to intervene?!" Shi Ting jabbed a finger in the direction of the librarian, who was cowering behind the counter and refusing to look in our direction. The poor girl looked terrified.
"Sorry, just let him say what he wants. It'll be quick." For some reason, Na Lan Yan Ran was appealing to me. I scowled, but didn't say anything.
Taking that as his cue to speak, Shi Ting then dropped to a knee and presented the bouquet of flowers to Na Lan Yan Ran.
"Na Lan Yan Ran! I like you very much! Please give me a chance! I want you to be my girlfriend!"
Na Lan Yan Ran listened to him for a few seconds, and then she rose to her feet and stomped off. Shi Ting blinked and then hastily grabbed her arm.
"Please don't be like that! I'm very sincere with my feelings!" he was literally begging her. "I promise that I will marry you once we graduate from high school! Gao Kao is just around the corner. I will score high and rank among the top ten! Then we'll get married after that!"
"Shi Ting, stop this nonsense!" Na Lan Yan Ran smacked his hand away with such force that the bouquet of flowers were sent flying to the floor. "I will never be your girlfriend! Please give up!"
"Wait! Yan Ran, don't go!" Shi Ting chased after her departing figure, flustered. As for me, I silently cheered because the nuisances were finally gone. And Tong Xue could have his seat back.
Shi Ting reached out for Na Lan Yan Ran, but she slapped his hand away again.
"Don't touch me!"
"R…Yan Ran…!" Shi Ting's voice was pleading. Na Lan Yan Ran lowered her head, breathing somewhat heavily. She seemed to have thought of something, and she straightened up to yell boldly. In the fucking library, no less.
"Stop bothering me! You're disgusting!" She then turned to me. "Do something! Please help me!"
"Why should I help you?" I retorted, glaring at her. "I don't even know you. From the start, you've been disturbing me when I'm trying to study, grabbing my friend's seat and snatching my books. And now you want me to help you? How shameless can you be?"
"Who the hell are you?!" Shi Ting yelled. "What is your relationship with Yan Ran?!"
"I don't know her." I glared at the both of them. "The both of you can have your stupid lovers' spat elsewhere. Don't drag me into your mess. I don't want to get involved with either of you."
I returned to my book and flipped through it, trying to find the page where I had stopped. However, Shi Ting didn't care. He was trembling in rage.
"I don't care."
"Excuse me?" I looked at him above my open book.
"I don't care who you are or if the whole thing is a lie. You will have to pay!"
"Pay for what, exactly?"
"For humiliating me! For offending me! For getting involved with Na Lan Yan Ran! For everything!" he turned to his entourage. "Get him! Force him to kneel and kowtow! Then make him apologize to me!"
He then turned back to snarl at me.
"And after you kneel, kowtow and apologize, you must swear that you will never approach Na Lan Yan Ran again! Otherwise you won't be able to leave the library alive today!"
"Are you seriously doing this? I told you that I have nothing to do with this. You can chase her all you want, don't drag me into this."
"I don't care!" Shi Ting shouted, froth and spittle flying from his mouth as he jabbed a finger at me rudely. "There must be a reason why she chose you, of all people, to help her! I need to tackle the issue by its roots!"
"Okay, I swear I will stay away from her! That I will never interact with her in the future! Is that enough?"
"No! I won't be able to satisfy the rage and hatred burning inside me until I see you humiliated!" Shi Ting then turned to his lackeys. "What are you waiting for? Grab him!"
He threw a punch at me, but I easily dodged his fist, causing him to stumble and sprawl over the ground. He rolled to his feet and jabbed a finger at me rudely, froth and spittle flying from his mouth.
"How dare you dodge?!" Shi Ting then turned to his lackeys, gesturing impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Grab him!"
I stared at him as I pushed my glasses up my nose, the lenses gleaming.
"Are you threatening me, arrogant young master?"
"The student body will decide your fate."
"I am the student."
"Not yet."
"I see." I slowly rose from my seat and pushed my glasses up again. For a few seconds, an unnatural breeze drifted through the interior of the library, despite all of the windows being closed. The students shuddered involuntarily at the sudden chill. "So you have chosen…death."
"Why are they acting out memes?" one of the students in the library asked, baffled. His friend shrugged.
"Oh, just shut up and die!" Shi Ting shouted and waved his cronies forward. "Grab him and make him kneel before me!"
They complied. I rolled my eyes and dodged the first one, then ducked under the arms of a second as he tried to grab me.
I shook my head, suppressing my rage and restraining my strength. However, I wasn't going to take this lying down.
So I retaliated. My elbow rammed into the nose of the guy behind me as he tried to wrap his arms around my shoulders, probably to immobilize me. There was a crack and the guy fell with a nasal cry. My foot lashed out and broke the knee of another guy, causing him to topple over with a howl. Spinning around, I kicked the head of a third guy as he rushed forward, sending him cartwheeling onto another desk. The occupants shrieked as the poor dude's body sent books and stationary clattering onto the carpeted floor.
Whirling around, I punched a fourth dude in the face and he went down in a gurgle. Then I rammed my elbow into the fifth guy behind him, probably fracturing a couple of his ribs. Groaning, he keeled over, clutching his chest.
"It's your turn, young master Shi," I said, cracking my knuckles and approaching him. He had gone all white and was trembling in fear. His knees had gone weak and he was barely standing.
"You…you were pretending to be weak all this while?"
"The fuck are you talking about? Pretending to be weak? Who told you I was weak? You made that assumption on your own."
Apparently, he wasn't the only one. The students in the library were whispering amongst themselves, unable to believe their eyes. Na Lan Yan Ran in particular had covered her hand with her mouth, but I could still hear her quiet murmur.
"Those movements and reflexes? That has to be ancient martial arts! But how?"
Hmm, her words had caught my attention, but right now I didn't have the time to think about it. Shi Ting was trembling in both fear and fury, and it seemed like something had snapped.
"Ugh! I'm going all out!"
He charged at me, but I effortlessly avoided his clumsy punch. Then I broke his nose with an elbow.
"Ah…maybe I shouldn't have done that," I apologized sarcastically when I saw that I had caved his face in. "Sorry, Young Master Shi Ting. You were relying on your handsomeness to chase girls. What will you do now in the future, after I've ruined your features?"
"You…you…!" Shi Ting spluttered as he clutched his bleeding nose. I turned away for a moment, grabbing my notepad and scribbling something with a pencil.
"This is your name in English, right? I spelled it correctly."
Everyone stared at the SHI TING that I had written in large, visible alphabets. They then glanced at each other, confused.
"What is he trying to do?"
"Why did he write Shi Ting's name?"
"Why English?"
I spun a pen in my fingers, acting all dramatic. Grinning, I poked its nib into the notepad.
"Now what happens if I replace the space in your name with a single letter?"
In a couple of strokes, I added a T to Shi Ting's name. Then I slowly swept the notepad around for all to see.
SHITTING
"Pu…!"
"HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Oh my God…ha ha ha ha!"
"I see why now!"
Everyone in the library was laughing boisterously. A few of the guys actually dropped on the ground and rolled on the floor, clutching their tummies. Even the girls were shaking uncontrollably as they giggled, tears leaking from their eyes. Even those who didn't have a good grasp of English couldn't mistake the word I had transformed Shi Ting's name into.
"I'm sorry to say this in front of everyone, Young Master Shi Ting," I proclaimed. "But I think this explains why you stink."
Then I pretended to have an epiphany, dropping my notepad so that I could strike my palm with my fist.
"Aha! From now on, you'll be knowing as Young Master Shitting!"
"BUAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Young Master Shitting! Ha ha!"
"My goodness…it fits him so well!"
"You…you…!" Shi Ting spluttered nasally, still clutching his nose. Rage gleamed in his eyes. "I'll kill you!"
"You already tried that," I replied with a shrug. "And how did it work out for you?"
"Fuck you!" Shi Ting roared and lunged at me. Before he could reach me, I planted a foot on the crown of his head and shoved him back. Then I kicked him so hard that he was sent flying into a shelf. Fortunately, I held back. Otherwise he would have sent the shelf toppling over into the other shelves, and then all of them would fall over like dominos.
As it was, several books were dislodged from the shelf and crashed onto him, burying him in a heap.
"Ladies and gentlemen…" I shook my head exaggeratedly. "That is not how you book the library."
"I…I will kill you," Shi Ting hissed venomously. I stepped toward him and grabbed him by his slick, gelled hair.
"This is just a warning, Young Master Shitting. You pull this stunt and attack me again, and you will be the one who loses your life."
"You think you're very strong?" Shi Ting sneered. "I know people…I have contacts with the Ghost Bear Clan. They make your little martial arts look like an amateur's."
The Ghost Bear Clan? Now that was something I hadn't heard of in a long time. This was troublesome. I would rather not get involved in these petty gang wars if I could help it.
Letting go of Shi Ting's hair, I slammed his head against the shelf and knocked him out. Then I returned to my seat.
Right at that moment, Tong Xue chose to show up. He strode into the library, and then did a double take when he saw all the injured guys lying on the floor.
"W…what the hell happened here?" he asked, his jaw hanging open from astonishment.