Another week passed.
March 19th, Saturday.
An abandoned building.
The teenager was holding a cat in his arms, wearing a black jacket over a beige sweater, with a pair of smoky gray straight-leg jeans, sitting on a broken wooden board, somewhat absentmindedly looking at the place where the snow had long since melted.
He still remembers before the New Year, the three of them and Ellie came here to set off fireworks.
William heard a rustling sound and turned his head to see Daniel and Mason.
Daniel waved at him: "William."
The two sat down next to him.
William asked, "Why are you guys here?"
Daniel, of course, wouldn't say that he had secretly followed William once before and later found out that he almost came here every Saturday night, so he smiled and said, "Guessed."
William didn't speak, just sat there quietly in a daze.
"William, actually, this place is quite suitable for a barbecue."
William glanced at the open space, nodded, and said, "Indeed."
"We could come here for a barbecue together in the future," Daniel inadvertently spoke his mind.
William just repeated "the four of us" in a daze.
He remembered when they used to have hot pot together, before he had a place that could be called home; now he has nothing.
"William, long time no see."
Hearing this, all three stood up and turned around.
William looked at the man with a scar on his face behind him and spoke coldly, "Who are you?"
Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
Jackson's face turned green with anger. He had been dominated by William before and finally got a chance to save face, but he asked him "Who are you?"
Skull spoke up from the side, "The boss of our vocational school."
"I don't remember."
Jackson looked at the indifferent teenager in front of him and said, "It doesn't matter if you remember or not, all you need to know is that you're done for today."
"Oh."
Jackson waved to his followers and said, "Come over here and block them."
William raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Jackson thought he was cool as he brushed his hair back and said, "Just what I said literally."
"The people from your school are still the same, not playing by the rules."
"Why do you care if we follow the rules or not? As long as we can win, that's all that matters," Jackson said.
Daniel was speechless, "Bringing a dozen people to fight three, you can come up with that and don't feel ashamed."
"We're mainly here for William, if you two know what's good for you, you can leave now."
Daniel said, "We're not leaving."
Mason also said, "Not leaving."
The people Jackson called were mostly from society.
A group of fierce-looking men surrounded the three.
William looked at the incoming fist, kicked the man in front of him, and then grabbed the stick from his hand.
There were too many opponents, and he didn't stand a chance.
He dodged the incoming punch, stepped back, and then twisted the fist he grabbed, the man didn't expect William to be so strong, his face contorted in pain, William kneed him in the stomach, and kicked him with his leg.
William glanced at Daniel and Mason, seeing Mason protecting Daniel, he let out a sigh of relief.
But one's physical strength is always limited, and the three quickly fell into a disadvantage.
The place on William's waist where he had been injured before ached slightly, he rubbed it, and then kicked the person in front of him.
He was kicked on the knee by someone nearby, and one leg fell to the ground, as he was about to get up with his hand on the ground, he was pressed down again.
"William!"
"William!"
Jackson looked at Daniel and Mason and said, "You guys should worry about yourselves."
Daniel and Mason were blocked by three burly men.
Mason protected Daniel behind him and took a lot of injuries.
Jackson clapped his hands and laughed, squatting down in front of William and said, "William, just submit to me today, promise not to interfere with our vocational school's matters in the future, and I'll let you go."
William punched him in the face and said, "Forget it, you're dreaming."
Jackson covered his right face and cursed, "Damn it, you really don't know when to take a good offer."
William broke free from the two people beside him and added another punch to his left face.
Jackson was furious and cursed, "Can't you see? Beat him up, beat him up, beat him to death."
William took a solid punch to the stomach, then sharply punched the person who raised his arm, hitting him squarely in the face, and the man's face visibly swelled up.
The man next to him took the opportunity to kick William, and William turned his head and kicked him back.
His black clothes were covered in dust, with injuries on his face and neck, blood at the corner of his mouth, he covered the stomach that had just been kicked, his face was pale, and the pain spread throughout his body.
He pressed his stomach a few times, and the soft flesh in his mouth was almost bitten to pieces.
Looking at the four big men in front of him, he dodged a punch, then grabbed a stick from one of them, and hit the man's leg.
His breathing was heavier, and he reached for his stomach again.
On the other side, Daniel had already taken several punches, and the rest were blocked by Mason next to him.
Mason kicked the man in front of him, pulled Daniel behind him, and said, "You hide behind me, what are you doing at the front?"
"Am I supposed to watch you get beaten? Said I would protect you when we were kids, am I supposed to be a coward behind you now?"
Hearing this, Mason felt a bit complicated, but he still said, "Daniel, this is not the time to compete who is in front."
Daniel said, "I can take a beating, I can take a few punches."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was pushed to the ground by a man.
Mason wrestled with the man and took several punches on his back.
William was knocked to the ground by a man, got up and was hit again, he was already sweating profusely.
This place is remote, and he doesn't know how these people found it, and his people won't make it in time.
"William, I told you not to submit," Jackson said, lifting the stick from the ground and smashing it onto William.
"Stop!"
A female voice suddenly appeared.
Ellie raised her phone and said to those people, "I've already called the police."
Jackson looked back at the girl who suddenly appeared, and the stick in his hand stopped abruptly, a few centimeters above William's head, he cursed "Damn it," then said to the people behind him, "Damn it, today is really unlucky, guys, let's get out of here."
Those people ran away with Jackson, as if they had never been there.
William never thought that in the most down-and-out situation like this, he would meet Ellie, he couldn't even bear to look up, couldn't bear to look at Ellie's gaze.