Chapter 55: The Fight

As soon as the National Day holiday ended, Li Dong got busy again. It felt like he was back to the time when he had just been reborn; during that period, Li Dong had also been leaving early and returning late for his crayfish business.

Running between the school and the supermarket nonstop, Li Dong lost weight within just a few days, which made Meng Qiping too afraid to suggest going for walks with him anymore.

As for why Meng Qiping insisted on following him that day, Li Dong, now preoccupied with work, couldn't be bothered to ask.

...

That evening, Li Dong, exhausted, returned to the school from Longhua Plaza. Just as he reached the dormitory, he saw Zhang Hao running towards him in a hurry.

As soon as Zhang Hao saw Li Dong, he was overjoyed and anxiously said, "Dong-ge, there's a fight!"

"What fight?"

Li Dong was puzzled and before he could ask for clarification, Zhang Hao pulled him along, running forward.

As they ran, Zhang Hao hurriedly explained to Li Dong, "It's Chen-ge, he got into a fight with someone. He's alone, but there are many of them..."

Before Zhang Hao could finish, Li Dong interrupted, "I'll go first; you go to the dorm and call for help!"

After saying that, Li Dong quickened his pace. Behind him, he faintly heard Zhang Hao's voice, "Over by Building 6, next to the girls' dorm..."

...

Li Dong ran straight to the girls' dormitory. From a distance, he saw a group of people gathered on the open space to the right of the dormitory.

He pushed through the crowd, ignoring their complaints, and immediately spotted Xu Chen.

Xu Chen was in bad shape, surrounded by three boys. One of them, who was over 1.8 meters tall, was choking him, and Xu Chen's face had turned red.

Without thinking, Li Dong quickly stepped forward and pushed aside the two boys on the outside, shouting at the tall boy, "Let go!"

"Mind your own business, you—"

The tall boy hadn't finished cursing when Li Dong kicked him, causing him to stumble and release his grip on Xu Chen's neck.

Without time to ask for the reason, Li Dong hurriedly asked Xu Chen, "Are you okay?"

Xu Chen covered his neck and shook his head, glaring at the tall boy without saying a word.

Only then did Li Dong have time to focus on the others. He turned to face the tall boy, who was ready to charge again, and shouted, "What are you doing? Trying to kill someone?"

"Chen Fang, don't hit him," one of the short-haired boys, whom Li Dong had pushed earlier, held back the furious tall boy and said to Li Dong, "Your friend hit first. Chen Fang was just defending himself."

"Defending, my ass! If I hadn't come, you would've choked him to death, wouldn't you?"

Li Dong didn't bother to listen to his explanation; his loyalty naturally lay with Xu Chen.

Moreover, there were three of them, and Xu Chen was small and thin—how could he possibly have the upper hand against them?

Seeing Li Dong cursing right off the bat, the short-haired boy's face darkened, and he snorted without saying more.

The boy named Chen Fang, however, was still furious and charged again. This time, the short-haired boy didn't hold him back.

But Li Dong wasn't like Xu Chen; he had plenty of experience in fights.

Before Chen Fang could get close, Li Dong kicked him hard in his exposed midsection!

Chen Fang lost his balance and fell on his butt, clutching his stomach in pain.

Li Dong sneered but didn't continue; he just looked at Chen Fang with disdain and said, "I was fighting when you were still playing in the mud. You're not tough enough to mess with me!"

Chen Fang was both humiliated and enraged, getting up to continue the fight, but this time the short-haired boy held him back.

Chen Fang shouted angrily, "Xiao Ran, let go! I'll kill him!"

The short-haired boy, who was evidently named Xiao Ran, frowned and scolded, "Calm down. Can fighting solve anything?"

It seemed Xiao Ran had considerable authority, as Chen Fang, although still fuming, didn't charge at Li Dong again. He just stared at him with murderous eyes.

Li Dong didn't care at all. He wasn't afraid of three students who clearly hadn't been in many fights, nor did he fear the streetwise thugs he'd faced in the past. When he worked in sales, he'd been in plenty of scraps over deals.

He turned to Xu Chen and asked, "Did they hit first?"

Xu Chen didn't speak, just shook his head.

Li Dong frowned slightly, surprised that Xu Chen had indeed struck first. But at this point, it didn't matter anymore.

Without asking further, he grabbed the still-sullen Xu Chen and started to leave.

Seeing that Li Dong was ignoring them, Xiao Ran spoke up, dissatisfied, "Classmate, are you just going to leave like this?"

Li Dong stopped and looked back at him coldly, "What else do you want? The three of you ganged up on him, and I'm not holding you accountable—that's already a favor. What, do you want to act like the victim now?"

"Classmate, you don't even know what happened. Isn't it a bit rash to make such accusations? And it wasn't three against one; Liu Feng and I were trying to break up the fight. You can ask your friend."

Li Dong glanced at Xu Chen, who remained silent, and understood the situation. He looked at Xiao Ran and said, "So what do you want?"

"Don't put it that way, it makes it sound like we're bullying him."

Xiao Ran snorted, clearly unhappy with Li Dong's words. He pointed at Xu Chen and said, "Your friend hit first for no reason. Isn't it fair to apologize?"

Before Xu Chen or Li Dong could respond, Xiao Ran continued, "And you kicked Chen Fang twice without knowing the situation. Shouldn't you give us an explanation?"

Li Dong couldn't help but laugh. "An explanation? What kind of explanation?"

"Apologize, take Chen Fang to the hospital for a check-up, and compensate for medical and nutrition expenses. Then this matter will be settled," Xiao Ran said calmly, unfazed by Li Dong's reaction.

Li Dong smirked, as if he'd heard a joke, and narrowed his eyes. "So, according to you, all the blame lies with us? Regardless of the details, I saw you nearly choke him to death. Is that how you break up fights?"

This Xiao Ran seemed reasonable on the surface, but Li Dong could see through his intentions.

As for breaking up the fight, that was just an excuse. If Chen Fang hadn't been winning, they wouldn't have intervened. Otherwise, they wouldn't have stood by while Xu Chen was being choked.

Li Dong had seen plenty of such petty tricks and couldn't be bothered to argue further. He simply said, "Forget about an apology. Either we end this here, or you name your terms. Whether you want to settle this peacefully or fight it out, it's up to you!"

He wasn't backing down just because Xu Chen was in the wrong. Even if Xiao Ran had been the one hit, Li Dong wouldn't apologize. A fight is a fight—what else is there to say?

"Classmate, there's no point in talking tough. If this escalates, it'll be you who suffers..."

Before Xiao Ran could finish, a loud voice came from outside the crowd, "Damn it, you think we're pushovers? Dong-ge, let's take them on, one-on-one or all at once!"

The crowd stirred, and Li Dong saw Meng Qiping and a sweaty Zhang Hao pushing their way in.

Meng Qiping immediately noticed the red marks on Xu Chen's neck and shouted angrily, "Damn! Old Xu, who did this?"

He then glared at Xiao Ran and the others, fuming, "Talk tough all you want, but if you've got the guts, let's settle this outside the school. I'll beat you so bad, you'll crap yourself!"

Xiao Ran's face turned pale, and after a moment, he sneered, "Jiang University's standards are really dropping, letting in trash like you!"

"Who are you calling trash?" Meng Qiping rolled up his sleeves, ready to charge.

Li Dong pulled him back and gave Xiao Ran a sly smile, "Watch what you say. That comment insults all the freshmen here."

"Don't twist my words!"

Xiao Ran, seeing the unfriendly looks from the surrounding students, snorted and gave Li Dong and his group one last glance before pulling Chen Fang away.

"If you've got guts, don't run!" Meng Qiping yelled after them, but Li Dong shot him a glare. If they didn't leave now, things might actually turn into a brawl.

After all this time, the campus security was probably on their way. If they didn't leave now, none of them would get off lightly.

Not bothering to figure out if Meng Qiping's anger was genuine or just for show, Li Dong and Zhang Hao pulled the silent Xu Chen and the still-angry Meng Qiping away from the girls' dorm.