Chapter 67: All Are Useless

Cheng Haoyu stiffened his neck, glaring fiercely at Li Sicheng, gritting his teeth as he demanded, “Who the hell are you calling a coward? Don’t think you can act all high and mighty just because you have a teacher backing you up. Believe it or not, I’ll beat you to a pulp right in front of the teacher and make your face bloom with bruises?”

Li Sicheng shook his head, scoffing contemptuously. “I don’t believe it.”

“Damn it!” Cheng Haoyu’s fury erupted in an instant. He swung his fist, ready to lunge at Li Sicheng.

Li Sicheng’s brows arched, his gaze turning icy. “Come on, then! Let’s see if you beat me, or if I beat you!”

Cheng Haoyu felt a jolt of fear at the sight, his raised fist freezing in mid-air.

He recalled yesterday, when he’d gone to Class Three of the first-year students to pick a fight with Li Sicheng, only to nearly have his wrist twisted off by him.

“This guy’s got a strong grip—he’s definitely used to fighting. If I go one-on-one with him, I probably won’t win…” The memory left Cheng Haoyu unsettled.

Yesterday’s encounter with Li Sicheng, as much as it infuriated him, had left a deep impression—an indelible shadow in his heart, sapping his courage to challenge Li Sicheng alone.

Fortunately, he wasn’t alone. He still had his group of underlings.

At once, Cheng Haoyu turned and roared, “What the hell are you all standing around for? Get moving! Flatten this brat for me and show him what a terrifying mistake it is to mess with me!”

“Um…”

His lackeys exchanged uneasy glances, not one of them moving to act.

Cheng Haoyu was dumbfounded. He never expected that the boys who usually obeyed his every command would chicken out at such a crucial moment!

Already, a crowd of students had gathered in the corridor to watch the show. Now that his lackeys were defying him, it was as good as getting slapped in the face—and right in front of hundreds of their classmates.

Cheng Haoyu knew that if he didn’t turn things around and save face, it wouldn’t be long before word of his humiliation spread all over Nanshan High School, making him the laughingstock of everyone.

Anxious and enraged, Cheng Haoyu grabbed the collar of the nearest lackey and demanded, “What the hell’s wrong with you? Are you looking to die? How dare you ignore my orders?”

The lackey hurried to explain, “Boss Cheng, don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not that we don’t want to follow your orders, but there’s a teacher here. We can’t start a fight in front of a teacher, right? Besides, that brat Li is standing too close to the teacher. If we start something, the teacher might get hurt and things will really get out of hand…”

“That’s right, Boss Cheng. With a teacher here, it’s not a good time.”

“Why not let him off for now and find a chance to deal with him later? The teacher can’t be with him all the time.”

The other lackeys chimed in, each echoing the same sentiment.

Though this gang of Cheng Haoyu’s had a history of bullying and fighting at school, they were still students at heart. They might ignore teachers during class, but fighting right in front of a teacher—or even accidentally hitting one—was more trouble than they could handle.

Cheng Haoyu could afford to disregard the teachers because of his family’s background, but his lackeys were not so privileged. Their families were average at best, and their parents had worked hard to get them into Nanshan High. If they got expelled for causing serious trouble, their parents would skin them alive.

Their reaction reminded Cheng Haoyu of Li Sicheng’s earlier taunt—calling them cowards—and it made him so angry he stamped his feet. “Useless! Useless! All of you are completely useless!”

The lackeys all hung their heads, accepting his insults in silence.

Compared to being expelled and facing their furious parents at home, what was a little scolding?

Seeing that his crew was acting like pigs immune to boiling water, Cheng Haoyu lost his temper entirely. Glancing at Li Sicheng, who wore a mocking smile, Cheng Haoyu felt bitter but didn’t dare challenge him alone.

Taking a deep breath, Cheng Haoyu squeezed out a phrase through clenched teeth: “Li, just you wait!” With that, he turned and, with his lackeys in tow, beat a hasty retreat.

“Ha! Cowards, just as I thought!”

A burst of laughter erupted from several nearby classrooms.

Students crowded every window and doorway, eager for gossip. Many had suffered under Cheng Haoyu and his gang before, so seeing him humiliated now, they seized the chance to kick him while he was down.

“Cheng Haoyu, you love bragging about being a school bully all day long. So this is what the big bad wolf looks like, running away with his tail between his legs?”

“Tsk, tsk—seven or eight of them scared off by one guy. They really are a bunch of gutless cowards!”

“I used to think Cheng Haoyu was scary, but now I see he’s just a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong. Hmph, if he dares to swagger into our class again, I’ll break his legs myself!”

Hearing the jeers and ridicule coming from the surrounding classrooms, Cheng Haoyu’s face flushed as red as a monkey’s backside. He wished he could crawl into a hole and disappear.

One of his lackeys tried to flatter him. “Boss Cheng, don’t let it get to you. After school, we can gather more people and corner that Li kid again! There’s no way his luck can hold out every time like it did last night!”

Unfortunately, his attempt at flattery backfired.

Smack!

Cheng Haoyu spun around and slapped him across the face, cursing, “Idiot! Are you stupid, or are you trying to get me in trouble? Last night, I was just taken to the police station, and now you want us to corner Li Sicheng again? Haven’t I had enough trouble already? Or do you think the police station belongs to my family?”

The lackey, stinging from the slap, dared not protest. Rubbing his burning cheek, he asked awkwardly, “So… what do we do? Are we just going to let this go?”

Cheng Haoyu’s eyes burned with fury as he ground out, “Let it go? No way! I’ve never suffered such a loss before, and unless Li Sicheng pays in blood, this will never be over! But for now, I have to keep a low profile. Once things cool down, I’ll send people after him! This time, I won’t corner him at the school gates. I’ll have someone tail him home and, when the road is deserted, finish him off!”

“Great idea, Boss Cheng!”

“No wonder you’re the boss—no one will suspect us this way!”

“Boss Cheng, you’re amazing! Unstoppable!”

The lackeys immediately began to shower him with shameless praise.

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