“He wants to quit?” I was excited when I heard that, “Why can’t he figure it out? Isn’t being a hoodlum a job with great prospects?”
Peaked cap guy’s glance pierced me like daggers and he said:
“It’s all because of you! The fight under the bridge made the boss lose all his confidence, so he says he’s going to abandon the life of crime!”
“Abandoning that life is good…” I started to slowly pace back and forth as if I was a martial arts master.
“Do you guys think you could become the mafia just because you were hoodlums? Stop dreaming! If you guys break the law, you’ll eventually end up in prison, picking up soap! It would be too late to regret it when your chrysanthemum turns into a sunflower!”
Peng TouSi was opposed to what I said: “Lin, the flexibility of a sphincter is actually really impressive…”
“Shut up! I’m trying to educate Chinese youth, stop introducing your homo experiences from America!”
Peaked cap guy became visibly more scared after he heard Peng TouSi was gay.
He was the one with the most backbone in his group, just moments before he would have rather died than be disrespected. But after finding out that his chrysanthemum was in danger, he became bewildered.
“You, don’t touch me! If you come closer, I’ll… bite off my tongue!”
Peaked cap guy held up his baton to guard himself against Peng TouSi, but deep down he knew that it was futile.
How funny! Clearly, you’re a scoundrel and a criminal, yet you spoke like a pure an innocent girl from those TV dramas. Weren’t you acting high and mighty when you were picking on Shu Zhe and Xiao Hua? Where did that mighty manner go?
I probably won’t tell him that Peng TouSi was a 0 and let him continue to misunderstand.
Peng TouSi suddenly started to laugh.
It was manly and candid, not at all creepy.
“Youngster, it seems like you have a bit of prejudice against me! Actually, I don’t care about your chrysanthemum, but rather than me, you should be more wary of Ye Lin!”
Peng TouSi said before that within the gay community, only 0’s were a bit pure and many 0.5 or 1 were bisexual.
So what he probably meant was that instead of him, who’s a 0, I would be more of a threat as a straight man to the peaked cap guy.
But peaked cap guy completely misunderstood.
“What! Ye Lin is gay too!?”
The gaze that he used to look at me completely changed.
What used to be half fear and half hatred, was now full of fear. He also used his baton to guard against me.
“So you were a damn homo! Don’t come over here! Don’t touch me!”
The other two underlings said while sobbing:
“No wonder our investigation said Ye Lin wasn’t interested in girls and he spent most of his time with the basketball team!”
“This is bad! Last time he touched us, do you think we got AIDS?!”
I was seething with anger. I rushed forward and wanted to throw peaked cap guy against the wall to vent my anger.
Peaked cap guy retreated as if his life depended on it and he almost tripped on mouse guy who was on the ground. He wasn’t even holding his baton properly, and it fell to the ground.
He calmed his state of mind and unwillingly held up one of his hands in a stop manner.
“Ye, I never knew you were a part of ‘that’ group, it looks like there’s no way to settle our score!”
I was puzzled: “What do you mean there’s no way? I don’t need any help and I’ll take all of you at once, can’t we just finish it all at once?”
“God damn, you’re a homo, I can’t get into contact with you!” Peaked cap guy and my anger were equally matched, “If we made you bleed, we would have to go to the hospital to check if we got AIDS!”
“Can you stop talking about AIDS? It’s not like I burst your chrysanthemum, even if I had AIDS you wouldn’t contract it.”
“Damn, so you were thinking about my chrysanthemum!”
“Why do you not listen to others, I was only giving you an example…”
“Stop lying! Tell me the truth, what did you do to our boss! The boss said he felt a lot of pressure and wants to quit, did you do something unspeakable to him!”
“Screw you! I already said I wasn’t gay! Your boss’ mental state has nothing to do me and he could suck my ass.”
“So it has something to do with ass?!”
Peaked cap guy was astonished.
“Boss, I’m sorry that you had to suffer! We’ve done this business for years, I can’t believe we came to an end when you were taken advantage of by a homo…”
He had a mournful face and waved to his underlings.
“Let’s go, we can’t bother them, but we could leave! The first thing we need to do when we get back is take the boss to the hospital for an inspection.”
After hearing they wanted to leave, Peng TouSi shifted out of the way with no intention of stopping them.
Ai Mi was dissatisfied because Peng TouSi didn’t follow her orders to kill, so she told Obama to bite them. (Obama just barked at them, but didn’t actually go) Eventually, she took off one of her shoes and threw it towards peaked cap guys head, but it didn’t hit.
Mouse guy was being carried by two people walking in front. Peaked cap guy was in charge of the back, preventing me or Peng TouSi from rushing them and ravaging their chrysanthemums.
“Ye, don’t get too complacent!” He warned me as he left, “If any one of us is tested positive for AIDS, we’ll fight to the death!”
That means if no one had AIDS, you would stop bothering me?
It looks like it was a good thing that Peng TouSi intentionally misspoke and let them misunderstand.
I wasn’t afraid of them getting revenge, but it would become complicated if they hurt the ones close to me.
Now that they think that I have AIDS, they don’t even want to get near me.
My only concern: They better not spread a rumor that I was gay!
It was too late to have regrets, they were all gone within minutes.
Even if I gave them a beating, I doubt it would change their minds.
At this moment, Ai Mi took off her remaining boot and threw it on the ground.
“The boots are dirty, I don’t want it anymore! Peng TouSi bring me to the nearby mall to buy a new pair!”
After removing her boots, only black and white woolen socks remained on her feet.
When she put her feet together, the socks formed a smiling panda face.
It was childish, but a bit cute.
“Oh that’s right, manservant, accompany your master to buy a new pair of shoes! If you have good performance, I’ll buy you a new pair of sports shoes!”
Ai Mi must have noticed that my current pair of sports shoes was already worn out.
But compared to a pair of luxury shoes, I would rather have a pair that I’m used to. Whether it’s used for sports or for fighting.
Besides, lunch break was almost over, so I tactfully declined.
Ai Mi was not happy. She pulled on Peng TouSi’s ears as if it was a steering wheel and commanded him to go above ground.
“Fine, don’t go! I wasn’t planning on buying anything for you anyways, I wasn’t just lying!”
“Hmph, Peng TouSi let’s go! Let’s buy a golden suit of clothes for Obama!”
“But… if you change your mind and beg me, I might buy you a suit too…”
Screw that! Who wants to wear matching couples clothes with a dog! Also, where would you even find a mall that sells gold clothes for dogs? Are you going to custom order a suit? There’s a limit to squandering money! If you keep flaunting your money, you’ll eventually be kidnapped for ransom!
When I returned to the front of the school, I met the class leader who was walking towards the school gate. She was walking in a hurry with her head down and she didn’t notice me who was right in front of her.
“Hey, class is almost starting, where you headed in such a hurry?” I asked.
The class leader saw me and was slightly shocked, but she came to a stop.
“Not- nothing, I just remembered, I could do it some other time.”
Then after finishing her sentence, she turned around awkwardly and we walked side by side back to the school building.
But she still kept at least 50 cm of distance between us as if that satisfies the ‘100 rules of forbidden conduct between males and females’.
I thought the class leader would ask about the fight, whether I took care of the people who bullied her brother, but she didn’t say a word.
Other than looking me over for injuries, her face also displayed signs of self-blame and regret.
How strange, if you have something to say, just say it! Are you afraid I would ask for a reward?