Magic City First Junior High School.
"Gu Fan, you've messed with the wrong person!"
As evening fell and school let out, a slightly chubby boy ran up from behind Gu Fan and draped an arm over his shoulder.
The boy named Gu Fan had a cold, handsome face and a refined appearance. Upon hearing this, he smirked, as if he were an untouchable ruler, and said, "The wrong person? There's no one in all of Magic City I, Gu Fan, shouldn't mess with!"
"Shh!"
The chubby boy was immediately startled. He looked around, then put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. "Look, those guys over there are here for you."
Following the chubby boy's gaze, Gu Fan glanced over. Not far away, outside a convenience store, stood a few men who looked like small-time hoodlums. Beside them was a crew-cut boy wearing the same school uniform as Gu Fan.
"Huang Li?"
Gu Fan furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes.
The chubby boy said, "You beat up Huang Li the other day, and I told you then that he's not someone to be trifled with. Look, he's brought so many people just to block you."
As he spoke, the chubby boy glanced around and pointed to a less conspicuous spot. "You hurry and leave from there. I'll distract them."
With that, the chubby boy put on a brave face, tightened the straps of his schoolbag, and strode toward the group of hoodlums.
"Yo, Huang Li."
At this, the group immediately turned around.
The boy named Huang Li, upon seeing him, instantly charged forward, grabbing the chubby boy by the collar. "Fatty, where's that Gu Fan kid?"
The chubby boy blinked. "Gu Fan went home."
"Went home?"
Huang Li gritted his teeth. "Isn't he so capable? He even said there's no one in Magic City who dares to touch him. Well, today I'm going to see if I can or not!"
"Where does he live? We'll go block him at his house!" Huang Li raged.
"His house?"
The chubby boy swallowed hard. "I... I don't know!"
"You're lying!"
Huang Li's gaze was sharp. "You're his best friend in class. How could you not know where he lives? Spit it out!"
"But... but I really don't know!"
The chubby boy hadn't expected things to escalate like this. Being just middle school students, he hadn't thought Huang Li would dare to go to Gu Fan's house to block him. Moreover, he truly didn't know where Gu Fan lived.
"Kid, so you're not going to talk, huh?"
At that moment, a few of the hoodlums behind Huang Li stepped forward, looking down at the chubby boy with cold indifference.
The chubby boy swallowed hard. "Brothers, I really don't know!"
Slap!
In an instant, a bald thug slapped the chubby boy across the face, pointing at him. "If you don't tell us, then we won't look for Gu Fan today. We'll look for you!"
"Are you going to talk or not?"
The bald man raised his hand to slap again, and the chubby boy, terrified, took a few steps back. "Brothers, I really don't know. I might be good friends with Gu Fan, but I've never been to his house."
"You little bastard!"
The bald man was furious and raised his hand to slap the chubby boy again.
"Are you looking for me?"
But just then, a calm and composed voice came from behind the chubby boy.
Everyone immediately turned to look.
"Gu Fan!"
Upon seeing Gu Fan, Huang Li clenched his jaw. He pointed at Gu Fan and said to the thugs, "Brothers, it's this kid!"
"Any problems, come at me. It has nothing to do with Fatty." Gu Fan said gravely.
In an instant, the group surrounded Gu Fan, each with a mocking expression on their face.
"Oh, have you been reading too many martial arts novels? Trying to act out some brotherly love for us?"
"Gu Fan, you little punk, you actually dared to beat up my brother. You must think you're pretty tough, huh? Heard you even boasted that there's no one in Magic City you can't afford to offend. Did you grow up eating shit or something, with that big of a mouth?"
Gu Fan ignored the thugs' crude taunts and turned to look at Huang Li, who was swaggering beside him, pretending to be tough.
"Huang Li, this is between you and me. If you want to bring in outsiders, don't blame me."
"Ha."
Huang Li scoffed and stepped forward. "Who are you trying to scare? You think you can call someone? No matter who you call, you're still going to get your ass kicked today!"
At the school gate, many onlookers had stopped to watch, glancing toward Huang Li and Gu Fan.
But due to the presence of the bald thugs, no one dared to step forward to see what was going on.
"Wow, you don't know, the latest shoujo anime is so good. I watched all night last night, binged two new series!"
"That's why you're so tired today?"
At that moment, two girls walked out of the school gate.
One of them was incredibly sweet-looking, her face still bearing a touch of childishness, but her eyes already hinted at the great beauty she would one day become.
As they talked, they walked out of the school gate. But at that moment, the other girl noticed what was happening outside the convenience store and pointed toward it, saying, "Gu Xin, isn't that your brother?"
The girl named Gu Xin followed the pointing direction and, upon seeing Gu Fan's figure, rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Why should I care? Let's just go."
"But he... seems to be in danger?" The other girl looked worried and a little panicked.
Gu Xin, seeing her reaction, frowned in dissatisfaction. "Come on, he's my brother. If I'm not worried, why should you be?"
As she spoke, Gu Xin's expression suddenly turned sly. "Could it be that you... like my brother?"
The girl immediately blushed and shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no! Don't say that!"
"No way, right? His temper is so bad, his habits are terrible, and you like him?" Gu Xin was incredulous.
"No, no, stop talking about it!"
The girl was embarrassed and quickly pulled Gu Xin away.
...
"Have you really thought this through? If you leave now, it's not too late."
Gu Fan held his phone and looked at Huang Li and the others in front of him. His expression seemed to say, "This is your last chance."
However, Huang Li and the others completely ignored Gu Fan's warning. They mocked, "Come on, go ahead and make that call! We're waiting!"
"Acting tough, huh? You really think you can scare us?"
"Heh."
Seeing this, Gu Fan shook his head and smiled. He pressed the dial button.
Soon, the call was picked up.
"Hello, Uncle Ma. I'm currently being blocked by a few thugs at the school gate. Can you come pick me up?"
At this, the bald men burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, thought you were calling some big shot. Turns out you're calling your uncle?"
"I thought you were calling for backup, but you're just asking someone to pick you up?"
"That's perfect. When your uncle gets here, we'll just ask him how to handle this whole thing with Huang Li!"
After hanging up, Gu Fan shrugged. "Alright, then let's all wait together."