He was taken down yet again!
Song Xingqiu remained completely unaware of the emotional turmoil inside Wu Hongzhou.
Meanwhile, the group led by Song Wenyue, lying in ambush in his dormitory, had moved on to a new topic. Having finished laughing, it was now time to complain.
As the saying goes: “The first roll of drums inspires the soldiers, the second flags their spirits, and the third exhausts them.” Nearly an hour and a half of dry waiting had long since drained the excitement and thrill they felt when they first went into hiding. In the empty living room, all that remained was the irritation and anxiety caused by Song Xingqiu’s delayed return.
“It is almost seven o’clock. Even if Song Xingqiu were a pig, he should have finished eating and come back by now, right?” Xue Chengyi moved from behind the sofa onto the cushions, completely giving up on concealment. He slumped there, his voice muffled.
“If I had known it would take this long, I would have eaten first. I am starving to death,” Jiang Xing wailed, rubbing his growling stomach.
The two sighed in unison.
Song Wenyue could not stand it and gave each of them a punch. “Enough. Once the business is done, you can eat whatever you want. Missing one meal will not kill you.”
These words were spoken with the flair of an overbearing CEO, but unfortunately, just as he finished, his own stomach betrayed him with a loud growl. The three looked at each other as an awkward silence filled the air. Song Wenyue’s face flushed red with embarrassment and anger.
Xue Chengyi studied the floor while Jiang Xing turned to admire the night view outside; neither dared to make a sound, their expressions carefully neutral.
Wu Hongzhou watched through the surveillance, thinking, “I wonder if I ever looked that pathetic.”
How had he never noticed before how embarrassing these three were? He felt second-hand embarrassment for them. From a God’s eye view, they looked incredibly foolish.
Wu Hongzhou stole a glance at Song Xingqiu, fearing his new employer might think he used to behave the same way. To his surprise, he saw a light smile flicker across Song Xingqiu’s face, though the words he spoke were utterly wicked: “Tell me, what would happen if I actually stayed out tonight and let them wait in the dorm for the entire night?”
Wu Hongzhou had originally thought Song Xingqiu was stable, mature, and much kinder than Song Wenyue’s group. Now, he realized Song Xingqiu’s malice operated on a different level. Song Wenyue enjoyed bullying the weak, but Song Xingqiu had no interest in the weak; he loved watching the strong break down.
Of course, whether Song Wenyue counted as “strong” was now a question mark.
Knowing full well that Song Wenyue was the villain hiding in someone else’s room to stage an ambush, Wu Hongzhou could not help but pity him for a second. Poor Song Wenyue was being played like a fiddle in the palm of Song Xingqiu’s hand.
“Forget it, let us not do that,” Song Xingqiu dismissed the idea before Wu Hongzhou could answer.
Wu Hongzhou thought he had found his conscience, until Song Xingqiu’s next sentence: “If he waits all night and does not find me, he might be too scared to ambush the dorm again. That would be a problem. Who knows what more insidious tricks he would come up with next time? It is easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. It is better to settle this thoroughly this time.”
Wu Hongzhou nodded in agreement. That made sense.
Song Xingqiu suddenly remembered something and mentioned it casually: “I wonder when my roommate will be back.”
He imagined the scene and gave a playful smile. “If Song Wenyue misses me but catches him instead, that would be quite a spectacle.”
Wu Hongzhou imagined it too, and the corner of his mouth twitched. That would be incredible; the F4 would probably disintegrate on the spot.
Then, Song Xingqiu gave a soft laugh, his tone meaningful. “However, that is impossible.”
Wu Hongzhou agreed. “Jiang Baixie is not due back until tomorrow at the earliest. It is impossible for them to run into each other today.”
Song Xingqiu remained noncommittal. He looked down at his phone screen as it suddenly lit up, and a faint smile touched his lips.
“Alright,” he said, putting his phone away with a composed tone. “It is time to return to the dormitory.”
Wu Hongzhou truly could not imagine how Song Xingqiu, being all alone, planned to safely break through an ambush of three people.
Ten minutes later, he had his answer.
18:43.
Xue Chengyi turned his phone brightness to the lowest setting, the faint white light reflecting on his weary face.
“It is almost seven o’clock,” he said, his voice drained of energy. It was truly too boring.
Jiang Xing could not help but yawn, tears prickling his eyes. “Do you think he really is not coming back tonight? It is impossible for him to still be soaking in the library with that scholarship student at this hour, right?”
Song Wenyue looked at a message on his phone. “The scholarship student has already returned to his dorm.”
The “scholarship student” they referred to was Shen Qianyan. Given Song Wenyue’s status in the academy, he naturally had countless eyes reporting Shen Qianyan’s every move.
Jiang Xing scratched his hair in frustration, wanting to run a few laps just to vent. “Then he definitely is not on campus!”
Waiting is not scary; what is scary is waiting with no end in sight. Jiang Xing started to lose heart. “How about we go back and come again next time?”
“Idiot!” Song Wenyue snapped, unable to take it anymore. He slapped the back of Jiang Xing’s head. “Do you think there will be a next time? Do you not remember how we got the key?”
Jiang Xing had a sudden realization. Right, they had stolen the key.
Given Jiang Baixie’s rigid and upright personality, he would never have handed over the dormitory key for them to cause trouble. As the Student Council President, Jiang Baixie had gone to the Federation for a two-week exchange and temporarily left his key with Qin Xiushi. Song Wenyue had accidentally discovered that Jiang Baixie and Song Xingqiu shared a room and managed to find out the key was in Qin Xiushi’s possession.
Asking for it directly would never have worked. Qin Xiushi was immune to both soft and hard tactics; he would only say, “The key belongs to Jiang Baixie, I cannot give it to anyone else.”
Song Wenyue knew his two friends’ temperaments all too well. He did not even bother negotiating; he simply went to find Qin Xiushi under the guise of hanging out and swiped the key.
Jiang Baixie would not have a second exchange this year. Even if he did, after this incident, there was no way they could get their hands on it again. So, this was their only chance.
Realizing the situation, Jiang Xing’s entire face scrunched up. “So, we absolutely have to wait for Song Xingqiu tonight? What if he really does not come back?”
Irritated by the incessant questions, Song Wenyue kicked him. “If he does not come, we keep waiting! Stop with the nonsense! Can he stay away for his entire life?”
Jiang Xing felt desperate and wronged. “But how long do we wait? What if I need to use the bathroom? I think I really need to go.”
Song Wenyue turned and looked at him coldly. That icy stare was more effective than a fist. Jiang Xing shut up instantly. Because they had recently been beaten by Song Xingqiu together and Wu Hongzhou had betrayed them, he and Song Wenyue had grown closer, making him almost forget he was just a follower with no rights.
Xue Chengyi was much smarter; he sat to the side playing on his phone, making sure not to draw any fire.
Just then, messy footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Xue Chengyi quickly turned off his screen. The three jumped up, shook off their drowsiness, and hid behind the door again, staring intently at the entrance that was about to open.
“Is the sack ready?” Song Wenyue whispered, his voice suppressed with excitement.
The moment of revenge was finally here! At the thought of stepping on Song Xingqiu and crushing him, his body trembled slightly with anticipation. For this moment, he had waited too long. He had suffered for a whole week! He could finally return the humiliation he had endured to Song Xingqiu with interest.
Damn it, after tonight, let us see if this guy still dares to be arrogant!
Jiang Xing was also excited. “I have it!”
He was experienced in fighting, but this was the first time he had tried to throw a sack over someone in the dark. He felt around the opening of the bag, and suddenly his face changed. He hurriedly flipped the sack over.
Song Wenyue heard the rustling and suppressed his impatience. “What are you doing now?” Why was it Wu Hongzhou who defected and not Jiang Xing? He was left with nothing but useless trash.
Jiang Xing’s voice was weak. “I think I had the sack upside down. The opening was at the bottom.”
Song Wenyue took a deep breath. If the situation were not so urgent, he would have pressed this idiot to the floor and beaten him first. How had he never noticed Jiang Xing lacked a few brain cells?
Amidst the chaos, Jiang Xing finally got the sack positioned correctly. The footsteps in the hallway grew closer.
Jiang Xing noticed something unusual. “Why does it sound like more than one person?”
Xue Chengyi immediately said, “Wu Hongzhou must have come too.”
Song Wenyue sneered. “Good. I have been wanting to settle the score with him. Does he think betraying me will be easily forgiven?”
Before he could finish, the three went completely silent. The footsteps stopped right at the door. They had arrived!
The faint sound of the lock turning was exceptionally clear in the silence. The adrenaline of the three spiked instantly. He was here! Song Xingqiu was finally here!
“Click.” The lock snapped open.
With a creak, the dormitory door was slowly pushed open, and a long, narrow shadow from the hallway light slanted into the room.
Now!
Jiang Xing, holding the sack, could not wait any longer and rushed out.
Song Wenyue cursed in his heart: “This idiot, who throws a sack like that? You should pull the person in first before starting! What if he makes noise in the hallway?”
However, he soon had no time to think about that. Jiang Xing, who was at the front, had just raised the sack when he was hit square in the chest by a heavy kick. He flew backward and crashed heavily onto the floor.
Song Wenyue and Xue Chengyi reacted instantly, lunging forward together to seize the target. Since the sneak attack failed, they would use their numerical advantage to force a capture!
After the last lesson, they had expected Song Xingqiu would not be so easy to catch. No matter; there were three of them. Jiang Xing had been sacrificed to draw fire, leaving the remaining two to seize Song Xingqiu in the confusion!
As they each grabbed an arm, a sinister grin appeared on Song Wenyue’s face. “Hahaha, Song Xingqiu, you… wait!”
His expression changed abruptly.
He remembered clearly that although Song Xingqiu could fight, his build was lean and slender. Even with low body fat and muscle, the skeletal frame would not change. But the arm he was holding now was as thick as a thigh! It was solid muscle.
The height was even more wrong. Song Xingqiu was at most 1.8 meters tall, slightly shorter than him. But the person he was holding now was so tall that Song Wenyue was almost lifted off his feet. This person had to be nearly two meters tall!
Jiang Baixie? No, Jiang Baixie did not look like this either!
Song Wenyue looked up, wanting to use the hallway light to see exactly what kind of monster he had caught. The next second, he felt a sudden tightness around his waist as a pair of massive arms pulled him in tight.
What?
Before Song Wenyue could figure out what was happening, the world spun before his eyes. The scene from a few days ago repeated itself.
He was taken down yet again!