Lin Fan was helpless, but there was nothing he could do. The money had already been donated. Could he really ask the school to give it back?
The only benefit, perhaps, was that although Lin Fan had taken a year off and gone away, he would not be expelled and could continue studying in his senior year.
That was what one million yuan could do.
When Lin Fan walked out of the principal’s office, a bitter smile hung on his face as he headed toward his classroom.
Senior Year Class Five. By the time Lin Fan walked through the classroom door, more than half the students were already there. Every one of them turned to look at him as though he were some kind of spectacle.
They began whispering among themselves.
“Why did Lin Fan suddenly come back?”
“Strange. Even if he took a year off, shouldn’t he have gone back to his junior year?”
The students whispered among themselves, but no one greeted Lin Fan.
Lin Fan saw Xu Dong sitting in the last row and walked straight over to him.
After sitting down, Xu Dong said with a broad smile, “You didn’t get expelled?”
“No.” Lin Fan shook his head.
Suddenly, someone standing at the classroom door called out, “Is Lin Fan here?”
Lin Fan frowned and looked toward the voice. It was Wang Zhengwei.
That guy had arrived pretty quickly.
Wang Zhengwei spotted Lin Fan sitting in the back at a glance and walked straight over. Xu Dong lowered his voice. “How do you know Wang Zhengwei?”
“We had a little disagreement, that’s all.”
A faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on Lin Fan’s face.
Quite a few girls in the class gazed at Wang Zhengwei with shining eyes. He was a famous rich second generation at school, generous with his money and not bad-looking either. He was the dream guy of who knew how many girls.
“Qingqing told me everything you said to her yesterday.” Wang Zhengwei’s smile was filled with boundless fury.
Lin Fan asked, “So you’re here to apologize?”
Wang Zhengwei could not hold back his laughter. He looked at Lin Fan as though he were looking at an idiot. “Lin Fan, get on your knees and kowtow as you apologize. Then I might consider forgiving you. Otherwise, did you really think I would let you off so easily for offending me yesterday?”
The classroom erupted. No one had expected Lin Fan, who had only just returned, to have offended Wang Zhengwei.
Wang Zhengwei was famous at school for more than just being a rich second generation. Once, someone had offended him, and he had arranged for that person to have both legs broken. In the end, thanks to his family’s connections, nothing happened to him. He merely paid out a little over a hundred thousand yuan.
His family had money and powerful connections. How could an ordinary person possibly stand up to him?
“Lin Fan’s in for it this time. He just came back and already picked a fight with Wang Zhengwei.”
“Of all people to provoke, he had to provoke Wang Zhengwei.”
“I’m afraid Lin Fan won’t be able to settle this so easily.”
The students around them began whispering. Xu Dong’s expression was ugly, but he still spoke up. “Brother Wei, we played basketball together once, remember? Lin Fan’s my best friend. I’ll bring him to apologize to you later. How about letting this go?”
“If he had come to apologize last night, I would have let it go. But today, unless he gets on his knees and kowtows, I won’t be able to swallow this anger,” Wang Zhengwei said.
Xu Dong frowned. “There are so many people here, Brother Wei. Do me a favor. How about we talk after school?”
“Do you a favor? Hahaha, who the hell do you think you are?” Wang Zhengwei could not help laughing.
As soon as he said that, Xu Dong’s face turned through shades of green and purple. He felt utterly humiliated.
Indeed, Xu Dong came from an ordinary family. He had only played basketball with Wang Zhengwei once.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” Lin Fan said slowly.
“Brother Fan.” Xu Dong’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly grabbed his best friend’s arm and lowered his voice. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Just apologize and be done with it.”
“What did you say?” Wang Zhengwei stared fixedly at Lin Fan.
The other students in the class looked over with interest.
Everyone had assumed Lin Fan would kneel and apologize. No one had expected him to be so stubborn.
“Did Lin Fan get his head crushed by a door while he was away this past year?”
“Someone offended Wang Zhengwei once, and then he was never seen again. All he did was accidentally bump into Wang Zhengwei while they were playing basketball.”
“This time, Lin Fan…”
Lin Fan said, “Apologize to my friend, and I’ll let go of the fact that you came looking for trouble.”
Xu Dong hurriedly grabbed Lin Fan’s hand. “Brother Fan, I know you value loyalty, but don’t lose your mind.”
The surrounding students were all delighted by the spectacle.
“He wants Wang Zhengwei to apologize to Xu Dong? What is Lin Fan thinking?”
“He really must have gone away and become an idiot.”
Wang Zhengwei slowly nodded. “Fine. We’ll see each other after school.”
With that, Wang Zhengwei turned and walked out.
Lin Fan sat down without the slightest concern, but Xu Dong was frantic. “Brother Fan, how can you not be worried at all? This is serious. That Wang Zhengwei is vicious when he beats people. He breaks people’s legs at the drop of a hat.”
Xu Dong grabbed his hair and looked at Lin Fan, who remained calm. “Say something, will you?”
“Oh.” Lin Fan was rather helpless himself. What was he supposed to say?
With everything he had learned, if he could not even deal with a student, how could he have climbed Mount Yuannan and trampled every genius of the younger generation of the Zhengyi Sect beneath his feet?
Throughout the entire day of classes, Xu Dong was clearly distracted. He kept whispering in Lin Fan’s ear. “Brother Fan, how about we call the police…”
“Brother Fan, how about we sneak out through the back door later?”
Xu Dong kept coming up with all sorts of plans. Looking at his best friend’s worried expression, Lin Fan felt amused, though more than that, he felt a touch of emotion.
If it had been anyone else, after getting into such a ‘huge’ mess, they would probably have hidden as far away as possible, just like the students around them.
They all treated him like a plague carrier. Not one of them would speak to him. Only Xu Dong kept trying to think of ways to help him.
“Enough, Dong. Why worry about it so much? It’ll be fine.” Lin Fan winked at Xu Dong, signaling him to relax.
“How can I relax?” Xu Dong clutched at his hair in distress.
Before long, the bell signaling the end of the school day rang. Everyone in the classroom looked toward Lin Fan. He calmly gathered the books on his desk, picked up his schoolbag, and said to Xu Dong, “Let’s go.”
Xu Dong nodded slightly. The moment the two of them stood up, Wang Zhengwei appeared at the classroom door.
More than a dozen fashionably dressed students followed behind him.
They all looked inside at Lin Fan and Xu Dong with hostile expressions.
“Brother Wei, this is the guy who got so bold he actually wants you to apologize.”
Wang Zhengwei had both hands in his pockets and wore an utterly confident expression, as though he could already see Lin Fan kneeling and begging for mercy.
“Brother Fan, what do we do?” Xu Dong asked anxiously from the side.
Lin Fan winked at him. “Relax!”