DMMY Chapter 2: Provocation

Sheng Yan was unaware that he had been labeled with the shameful accusation of “seducing law enforcement officers with words.” He simply looked at the slender figure under the streetlight and thought to himself, “This guy has no shame.”

Apart from the group of girls at school who valued appearance as righteousness and had a somewhat extreme aesthetic sense, who cared about him?

But why was he here?

It seemed like he knew he was skipping class.

And he managed to position himself so precisely.

Sheng Yan glanced at his two not-so-bright friends inside the wall.

Zhu Peng and Gou You inside the wall quickly shook their heads, indicating that they were not the mole.

These two didn’t have the guts.

Sheng Yan retracted his gaze and gracefully leaped down from the wall.

He landed a bit closer to Qin Zigui than he had expected, almost right in front of him. Then, right in front of Qin Zigui, he bent down, picked up his backpack, turned around, and left without even sparing an extra glance.

The provocation and disdain were palpable.

Qin Zigui seemed accustomed to his attitude, showing no change in expression as he continued to write, “Sheng Yan, Class 6 of Grade 11, skipped class without reason, climbed over the wall to leave the school premises, deducted five points from conduct.”

Sheng Yan never cared about conduct points, so he didn’t pay any attention, still not looking back.

Qin Zigui didn’t stop him either. He calmly turned a page and continued, “Zhu Peng and Gou You of Class 6 of Grade 11, skipped class without reason, climbed over the wall to leave the school premises, brought a cellphone to evening self-study…”

Sheng Yan, who had initially not looked back, instantly stopped in his tracks.

He turned back to Qin Zigui. “What do you mean by this?”

Qin Zigui: “Nothing in particular.”

Sheng Yan, unimpressed: “It’s my business if I climb over the wall; it has nothing to do with those two.”

Qin Zigui didn’t deny it. “If you return the same way you came, then indeed it has nothing to do with them.”

Sheng Yan: “…”

A threat.

A blatant threat.

He didn’t mind casually breaking the school rules himself, but Zhu Peng and Gou You would inevitably get scolded by their families because he had implicated his good friends. Sheng Yan couldn’t do that.

But to expect him to yield to Qin Zigui? He couldn’t do that either.

Sheng Yan couldn’t make a decision for a while. He also felt that he couldn’t lose his momentum. So, he glared at Qin Zigui fiercely, trying to intimidate him.

Yeah, he’s terrified.

As scary as a three-month-old leopard cub.

Qin Zigui admired him with a glance, then casually lowered his gaze. “The duty records will be sent to the office tomorrow morning. You can handle it yourselves.”

Once the duty records were sent to the office, they would become part of the students’ files, used as a reference for some universities’ independent enrollment. It wasn’t as simple as just losing conduct points and getting scolded a few times.

On the other side of the wall, Zhu Peng and Gou You heard this and immediately started pounding on the wall.

“Yan Ge! Stay calm! Don’t act recklessly! Consider the lives of our brothers!”

“Yeah! Yan Ge! Beating up those idiots is nothing new. Calm down and come back first. Let’s discuss it later!”

“I’m already lying on the ground, I promise your noble feet won’t touch a speck of dirt!”

“If your hands hurt from climbing over the wall, I offer my exclusive Gou family massage therapy!”

“Come back! Yan Ge!”

“Ge!!!”

Sheng Yan, who had initially planned to have a good fight with Qin Zigui, listened to their cries and sighed, “…”

Has he lost all backbone?

But even if he lost his backbone, these were still his brothers. Apart from accepting it, what else could he do?

But he couldn’t lose face.

Sheng Yan lifted his chin, raised his eyebrows menacingly at Qin Zigui, and attempted to make him feel intimidated.

Then Qin Zigui, who happened to be about seven or eight centimeters taller than him, looked at him with cold eyes when their gazes met, naturally exuding a sense of oppression.

Despite feeling dissatisfied, Sheng Yan discreetly raised his heels a bit, lifted his head, and puffed out his chest, trying to exude more confidence.

Their eyes met squarely, and a confrontation was about to begin.

Then Qin Zigui calmly spoke up, “Hmm, you’re the boss.”

Sheng Yan snorted coldly. “Waste… hmm?”

“You’re the boss, so go back.”

Qin Zigui closed his notebook, hands in his pockets, and looked at Sheng Yan with an emotionless expression.

Sheng Yan: “…”

How humiliating.

This feeling was like having an argument with your girlfriend. She was all ready to seriously argue her points, but the boyfriend casually responded with “you’re right” and shut down all further discussion. The attitude was visibly indifferent and perfunctory.

But from a verbal standpoint, it seemed like he was conceding. If he continued to argue, he would appear particularly ungrateful and unreasonable, so he could only forcibly suppress his feelings.

Sheng Yan was close to bursting.

Qin Zigui glanced at him appreciatively, then casually walked away from the streetlight, as if pondering something.

And for a while after, he tore off the last page he had written, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can, then walked leisurely in the opposite direction of the school gate.

—

Sheng Yan’s mood was visibly sour when he returned inside the wall.

Pressing his lips together, with cold eyes and without saying a word, he quickly walked back to the classroom, then pulled a chair, sat down, leaned back against the backrest, crossed his long legs, and remained silent for a while. “Gou You.”

The two words were icy.

Startled by the coldness, Gou You shivered. “W-What’s wrong, Yan Ge?”

“Bring it.”

Sheng Yan leaned against the chair back, not turning his head, just raised his left hand and gestured in front of Gou You, beckoning twice with his fingers.

Gou You was slightly puzzled. “What?”

Sheng Yan, expressionless: “The book about the student union president turning into a young master at a nightclub.”

Gou You: “…”

It seemed they had finally reached this point.

He respectfully placed the thick yellow-covered book into Sheng Yan’s palm, “The writing is terrible, there’s no logic, but it’s particularly captivating.”

Whether it’s captivating or not doesn’t matter; what’s important is that the fate of the Student Union President is miserable enough.

Sheng Yan’s face slumped as he took the book and began flipping through it.

Indeed, as Gou You had said, the writing was terrible, with no logic.

In the early stages, the protagonist, a poor student, was particularly miserable, bullied by the cunning, sinister, and ruthless Student Union President.

The more Sheng Yan read, the angrier he became. Just as he was about to see the protagonist pick up the wish system and start turning his life around, someone suddenly called out from behind, “Sheng Yan.”

Turning around, Sheng Yan saw Chen Yu Bai, the class vice president and current head of the Student Union’s Discipline Department.

Chen Yu Bai handed him a bag, saying, “This is for you.”

Opening the bag, he found a bottle of iodine, a bag of cotton swabs, and a box of hemostatic medicine.

Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow, “Who gave these to me?”

Chen Yu Bai leaned against the door frame, “Consider it a token of the Student Union’s care for you.”

Since when did the Student Union have this kind of service?

Doubtful, Sheng Yan was about to ask when he caught sight of the piece of cardboard Chen Yu Bai was holding in his other hand, with four red characters on the cover: Duty Record.

He raised his eyebrows, “Why do you have this?”

Chen Yu Bai glanced in the direction of his gaze and lifted the book, “This? It’s been with me all along.”

Sheng Yan: “?”

Wasn’t it just with Qin Zigui?

“After Qin Zigui finished checking your class’s evening self-study, he gave it to me. I helped him with the remaining duties, so it’s been with me all along. What’s the matter? Any questions?”

Chen Yu Bai didn’t understand why Sheng Yan suddenly asked this, but he noticed that the expressions of the trio by the back door suddenly became subtle.

Sheng Yan steadied himself and asked, “How many duty records like this do you have?”

Chen Yu Bai didn’t think much about it, “Just one, and it’ll be handed over to the Academic Affairs Office soon.”

Sheng Yan: “…”

So, what exactly was the thing Qin Zigui, that sneaky dog, was doing behind the wall for half a day?

And he even said he would hand over the duty record to the Academic Affairs Office tomorrow?!

Was he trying to deceive him with a fake duty record?!

Was he playing him for a fool?!

Sheng Yan slammed the table, stood up directly, and walked out.

Chen Yu Bai asked, “Where are you going?”

“To Class One, to find Qin Zigui.”

Without looking back, Sheng Yan left.

Leaning against the door frame, Chen Yu Bai casually threw out, “He’s not at school.”

Sheng Yan turned back, “?”

Chen Yu Bai explained, “He’s attending an information competition training class, so the principal issued him a leave slip, saying he doesn’t need to attend evening self-study and can go out freely.”

Sheng Yan: “??”

Weasel is their teaching director. Because his real name is Huang Shuliang, and he calls them little chickens every day, he is nicknamed Weasel. He was very strict about discipline, especially every time he saw Sheng Yan, his head would start smoking automatically, entering anger mode.

Yet he indulged Qin Zigui to no end.

And Qin Zigui, this old cunning fox, actually took advantage of Huang Shu Liang’s favoritism, threatening and deceiving him, forbidding him from skipping evening self-study outside the school, but happily holding a leave slip to wander around?

He’s really cunning, sly, and insidious!

Sheng Yan was getting furious. He grabbed a palette knife from the table and rushed out.

Terrified, Gou You quickly grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back, “Calm down, Yan Ge, let’s stay calm. Killing someone won’t solve any problems. Think about it, tomorrow is your birthday, and the summer vacation is coming in half a month. Let’s endure it for the sake of a wonderful seventeen and a beautiful summer vacation!”

Yes, endure it.

Sheng Yan took a deep breath while gripping the palette knife.

Now is not the time to lose it. If Qin Zigui catches him and snitches on him, and Mrs. Xu sends him to seven or eight extra tutoring classes, life will become unbearable.

So, endure it until the summer vacation, late at night, when the moon is dark and the wind is high, as a lone man, he will slit the dog’s throat, ending his miserable life.

Thinking of this, Sheng Yan seemed to calm down, sat back down, and calmly opened the yellow novel in front of him, telling himself that backing down means a broad sea and sky, enduring for a moment means calm waters.

Chen Yu Bai raised his eyebrows, seeming to understand something, then slowly left the back door of Class Six.

The classroom returned to silence, with only the sound of flipping pages.

One page, two pages, three pages…

Thirty-four pages, thirty-five pages, thirty-six pages…

Damn, can’t endure it anymore!

If he doesn’t settle the score with Qin Zigui today, he won’t be able to swallow this anger!!!

Taking a step back, the more he thought about it, the more he felt at a loss, enduring for a moment only made him more angry. By the end, he stuffed everything on the table into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and stormed out of the classroom.

Gou You and Zhu Peng didn’t even have time to stop him, they just watched as he quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

With his tall stature and long legs, he walked very quickly, skillfully climbing over the wall, crossing a shady street, and heading straight into a high-end residential area.

Sheng Yan had been pampered since childhood and lacked self-care abilities. Mrs. Xu was very worried, so she left the old mansion across the river idle and bought a large duplex in the most expensive building next to the school for him to commute to, making it convenient for her to take care of him nearby.

Qin Zigui’s mother died early, and he grew up with his aunt and uncle. His aunt and Sheng Yan’s mother were close, so he and Sheng Yan have always been in the same school. That’s why they moved in together.

One elevator, two households, facing each other’s doors. If you knocked down the load-bearing wall, there would be no difference from living with family.

Sheng Yan used to think it was convenient.

Then he found it annoying.

And now he feels it’s more convenient again.

For example, he can come home early in situations like this, block Qin Zigui here, and not let him escape.

Anyway, if he doesn’t find out why Qin Zigui knew he was going to skip class, why he knew when and where he was going to skip class, and why he insisted on confronting him outside of school, threatening him, and even deceiving him into not skipping class, he will flip the situation around!

Standing in the elevator, Sheng Yan became more and more irritated. The more he thought about it, the more he felt he couldn’t lose in this standoff today.

So, as he faced the brightly reflective elevator doors, he adjusted his hair and appearance, lifted his chin, narrowed his eyes, tried different angles, attempting to find the most menacing expression.

He tilted his left cheek by twenty degrees, lifted his chin by thirty degrees, raised the corners of his eyebrows, lightly pulled his lips, half-smiling, half-sneering, with a hint of coldness and mockery in his eyes, and pretended there was a tie around his collar, loosening it slightly. Then, he sneered, “Heh, men…”

And then, with a “ding,” the elevator doors opened.

Outside stood Qin Zigui, hands in his pockets, eyebrows slightly raised.

The two locked eyes, and after five seconds, the elevator doors slowly closed again.

Sheng Yan, frozen in place with his chin raised, said, “…”

Can killing Qin Zigui be considered self-defense?