Orange Storm chapter 10
Waist
Alright, now I know where these people are from.
With a swift glance, Fang Xing observed the surroundings. Three people, no one passing by, a few broken bricks in the corner. Beyond this alley was the road opposite the school, three minutes.
“Do you know him?” The man in front spoke while shaking his leg, making Fang Xing uncomfortable. He tried not to look at the trembling leg, lifted his head, and met the man’s gaze without any deviation.
In doing so, the man with the golden necklace was momentarily stunned, threw the cigarette on the ground, and crushed it with his foot.
“Pretty arrogant.”
It’s not arrogance; it’s just that I don’t want to watch you shake like you’ve got Parkinson’s.
But to avoid appearing more arrogant, Fang Xing chose to remain silent.
“A while ago, he had a fight with my brothers here. One of my brothers got seriously injured. Do you know about this?”
The golden necklace guy finally stopped shaking his leg and stepped towards Fang Xing, shaking his wrists a few times. “Since you know Jiang Zhijin—Damn it!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Fang Xing punched him in the face, ending the unfinished words.
Fang Xing’s punch was heavy, hitting the golden necklace guy’s nose directly. The man staggered back a few steps, and when he looked up again, blood was already flowing from his nose.
The other two probably also looked dumbfounded until the golden necklace guy, covering his nose, cursed in a foul language, “What are you fucking looking at? Get him!”
The two immediately rushed towards Fang Xing.
Fang Xing didn’t pay any attention to the other two. He charged towards the golden necklace guy, kicked him in the stomach, and sent him sprawling on the ground. The other two then attacked Fang Xing, landing a few punches. Fang Xing staggered but didn’t turn back. He took a few steps forward and dragged the golden necklace guy up.
The golden necklace guy wasn’t a pushover either. He elbowed Fang Xing hard on the side of his waist, then kicked his leg. Fang Xing gasped for breath, the intense pain making him instinctively bend over. In the next second, he straightened up, ramming his head into the golden necklace guy’s chin. With another kick, he pushed the man away.
The guy fell to the ground, blood oozing from his mouth. Perhaps the hit just now had caused him to bite his tongue or teeth.
His whole face was covered in blood, lying on the ground without moving. This sight made the other two hesitate. They stood still for a moment, not daring to make a move.
The golden necklace guy was their leader. Usually, they followed him, playing cards and drinking. They enjoyed a bit of glory when intimidating others, but they had never faced someone so ruthless before, especially seeing their leader beaten like this for the first time.
In this moment of hesitation, Fang Xing, without looking back, strode out of the alley.
He walked very fast, feeling like he was creating a gust of wind. The three-minute journey was compressed into one minute. When he turned the last corner, he almost bumped into someone.
For a moment, he thought it was the brothers brought by those three, and he was almost instinctively ready to fight. However, upon seeing the familiar school uniform and black-framed glasses, he realized it was Tan Zhuo.
Tan Zhuo seemed to have been there for a while. When Fang Xing almost bumped into him, he was startled and took two steps back, looking at Fang Xing with panic.
Fang Xing didn’t pay attention to him, walked past him, and stepped onto the street.
Next to it was the school, and people were coming and going on the road. Fang Xing entered the gate and stood still for a moment.
It hurts, a lot.
The punches from the two men behind him were on his back, but it wasn’t a big deal. However, the elbow strike from the golden necklace guy hit his waist, and the intense pain caused Fang Xing to break out in a cold sweat.
The pain continued until he entered the classroom and slumped onto his seat. The class was still lively, with students chatting, discussing topics, and borrowing homework. Xu Hang was next to him, urgently asking for English homework, his voice loud enough to be heard from five miles away.
But these sounds in Fang Xing’s ears seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, like frosted glass, making everything unclear.
It wasn’t until Xu Hang found no way to borrow homework, approached Fang Xing, and asked, “Desk mate, did you finish the English homework?” that Fang Xing finally straightened up and took out all the homework from his bag, handing it to Xu Hang.
“Here.”
“…Damn, underestimated. My desk mate is actually a hidden academic genius—”
Xu Hang took the homework halfway through saying it, and when he saw Fang Xing, who was sweating, he was stunned again.
“Is it too hot? Are you okay?”
Fang Xing coughed, feeling a bit of a salty taste in his mouth.
“I’m fine—can you get me a cup of water? It’s hot.”
“Sure, why not.” Xu Hang immediately stood up.
During the time Xu Hang went to get hot water, Fang Xing took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Zhijin.
“Where are you?”
Jiang Zhijin replied instantly: “At the bar. It’s a bit crowded today, what’s up?”
Fang Xing breathed a sigh of relief, one hand covering his waist, the other typing quickly.
“When you come to pick me up tonight, don’t walk, drive. When you arrive, don’t get out of the car. Wait for me inside the car.”
This time, it took a while before Jiang Zhijin’s messages came in succession.
“What happened? Can you answer the phone?”
Fang Xing replied: “I’m in the classroom, can’t answer.”
Jiang Zhijin responded: “Take a photo for me.”
… Why is he so thorough? Fang Xing raised his phone and casually took a picture of the scene in the classroom, sending it to Jiang Zhijin.
“I’m really in the classroom, two minutes till class starts.”
At this moment, Xu Hang had just returned. He didn’t know where he got a paper cup, filled it with half a cup of water, and handed it to Fang Xing. Fang Xing took small sips and finally felt a bit more comfortable, and the pain was not so obvious.
Jiang Zhijin replied, “Okay, wait in the school after class. I’ll call you when I’m ready to leave.”
Seeing this message, Fang Xing understood that Jiang Zhijin probably guessed something. The stone in his heart finally dropped, and he turned off his phone.
Indeed, Jiang Zhijin had guessed that Fang Xing had encountered some trouble, although he didn’t know exactly what it was. It seemed to be serious, and it was related to him—otherwise, the other party wouldn’t have sent a message to remind him.
Putting down his phone, Jiang Zhijin picked up the coat placed aside. Gu Xun had just finished delivering the wine and noticed, “What’s up? Going out again? There are still many customers.”
“I have something.” Jiang Zhijin put on his coat. “Going to pick up Fang Xing after school.”
“…Are you okay?” Gu Xun took out his phone, looked at the time, and shook it in front of Jiang Zhijin’s eyes. “Now it’s 8:00. The cool little guy finishes school at 9, right?”
“He might have encountered some trouble, so I’m going to wait for him now. I’m worried that something might happen.”
Gu Xun also became serious. “What happened? Is he okay?”
Jiang Zhijin had already walked out. He answered, “Nothing. He’s in the classroom. I’ll go wait for him outside the school.”
After enduring another evening of self-study, the pain in Fang Xing’s waist and abdomen finally eased a bit. He gently pressed on it. There were no bones there, so it shouldn’t be a fracture. The internal organs probably weren’t significantly damaged—otherwise, he should have been sent to the emergency room by now.
He breathed a sigh of relief, took a short break by resting on the desk during the break, and even did a set of comprehensive mock exams for the evening self-study to distract himself from the continuous pain.
When the school bell rang for the end of the self study, Fang Xing picked up his backpack and headed out of the school.
Jiang Zhijin had probably already arrived. Although those three people might not be waiting outside the school for three hours, he was still a bit worried that Jiang Zhijin might run into them.
After all, Jiang Zhijin’s hand had just had its stitches removed over the weekend, and a few more hits might be more severe than the last time.
After leaving the school gate, seeing the white SUV parked not far from the roadside, Fang Xing breathed a slight sigh of relief and walked towards it.
The next moment, the door on the driver’s side also opened, and Jiang Zhijin got out of the car, striding towards him.
Before he reached him, Fang Xing spoke first, “Didn’t I tell you to wait in the car?”
Jiang Zhijin asked, “What happened?”
“Get in the car first.” Fang Xing hesitated for a moment. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
The air conditioning in the car was working well, blowing cold air. Fang Xing fastened his seatbelt, sniffed the smell inside the car, and then wrinkled his brow.
“You smoked in the car.”
“…You have a dog’s nose.” Jiang Zhijin glanced at him, “I just smoked two, and I opened the window and turned on the air conditioning for half an hour. You can still smell that?”
Smoked two, opened the window, and turned on the air conditioning for half an hour.
Fang Xing repeated it in his mind, suddenly asking, “When did you get here?”
“Tell me what happened to you first.” Jiang Zhijin stared at him and then asked, “Were you attacked?”
“Yeah.” Fang Xing answered.
“It should be the same group as the ones you encountered when I first came to Shaojiang. They probably saw you picking me up after school and blocked the alley—”
Fang Xing paused and found it somewhat funny. “It’s the alley where you had the fight.”
Jiang Zhijin didn’t laugh, staring at him, “Then what? Did they beat you?”
“I beat them.”
Seeing Jiang Zhijin silent, Fang Xing sighed, “Really, I’ve studied boxing for four or five years, from junior high school to high school—stopped after the end of the second year of high school. My mom said it affected my studies.”
He thought for a moment and added, “But it’s okay. It just looks like I fought quite hard. They all have minor injuries, and won’t cause any more trouble.”
Jiang Zhijin didn’t speak for a long time, nor did he start the car. He just stared at Fang Xing for a while before slowly speaking, “Alright, Fang Xing, hidden talent.”
There was a faint hint of a smile in his tone.
Fang Xing didn’t know how to respond for a moment and instinctively replied, “It’s okay.”
“Injured?”
“…Waist.” Fang Xing chose to tell the truth. “It hurts a bit.”
Jiang Zhijin’s smile faded a bit, “What hit you?”
“…A hand,” Fang Xing looked at Jiang Zhijin, “Don’t worry.”
“Let me see.”
“…What?”
Late at night, at the school gate, with a bunch of parents waiting to pick up their children, and a group of other students walking home, Jiang Zhijin asked Fang Xing to show him his waist.
The interior lights of the car were warm yellow, casting a light on the two people. Fang Xing looked at Jiang Zhijin, feeling a bit shocked and speechless.
He didn’t know what to say and finally said, “Let’s go home and i’ll show you.”
Jiang Zhijin frowned, unusually swearing a bit in front of Fang Xing, “Go home my ass, let’s see if we need to go to the hospital first.”