Chapter Thirty-One: A Satisfying Fight

Li Mu understood that since this fight in his previous life ended with a classmate stabbed and hospitalized, it meant that once these drunken youths behind him lost control, he wouldn’t be able to hold them back. Besides, he had no intention of stopping the fight. With the opponent’s knife already disarmed, his side now stood at an overwhelming advantage. Since that was the case, he might as well let loose and properly teach these hoodlums a lesson—enjoy the brawl to its fullest!

As for his warning that anyone who fought back would have their arm broken, that was mostly for the benefit of those troublemakers. After hearing such words, there was a good chance they wouldn’t dare resist.

With the right guidance, adrenaline could unleash tremendous destructive power. Spurred on by Li Mu’s words, twenty or thirty boys charged in with renewed vigor, nearly four or five against each adversary. The punks were just a handful of petty thugs barely past twenty, with nowhere near the skill to take on such odds. It wasn’t long before they were all pummeled to the ground by a flurry of fists and kicks.

A few girls from the class watched in terror. A mass brawl among students from Haizhou No. 1 High was rarer than a meteor shower, and for a moment, they were at a loss, turning their gaze to Su Yingxue.

Su Yingxue was known for her decisiveness and a maturity beyond her years. If not for her own refusal, the position of class president for all three years of high school would have been hers without question.

“Yingxue, what should we do now?” The vice class president was so flustered she could hardly get her words out.

Su Yingxue’s eyes scanned the chaotic melee until she found Li Mu, who was wielding a mop—the kind used to clean toilets—vigorously jabbing it at the punks sprawled on the floor.

Unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, Su Yingxue relaxed. No matter what, the situation was entirely under Li Mu and the boys’ control. Since that was so, there was no reason for her to be anxious.

“Let’s just watch for now,” Su Yingxue replied calmly, surprising the girls around her.

But they quickly realized that, with such a one-sided fight, there was really nothing to worry about.

Twenty or thirty against five—an overwhelming advantage. The punks were beaten black and blue, howling in pain, covered in handprints and footprints. Li Mu, hidden among the crowd, still felt unsatisfied and shouted, “Strip these bastards’ clothes off!”

Thugs valued their pride; even if they earned nothing, they wanted to save face. Getting beaten was one thing, but showing weakness was not in their nature. Still, when a bunch of drunken high schoolers started tearing at their clothes, they finally reached their breaking point.

It was summer, and everyone wore little. Li Mu’s classmates swarmed in, ripping and tugging until the thugs’ T-shirts and pants were reduced to tatters. Soon, they were left in nothing but their underwear—and even then, the students weren’t satisfied, reaching for their briefs as well.

“Brothers, please…”

The punk who had been so bold with a knife at first now completely caved, clutching his groin and pleading, “I was wrong, I was wrong, please don’t strip me any further!”

Hu Guoran, eyes bloodshot, pointed at the punk’s underwear and shouted to his classmates, “Damn it, acting so tough—let’s see how many balls he’s got down there! Strip him!”

Like wolves and tigers, the boys rushed forward. The sound of fabric tearing echoed again and again until even the thugs’ underwear was pulled off.

Getting beaten up wasn’t shameful for a punk, but being stripped naked—not even left with their briefs—was humiliation beyond compare. These guys had been around for a while, but never had they encountered such savage high schoolers. Physical pain and psychological humiliation quickly broke their spirits; someone began to sob, and soon the rest, naked as newborns, were all crying.

At this moment, the KTV manager arrived with a group of security guards. Seeing the situation out of control, he couldn’t just stand by. With only seven or eight men, trying to pull apart dozens of berserk youths was no easy task.

“Stop right now, all of you, or we’ll call the police!” shouted a young man in a cheap suit.

He was the KTV’s lobby manager—in reality, just a bouncer with a fancy title and a typical background in street life.

Li Mu felt a surge of anger. When his classmates were being beaten by these thugs, none of these people had intervened. Even when his classmates ran to call for reinforcements and returned with more boys, the KTV staff remained uninvolved. Now, seeing the tables turned, they were eager to break up the fight—clearly they knew the thugs.

Sure enough, the punk who first wielded the knife, clutching his groin, wailed, “Brother Jun, make them stop!”

Li Mu rallied his classmates again, “Ignore that bastard. Keep going! If he’s got the guts, let him come over!”

With that, Li Mu kicked the knife-wielding punk between the legs, then stomped hard on his teeth, the crack of breaking teeth ringing out immediately.

Seeing nobody paid him any mind, the KTV manager quickly called the police. With so many customers watching, he couldn’t join the fight himself, or the boss would never forgive him.

Places like this always had connections with the police. Within minutes, a dozen officers and auxiliary police burst in.

The KTV was in downtown Haizhou, under the jurisdiction of the Jianshe Road Police Station. Leading the squad tonight was Deputy Chief Geng Biao, who was on night duty.

Everyone at the station, from the chief down to the ordinary officers and auxiliary police, had received favors from the KTV owner. So, when Geng Biao heard there was trouble, he immediately led a team over.

“Chief Geng.” The KTV lobby manager rushed forward as soon as he saw Geng Biao. “These high school students got drunk and started a brawl…”

Geng Biao gave a cold laugh. “A brawl, huh? Fine! Haul them all back to the station and call their parents to pay the fines!”

That was standard procedure—arrest everyone involved in a fight, and wait for their families to show up and pay.

He then told the officers and auxiliary police with him, “Hurry up and cuff them all!”

“Yes, sir!”

The group prepared to rush at Li Mu and his friends, when suddenly Su Yingxue stepped forward, face expressionless, and said, “Uncle Geng, these are all my classmates. The others started the fight and even used knives. Our classmates only acted in self-defense. We all can testify to this.”

The KTV manager sneered when he saw a girl step forward. “Young lady, you need evidence to talk like that. It’s obvious who started it, you—”

“Shut your mouth!” Geng Biao snapped, leaving the manager stunned and speechless, not understanding why he’d suddenly been berated.

Geng Biao, of course, recognized Su Yingxue. He knew she was the cherished daughter of Su Weimin, Deputy Director of the City Public Security Bureau. Although he no longer worked at the bureau, he had received housing benefits alongside Su Weimin and lived in the same neighborhood, often seeing Su Yingxue.

Su Weimin was one of three deputy directors, a member of the bureau’s party committee, ranking just below the director and the deputy director who was also the party committee’s vice secretary—a true number three in command. At year’s end, the director would be promoted to a provincial position, and Su Weimin and Deputy Director Cheng Qianli were in a heated contest for the top spot. Although Su Weimin wasn’t the first in line, he’d broken a major case last year, earning favor with provincial leaders, and, being younger than Cheng Qianli, held significant political capital.

For Geng Biao, Su Weimin was someone he could only hope to curry favor with, not offend. How could he possibly side with the KTV staff in front of Su Weimin’s daughter? If she mentioned anything at home, he’d be in real trouble.

So, Geng Biao immediately changed his tone. “Separate everyone first, find out what happened, and arrest the troublemakers! Brandishing knives in public—are they out of their minds?”

The KTV lobby manager was quick to catch on. Seeing Geng Biao change his attitude so quickly, he realized the girl’s identity must be extraordinary, and he slipped away, not daring to interfere.

His friends may have been involved, but their relationship wasn’t that deep. Failing to recognize someone important and getting beaten for it was their own fault—there was no reason for him to speak up now.