The next day, Monday.
Xie Heng hadn’t been to school for over ten days, and his laziness had crept back in. The butler had to call him several times before he finally got up, sluggishly heading to wash up.
There was actually no need to hurry today. Monday meant the flag-raising ceremony, so there was no morning self-study. Even if he was late, at worst, he could just climb over the wall to get in. It wouldn’t affect anything.
So, Xie Heng moved even slower.
Leisurely, he got out of the car two minutes before the school gate closed, blending in with the last batch of students entering.
The school broadcast was already playing the flag-raising music, and the field was packed with students.
Each class had a designated spot, so Xie Heng went straight to Class 1-A’s lineup, taking a place at the very back.
In front of him was Song Siyang’s head.
To his right was Xu Jiaming.
Song Siyang was delighted to see him and winked playfully. “Why’d you come so early? It’s just the flag-raising ceremony. You could’ve come later during class.”
He didn’t understand Xie Heng’s recent enthusiasm for school. If it were him, he’d take a full month off after surgery before coming back.
Xie Heng smacked the back of his head. “You’ve got the nerve to talk. Why don’t you just show up after school? I heard you ranked dead last again.”
Song Siyang : “…”
That was just uncalled for.
His Dad had already given him the same scolding at home. He immediately turned his head away and shut up.
At that moment, Xu Jiaming cleared his throat and said to Xie Heng, “I just went to the office and overheard the director mentioning your name. It sounded like they’re calling you up during the ceremony.”
Xie Heng frowned.
Even Song Siyang turned back, surprised. “What happened now? Did you get into trouble again, Brother Heng?”
Xie Heng’s face darkened.
He hadn’t even been at school. How could he have caused trouble?
He looked at Xu Jiaming. “Did you hear what it was about?”
The boy shook his head, his gentle face showing confusion. “No. They stopped talking as soon as I walked in.”
Xie Heng lowered his head and kicked a small stone by his foot.
So annoying. School was always a mess. If he had known, he wouldn’t have come today.
“Ow! Who threw a stone at my head?!”
A loud, booming voice rang out.
It was the teacher of Class B, known as ‘King Kong’ because of his strictness, thick neck, and burly frame. His students were all terrified of him.
Xie Heng touched his nose, looking completely innocent, like he had nothing to do with it.
The others couldn’t help but stifle their laughter. It was only after Teacher King Kong rubbed his head and walked away in frustration that laughter finally spread through the crowd.
But Xie Heng was in no mood. He put on his headphones, drowning out the world with music.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly, Song Siyang tugged at his sleeve.
Xie Heng lazily lifted his eyelids.
Just as he was about to ask what was up, he noticed that all eyes were on him—students, teachers, even the director standing on the flag-raising platform.
Xie Heng jolted awake, yanked off his headphones, and took a moment to find his voice. “Why is everyone looking at me?”
Seeing his confusion, Song Siyang barely held back a laugh. “Get up there! They’re calling you to give a speech!”
…?
A speech?
Xie Heng turned to Xu Jiaming, who also seemed to be holding back a smile. He coughed lightly and said, “The director wants you to say a few words.”
Xie Heng was even more confused.
His mind raced. Had he really done something recently and just forgotten about it?
The director, seeing him standing still, was beginning to look impatient. The students were also getting noisy. He cleared his throat. “Quiet down, everyone. And, Xie Heng, why haven’t you come up yet?”
Xie Heng was exasperated.
With a blank expression, he pushed through the crowd and walked toward the stage, completely unbothered.
This place might as well be his VIP seat at this point. He’d been up there so many times for scoldings since the start of the semester.
But this time, he genuinely had no idea what he’d done.
As the murmurs in the crowd grew, he grew more irritated. His face darkened.
“What is it now?” He didn’t even bother with pleasantries.
The director noticed his earphones still hanging from one ear and knew immediately that he hadn’t been paying attention at all. With a stern face, he repeated, “On the last morning of the midterm exams, you saved two children in the alley by the west gate. Their parents called to thank you for your bravery. Xie Heng, what you did was truly commendable.”
Xie Heng was stunned.
The teachers and students who had no idea were also stunned. Even Xu Jiaming and Song Siyang were hearing this for the first time.
Nobody really paid attention to the Monday flag-raising ceremony. Some were zoning out, others were dozing off. The only thing they caught was that Xie Heng had been called up, so everyone assumed he was in trouble again.
But bravery?
The entire field was dumbfounded.
The school tyrant helping people? That had to be a mistake.
Was there another Xie Heng in school?
At that moment, Xie Heng wished there was.
He had stood on this stage countless times before, but this was the first time he ever felt embarrassed—so much so that he wanted to dig a hole and disappear into it.
But the director wasn’t letting him off easy. For the first time, her usually stern face softened into a smile. “What you did was admirable. Now, please tell everyone how it happened.”
Before Xie Heng could refuse, the microphone was shoved into his hands.
He froze.
Looking at the dense crowd on the playground, Xie Heng suddenly felt his scalp tingle. He wanted to throw away the microphone and run.
With his excellent vision, he spotted Song Siyang and Xu Jiaming in the last row, sending them a pleading look.
—SOS!
—Brothers, save me!
However, Song Siyang only grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying the spectacle, while Xu Jiaming smiled at him with a face full of helplessness.
“……”
An untimely phrase suddenly popped into Xie Heng’s mind—utterly lost, alone in the world.
He furrowed his brows in frustration. He was seriously considering ditching the microphone right then and there, or maybe even scaling the wall to escape?
But that would be even more embarrassing.
The real issue wasn’t just his own embarrassment, but that WeChat group with ‘Xie Heng’s Mom’ and ‘Xie Heng’s Dad’ in it will also be full of embarrassment.
All of a sudden, he recalled his parents’ words at his hospital bedside that day.
They had praised him, saying he had done a great job and deserved a reward. Just like that police officer had said—he had done something good, so why should he feel ashamed? It’s not like he had been robbing kids on the street.
He should be proud of himself.
With that thought, Xie Heng unconsciously straightened his back.
He picked up the microphone, though his mind was still a bit scattered. He could only say whatever came to him. His voice started off low and a little stiff, but as he spoke, his thoughts cleared up, and his tone became more natural.
Before he knew it, he was getting into it—and even started embellishing a little.
“That day, I was rushing to an exam, about to climb over a wall—no, I mean, I was about to buy breakfast when I heard a kid crying…
“I ran into the alley and saw three ugly thugs beating up a little boy…
“I got really angry and immediately jumped in to save him. I didn’t think much at the time…
“I took them down in just a few moves, then brought the two kids to the police station… That’s it.”
Finishing his story, Xie Heng set down the microphone, his face radiating the carefree confidence of youth.
Written all over his expression were three words : Praise me now.
The entire faculty around the disciplinary director was speechless.
If they hadn’t listened carefully, they would have thought the school troublemaker was reading out his reflection letter after a fight.
For a few seconds, silence hung in the air. Then, a round of applause erupted from Class 1, quickly spreading across the entire playground.
Even the academic director forced a smile, took the microphone, and said, somewhat awkwardly, “Well, well done. Xie Heng, you were very brave.”
Xie Heng, oblivious to the hidden meaning in her words, was just pleased with himself. He had spoken his mind and felt great. When he walked off the stage, he was still grinning smugly.
This good mood lasted the entire morning.
Until lunch break—when he checked his WeChat Moments and saw his wonderful mother, Ms. Lu, had posted a new update two hours ago.
It was a photo of him standing on the podium, gripping the microphone, wearing the school uniform she had designed. His expression in the picture was a mix of confusion, embarrassment, and the overwhelming urge to dig a hole and hide.
Someone must have sent this to the parents’ group chat!
And the caption made it even worse:
[My baby boy is all grown up.]
Xie Heng : “……”
Ms. Lu was way too sentimental.
He took a deep breath and checked the post again. Three people had already liked it.
His Dad, Xu Jiaming, and Song Siyang.
These were just the ones he could see. There were probably even more likes he couldn’t see…
Xie Heng felt a little humiliated, a little annoyed. The more he looked at it, the more he thought his picture didn’t look good enough. It made him seem dumb. If Ms. Lu was going to post his photo, why not pick a more handsome one?
He was definitely better-looking in person.
Then, he remembered how his Dad had played the piano that day, and Lu Xi had taken a picture of his back and posted it on WeChat. When Xie Heng saw that, he had been happy for quite a while.
Even someone like his Dad had photos posted without a second thought. So what was the big deal about his own picture?
Realizing that he and his Dad were getting the same treatment, Xie Heng instantly felt at peace.
He curled his lips into a smirk and gave Ms. Lu’s post a like.
Since he couldn’t fight his Mom on this, he might as well surrender and let her show him off all she wanted. After all, he was her pride.
Xie Heng’s appendix surgery wasn’t exactly a secret.
By the second day of his hospital stay, most people at school had already heard about it. The news eventually spread to students from other schools as well.
And plenty of them had their own ideas.
Xie Heng had made a lot of enemies from middle school to high school. Plenty of people had suffered at his hands. Even though he had never been the one to start a fight, some people didn’t care. If they got beaten up, they held a grudge and wanted payback.
But every time they tried, things never worked in their favor. Either they didn’t have enough people and got beaten up again, or they managed to gather enough people, only for Xie Heng to be conveniently chauffeured to and from school, making it impossible to catch him.
Now, they heard that he had just undergone an appendectomy. That meant he was injured, he wouldn’t be as strong as usual in a fight.
This was their best chance.
A group of thugs from another school heard the news and immediately gathered a crew, ten people in total. This time, they would make sure Xie Heng wouldn’t have the upper hand.
Starting Monday afternoon, they began lurking in the alley by the west gate, waiting for him.
Everyone knew that was where students from Mingli High went to eat. Sooner or later, Xie Heng would show up.
They waited for three days.
Finally, on Wednesday, they saw him.
Winter had set in, and by 6 PM, the sky was already dark.
Xie Heng, Xu Jiaming, and Song Siyang walked out through the west gate, chatting about what to eat.
At that moment, a large group of people surged out of the alley, surrounding Xie Heng and dragging him back inside.
“Finally caught you today, huh? All these people are here to settle scores with you!”
Song Siyang immediately sensed trouble, and Xu Jiaming’s expression darkened. Without hesitation, the two of them rushed in after him.
Inside the alley, three against ten—things weren’t looking good.
Xie Heng let out a scoff, leaning lazily against the wall as he sized up the group with disdain. “Seriously? You set me up? And you brought ten people just to fight me? You must think pretty highly of me.”
The ten men looked a bit embarrassed. It was indeed a little dishonorable, but they were too eager for revenge to care.
The leader, holding a cigarette between his fingers, smirked and said, “Yeah, we’re blocking your way, what are you gonna do about it? You’ve made too many enemies. If you don’t wanna fight, just come over and let me burn a hole in your face. Then we’ll call it even.”
As he spoke, he flicked his cigarette forcefully. The glowing ember shot through the dim alley and nearly landed on Xie Heng’s school uniform.
A moment ago, he had been indifferent, even lazily amused. Now, his expression instantly changed.
“F*ck!” he cursed under his breath.
Having his uniform yanked out of place earlier was one thing, but if they actually burned a hole in it, how would he face Ms. Lu when he got home?!
She had designed this uniform for him!
Xie Heng took a step forward, grabbed the guy’s wrist, twisted it sharply—causing him to yelp and drop the cigarette—then landed a punch straight to his face, followed by a swift kick.
The others hadn’t expected him to move so fast and immediately charged in.
Song Siyang wasn’t about to just stand there. He jumped into the fray but still had the presence of mind to yell, “Old Xu, run! Go get help!”
Xu Jiaming, the model student, had no experience fighting and would only get in the way.
But before Song Siyang even finished shouting, he saw Xu Jiaming deliver a sharp elbow strike to an opponent, then grab another guy’s arm and effortlessly throw him over his shoulder.
Song Siyang : ?
Xie Heng : ???
Since when did their top student learn to fight? And he actually looked skilled—totally different from their wild, scrappy style!
But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
Xie Heng landed another punch. Seeing that he and his friends were still unscathed, he didn’t linger in the fight. He immediately turned, yanked Xu Jiaming and Song Siyang along with him, and shouted—
“Old Xu! Old Song! Run!”
Song Siyang was stunned again.
Wait, what? This was the first time he’d ever heard Xie Heng tell them to run in a fight.
He caught up, shouting, “Run where?!”
Xie Heng: “The police station! Find the cops!”
Xu Jiaming, slightly out of breath from the fight, was also dumbfounded. His usually fair face was flushed. “Did I hear that right?”
“You heard right!” Xie Heng panted slightly as he ran, but he was grinning triumphantly.
He wasn’t stupid. He was a precious young master. if he got hurt, wouldn’t Ms. Lu and his Dad be heartbroken? He had a massive inheritance to claim in the future, why would he risk his life fighting street thugs?
The gang of pursuers chasing after them was utterly dumbfounded.
They were the ones who just got beaten up. So why the hell was Xie Heng the one running to report them to the police?!