When Zhang Zheguan came over, his friends and the two girls, Deng Wen and Ni Anqi, were all watching. Seeing me so "timid" — agreeing without resistance to let them take the dish — the vocational school boys grinned smugly and started boasting that this whole area was their turf, and no one dared mess with them.
The two girls looked a bit weirded out, especially Ni Anqi. Her gaze carried a hint of disdain — probably because rebellious girls like her most despise cowardly guys who avoid trouble.
The street stall chef quickly prepared another plate of mussels in black bean sauce for us. The waiter brought it over. Normally, this was Mia's favorite dish, but tonight, he didn't even pick up his chopsticks. I knew he was stewing with anger. He was usually timid, but after a few drinks, his temper flared up — suddenly he acted like he feared nothing.
Thanks to that punk Zhang Zheguan, our mood was ruined. None of us talked; we just drank in silence. Meanwhile, the table next to us got increasingly rowdy — especially Zhang Zheguan, shouting non-stop. They took turns offering drinks to the girls, and anyone with a brain could tell they were trying to get the two girls drunk. They weren't even subtle about it — totally shameless.
Deng Wen clearly wasn't used to drinking. After just a few cups, she was slumped over. Ni Anqi, on the other hand, seemed to hold her liquor. Even after several rounds of drinks from the guys, her face was only slightly flushed, and she remained alert.
She had only come to accompany her friend on this meetup, and since these boys were ugly and suspicious from the start, she hadn't planned to stay long. Now that she realized their intentions — to get them drunk and take advantage — she had enough. She downed her beer in one go, slammed the glass down, and said, "It's getting late. Xiao Wen's drunk. We're leaving."
Of course, Zhang Zheguan's group wasn't going to let them go. They blocked the way, insisting the night was still young and they should drink more. Ni Anqi had a fiery temper and immediately lashed out: "Get lost! You think I'm some clueless schoolgirl? You've been tag-teaming us with drinks all night — I'm not stupid. I'm letting it slide, but we're leaving now. Move!"
She tried to help Deng Wen up and leave. But since she'd already made things clear, Zhang Zheguan dropped the act, grabbed her wrist, and said viciously, "Screw this. Eat our food, drink our booze, and now you want to bail? Not that easy."
Ni Anqi shoved him away and shouted, "Enough! What do you want?!"
Zhang Zheguan sneered. "What do you think? You're coming with us to have some fun." As he spoke, his buddies surrounded them.
Deng Wen was drunk, and Ni Anqi couldn't carry her alone. Now, for the first time, real panic flashed in her eyes. Trying to stay composed, she said, "You guys better back off. You know who my brother is?!"
"Don't care if your brother's the king of peasants." They were clearly the reckless type. They tried dragging the girls toward their van — which didn't even have a license plate. Once the girls were in the vehicle, it'd be too late.
Ni Anqi finally cried out, "Help! Somebody help!"
There were still a few other customers nearby, but no one dared intervene. The stall owner and a couple of staff came out, but Zhang Zheguan gave him a nasty glare and warned coldly, "I'm just arguing with my girlfriend. You stay out of it, or I'll trash your stall."
He tossed 200 yuan on the table to pay for their food.
Business owners hate trouble, so the stall boss hesitated and eventually stayed out of it. The girls were about to be dragged into the van. Mia, Da Luo, and Xiao Luo all looked at me — their eyes asking, *What now?*
We were all a bit drunk, and we already disliked these vocational school punks. Now seeing them try to abduct girls made us furious. I gritted my teeth and said quietly, "Let's beat the crap out of them."
Aside from that minor scuffle earlier at KTV with John and Wei Shengjin, this was going to be my first *real* fight — and I was nervous. But fortunately, Zhang Zheguan's group only had four people — no more than us. Physically, we had the advantage, thanks to the big, strong Luo brothers.
I grabbed an unopened beer bottle. Mia picked up a chair, the Luo brothers grabbed bricks — we armed ourselves and stormed over without a word.
Zhang Zheguan was still tugging on Ni Anqi when I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey man, don't you think this is a bit much?"
He hadn't figured out what was going on yet. He turned around and snarled, "F... off—"
Before he could finish, *CRACK!* I smashed the beer bottle over his head. Glass shards and beer flew everywhere, and blood started streaming from his scalp. Surprisingly, he stayed on his feet. I didn't give him a chance to recover — kicked him down, straddled him, and started slapping him hard across the face. Then I spat, "What kind of trash are you?"
At the same time, Mia and the others rushed the rest. With weapons and the element of surprise, we easily overpowered them — it wasn't a fight, it was a beatdown. They had no chance to react.
Mia tossed aside the broken brick and began kicking Zhang Zheguan while cursing, "You punk! Trying to show off? Stealing our food? I'll kill you, you little rat!"
Ni Anqi, the rebellious girl, now emboldened, joined in — kicking Zhang too. And she was brutal, targeting joints and shins. One kick made him scream like a pig being slaughtered, writhing in pain.
Seeing it had gone far enough, I pulled her back and said, "Alright, that's enough. Lesson taught."
Ni Anqi looked me up and down. Her previous contempt had vanished, replaced by a touch of admiration. "Thanks for what you guys did tonight."
"No big deal. The stall owner probably called the cops, though — we should go."
She had clearly looked down on me earlier, especially when I didn't stand up to Zhang over the mussels. Probably thought I was a coward. But in the end, we were the only ones who stood up and saved her. That clearly changed her view of us. She might even think we were just "low-key badasses" now.
As we prepared to leave, Zhang Zheguan, bloody and crawling, propped himself up and rasped, "You bastards… just wait. What's your name? Leave it if you dare!"
It was obvious he was planning revenge. Mia was about to shout out his name, but I yanked him back, stepped forward, and arrogantly declared, "I'm Ni Ba from Second High. If you've got guts, come find me there. If you don't, you're just a coward."
Zhang Zheguan glared at me with hatred. "Ni Ba, huh? Fine! Just you wait!"
Ni Anqi, still helping the drunk Deng Wen, squinted at me and asked, "You're Ni Ba?"
"Yeah. Why? Got a problem with that?"
She said nothing, loaded her friend onto the scooter, said "Bye," and rode off. I stood there dumbfounded. Something felt off. Then it hit me — her last name was also *Ni*. Could she be related to the real Ni Ba, the infamous senior at our school?
That seemed too much of a coincidence, so I didn't dwell on it. Mia and the others clapped me on the shoulder, laughing. "Andrew, you told that punk you were Ni Ba? Damn! When Ba-ge gets randomly jumped by vocational kids, he won't even know why. Hahaha!"