Chapter 3: Hair Standing Up in Anger
When Li Yundong arrived at university, it happened to be 8:30 more or less. He just entered the campus, whereupon he noticed a schoolgirl wearing thick black-rimmed glasses hugging a stack of books to her chest standing by the school building not too far away. Her gaze swept back and forth searching the surroundings.
The schoolgirl saw him. She immediately walked towards him with haste and said in an overbearing manner, “Li Yundong, you skipped class for three days without reason. Do you know what happened in these three days? The education committee just happened to be carrying out inspections. And they just happened to inspect our class. Your cutting class made use lose class honor points!”
The girl lashed out with her words and Li Yundong could only grimace and listen. In his opinion, this issue was not all that. ‘Still thinking of class honor points! Do you think you’re still attending senior middle school?”
The schoolgirl gained enthusiasm as she talked. On the other hand, Li Yundong increasingly wanted to roll his eyes as he listened. But there was nothing he could do, this girl was named Sun Li from Tiannan University’s Chinese department and she was a famous honor student. She received a special grade scholarship after her freshmen year and even got an interview with the mayor.
Li Yundong had vaguely heard that during senior middle school, Sun Li ranked top three city wide every year. Unfortunately, she failed to perform during her university entrance exams and only scored enough to qualify for second rate universities.
Originally a first rate university was willing to make an exception and admit her. However, she had a temper. She said something like not eating the scraps thrown by others* and resolutely chose to enter Tiannan University, this second rate school right after.
Sun Li’s personality was very valiant, a classical Sichuan chili pepper disposition. She had a pretty oval face with properly matched features, but she always wore black-rimmed “Bibi Chou”** style glasses. Not only that, she even wore an outdated headband that went out of fashion who knows how long ago.
Li Yundong suddenly thought, if this girl removed her glasses and headband, what would she look like?
‘Alas, no matter what she looked like, she wouldn’t be prettier than the girl I just saw in my apartment!’
Once Li Yundong thought of the mysterious girl in his apartment, he could not stop various thoughts from appearing in his head.
‘Who the heck is that girl? Oi, this is bad. I left her alone in my home, she won’t starting throwing things, right?’
‘Urk, a girl that beautiful, shouldn’t be a thief, right?’
‘Ah, if even a girl that beautiful steals things… then I-I’ll just admit defeat!’
Li Yundong’s thought wandered far into the distance. One moment, he wonders about the girl’s identity. Another moment, he’ll ponder whether his drunk self and that girl experience some type of relationship. His mind was like a pot of boiling congee***.
Advertisement
Sun Li kept speaking for a bit by herself, only to discover Li Yundong’s attention had wandered off to destinations unknown. She promptly smashed one of the books she carried at Li Yundong’s chest in anger.
“Hey!”
Nothing happened before she smacked him. But now that she smacked him, the Gold Pill essential qi in Li Yundong’s body responded automatically. The little fox as a real living person had been forcefully repelled an entire meter, what chance did a single book have?
Pah!
The book held in Sun Li’s hands rebound outwards. Sun Li was also jolted such that the rest of the books fell scattered across the ground with a crash.
“Ahh!” Sun Li saw her books fall onto the ground. She wasted no time on scold Li Yundong and hurriedly crouched down to gather the books instead.
Li Yundong had no idea of the changes that occurred to himself. He simply assumed Sun Li had not held the books properly, which resulted in this mess. He inwardly harrumphed, ‘This is divine retribution, right? With a personality this forceful, who will be willing to marry you in future?’
Despite cursing at her maliciously on the inside, he still crouched down to help Sun Li pick up books.
Li Yundong picked up two psychology books before standing up and handing those to Sun Li.
Sun Li on the other hand thought that Li Yundong had purposely jolted her so that her book would fall. She glared at him intensely, “How can you have no refinement as a person?
Li Yundong became indignant. “What are you talking about? I have no refinement? If I had no refinement, I would have stomped on your books while they were on the ground. Didn’t I just help you pick them up?”
Sun Li’s eyebrows almost became vertical. She even reverted to her local dialect. “You think you’re a’ ancestor’s plaque!**** You just try it!”
Li Yundong was so angry that he was seeing gold stars with his eyes. He felt terrible like something was blocking his chest. His face was red and his neck was bulging as he glared at Sun Li. He could only breathe coarsely.
Sun Li saw his extremely red eyes so bloodshot that blood seemed like it could explode out at any moment. This appearance was quite terrifying. Yet she refused to back down even a single step and traded glares with Li Yundong.
The two of them were glaring at each other when they heard a voice from the side, “Hey, isn’t that our school’s confession emperor?”
Li Yundong turned his head around and saw two schoolgirls standing in front of him. Their faces were full of mockery as they looked at him.
Li Yundong’s whole face suddenly became red, because one of the girls was the beauty he confessed to three days ago. She was the campus belle named Zhou Qin.
Zhou Qin had an excellent figure, white skin, and her good looks could be rated as one in ten thousand. She wore a light yellow casual wear and its fabric flowed beautifully through the air, appearing both youthful and fashionable. She looked at Li Yundong without any enthusiasm on her face, like that confession three days ago never happened; only in the deepest depth of her eyes could a sliver of disdain and dismissal be detected.
At her side was a girl named Ding Nan. This was the schoolgirl who just mocked Li Yundong.
Ding Nan saw Li Yundong did not want to respond. She said with a loud laugh, “Hey, I’m speaking to you. Don’t you know that you’re famous now? The video of your confession from a few days ago is ranked number one for click count on the student forums.
Upon hearing that, Li Yundong was shocked and angry, embarrassed and annoyed. “What did you say? Who recorded it?”
With those words, Li Yundong fixed infuriated rage eyes on Zhou Qin. “You actually did something like that? Something that despicable?”
Zhou Qin’s expression did not change. She merely glanced at Li Yundong with her still insipid expression, not bothering to defend herself as if she could not be bothered to justify herself to him.
Ding Nan who stood on the side spoke up, “Hey, what are you being vicious for? If you have the ability, go be vicious at young master He! That video was taken by me. What do you want to do? You have the guts to confess but no guts to let other people watch? A toad that wants to eat swan meat. You should pee yourself a puddle and look at your own reflection. Just based on yours look, even if you spent money, no one would accompany you! From now on, don’t bother our Zhou Qin. Do you understand?”
Even clay figurines contains some degree of fire. Let alone Li Yundong, who had his marrow washed and tendons exchanged by the Gold Pill, had vigorous blood and qi to an inconceivable degree throughout his entire body.
A lot of blood and qi made it easier for a person to get angry. If a person got angry easily, then often even trivial matters would become large conflicts, let alone this kind of humiliation.
Li Yundong felt a flow of hot qi travel from his abdomen straight up to his chest, where it boiled and stirred for a bit. Soon after, a pop sounded out as if a blockage on his chest had been broken through and the hot qi charged straight for his head!
Li Yundong’s hair stood straight up as this portion of qi reached the top of his head.
His eyes were opened so wide that they almost split open. The blood vessels in his eyes bulged. The qi in his chest boiled and roiled like furious lightning before charging into his mouth where it surged out, “Say it again if you dare!”
No matter how rampant Ding Nan was or how unperturbed Zhou Qin was, they were simple girls. When the Gold Pill transformed Li Yundong gets angry, his eyes were like lightning and his presence like a tiger. Even a strong robust man would be scared to the point of shivering, let alone a couple weak schoolgirls?
Ding Nan and Zhou Qin were so intimidated that they backed up a step in sync. Fear appeared in Ding Nan’s eyes. Zhou Qin’s eyes also contained fear but at the same time she was also surprised but that surprise quickly turned to shame inspired rage.
Zhou Qin secretly tightened her grip on Ding Nan’s hand. Ding Nan turned her head and glanced at her before seemingly understanding something.
“Hey, what are you trying to do? This is the campus!” Ding Nan shouted out loudly, “Everyone come here. There’s someone trying to kill people!”
It was the time just preceding morning classes, there were many students on campus. Hearing this shout, many students gathered over surrounding them.
Upon seeing so many people, Ding Nan’s courage revitalized. With her hand on her hip, she sneered, “Come on, weren’t you really savage? What are you tightening that fist for? Do you want to hit me? Come on. Hit here. If you don’t dare hit me then you’re not a man! Hmph. Based on your looks, even if you confessed to all the women in the world, none of them would like you!”
Li Yundong was truly enraged. He took big steps forward. Raising his fist high, he punched toward Ding Nan.
Ding Nan let out a terrified scream. Pulling Zhou Qin, she shrunk backward.
She and Zhou Qin were the same. They were both beautiful girls and there naturally many protectors of beauties on campus.
The boys who normally admired these two girls would naturally step up.
“Hey, little tramp, what do you think you’re doing-” a tall and sturdy guy placed himself in Li Yundong’s way. This was the representative of the university’s physical education department, Wu Hui. His appearance was similar to Wu Jilong*****, thus the infatuated schoolgirls would call him Little Wu Jilong.
Wu Hui had always doggedly pursued campus belle Zhou Qin. With such as good chance to perform in front of him, how could he not step up?
The moment he finished speaking, Li Yundong who was half a head shorter than him used one hand to catch his collar and forcibly lifted him into the air.
“What am I doing? I’m doing your mom!” Li Yundong’s violent rage scared all the students silly, especially the strength he demonstrated by lifting the 180cm tall physical education representative with a single arm.
“Crap, it’s Schwarzenegger!” some of the boys hissed.
Wu Hui being lifted up in the air by his collar could not breathe. His face had turned a purple red. He barely squeezed out, “Le-let go!”
Li Yundong loosed a grin. Originally, his slightly chubby face seemed a bit scholarly, but now his face seemed malevolent. “Very well, I’ll let go!”
With those words, Li Yundong was about to use his full strength to throw Wu Hui, when a surprised female voice broke out from the crowd. It sounded full of delight. “You’re over here!”
This voice was like the most beautiful sound that stood out alone, and yet it was also like a wind-chime that accompanied the wind. There was an inexpressible sharpness and beauty that made anyone who heard it instinctively look towards its source. Who could sound so wonderful just by speaking?
Li Yundong also turned his head around. His eye opened wide in surprise. His hair, which was standing straight up, also drooped back down.
This girl was the one who showed up beside him after he woke up from his drinking session.
This girl wore a red dress cut in ancient fashion, just like those costumes seen in period dramas. When normal girls wore those, they would possess an undefinable awkwardness. But this girl possessed an unclear classical charm, like a beauty that walked out of a painting.
The girl had a beautiful oval face. Her eyes were lovely with a natural foxy charm. Her black pupils were vibrant. They almost glowed from within and attracted attention with every motion, so beautiful that they dazzled. Her lips were the perfect red and her teeth pearly white. With one sweet smile, all the surrounding boys were deeply infatuated.
~~~
*不食嗟来之食 Bu Shi Jie Lai Zhi Shi – This is a proverb based on a story. It was a year when good was scarce, an arrogant rich merchant on the road threw food on the ground and told a starving person to eat. The merchant probably wanted to express his superiority. The starving person had pride so he said he wouldn’t eat 嗟来之食. Later the guy starved the death. The Chinese like people with tough bones, so there’s two interpretations of the tale. The good is that the guy has the pride a man should have. The bad is that the guy died because he was too prideful.
** Bibi Chou – a Chinese singer that likes to wear thick black framed glasses.
*** congee – rice porridge.
**** 先人滴板板 or 先人板板 – ancestor’s plaque: Most places in China, if there’s someone that no one can do anything to, then that person is called can ancestor, because elders are respected in China, even if your ancestor does something wrong, there’s nothing you can do to them. In Sicuan province, the expression is replaced by ancestor’s plaque, since you can’t do anything to those either. For example, so kid goes home and refuses to do their homework no matter what, his parents might call him an ancestor’s plaque.
***** Wu Ji Long – Nicholas “Nicky” Wu is a singer/actor. You can google him.