Chapter 341: Chapter 211 Disparaged When Away from Home_2
"Look at what you’re saying, what’s this ’supposed to be mine’? Aren’t we brothers in the same dorm? Won money from fish gambling, why not treat you to a meal?" Mao Hou said with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, carelessly flicking ash onto the ground.
Meng Fan seemed to realize something, reached under his pillow, and noticed signs of disturbance. An unopened carton of cigarettes was down to just two packs; the rest were gone.
"Did you take my cigarettes? Who opened the whole carton?" Meng Fan asked seriously, scanning the three of them.
"Look at how stingy you look, who wants to smoke your crappy cigarettes! We all smoke Huanghelou! Even if you gave us your lousy Blue Eight Happiness for free, we wouldn’t smoke it!"
Shang Xiaojun, who was on the lower bunk, showed his cigarette pack confidently.
"No one’s admitting, is that right? Fine, tomorrow I’ll report this to Instructor during class! I’ll say a thief broke into the dorm!"
"Report however you want, you’re a nobody from out of town, what can you do? We didn’t see anything!" Mao Hou shrugged, displaying an indifferent attitude.
"Haha, great! You’re impressive!" Meng Fan sneered, harboring thoughts of leaving the current dorm.
He wasn’t short on money; he could easily find a better place to live, but he endured the filthy and chaotic conditions of the dorm not to be too flashy.
But now it seemed that these dorm mates were bullying him directly, and Meng Fan didn’t want to engage in direct conflict with them, so he decided to move out.
With that thought, Meng Fan didn’t touch the bedding on his bed; he just packed a few clothes into his suitcase and left the dorm without looking back.
Once Meng Fan was gone, Shang Xiaojun, who lived on the lower bunk opposite Meng Fan and looked a bit like Fat Tiger, glanced out the door: "What if Meng Fan drops out? Are we a bit too much?"
The dorm leader, Geng Feng, magically pulled out a freshly opened pack of Blue Eight Happiness and lit one up: "That bastard isn’t that old, but he’s not easy to push around! Whether he drops out or not, it’s none of our business. If Instructor asks, we’ll just say we don’t know!
By the way, I almost forgot if you hadn’t mentioned it. I’ll give Instructor a call later and report that he didn’t stay in the dorm overnight!"
At around nine at night, Geng Feng really did make a call to the instructor responsible for student accommodations, exaggerating Meng Fan’s situation.
The next morning, after breakfast, the students gathered on time.
Instructor Lu Wenqiang walked up to the punctual Meng Fan.
"Meng Fan, step out! Where did you go last night? Why didn’t you stay in the dormitory?"
Meng Fan glanced at the instructor, realizing someone had tattled. He said frankly: "Instructor, my personal belongings in the dorm keep disappearing, so I moved out yesterday night! Didn’t have time to report in advance!"
"Missing items? What’s missing? Why didn’t you tell me?"
"Cigarettes, snacks, toothpaste, shampoo, even toilet paper! All things that need money to be bought and are commonly used disappeared every other day!" Meng Fan continued.
"Bullshit! There are four people in the dormitory; why didn’t ours go missing?" Mao Hou immediately flared up, swearing after hearing Meng Fan’s words.
Though not explicitly stated, smart ones could figure out the implication: apparently, someone’s been bullied in the dorm.
Meng Fan shrugged: "I wouldn’t know! Maybe the guy with three hands stealing things recognizes people, only likes to steal mine!"
"You bastard..."
Hearing Mao Hou start cursing, Meng Fan’s gaze turned icy as he glanced at Mao Hou: "Say one more?"
"Everyone, stop arguing! If there’s a conflict, tell me; I’ll coordinate and find a solution. No student is allowed to deal with matters privately, nor start fights!
What are you both trying to do? What’s the matter?
Each go over there to practice casting for an hour, and without my order, don’t stop!"
Instructor Lu Wenqiang, also a local like Mao Hou, seemed impartial but was unknowingly biased towards Mao Hou and the others, smoothly shifting topics without pursuing the situation Meng Fan brought up.
Meng Fan didn’t argue; he just grabbed his fishing gear and headed to the casting area.
Though young, being bullied while learning things happens; Meng Fan understood. He’s here to learn, avoiding trouble like Mao Hou’s filth—he can escape even if he can’t handle them.
After the morning training ended, Meng Fan packed up his fishing equipment as usual and casually walked towards the small cafeteria.
As Meng Fan reached the corner of the small building, he was intercepted by Mao Hou and Fat Tiger with two others.
"F*** you, who did you curse at this morning? Still dare to rat out to the instructor; you want a beating, huh?" Mao Hou pointed at Meng Fan’s nose and cursed.
Meng Fan gave Mao Hou a disdainful glance and was about to leave.
The next second, feeling slighted, Mao Hou mustered courage and shoved Meng Fan.
"I’m talking to you, you bastard; you think you’ll run?"
Meng Fan clenched his fists and unexpectedly swung at Mao Hou.
Bang!
A dull thud sounded; Meng Fan directly punched Mao Hou, bruising his eye.
Seeing him suffer losses, Fat Tiger and his companion joined the fight, and soon the four were tearing into each other.
Though Meng Fan was clever, he hadn’t received systematic training; besieged by three, he couldn’t fend off all of them; he soon fell behind.
Yet this guy has an ingrained stubbornness; despite enduring many hits, he stubbornly held Mao Hou’s collar, channeling all aggression at Mao Hou, adopting the stance of taking hits while making sure Mao Hou doesn’t come out unscathed either.
"Everyone stop! Meng Fan! Shang Xiaojun! Heard me? Stop!"
The instructor spotted the fight and called out from afar, jogging over.
Upon hearing, Fat Tiger and the others let go, yet Meng Fan, who suffered losses, didn’t; he still held tightly onto Mao Hou’s collar, repeatedly punching his abdomen.
Despite Mao Hou’s usual loud-mouthed bravado as the instigator, his physical condition was the worst among the three; now after Meng Fan’s barrage, he looked damn miserably scarred, bloody nose, a pitiful sight.
"Meng Fan! I told you to stop, can’t you hear?" Instructor Lu Wenqiang roughly pulled away Meng Fan’s hand.
"What’s going on? Why did you start fighting?" Instructor glanced and asked.
Mao Hou hastily responded pitifully: "Instructor, I was just going to eat, and this punk hit me without reason! Xiaojun tried to restrain but couldn’t! You must stand up for me!"
Lu Wenqiang listened to this and looked up at Meng Fan, also bleeding from the nose: "Is what Mao Hou said true? Why did you hit your classmates?"
Meng Fan, earlier displeased with the instructor’s conflict resolution, now saw the situation clear as day yet felt falsely accused, instantly welling up with disgust.
"Instructor Lu, may I ask you, do you think I’m an idiot? One person proactively fighting the three of them?" Meng Fan bluntly questioned with no mercy.
"What’s this attitude; fighting with justification? I’m just trying to understand the situation!" Lu Wenqiang, seeing Meng Fan’s unpleasant attitude, immediately raised his voice.
"The situation is I came for food, Mao Hou approached shoving and swearing, then it turned physical; they three ganged up on me! Are you genuinely oblivious or deliberately biased towards them, targeting me, the outsider?"
Meng Fan vented all accumulated emotions repeatedly, eyes bloodshot, the whole temperament changed distinctly.
"What do you want to do? Planning to hit me too?" Startled by Meng Fan’s bloodshot stare, Lu Wenqiang instinctively stepped back.
"You and those few trash are birds of a feather; I just want a peaceful place to learn something. If you keep targeting me, I’ll deal with you too; if that means dropping from this program, so be it!"
Meng Fan pointedly addressed Lu Wenqiang with stern words.
After delivering these lines, Meng Fan didn’t even bother wiping his bloody nose; he turned towards the cafeteria, leaving provoking Mao Hou and the others behind.
Until Meng Fan disappeared, Lu Wenqiang snapped out: "What insolence! Total insolence!
This won’t do; I must call President Lv—this student from W City isn’t suitable to remain here!"
In the afternoon class, Lv Zhongsheng, who hadn’t appeared the last two days, came to the fishing practice field.
"Who is Meng Fan? Step out!"
Meng Fan, noticing Lv Zhongsheng coming specifically calling his name, immediately sensed it was bad.