The Poor School Heartthrob Was Secretly a Financial Titan - Chapter 38
As soon as Han Xuetao appeared, all the eyes of the students in Class Two turned to him.
“I came over because I heard you talking about me.” Han Xuetao walked to Li Man’s side and glanced at the group of people. “You’re here because of Zhang Lu, right? Anyone who wants to stand up for her can step forward now.”
My gaze swept across the area, but no one moved.
They were upset about Han Xuetao hitting Zhang Lu, and that’s why they picked a fight and stole the charcoal. But Han Xuetao’s words made things clear, and now that they’re standing up for him, it seems like they have feelings for Zhang Lu. What seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy would willingly admit to having feelings for a girl in front of so many people?
The group looked at each other and fell silent.
Han Xuetao smirked: “A bunch of cowards.”
He walked straight over and bent down to pick up the bag of charcoal.
Wang Feng’s expression changed, and he reached out to stop him: “You fuckingâ”
Without saying a word, Han Xuetao turned around and kicked the barbecue grill next to him.
“Clang!”
The iron frame, along with the iron mesh on top, overturned and fell to the ground, scattering charcoal embers everywhere and sending sparks flying in all directions.
Several girls screamed and dodged backward, while a group of people quickly jumped away, afraid of being splashed by sparks.
As the smoke and dust cleared, the group from Class Two stood a few steps away, looking at the mess on the ground.
“Fuck!” Zhu Yan was the first to curse. “Han Xuetao, you’re fucking insane!”
Several boys blushed, exchanged glances, and wanted to rush forward.
Han Xuetao picked up two bottles of beer from the stone bench beside him, one in each hand. He clasped his hands togetherâ
“Bang!”
The bottle shattered, the wine gushed out, and the bottle opening was reduced to jagged shards of glass.
He held the broken bottle in both hands, pointed forward, and aimed it at Wang Feng, who was charging at the front.
“come over.”
Wang Feng braked suddenly, and the people behind him also stopped.
Han Xuetao stared at Wang Feng, his voice unhurried: “You just said I only know how to hit women and throw mud at people? Come here and see what else I can do.”
Wang Feng’s face turned a deep purplish-red, and he opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word.
No one dared to make a move.
The broken beer bottle pointed at them, the sharp shards of glass exuding a menacing aura that made none of them dare to move.
Han Xuetao looked at them and spoke again: “A bunch of cowards. Do you submit?”
Still, no one spoke up.
Han Xuetao tossed the broken bottle into the charcoal bag, then bent down and grabbed two unopened bottles of beer, stuffing them into the bag as well. He turned and winked at Li Man and Ma Hui: “Let’s go.”
Li Man snapped out of her daze and felt incredibly satisfied. She raised her chin, swept her gaze across the faces of those people, and her eyes were filled with “You don’t deserve it.”
Ma Hui grinned slyly and waved to the group, “Thanks to the students from Class Two for buying us beer!”
The three of them swaggered away.
…
Back at his barbecue grill, Ma Hui put the bag on the ground and put his arm around Han Xuetao’s shoulder.
“Taozi! You were so damn cool just now!” His eyes lit up. “I used to think you were better at studying than me, but now I’m completely convinced! Didn’t you see the look on Wang Feng and Zhu Yan’s faces? They looked like they’d swallowed flies!”
Luo Diandian was still worried and hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Ma Hui recounted the story vividly, laughing heartily at the part where Han Xuetao kicked over the barbecue grill. He then gestured a couple more times as he described pointing a broken beer bottle at the group.
After hearing this, Luo Diandian looked at Han Xuetao with wide eyes: “Really? You’re amazing!”
Li Man added fuel to the fire: “Wang Feng and Zhu Yan and their ilk are no good at studying, no good at fighting, and they still want to stand up for girls? How shameful!” As she spoke, she patted her chest. The scene of Han Xuetao kicking the barbecue grill and intimidating Class Two with a beer bottle had greatly shocked her, and her heart was pounding whenever she thought about it.
Han Xuetao didn’t reply. He squatted down, poured the charcoal out of the bag, and put the bottles of beer aside. He looked up at Ma Hui: “Ma Hui, it’s time to show off your skills. Start a fire, let’s grill!”
Ma Hui rolled up his sleeves: “Just you wait and see!”
The charcoal fire quickly rose, and Ma Hui laid the meat skewers he brought from home onto the iron mesh. The sizzling sound immediately began, the smoke rose, and the aroma started to spread.
Luo Diandian leaned over and smelled it: “Wow, it smells so good!”
Ma Hui proudly flipped the meat skewers, his technique was indeed skilled, flipping them when he should and brushing on the sauce when he should, it was obvious that he had practiced at home.
The first batch was baked, and several people rushed to try it.
“Mmmâ!” Luo Diandian mumbled through her chewing meat, “Mahou, your cooking is pretty good!”
Li Man nodded in agreement: “That’s really good, much better than your studies.”
Ma Hui was so happy he almost blew snot bubbles from his nose: “Of course! My mom said if I don’t get into university, I’ll go home and learn how to barbecue from her. Then I can open a shop and make a fortune!”
Han Xuetao ate the meat and said with a smile, “From now on, I’ll call you the King of Donglin Barbecue.”
Ma Hui slapped his thigh: “I’ll take this title! From now on, if you want to eat here, just come find me at the Agricultural College! I’ve already found out, there’s a hill behind the Agricultural College, a barbecue paradise during the day, and at nightâ”
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.
Luo Diandian pressed further, “What about at night?”
Ma Hui chuckled twice and lowered his voice: “At night, it’s a sacred place for lovers to go to the woods. Students in the agricultural college call it the Holy Mountain.”
The group of people were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Han Xuetao shook his head with a laugh: “Then we’ll have to look for you during the day. We probably won’t be able to find you at night; you’ve probably gone into the woods by yourself.”
Taking advantage of having drunk some beer, Ma Hui stuck out his neck and said, “Taozi, if you’re going to come, come during the day! Dian Dian can come at night!”
Luo Diandian was holding a bamboo skewer in her hand. Upon hearing this, her eyes widened and she stabbed him with a skewer: “You monkey, if you keep talking nonsense because you’re drunk, believe me, I’ll stab you to death with this skewer!”
Han Xuetao and Li Man looked at them and smiled at each other.
…
Just then, three people walked over.
The man in front was a young man in his early twenties, with a handsome appearance, wearing a white shirt, and looking steady and mature. Behind him were two peopleâWang Feng and Zhu Yan.
Han Xuetao and the others stood up, their smiles fading.
The young man walked over with a kind smile on his face and waved his hand, saying, “Sit down, everyone, sit down.”
He glanced at the meat skewers in Ma Hui’s hand, then looked at the group of people, and introduced himself: “My name is Cheng Jia. I used to be at No. 1 High School, a few years ahead of you. I’m currently at Ninghai University and will be graduating soon. I heard that some of you also got into Ninghai University, so I’m your senior.”
He stepped aside, revealing Wang Feng and Zhu Yan behind him: “I brought these two over to apologize to you. What we did about stealing the charcoal earlier was wrong. Although we’re not in the same class, we’re both from No. 1 Middle School, so there was no need for that.”
He put down the bag he was carrying, which contained several skewers of grilled food: “I brought you some grilled food as an apology.”
Everyone was surprised.
Cheng Jia patted Wang Feng and Zhu Yan: “Don’t just stand there, apologize. You two started by taking their charcoal. Men should admit their mistakes.”
Wang Feng and Zhu Yan said in hushed tones, “I’m sorry.”
Cheng Jia nodded, looking at Han Xuetao and the others: “Alright, they’ve apologized. Whether you accept it or not, please state your opinion. If you feel their attitude isn’t sincere enough, then I’ll have them express it again. After all, as their senior, I also bear some responsibility; I was only gone for a short while, and this happened.”
Having said that, Li Man felt a little embarrassed. She glanced at Han Xuetao, then at Cheng Jia, and said:
“We have received the apology. It was just a minor conflict between classmates, and we also made some mistakes on our part.”
Cheng Jia smiled: “Li Man, right? This year’s top scorer, class monitor of Class One. I heard you’re going to Ninghai University too?”
Li Man nodded.
Cheng Jia continued, “One of your classmates did go a bit too far just now.” He glanced at Han Xuetao, his tone still gentle, “Kicking the charcoal was very dangerous. What if a spark had hit someone and caused burns? Pointing a broken beer bottle at someone afterward was even more inappropriate. It’s fortunate that no one was injured. If something had happened, we’d all be going to university soon, and one wrong step could have ruined everything.”
He looked at Han Xuetao and said, “Hey classmate, why don’t you apologize too? Let’s let this go and we can still be alumni when we meet again.”
Han Xuetao stood there and said calmly, “I’m sorry, I don’t have the habit of apologizing.”
The atmosphere immediately turned cold after those words were spoken.
Wang Feng and Zhu Yan glared at him, their eyes practically spitting fire.
Cheng Jia seemed surprised by the young man’s lack of courtesy. He paused for a moment, then nodded, his smile turning serious: “Then forget it. Apologies should come from the heart. I don’t like forcing people.”
He turned to Li Man and said with a smile, “Li Man, you are the top student in our high school and also the class monitor. When you get to Ninghai University, I will recommend you for the student union. Although you can’t be the student union president in your freshman year, you still have a chance to compete for several vice minister positions. Several teachers praised you when you came back this time. I hope that when you get to Ninghai University, you can bring glory to our high school.”
Li Man’s eyes lit up: “Thank you, senior brother. I will work hard.”
Cheng Jia nodded, not glancing at Han Xuetao again, and said to the others, “You guys have fun, we’re leaving.”
He left with Wang Feng and Zhu Yan.
Once they were out of sight, Luo Diandian was the first to speak: “Wow, that senior brother is such a nice guy!”
Ma Hui nodded in agreement: “Yes, that’s quite generous. They took the initiative to apologize and even brought gifts.”
Li Man looked at Han Xuetao and couldn’t help but ask, “He just asked you to apologize, why didn’t you take the opportunity to apologize? That way you wouldn’t have made things awkward.”
Han Xuetao picked up a skewer of meat, but didn’t bite into it right away. He glanced at it first, and his lips twitched, as if he were smiling, but it didn’t quite look like it.
“Apologize? Apologize to whom?”
Li Man was stunned.
He tore off a piece of meat without even lifting his eyelids: “Right and wrong are determined by whoever wins. What right does the loser have to demand an apology from the winner? Mouths aren’t for apologizing; they’re for eating meat.”
Li Man opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.
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