At 8:40 PM, the second period of evening self-study at Huayang No. 3 Middle School had just ended.
Zhao Mingxuan from Class 2 of the ninth grade couldn't wait to leave his seat and walk out of the classroom.
He had only taken a few steps before Wang Yipeng stopped him.
"Are you really sure you want to go find that troublemaker?"
"Of course. You've asked that several times, isn't it annoying? Stop being so wishy-washy, do you still want to successfully get a meal card for Su's Little Dining Table?"
"Of course I do, that Small Restaurant is delicious and not expensive. But Class 6 is notoriously known throughout the school as a gathering place for bad students, and that troublemaker is even harder to deal with."
"If he were easy to deal with, I wouldn't be looking for him to cooperate."
"I didn't mean that, I'm just afraid we'll end up with nothing in the end."
"Oh, relax, I know what I'm doing."
Zhao Mingxuan patted Wang Yipeng's shoulder and walked with determined steps to the entrance of Class 6 of the ninth grade.
Inside the Class 6 classroom, it was a cacophony of noise, with students gathered in small groups.
Some were chatting, some were playing cards, and others were sharing comic books.
Only one person in the last row was sleeping with headphones on, his head on the desk, surrounded by an empty space, no one daring to approach.
"Hello, classmate, could you please call Shen Zhong for me? I have something to discuss with him."
It was Zhao Mingxuan's first time going to Class 6, and he was actually a bit nervous.
He had heard of Class 6's glorious deeds throughout the school.
Especially the notorious name of the troublemaker Shen Zhong, whose reputation preceded him: poor grades, bad temper, and a tendency to skip classes.
He was a constant headache for the teachers.
But he had one good quality: he was generous and had excellent social connections.
Not only did he have a group of followers in school, but he also knew many people outside of school.
If he could cooperate with Shen Zhong, recruiting people would become much simpler.
Otherwise, with Zhao Mingxuan and Wang Yipeng's limited social circle, it would be difficult to find people quickly.
Zhao Mingxuan had learned this from his sales-oriented father, who was always busy and rarely home.
"Shen Zhong?" The student who was called looked suspiciously at Zhao Mingxuan and Wang Yipeng, "Which class are you from? I don't think I've seen you before."
"Class 2," Zhao Mingxuan replied softly, watching the student's expression change slightly as he handed over a large bag of spicy strips, saying with a forced smile, "Thank you, classmate."
"Oh, from the top class, what a rare guest."
The student said sarcastically, but took the spicy strips without hesitation.
He just looked at Zhao Mingxuan again and coldly replied with two words: "Wait."
"Alright, alright, alright."
Zhao Mingxuan smiled and nodded, as if he hadn't heard the sarcasm.
Wang Yipeng's face behind him, however, looked much worse. He whispered, "Maybe we should just forget it and think of another way. Look at the attitude of the people in Class 6..."
"We're already here, and I've already contributed my spicy strips. If you want to leave, you go, but I'm not leaving."
Are you kidding? Money has already been spent, there's no reason to give up halfway.
He had to get something back.
Otherwise, wouldn't he be at a loss?
Zhao Mingxuan always remembered his father's motto: a person can endure anything, except being at a loss.
"I..."
Wang Yipeng's words were cut off by Zhao Mingxuan, "Don't say anything, he's coming."
A few seconds after he spoke, Shen Zhong walked over.
"You're looking for me?" He squinted, leaning against the door impatiently, yawning, his headphones hanging loosely around his neck.
His school uniform jacket was casually tied around his waist.
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm here to thank Brother Shen for his righteous help last time. I'd like to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."
Facing Shen Zhong, who was a head taller than him, Zhao Mingxuan felt a bit intimidated, but he still gathered his courage to say the excuse he had prepared in his mind.
"Huh?"
"You want to treat me to a meal?" Shen Zhong was slightly taken aback.
He was usually the one treating others, this was the first time someone wanted to treat him to a meal.
"That's right, thank you for helping us out last week outside of school."
Zhao Mingxuan quickly explained.
"Last week..." Shen Zhong straightened up and scratched his hair.
It seemed there was such an incident.
He just couldn't quite remember who he helped.
He only remembered a few thugs from outside school surrounding two students from the same school, demanding money.
"It was me and Wang Yipeng."
"If it weren't for your help, we would have not only lost our money but probably also gotten a beating."
Zhao Mingxuan nodded affirmatively, bumping Wang Yipeng, who was still standing there dumbfounded, with his hand.
"Uh... yes, yes, yes, thank you, Brother Shen, for saving us."
Wang Yipeng said dryly, not daring to look up at the person in front of him.
"It's a small matter, we're all from the same school, don't worry about it."
Shen Zhong happily waved his hand, directly pulling out two imported chocolates from his pocket and putting them into Zhao Mingxuan's hand, "Forget about treating me to a meal."
After saying that, he intended to walk back.
Zhao Mingxuan, who hadn't expected this development, was a bit stunned.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
It didn't happen like this in TV shows.
He quickly reached out and blocked Shen Zhong's path.
"Wait... Brother Shen."
"My dad always says that a person should be grateful."
"So, this thank-you meal, I must treat you, otherwise my conscience won't allow it."
Hearing this, Shen Zhong frowned slightly, but found it hard to get angry.
After all, the other person had good intentions.
He impatiently "tsk-ed" and nodded, "Fine, as you say."
"Thank you, Brother Shen, then I'll come find you for dinner after school tomorrow afternoon."
"Mm."
At the same time, the class bell rang.
Zhao Mingxuan and Wang Yipeng also returned to their own classes.
"How come I didn't know we were robbed last week?"
Wang Yipeng asked in a low voice, while the teacher hadn't entered the classroom yet.
"Shut up, from today onwards, we were."
"Huh?"
"This is my strategy, otherwise how else can we get closer?"
"But there's no need to treat him to a meal, right?"
"Are you stupid?" Zhao Mingxuan rolled his eyes in annoyance and continued, "If I don't treat him to a meal, how will he know how good Su's Little Dining Table is? If he doesn't know how good the Small Restaurant is, why would he be willing to promote and recruit people with us?"
"He's not short on money, his family has plenty, so he definitely won't be short on the cost of a meal card."
"But we are, aren't we? Can you come up with eight hundred yuan a month? And only for one dinner a day, buying nothing else?"
"That's why cooperating with him is the best. He definitely won't care about that little discount, and naturally, he won't compete with us."
Faced with Zhao Mingxuan's question, Wang Yipeng fell silent.
Their family backgrounds were similar; they could at most get four to five hundred yuan in pocket money each month.
Usually, buying snacks, drinks, comics, and such would pretty much use it all up.
Not to mention sometimes they would secretly go play video games together.
It really wasn't enough.
"You've always been smart, I'll listen to you."
"That's right, I won't let you be at a loss."
Zhao Mingxuan smiled proudly and shared a piece of imported chocolate from his pocket with Wang Yipeng.
Are you kidding? This plan was a good idea he had thought about for two class periods.
It was only because he and Wang Yipeng were good friends.
If it were someone else, Zhao Mingxuan wouldn't be so willing to explain all this.
He'd rather work alone.
