Blood Neon

Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Bullies the Weak, Fears the Strong

"You f***ing bastard!"

Wang Ze cursed angrily.

But before he even had a chance to fight back, the two guys from the opposing side had already retreated beyond his striking range, covering each other's flanks. Their faces wore leisurely, mocking expressions as they looked at him.

Their own group only had three guys and one girl to begin with. Right now, they stood in a confrontational formation — Wang Ze in the center, flanked by the two other boys.

And as was typical in these situations, the girl would usually step back and make room — one of those unspoken rules in fights.

He glared forward, panting heavily several times before barely recovering from the surprise attack.

"What’s wrong?"

Zhou Tianming stood in front of him, arms crossed over his chest, looking down at him with a smile as he kept taunting.

"Keep swearing — what, just one line and you’re done?"

"You motherf—!"

But this time, it wasn’t Wang Ze who said it.

Before their leader could even open his mouth, one of the lackeys beside him suddenly struck out.

The lackey shouted as he threw a punch forward.

Truth be told, it was a fairly quick punch — but Zhang Qiming, who had been on alert for a side attack, reacted swiftly and managed to block it.

He even used the momentum, grabbed the opponent’s arm, and took advantage of the unstable stance to shove the guy back a few steps.

The opponent now looked utterly humiliated and off balance.

From an outsider’s perspective, this whole scene made the Two Mings look more like the troublemaking thugs who came to pick a fight.

But then again, that wasn’t wrong either — they were indeed here to start something. And to most of the "normal" students, the two groups probably didn’t look all that different anyway.

Sure, if one were to use rhetorical devices to describe Wang Ze and his crew, they'd be painted as "bullies of men and women," "repeat offenders," "the type that bullies the weak but fears the strong," "a menace to the community."

But in the end, they were nothing more than a bunch of schoolyard punks.

They did bully men and women, sure — but what kind of men, and what kind of women?

They feared the strong and picked on the weak — but which weak ones did they bully, and which strong ones did they fear?

That… was up for debate.

Simply put, the ones they bullied were always those quiet kids who had poor social connections, few friends, and were weak and isolated.

There were usually a few such students in every class, and more often than not, they themselves were already dealing with serious psychological or emotional issues.

To be specific—

Some of them were naturally introverted, timid, and didn’t know how to interact with others.

Some were plain-looking and had been used to being discriminated against and isolated since childhood, unable to speak up for themselves and left without a single friend in class.

Others had a bad reputation due to certain incidents, becoming targets of hostility and exclusion — most commonly over those tangled and messy emotional entanglements between boys and girls.

…These “misfits” were all potential targets of school bullying.

As for the rest of the “normal people,” they usually chose to keep their distance, treating it as none of their business and staying uninvolved.

Just like zebras grazing peacefully to the side after watching a lion take down the weak and sick stragglers at the back of the herd.

From a certain point of view, these people carried an “original sin” — it was somehow reasonable that they weren’t liked.

Because, during adolescence, not fitting in was a kind of original sin, wasn’t it?

If that sounds too sensational — after all, someone who’s just shy might still manage to make friends — then try imagining it like this:

A boy with odd behavior, a sleazy appearance, always making outrageous comments, acting like he’s somehow superior while looking down on everyone else as mere mortals.

A girl who’s neurotic and overweight, constantly cutting herself with a small blade, her arms covered in the fresh, pale scars of newly healed wounds.

A skinny, dark-skinned boy who looked older than his age and was short in stature, always shrinking into his seat in silence after class, with no one knowing what he was thinking.

How many people would willingly approach them and be their friend?

How many would take the initiative to have a heartfelt conversation with them?

And if one day, that same erratic, arrogant kid with the off-putting attitude accidentally bumped into the top dog from the next class in the hallway and got beaten up for it—

What would you think?

What would the other classmates think?

Maybe someone would go and offer him some comfort. Maybe the class rep or the class boss would step in to mediate. But did they really feel sympathy for him?

The human heart is complex, and yet often very simple.

One-third apathy.

One-third helplessness.

And three-thirds of “he had it coming.”

Yes.

Most people would just stay seated at their desks, momentarily pausing their conversation with friends, then turn to look toward the hallway outside the classroom, excitement lighting up their faces as they gathered to watch the scene unfold.

It was another day when the "everyday" turned "not-so-everyday."

.

So, if they really had been enemies to all the normal students, they would’ve been taken down by the crowd long ago.

They picked on those who were easy to bully.

They picked on those who could be bullied.

They picked on those who should be bullied.

That was the operating principle of punks.

And school bullying was often long-term and sustained. In other words, if it ended after just one incident, it usually didn’t even count as bullying.

So naturally, at some point, someone had to come in and interrupt that ongoing spellcasting, right?

As luck would have it—

Someone wanted to throw a punch.

And someone wanted to punch the one who wanted to throw a punch.

It was all that simple.

Zhang Qiming cast a provocative glance at the guy he’d just shoved away.

Other than Wang Ze, the two others in his group stood around 175 to 180 cm tall — about the same height as Zhang Qiming, with similar builds.

But since neither side actually intended to tear the situation wide open right here and now, everyone’s moves remained pretty restrained.

That said, Wang Ze’s side was clearly at a disadvantage now, and there was no telling if he might still try something to save face.

Zhang Qiming stayed alert while provoking them further.

"What’s wrong? You down one guy and suddenly you forgot how to fight?"

The other side looked furious upon hearing that, but not a single one of them moved.

And that brought things back to the question — what kind of ‘strong’ did they fear?

Zhang Qiming, Zhou Tianming, and the class's top dogs…

Were they the "strong" ones?

What a joke.

They were just “relatively tough,” that’s all.

It was more that dealing with them was a hassle, and they always acted like hard-headed fools unafraid of getting smashed — that’s what made most punks reluctant to provoke them directly.

But if the right opportunity came along, and they had their people waiting — calling out to you the moment you stepped out of the school gates, surrounding you in layers inside and out — would you still act so tough then?

So, what were they really afraid of?

The answer was: “the school.”

Or rather, the rules of the adult world — symbolized by entities like the school and society — the kind of rules that couldn’t be defied.

They might talk big, saying things like “worst case, I’ll just drop out,” but in reality, they still chose to follow school rules at least to the minimum degree, just to make it to graduation.

That’s why when they did act out, they would usually hold back, being careful not to cross the line — so they wouldn’t actually end up being sent to juvie.

Because of this, in such a public setting, fully aware of how many eyes were around them, they definitely wouldn’t want things to escalate any further.

They also knew they were “the ones in the wrong” today, so they had only come to provoke Zhang Qiming a bit.

They hadn’t expected the other side to skip the trash talk and throw hands first — turning the tables on them completely.

Now Wang Ze was both furious and humiliated, but with nowhere to vent that anger — utterly miserable.

He could only glare viciously at the other side, but that just made him look more like a stray dog who had just lost a fight.

Zhang Qiming quite enjoyed being glared at like that — all his earlier frustration had completely vanished, and now all he needed to do was stay on guard for any “reciprocal courtesy” from their side later.

And really, what was there to be afraid of? That guy probably didn’t even realize that his so-called “backing” had likely already been digested and dealt with by now.

He patted Zhou Tianming’s shoulder and gestured toward the surrounding crowd.

"Alright, alright, that’s enough."

There might’ve been a teacher from the Moral Education Office watching from the crowd, but at times like these, they usually wouldn’t intervene unless things really got out of hand.

So, while the teachers still had no intention of stepping in, it was time for the two of them to make their exit.

“Ha, feel better now?”

Da Ming asked.

“Yeah, that hit the spot.”

Zhang Qiming replied with a smile.

.

From Wang Ze’s point of view, watching those two act like the match was already in the bag, talking to themselves as if no one else existed — it couldn’t have been more irritating.

“Zeke, wanna go?”

One of his lackeys leaned in and whispered.

Wang Ze glanced off into the distance. If they were to make a move now…

It wasn’t that they couldn’t, but it definitely felt like the risks were a little too high.

“Forget it. A wise man doesn’t fight when he’s at a disadvantage. We’ll get them back later.”

He said it to his lackey — but also to himself.

“Alright, we’ll follow your lead.”

The other guy nodded too.

“Mm.”

He put on a front of having everything under control, trying to preserve that last shred of dignity.

But still—

Letting the other side just walk away like that didn’t sit well with him.

After thinking it over, he figured he could at least disgust them a little before they left.

His eyes shifted — and an idea came to him.

.

“Heh.”

He looked at the Two Mings and laughed.

“I don’t usually waste time arguing with idiots.”

“What a coincidence. Neither do we.”

Zhang Qiming smiled right back.

“Yeah, let’s go, let’s go.”

Da Ming chimed in beside him.

Wang Ze watched as the two of them turned to leave.

“Oh right, Zhang Qiming.”

He suddenly called out.

“How’s your little sister doing?”