Chapter 10#
No. 10 chapter#
Three days later, Zhao Xing got exactly what he wanted—his reputation spread far and wide.
Building 28 Dormitory, College 7, and Factory 5 were all filled with his legends.
But… it was a kind of “fame” he had never imagined.
【Factory 5, Woodworking Area】
Zhao Xing wore a mask, expressionless, going through his assembly line work.
Next to him, a dozen or so inmates were sawing wood while loudly gossiping.
“Did you hear about that new guy, Zhao Xing?”
“The one who had 300 points deducted for a fight?”
“300? Damn, he’s loaded!”
“No, that 300 wasn’t his money—he and his wife pulled a honey trap to get it!”
“A honey trap?!”
“Yeah, he tried to sell his wife for 300, got the money, then ran off with her. And he took on eight guys by himself—it was insane! The sucker who paid was absolutely livid… But Zhao Xing? He was so thrilled he started going at it with his wife right in the interrogation center bathroom…”
“Who’s his wife?”
“Guy named Luo Mingshan, long hair, ridiculously good-looking. A lot of people had their eyes on him, but once Zhao Xing showed up, they all backed off!”
“Heard Zhao Xing got into three fights in two days, each one more brutal than the last, all because of his wife.”
“Ah, so he’s one of those whipped husbands?”
“How good-looking is his wife, really?”
“Let’s just say he’s gorgeous, but don’t get any ideas—Zhao Xing dotes on him like crazy. Just one look at his wife and you might get your eyes gouged out.”
“…Tsk, you don’t find men like that anymore.”
“What ‘good man’? Don’t you know Zhao Xing beat his wife as soon as he got in? Whether he dotes on her or not, the domestic violence is real. Even a scumbag like me knows not to hit my wife, but that Zhao guy beat her within an inch of her life!”
“Don’t talk crap if you don’t know. He hit her because he found out she was fooling around with someone else after coming in. But after he beat her, he locked that bastard in a dark room that same night and beat him too.”
“First beat his wife, then beat her lover. She cheated on him, and he still won’t leave her. He protects her with his life. That’s true love!”
“But I heard she didn’t cheat—it was a misunderstanding. That ’lover’ was just a scumbag who had the hots for Luo Mingshan. Now the guy’s scared out of his mind; he shivers at the mere mention of Luo Mingshan’s name.”
“That’s right, it was a misunderstanding. Zhao Xing regretted it like crazy! Heard he held his wife in his arms during that one-vs-eight fight in the cafeteria, protecting her with his life. That’s his way of atoning!”
“Hey hey, I also heard Zhao Xing deliberately got himself locked up just because his wife was here!”
“Ah, is this what they call a fairy-tale romance…”
“But I still wanna know how good-looking his wife is.”
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing slammed the electric saw onto the ground, yanked down his mask, and swept a cold glare over that bunch of gossiping men, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
“All of you, shut the fuck up!”
The dozen or so gossips immediately fell silent.
But just as he picked up the saw to get back to work, he heard someone mutter—
“See? He’s pissed. Who told you to bring up his wife? What his wife looks like is none of your damn business…”
Zhao Xing: “…”
Fuck this. He can’t stand this shithole for another minute.
Just then, Zhao Xing’s work quota for the day was already done. Watching the meager repentance points increase on his electronic card, he tossed the saw aside and turned to leave.
This kind of rumor was so absurd that Zhao Xing wanted to smash the heads of everyone spreading it.
If only one person was spreading it, Zhao Xing could take him down with one hand.
If ten people were spreading it, he could still beat them into submission with some effort.
But when hundreds or even thousands were spreading the same rumor?
Zhao Xing was helpless.
When a rumor spreads this wide, there’s no way to clear it up.
Even if Zhao Xing grabbed a loudspeaker and yelled, “Luo Mingshan is not my wife!” nobody would believe him.
And it would make him look like a complete fool.
.
Zhao Xing left the Woodworking Area and went to the Stone Area to find Luo Mingshan.
When he arrived, Luo Mingshan was polishing a stone table, still wearing a mask.
Whether it was the mask hiding Luo Mingshan’s beauty or the recent gossip making people wary, Zhao Xing watched for a while and didn’t see anyone come up to flirt or harass him.
Soon, Luo Mingshan finished the stone table. He put down his tools, grabbed the table leg, and carried the table into another room.
Zhao Xing rubbed his eyes.
…Wait, is the table hollow?
Others were also polishing tables nearby, but it took at least two people to carry each one away.
Just how strong is Luo Mingshan?!
Zhao Xing watched as Luo Mingshan carried the table inside with one hand while everyone else gave way, their gazes tinged with respect.
Zhao Xing: “…”
He might have just figured out the real reason nobody bothered Luo Mingshan.
Two minutes later, Luo Mingshan came back out—but so did their cellmate, Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue followed Luo Mingshan toward the exit. The area was noisy, and Zhang Yue’s voice was loud enough: “…Whether he misunderstood you or not, he still hit you. Domestic violence is either zero or infinite. I hope you won’t be fooled by him. Zhao Xing is really no good…”
Luo Mingshan stopped in his tracks and turned around.
Zhao Xing couldn’t see his expression or hear what he said, but it seemed like he uttered a few brief words, making Zhang Yue shiver and immediately shut his mouth.
Luo Mingshan glanced at the time on the electronic clock on the wall, stopped paying Zhang Yue any attention, and walked quickly toward the exit, pulling off his gloves and mask as he went.
Zhao Xing stepped out from behind a pillar, and Luo Mingshan spotted him immediately.
His eyes lit up, and he jogged over to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing smoothed down his messy hair, his tone carrying a subtle annoyance. “Luo Luo, lately a lot of people have been calling you my wife. What do you think about that?”
Luo Mingshan’s eyes went wide, looking nervous. “…I, I explained to them, but they didn’t listen.”
Zhao Xing ground his teeth. This whole situation was such a pain in the ass.
Forget it. He’d deal with it later.
Zhao Xing took Luo Mingshan’s hand.
Both of them did rough work, but while Zhao Xing’s calluses had grown thicker, Luo Mingshan’s palms and fingertips were still soft and fair, without a single visible callus.
“That table that took other people working together to lift—you could pick it up with one hand. I never knew you were this strong, Luo Luo.”
Luo Mingshan’s breath caught. He murmured, “…No, not really. Some tables are light, some are heavy.”
Zhao Xing found a table near the water dispenser and sat down, tilting his chin. “Come here. Arm wrestle with me.”
Luo Mingshan: “Okay.”
Luo Mingshan’s hands weren’t small, but they felt smooth and soft when Zhao Xing gripped them. When they arm-wrestled, his strength was soft and weak; Zhao Xing pinned him down easily.
Zhao Xing frowned and flicked him impatiently on the forehead. “Put some force into it! If you don’t go all out this time, I’ll kill you.”
Luo Mingshan’s face turned pale. Finally, he used real strength against Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing was a little surprised. Luo Mingshan was actually that strong—Zhao Xing had to use all his power to barely win by a narrow margin.
He let go of Luo Mingshan’s hand and looked him up and down with undisguised disdain. “All that strength, and you still couldn’t handle someone like Zhang Sheng?”
Luo Mingshan thought for a moment before remembering that Zhang Sheng was the guy who had cornered him in the dorm on Zhao Xing’s first day.
Luo Mingshan lowered his eyes. “…I don’t know how to fight.”
He looked at Zhao Xing with a flicker of hope in his eyes. “Zhao-ge, will you teach me?”
Zhao Xing stood up and started walking away. “We’ll see.”
But as he said that, he was already thinking about it.
His reputation had been completely ruined by that idiot homosexual rumor. Now everything he did—fighting, getting violent—was supposedly because of his wife. His so-called “ferocity” was all due to other people coveting his wife…
If this kept up, he was finished.
K13 District had about 40,000 criminals spread across 20 colleges, and only the top 101 would be selected.
On average, a college with around 2,000 criminals would only pick about 5 people.
To be safe, Zhao Xing needed to at least rank in the top two “most vicious” people in College 7.
The difficulty was obvious.
And from what he’d gathered in the past couple of days, after the annual thought evaluation, some “troublemakers” who had acted wildly and committed all sorts of evils would disappear. But because the number was small and the evaluation period already saw the biggest population shifts, not many people noticed.
Most thought those people were transferred to other districts for further education or had connections to get them out.
Only Zhao Xing knew they were chosen to go “above ground.”
The annual thought evaluation was in June. It was already April. He didn’t have much time.
And the most important thing now was to salvage his reputation.
But “Luo Mingshan is Zhao Xing’s wife” had already been set in stone. Trying to clear it up would be useless. Zhao Xing decided to find another way.
He had originally planned to follow Su Ge’s example: recruit a bunch of underlings, make a grand entrance, build up momentum, and get results.
Then, when he led his gang to “wreak havoc everywhere,” people would naturally realize—
Zhao Xing wasn’t just someone who beat up people who coveted his wife. He beat up anyone he didn’t like.
Zhao Xing was a pure scumbag, a degenerate, a cancer on society.
As for who to recruit as underlings…
Even though Luo Mingshan was cowardly and morally questionable, at least he had great strength and potential for development. Plus, in others’ eyes, he was already tied to Zhao Xing. So Zhao Xing reluctantly accepted Luo Mingshan as one of his underlings.
But there was a problem.
Recruiting underlings required money—or, in K13, repentance points.
For example, Su Ge’s underlings all had about 100 points in their accounts. That was why they were willing to risk their lives for him.
But Zhao Xing was broke.
Was there anyone in the world who would risk being electrocuted just to “run rampant” with Zhao Xing?
No.
So… ahem, Luo Mingshan wasn’t just his underling; he might be his only underling.
Yeah. It was time to put “reforming Luo Mingshan” on the agenda.
Zhao Xing sat in the Sun Plaza, basking in the orange-tinted “electronic sunset,” then straightened up, patted Luo Mingshan on the shoulder, and put on a serious face.
“Alright, baby. Repeat after me—say: ‘Don’t fucking touch me!’”
Luo Mingshan was stunned for a moment. His cheeks flushed, his eyes sparkled, and his voice was soft and gentle.
“…Don’t fucking touch me.”
Zhao Xing: “…”
Zhao Xing looked into his clear, autumn-water-like eyes and felt like Luo Mingshan wasn’t saying “don’t touch me” but rather “I’m soft, I’m nice to touch, and no matter how you touch me, I won’t get mad.”
Fuck.
Zhao Xing ground his teeth and pinched his cheek.
Sure enough, it was soft and pleasant to touch. His eyes were bright, he was obedient and docile, and he wouldn’t get angry.
Zhao Xing was in despair.
He had only one underling, and he was this soft?!
Without a crew to back him up, when would Zhao Xing ever get a reputation for being evil?!
Zhao Xing buried his face in Luo Mingshan’s neck and muttered, “Baby, can you be a little fiercer?”
Luo Mingshan felt a wave of heat rise from his neck to his cheeks.
His ears burned, and his voice got even softer. “Okay.”
When it came to other people, I’ll definitely be very fierce.
Just then, a pair of young men passed by, whispering and pointing at Zhao Xing and Luo Mingshan.
Though their voices were barely a murmur, Luo Mingshan could still hear them clearly.
“Look, isn’t that the famous ‘Mad Dog Beauty’ couple!”
“Wow… the beauty is really beautiful… but I’m straight. I’d rather know what the Mad Dog looks like. Taking on eight guys by himself is insane! I’d love to follow him, how badass would that be!”
“Let’s move a bit closer. We should be able to see his profile. I heard Zhao Xing is pretty handsome—”
The passerby’s voice cut off abruptly.
Because he clearly saw that long-haired beauty lift his head, his eyes boring straight into the two of them. Those pitch-black eyes were like bottomless abysses, evoking the deepest fears within, and now they radiated undisguised frost.
Those beautifully shaped lips moved slightly.
Though no sound came out.
They could clearly “hear” the cold, venomous words.
“Get lost. Don’t fucking look.”