Students like him are always disliked by teachers. Hearing what he said, the teacher let out a sigh of relief. “Then what are you still sitting here for? Henry Brooks, take him to the infirmary!” After saying this, she shot him a glare and muttered under her breath, “So annoying, making a mess of blood everywhere!”

Then she pointed at Samuel Harris, “Why did you say that Sarah Thompson's face was cut by William Carter?” Samuel Harris said aggrievedly, “Just now I saw with my own eyes that William Carter...” But when he saw the look in William Carter's eyes, he forcibly swallowed the rest of his words. He turned to the teacher and said, “Y-yes, sorry, teacher, I shouldn't have lied. Sarah Thompson's face was cut by himself!”

“Next time, make sure you see clearly before telling me.” The teacher turned to William Carter and said, “William, the midterm exams are coming up soon. How is your review going?”

William Carter stood up respectfully and answered, “Teacher, don't worry! I am confident I can get first place in the grade.”

Having a student like William Carter is a source of pride for any teacher. With a student like him in the class, he would feel superior even when standing among other teachers. Smiling with satisfaction, he patted William Carter on the shoulder and said, “William, working hard at your studies is a good thing. But you need to take care of your health, don't overwork yourself, understand?”

William Carter nodded obediently. “Thank you for your concern, teacher. I will take care!”

The teacher let William Carter sit down and said to Samuel Harris, “Go get a mop and clean up the blood in the classroom.” Samuel Harris had resigned himself by now. He would rather offend the teacher than tell the truth, because he felt that the current William Carter was even scarier than the teacher. The teacher stood in the classroom for a while, and only left after seeing Samuel Harris finish cleaning the floor. The classroom was unusually quiet. Every student sat at their desk, feeling as if a heavy stone was pressing on their chest, making it hard to breathe. It was Nancy Clark who finally broke the silence, looking at her deskmate and asking, “How did you become so ruthless?”

William Carter replied indifferently, “Because I realized that only by being like this can I avoid being bullied by others.”

“But even if Sarah Thompson is a bit bad, you went too far. That wound is so big, it will probably leave a scar on his face, right?” Nancy Clark felt that William Carter had gone overboard.

William Carter smiled and said something inexplicable: “A person's life is already predestined by the heavens. No matter how hard you try, you can't change your fate.” After saying this, he lay down on his desk and ignored the puzzled Nancy Clark beside him.

After a while, Sarah Thompson and Henry Brooks came back from the infirmary. Sarah Thompson had a four-inch strip of gauze taped across his nose, with faint traces of blood visible on it. When Sarah Thompson walked past William Carter, he stopped, bent over respectfully, and bowed. “Brother Dong, from now on, you're my boss. I'll follow you!”

The fat guy who used to bully William Carter all the time—Sarah Thompson—from this moment on became his most loyal bodyguard. No one knows how many scars on his body were from taking hits for William Carter, but that's a story for later.

【Volume One: Youthful Passion】 Chapter 3

The next day at noon, in the restroom of No. 2 Middle School.

“Fatty, I heard you let that loser from your class cut your face, and now you're following him. Is that true?” A tall guy with a cigarette dangling from his mouth tilted his head and asked Sarah Thompson. Sarah Thompson kept a straight face. “If you fucking call him a loser again, I'll beat you to death!”

The tall guy raised his eyebrows, grabbed the fat on Sarah Thompson's face and shook it back and forth. “Idiot, do you know who you're talking to?”

Sarah Thompson knocked his hand away and glared. “Fuck you, George Miller, you think I'm afraid of you? Don't think you can act tough just because you know a few people!”

George Miller sneered, “You're something, kid. After school today, you and that idiot wait for me in the classroom. If you dare leave early, I'll break your legs!”

Sarah Thompson stared into his eyes. “I'll wait for you. I'm just afraid you won't show up.”

Back in the classroom, Sarah Thompson told William Carter what had just happened. William Carter asked Sarah Thompson, “Who is George Miller? What does he do?” “He's that tall guy who used to hang out with me all the time, the one who helped me rob you last time.” At this, he glanced cautiously at William Carter, and seeing that he didn't care, continued, “That's George Miller. He started running with gangs back in elementary school and has a bunch of guys under him. Now he's the leader of the delinquents in Class 6, Grade 9.”

William Carter nodded and asked, “How many people can you get?” Sarah Thompson thought for a moment and said, “I can get five or six reliable ones. The rest are just fence-sitters who'll be the first to run if things go south.”

William Carter said, “Alright, go get those reliable guys and bring them to me.” Sarah Thompson agreed and ran out.

6 p.m., second floor classroom of No. 2 Middle School.

Sarah Thompson stood at the back of the classroom, picked up a chair, and smashed it hard onto the floor. Bang! A loud crash echoed down the hallway. The chair was smashed to pieces. Sarah Thompson bent down, picked up a two-foot-long wooden stick, and walked over to William Carter's desk. “Brother Dong, take this. It'll come in handy if a fight breaks out.”

William Carter shook his head. “I don't need it.” Sarah Thompson didn't dare say anything else and put the stick under a desk—if the boss didn't want it, he'd keep it for himself. Not long after, the tightly closed classroom door was kicked open. The sudden noise startled Sarah Thompson. He turned to see George Miller leading seven or eight people into the classroom. “Well, you two really have guts, actually waiting here for me!” George Miller turned to the people behind him and laughed loudly, “Haha—look at these two idiots!”