Being forced to grow like a pig? But I'm immune to the consequences!

He scrambled to his feet in a disheveled state, humiliated in front of so many people. Enraged, he roared with bloodshot eyes and lunged at Zhang Lin. The two instantly began to wrestle.

Both were at the fourth level of Body Tempering, their strengths were evenly matched, and neither was willing to back down for a moment.

Zhou Wei may have learned a few fighting techniques, but at this moment he was blinded by rage and didn't care about any rules. He just threw punches randomly, but he was a bit faster than Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin came from the outer city and used to be timid. Now, having reached the fourth level of Body Tempering, he has gained more confidence and his temperament has become a bit tougher. But if a fight really breaks out, he still instinctively thinks of defense first and dares not make a move rashly.

It wasn't until Zhou Wei punched him in the face, the burning pain shooting through him, that Zhang Lin's eyes turned completely red.

He grabbed Zhou Wei's conspicuous head of yellow curly hair—the hair was fluffy and soft, surprisingly easy to grab. Then, he clenched his fist and slammed it into Zhou Wei's face again and again.

In just a short while, Zhou Wei was beaten black and blue, with blood streaming down his face.

The scene before them stunned the onlookers, and for a moment no one dared to step forward to stop it. Xu Fei and his companions retreated repeatedly, unwilling to get involved in trouble, and certainly not willing to step forward to help.

Seeing that the other party had not made a move, the others from Suoguli did not intervene in the fight between the two.

Ning Yi frowned and quickly said, "Quick! Pull them apart! If the martial arts academy instructors see this, we'll be in big trouble!"

The crowd then snapped out of their daze and rushed forward to forcibly separate the two who were wrestling.

" "Damn it! You piece of trash from out of town, how dare you hit me! I'll kill you!" Zhou Wei was being dragged along, but he continued to struggle, spewing profanities like a mad dog.

"You're just a cowardly bully who only knows how to put on airs," Zhang Lin said coldly, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and take Zhou Wei away! I'll handle the rest," Ning Yi urged Xu Fei and the others.

"I told you from the beginning that I was paying, but look what happened." At this moment, Liu Zhi sighed helplessly, seemingly trying to take the opportunity to establish a persona.

"Then why don't you go upstairs and pay for it? What are you pretending for afterward?" Zhao Dele showed no mercy and sneered.

Liu Zhi's face stiffened, and he had no choice but to leave with Zhou Wei and the others, cursing and swearing.

Ning Yi looked at Zhang Lin and the others and asked, "The fare is 132 in total, right? I'll pay you."

Soguli shook his head and added, "Not only the transportation fee, but also Zhou Wei and Xu Fei's meal expenses, 222 each, totaling 444."

Ning Yi was taken aback when she heard this, clearly not expecting there to be a question about the cost of the meal, but she didn't say anything and readily took out her money to pay the bill.

"Anything else?"

"That's all."

After saying that, Ning Yi turned around and left with the girls.

Zhao Dele and the others exchanged glances, patted Zhang Lin on the shoulder, and led him back to the dormitory.

The dormitory was quiet.

Zhang Lin sat on the edge of the bed, head down, silent. Cola Novels, your portable library, contains more than ten thousand volumes. His chest felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, suffocating him. He asked himself if he had ever intentionally provoked anyone, yet trouble seemed like an inescapable shadow, clinging to him one after another.

"What are you daydreaming about, Zhang Lin?" Zhao Dele walked over casually, still with that carefree smile on his face. He plopped down next to him and patted his shoulder heavily. "Alright, today your older brother will be your sucker and give you some life advice."

He suddenly straightened his face and pointed at Zhang Lin seriously: "Let me make this clear beforehand, this is purely for sharing, not lecturing. These days, teaching people how to do things will shorten your lifespan."

"I won't go into the other pleasantries," Zhao Dele said, his tone turning serious. "Those people today, to put it bluntly, look down on us from the bottom of their hearts. In their eyes, offering to pay is something lower-class people do to curry favor with higher-class people; if they did, it would be beneath them. Look at how they acted just now. If they were having dinner with those girls, they'd probably be fighting over the bill and thinking it was too slow."

"They look down on us, so naturally they won't bother pretending in front of us, nor will they care about our feelings. They just want to take advantage of us." He scoffed, his words full of disdain. "Of course, with their character, they're not exactly generous at all. To put it bluntly, in this inner city, they're nobody special, just some insignificant people who can't be brought up. Real big shots wouldn't bother with small fry like us."

"These people are typical scoundrels. They say one thing to your face and another behind your back, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, arrogant at first and obsequious later. They just like to play petty tricks, talk a lot, stick together for warmth, and only pick on the weak." Zhao Dele patted Zhang Lin on the back, his tone solemn. "There's no need to be polite to these kinds of people, and even less need to tolerate them. They can't give us any benefits at all. The only thing we need to be wary of is their underhanded tricks and petty sabotage behind our backs."

So don't be afraid of them, and don't overthink things.

At this point, Zhao Dele suddenly sighed, his tone tinged with self-deprecation: "I, Zhao Dele, may not be good at much else, but I'm quite good at judging people. In this world, sucking up to people is an art; you have to know who you're sucking up to. Like Yan Liang, trying to suck up to Zhou Wei and his gang is a complete waste of time. They'll just think you're trying to curry favor and will look down on you even more. If you really want to suck up, you have to suck up to those who can genuinely help you out."

"I, Zhao Dele, will be a true villain, never one of those hypocritical and despicable people!"

These words were so direct, almost blatant, that Tu Nan and Suo Gu exchanged bewildered glances. Neither of them had expected Zhao Dele to analyze everything so thoroughly and speak so frankly.

"Brother Dele, hearing what you said makes me feel much better." Zhang Lin raised his head, and the gloom in his eyes dissipated a bit.

"However..." he changed the subject, frowning and looking worried, "If we fight in front of the martial arts academy, won't they punish me?"

Zhao Dele chuckled upon hearing this, patted his shoulder, and smiled confidently: "Don't worry, they're not stupid. If this really escalates to the martial arts academy, you won't be the only one punished; they'll all be disciplined too. Even if they had the guts, they wouldn't dare to complain."

He changed the subject, his tone becoming serious again: "But you have to be careful. I reckon they'll start spreading rumors and trying to trip us up with some underhanded tricks first thing tomorrow morning. We have to be on guard against that."

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