Chapter 023: At the Zenith of Glory

After a heated quarrel, Zhang Tan felt a surge of satisfaction; life, after all, required excitement. A life without stimulation was nothing but stagnant water—dull and lifeless. But with a little chaos, the colors of existence grew richer, and in the midst of these thrills, Zhang Tan found his own image rising higher and higher. He could already imagine how, in the eyes of his classmates, his reputation for loyalty had been firmly cemented.

It was an age of youthful vigor.

During evening study hall, he was so exhilarated by his novel-writing that the words flowed effortlessly from his pen. From seven until ten, he composed six thousand words in a sweeping rush. Combined with the drafts he hurriedly wrote during classes, he managed to produce eight thousand words in a single day.

After the study session, with nothing else to do in the dormitory, Zhang Tan continued writing. Before midnight, he finished another two thousand words, bringing his total for the day to ten thousand.

“A day with ten thousand words—if I were writing web novels in the future, that would be considered fast, wouldn’t it?”

“If I push myself for the next two days, I should be able to finish the first part of ‘The Four Great Constables Shock Northeast’—‘The Pursuit,’ sixty thousand words in all—and then start the second part, ‘Desperados.’”

Zhang Tan’s plan was perfect, but one thing gnawed at his mood for writing.

The two sophomores with the buzz cut and the pockmarked face were at it again.

This time, they didn’t come alone. They brought several other sophomores and stormed into Dorm 103, intent on regaining face after yesterday’s incident. The whole thing was absurd; all that happened was Fan Wentao accidentally kicked the ball at one of them during a game, and he apologized immediately.

But the other party insisted on using this as an excuse to cause trouble, swaggering around and bullying the freshmen.

Such things were common in rural schools.

But this time, Zhang Tan threw a wrench in their plans.

As expected, the situation escalated into a standoff between freshmen and sophomores, each side competing to see who could shout the loudest.

“You little punk, yesterday you were acting all cocky, weren’t you?”

“What, you got a problem with that?”

“Don’t show off, kid, or I’ll beat you so bad your own mother won’t recognize you.”

“Come at me if you dare.”

“What if I do?”

“Try it.”

“You think I’m scared?”

“If you’re not, just try and lay a finger on me.”

“What if I don’t? What are you gonna do abo