The girl wasn't tall, but she ran surprisingly fast; Shi Yan was dragged along by her, constantly gasping for breath.

Zhao Qiang had to jog just to keep up, and soon the group arrived at a spicy hot pot stall.

"Wang Lu, we just ate, even if you weren't full, there was no need to run so fast, right?"

Zhao Qiang caught up, saying helplessly. Wang Lu was the girl's name.

"What do you mean I wasn't full? I just like eating malatang. What business is it of yours?"

Wang Lu rolled her eyes at Zhao Qiang, then immediately started picking things out with Shi Yan. The street food was very cheap; she and Shi Yan bought a huge pile for three yuan, not caring if they could finish it all.

"Let's grab a little something too!"

Zhang Yang said with a smile. If they were out shopping together, they couldn't just sit there watching others eat. Besides, Zhang Yang hadn't tried this kind of street-side malatang in a long time. Mi Xue disliked spicy hot pot.

He picked out a few light vegetarian dishes and handed them to the vendor. Zhao Qiang could only follow suit.

This road was quite wide, and the night market occupied the sidewalk, which was better than Fallen Street—Fallen Street was inherently a narrow food street.

This area felt spacious. However, advantages often came with drawbacks; there were many vehicles passing by, resulting in a lot of kicked-up dust.

"Hoo!"

A small red sedan sped over from a distance, hugging the sidewalk, and didn't slow down even as it reached the crowded area, forcing many people walking near the edge to jump aside urgently.

Zhang Yang yanked Zhao Qiang, quickly stepping forward, just barely dodging the speeding car.

"Screech!"

The small car that had just sped past finally hit the brakes, but it was a sudden, harsh stop, the screech of the tires against the pavement drawing the attention of everyone present toward the vehicle.

After stopping steadily, the small car actually began to reverse, soon arriving beside Zhang Yang and Zhao Qiang.

It was a red Ford sedan. The window slowly rolled down, revealing a young man's face in the driver's seat.

"Liu Kai, the kid whose pants you pulled down—that's him, right?"

The young man sized up Zhao Qiang dismissively, then smiled with contempt. The rear window also rolled down.

A bespectacled boy leaned out from the back seat. There was a girl in the back seat and another in the front passenger seat. There were only four of them in the car.

"That’s him, Brother Ya. You wouldn't believe how small his thing is!"

Liu Kai exaggeratedly covered his mouth, chuckling wickedly. He looked quite refined with his glasses, but his speech was utterly vulgar.

"Liu Kai, what did you say!"

As the young man spoke, Zhao Qiang’s face turned ugly. Liu Kai's words made him completely erupt.

Saying that, Zhao Qiang clenched his fists and rushed forward, but thankfully Zhang Yang grabbed him, preventing him from lunging.

"Don't hold me back, Zhang Yang! If you keep holding me, we're finished!"

Zhao Qiang roared in anger. Shi Yan and Wang Lu rushed over from inside; they hadn't known what was happening outside.

"Zhao Qiang, calm down. If you actually fight, you'll be falling right into their trap!"

Zhang Yang murmured, his fingertips surging with subtle internal energy. A wave of cold Neijin flowed into Zhao Qiang’s body. He immediately stood straight, ceasing to struggle.

Zhang Yang was right. This wasn't a private outing; it was a collective activity involving multiple schools, with officials watching them. Discipline was strictly enforced.

If Zhao Qiang started a fight, and people from Jinling University complained, not only would Zhao Qiang be expelled, but Changjing University would also suffer immense shame, unable to hold their heads up in front of the other schools.

Setting aside other things, the mere act of fighting was forbidden. Disputes and harsh words were fine, but whoever struck first was in the wrong.

This was the of a joint activity. If it were just an ordinary meeting, Zhang Yang wouldn't have stopped Zhao Qiang; he might have even helped land a few punches. "Liu Kai, have you been eating too much dog crap again? You still haven't kicked that habit of having a foul mouth the moment you open it?"

Zhao Qiang suppressed his rage and slowly managed a smile again. Liu Kai, however, instantly turned bright red in the car, gripping the interior handle so tightly he looked like he might burst out.

Four years ago, at the National Chemistry Competition in the capital, Liu Kai had pulled down Zhao Qiang's pants, making many students laugh. Likewise, Zhao Qiang had an embarrassing moment for Liu Kai: Zhao Qiang accidentally pushed him down, and coincidentally, there was a puddle of dog feces on the ground, right where Liu Kai landed face-first.

That was real dog feces, incredibly foul-smelling. Because of that incident, Liu Kai couldn't eat for a whole week afterward, and the memory still made him nauseous.

"Liu Kai, what's wrong?"

The young man driving glanced back at Liu Kai and asked softly.

The young man driving was also a student from Jinling University, named Guo Weiya. He was also participating in this exchange event. He wasn't a local of Jinling; he was from Shanghai. He had returned home early and missed today's dinner gathering.

He would join the activities tomorrow directly, something his school teachers knew about and had specifically permitted.

The girl in the front passenger seat was his girlfriend. After the dinner party ended, he had come to pick her up. He and Liu Kai usually got along decently at school, so he had invited Liu Kai along for a ride.

Earlier, on the way over, his girlfriend had asked about Zhao Qiang—everyone had seen the two of them glaring at each other by the elevator earlier that day.

Liu Kai then brought up the incident where he pulled down Zhao Qiang's pants. Students in their third year of high school were basically adults; being publicly stripped of one's trousers was an incredibly humiliating experience.

Most importantly, Zhao Qiang truly wasn't well-endowed, which had earned him ridicule for several days and almost caused him to withdraw from that chemistry competition out of shame and anger.

Liu Kai had been enjoying telling the story animatedly when, unexpectedly, he saw Zhao Qiang on the roadside and told Guo Weiya, who was driving. Guo Weiya had then slammed on the brakes to take a look at the fellow whom Liu Kai had once mortified so thoroughly.

However, Liu Kai hadn't mentioned the part about him eating dog feces. Being publicly stripped was arguably Zhao Qiang's greatest humiliation, just as eating dog feces was a memory Liu Kai never wanted to revisit. Naturally, he wouldn't bring it up.

Now that Guo Weiya had brought it up, Liu Kai could only shake his head slightly: "It's nothing, Brother Ya, let's just go. No need to lower ourselves to his level!"

Zhao Qiang not acting impulsively disappointed Liu Kai somewhat. He had intended to provoke Zhao Qiang just now. If Zhao Qiang had dared to fight, Liu Kai was confident he could have gotten Zhao Qiang kicked out of the event.

That was his goal~~ShuShu Net

"Fine, let's go. I see the people from Changda this year are all hicks, only fit for eating at roadside stalls!"

Guo Weiya, who was driving, revealed a look of disdain as the car window slowly rolled up.

"What did you say? Who are you calling hicks? What's the big deal driving a beat-up car!"

Before Zhang Yang or Zhao Qiang could speak, Shi Yan furiously shouted. Guo Weiya in the car glanced back, then immediately accelerated and sped away.

Soon, their car vanished into the distance.

"Bad luck, ruined the mood!"

Zhao Qiang spat heavily onto the roadside. They had come out to have fun, only to run into people they didn't want to see. Zhao Qiang's mood was currently quite foul.

Shi Yan and Wang Lu weren't faring any better; their faces were both sullen. Being called hicks by that damn guy was something no one would take well.

Wang Lu had originally wanted to eat some of the malatang she liked, but now she had lost the appetite.

"Getting angry with them here is useless. When the time comes, we'll teach them a proper lesson!"

Zhang Yang smiled faintly, looking into the distance, a cold light unnaturally appearing in his eyes.

He hadn't taken this event seriously initially; he had come with the mindset of just having fun. He hadn't expected the people from Jinling University to be so presumptuous.

Zhang Yang's nature had always been: if someone respects me an inch, I return a foot of respect. These few people had also offended him just now.

He didn't believe there was anything inherently wrong with people from the countryside, nor had he ever discriminated against them, but being directly insulted as a 'hick' was something he couldn't tolerate.

At this moment, Zhang Yang was also feeling angry.

When Zhang Yang got angry, the consequences could be severe. He started taking this activity, which he hadn't valued before, seriously. The best way to deal with these people was to completely crush them on the proper field of competition.

Zhang Yang wanted to see which of the Jin Da contingent could surpass him in this event.

Their spirits dampened, none of the group felt like continuing their stroll. They decided to return to the hotel to rest, as the official activities would begin tomorrow.

They were representing not only their school this time but also themselves.

Even if it wasn't for the one thousand yuan prize money, they had to strive hard and earn respect, making those who looked down on them regret it.

Nothing much happened that night. The next day, Zhang Yang woke up early; Zhao Qiang was still sleeping.

Long Feng was also awake. There weren't any good environments around the hotel, so the two of them ran to a small grove of trees in the distance and sparred briefly, considered a friendly match.

Improving internal energy was easy, but gaining real combat experience was difficult. Zhang Yang suppressed his Neijin and sparring with Long Feng proved quite beneficial.

He usually couldn't find people to practice with, unlike Long Feng, who could spar with other brothers in his family anytime. At least in terms of experience, Long Feng was much stronger than Zhang Yang.

Of course, this wasn't true combat experience. Genuine combat experience only developed through life-or-death struggles, like his last fight against the Five-Crown Golden Python. However, that kind of battle was too dangerous, and Zhang Yang wished to avoid such an experience unless absolutely necessary.

At breakfast, Zhang Yang returned punctually. Zhu Daoqi had already taken the other students to the dining hall.

The atmosphere in the dining hall wasn't great either. Zhao Qiang was still glaring at Liu Kai, and Zhu Daoqi was watching Wang Jinhui with a grim expression. Before Zhang Yang arrived, the two sides had argued again, letting everyone from the other schools know that Changda and Jin Da were at odds.

Many people were happily watching the spectacle.

"Zhang Yang, I heard you went out?"

Seeing Zhang Yang, Zhu Daoqi's expression finally eased a little, and he asked with a smile.