Today's story is somewhat gloomy.

The four unlucky fellows exchanged glances. The one whose hair was dyed three colors sighed, “Let’s go.”
“Can you even walk? Damn, he really went all out,” another remarked.
Zhang Pa took a few steps, then turned and said to the dyed-hair guy, “Change your hair back.” This time, he truly walked away.
“Damn, what do we do now?” The four looked at each other.
After some deliberation, they called Monkey, waited for the pain to subside, and, resigned, made their way into the school.
As for Zhang Pa, he considered the matter settled and returned home to continue typing away at his work.
Halfway through, he heard a quarrel outside, along with the barking of dogs.
Zhang Pa cared more about the dogs, so he hurried downstairs and found Zhang Fourth’s two big dogs glaring fiercely at a middle-aged, heavyset man. Zhang Fourth was scowling as well. “Did my dogs bite you? Why are you yelling?”
The middle-aged man snapped back, “Nonsense! These huge dogs scared me, and you’re being unreasonable? I’m calling the police.”
Zhang Fourth cursed, “Go ahead, if anything happens to my dogs, I’ll come after you.”
It was clearly heading toward trouble. The middle-aged man, provoked, pulled out his phone.
Zhang Pa quickly stepped forward, “Gentlemen, there’s a sick person living here, so please—let me apologize on behalf of the dogs. They didn’t bite you, right? Hey, someone bring a cigarette over.” He spotted Bandit and called out.
Bandit came over and handed a cigarette, but the middle-aged man refused, still fuming and intent on making the call. Zhang Pa gave Bandit a meaningful look, signaling him to take Zhang Fourth and the dogs away. Then, Zhang Pa continued to reason with the man, “Looking at your attire, you must be blessed, perhaps an official? No need to get hung up over a dog. This place is quite different—full of bandits and ruffians. As the saying goes, those with bare feet aren’t afraid of those wearing shoes. Why bother arguing? If a real conflict breaks out, of course, you have connections and won’t suffer, but what if something unexpected happens? Isn’t it not worth it? Here’s the thing: I don’t like staying here myself, and you don’t seem local. If you’re here for anything, just say so. Maybe I can help a little. If I can, consider it an apology from the dogs. Why not let it go?”
After this speech, the heavyset man looked at Zhang Pa several times and asked, “How did you know I’m an official?”
Zhang Pa decided to continue flattering him, “There’s an aura—official authority. You might not notice it yourself, but I feel it keenly.”
That compliment pleased the man, who laughed modestly, “I’m not really an official, just a clerk.”
“You’re too modest.” Zhang Pa pressed further, “Now that I’ve met a big shot, are you here to find someone or for something else? Just say the word. If I happen to know, it saves you the trouble.”
With words like these, if he ever entered officialdom, he’d never fare too badly.
The middle-aged man chuckled, “Nothing much, just looking around.”
“I can accompany you. The dogs here know me, so you’ll have fewer issues,” Zhang Pa offered.
“No need, just leave it at that. But you—interesting fellow. Goodbye.” With that, the man turned and left.
Watching him go, Bandit hurried over from the other side, “Do you know him?”
“No,” Zhang Pa replied. “Aren’t you working today?”
Bandit said, “I quit.”
“You quit again?” Zhang Pa asked.
Bandit shook his head. “Will you come with me to the job market tomorrow?”
Zhang Pa laughed, “With the two of us? The labor market is more our speed.”
Bandit cursed, “Finding a job is just this hard.”
“Why not start your own company?”
Bandit asked, “Are you leveling up your sarcasm again?”
Zhang Pa grinned, “I’m busy, you go do your thing.”
“Nowhere to go. Can I come over for a drink at your place?”
“There are two girls next door. Check if they’re home, and if so, invite them out for drinks.”
“Forget it. I don’t even know where my next job is, got to save money. You drinking?”
“No.”

“Then I’ll buy my own.” Bandit returned from the convenience store with two bottles of beer and a bag of peanuts.
So, Zhang Pa typed away at his work, while Bandit sat on the steps outside, drinking beer and eating peanuts.
Soon after, Fatty called, “Are you home?”
“Yeah, what now?” Zhang Pa asked.
“Sissy’s in trouble. Get down here quick, I’m waiting at the corner,” Fatty said.
Zhang Pa, exasperated, said, “Damn it, it’s barely been three days.”
“Cut the crap. Hurry up.” Fatty hung up.
Zhang Pa sighed, shut down the computer, and told Bandit, “Come on, let’s go to work.”
Bandit asked, “What work?”
“Practice partner—free practice.” Zhang Pa locked the door and headed downstairs.
Bandit cursed, “Damn, just quit and you drag me into a fight. Real nice.”
They waited at the corner, and soon their familiar minivan pulled up. They climbed in, and the car headed toward the conservatory.
On the way, Fatty explained, “Sissy went to the conservatory to hit on girls and got into a fight with some idiot.”
Zhang Pa sighed, “Isn’t it just him and Lu Yiyi together?” Then asked, “Is that idiot a rich kid?”
Fatty replied, “He drives a BMW, anyway.”
Zhang Pa sighed again, “Let’s skip the conservatory and go straight to the police station.”
Fatty said, “Let me check,” and called Sissy.
Sissy didn’t answer, but after a while called back, “The police are here, we’re heading to the station now.”
So, off to the police station they went. As soon as Zhang Pa got out of the car, he saw Lu Yiyi and a few girls standing at the entrance, along with seven or eight tough-looking guys loitering nearby.
Seeing them arrive, the toughs didn’t approach but kept an eye on them.
Zhang Pa walked over to Lu Yiyi, “What are you all doing here?”
“Yang Fan’s inside,” Lu Yiyi replied. Yang Fan was Sissy’s real name.
“Are you all okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lu Yiyi answered.
“Alright, head back to school. Turtle, you take them.”
Turtle replied affirmatively and opened the van’s door.
Lu Yiyi refused to leave, “I can’t go now. Yang Fan isn’t out yet.”
Zhang Pa smiled, “Don’t worry, at most he’ll pay a fine. You all go back, I’ll visit you another day.”
Two of the girls with Lu Yiyi were new faces. One advised, “Let’s go, there’s no point hanging around.”
Lu Yiyi said, “I got into a fight—how can I just leave?”
“You didn’t tell him to fight,” her friend urged again.
Zhang Pa joined in, “Go back. When Sissy gets out, he’ll call you.”
Lu Yiyi shook her head, “No.”
Seeing she couldn’t be persuaded, Zhang Pa said, “Then sit in the car. It’s not good to linger at the station entrance.”
That was acceptable; the students got into the van.
Zhang Pa entered the station, where two slickly dressed youths stood in the hallway, clearly not poor.

Fatty and Zhang Pa went in together, found a police officer to ask questions, but the officer glanced at them, “Wait outside.”
Fatty was a bit annoyed, muttering under his breath, “Damn, what attitude.”
At that moment, a slightly chubby young man came out. The two slickly dressed youths greeted him, and he said it was fine, then walked out of the station.
Zhang Pa thought it over and told Fatty, “Let’s go outside too.”
Fatty agreed, and they followed him out.
The chubby youth looked around, seemingly searching for someone. One of the toughs ran over, pointed at the van, and spoke. The chubby youth strode toward the van, “Yiyi, I’ll take you back to school.”
Lu Yiyi wouldn’t get out, nor did she speak.
Since she was waiting, the door was still open. The chubby youth put one foot on the step and reached to grab Lu Yiyi.
Lu Yiyi dodged his arm, “I’m not going back to school.”
Zhang Pa appeared at the van’s side in an instant, raised a hand to block the chubby youth’s hand, saying nothing.
The chubby youth glanced at him, “Get lost.”
Zhang Pa glanced back, then looked at Fatty. Fatty understood and began recording video on his phone.
Zhang Pa remained silent and unmoving.
The chubby youth withdrew his right foot, planted both feet firmly, and again told Zhang Pa to get lost.
Zhang Pa scratched his ear, still saying nothing.
The chubby youth slapped him. Zhang Pa didn’t dodge or block, letting the slap land hard on his face, then fell to the ground, shouting, “He’s killing me! I’m injured! Call the police!”
The seven who came with Zhang Pa didn’t help him, nor did they rush in to fight. Apart from Fatty, who focused on filming, everyone else stepped back several paces. Turtle dashed into the station, yelling, “Murder! Help!”
Two young officers came out, scolding Turtle, “What are you yelling for?”
Turtle said, “There’s a fight outside, someone’s been hurt.”
The officers frowned and strode out, just in time to see the chubby youth raise his foot to kick Zhang Pa.
Zhang Pa lay on the ground, making a racket, while the chubby youth cursed at him, wanting to show off in front of the girls, proving his swagger, and began kicking.
Zhang Pa didn't dodge, letting him kick twice, until the officers came out shouting, “What are you doing?”
Seeing the police, the chubby youth snorted and tried to return to his group.
Zhang Pa grabbed the guy’s leg, yelling, “You can’t leave! I’m hurt! You owe me compensation!”
Fatty hurried to the officers, “I recorded everything. Look!” Before they could react, he added, “If you don’t handle this properly, I’ll post it online.” He pressed play, “See, you two are in the video, along with the station’s name.”
One officer reached for the phone, Fatty backed away and handed it to Lao Meng, then produced another phone in his hand, recording again, “Filming now, don’t do anything rash.”
This was a direct threat to the police. Both officers were furious.
The chubby youth cursed at Zhang Pa, trying to stomp his trapped leg and kicking at Zhang Pa with the other foot.
With the recording stopped, Zhang Pa wasn’t about to take the abuse—he yanked hard, nearly making the chubby youth fall.
The guy turned and shouted, “Come beat this kid to death!”
Fatty shouted to the officers, “Right in front of you, they dare to commit murder. Outrageous!”
Clearly, this had to be stopped. The officers shouted at the chubby youth, then looked at the group of toughs, finally approached Zhang Pa and asked, “Are you done causing trouble yet?”