Five minutes later.

A BMW and a Honda had fallen in behind the van as well.

"Beep beep beep~"

A few short, urgent blasts of a horn.

The silver van that had been holding a steady speed behind them suddenly shot up the left side, passed Zhao Ming's car and then Xu Ye's, cut in front of Xu Ye and slammed on the brakes.

Tires shrieked against the asphalt. Xu Ye hit his own brakes fast and came to a stop at the side of the road.

The men in the BMW and the Honda behind them saw the bleach-haired kid force Xu Ye's Mazda to a stop and pulled over immediately. Seven or eight guys barely into their twenties piled out of both cars, every one of them either with his hair dyed some color or with a cigarette between his fingers. Wannabe tough guys, all of them.

Xu Ye's first thought was that the driver in front of him was some lunatic. It wasn't until he caught sight of Zheng Guotao in the rearview mirror that he understood — Zheng Guotao had come to get even.

Watching them start toward him, Xu Ye put his foot on the gas, ready to force his way around and drive off.

But of course Zhao Ming, that meathead, got straight out of his car. He even hollered, "Hey, hey, hey. What do you think you're doing?"

Zheng Guotao thought back to the humiliation he'd taken at the school yesterday. His fists closed, and his voice came out ugly. "None of your business. Get lost."

Zhao Ming, what the hell are you getting out of the car for?

Xu Ye was about ready to strangle him. But with Zhao Ming already standing out there, he had no choice. He got out too, thoroughly fed up.

Zhao Ming looked at Zheng Guotao's face, then at Xu Ye's, and only then did it click who the crowd was actually here for. He pointed at Zheng Guotao. "Xu Ye. These guys are here for you?"

Xu Ye nodded, resigned.

That set Zhao Ming laughing on…