The moment Lin Wansheng hung up the phone, all the color drained from his face.
He whipped around and saw Mark and Avery looking at him with grave expressions.
“Something happened?” Mark spoke first.
Lin Wansheng quickly repeated what he had heard over the phone.
Then he looked at Mark and said urgently, “Can you help me ask the economics teacher for leave?”
“I have to go back right now.”
But Mark did not answer. He only waved a hand, signaling for Lin Wansheng to calm down.
“Wait a second.”
“Don’t go back alone.”
He glanced toward the locker room, then turned back to Lin Wansheng, his gaze sharpening.
“Don’t you think the timing is a little too coincidental?”
“Something just happened here, and now your family’s place is surrounded?”
He paused, then said word by word, “And those guys from New Rochelle aren’t like us.”
“They’re an all-white lineup.”
The moment Avery heard that, he understood. He stepped forward and clapped Lin Wansheng hard on the shoulder.
“Let’s go. I’m going back with you! We’ll fuck them up right now!”
Mark nodded and took out his phone.
“Kevin, listen. Something happened at Jimmy’s house. I suspect it’s those bastards from New Rochelle. Hurry up and get everyone on offense. Come over right now.”
He gave a few brief instructions over the phone, then asked Lin Wansheng for the address of his family’s supermarket and sent it by text.
After hanging up, Mark looked at the two of them and spoke in the unquestionable tone of a captain.
“Let’s go. We’ll go together.”
The three of them wasted no more words and turned to run toward the parking lot.
Avery’s Ford pickup let out an angry roar and sped straight toward Chinatown.
……
……
……
As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the supermarket, before Avery had even parked the car properly, Brother Yu’s men arrived as well.
Immediately after, Kevin showed up with several burly members of the offense in his old, beat-up Chevrolet, arriving not much later than Avery at all.
The three groups, dozens of people in all, instantly surrounded the dozen or so white youths causing trouble.
Mark took the lead. He pushed through the crowd, and when he saw the blond giant at the front, his eyes instantly turned red.
“F*ck, I knew it was you!”
“New Rochelle Wolves defensive end, Bevin Allison, right?”
“What the hell are you trying to do here?”
When Bevin saw Mark arrive with so many people, a trace of panic flashed across his face, but he still forced himself to say, “Nothing. This supermarket owner discriminates against white people. We came to ask him why.”
Lin Wansheng could not listen anymore.
He pushed past Mark and Avery in front of him and charged straight forward.
Before anyone could react, he suddenly raised his right leg and kicked Bevin hard in the stomach.
Bevin curled up like a boiled shrimp and collapsed to the ground in pain.
Lin Wansheng did not stop. He stepped forward and stomped hard on Bevin’s hand.
He lowered his head and looked at that face twisted in agony, his eyes icy cold.
“What are you trying to do?!” Bevin squeezed the words through gritted teeth.
Lin Wansheng was just about to lift his foot and stomp down viciously on Bevin’s wrist.
But a powerful hand clamped down on his shoulder.
“Jimmy! Don’t be impulsive!” It was Avery.
At that moment, Brother Yu also walked over slowly.
He motioned for Lin Wansheng to step behind him, then looked at Bevin lying on the ground, his face utterly expressionless.
“Do you know why the end of this street is called Blood Corner Alley?”
Brother Yu’s voice was not loud.
“Over a hundred years ago, this was the perfect place for a gang fight. Because that street has an almost ninety-degree sharp turn, especially suited for ambushes.”
“Who knows how many people died in the shadows of that alley.”
“Ever since then, this street has had an unwritten rule.”
Brother Yu crouched down and patted Bevin’s face.
“In this place, however Chinese people fight among ourselves, that is our family business.”
“But if outsiders want to come here and cause trouble…”
He stood up and swept his gaze over the white youths whose faces had already gone deathly pale.
“We don’t mind adding a few more unjust ghosts to Blood Corner Alley.”
Bevin was completely terrified by Brother Yu’s calm yet murderous gaze.
He scrambled up from the ground, not even daring to look at anyone again,
and disappeared around the street corner with his equally panic-stricken companions, cursing as they fled.
Brother Yu watched their backs, then gave two of his men beside him a look. The two immediately understood and followed after them.
Only then did he turn around and look at Lin Wansheng.
“The police won’t be coming.”
“Go back to class.”
“Don’t do anything stupid and ruin your own future.”
Lin Wansheng had also calmed down by then. He took a deep breath and nodded.
He walked into his family’s small supermarket, and Ms. Lin immediately came up to him, taking his hand and looking him over from head to toe.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“Mom, I’m fine.”
Lin Wansheng briefly explained what had happened.
After Ms. Lin finished listening, there was not the slightest trace of fear on her face. Instead, her delicate brows shot up in anger.
“Those little bastards! They dare bully their way to our doorstep!”
She turned and walked into the back room. A moment later, she actually dragged out that huge banner that read, “Lin Wansheng Is Number One Under Heaven.”
“No! For Friday’s game, your father and I have to go!”
She looked at Lin Wansheng and said in an unquestionable tone, “We’re going to hold up the banner for you!”
Lin Wansheng looked at his mother’s face, which was practically written all over with “protecting her cub.”
All the anger and irritation in his heart instantly vanished like smoke in the wind.
He smiled and said,
“Sure.”
“I’ll get you seats in the front row!”
……
……
……
After Avery drove the car back to the school parking lot, Mark gestured for the two of them to return to class first.
Then he went alone, straight toward Coach Bob’s office.
He did not even knock. He pushed the door open and walked right in.
“Coach, do you have a minute?”
Coach Bob was staring at training footage on the screen. Hearing the voice, he raised his head and looked at Mark at the door.
“Come in. What’s wrong?”
Mark walked up to his desk, braced both hands on the tabletop, and said urgently,
“Do you know? Just now, those guys from New Rochelle—more than a dozen of them—went to make trouble at the supermarket owned by Jimmy’s parents.”
“If the people from Chinatown hadn’t arrived in time, his parents’ supermarket might have been smashed.”
When Coach Bob heard this, his expression changed instantly.
Mark continued, his voice carrying anger he could not suppress.
“I know you won’t let us go looking for revenge.”
“But Coach, they went after our teammate’s family!”
“This isn’t something on the field anymore!”
“If we even swallow this, then how are we supposed to play on Friday? They’ll eat us alive!”
“Jimmy risked his life for the Titans on the field last week.”
“So now, it’s our turn to stand up for him!”
“This anger,” Mark lifted his head and stared straight into Bob’s eyes.
“We have to let it out!”
Lin Wansheng still needed time to grow.
And he needed an opportunity.
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