Gaoliang was immediately excited and said, "Great! Great! I'll be there right away!" Upon saying this, he completely ignored the presence of class monitor Zhang Yупing and Dong Jiao, which deeply upset Zhang Yупing. She immediately stepped forward, blocking Gaoliang's way and asked, "Where do you want to go?" "What does it have to do with you?" Gaoliang's words left Zhang Yупing so frustrated that she nearly fainted. This well-known troublemaker was truly a headache. Had it not been for the principal personally asking her to supervise Gaoliang's academic progress, she would have been completely unwilling to spend her precious time on such matters. It was hard work with little reward—how could anyone want to take on such responsibilities? Moreover, students like Gaoliang were widely considered to be hopeless cases by 99% of the faculty, deemed completely unsaveable. Zhang Yупing took several moments to regain her composure. When she looked up, Gaoliang had already left. Dong Jiao, holding a stack of test papers that had sealed Gaoliang's fate, said to her, "Why don't we go to the principal's When Dong Jiao had finally left, Zhang Yeping clenched her small fists and said to herself, "Gao Liang! You miserable fool! I didn't believe you'd really sink so low!" Yang, though somewhat reserved, knew that Gao Liang enjoyed A-movies, and had quietly brought in many vibrant, highly sensual ones, claiming: "If the boss gets tired, he can take a break and relax by watching these!" Wu, on the other hand, gathered his newly recruited street toughs. It seemed clear that his three close friends—his little brothers—shared the same vision and were fully aligned with him. Gao Liang moved gracefully among his new companions, and after a moment, called out to them: "Do you all truly want to follow me, Gao Liang?" "Yes, we do!" Their response was remarkably unified, surprising Gao Liang. He quickly pointed to one of his new brothers and asked him the reason for his joining. The brother immediately stepped forward to explain. Liang nodded enthusiastically. It turned out that these young men were scattered, not affiliated with any formal guild or organization—free agents, so to speak. Yet these free agents were often bullied by the powerful faction led by Zhou Chao, the "Zhou Party." They resented Zhou Chao's arrogance and ruthless tactics, but due to their weaker position, they had to endure silently. Now, with Liang setting a strong example, they had decided to join him firmly. Seeing that thirty-some strong allies had joined his side, Liang proudly announced to them, "From now on, we're brothers. With me, we'll share the meat, drink the wine, and enjoy equal benefits. We'll share the good times and shoulder the hardships together—what do you think?" "Excellent, boss!" The thirty-some brothers all clapped their hands in approval. Deng, the plump one; Yang, the reserved one; and Wu, the soft-spoken one, brought out over a dozen bottles of daughter-red wine they had somehow obtained, poured a cup for each, and raised their glasses. "To our success!" Liang and the group drank it down together. The brothers, now energized and flushed with enthusiasm, shouted with passion. "We'll always support Liang! Liang's cause is our cause! We pledge our unwavering loyalty to Liang!" Under Wu's leadership, the group chanted their slogans. In the midst of this overwhelming support, Gao Liang felt a strong sense of responsibility and duty—yes, now that he was the leader, he had to lead these brothers he had gathered around him to achieve something meaningful, or else he would fall short of his promise to them. The oil stick followed Wu, the soft egg, to an open space in the small park, where he joined his brothers. Watching the center of the space, Gao Liang exerted his full strength and delivered a powerful punch straight at a fire brick set up there. With a resounding "crack," the brick was struck through, leaving a hole the size of a clenched fist. Amid the cheers from his brothers, the oil stick rushed forward, picked up the brick with the hollow center, examined it carefully, and beamed with astonishment. He immediately raised his thumb high, praising Gao Liang enthusiastically: "Boss! You're truly a body of steel, a force to be reckoned with—unbreakable, invincible!" Gao Liang, delighted, promptly declared: "This brick is mine to give you!" "Boss! Boss, your generosity is truly beyond measure! I'm so moved I nearly wept!" The oil stick, in front of everyone, almost knelt down, holding the brick with reverence, as if it were a precious treasure, deeply excited. At that moment, even the scattered fragments of the firebricks became rare treasures. The brothers rushed to gather them all, wrapping each piece neatly in clean plastic bags, and laughed excitedly, saying, "Boss, we'll take these—please!" High Light smiled and nodded, leaving the brothers delighted. When feeling particularly satisfied, a particularly well-dressed girl suddenly caught everyone's attention, her soft chest rising and falling gently, her bright eyes sparkling with evident irritation. "High Light! You've managed to turn us all into bad habits! Do you know it's just ninety days until the college entrance exam?" The tone of Zhang Yuping's reproach and reminder only deepened High Light's composure. Instead, he chuckled, deliberately placing his right palm close to his right ear, facing the unwavering gazes of the thirty-some brothers, and said, "What did you say? I didn't hear it. Could you please repeat that?" Zhang Yuping never expected Gao Liang to be so unscrupulous. She immediately threw a stack of test papers that had been rejected right at his face, expressing her extreme disappointment: "You're a damn fool!" The papers fluttered like snowflakes. Gao Liang not only didn't reach for them—he actually felt a great sense of relief. Every day doing these tests had been more unbearable than dying. "Guys! That's it for today! Let's disperse!" As soon as Gao Liang spoke, over thirty of his colleagues scattered like birds and beasts. The oil stick, being polite, picked up a few papers from the ground, scanned them briefly, set them aside, and then hurried off.