After the girls left, Zhao Yuan and his three friends started stripping the clothes off the punks.
That Wang Rongfeng, even while taking care of business, didn't forget to scrounge for money on the punks. In his words, it couldn't be considered robbery—just collecting some medical fees. After all, everyone got hurt in the fight. It was only fair and reasonable to have Brother Cheng, Da Huan, and the others compensate them.
As for this explanation, Zhao Yuan and the other two were stunned for a moment, then they all gave him a thumbs-up. "You've got a point. We're convinced!"
But Wang Rongfeng was soon disappointed. The punks had practically no money on them. He couldn't help but complain, "Are you kidding me? They don't even have money? What kind of gangsters are they?"
Beside him, Wu Yan, who was rapidly stripping Brother Cheng's clothes, turned his head and replied, "Second Brother, you've got it all wrong. It's precisely because they have no money that they're out here being gangsters. If they had money, why would they need to be punks?"
"That's true." Wang Rongfeng nodded. His gaze landed on the stripped-naked Brother Cheng, and his eyes suddenly lit up as he let out a sinister chuckle.
That look, that smile, startled Wu Yan. He asked, "Second Brother, what are you going to do?"
Wang Rongfeng scurried over to Brother Cheng, grabbed the big gold chain around his neck, and laughed with utter glee. "A gold chain this big, how much must it be worth? Our medical fees are covered, boys."
"Second Brother, I'm afraid you're in for another disappointment," Wu Yan said with a sigh, shaking his head.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Wang Rongfeng asked, confused.
Wu Yan explained, "That gold chain is fake. You can buy it from a street stall for ten yuan a meter!"
"Holy shit, no way!" Wang Rongfeng said in disbelief. But after yanking the chain off and weighing it in his hand, his face darkened. "Damn it, it really is fake! This guy is supposed to be the boss, and he's this pathetic? Wearing a fake this big, isn't he afraid it'll float up and embarrass him if he goes swimming?"
The four of them worked quickly. In just a short while, they had stripped Brother Cheng, Da Huan, and the other punks completely naked.
"Let's go," Zhao Yuan called out, then grabbed a pile of clothes and took off running.
"Go!" Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan also grabbed piles of clothes and followed him.
After running for about a hundred meters, the four of them found a trash can and threw the clothes inside. Along with the clothes, they tossed the punks' cell phones. Wang Rongfeng had originally wanted to sell the phones for cash, but then he considered that modern phones often have anti-theft tracking functions. If they got tracked down because of it, the trouble wouldn't be worth the reward. So, he simply threw them away too.
After finishing their business, the four looked at each other and smiled, then walked with their arms around each other's shoulders toward the west gate of West Hua Medical University.
About ten minutes after they left, Brother Cheng woke up from unconsciousness and opened his eyes. However, he quickly discovered he couldn't open them wide. His entire face was swollen like a pig's head, and no matter how hard he tried, he could only open his eyes to a slit. At the same time, the intense pain throbbing in his face nearly made him pass out again.
Recalling what had happened before he passed out, Brother Cheng scrambled up from the ground. The surroundings were silent. The students were long gone, leaving only a few people lying on the ground. A quick look revealed they were all his men.
'What's going on? Where are those students? Where are the rest of my guys? Could it be... could it be we were defeated?' Brother Cheng's jaw dropped, unable to accept this fact. But at the same time, he knew perfectly well that if they hadn't lost and his men hadn't scattered like birds, he would have been taken to the hospital long ago. How could he possibly be lying on this cold road, 'waking up naturally'?
Brother Cheng's gaze fell upon Da Huan, who was still unconscious nearby. He was instantly overcome with rage, strode forward, and kicked him, cursing, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't started trouble, how could I have lost so much face?"
The kick actually woke Da Huan up. Seeing Brother Cheng standing over him, his face instantly turned pale with fright, and he shrieked, "Brother Cheng, I have hemorrhoids! Don't come over here! Please, don't!"
"What the hell are you babbling about?" Brother Cheng's lungs almost exploded with rage. He kicked Da Huan again. But then, he froze, a look of bewilderment on his face. "Where are your clothes?"
"Didn't you take them off?" Da Huan said weakly.
Brother Cheng kicked him again, cursing, "What, you think I'm so bored I'd have nothing better to do than strip you?!"
A flicker of worry suddenly crossed his mind. He quickly looked down at himself and let out another shriek, "My clothes are gone too?! Holy shit, what... what's going on? Why is everyone naked?"
Soon, the other punks woke up, and the looks on their faces were priceless.
"It must have been those students! They stripped us while we were unconscious! So ruthless! They're more ruthless than we are!" Da Huan said, grinding his teeth.
Brother Cheng cursed, "You still have the nerve to talk? If you hadn't gone looking for trouble, how could we have ended up like this!"
Da Huan shrank back and didn't dare to make another peep.
"Brother Cheng, what do we do now?" one of the punks asked with a tearful face.
"What else can we do? Go home, obviously," Brother Cheng replied.
"Just... walk like this?" The faces of his underlings turned ugly. It was late at night, but no one could guarantee the streets would be empty. If someone saw them and the story got out, their reputations would be completely ruined.
"What else? You see anything around here to cover ourselves with?" Brother Cheng snapped.
"There's a trash can over there!"
"Maybe there's something in it we can use!"
The punks spotted the distant trash can and lunged for it. Ignoring the filth, they rummaged through it, pulling out plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and other things to cover their private parts. Huddled over, they scurried toward their place.
Just as they emerged from the alley, they were spotted by people at a roadside barbecue stall.
In an instant, many people were stunned by their appearance. Wine glasses fell to the ground. Even the barbecue stall owner forgot about the corn he was grilling, letting it roast into a piece of charcoal over the fire.
"What's going on here?"
"Is this some kind of performance art? My God, it's so hard to look at. I think I'm going blind."
"That scared the hell out of me! No, I can't be the only one to suffer. I have to record this and post it online so everyone else can go blind with me!"
After a moment of shock, many people pulled out their phones and frantically started recording the unprecedented scene.
They didn't even have to wait for sunrise. That very night, this bizarre scene from Rongcheng City's University City blew up across the entire internet, sparking heated discussions.
Eventually, even newspapers and TV stations got involved, inviting experts to discuss the possible reasons for such an occurrence. As for Brother Cheng, Da Huan, and their crew, they became utterly famous. They couldn't make it on the streets anymore and could only tuck their tails and run...