The last class before lunch was IT, which meant the entire class had to march over to the computer lab. Compared to the other classrooms, the lab had absurdly strict security—reinforced door, curtains drawn tight over the windows so no one outside could glimpse the equipment inside.
Everyone thought it was ridiculous, because the forty computers were ancient museum pieces, and at least a few were always broken. Any thief with half a brain would rob an internet café instead.
The only thing with actual value in the whole building was the 50-inch LCD screen in the multimedia room.
Seats in the computer lab were first-come, first-served, so I grabbed a spot on the right near the window. The rest of the class rushed in behind me. Xiao Qin hugged her IT textbook to her chest and aimed straight for the seat next to mine.
That was bad news.
I spotted the class fatty, Cao Jingshen, sneaking around looking for a spot where the teacher wouldn't see him. Perfect. I stepped over and grabbed him by the collar.
"Ah—spare me, great warrior!" he yelped, jerking his head back in terror. When he realized it was me, he changed tune instantly: "Boss Haruya, please have mercy!"
I ignored his pathetic performance and dragged him into the seat beside me.
He looked from me to Xiao Qin—who was staring at the occupied seat with a betrayed expression—and immediately understood what was going on.
"Boss Haruya, your humble servant will sit wherever you need," he said with the expression of someone trying way too hard to please.
Xiao Qin tried to glare at him, but thanks to my ongoing "harsh disciplinary training," he was too scared to talk back to anyone, let alone a cute girl.
Xiao Qin herself looked on the verge of retreating. She hesitated for a moment before the class leader, Shu Sha, and her friend Loudmouth pulled her away.
"Don't get involved with them," Shu Sha said sternly. "They're a bad influence."
In her eyes, Cao Jingshen and I were basically toads.
Honestly, I think it's unfair to lump me in with a toad. But Cao Jingshen? Yeah, he absolutely deserves it.
The guy's a menace. First off, he has a sleazy face—worse than the slimy comic relief characters in old Hong Kong movies. Secondly, he constantly says the most disgusting things imaginable and has been beaten up by at least half the class.
He can't fight, but he also can't shut up. If a girl casually mentioned she went fishing with her dad on the weekend, he'd click his tongue and mutter, "Movement on top causes pain down below—jie jie jie jie…"
That "jie jie jie jie" laugh of his is pure nightmare fuel.
If a girl complained about too much homework and said, "I can't take it anymore," he'd walk over to the nearest guy, pat him on the shoulder, and whisper, "Bro, not bad at all." And then the girl and the guy would team up and beat his oversized behind.
He also loves bragging. Apparently, his dad is a "film director in Hong Kong," and any girl who wants to "become famous" can talk to him for… "private auditions."
Funny thing is, my dad also once said he met a "director" online. Are directors around here just growing on trees?
Oh, right—the reason he calls me "Boss." One time he got surrounded by a bunch of thugs outside the school gates, who demanded his allowance. His family must be pretty wealthy, because they regularly extorted fifty or a hundred bucks from him. But that day he genuinely had no money. The thugs didn't believe him and started slapping him around.
I happened to walk by, got annoyed that idiots were stirring up trouble at our school, and beat them all down.
Cao Jingshen burst into tears, knelt in front of me, and sobbed, "Big brother, I'll follow you forever! From now on I'll call you Boss Haruya!"
And he actually meant it. Since then, he's been calling me "Boss," "Master," "My Liege"—all sorts of nonsense—whenever he gets the chance. Half the reason I have a bad reputation in class is thanks to him running his mouth.
Despite claiming to be my loyal follower, the second I get on the class's bad side—like when I pulled Xiao Qin's chair away that one time—he immediately goes silent and pretends he doesn't know me.
Honestly, he's filthy-minded, vulgar, sleazy-looking… beyond saving. If I had to summarize him with a single word I learned online, it'd be: "to-be-lost."
As in, he's beyond redemption—someone who's forfeited his right to act human. It's a level above "pervert," which is impressive in the worst way.
At some point, he even found out my mom left my dad and ran off with a blond, blue-eyed American. I still don't know how he learned that, but he had the guts to say:
"Based on my analysis… when your mom was pregnant with you, she might've already been doing pregnancy role-play with the American!"
I slapped him into a wall.
I was furious because the thought wasn't completely impossible. My mom left with that foreign teacher barely a month after I was born. If the affair started earlier… well, I don't want to think about that.
My dad numbs himself with alcohol regularly. The idea that I might've been the child of that guy and my mom—I think I'd cry blood for my dad.
After half his face swelled from my slap, Cao Jingshen realized he'd crossed a fatal line. He dropped to his knees, kowtowing like a supplicant in a historical drama.
"Boss! I was wrong! Please forgive me! I'll never joke about your family again! I'll call you Grandpa if you want!"
He was so limp and spineless that I couldn't decide whether to be angry or amused.
Because no one liked him, and because he sat with me, the entire row designed for four students held only the two of us.
The IT teacher assigned some simple busywork: make a "multimedia greeting card" in PowerPoint. After giving the instructions, he sat at his desk staring at his laptop like he was in hibernation.
IT was considered a "secondary class," which meant no one cared. Half the class opened PPT, typed "Happy Holidays" in the biggest font they could find (a few rebels wrote "Pay your debts"), and called it a day before immediately sleeping, playing Minesweeper, or pinball. Since the computers weren't connected to the internet, there wasn't much else to do.
Next to me, Cao Jingshen opened Photoshop. Turns out he was some kind of expert. He plugged in his USB drive and started editing images.
Curious, I glanced at his screen—and nearly spat out the soda I was drinking.
He was photoshopping a nude image of the class leader, Shu Sha.
He'd found some Japanese actress with a similar body type, then pasted Shu Sha's smiling face onto it. The expression he used was from a photo taken during our grade's spring excursion last year, when our class won the mountain-climbing race. She'd been holding the flag at the summit, smiling brightly in the sunlight.
Her cheerful expression was completely ruined.
The original body wasn't technically nude—it was wearing clothes, but outfits like that may as well count as nothing.
If Shu Sha saw this, Cao Jingshen would be beyond dead. She'd probably shove a gun barrel into his mouth and pull the trigger herself.
"Are you insane?" I hissed. "She's sitting right there."
"But it makes it more exciting!" he whispered, continuing to edit. His face glistened with sweat as he trembled with unholy appreciation for his own creation.
"Boss Haruya, the class leader's always insulting me—and she even dares insult you! We have to avenge our clan!"
"What clan? We don't have a clan. And stop staring at her while you're doing this, you idiot. If you're scared she'll notice, then stop making eye contact with her!"
"Boss, you don't understand. This technique is called 'Double Victimization.' You look at her photoshopped nude photo, then look at the real her—and the thrill comes from the fact that she has no idea what I'm doing to her image… my heart just…" He puckered his lips like an octopus and clutched his chest, face turning red.
"Please stop describing your perverted enlightenment. And don't get caught, or I'll get dragged into this mess with you."
His editing skills were disturbingly good, and despite myself, I accidentally glanced at the screen a few more times.
"Heh heh heh heh," he snickered. "Boss Haruya, interested? This isn't even my best work! My best stuff is printed—on premium photo paper!"
He pulled out his IT textbook and revealed a stack of photos hidden inside.
"Boss, I brought these to sell to the neighboring classes. But since you're my master, I should honor you first. Choose any one you want." Before I could refuse, he spread dozens of photos across the desk and sneaked a nervous glance at the class leader sitting ahead of us.
Each photo was worse than the last.
It wasn't just the class leader. He'd photoshopped every attractive girl in our class—Gong Caicai from the study committee, Zhuang Ni from the arts committee, Xiong Yaoyue from the sports committee… all of them. Every single girl in a leadership position.
"Heh heh heh heh, see? All the 'leaders' of our class! Like in V for Vendetta: governments should fear their people."
With the sleazy grin of a low-budget pimp, he pointed at the photos.
"Boss, don't hold back! Pick two! No—pick three!"
He pointed to one. "Look at this one of Gong Caicai! Took me all night to find reference photos!"
"And this one of the class leader in the water… just imagine: she insults you, you keep a straight face—but when you get home you unwind with this picture. Pure release! Heh heh heh—"
He laughed too loudly. Shu Sha turned around.
"Haruya! Cao Jingshen! No talking during class!"
As she glared, Cao Jingshen—still trembling with excitement—ran his fingers down the monitor like it was the cheek of a goddess. He even leaned forward like he wanted to lick it.
Seeing his disgusting face, the class leader's expression darkened. She was about to stand up and come over to discipline us.
If we didn't hide these photos immediately, we were done for.