The Versatile Master Artist

The afternoon sun in Yangon hung like a sluggish egg in the sky.

Gu Weijing walked through the school gate along the shady green corridor with his backpack,

amidst the coming and going of people,

the programming club students were building the competition field with Lego bricks on the nearby playground.

Sports students holding football helmets and girls wearing black-and-white color-block dance dresses were noisily playing around as they passed by him.

Spring was vibrant, full of vitality,

even the calls of larks in the tree shade seemed full of energy.

The coursework pressure at the international school was not heavy, most students here would choose to study abroad, unlike most Asian middle schools which were very competitive.

No matter what grade, there were no classes around three or four o’clock.

The remaining time was for rehearsals of various student clubs.

Gu Weijing opened his phone and was about to call an Uber to go to the orphanage for painting, as usual, but suddenly noticed that the atmosphere at the school gate was a bit quiet.

Five or six people who didn’t quite look like decent students were smoking by the green flower bed corridor at the school gate.

Most of them had a student look but were not wearing Fitz uniforms, exuding a cold aura that warned others to stay away.

”Outsiders?”

Gu Weijing frowned.

With the school’s security team, ordinary social misfits surely wouldn’t be able to make it inside.

However, during the talk time for student club activities every day, the campus facilities are open to several nearby local schools for joint activities.

Fitz, being a small class boutique aristocratic school, had a large campus but few students.

A grade only had about a hundred people, even gathering enough people for a large-scale stage play was sometimes a stretch, not to mention cross-school competitions and such.

Anyway, they’re all students, sharing some basic campus facilities with surrounding schools also meant getting government subsidies.

Because of this, other schools’ students can enter Fitz’s gate with their student ID on club open days.

This provided an opportunity for some delinquent students to sneak in.

Gu Weijing had heard rumors of Fitz students being extorted by such delinquents before.

However, these thugs are not entirely brainless.

They only pick on those who are easy to bully and won’t provoke those like Koukou or Jerry, who had strong backgrounds and connections, so nothing major ever happened.

He didn’t want to provoke these people, so he moved a few steps away, intending to distance himself from them.

”Are you the one called Gu Weijing?”

The leader of the delinquents stood up and blocked Gu Weijing’s path, pointing a cigarette at his chest as he passed by.

With the leader’s movement, other members of the gang also seemed to receive some signal, surrounding him immediately.

They pressed against Gu Weijing, cornering him in the corridor.

The leading student fiddled with his cigarette with a slick grin on his face, yet his eyes showed a vicious intent.

”Wouldn’t it be smarter to extort outside the school?”

Gu Weijing responded expressionlessly, his tone even a bit mocking.

Having seen the likes of Bald who could arrange killings in broad daylight with a smile, he really looked down on these gangster-type delinquents.

This was the Fitz campus, they wouldn’t dare go too far, there wasn’t much to fear.

Besides, if they wanted to extort him, it wouldn’t be a good choice.

He only had the one hundred US dollars in cash in his uniform pocket, not a small amount, but there were plenty more Fitz students carrying more money than him.

”Extort? Brother, we don’t even care about that little money of yours; if you’re Gu Weijing, our boss wants to meet you.”

A delinquent said with a sly grin.

The scene in the green corridor attracted the attention of other passing Fitz students.

Some already recognized the leading delinquent with slicked-back hair.

The guy with slicked-back hair was known for his notorious behavior—people in the area called him a ”gang member”; his cousin ran three internet cafes, two pool halls, and one go-kart track on the nearby commercial street, wielding considerable influence.

He himself was the leader among the delinquent students at neighboring Yangon First Middle School, even reportedly bullied several classmates until they dropped out.

”Hey, hey, hey, someone’s surrounded by that mob from First Middle at our school gate corridor again.”

”Who’s that guy in the middle? Anyone know him? He’s probably in trouble.”

”From their conversation, he’s called Gu Weijing. I think that name rings a bell; the top senior in Year 13, right?”

”Isn’t he supposed to be a good student? How did he get involved with this group? Should we notify a teacher or the student council?”

”Let’s wait and see; they haven’t started anything yet, just talking, who knows what’s going on.”

Quite a few Fitz students curiously watched the commotion from a distance, intimidated by the dominant presence of the slick-haired guy, not daring to approach.

”Yes, I’m Gu Weijing, but I’m not interested in meeting you.”

Gu Weijing nodded.

”Please step aside, I’m in a hurry,” he said calmly, with little fear in his tone.

With this kind of small-time gangster, the more you show fear, the more arrogant they become.

”Damn, this kid’s pretty arrogant, isn’t he? Should we teach him a lesson, boss?” someone nearby eyed Gu Weijing, joking sinisterly, ”Invite him for a smoke or a bath?”

Like a party, bullying has always been part of Western high schools.

Fitz had a specific anti-bullying policy in its rules, and hired psychological counselors to handle the psychological needs of students who had been bullied.