Chapter 482 333: What's a Class Monitor For?

"You're asking for way too much! Who asks for money like that? Everyone, come and be the judge!" Jiang Yuan shouted, trying to attract the attention of more passersby, but it wasn't very effective.

The man with the earring said mildly, "We're the ones who suffered a loss and wasted all this time. I have to work tomorrow, so when am I supposed to get the car fixed? What's wrong with asking for 500 for lost wages?"

"How about this? You give them back their things and the money, and I'll help you get the car repaired, alright? It won't waste your time, and you won't have to pay a thing." Jiang Yuan's tone softened, trying her best to minimize her student's losses.

...

"Hiss... Ouch..." Dong Yufan yelped, having been inexplicably pinched.

But when he saw the look the counselor and Xue Rui were giving him, which was clearly full of blame, he instantly realized he might have done something wrong and swallowed the question he was about to ask.

While Jiang Yuan was still wrangling with the two men, Xue Rui whispered, "In a bit, when I say your leg hurts, you just say it hurts."

A look of realization dawned on Dong Yufan. "Isn't that just extortion?"

But he noticed the professor seemed to be tacitly approving of Xue Rui's actions...

"So they *didn't* extort you? You shouldn't have given them the money," Xue Rui said with a sigh. He pulled Dong Yufan toward the two men, bumping his knee against the back of Dong Yufan's leg, forcing him to fake a limp.

The buzz-cut man realized something was off and yelled, "He said he was fine a minute ago! Why's he limping now?"

Xue Rui frowned. "You usually don't feel anything right after a fall. It takes a little while to realize if you're actually injured."

"Once the adrenaline wears off, the pain from the fall starts to set in."

Xia Tianjun chimed in. 'Xue Rui is the one with the ideas. Give them a taste of their own medicine. You can't reason with unreasonable people.'

Jiang Yuan glanced at Xue Rui in surprise. She had spent ages painstakingly negotiating with the two men, but they had completely ignored her. The moment Xue Rui had Dong Yufan fake a leg injury, he immediately got their attention...

"Sir, I can see your car isn't cheap. We should call the traffic police over to file an official accident report. You know, just in case your car has some 'internal injuries' from the collision and you come looking for us later," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Hearing the mention of police, the man with the earring sidled up to the buzz-cut man. "Bro, what do we do?"

"What's there to be afraid of? Both sides are at fault. At worst, we'll both get a slap on the wrist," the buzz-cut man said with a laugh.

He mulled over Xue Rui's words and suddenly had a bad feeling. The kid was subtly hinting at something.

If they were going to start throwing around exorbitant demands, medical bills for a person were much more expensive than car repairs. Demanding a few extra check-ups would be perfectly reasonable...

'But what do I have to be afraid of?'

'They've already handed over the money, anyway. Whoever pays first loses the initiative.'

It just meant his idea of getting a little more out of them was dead in the water. This kid clearly knew the law, too.

Xue Rui made a show of pulling out his phone to call. He looked at the man with the earring, who was fiddling with the ID card, and said, "The police will be here any minute. Give us the ID back first."

"Forget it. Let's not trouble the police this late at night. We don't want the other five hundred," the buzz-cut man said, handing the ID card over.

He had to give the ID back sooner or later. If Xue Rui really called the cops, he wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

"How can we just forget it..." As Xue Rui took the ID card, he glanced at it instinctively. 'This kid's birthday is tomorrow.'

Huh?

Dong Yufan was one day shy of being a legal adult.

A smile crept onto Xue Rui's lips. He'd originally just hoped to get some of the money back, but now... now there was a lot more room to maneuver.

Leaning against the car, the buzz-cut man sneered, "That piece of junk bicycle of his wouldn't cost much to replace, and he doesn't even have a scratch on him."

Xue Rui shook his head repeatedly. "Not at all. I just noticed that your car's paint is scratched down to the primer. And we agreed on another 500 for lost wages. Our professor taught us that we have to be people of our word."

With that, he pulled five hundred yuan in cash from his wallet and handed it to Dong Yufan. "Go on, give the money to these two gentlemen."

The buzz-cut man rubbed his smooth head. 'So *this* is what he meant by "can't just forget it"?'

'People eagerly trying to give me money? I've actually run into this twice today. College students really are easy to fool...'

Dong Yufan's face was blank. Xue Rui's change in attitude was too fast; he couldn't understand what was happening.

But he was also genuinely scared. The men had told him, "you can run, but you can't hide." He just wanted to go to school in peace. If paying them off would make the trouble go away, then so be it...

"Xue Rui, I'll pay you back for this," Dong Yufan said.

Xia Tianjun couldn't figure out what Xue Rui was planning, but would Xue Rui ever let himself be taken advantage of?

He chose to trust Xue Rui this once, so he didn't intervene.

"Xue Rui!" Jiang Yuan said, displeased.

"Now that's more like it."

The buzz-cut man was a little surprised, but since the money was being handed right to him, it was pretty close to his original plan. Shaking them down for two thousand was enough; any more than that and he'd start to feel uneasy.

After the man took the money, Xue Rui smiled with satisfaction. He'd had Dong Yufan agree to the previous deal, but of course, his real goal was to help them meet the "threshold for filing a criminal case."

"Don't go. I'm calling the police right now," Xue Rui said, his expression serious.

"Go ahead, call them," the buzz-cut man said with an indifferent look. He'd just talked a college professor into a stupor, so what kind of trouble could this student possibly stir up?

Seeing the man wasn't the least bit scared, Xue Rui muttered to himself, "What's today's date again?"

"September 9th," Jiang Yuan replied disapprovingly. She did not endorse Xue Rui's solution.

Xue Rui pointed at Dong Yufan's ID and said casually, "Dong Yufan's birthday is September 10th. Right now, he's seventeen. A minor."

"Holding a minor's ID and extorting this much money... Professor, would you say that's enough to file a case?" Xue Rui asked, deliberately feigning ignorance.

He had originally thought he'd have to swallow this loss, but who would have guessed that Dong Yufan wasn't even an adult yet?

'Just like that little girl, his birthday is late in the year, so he wasn't quite an adult when he started college...'