Chapter 483 333: What's a Class Monitor For? (2)

All in all, this was a pleasant surprise.

Xia Tianjun thought for a moment. "That's enough. The legal standard for minors is much lower than for adults."

"What? Didn't you say you were twenty?"

The man with the buzzcut snatched the ID in disbelief and saw that Dong Yufan was, in fact, only seventeen!

Dong Yufan was taken aback and quickly tried to explain, "The birthday on my ID is wrong. Besides, where I'm from, we count ages differently. After your eighteenth birthday, you're considered nineteen, so I'm technically twenty."

The man with the buzzcut rubbed his head in frustration. 'What the hell kind of math is that?'

He'd told his lackey to hold on to the ID earlier. When he heard the kid say he was twenty, he couldn't be bothered to check it and just asked where he was from.

He had been planning everything based on the assumption that the kid was an adult. Who would've thought he was underage?

He turned to his lackey. "You were holding his ID. Why didn't you tell me?"

The man with the earring asked meekly, "Bro, is his age that important?"

"You're legally illiterate!" he snapped, smacking his lackey on the head.

'Wait a minute,' he thought. 'If we drag this out until tomorrow, he'll be an adult, right?'

"Let's deal with this tomorrow," the man with the buzzcut said, his tone softening considerably. "It's already dark, and it won't be easy for the police to handle this now."

Xia Tianjun smiled and added, "It wouldn't matter if you dragged this out until next year. The police care about when the crime was committed."

Xue Rui rolled up his sleeves, walked over to the car, and stood in front of the two men, blocking their way. He paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. 'He wanted to hear what they would say next.'

"My big bro has done time," the man with the earring said arrogantly. In their circles, that was considered an impressive accomplishment.

The man with the buzzcut was speechless. 'Is that really something to fucking brag about?'

Xue Rui couldn't help but laugh. These days, thanks to the influence of countless Hong Kong movies, a lot of people seemed to think that going to prison was some kind of badge of honor.

He deliberately turned his head and asked, "Sir, would you say someone with a prior record gets a harsher sentence?"

Hearing this, the man with the buzzcut instinctively swallowed. He knew that better than anyone...

"Xue Rui, get over here," Xia Tianjun said.

He wanted to pull Xue Rui closer. 'The guy's actually been to prison? What if he gets desperate and does something crazy?'

Xue Rui waved him off, unconcerned. 'The leader is so aware of the law; he definitely won't do anything to me.' Right in front of the two men, he tapped 110 into his phone's keypad, but before he could hit dial, a hand shot out and clamped down on his phone.

"Bro, have a cigarette. Take the money and ID back," the man with the buzzcut said, hurriedly stuffing the items into Xue Rui's hand. He now felt they were too hot to handle!

Xue Rui frowned. "What do you think you're doing? Trying to snatch my phone? Hey, I haven't even had my eighteenth birthday yet!"

'He was just bluffing. It wasn't like they knew his real age...'

Besides, he never actually planned to call the police. The case involved compensation for a traffic accident, and if the authorities gave them the runaround, it might not even be classified as extortion. A private settlement was much more advantageous.

The man with the buzzcut snatched his hand back as if he'd been shocked. 'This is too damn much trouble!'

'He won't take the money back, so he must want more!'

Xue Rui walked over to Dong Yufan. "Does your leg hurt? Your pants are all torn from the fall. We should get you an X-ray, just to be safe."

"And this bike... does that wheel look bent to you?"

Xia Tianjun had to suppress a laugh. 'This kid is something else.' The moment he seized the advantage, he immediately started calculating their side's losses. The two scammers were now looking livid.

"Bro, I'll buy him a new bike. I'll take him for that X-ray tomorrow, too. I promise I'll get it all sorted out," the man with the buzzcut said with a sincere tone.

"Now that you mention it," Xue Rui said, "we have classes tomorrow. How are you going to compensate us for the missed lessons? Knowledge, as you know, is priceless."

The man with the buzzcut: "..."

He was getting a taste of his own medicine, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Bro, just name your price. We parked illegally; that's on us," the man with the buzzcut said, quickly trying to frame the situation as a simple traffic accident. Better to just pay up and make the problem go away.

"How about eight or ten thousand?" Xue Rui yelled.

"Xue Rui, you..." Xia Tianjun's eye twitched. Xue Rui was pushing it.

He had already checked on Dong Yufan's condition. Aside from a scraped palm, the kid was completely uninjured...

'If he asks for too much, what if they hold a grudge?'

Xue Rui just smiled and shook his head at Xia Tianjun, silently assuring him that he had it under control.

The man with the buzzcut sidled up to Xue Rui with a fawning smile. "Look, bro, I didn't bring that much cash with me. Here's what he gave us earlier. I can add a little more on top..."

"The kid's birthday is tomorrow. Shouldn't you give him a little something for it?"

"A little something? Of course, of course!"

...

Dong Yufan watched, completely stunned. 'Weren't they just demanding "compensation for lost wages" from me? Now they're the ones paying us?'

The others stood by and watched as Xue Rui skillfully negotiated with the man.

After some haggling, Xue Rui managed to get two thousand yuan out of them. He figured the guy's car wasn't cheap, so an amount like that wouldn't be enough to make them hold a grudge.

"Alright, we're heading out then." After handing the money to Xue Rui, the man with the buzzcut scrambled into his car, terrified that Xue Rui would change his mind.

"I'm taking five hundred." Xue Rui pocketed the money and handed the rest to Dong Yufan.

Dong Yufan stared at the thick wad of cash, feeling deeply uneasy. He didn't dare to take it.

"Xue Rui, you're the one who got the extra money. I'll just take back what's mine," Dong Yufan refused again and again. He was already more than satisfied just to not have to pay anything himself.

"He's compensating you, so why shouldn't you take it? Or do you enjoy getting bullied for nothing?" Without waiting for an answer, Xue Rui stuffed the money into Dong Yufan's pocket.

Technically, he could have taken a cut for his trouble, but his counselor was watching, and besides, he didn't need the money.

He saw Dong Yufan dithering as if he were handling stolen goods.

He leaned in and whispered, "If you really feel that uneasy about it, go buy a carton of cigarettes for the counselor. He skipped his class meeting tonight for you."