Er Gouzi's fear was not unfounded; this guy had picked up quite a few bad habits outside—like, for instance, if you cushion a punch with a book, you can inflict internal injuries that won't show up in an examination.
Upon seeing Dang Wenzheng approaching with such a thick book followed by a group of people, he immediately assumed they were there to beat him, prompting a significant change in his attitude.
He had been so bold before because he noticed that even though the police officers at the station ordered them to do push-ups and spoke harshly, they rarely resorted to physical beating—that's not to say the guy was dull, but he just wouldn't learn from the good examples. Those who obediently did their push-ups either hadn't thought it through or didn't see things as clearly as he did.
If the police had pushed and kicked those doing push-ups, Er Gouzi probably wouldn't have protested about corporeal punishment.
