Chapter 2

In the hallway on the first floor of J City’s No. 2 Middle School during the 1990s.
“Hey, kid, hand over all your money!” Two boys with brightly colored hair cornered a thin student against the wall.
The student lowered his head and whispered, “I don’t have any money.”
“Slap!” One of the taller boys punched the student in the face. “Damn it, stop talking and hurry up!”
The student’s mouth turned red from the blow, and tears streamed down uncontrollably. At that moment, the shorter boy beside the taller one said, “Enough, don’t hurt him. This kid is one of the top students in our class, haha!”
The taller boy glanced at the student. “Damn, look at him. What’s the use of being smart?” He then turned to the fat boy and said, “Fatty, check his pockets. How can I believe he doesn’t have money?”
The fat boy grunted in agreement, stepped forward, and said, “Xie Wendong, let go of your pockets.” It turned out the student, hearing the taller boy’s words, had tightly clutched his pockets.
Seeing that Xie Wendong acted as if he hadn’t heard and continued to cover his pockets, the fat boy kicked him in the abdomen. Xie Wendong crashed heavily against the wall. The fat boy pulled his hands away and reached into his pockets, pulling out a crumpled five-yuan bill.
He handed the money to the taller boy and spat on the ground. “Damn, you have the audacity to take it when given a chance.” Then, he left with the taller boy, laughing, leaving Xie Wendong in pain.
Xie Wendong was a ninth-grade student at J City’s No. 2 Middle School. He studied hard and had excellent grades, often ranking first in the school. But due to his introverted personality and lack of friends, coupled with his thin build, he was often bullied. No. 2 Middle School wasn’t a key school in J City, and its management was lax, allowing young delinquents from outside to come in and out. These young people, no longer in school for various reasons, hung around in society. When they saw vulnerable students, they either looked for trouble or demanded money, perhaps feeling a sense of achievement that way.
Standing in the school hallway for a while, Xie Wendong picked up his backpack from the ground and left the school. On his way home, his eyes were filled with tears of grievance, and he kept asking himself: Why? Why do they always bully me? Why don’t they bully others? Why me?

No one could give him an answer, and the darkness of evening hid his tears. Xie Wendong returned home and wiped the tears from his face before entering, not wanting his family to know he was being bullied at school. Being weak didn’t mean they lacked self-respect; in fact, their self-respect was stronger than anyone else’s. Xie Wendong used his key to open the door; only his mother was at home. The meal he had prepared was ready on the table waiting for him to come back from school. Seeing Xie Wendong return, his mother said, “Hurry up and eat, or it’ll get cold.”
Xie Wendong nodded and asked, “Where’s Dad?”
“Your dad is on night shift tonight and won’t be home,” his mother replied while serving the food. Xie Wendong said “Oh” and sat down, looking at the food on the table with no appetite.
Seeing Xie Wendong just sitting there without eating, his mother asked worriedly, “Wendong, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“No!” To avoid arousing his mother’s suspicion, Xie Wendong picked up his bowl and started eating in silence.
Xie Wendong lived in an ordinary family. His father worked on the railway, operating trains, often on night shifts. His mother was a laid-off worker who later started doing small business. Although their family wasn’t wealthy, he had never lacked money to spend. Because of his good academic performance, his parents were very pleased, and they never refused to give him money whenever he asked.
The next day, Xie Wendong got up at 5:30 as usual. After reviewing his homework from the previous day, he ate something and asked his mother for ten yuan to go to school. His home wasn’t far from school—just two streets away, and it took less than five minutes to get there on foot. Xie Wendong arrived at his classroom, which was locked with no one inside. He used the class key to open the door and went in.
He sat in the first row of the class, not because he was short, but because of his good grades. This was common in many schools in City J: those with good grades sat in the front, while those with poor grades sat at the back. The seating arrangement was determined by major exams (midterm and final exams). The school had its own explanation for this method: those with poor grades were those who talked too much or didn’t pay attention in class. By seating them at the back, they wouldn’t disturb others, creating a better environment for students who listened carefully and had a chance of advancing to higher grades.
Xie Wendong sat in his seat reading. After a while, his classmates gradually arrived, and the quiet classroom slowly became lively. Those who got along well gathered together—some talking about how great the TV drama they watched the previous night was, some discussing which celebrity had released a new song, and a few girls exchanging their cherished stickers. The classroom was as lively as a farmers’ market.

The noisy sounds grew louder. Xie Wendong frowned and put down the book in his hands. At that moment, the fat guy who had stolen his money yesterday entered the classroom and placed his backpack on his seat. Seeing Xie Wendong sitting there in a daze, he walked over laughing. When he got closer, he grabbed Xie Wendong’s head and said, “Hey! Did you bring any money today?” Startled, Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “I didn’t bring any money.”
“No money?” The fat guy laughed and said, “Then let me feel.” He reached into Xie Wendong’s pants pocket.
Xie Wendong pushed his hand away, his voice trembling slightly, “Stop searching. I need the money for lunch.” Seeing that he wouldn’t give him the money, the fat guy slapped Xie Wendong in the face. “Damn it, are you trying to fool me?!” The pain made Xie Wendong’s eyes redden.
At that moment, the other students in the classroom turned their attention to them, some with curiosity, some with schadenfreude. Realizing everyone in the class was staring at him, Xie Wendong’s face turned red. He knew his pride had been utterly trampled. His deskmate, a round-faced girl, couldn’t stand it any longer and said to the fat guy, “Li Shuang, you’re going too far. How can you hit someone?”
Li Shuang pointed at the girl and said, “Shut up! What business is it of yours?”
The girl glared and said loudly, “So what if you hit someone? It’s not allowed?” A classmate who was close to her spoke up in her defense, “Let it go, Li Shuang. Stop arguing. The teacher will be here soon.” “Xu Na, enough. Stop shouting too.” Xu Na was the name of Xie Wendong’s deskmate. She was usually very noisy, acting like a tomboy, but she had excellent grades.
Li Shuang nodded and looked at the silent Xie Wendong, saying, “Fine, damn you. Just wait for me!” Then he turned back to his seat, panting heavily.
Xu Na said loudly to Xie Wendong, who was head down, “What are you afraid of? What can he do to you?” After saying that, she sat down angrily. She pushed Xie Wendong beside her and said, “Why are you so timid? The more you fear him, the more he’ll bully you. Don’t you have an older brother at home? Have him beat him up, and he’ll shut up.”
Xie Wendong nodded mechanically and said, “Thank you.”
Seeing his reaction, Xu Na got angry and turned away, ignoring him.

A difficult day finally passed. After school, the students left the classroom one by one, but Xie Wendong didn’t dare to go. He was afraid Li Shuang would send someone to block him in the school corridor. In the end, only he and the student on duty that day remained in the classroom. The student on duty was named Zhang Qiang, who had also been bullied by Li Shuang before. Seeing that Xie Wendong still hadn’t left, Zhang Qiang swept the floor while asking, “Xie Wendong, why haven’t you gone yet? It’s almost six o’clock (school ends at 5:30).”
Xie Wendong scratched his head awkwardly and said, “I still haven’t figured out a geometry problem. I’ll leave in a bit.”
“Hehe, you’re really hardworking. No wonder you do so well in studies!” After a while, Zhang Qiang finished cleaning the classroom, picked up his backpack, and said, “Xie Wendong, I’m done cleaning. Are you leaving? If so, let’s go together.”
Xie Wendong shook his head. “You go first. Anyway, our homes aren’t on the same route.”
Zhang Qiang said “Bye-bye,” slung his backpack over his shoulder, and ran out of the classroom. Xie Wendong waited a while longer. Checking his watch, he saw it was already past six o’clock. He thought that even if Li Shuang was waiting for him, he couldn’t wait that late—maybe he thought Xie Wendong had already gone home.
Xie Wendong packed up his books, picked up his backpack, and left the classroom. After locking the door, he turned and walked away.
(The teaching building of No. 2 Middle School is a sizable five-story building. The first floor and the second and third floors are occupied by classrooms for various classes. The fourth and fifth floors house laboratories, computer rooms, language labs, etc. Xie Wendong’s classroom is on the second floor.)
By now, most of the students in the school had left. Many lights in the corridors had been turned off, making it somewhat dim. Xie Wendong walked to the first-floor corridor, the place he feared the most, as Li Shuang and his gang often waited for him there. Seeing no one in the corridor, Xie Wendong’s worried heart finally settled. But halfway down the corridor, the door of a nearby classroom opened, and four or five people came out. Among them were Li Shuang and the tall guy who had robbed him the previous day.
Li Shuang smirked maliciously and said, “Xie Wendong, you finally showed up. We’ve been waiting so long!” With that, the four or five people surrounded Xie Wendong.
Xie Wendong felt a chill in his heart. He had never been bullied by so many people before, and tears almost welled up in his eyes. “Li Shuang, I’m sorry about this morning…”
“Go to hell! Forget everything else—just hand over the money first.” Relying on his outnumbered advantage, Li Shuang spoke in a domineering tone.
“I spent all my money on lunch. I really don’t have any left now.”

Li Shuang chuckled, “There isn’t any, right? I’ll create some if I want to.” With that, he kicked Xie Wendong in the thigh. The others were troublemakers from their own classes, the kind who weren’t afraid of trouble. Seeing Li Shuang take action, they immediately surrounded Xie Wendong and started punching and kicking him. As he punched him, Li Shuang said, “Don’t hit his face—breaking it would cause problems.”

Xie Wendong was forced against the wall, holding his head in his hands. By now, he couldn’t feel the pain on his body, as it was nothing compared to the agony in his heart. He couldn’t hear anything outside; his ears were filled with a buzzing sound.

“Enough! Stop hitting him,” Li Shuang said when he thought enough had been done, stopping the others. He didn’t want to hurt Xie Wendong or make things worse. Grabbing Xie Wendong’s hair, Li Shuang slapped his face and said, “Bring me ten yuan to school tomorrow. If not, I’ll find someone to beat you up again, got it?”

Xie Wendong leaned against the wall, bent over, head down, tears dripping onto the ground. Seeing that Xie Wendong wasn’t speaking, Li Shuang pulled his hair hard and said, “Damn it, are you deaf? I’m talking to you!”

Xie Wendong weakly responded with an “Ah!” Li Shuang nodded in satisfaction and left with the others. “What are we doing later?” “Playing games!” “Boring, how about playing billiards?” “Shut up, do you even have money?” Li Shuang and the others laughed as they left school.

At that moment, Xie Wendong slowly slumped down against the wall, squatting on the ground and crying his head off. He felt his life had no meaning anymore. What’s the point of studying hard if one still gets bullied? Why? He punched his own head, cursing himself for being weak, for not fighting back, for not daring to tell his parents about being bullied at school.

After a while, when his emotions calmed down a bit, Xie Wendong stood up, smoothed out his wrinkled clothes, and left school. It was raining outside, and he walked down the street. He was grateful that it was raining—at least no one could see his tears. He just wanted to live a normal life. Was that too much to ask? Why could others go to school in peace while he had to live in fear? If this was God’s punishment for the weak, then he decided from that moment on to be stronger and never let anyone bully him again. That day, with rain falling outside, Xie Wendong would never forget it, for it marked the beginning of his life’s transformation.