This morning during class, the first and second periods were Ms. Jiang Qingqing's English lessons. Right after morning reading ended, she called me over and said the teacher's desk was dirty. She told me to fetch a bucket of water from outside and wipe it clean with a rag.
I told her it wasn't my turn for duty today. She just smiled, looked at me, and said, "Zhang Cheng, won't you even help Teacher Jiang wipe the desk?"
I knew she was deliberately targeting me. Usually, this kind of task was the duty monitor's job, but instead of calling them, she specifically called me. Still, I didn't argue and went to fetch water to clean it for her.
I also noticed that during class, Jiang Qingqing kept calling on me to answer questions. My English wasn't great to begin with, and several times I couldn't answer, which made my classmates laugh.
During the last class before noon, Zhao Lin, a sophomore, came looking for me again, bringing along her usual group of friends. Probably because I ignored them and walked away yesterday, her friends seemed pretty annoyed with me.
Zhao Lin walked straight to my seat and waved at Gou Mao, telling him to scram. That guy didn't dare say a word and immediately got up and ran to the back of the classroom. Zhao Lin took his seat and told me she'd heard that Li Dehai was coming for me after school tomorrow afternoon. She asked what I planned to do.
I said I wasn't afraid of him. Zhao Lin said she could find people to help me. At the time, I was confused—we weren't even close, so why would she help me? Maybe she noticed my skepticism because she then said there were conditions to her help.
When I refused, Zhao Lin left with her friends. One of the girls with her even cursed me for being ungrateful and said I deserved to get beaten up.
Later, Gou Mao told me I was an idiot—Zhao Lin's favor wasn't something just anyone could get.
I told him he wouldn't understand—it was a matter of dignity.
Tomorrow is Friday, and Li Dehai is coming for me. I'm thinking of sneaking out of school by climbing the wall near the track field. Our school is closed-off, with guards at the front gate. To leave, you need an exit slip signed by Jiang Qingqing. If I asked her for one, she'd definitely refuse, so my only option is to climb the wall.
The track field is the easiest spot to scale. A lot of guys sneak out from there to go have fun, but sometimes the school security patrols outside. If you run into them, tough luck.
Today, I was pretty fortunate—I didn't run into security at all.
I went to find my buddies. Out of my two closest friends, one graduated and went to work construction with his uncle, while the other is studying at a local vocational school—his nickname is Puppy.
Since Li Dehai's trouble was coming, I could only ask Puppy for help. Before heading to his school, I called him to come meet me.
I took the bus to his school and waited at the gate. When he came out, I was shocked—he'd gotten a lot darker but also much more muscular. His arms and legs were solid with muscle.
I asked him what was up—had he been training? Puppy said he'd recently signed up for a martial arts class and went whenever he didn't have vocational school. All that muscle came from training. He even bragged he could take me down in under a minute. Of course, I didn't believe him, so we sparred a bit. Damn, he'd really learned a lot—I didn't last half a minute before I was on the ground.
After that, he took me to a restaurant near his school and called two of his close friends—one nicknamed Watermelon Head, the other Monkey. Puppy said they were both solid guys with straightforward personalities, so I shouldn't hold back. Watermelon Head was big and burly, while Monkey was much smaller.
While eating, I asked Puppy how things were going at vocational school.
He said it was alright. After he finished, I told him about my trouble with Li Dehai.
Before I could even finish, Puppy said, "Don't worry, I've got your back."
Hearing that put me at ease. Tonight's self-study session was supposed to be supervised by Jiang Qingqing, and I was afraid she'd use it as another chance to mess with me. So, I asked Gou Mao to cover for me—tell her I was sick and went to see the school nurse.
But not long after I lay down, someone knocked on my door. I shouted, "Who is it?" and heard Jiang Qingqing's voice from outside: "It's me. Open up."
I panicked, quickly rinsed my mouth with water, and opened the door. Jiang Qingqing came in and asked what was wrong—she'd gone to the nurse's office and didn't see me, so she came to check my dorm.
I hurriedly said I was fine, just took some medicine and felt better.
Jiang Qingqing's nose was sharper than a dog's. She sniffed, looked at my face, and angrily asked, "Zhang Cheng, was all that sick talk just a lie? You've been drinking?"
I knew I couldn't hide it anymore, so I admitted I'd had a little beer. Jiang Qingqing said, "Beer doesn't smell this strong—you had liquor, didn't you? Don't you know the school doesn't allow students to drink without permission?"
I said I knew, but a friend had visited, and I couldn't resist having a little.
She said even if friends came, it wasn't allowed. She'd let me off this time, but if I drank again, she'd report it, and I'd get disciplinary action.
Then Jiang Qingqing started lecturing me about my studies. My grades were seriously unbalanced—I was okay in physics and chemistry, but terrible in math and English. Overall, I was in the lower-middle of the class. Jiang Qingqing said I needed to improve my English and math grades. She even offered to tutor me in English if I didn't understand anything.
But suddenly, Jiang Qingqing clutched her stomach, slowly crouched down, and started trembling. Soon, her face turned pale, and sweat beaded on her forehead. Worried, I quickly asked, "Teacher Jiang, what's wrong?"
She lifted her head with difficulty, looking exhausted, and said, "It's nothing."
I knew she was lying—if it were nothing, she wouldn't look like that. Even though I was still annoyed at her for picking on me, seeing her like this made me feel bad for her. I suggested going to the nurse's office.
Jiang Qingqing said she'd be fine after resting a bit.
Seeing how much pain she was in, I knew she was just toughing it out. I insisted we go to the nurse—delaying wouldn't help. Jiang Qingqing forced a pained smile and said she couldn't walk. I asked if she wanted me to carry her.
After hesitating, she nodded and said, "Mm."
I knew she must've been in serious pain—otherwise, she'd never let me carry her.
After bringing her to the nurse's office, I waited outside on a chair. It took a while before Jiang Qingqing came out, but she looked much better, her face regaining color. Back then, I was pretty clueless—I didn't know what primary dysmenorrhea was and just thought she'd eaten something bad.