Mountain climbing

  I stood still, watching Wang Jie, not moving, and let them hit me. After a while, Wang Jie stopped them, pointed at me with her hand and said "We'll settle our accounts slowly". Then she waved her hand and several people left.

  I stood there in a daze, staring at Wang Jie's back, and somehow I felt a bit of a little girl's shadow. It seems that it's good that we didn't end up together. Then I smiled to myself, tidied myself up, and didn't take this matter to heart. I thought she would be done with me after this time, so I smiled and wandered off alone to the men's restroom.

  As I walked in, Xiao Ge and the others were still squatting there smoking. Seeing me come in, Zhang Wei looked up at me "How did you come again? Didn't you say you weren't coming?"

  I smiled and squatted beside Zhang Wei "Come on, give me a cigarette, I want to smoke again"

  Zhang Wei smiled and took out a cigarette, I put it in my mouth, lit it, and looked at them "What's up with you guys not going back yet? What are you doing staying in the toilet for so long? How many cigarettes have you smoked?"

  "Hao Ge said, "I don't want to go back to class. There's nothing good in class anyway, I..." Then Hao Ge looked at me and stopped talking, directly walking over to me. I was a bit puzzled, looking at Hao Ge as he walked up to me and touched my face with his hand. "Who did this?" As soon as Hao Ge said this, Xu Ge also came over, Zhang Wei stood up, and only I was still squatting."

  I looked up at them and smiled without saying a word.

  "Who the f**k did it?" Haoge continued to repeat.

  I shook my head "It's nothing, I bumped into it myself, just a minor injury."

  "Are you going to say it or not?"

  I shook my head and remained silent.

  Xiao Ge grabbed my collar with one hand "I'm asking you, what the hell are you doing here instead of going back to class? Are you taking us as brothers or not?" Xiao Ge was shouting, looks like he's also at his wit's end.

  I felt warm in my heart, took a puff of smoke, and still shook my head.

  "Don't ask him anymore, look at his attitude, he won't say anything. Let's go and ask Zhao Min instead, see if that little girl knows." Zhang Wei said as he turned around and walked towards the door. Xuguo and Haoguo exchanged a glance and followed suit.

  I quickly stood up and looked at them "Wang Jie did it" As soon as I said this, Xiang Ge and the others stopped moving, clearly stunned.

  He stared blankly for a moment, then Xiong Ge walked up to me "I knew it was her doing!"

  Hao Ge also came over "A few people, are they from the third grade?"

  I shook my head "No, just Wang Jie and a few other girls."

  "A few girls can also slap you in the face until it's swollen. Are you kidding us? Let's go ask Zhao Min, see if she knows anything."

  I sighed, stopped them, and told them what had happened. Zhang Wei patted me on the shoulder after listening, "Not that I'm saying you're wrong or anything, but why didn't you fight back? This isn't doing you any good, she'll just get worse."

  "I owe her," I said calmly. "I don't have a habit of hitting women, and it can also be said that I never hit women."

  "Don't be so sentimental, what's past is past. If she still doesn't understand, then forget it. Don't bother with those things."

  I sighed, chatted with them for a while, and then we all went back to class. When I got to the classroom, I saw Zhao Min and Liu Nan, the class committee member, distributing candies. There were ten pieces in each desk hole, and they were still Alpenliebe. I smiled, it seemed that this little girl Zhao Min's private money was not small. I walked over with a smile, looking at Zhao Min "Is there any for me?"

  "There will be, soon it'll all be left to you..." Zhao Min's words trailed off, her mouth still open as she stared at me, and I met her gaze calmly.

  "After a long while, 'What's wrong with your face?' Zhao Min still asked."

  I smiled indifferently and said, "Wait until you're done, then I'll talk to you." After finishing speaking, I walked back to my own seat. On the way back, I still heard Zhao Min's voice, "Nan sister, help me send the ones that haven't been sent yet." I shook my head in dismay.

  Back in my seat, I had just sat down when Zhao Min also came over, sat down, touched the corner of my mouth and my face, very concerned "Does it hurt?"

  I shook my head "it doesn't hurt"

  Zhao Min touched my face with a sympathetic expression "You're fighting again, why do you always fight? Can't you just live in peace?"

  I smiled and said "This time I promise I didn't hit, I was the one being hit" then I told her what happened.

  Zhao Min hung her head and started picking at her fingernails. After a while, she looked up at me and said "It's all my fault, I..."

  "I interrupted her, 'There's no good or bad, what's done is done, just let it be. Maybe that's really the end of it. She has a right to be angry, anyone would be angry in her place, right? Alright, don't think about it anymore.'"

  Zhao Min fell silent after I finished speaking, lowering her head to continue picking at her fingernails. I smiled and reached out to tidy up her hair a bit. "It's alright, nothing's wrong, I brought it on myself."

  As soon as I finished speaking, Zhao Min raised her head and looked at me for a moment before running out. I was somewhat puzzled, wondering where this little girl had gone, but didn't think much of it and continued to ponder the matter.

  Before long, Zhao Min came back, still holding a big bag in her hand. She walked over and directly threw it onto my desk. I was somewhat puzzled, so I opened it with one hand. Oh my god, they were all medicines! I took a closer look: red medicine, Yunnan Baiyao, anti-inflammatory drugs, and even painkillers. I felt a bit depressed and turned to look at Zhao Min.

  "Why did you buy so much of this stuff?"

  "Don't dawdle, quickly follow the instructions above, wipe and rub, eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink, hurry up"

  "I'm extremely annoyed. 'Do we still need to use this thing? Isn't it just a swollen face? It'll be fine in two days, no need to take this stuff. Besides, these medicines must cost a lot of money too! Don't waste it in the future.'"

  "Are you going to eat?" Zhao Min put her hands on her hips "Just say whether you're eating or not!"

  I'd rather die than admit I'm struggling desperately, but in the end, I still failed. Zhao Min watched me finish taking the medicine and reached out to hold my arm "Husband, I've run out of money, all the remaining money was spent on buying you medicine, so this week I'll have to mooch off you for food"

  I gave Zhao Min's nose a warm welcome

  At noon, there was an extra person in the queue to the canteen, a female comrade. I didn't have any money on me either, so I went to join Xu Ge and his group. Looking at Xiao Zhao Min and Dong Shu, as well as Xu Ge's wife, they were all chatting happily together. Zhao Min quickly blended into our group too. Seeing her happy expression, to be honest, made me even happier.

  Two days passed like this, very dull, and nothing happened. On Friday after school, I came out of the school gate and asked Zhao Min, "Do you need me to accompany you home?"

  "Get out, what do you want again?"

  "I spread out my two hands and said, 'I wasn't thinking of anything, seeing you alone at home, I'm worried.'"

  Zhaomin smiled and said "No need, you go find me tomorrow."

  I was taken aback "What are you looking for me?" Then smiled very awkwardly "Oh, I understand, I understand"

  Zhao Min pinched me hard and said "Do you understand? I'm saying that tomorrow you'll find me, we're going mountain climbing."

  "My god, are you kidding me? Why bother climbing that thing, it's so tiring. Might as well stay home... You know what I mean."

  "Get out, rascal! What's wrong with your brain?" Zhao Min cursed with a smile. "Do you know? It seems that we've implemented a policy here this year."

  "What policy?"

  "This year locals don't have to pay entrance fees when going up the mountain."

  "I was taken aback 'Don't charge admission and don't go either, it's so tiring, asking for trouble, if you want to go, you go, anyway I'm not going.'"

  "Are you going?"

  "I won't go!" I said firmly.

  Zhao Min let out a "hmmph" and ignored me, turning around to hail a taxi on the side of the road. She got in and drove away, leaving me standing there smiling wryly. I knew Zhao Min wasn't really angry - after all this time, I was familiar with her little temper tantrums. I stood there for a moment, still smiling, before hailing another taxi to head home. The rest of the week passed very comfortably.

  The next morning I got up early, hastily washed and was about to go downstairs when my mother grabbed me "Today the sun rises from the west, why are you getting up so early?"

  I smiled and said casually, "Go find my classmate, we agreed on it today." After that, I didn't bother with the old woman anymore, went downstairs directly, arrived at the entrance of the community, and hailed a taxi "Shi Ji Xin Cheng".

  Before long, I arrived at the entrance of Zhao Min's community. I got off the car, paid the driver and walked into the community. When I reached the bottom of Zhao Min's building, I looked up and saw that there was no movement on her floor. She was probably still asleep! I smiled to myself, took out my phone and dialed her number.

  "Hey, aren't you going? Why are you calling me?" The person on the other end of the phone was drowsy and indeed asleep.

  I smiled and said "Missing you, can't I just give you a call?"

  "Get out, stop being poor, are you going or not?"

  "Go, how can you not go? You haven't gotten out of bed yet, right? Hurry up and get up, I'm waiting for you downstairs."

  Zhao Min let out an "ah" and hung up the phone. I chuckled, looked up at Zhao Min's window, and indeed, her head appeared in my line of sight. She even blew me a flying kiss before turning around and leaving, probably to get dressed.

  I smiled and lit a cigarette, waiting downstairs at her place.

  After waiting for half an hour, Zhao Min finally came down. I took a glance at the approaching Zhao Min, who was wearing white flat boots, white casual pants, a white coat, and a low-cut white T-shirt.

  I'm somewhat shocked, all in white, where are you going?

  Zhao Min came over and grabbed my arm "Let's go, hurry up, if we're late there will be more people"

  I stood there frozen in place, Zhao Min looked at me and asked "What's wrong?"

  "Why are you dressed so white?"

  "It's none of your business, I like white," she said and walked ahead by herself, ignoring me. I felt a bit depressed and quickly caught up with her.

  I hailed a taxi at the entrance of the residential area and went straight to the foot of the mountain, got off the car, and followed Zhao Min rushing towards the top of the mountain. This time, she even brought a camera, and when we reached a certain place, she asked me to take pictures for her, and also asked others to take photos with us together, making me feel uncomfortable.

  There are still many people on the mountain today, and even the Miss World came to our place for a beauty pageant. One by one in bikinis, it made me nosebleed. Zhao Min was very determined, she directly pulled me away, not letting me watch, how frustrating.

  "Why did Miss World come here to select beauties?"

  Zhao Min glanced at me and said "Are you stupid? This is a famous classical scenic tourist area, how many people want to come?"

  I smiled and said "Then I'll take a look, who knows when we'll meet again in a few years?"

  Zhao Min grabbed my ear with one hand "I dare you?" I was helpless and quickly raised my hands in surrender.

  Then I followed Zhao Min to wander around, going wherever she wanted, making me feel depressed. We didn't go down the mountain at noon, and just bought something to eat on the mountain. Then we continued to follow her aimlessly, without any rest time. In the evening, we went down the mountain and happened to meet Wang Jie again. I turned my head to avoid her, Zhao Min and Wang Jie stared at each other for a while, but didn't say anything, and then went home directly. When we arrived at the entrance of Zhao Min's community, Zhao Min put her arm around mine and said "Don't go back tonight, stay with me as company!"