Shouldering Affairs

  In the afternoon, I was called away by my teacher. Our class director is a woman named Sun Yan, who is not too old, 26 or 27 years old, very kind and easy to talk to. We secretly call her Sister Yan, but when Sister Yan gets angry, it's not ordinary. Sister Yan asked "Why did you fight?" I told her the whole process from start to finish. The class director looked at me and said "I will conduct a further investigation" then smiled at me and said "You have to pay for Zhang Gang's medical expenses! This is the minimum, then you need to call your parents, and the two families will negotiate a solution!" I thought about it and nodded my head. After that, Sister Yan educated me again before letting me return to class.

  "Hey, what's up?" I said. "What else can it be? Just asking parents for money, that's all." Yang Yang came over and asked, "Really just that simple? If there's something on your mind, speak up! We brothers will solve it together, don't keep it to yourself!" I smiled and said to Yang, "It really is that simple. The teacher means for us to handle it within our own class, no need to air dirty laundry outside." Then the brothers all smiled and said, "Alright, if there's anything, we'll discuss it tonight." And with that, everyone went back to their own seats.

  It was almost time to get out of class in the afternoon, Zhang Gang came back, along with several people from our class. Zhang Gang took a glance at me and then sat down. I didn't pay much attention to it, whatever! As soon as the teacher left after class, Zhang Gang rushed towards me, and then several others also came over.

  Zhang Gang had a bandage on his head, smiled at me and said "Alright! You guys have guts, I underestimated you this time, but next time all of you will be done for!" He pointed at us with his hand. Dong Ge immediately responded "Zhang Gang, we're all in the same class, no need to keep going on like this!" Before Dong Ge could finish speaking, someone from Zhang Gang's side cursed "You think you're worthy of speaking?" Dong Ge got angry and took a step forward, almost ready to fight, I stopped him. Wang Zhen Dong looked at me and then retreated.

  "I said to Zhang Gang, 'Gang brother! There's no need to fight again today, let's wait until you're healed before fighting again.'"

  Zhang Gang laughed twice, grabbed my collar and said "You guys be careful, don't let me catch you". I opened Zhang Gang's hand and said "Anytime! You also need to be careful". Then we several brothers came out, and didn't care about Zhang Gang anymore.

  It was very late when my brothers and I returned to the dormitory that night. Xiaobian Dong and Zheng Song were in our neighboring dormitory, while Yang Zai, Kui Ge, Geng Bing and I were in one dormitory. As expected, we had a great time that night, blowing and making noise in the dormitory, feeling very happy.

  The next day, I was called out by the teacher during morning self-study. Zhang Gang was also called out together with me. The brothers looked at me, I smiled and indicated that nothing was wrong, then we went out.

  "Li Kun! Your parents said you have to deal with this yourself, and you need to figure out how to pay the medical expenses," Yan Jie said to me.

  "My god, no way!" was what I thought in my heart, but didn't dare to say out loud. Then I nodded slightly. After that, Yan Jie said to Zhang Gang "You're usually quite capable of causing trouble! How did you end up with a broken head? From now on, be more obedient and listen to me!" Zhang Gang also lowered his head and nodded. Seeing Zhang Gang like that made me want to laugh, but since Yan Jie was there, I didn't dare to laugh out loud, and just silently scorned him in my heart. Then Yan Jie had us shake hands symbolically to make up, but everyone understood that it was all just a show for now while Yan Jie was around.

  Back to class, it's boring again, so I just fell asleep. Last night, I chatted with my brothers until late and felt a bit sleepy. I slept until the third period in the afternoon, and Qiu woke me up, saying that my brothers were going to the toilet to smoke, and I didn't hesitate to follow them. The feeling after finishing can only be described as quite comfortable, and I felt much more energetic afterwards.

  In the following days, life became more frugal because I had to pay for Zhang Gang's medical expenses. What was infuriating was that my family members didn't care about anything and even the medical expenses had to be paid by myself, which made me very depressed. However, fortunately, there were still good brothers like Xin Hao, Yang Zai, and Kuai, who borrowed some money from their families and gave it to me, which moved me! In the following days, we six brothers ate mantou (steamed buns) and zhacai (pickled vegetables) together. Although they didn't taste very good, eating them was quite enjoyable. The key reason was that when we brothers were together, the atmosphere was lively and joyful. I was deeply grateful to my brothers in my heart. This group of brothers may be a bit stupid, but we are a collective unit. No matter how big the difficulties are, we will not retreat. We have chosen our own path, and even if we have to crawl, we must walk it through to the end.

  The days are passing very quietly, all day except for class, eating, and then it's just a few of us smoking, chatting nonsense, and bragging. Apart from that, there really isn't anything else to do. The only thing worth mentioning is that Zhang Gang suddenly became much more honest, probably because he was afraid of us brothers. After all, his head was ** by me, leaving some shadow.

  The days are passing by one after another, and before I know it, the mid-term exams are approaching. Everyone is busy worrying about the exams, but now I've grown to like this chaotic life. Exams have lost their meaning for me. There are still a few days left until the exam. Today, Yan Jie came to talk to me again. She said, "I think you didn't used to be like this, do you still plan on studying? How many points do you plan on getting in this mid-term exam?" I replied, "Whatever score I get is whatever score I get! It's too late to start learning now, it's pointless!" Yan Jie pointed at me with her hand and scolded, "What kind of talk is that?! As long as you study hard, there's still a chance. It's easy to become bad, but it's hard to become good again. Think about it yourself!"

  "Now you're quite popular, right? In the class, I plan to let you take over as class monitor after the mid-term exams, and manage the class well for me, don't lead others astray, got it?" Yansister said to me.

  I looked at Yan Jie and asked, "Teacher, is it true or false?" I'm not that kind of material! Before I could finish speaking, Yan Jie retorted back to me, and I didn't have anything good to say. Returning to my seat, I pondered to myself, "Being class monitor is a tough job, really headache-inducing."

  Suddenly, my back was patted, and I looked up to see Dong Ge and Xiao Bi Song. I cursed, "You two are stupid, you scared me!" Dong Ge cursed, "What is Xiao Bi Kun thinking?" I shook my head and said, "Nothing, what's wrong with you two? Why did you pat me?" Xiao Bi Dong cursed, "Let's go get some cigarettes, it's really boring." I asked, "Where are those stupid guys?" Song followed up, saying "I don't know who knows" and then I cursed, "Damn, these stupid guys!" Then we walked out, going to the bathroom to get some cigarettes. Our brother San also left the classroom and rushed to the bathroom with us.