Growing Like a Cracked-Story of a Boy's Growth

Author: Li Shusong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This is a campus-themed book, primarily introducing the story of Zhao Feihuang, a high school boy from a rural area who came to the county town. He is quiet and unremarkable in class, but compared to the class monitor and top student Chen Xianlun, or the wealthy student Dong Chuanxiong, Zhao Feihuang is actually braver and more courageous. During a campus bullying incident, while all the classmates remained silent, Zhao Feihuang alone bravely stepped forward to save the victim. There were no signs of this happening beforehand.
After the second evening self-study bell rang, the students of Grade 11 (3) at Danan Town High School shuffled into the classroom like a group of well-fed sheep, thin and scattered. At the back were the two brothers, "Da Xiong" and "Er Xiong," who certainly wouldn’t enter the classroom so obediently. They poked and prodded, their hands and feet never still; their mouths, too, weren’t clean in operation, spitting out words like a horse flicking its nose in an arc. The boys, used to such behavior, were more tolerant, while Er Xiong, in the boys’ dormitory, was even more unrestrained. The girls, too, had grown immune to it over the past half year, no longer covering their mouths or quickly lowering their heads to pretend not to hear.
However, the situation took a sudden turn. Just five minutes after the classroom fell silent, Da Xiong—Dong Chuanxiong, sitting at the back—spoke up, his tone implying urgency: "What the hell were you staring at me like when we were going upstairs?" A moment of silence passed, then Er Xiong—Zhang Da Xiong—stared blankly at Dong Chuanxiong before finally speaking, his tone clearly awkward and hesitant: "I didn’t." "What didn’t you?" Dong Chuanxiong retorted, "Right there at the corner of the stairs, you gave me a look. Did you think I didn’t see it?" Dong Chuanxiong was truly an unpredictable fellow. Just moments ago, he had been sweetly interacting with Zhang Da Xiong, yet he’d turned on him without warning? Moreover, what had Zhang Da Xiong been doing when he gave Dong Chuanxiong that look in the hallway? Now he was just now realizing it? This kid’s thinking was absolutely scattered and illogical.
"I didn’t," Zhang Da Xiong stammered after searching his memory, still unable to recall how he’d given Dong Chuanxiong that look. "Stop acting like a little coward! With a punch like yours, you still think you can look down on people?" Dong Chuanxiong’s eyes narrowed as he spoke, standing up from his seat. The words were harsh, and Zhang Da Xiong, who had always been a bit intimidated by Dong Chuanxiong, didn’t take it lying down. He stood up too: "Who’s acting like a coward?"
"Hmph, you little bastard, still?" "If I didn’t see you, why would Iyou?" "Am I being framed?" "Whether you’re being framed or not, you’ll know yourself." Zhang Da Xiong still tried to keep his tone down, his voice weakening as he reached for his seat.
"Hee hee," Dong Chuanxiong sneered, then bent down and flipped over the stool he was sitting on. Suddenly, he flexed his arms, and with a loud thump, the stool broke. Dong Chuanxiong lifted the broken leg over his head. It was a fateful day—normally, Dong Chuanxiong had taken his toll on the poor stool under his butt, though it was already rather wobbly, it hadn’t been fragile enough to fall apart with just a tug. But today, it was just his luck. Perhaps Dong Chuanxiong had hit the right spot, and with ease, the stool leg ended up in his hands.
If Dong Chuanxiong had thought for a moment, he would have realized that such a coincidence usually held some significance, hinting at something. But with his mind heated, he didn’t think about any of that. All he cared about was that Zhang Da Xiong had dared to defy him and that he needed to properly teach the kid a lesson, venting the anger in his chest.
"You… what are you doing?" As Dong Chuanxiong raised the stool leg, a flicker of fear crossed Zhang Da Xiong’s eyes, his voice trembling.