Chapter 9
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Shu Ning “the Great” had his parents called. Mrs. Cai listened respectfully to the solemn advice of the head teacher, and all the while she was slicing Shu Ning to pieces with her eyes.
Shu Ning tucked his tail between his legs. He looked as well-behaved as a husky who had made a mistake.
After half an hour of criticism, Mrs. Cai dragged Shu Ning “the Great” out of the office by his ear.
“My god! First you dyed your hair and now you’re watching TV in class! If only it was just watching TV, but you even openly went against your teacher!”
“Mrs. Cai, Mrs. Cai, stop! My ears are gonna fall off!”
Mrs. Cai listened to his howls and twisted his ears some more.
“It hurts, it hurts…” Shu Ning’s shouts were earth-shattering.
“Say it, are you going to contradict your teacher in the future?”
“I won’t, I won’t!”
“Are you going to watch TV in class?”
“No, no, no!”
“And what about dying your hair?”
“…”
Mrs. Cai was furious. Instead of twisting his ears, she pinched a ticklish spot around his waist.
Shu Ning shrieked and laughed at the same time with a pained expression on his face. Sure enough, a mother knew her baby’s weaknesses the best. She specifically chose places that were painful but wouldn’t actually hurt him.
“I won’t dye it, I won’t!” Shu Ning quickly assured her, “Cai Cai, the most beautiful Cai Cai! You’re the best, you’re awesome! Please let go now! Your son loves you very much muah~”
After dealing with Shu Ning, Mrs. Cai brushed him off and left.
Shu Ning rubbed his ears and went back to the classroom.
Everyone looked at him as if he was a martyr, as if there was a golden halo behind him.
“Clap.”
Long Qiao started applauding first.
Others also began to applaud.
Finally, the whole class joined in on the applause.
Shu Ning looked at the villain and saw the villain staring at him with a peculiar look in his eyes.
Shu Ning gave him a look of “What do you think? Wasn’t I handsome?” He was expecting the little villain’s recognition, but he was disappointed. The little villain looked away and lowered his head to read.
Huh?
I openly came out and announced that I liked August the Great. How come he didn’t react at all?
Shu Ning walked to his seat and thought to himself: Did I pick the wrong strategy?
He thought that having a common hobby was the quickest way to develop a friendship between boys. It was like how kids who watch Ultraman become friends with each other.
Why was the villain different?
The making friends strategy failed.
Since we can’t be friends, then let’s be enemies.
Anyway, the little villain hated when others imitated him, so he might as well go all out.
Shu Ning went against Abbess Miejue for the sake of August the Great. Everyone was curious about what kind of show August the Great was and went to watch it. Inexplicably, this trashy chuunibyou TV show became popular among the seventh graders. It wasn’t just popular among the boys. Even some of the girls liked to watch it.
Shu Ning received a love letter. On the pink paper, the secret admirer wrote that their hobby was watching August the Great, clearly trying to create a relationship through this common hobby.
Pooh.
This method wouldn’t work on him. It didn’t even work when he used it on the villain, so what makes you little girls think it’ll work on him?
He tore up the love letter and threw it in a nearby trash can.
After August the Great became popular at Longpanshan Middle School, leg shaking also started becoming popular among students.
Ktfc, atf ybsr vlrmbnfgfv j vfajli atfs tjvc’a cbalmfv yfobgf.
“Vqfjxlcu bo ktlmt, Tlc Zlcuhtfcu kjr atf olgra qfgrbc lc beg mijrr ab rajga rtjxlcu tlr ifur, gluta?”
“Lf jirb vlv atf rwlif.” Ktf ybs aglfv tlr yfra ab mbqs atf mgbbxfv rwlif.
“Does he also watch August the Great?”
“Don’t you think his hairstyle from before was kinda similar to the one in August the Great?”
“Pa gfjiis kjr.”
Vfnfgji ybsr kfgf mtjaalcu lc atf tjiikjs.
“Stop talking, he’s here.”
The group of boys quickly stopped talking.
Yin Mingzheng and Shu Ning exited the bathroom one after the other and slowly walked back to their classroom. Naturally, they heard the boys’ conversation.
Yin Mingzheng ignored them and headed straight towards the back door of the classroom.
Among the boys, there was a class clown who was probably tired of living or something. He suddenly jumped out in front of Yin Mingzheng, stuck out one leg, made a crooked smile, and started to shake his leg.
Fuck!
Shu Ning sucked in a breath.
Yin Mingzheng was caught off guard for a moment. Then, his face slowly started to turn red. He subconsciously wanted to stick his leg out as well, but the other kid had already started shaking his leg. It didn’t matter if it was shaking his legs or the crooked smile, the other kid already beat him to the punch.
Plus, the other kid did this in front of him on purpose. Was he mocking him?
Yin Mingzheng’s face became more and more red.
His signature pose had been snatched away and became a weapon for others to ridicule him with. Now, he didn’t know what pose to make in order to have momentum, to threaten others, and to express himself.
The little villain had cut his hair, so he no longer had the characteristic of a “delinquent”. His facial features were delicate and pretty, and he wasn’t tall. Basically, he didn’t look threatening at all.
Now, even his threatening pose had been stolen. He stood there in a daze, his fair skin flushed with anger. His dark eyes appeared watery because of his bubbling emotions, and the blue and white school uniform set off his figure to seem skinny and frail.
He seemed very pure and pitiful.
The group of boys were dumbfounded.
Shu Ning understood the villain’s embarrassment, so he stepped forward, squeezing the villain out to the side. Then, he raised his eyebrows provocatively, stuck out his leg, and started shaking, “Come on! Let’s see who’s better!”
The class clown laughed. He didn’t have any intention to bully anyone. He was just too mischievous for his own good. Yin Mingzheng’s reaction had put him in a bit of an awkward situation. Now that Shu Ning had rushed out, he naturally went along with him and started shaking his leg too.
The other boys also laughed and joined in. The group of boys was laughing while they were shaking their legs.
Yin Mingzheng returned to his seat, glowering at the boys in the hallway. He swore to himself that he would never shake his legs in the future.
Their laughter was sharp and piercing, like a knife to his heart.
He didn’t understand. What was wrong with liking August the Great? What was wrong with shaking his legs?
Wasn’t that pose cool?
Yeah, it was cool.
But now, it’s been taken by someone else.
And he was even made fun of.
Yin Mingzheng silently lay down at his desk, ignoring everyone else.
After Shu Ning finished messing around, he realized that there was a serious problem.
He hadn’t expected for the leg shaking skill from August the Great to suddenly become popular. The little villain was sensitive. If he saw so many people imitating his leg shaking, would he think that they were mocking him?
The kid just now made him realize this issue.
Yin Mingzheng had grown up being excluded since childhood. He may not be able to tell the difference between “joking” and “bullying”. If he happened to take it to heart, wouldn’t it make him feel awful?
Shu Ning’s heart was beating wildly. He returned to his seat and silently observed the villain.
For several days in a row, the little villain didn’t talk to him much, but he also wasn’t a whole lot different from usual.
The only thing Shu Ning noticed was that the little villain stopped shaking his legs.
The villain cut off his outrageous hairstyle, looking clean and fresh. He also stopped shaking his leg. He seemed to be developing in a good direction, but Shu Ning felt like he was getting further and further away from the crowd. He was closing himself up in his own world, refusing to interact with others.
This wasn’t a good thing.
It just so happened to be time for another “donation”. Shu Ning scheduled a time to meet up with Zhou Juan. Then, he had dinner at home. When it was time to meet up, he rushed over to the community garden and saw Zhou Juan waiting by the fountain
He gave her two hundred yuan as usual. Shu Ning asked, “The donor wants to know how Yin Mingzheng’s been recently.”
Zhou Juan immediately became serious and asked, “What does he want to know?”
“Has Yin Mingzheng said anything to you recently?”
“No, he said everything was fine.”
Shu Ning shook his head, “I’m his seatmate. I know that he hasn’t been too good. It seems like our classmates found out that he likes the show August the Great. Our classmates have been copying the way he shakes his legs. He might think that our classmates are bullying him.”
Zhou Juan hesitated, “How come?”
Shu Ning said, “He’s been excluded and bullied since he was little. Didn’t you know?”
Zhou Juan shook her head.
Shu Ning got a little angry, “Go back and straighten things out with him. Just let him know that his classmates didn’t mean to make fun of him.”
Zhou Juan promised, “Don’t worry, I will.”
Shu Ning reminded her once more not to reveal anything about him to Yin Mingzheng. Then, he was able to rest assured.
“Don’t worry.”
Zhou Juan said with a smile. She picked up her plastic bag and prepared to leave.
Shu Ning saw it and asked casually, “Mrs. Zhou, what did you buy?”
Zhou Juan said, “Some potatoes, spinach, vegetables for tomorrow’s dinner.”
Shu Ning was stunned for a moment. “You didn’t buy any meat?”
Zhou Juan forced a smile and shook her head, “Meat is more expensive, so we can’t afford it.”
Shu Ning thought about how Yin Mingzheng was clearly older than his classmates, yet his height was average and his figure was thin. Suddenly, Shu Ning’s heart started to ache.
Was the reason for his height and stature because he wasn’t eating well?
“Does he drink milk?” Shu Ning asked.
“Milk?” Zhou Juan shook her head, “We can’t afford it.”
Shu Ning suppressed his anger and asked curiously, “Yin Mingzheng doesn’t drink milk?”
In order to get the donation, Zhou Juan spoke without any reservation, “He’s never drank milk, even when he was little. He can’t stand the smell of milk.”
“He doesn’t drink milk? What did he eat growing up?” Shu Ning asked.
Zhou Juan responded, “At that time, we were in a difficult situation, so we fed him corn porridge, that kind of stuff. It’s the rural way of raising kids. Either way, the rich have their way of doing things and poor people have ours….”
Shu Ning’s head almost exploded! Not only was the little villain switched at birth, he couldn’t even drink powdered milk!
When babies are in their growing period, it’s very important to provide them with enough nutrients. Before the Communist Revolution, most Chinese people weren’t very tall. Foreigners had suspected that Chinese people were naturally short because of genetics. It wasn’t until conditions got better and nutrition improved that children started shooting up in height. It was only then that the speculations were dispelled.
What was even more bizarre was that some short parents ended up having tall children. The reason was that the parents possessed the tall gene, but their lack of nutrition led to their short stature. After their conditions became better, the child was provided ample nutrition and naturally grew taller and taller.
In this day and age, how can there still be children who don’t get to drink milk?
It’s obvious that you’ve never cared whether he drank milk or not!
This kind of physiological setback may follow him for the rest of his life.
Shu Ning’s temples throbbed with anger. Thinking of the little villain’s less than ideal height and thin body, he suddenly became worried that the villain wouldn’t be able to grow tall in the future.
“He doesn’t like the smell of milk?” Shu Ning suppressed his anger and asked.
“That’s what he said.” Zhou Juan added hesitantly, “I bought him some milk once, but he said he wasn’t used to drinking it.”
“Mn, I got it.” Shu Ning nodded expressionlessly, “Remember to encourage him when you get back. Tell him that his classmates didn’t mean to exclude him.”
“Yes, I know.”
Zhou Juan left carrying her groceries.
Shu Ning waited by the fountain for a while. Then, he unlocked his phone and created a WeChat group with the class clown and a couple of other boys who liked to mess around.
“What’s up, Shu ge?” The class clown responded first.
Several of the other boys also showed up, chatting happily.
Shu Ning calmed his boiling emotions. He glanced at the messages in the group chat, took a deep breath, and sent out a red envelope.
“Holy crap!”
“Thank you, boss!”
“Thank you, daddy!”
The boys scrambled to snatch the red envelope. When they saw that the red envelope had ten dollars in it, they were more than satisfied.
Shu Ning was well versed in the principle of dollar diplomacy. Once he saw that everyone took a red envelope, he piped up, “Guys, someone thought that we were bullying Yin Mingzheng.”
“Yin Mingzheng is a good friend of mine. We need to clear this up.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll all apologize to him and tell him that we didn’t mean to make fun of him.”
Shu Ning’s words left a few boys puzzled, “Ah? How did we make fun of him?”
“We didn’t make fun of him!”
Shu Ning explained, “We were copying Yin Mingzheng by shaking our legs.”
“That’s it? It was just a joke!”
The boys weren’t very happy.
Shu Ning sighed, “But someone misunderstood us and told the teacher. If I hadn’t gone and explained ourselves to the teacher, we would have been scolded again.”
Several boys gave him a few words of comfort.
Shu Ning added, “Actually, if you think about it, we really were in the wrong, weren’t we?”
“Shu ge, what did we do wrong?”
“I searched online, and, apparently, copying a classmate’s movements, voice, and posture can be considered a type of bullying.”
A lot of the boys were shocked, “Really?”
Shu Ning quickly opened a forum and found some posts about school bullying. One of the most upvoted answers mentioned copying and imitating, so he posted the link to the group.
The boys, who had been vehemently denying that they did anything wrong, fell silent.
Finally, the class clown said, “Then, let’s go explain it to him tomorrow?”
Shu Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He was sure that there were probably similar things happening in other classes, so, after a moment of thought, he made an anonymous post on the school forum: Is imitating other people’s posture and speaking habits considered bullying?
After he posted, Shu Ning waited for a while, but no one replied to his post.
Then, he opened up an alternate account and answered his own post: [I think the stuff that OP described counts as a type of bullying. School bullying isn’t just verbal or physical. Making fun of a classmate’s behavior can also be a type of bullying.] Then, he linked a couple of other highly upvoted posts on school bullying from other forums.
He sent out the reply and then refreshed the page. There were already students leaving comments below.
School violence had always been a sensitive topic, and the post soon became a hot topic. There were a lot of people discussing it, and most of them agreed that copying someone’s behavior and making fun of them was a type of school violence.
Seeing that things were changing in the direction he wanted, Shu Ning exited the forum, satisfied with his hard work.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Shu Ning “the Great” had his parents called. Mrs. Cai listened respectfully to the solemn advice of the head teacher, and all the while she was slicing Shu Ning to pieces with her eyes.
Shu Ning tucked his tail between his legs. He looked as well-behaved as a husky who had made a mistake.
After half an hour of criticism, Mrs. Cai dragged Shu Ning “the Great” out of the office by his ear.
“My god! First you dyed your hair and now you’re watching TV in class! If only it was just watching TV, but you even openly went against your teacher!”
“Mrs. Cai, Mrs. Cai, stop! My ears are gonna fall off!”
Mrs. Cai listened to his howls and twisted his ears some more.
“It hurts, it hurts…” Shu Ning’s shouts were earth-shattering.
“Say it, are you going to contradict your teacher in the future?”
“I won’t, I won’t!”
“Are you going to watch TV in class?”
“No, no, no!”
“And what about dying your hair?”
“…”
Mrs. Cai was furious. Instead of twisting his ears, she pinched a ticklish spot around his waist.
Shu Ning shrieked and laughed at the same time with a pained expression on his face. Sure enough, a mother knew her baby’s weaknesses the best. She specifically chose places that were painful but wouldn’t actually hurt him.
“I won’t dye it, I won’t!” Shu Ning quickly assured her, “Cai Cai, the most beautiful Cai Cai! You’re the best, you’re awesome! Please let go now! Your son loves you very much muah~”
After dealing with Shu Ning, Mrs. Cai brushed him off and left.
Shu Ning rubbed his ears and went back to the classroom.
Everyone looked at him as if he was a martyr, as if there was a golden halo behind him.
“Clap.”
Long Qiao started applauding first.
Others also began to applaud.
Finally, the whole class joined in on the applause.
Shu Ning looked at the villain and saw the villain staring at him with a peculiar look in his eyes.
Shu Ning gave him a look of “What do you think? Wasn’t I handsome?” He was expecting the little villain’s recognition, but he was disappointed. The little villain looked away and lowered his head to read.
Huh?
I openly came out and announced that I liked August the Great. How come he didn’t react at all?
Shu Ning walked to his seat and thought to himself: Did I pick the wrong strategy?
He thought that having a common hobby was the quickest way to develop a friendship between boys. It was like how kids who watch Ultraman become friends with each other.
Why was the villain different?
The making friends strategy failed.
Since we can’t be friends, then let’s be enemies.
Anyway, the little villain hated when others imitated him, so he might as well go all out.
Shu Ning went against Abbess Miejue for the sake of August the Great. Everyone was curious about what kind of show August the Great was and went to watch it. Inexplicably, this trashy chuunibyou TV show became popular among the seventh graders. It wasn’t just popular among the boys. Even some of the girls liked to watch it.
Shu Ning received a love letter. On the pink paper, the secret admirer wrote that their hobby was watching August the Great, clearly trying to create a relationship through this common hobby.
Pooh.
This method wouldn’t work on him. It didn’t even work when he used it on the villain, so what makes you little girls think it’ll work on him?
He tore up the love letter and threw it in a nearby trash can.
After August the Great became popular at Longpanshan Middle School, leg shaking also started becoming popular among students.
Ktfc, atf ybsr vlrmbnfgfv j vfajli atfs tjvc’a cbalmfv yfobgf.
“Vqfjxlcu bo ktlmt, Tlc Zlcuhtfcu kjr atf olgra qfgrbc lc beg mijrr ab rajga rtjxlcu tlr ifur, gluta?”
“Lf jirb vlv atf rwlif.” Ktf ybs aglfv tlr yfra ab mbqs atf mgbbxfv rwlif.
“Does he also watch August the Great?”
“Don’t you think his hairstyle from before was kinda similar to the one in August the Great?”
“Pa gfjiis kjr.”
Vfnfgji ybsr kfgf mtjaalcu lc atf tjiikjs.
“Stop talking, he’s here.”
The group of boys quickly stopped talking.
Yin Mingzheng and Shu Ning exited the bathroom one after the other and slowly walked back to their classroom. Naturally, they heard the boys’ conversation.
Yin Mingzheng ignored them and headed straight towards the back door of the classroom.
Among the boys, there was a class clown who was probably tired of living or something. He suddenly jumped out in front of Yin Mingzheng, stuck out one leg, made a crooked smile, and started to shake his leg.
Fuck!
Shu Ning sucked in a breath.
Yin Mingzheng was caught off guard for a moment. Then, his face slowly started to turn red. He subconsciously wanted to stick his leg out as well, but the other kid had already started shaking his leg. It didn’t matter if it was shaking his legs or the crooked smile, the other kid already beat him to the punch.
Plus, the other kid did this in front of him on purpose. Was he mocking him?
Yin Mingzheng’s face became more and more red.
His signature pose had been snatched away and became a weapon for others to ridicule him with. Now, he didn’t know what pose to make in order to have momentum, to threaten others, and to express himself.
The little villain had cut his hair, so he no longer had the characteristic of a “delinquent”. His facial features were delicate and pretty, and he wasn’t tall. Basically, he didn’t look threatening at all.
Now, even his threatening pose had been stolen. He stood there in a daze, his fair skin flushed with anger. His dark eyes appeared watery because of his bubbling emotions, and the blue and white school uniform set off his figure to seem skinny and frail.
He seemed very pure and pitiful.
The group of boys were dumbfounded.
Shu Ning understood the villain’s embarrassment, so he stepped forward, squeezing the villain out to the side. Then, he raised his eyebrows provocatively, stuck out his leg, and started shaking, “Come on! Let’s see who’s better!”
The class clown laughed. He didn’t have any intention to bully anyone. He was just too mischievous for his own good. Yin Mingzheng’s reaction had put him in a bit of an awkward situation. Now that Shu Ning had rushed out, he naturally went along with him and started shaking his leg too.
The other boys also laughed and joined in. The group of boys was laughing while they were shaking their legs.
Yin Mingzheng returned to his seat, glowering at the boys in the hallway. He swore to himself that he would never shake his legs in the future.
Their laughter was sharp and piercing, like a knife to his heart.
He didn’t understand. What was wrong with liking August the Great? What was wrong with shaking his legs?
Wasn’t that pose cool?
Yeah, it was cool.
But now, it’s been taken by someone else.
And he was even made fun of.
Yin Mingzheng silently lay down at his desk, ignoring everyone else.
After Shu Ning finished messing around, he realized that there was a serious problem.
He hadn’t expected for the leg shaking skill from August the Great to suddenly become popular. The little villain was sensitive. If he saw so many people imitating his leg shaking, would he think that they were mocking him?
The kid just now made him realize this issue.
Yin Mingzheng had grown up being excluded since childhood. He may not be able to tell the difference between “joking” and “bullying”. If he happened to take it to heart, wouldn’t it make him feel awful?
Shu Ning’s heart was beating wildly. He returned to his seat and silently observed the villain.
For several days in a row, the little villain didn’t talk to him much, but he also wasn’t a whole lot different from usual.
The only thing Shu Ning noticed was that the little villain stopped shaking his legs.
The villain cut off his outrageous hairstyle, looking clean and fresh. He also stopped shaking his leg. He seemed to be developing in a good direction, but Shu Ning felt like he was getting further and further away from the crowd. He was closing himself up in his own world, refusing to interact with others.
This wasn’t a good thing.
It just so happened to be time for another “donation”. Shu Ning scheduled a time to meet up with Zhou Juan. Then, he had dinner at home. When it was time to meet up, he rushed over to the community garden and saw Zhou Juan waiting by the fountain
He gave her two hundred yuan as usual. Shu Ning asked, “The donor wants to know how Yin Mingzheng’s been recently.”
Zhou Juan immediately became serious and asked, “What does he want to know?”
“Has Yin Mingzheng said anything to you recently?”
“No, he said everything was fine.”
Shu Ning shook his head, “I’m his seatmate. I know that he hasn’t been too good. It seems like our classmates found out that he likes the show August the Great. Our classmates have been copying the way he shakes his legs. He might think that our classmates are bullying him.”
Zhou Juan hesitated, “How come?”
Shu Ning said, “He’s been excluded and bullied since he was little. Didn’t you know?”
Zhou Juan shook her head.
Shu Ning got a little angry, “Go back and straighten things out with him. Just let him know that his classmates didn’t mean to make fun of him.”
Zhou Juan promised, “Don’t worry, I will.”
Shu Ning reminded her once more not to reveal anything about him to Yin Mingzheng. Then, he was able to rest assured.
“Don’t worry.”
Zhou Juan said with a smile. She picked up her plastic bag and prepared to leave.
Shu Ning saw it and asked casually, “Mrs. Zhou, what did you buy?”
Zhou Juan said, “Some potatoes, spinach, vegetables for tomorrow’s dinner.”
Shu Ning was stunned for a moment. “You didn’t buy any meat?”
Zhou Juan forced a smile and shook her head, “Meat is more expensive, so we can’t afford it.”
Shu Ning thought about how Yin Mingzheng was clearly older than his classmates, yet his height was average and his figure was thin. Suddenly, Shu Ning’s heart started to ache.
Was the reason for his height and stature because he wasn’t eating well?
“Does he drink milk?” Shu Ning asked.
“Milk?” Zhou Juan shook her head, “We can’t afford it.”
Shu Ning suppressed his anger and asked curiously, “Yin Mingzheng doesn’t drink milk?”
In order to get the donation, Zhou Juan spoke without any reservation, “He’s never drank milk, even when he was little. He can’t stand the smell of milk.”
“He doesn’t drink milk? What did he eat growing up?” Shu Ning asked.
Zhou Juan responded, “At that time, we were in a difficult situation, so we fed him corn porridge, that kind of stuff. It’s the rural way of raising kids. Either way, the rich have their way of doing things and poor people have ours….”
Shu Ning’s head almost exploded! Not only was the little villain switched at birth, he couldn’t even drink powdered milk!
When babies are in their growing period, it’s very important to provide them with enough nutrients. Before the Communist Revolution, most Chinese people weren’t very tall. Foreigners had suspected that Chinese people were naturally short because of genetics. It wasn’t until conditions got better and nutrition improved that children started shooting up in height. It was only then that the speculations were dispelled.
What was even more bizarre was that some short parents ended up having tall children. The reason was that the parents possessed the tall gene, but their lack of nutrition led to their short stature. After their conditions became better, the child was provided ample nutrition and naturally grew taller and taller.
In this day and age, how can there still be children who don’t get to drink milk?
It’s obvious that you’ve never cared whether he drank milk or not!
This kind of physiological setback may follow him for the rest of his life.
Shu Ning’s temples throbbed with anger. Thinking of the little villain’s less than ideal height and thin body, he suddenly became worried that the villain wouldn’t be able to grow tall in the future.
“He doesn’t like the smell of milk?” Shu Ning suppressed his anger and asked.
“That’s what he said.” Zhou Juan added hesitantly, “I bought him some milk once, but he said he wasn’t used to drinking it.”
“Mn, I got it.” Shu Ning nodded expressionlessly, “Remember to encourage him when you get back. Tell him that his classmates didn’t mean to exclude him.”
“Yes, I know.”
Zhou Juan left carrying her groceries.
Shu Ning waited by the fountain for a while. Then, he unlocked his phone and created a WeChat group with the class clown and a couple of other boys who liked to mess around.
“What’s up, Shu ge?” The class clown responded first.
Several of the other boys also showed up, chatting happily.
Shu Ning calmed his boiling emotions. He glanced at the messages in the group chat, took a deep breath, and sent out a red envelope.
“Holy crap!”
“Thank you, boss!”
“Thank you, daddy!”
The boys scrambled to snatch the red envelope. When they saw that the red envelope had ten dollars in it, they were more than satisfied.
Shu Ning was well versed in the principle of dollar diplomacy. Once he saw that everyone took a red envelope, he piped up, “Guys, someone thought that we were bullying Yin Mingzheng.”
“Yin Mingzheng is a good friend of mine. We need to clear this up.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll all apologize to him and tell him that we didn’t mean to make fun of him.”
Shu Ning’s words left a few boys puzzled, “Ah? How did we make fun of him?”
“We didn’t make fun of him!”
Shu Ning explained, “We were copying Yin Mingzheng by shaking our legs.”
“That’s it? It was just a joke!”
The boys weren’t very happy.
Shu Ning sighed, “But someone misunderstood us and told the teacher. If I hadn’t gone and explained ourselves to the teacher, we would have been scolded again.”
Several boys gave him a few words of comfort.
Shu Ning added, “Actually, if you think about it, we really were in the wrong, weren’t we?”
“Shu ge, what did we do wrong?”
“I searched online, and, apparently, copying a classmate’s movements, voice, and posture can be considered a type of bullying.”
A lot of the boys were shocked, “Really?”
Shu Ning quickly opened a forum and found some posts about school bullying. One of the most upvoted answers mentioned copying and imitating, so he posted the link to the group.
The boys, who had been vehemently denying that they did anything wrong, fell silent.
Finally, the class clown said, “Then, let’s go explain it to him tomorrow?”
Shu Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He was sure that there were probably similar things happening in other classes, so, after a moment of thought, he made an anonymous post on the school forum: Is imitating other people’s posture and speaking habits considered bullying?
After he posted, Shu Ning waited for a while, but no one replied to his post.
Then, he opened up an alternate account and answered his own post: [I think the stuff that OP described counts as a type of bullying. School bullying isn’t just verbal or physical. Making fun of a classmate’s behavior can also be a type of bullying.] Then, he linked a couple of other highly upvoted posts on school bullying from other forums.
He sent out the reply and then refreshed the page. There were already students leaving comments below.
School violence had always been a sensitive topic, and the post soon became a hot topic. There were a lot of people discussing it, and most of them agreed that copying someone’s behavior and making fun of them was a type of school violence.
Seeing that things were changing in the direction he wanted, Shu Ning exited the forum, satisfied with his hard work.
Shu Ning the Great had his parents called. Mrs. Cai listened respectfully to the solemn advice of the head teacher, and all the while she was slicing Shu Ning to pieces with her eyes.Shu Ning tucked his tail between his legs. He looked as well-behaved as a husky who had made a mistake.After half an hour of criticism, Mrs. Cai dragged Shu Ning the Great out of the office by his ear.My god! First you dyed your hair and now you're watching TV in class! If only it was just watching TV, but you even openly went against your teacher!Mrs. Cai, Mrs. Cai, stop! My ears are gonna fall off!Mrs. Cai listened to his howls and twisted his ears some more.It hurts, it hurts Shu Ning's shouts were earth-shattering.Say it, are you going to contradict your teacher in the future?I won't, I won't!Are you going to watch TV in class?No, no, no!And what about dying your hair?Mrs. Cai was furious. Instead of twisting his ears, she pinched a ticklish spot around his waist.Shu Ning shrieked and laughed at the same time with a pained expression on his face. Sure enough, a mother knew her baby's weaknesses the best. She specifically chose places that were painful but wouldn't actually hurt him.I won't dye it, I won't! Shu Ning quickly assured her, Cai Cai, the most beautiful Cai Cai! You're the best, you're awesome! Please let go now! Your son loves you very much muah~After dealing with Shu Ning, Mrs. Cai brushed him off and left.Shu Ning rubbed his ears and went back to the classroom.Everyone looked at him as if he was a martyr, as if there was a golden halo behind him.Clap.Long Qiao started applauding first.Others also began to applaud.Finally, the whole class joined in on the applause.Shu Ning looked at the villain and saw the villain staring at him with a peculiar look in his eyes.Shu Ning gave him a look of What do you think? Wasn't I handsome? He was expecting the little villain's recognition, but he was disappointed. The little villain looked away and lowered his head to read.Huh?I openlycame outand announced that I likedAugust the Great. How come he didn't react at all?Shu Ning walked to his seat and thought to himself: Did I pick the wrong strategy?He thought that having a common hobby was the quickest way to develop a friendship between boys. It was like how kids who watch Ultraman become friends with each other.Why was the villain different?The making friends strategy failed.Since we can't be friends, then let's be enemies.Anyway, the little villain hated when others imitated him, so he might as well go all out.Shu Ning went against Abbess Miejue for the sake ofAugust the Great. Everyone was curious about what kind of showAugust the Greatwas and went to watch it. Inexplicably, this trashy chuunibyou TV show became popular among the seventh graders. It wasn't just popular among the boys. Even some of the girls liked to watch it.Shu Ning received a love letter. On the pink paper, the secret admirer wrote that their hobby was watchingAugust the Great, clearly trying to create a relationship through this common hobby.Pooh.This method wouldn't work on him. It didn't even work when he used it on the villain, so what makes you little girls think it'll work on him?He tore up the love letter and threw it in a nearby trash can.AfterAugust the Greatbecame popular at Longpanshan Middle School, leg shaking also started becoming popular among students.Ktfc, atf ybsr vlrmbnfgfv j vfajli atfs tjvc'a cbalmfv yfobgf.Vqfjxlcu bo ktlmt, Tlc Zlcuhtfcu kjr atf olgra qfgrbc lc beg mijrr ab rajga rtjxlcu tlr ifur, gluta?Lf jirb vlv atf rwlif. Ktf ybs aglfv tlr yfra ab mbqs atf mgbbxfv rwlif.Does he also watchAugust the Great?Don't you think his hairstyle from before was kinda similar to the one inAugust the Great?Pa gfjiis kjr.Vfnfgji ybsr kfgf mtjaalcu lc atf tjiikjs.Stop talking, he's here.The group of boys quickly stopped talking.Yin Mingzheng and Shu Ning exited the bathroom one after the other and slowly walked back to their classroom. Naturally, they heard the boys' conversation.Yin Mingzheng ignored them and headed straight towards the back door of the classroom.Among the boys, there was a class clown who was probably tired of living or something. He suddenly jumped out in front of Yin Mingzheng, stuck out one leg, made a crooked smile, and started to shake his leg.Fuck!Shu Ning sucked in a breath.Yin Mingzheng was caught off guard for a moment. Then, his face slowly started to turn red. He subconsciously wanted to stick his leg out as well, but the other kid had already started shaking his leg. It didn't matter if it was shaking his legs or the crooked smile, the other kid already beat him to the punch.Plus, the other kid did this in front of him on purpose. Was he mocking him?Yin Mingzheng's face became more and more red.His signature pose had been snatched away and became a weapon for others to ridicule him with. Now, he didn't know what pose to make in order to have momentum, to threaten others, and to express himself.The little villain had cut his hair, so he no longer had the characteristic of a delinquent. His facial features were delicate and pretty, and he wasn't tall. Basically, he didn't look threatening at all.Now, even his threatening pose had been stolen. He stood there in a daze, his fair skin flushed with anger. His dark eyes appeared watery because of his bubbling emotions, and the blue and white school uniform set off his figure to seem skinny and frail.He seemed very pure and pitiful.The group of boys were dumbfounded.Shu Ning understood the villain's embarrassment, so he stepped forward, squeezing the villain out to the side. Then, he raised his eyebrows provocatively, stuck out his leg, and started shaking, Come on! Let's see who's better!The class clown laughed. He didn't have any intention to bully anyone. He was just too mischievous for his own good. Yin Mingzheng's reaction had put him in a bit of an awkward situation. Now that Shu Ning had rushed out, he naturally went along with him and started shaking his leg too.The other boys also laughed and joined in. The group of boys was laughing while they were shaking their legs.Yin Mingzheng returned to his seat, glowering at the boys in the hallway. He swore to himself that he would never shake his legs in the future.Their laughter was sharp and piercing, like a knife to his heart.He didn't understand. What was wrong with likingAugust the Great? What was wrong with shaking his legs?Wasn't that pose cool?Yeah, it was cool.But now, it's been taken by someone else.And he was even made fun of.Yin Mingzheng silently lay down at his desk, ignoring everyone else.After Shu Ning finished messing around, he realized that there was a serious problem.He hadn't expected for the leg shaking skill fromAugust the Greatto suddenly become popular. The little villain was sensitive. If he saw so many people imitating his leg shaking, would he think that they were mocking him?The kid just now made him realize this issue.Yin Mingzheng had grown up being excluded since childhood. He may not be able to tell the difference between joking and bullying. If he happened to take it to heart, wouldn't it make him feel awful?Shu Ning's heart was beating wildly. He returned to his seat and silently observed the villain.For several days in a row, the little villain didn't talk to him much, but he also wasn't a whole lot different from usual.The only thing Shu Ning noticed was that the little villain stopped shaking his legs.The villain cut off his outrageous hairstyle, looking clean and fresh. He also stopped shaking his leg. He seemed to be developing in a good direction, but Shu Ning felt like he was getting further and further away from the crowd. He was closing himself up in his own world, refusing to interact with others.This wasn't a good thing.It just so happened to be time for another donation. Shu Ning scheduled a time to meet up with Zhou Juan. Then, he had dinner at home. When it was time to meet up, he rushed over to the community garden and saw Zhou Juan waiting by the fountainHe gave her two hundred yuan as usual. Shu Ning asked, The donor wants to know how Yin Mingzheng's been recently.Zhou Juan immediately became serious and asked, What does he want to know?Has Yin Mingzheng said anything to you recently?No, he said everything was fine.Shu Ning shook his head, I'm his seatmate. I know that he hasn't been too good. It seems like our classmates found out that he likes the showAugust the Great. Our classmates have been copying the way he shakes his legs. He might think that our classmates are bullying him.Zhou Juan hesitated, How come?Shu Ning said, He's been excluded and bullied since he was little. Didn't you know?Zhou Juan shook her head.Shu Ning got a little angry, Go back and straighten things out with him. Just let him know that his classmates didn't mean to make fun of him.Zhou Juan promised, Don't worry, I will.Shu Ning reminded her once more not to reveal anything about him to Yin Mingzheng. Then, he was able to rest assured.Don't worry.Zhou Juan said with a smile. She picked up her plastic bag and prepared to leave.Shu Ning saw it and asked casually, Mrs. Zhou, what did you buy?Zhou Juan said, Some potatoes, spinach, vegetables for tomorrow's dinner.Shu Ning was stunned for a moment. You didn't buy any meat?Zhou Juan forced a smile and shook her head, Meat is more expensive, so we can't afford it.Shu Ning thought about how Yin Mingzheng was clearly older than his classmates, yet his height was average and his figure was thin. Suddenly, Shu Ning's heart started to ache.Was the reason for his height and stature because he wasn't eating well?Does he drink milk? Shu Ning asked.Milk? Zhou Juan shook her head, We can't afford it.Shu Ning suppressed his anger and asked curiously, Yin Mingzheng doesn't drink milk?In order to get the donation, Zhou Juan spoke without any reservation, He's never drank milk, even when he was little. He can't stand the smell of milk.He doesn't drink milk? What did he eat growing up? Shu Ning asked.Zhou Juan responded, At that time, we were in a difficult situation, so we fed him corn porridge, that kind of stuff. It's the rural way of raising kids. Either way, the rich have their way of doing things and poor people have ours.Shu Ning's head almost exploded! Not only was the little villain switched at birth, he couldn't even drink powdered milk!When babies are in their growing period, it's very important to provide them with enough nutrients. Before the Communist Revolution, most Chinese people weren't very tall. Foreigners had suspected that Chinese people were naturally short because of genetics. It wasn't until conditions got better and nutrition improved that children started shooting up in height. It was only then that the speculations were dispelled.What was even more bizarre was that some short parents ended up having tall children. The reason was that the parents possessed the tall gene, but their lack of nutrition led to their short stature. After their conditions became better, the child was provided ample nutrition and naturally grew taller and taller.In this day and age, how can there still be children who don't get to drink milk?It's obvious that you've never cared whether he drank milk or not!This kind of physiological setback may follow him for the rest of his life.Shu Ning's temples throbbed with anger. Thinking of the little villain's less than ideal height and thin body, he suddenly became worried that the villain wouldn't be able to grow tall in the future.He doesn't like the smell of milk? Shu Ning suppressed his anger and asked.That's what he said. Zhou Juan added hesitantly, I bought him some milk once, but he said he wasn't used to drinking it.Mn, I got it. Shu Ning nodded expressionlessly, Remember to encourage him when you get back. Tell him that his classmates didn't mean to exclude him.Yes, I know.Zhou Juan left carrying her groceries.Shu Ning waited by the fountain for a while. Then, he unlocked his phone and created a WeChat group with the class clown and a couple of other boys who liked to mess around.What's up, Shuge? The class clown responded first.Several of the other boys also showed up, chatting happily.Shu Ning calmed his boiling emotions. He glanced at the messages in the group chat, took a deep breath, and sent out ared envelope.Holy crap!Thank you, boss!Thank you, daddy!The boys scrambled to snatch the red envelope. When they saw that the red envelope had ten dollars in it, they were more than satisfied.Shu Ning was well versed in the principle of dollar diplomacy. Once he saw that everyone took a red envelope, he piped up, Guys, someone thought that we were bullying Yin Mingzheng.Yin Mingzheng is a good friend of mine. We need to clear this up.Tomorrow, we'll all apologize to him and tell him that we didn't mean to make fun of him.Shu Ning's words left a few boys puzzled, Ah? How did we make fun of him?We didn't make fun of him!Shu Ning explained, We were copying Yin Mingzheng by shaking our legs.That's it? It was just a joke!The boys weren't very happy.Shu Ning sighed, But someone misunderstood us and told the teacher. If I hadn't gone and explained ourselves to the teacher, we would have been scolded again.Several boys gave him a few words of comfort.Shu Ning added, Actually, if you think about it, we really were in the wrong, weren't we?Shuge, what did we do wrong?I searched online, and, apparently, copying a classmate's movements, voice, and posture can be considered a type of bullying.A lot of the boys were shocked, Really?Shu Ning quickly opened a forum and found some posts about school bullying. One of the most upvoted answers mentioned copying and imitating, so he posted the link to the group.The boys, who had been vehemently denying that they did anything wrong, fell silent.Finally, the class clown said, Then, let's go explain it to him tomorrow?Shu Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He was sure that there were probably similar things happening in other classes, so, after a moment of thought, he made an anonymous post on the school forum: Is imitating other people's posture and speaking habits considered bullying?After he posted, Shu Ning waited for a while, but no one replied to his post.Then, he opened up an alternate account and answered his own post: I think the stuff that OP described counts as a type of bullying. School bullying isn't just verbal or physical. Making fun of a classmate's behavior can also be a type of bullying. Then, he linked a couple of other highly upvoted posts on school bullying from other forums.He sent out the reply and then refreshed the page. There were already students leaving comments below.School violence had always been a sensitive topic, and the post soon became a hot topic. There were a lot of people discussing it, and most of them agreed that copying someone's behavior and making fun of them was a type of school violence.Seeing that things were changing in the direction he wanted, Shu Ning exited the forum, satisfied with his hard work.
