Chapter 9 (2)

  Song Shipei came up with a stopgap measure: to run quickly back to the Third Middle School in the southern part of the city, which would be very refreshing during the process. Yu Xiang laughed at Song Shipei's way of thinking, saying he was like an ostrich that buries its head in the sand when faced with danger, not caring about anything else. In the end, all three long-distance running students were too lazy to run and hailed a motorized tricycle by the side of the road.

  Yu Xiang asked Song Shi Ping in a soft voice, "Can you fit in such a small car?" The owner of the car heard this and quickly patted the three-wheeled motorcycle, saying, "How can it not be possible? It's very spacious inside! Not to mention three people—" The owner originally wanted to say that even thirty people could squeeze in, but thinking that was an exaggeration like a sneeze knocking down the Kremlin, he changed his words to, "Even four people would have plenty of room!" Yu Xiang was amazed that he knew the idiom "plenty of room", and thought he must be an unemployed intellectual. With sympathy, he advised Song Shi Ping, "Just make do! You'll definitely fit in!"

  Yu Xiong was the first to get in, taking up half of the space. Song Shi Ping quickly crawled in, filling up the remaining half. The car owner saw that they were going to pull down one, and hurriedly went to direct and dispatch, teaching Song Shi Ping and Yu Xiong how to save space. The two followed the car owner's instructions to tuck their bellies in, shrink their feet, and lift their waists, and amazingly managed to squeeze out a small piece of empty space. Yu Shuang slipped in with his cat-like waist, and the three people were entwined hand and foot, like the wick of an alcohol lamp. The car owner was afraid that the three would change their minds, so he quickly started the car, indicating that what was done could not be undone.

  The car owner asked: "Where should we go?" Song Shiping didn't know the severity of this sentence and replied: "Anywhere, as long as we can get to Municipal Third Middle School."

  The car owner drove silently. Song Shiping was the first to discover that the direction was wrong and secretly told Yu Xiang. Yu Xiang didn't think deeply, comforting Song Shiping that all roads lead to Municipal Third Middle School. The three-wheeled motorcycle almost traversed every street in the county before slowly finding the right direction. Yu Xiang urged the car owner, saying there were only over ten minutes left. The car owner said: "Don't worry, you'll make it on time!" with a smile on his face, driving and singing at the same time.

  Yu Xiong initially sat upright in the center, but suddenly leaned his head on Song Shi Ping's shoulder. Song Shi Ping thought Yu Xiong was dead and pinched his skin repeatedly. Yu Xiong moved his mouth a few times to prove he still had some vitality left. Song Shi Ping patted Rain Xiang lightly and whispered: "Listen, his mouth is moving like he's saying something, listen!"

  Yu Xiang then put his ear to Yu Xiong's mouth, and only heard Yu Xiong move his lips without making a sound. Song Shi Ping patted him a few more times, and finally Yu Xiang made out something, saying: "He's saying 'young master' or 'young Ye'." At this time the car drove over a brick, bouncing violently, and Yu Xiong opened his eyes to say: "Are we almost at Municipal Third Middle School?" Neither Yu Xiang nor Song Shi Ping could answer this question. Yu Xiong then pushed away Song Shi Ping's hand, saying: "It's too hot, everyone spread out a bit."

  Song Shi Ping gave Yu Xiong a mysterious smile and asked: "Who is Xiao Ye?"

  Yu Xiong listened and his mouth was about to open wide, then he wanted to ask Song Shiping how he knew, but after thinking about it, he decided not to say anything. His lips trembled slightly as he counter-questioned: "Who is Xiao Ye?"

  Song Shi Ping thought he had misheard and waved his hand, saying forget it.

  The tricycle stopped, and the driver got off and said, "Shi Nan San Zhong." Yu Xiang jumped out of the car and was shocked. He thought that when they came out, they were heading west, but this tricycle's parking position was also with its head facing west.

  The car owner stretched out two fingers and shook them, saying: "Twenty bucks."

  Song Shi Ping angrily said: "Such a short distance..."

  The car owner thought that since the uncooked rice had not only been cooked into cooked rice, but also into porridge, cutting a few knives was no problem, and he said with confidence: "Look at how many roads I've run, and how much oil money has been spent?"

  "This is the road you voluntarily ran more."

  The car owner, pretending to be a key student in the city, looked up at the sky and said: "You didn't tell me how to drive, it's so late, where can you still stop the car? Fortunately, I'm here, don't say anything else, just 20 yuan and let me go."

  Yu Xiong said: "You... say it again."

  "What's there to say? Just pay the 20 yuan quickly. Don't think you can get away with it. If you can't afford it, don't take a ride and walk back yourself."

  Yu Xiong dug into his ear and said: "What? You... say it again."

  "What are you doing?"

  Yu Xiong glared at the car driver, swung his left arm, and punched the metal carriage with a loud "clang", leaving four dents. He then cracked his knuckles loudly and said with a smile: "You... repeat that."

  The car owner was shocked and thought to himself that his body wasn't made of steel, today he's having bad luck, running into someone even more ruthless, but not wanting to give up immediately and lose face. Like a person falling from the 10th floor, knowing there's no hope for survival, in the end they want to put on a few moves so as not to die too miserably. The car owner's tone suddenly became like noodles being dropped into boiling water: "What are you doing, trying to ruin my car? Let's discuss the price reasonably."

  Yu Xiong took a step forward, saying word by word: "You... repeat that!"

  The car owner was terrified and feared that there would be eight dents on the car, so he deleted the previous sentence and added a title, saying: "Young brother, let's discuss the price."

  Yu Xiong dug into his pocket for half a day, pulled out a one-yuan coin, pinched it between two fingers and flashed it in front of the car owner's eyes, then tossed it into his hand. He said to Yu Shuang and Song Shi Ping: "Let's go." Yu Shuang had an image of Liang Zi Jun flash through his mind, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, he followed Yu Xiong through the gates of Shi Nan No. 3 Middle School. Song Shi Ping praised: "Good job, Yu Xiong! You're not drunk at all! I really admire you to death. Doesn't your hand hurt?"

  Yu Xiong rubbed his left hand and said, "Nonsense, of course it hurts."

  Song Shi Ping said: "Those few words you just spoke have already killed that old bald donkey's prestige, you don't seem like someone who is just here to eat for free."

  Yu Xiong smiled slightly, dressed himself up like a celestial being, and said: "Hmph, in my younger years..."

  Song Shipei wanted to hear about "back then", but unexpectedly there was no more content below. Yu Xiang told Song Shipei: "Don't ask, back then he must have been the boss."

  The night in the south of the city was terrifying, and after the wind blew, not only did the grass move, but the trees also swayed. The strange shadows on the ground seemed to be attacking people. However, the terror couldn't dispel the heat inside and out, and Yu Xiang couldn't help but complain: "It's so hot today, how can I sleep?"

  Song Shi Ping was about to answer when he suddenly shuddered and pointed forward with his finger, saying: "Look, a human figure!"

  Yu Xiong and Lin Yuxiang looked in the direction they were pointing, and indeed five black shadows were sneaking towards the gymnasium, each holding a long strip. Yu Xiong was startled and rushed over, but the five "night crawlers" noticed him and stopped in their tracks, laughing and saying: "You're pretending to be a ghost? Why are all the new high school students running around outside scaring people? Hey, friend, it's so hot like this, you should go back to your dormitory, or your brain will get fried! Come on, let's squeeze into the gymnasium with Ah La, there's air conditioning in there."

  Yu Xiong waved his hand and retreated, saying: "Thanks, let's talk again later."

  Song Shi Ping wanted to sleep in the gym, Yu Xiong said: "You're dizzy from the heat, do you know how strict the school rules are at San Zhong? Do you want to be punished? Hold on a bit, let's go."

  Song Shipei reluctantly gazed a few times at the gym door, where a shadow was climbing over it. Yu Xiang suppressed his worldly thoughts and walked with Yu Xiong towards their dormitory.

  Arriving at the dormitory entrance, more than a dozen people were carrying quilts and walking out, saying it was too hot inside. The listener had a mind, Song Shiping mentioned going to sleep in the gym again. Yu Xiong coldly said: "You can't bear it, you go sleep."

  Yu Xiang was hesitant and didn't know where to sleep, but in the end, his inherent cowardice overcame his desire for temporary pleasure, and he decided to follow Yu Xiong to suffer. The two of them walked forward against the tide like heroes saving the world from a great disaster. Song Shi Ping also turned back and said that good friends should help each other in times of need, using this as an excuse to cover up his own cowardice.