Shang Zhitao was dragging her luggage to the entrance of the residential complex when she met her three dear roommates heading out. She quickly stopped and asked them, “Where are you going?”
“To find the property agent.” Everyone had been working overtime at home when the electricity suddenly cut off. After investigating for half a day, they discovered the agent had pocketed the electricity fees they had paid. When they called the agent about it, they were inexplicably berated.
In an era when unscrupulous agents ran rampant, many people thought they were lucky enough to avoid becoming victims, yet they couldn’t escape after all.
“Wait for me then. Let me take my luggage back, I want to go too.”
“You don’t need to come,” Sun Yuanzhu told Shang Zhitao to wait at home, then said to Sun Yu, “And you too. I told you to stay home, but you insisted on coming out.”
Shang Zhitao pushed her suitcase and ran, shouting as she went, “Wait for me! I want to go too!” During that period, many news stories were about unscrupulous agents. Shang Zhitao knew they weren’t easy to deal with, but as an adult, she felt she must stand together with her roommates at this time.
Zhang Lei exchanged a glance with Sun Yuanzhu and advised Sun Yu, “Go back. Two grown men are enough. We don’t need you two. You both wait at home.”
“I’m not going back,” Sun Yu stuffed a pair of scissors into her bag. “I know how to fight. If those ruffians try anything, I can show them a thing or two.” Ever since that event in Handan when their activity was disrupted, Sun Yu always carried something for self-defense. In her words: “Those thugs better think twice before they dare to mess with me!”
Her thoughts were fierce, though she had never actually fought. Life had ultimately forced a delicate girl to become capable of anything.
Shang Zhitao dropped off her luggage and ran to catch up with them. When the group reached the small storefront of the agency, Sun Yuanzhu stopped and suggested, “How about this? You two stand outside. If a fight breaks out inside, you call the police.”
“No,” Sun Yu refused.
“Calm down, listen to me.” Zhang Lei took off his coat and handed it to Sun Yu. “We can’t all be caught together. If a fight breaks out, you call the police first, then shout for help. If you two come in, we’ll have to protect you. Agreed, comrades?”
“Agreed.”
Shang Zhitao had never experienced such a situation. She took out her phone, ready to dial 110, and watched the activity inside intently. She didn’t even realize her fingertips were trembling slightly. Soon, the sound of someone pounding on a table came from inside, followed by a “F*ck your mother!” Sun Yu rushed in, and Shang Zhitao quickly dialed 110 to report. She didn’t know she was crying in fear as she gave the address. After hanging up, she shouted “Someone’s being beaten!” several times and rushed in.
Zhang Lei was right—you had to shout like this to attract onlookers, ensuring they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.
She didn’t know where her courage came from, probably from the belief that she couldn’t let her friends face this alone. When she entered the room, she saw several agents surrounding Sun Yuanzhu and Zhang Lei, all of them grappling with each other. Sun Yu was on the periphery, picking up an ashtray to smash it on someone’s head, but was blocked by another person who reached out to hit her. Shang Zhitao rushed forward and forcefully pushed that person away.
Outside, people began to gather. In those days, fights at agency offices were too common. Finally, someone who couldn’t bear to watch shouted, “The police are coming!” making the brazen agents stop.
The crowd outside blocked the door so tightly that no one could leave. When some young men from the agency tried to slip out the back door, Sun Yuanzhu quickly blocked them with his sharp eyes and quick hands. There was a scrape at the corner of his lip, but he didn’t bother to wipe it. Having just fought, he now calmed down to reason, “Give us our electricity fees. Or if not, give us the money and the electricity card so we can pay ourselves.”
“Don’t push your luck! We told you, the money is at the company. It has nothing to do with us!”
“We don’t care who has the money, but we must have electricity today!” Zhang Lei was truly infuriated by these people. As someone in commercial business who made friends from all walks of life, he rarely lost his temper, but today he was furious.
One of the thuggish agents, probably accustomed to bullying others, saw that these young people couldn’t be intimidated and chose the softest target. In a fit of rage, he threw a punch at Shang Zhitao’s face. Sun Yuanzhu, quick-eyed and quick-handed, struck the man’s arm, but the fist still grazed Shang Zhitao’s face, immediately causing her fair skin to swell.
This was truly too much bullying!
In her twenty-three years of life, Shang Zhitao had never suffered such an injustice. She leaped forward and bit down hard on the man’s arm. Given all the winter clothing, how much power could this bite have? She also scratched at the man’s face with her other hand, only wishing she had long nails like Lumi.
The police finally arrived, surveying the room full of men and women. The agency thugs hadn’t suffered much, but the four tenants had. They had all been law-abiding citizens before but were pushed to the limit today. The police took everyone to the station for mediation and education.
“Who struck first?”
“They did!” All fingers pointed at the opposite party. The agency people had more experience. Without evidence of who started the fight—as onlookers had only gathered after it began—it was one word against another.
“Where’s the electricity fee money?”
“At the company.”
“Where is your company?” The police officer was just asking procedurally—what didn’t they know about the situations in this area?
The unscrupulous agents exchanged glances, and one of them spoke up, “I don’t know… When we arrived, we were already in the shop. We’ve never been to the company.”
Bullshit!
The officer cursed them inwardly: Look at you bunch of bastards! Of all things to do, why run a fraudulent agency?
The officer couldn’t reason with these agents; they were practiced and stuck together tightly. So he asked Shang Zhitao and her friends, “How do you want to resolve this?”
“First, we’re injured and need to go to the hospital for examination…”
“We’re injured too! We also need to be examined!” The thugs shouted noisily.
“Silence!” The police officer slammed his hand on the table, and everyone quieted down.
“Second, we want our money back and the electricity card, and we want to speak directly with the landlord.” Sun Yuanzhu said this, then looked at Shang Zhitao and Sun Yu. “Third, the women were frightened, and we need them to apologize publicly and guarantee they won’t cause further trouble.”
“Go to the hospital first,” the officer said, looking at these disadvantaged young people and thinking, You all are quite brave.
“I have one more request,” Sun Yuanzhu interrupted the officer. “There must be others who’ve suffered the same experience as us. Please contact them to resolve this together, or we’ll take legal action.”
The once-gentle Sun Yuanzhu was now so firm over a matter of two hundred yuan. Shang Zhitao suddenly recalled her teacher’s lecture on the May Fourth Movement: Look at those frail students, the first to awaken. She suddenly understood the best part of what education could give a person, probably embodied in Sun Yuanzhu today.
They went to the hospital for injury assessment. The police raided the unscrupulous agency’s den, seized their account books, and arrested the financial staff. The next day, Shang Zhitao and her roommates met with the landlord. The speed was astonishing.
But the landlord said, “After such a commotion, I’m afraid of retaliation from the agency. You know about them throwing paint and jamming locks, right? The neighbors won’t have peace. I’m sorry, children.”
Facing the gray-haired landlord, Shang Zhitao and her roommates suddenly didn’t know what to say. The landlord’s concerns were valid. As an elderly person with no children nearby, she couldn’t handle such trouble if it came.
“Auntie, could you give us a few days to find a new place?”
“Is three days okay?”
“Yes.”
They returned home and sat in the living room, seemingly not wanting to talk. Sun Yu spoke first, having been scammed by unscrupulous agents before and experienced similar situations: “So are we looking for a big four-bedroom or a partitioned place next?”
“Let’s find a three-bedroom,” Zhang Lei, who had been quiet for a long time, finally spoke. “I’m considering moving to a place near my company. I just got promoted, and work is too busy. I can’t rest well with a long commute.”
The last time Shang Zhitao faced a similar scenario was in the second semester of her junior year when her dormitory mates discussed their plans. Some said they’d go to Beijing, others would return to their hometowns, some wanted to venture to Shenzhen, and others planned to pursue graduate studies. Everyone was young and hadn’t experienced many partings. The discussion that day was particularly emotional, and everyone ended up crying.
Today, Shang Zhitao didn’t cry. She knew everyone would eventually go their separate ways. Changing jobs, dating, marriage, having children—they’d only be together for a year or two. At first, they would still meet often, then gradually lose touch, and finally disappear into the sea of humanity. Only a few people would remain by one’s side.
The unpredictability of gatherings and partings is a truth of life.
No one knew what to say, until Zhang Lei scratched the back of his head: “Please forgive me for leaving first, but I like all of you. It’s just that all good things must come to an end.”
“Why so sentimental?” Sun Yu stood up and clapped her hands. “Enough, enough. We won’t discuss what kind of house to find today. Today, let’s first send off Zhang Lei! Let’s go have some drinks!”
Shang Zhitao nodded. “Good, let’s drink.”
The group went to a nearby barbecue restaurant to drink. Everyone’s face bore some bruises, attracting sidelong glances from others. They all felt a bit embarrassed, never imagining that after more than a decade of education, they would end up like the troublemakers from their school days. In the end, everyone had to face such a fight in society.
While waiting for the food, Shang Zhitao looked at her nails and said to Sun Yu, “I’m planning to grow my nails long, like Lumi’s. Then I’ll file them to a point, so I won’t be at a disadvantage in the next fight.” In the past year or so, Luan Nian had forced her into the habit of constant self-reflection and summarization. After the fight, she kept reviewing, contemplating how to win the next time.
Everyone laughed at her. One side of her face was still swollen, and her lip was split, making her look somewhat comical. Looking at each other, the whole group was a mess—truly pitiful.
Sun Yu raised her glass: “Let’s toast to Zhang Lei. Congratulations on moving out of this broken house and starting anew.”
“Don’t say that.” People in business had seen all kinds of situations, but today he was somewhat moved. These nearly two years have truly been the happiest time since I came to Beijing. No matter what grievances or anger I faced at work, coming home to see you three would make everything better. Although I’ve decided to move out, our friendship can’t be broken.”
“In Beijing, it’s not easy to make friends you’d fight alongside.”
The scene that day was quite comical. For the sake of two hundred yuan and to vent their indignation, the four of them suffered such a disadvantage, yet didn’t feel ashamed. Instead, they felt that fighting together had cemented their friendship.
But life must eventually come to an end!
The hustle and bustle, the continuous stream—no matter how lively, it must still disperse!
Everyone drank a lot. The two men, unprecedentedly, relieved themselves under a tree by the North Fifth Ring Road, patting each other’s shoulders as they did: “Don’t learn from me; don’t learn from me, it’s uncivilized and impolite.” Then they vomited messily.
Shang Zhitao and Sun Yu stood at a distance with their backs to them, feeling the cold wind, shivering slightly.
Sun Yu rubbed her swollen arm, then looked at Shang Zhitao’s swollen face, suddenly feeling sad: “Look at us, what have we done all year? Ending the year with bruises.”
“It was intense, so this year wasn’t wasted.”
It felt like a dream, experiencing both good and bad. Early the next morning, Zhang Lei moved out. Sun Yu went to organize an activity, while Shang Zhitao and Sun Yuanzhu went to look for a new place.
Before leaving, Sun Yuanzhu saw that Shang Zhitao’s swollen face had a slight bruise—that punch was no light hit—and felt distressed. He went into the room to get some alcohol: “Let me help you clean it up?”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Shang Zhitao turned her face aside. Sun Yuanzhu’s movements were gentle as he lightly touched her skin with an alcohol-soaked cotton swab, asking softly, “Does it hurt?”
How could it not hurt?
Yet Shang Zhitao shook her head: “It doesn’t hurt. Sun Yuanzhu, I think you shouldn’t fight anymore. Scholars aren’t suited for fighting.”
“They threatened us, saying if we made more trouble, they’d put sacks over you and Sun Yu. That’s why we fought.”
Shang Zhitao felt truly warm inside. She sniffed: “It’s not worth it.”
“It is worth it.”
Adults always consider whether something is worth it before acting, but where are there so many interests to weigh?
“It’s not easy to forge a friendship. When I’m not around, I won’t interfere, but when I see it, I will protect you all.”
Shang Zhitao felt her eyes moisten. She punched Sun Yuanzhu’s chest lightly, imitating Zhang Lei’s tone: “Thank you, brother.”
“You’re welcome.”
Don’t be so formal.