The Growth Story of Chenxi Boy

Xu Yi's birthday was on the first day of her third year of junior high school.

The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, and the breeze was quite pleasant. He had almost forgotten about his birthday. If it weren't for A-Dong announcing in the group a week in advance, "Xu Yi's birthday, everyone get it," followed by a row of broken "Received," A-Peng replied with "1," Deng Feng with "2," and Lai Youyu with "3," Chen Tao couldn't stand it anymore and typed, "Can't you guys be a little more cultured?"

The strategist quietly took a screenshot and saved it, saying he would keep it as evidence in court later. The group laughed and joked, and no one took it seriously.

Everyone arrived that day except for Old Wang.

Old Wang always studied out of town and could only come back once a year during winter break; he couldn't make it this time. Deng Feng blurted out that Old Wang was just putting on an act, but Chen Tao shook his head, saying it was a genuine expression of his feelings. A Dong didn't interrupt; he remembered Old Wang's pigeon-toed walk, his old gloves, and the "Five Fingers Milk Tea" they drank together last summer. Back then, Old Wang rarely came back, and he left again in less than a month. When he left, no one said much, just patted each other on the shoulder.

"Never mind," A-Dong said, putting his phone face down on the table. "I'll finish it when he comes back for the New Year."

A-Dong and Deng-Feng are in their first year of junior high school, two grades below Xu Yi. Xu Yi said that today is a day when she can use "birthday" as an excuse to receive gifts, so she must celebrate it properly and invited everyone to eat all-you-can-eat steak.

As soon as he entered the store, Lai Youyu acted like he was in a battle. In addition to his own set meal, he brought out several plates of meat and also gave one to everyone else, as if afraid that other customers would snatch it all up. That's just how he is; he has to calculate everything clearly and be sure of everything.

As soon as A-Peng entered, his eyes widened, and his hand holding the plate trembled slightly. He didn't look like he was there to eat; he looked like he was there to undergo a tribulation.

Deng Feng was even more amusing. He was carrying two large bottles of Coke that he had brought from home when he walked toward his seat. A waiter gently stopped him: "Young man, we don't allow outside drinks here." Only then did he belatedly realize—oh, this is a Western restaurant, not a roadside stall.

As soon as he sat down, Lai Youyu took out his phone, looked down and calculated the "cost per person". After finishing the calculation, he looked up and said seriously, "We have to get our money's worth, or we'll lose a lot of money."

"I've already eaten four plates," Ah Peng mumbled, his mouth stuffed full, "How come I'm still struggling to break even?"

Xu Yi pointed to the cakes and pastries on his plate: "You're eating all desserts. You can't get your money's worth from those things."

A Peng's face froze instantly.

Chen Tao laughed so hard he coughed. The strategist didn't say anything, but silently got up and brought him another plate of meat.

The meal was lively and enjoyable. When we came out, it was still light outside, and the setting sun bathed the entire bridge in a warm gold. The river flowed slowly beneath the bridge, and the cool evening breeze felt wonderful on our faces. Several people walked side by side on the bridge, their shadows stretched long, chatting and laughing as if they could walk like this forever.

Apeng suddenly patted Adong: "You eat so little, like a primary school student."

Ah Dong was stunned for a moment: "I ate three plates."

"You dare to say you only played three rounds?" Apeng sneered. "Look at that madman, he played five rounds."

"He is him, and I am me," Ah Dong replied calmly.

Xu Yi chuckled and interjected, "Ah Peng, stop bullying people. Aren't you only a fourth grader yourself? Ah Dong is only in the first year of junior high, still growing. Unlike you, you're almost as big as Old Wang, but you still talk like you haven't grown up yet."

"That's called being strong!" Apeng retorted.

"So big that your belly is about to burst your clothes?" Xu Yi gestured, and the group burst into laughter again.

The laughter had barely subsided when a soft, yet grating, sneer came from the other side of the bridge.

"Oh, who are you talking about?"

Several people looked up at the same time.

Four or five people in high school uniforms were standing on the other side of the bridge. The one in the lead had dyed yellow hair and looked at them sideways with disdain in his eyes.

Xu Yi spoke first: "I wasn't talking about you guys."

"They didn't mention us?" The blond-haired man walked over step by step, his shoes thumping on the bridge plank. "I clearly heard the words 'elementary school students' just now. What, are you looking down on us?"

A-Dong frowned slightly.

"We're talking about ourselves, it's none of your business."

"None of our business?" The blond-haired man laughed, a sinister laugh. "What's your name?"

A Dong paused for a moment, then said, "Chen Xichuan."

"Oh, Ah Dong—" the blond-haired guy drawled, then turned and winked at his accomplice, "I've heard of you, you're quite famous."

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Deng Feng and Lai Youyu subconsciously moved closer to A Dong, slowing their steps and tensing their shoulders.

Suddenly, the blond-haired man raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

"Okay, let's get to know each other today."

The people behind him immediately dispersed, forming a net that completely blocked the road at both ends of the bridge.

Ah Peng's face turned pale instantly.

I felt so full just now, but now it's all stuck in my throat. I want to vomit but can't, I want to swallow but can't. My legs are shaking uncontrollably, and I'm frozen in place, unable to move.

The strategist stood beside him, his mind blank.

He's hardly a strategist; he just plays games most of the time. When faced with a situation like this, he's completely helpless and can only watch as an old computer suddenly crashes.

Chen Tao clenched his fists instantly, his knuckles turning white, and turned to charge. Xu Yi grabbed him tightly, with a frighteningly strong grip.

"Don't be impulsive." Xu Yi's voice was low and trembling, but very steady.

"Make a phone call!" Chen Tao urged.

"Give it to your brother. Quickly." Chen Tao gave him the number. "Call him now."

Chen Tao's hands were shaking so badly, but he still took out his phone and shakily pressed the dial button.

In that most tense second, A-Peng suddenly shouted, his voice carrying a hint of ingratiation, which sounded somewhat comical to others:

"Brother! Don't hit me! Hit this Chen family's eldest son, Ah Dong!"

The air freezes.

A-Dong: ? ? ?

Deng Feng: ? ? ?

Lai Youyu: ...

The blond-haired men were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Fine," the blond-haired man wiped his mouth, "then so be it."

He pointed with his hand: "You, you, and you, come out."

A Dong, Deng Feng, and Lai Youyu, two from the first year of junior high and one from the third year, were called out to stand up.

Lai Youyu, whose mind worked the fastest, quickly told the two in a low voice, "You two work together to take down one, and I'll hold off the other two. You two finish this quickly, then come help. At least hold out until someone else arrives."

A-Dong looked at him without saying a word.

Deng Feng took a deep breath.

He had never fought with an outsider in his life. The most violent thing he had ever experienced was when he talked back to his father and argued back, and his father beat him so badly that he was bedridden for two whole days. That pain seemed to be creeping back up into his bones.

"...Come on." Deng Feng's voice was soft, but firm.

Then came a fight that had no suspense from the very beginning.

Lai Youyu thought that if two people were fighting one, they wouldn't lose too badly.

But he forgot that the other person was a high school freshman, tall and strong, and not in the same league at all.

Ah Dong stood still, not because he didn't want to move, but because he simply didn't have time to move.

He was shoved hard against the bridge railing, his back throbbing painfully. Before he could get up, a fist came crashing down on him.

The first punch landed on my shoulder, and half of my body went numb and stiffened.

The second punch landed on his waist, causing him to gasp in pain.

After the third punch, he collapsed onto the bridge.

The moment he lay down, he looked up and saw the sky.

The sky at dusk was a jumble of pink, purple, and orange hues, all mixed together in a chaotic mess, like someone had spilled a palette of colors.

A thought flashed through his mind: The sky is quite beautiful today.

The next second, another punch landed, and he couldn't think of anything else.

Deng Feng tried to rush up from the side to help, but as soon as he reached out, he was punched in the face by the other party.

Everything went black before my eyes, and I was completely stunned.

The man didn't linger. He abandoned Deng Feng and turned to beat A Dong. After completely finishing off A Dong, he slowly turned around and chased after Deng Feng, who had already run several meters away.

Deng Feng ran, stumbling and staggering.

He had only one regret: if only he hadn't been lazy or skipped PE class, he wouldn't be able to run now, especially since it had just rained and the ground was slippery.

He was grabbed in just a few steps, slammed against the bridge railing, and punched repeatedly.

As the final punch landed, his mind was blank, except for one thought:

What about Lai Youyu... How is Lai Youyu doing?

It took less than two minutes in total.

The two of them hadn't even managed to defeat a single person from the other side.

Ah Dong lay on the ground, unable to move.

Deng Feng was being held down by the hair and pressed against the bridge, panting heavily, his eyes glazed over.

On the other hand, Lai Youyu did manage to hold off two opponents at first.

Back then, he was thin and light, and he ran fast. He would hit someone and run away, darting back and forth around the bridge arch, leaving the two men completely bewildered.

He was still thinking: Just hold on a little longer, just a little longer.

But when he looked back, his heart sank to the bottom.

The high school student who had easily dealt with A-Dong and Deng Feng was dusting off his hands and slowly walking over.

three people.

They surrounded Lai Youyu completely, leaving no gaps.

"Run!" one of them sneered. "Why don't you keep running?"

Lai Youyu had nowhere to run, and he couldn't run anymore.

He was slammed hard onto the cold bridge surface, his fists raining down on him relentlessly.

He curled up in a ball, clutching his head tightly, his ears ringing, and only one thought, both faint and painful, occupied his mind:

How come they... can't even beat one of them?

Ah Peng huddled at the very back, as if nailed to the ground.

He was trembling all over, his teeth were chattering, and his lips were deathly pale.

It was me who shouted it. It was my words. If I hadn't shouted it, would they have stopped targeting Ah Dong? Would the fight have escalated to this point?

He dared not think about it, nor could he understand it.

He wanted to watch, yet dared not; he wanted to run, yet couldn't move his legs. He could only stand there, frozen, a utterly useless bystander.

The strategist stood beside him, completely wooden.

He can't do anything, he knows how to do nothing. His cleverness in games is worthless in the face of real fists.

Chen Tao wanted to go up, but Xu Yi held him back.

"Going up there will only get us beaten up too!" Xu Yi's voice trembled. "Wait a little longer..."

Xu Yi stood at the very edge, her mind racing, like a CPU about to overheat and explode, calculating every possibility and every possible solution over and over again.

He always considered himself calm, rational, and decisive.

He made what he considered the "right" choice—no impulsiveness, no reckless action, making a phone call, and waiting for someone to arrive.

But what's the use of being correct?

Even if you're right, you won't get your brother back, and you won't get beaten up.

Correctness cannot stop the fists that fall on them.

He stood there, watching Ah Dong lie down, Deng Feng be pinned against the railing, and Lai Youyu be surrounded and punched by three men.

My heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by a hand, and the pain made it hard to breathe.

He hated this "correct" version of himself.

After an unknown amount of time, Huang Mao and his gang had finished beating each other. They spat, cursed a few times, and swaggered away.

The bridge was eerily quiet.

A cool breeze blew from the river.

Deng Feng struggled to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his clothes covered in dust. He staggered to A Dong's side and reached out to help him up.

"Thank goodness..." he gasped for breath, managing a forced, bitter smile. "No one is missing."

Lai Youyu lay on the ground for a long time before slowly moving his hands.

He reached for the glasses case that had rolled to the side, opened it, and found that the lenses were completely intact.

He let out a long breath, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded, and softly said:

"Never mind... at least my glasses aren't broken."