PCJ – Chapter 377 One Crossing Water Middle School

The next morning, as Zhang Youping was about to enter the association office building, Zhang Qianlong arrived. Before Zhang Qianlong could say anything, Zhang Youping moved quickly, taking him down to the ground in just a few moves. This time, Zhang Youping was very targeted in his approach, deliberately kicking at Zhang Qianlong’s feet. After sweating slightly, Zhang Youping stopped and went straight into the office, specifically instructing the doorman not to let that person from outside in.

After a hard time, Zhang Qianlong managed to get back on his feet, but Zhang Youping had already vanished.

In the afternoon, when Zhang Youping was getting off work, a colleague quickly informed him that the madman was waiting outside again. Without a word, Zhang Youping shoved his briefcase into his colleague’s hands and rushed out, knocking Zhang Qianlong to the ground once more. After a flurry of punches and kicks, he quickly left the scene, not giving Zhang Qianlong a chance to speak. After two or three rounds of beating, Zhang Qianlong could no longer be seen. It wasn’t that Zhang Qianlong didn’t want to keep fighting; he simply couldn’t, as he had been beaten black and blue all over by Zhang Youping.

Zhang Youping had made up his mind not to waste words with Zhang Qianlong and not to give him a chance to talk. No matter how much Zhang Qianlong tried, it was all in vain. Before long, Zhang Qianlong couldn’t make it back home from the county either. It was unclear whether he had given up, but after that, Zhang Youping didn’t see Zhang Qianlong again.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jiaohua had a pleasant summer vacation, and it was finally time for the elementary school student to advance to junior high.

Yidushui Middle School was a rural school located in a mountain village. The students at the school were mainly from Yidushui Village and its surrounding areas, with the closest students living five miles away. Most of the students had to board at the school due to the difficult mountain roads.

Although there were dormitories at the school, the conditions were very basic. Each class had fifty to sixty students, divided into just two dormitories—one for girls and one for boys. The boys’ dormitory was the worst because more than half of the class consisted of boys, with over thirty people crammed into one classroom filled with beds. The only blessing was that the beds were so small that each person had their own spot.

When Zhang Jiaohua walked into the dormitory and saw the maze-like arrangement of beds, he was momentarily stunned. He had expected the conditions at Yidushui Middle School to be poor, but he hadn’t anticipated it to be this bad. After two months of no one staying there, although the dormitory had been cleaned, it was still filled with a strong musty smell.

“Jiaohua, why don’t we just go to County No. 1 Middle School? I’ve been there, and the conditions are much better. Plus, our tea factory is close to No. 1 Middle School, so you can go home every day. I heard Yidushui Middle School has terrible boarding conditions and awful food,” Zhang Youping quickly said upon seeing Zhang Jiaohua’s expression.

After the family’s financial situation improved, their living conditions had gradually gotten better, making it difficult for them to adapt to this new environment.

Zhang Jiaohua suddenly smiled and shook his head. “This is fine.”

“Fine?” Zhang Youping really wanted to touch his son’s head to check if he had a fever or something.

“It’s fine.” Zhang Jiaohua nodded.

“Luckily, I didn’t let your mother come. If she saw this situation, she definitely wouldn’t let you stay here. You know that County No. 1 Middle School would love for you to attend, yet you insist on staying at Yidushui,” Zhang Youping was at a loss with his son.

“Dad, please don’t tell Mom about the situation here. I don’t want her to cause a scene at Yidushui Middle School,” Zhang Jiaohua quickly said.

“Alright. But if you can’t stand it here, don’t force yourself. By the way, during the holidays, come to the county; otherwise, your mom will miss you so much that I can’t guarantee she won’t sneak over to see you,” Zhang Youping threatened Zhang Jiaohua seriously.

“Okay, I’ll try to go,” Zhang Jiaohua nodded. Now, with two days off per week, going to the county on weekends to reunite with his parents was feasible.

The mute sadly discovered that he and Zhang Jiaohua were not in the same class. In this grade, there were a total of three classes, and Zhang Jiaohua was placed in Class One, while the mute was in Class Three.

“Teacher, I want to switch to Class One. Jiaohua and I are from the same village and are good friends; I want to be in the same class as him,” the mute insisted on switching classes during registration.

“No, it’s precisely because you are from the same place that you were randomly assigned to three different classes. Otherwise, how would it be in school if you were just forming cliques?” Class Three’s homeroom teacher, Wu Guangyuan, firmly shook his head.

“We really won’t form cliques; we just want to learn in the same class,” the mute was somewhat at a loss for words, lacking confidence.

Seeing the mute’s demeanor, Wu Guangyuan realized he was a sincere student, so he said sternly, “Zhang Gengban, in school, studying is the most important thing. It won’t affect your friendship with Zhang Jiaohua. You can still play together after class. However, I suggest you interact with classmates in your class more. In the future, when you enter society, you’ll face all sorts of people. If you don’t train yourself now, how will you adapt to society later?”

Wu Guangyuan made a valid point, leaving the mute speechless, and he could only resign himself to his fate.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jiaohua encountered a talkative classmate in the dormitory. “I’m Qi Xia, from Ruyi Village. I’ve been to your Meizi’ao Village. I have a relative in Meizi’ao. I heard your village is quite wealthy. The tea from Yidushui is all sold to your Meizi’ao,” Qi Xia said.

“Not much difference,” Zhang Jiaohua, who rarely interacted with outsiders, could only reply occasionally while Qi Xia kept talking.

“Can you play basketball? I love playing basketball,” Qi Xia said, showing Zhang Jiaohua a deflated basketball he had stuffed into his filled snake-skin bag. He took out the basketball, grabbed a pump, inserted it into the inflation hole, and started blowing it up with his mouth.

“Can you really play like that?” Zhang Jiaohua asked with a laugh.

“It’s adequate. There must be a pump in the gym; I’ll borrow it when we have gym class one day,” Qi Xia replied, placing the basketball on the ground and patting it. The ball hardly bounced, but it stirred up all the dust in the room.

“Don’t pat it! Can’t you see the dormitory is full of dust?” complained a classmate from the lower bunk.

“Nie Tong, you finally spoke! You sat here for half a day without even letting out a quiet fart; I thought you were mute!” Qi Xia laughed, pointing at the person who had just spoken, introducing him to Zhang Jiaohua. “This guy is also from our Ruyi Village. He doesn’t like to talk much. He looks honest, but he’s really bad at heart. He often peeks at the girls’ restroom through the cracks in the wall.”

“Qi Xia, you’re talking nonsense! When did I ever peek at the girls’ restroom?” Nie Tong was flustered and drenched in sweat.

“That time! You almost got caught by Teacher Qi. Don’t you remember? I was the one who gave you cover!” Qi Xia insisted.

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t on purpose! Who knew which jerk loosened the bricks of the restroom? I just lightly touched it, and it fell down; I didn’t look over there,” Nie Tong was nearly in tears.

“You still say you didn’t look. I asked you what you saw, and you said you saw a bit of white,” Qi Xia provoked, deliberately teasing Nie Tong, who was eager to explain, letting Qi Xia lead him by the nose.

Zhang Jiaohua listened and roughly understood what they were talking about. However, he believed that Nie Tong was innocent. Qi Xia clearly knew that but was intentionally provoking Nie Tong.

“Jiaohua! Jiaohua!” The mute walked into the dormitory, holding a basketball. Upon seeing Jiaohua, he immediately said, “Jiaohua, I talked to our homeroom teacher, Mr. Wu, today and asked him to switch me to Class One, but he refused. I’ll have to stay in Class Three. Come on, let’s play basketball!”

The basketball in the mute’s hand was a genuine leather one, a gift from Jiaohua. It was much better than Qi Xia’s rubber ball. Having a rubber ball in a rural place like Yidushui was already quite impressive, but when the mute revealed the basketball, Qi Xia’s rubber ball seemed to be worthless.

“People from Meizi’ao really are wealthy. This ball is genuine leather; it must be incredibly expensive!” Qi Xia took the basketball from the mute’s hand and examined it, reluctant to let it go. He then reminded him, “You need to be careful with such a good ball at school. Don’t let someone steal it.”

“Is there really a thief at school?” the mute asked, puzzled.

“Don’t you know? Things often get lost at school. There are always a few people with sticky fingers around. With so many people in one dormitory, it’s common for things to go missing. I heard from the older students in the village that even lunch boxes have gone missing at school,” Qi Xia explained.

“Who dares to steal my basketball? I’ll beat them to death! Let’s go; we’re playing basketball!” the mute said dismissively.

“Sure! I’ve never played with such a nice basketball before,” Qi Xia said excitedly.

Yidushui Middle School had only one basketball court. Although it had a concrete surface, it was quite thin, and no one knew how many years it had been there. The thin layer of concrete was cracked like a spider’s web, and in some places, the concrete had worn away, exposing the soil underneath.

In elementary school, most students rarely had the chance to touch a basketball, and not many could play. In junior high, physical education classes mostly consisted of doing calisthenics, and opportunities to touch a basketball remained scarce. By the time Zhang Jiaohua and a few others arrived at the basketball court, although some students were playing basketball, they were all just running with the ball, with no understanding of the rules.

Seeing Zhang Jiaohua and the others approach, a tall and robust senior student came up and asked Zhang Jiaohua and his friends fiercely, “Which grade are you in?”

Qi Xia answered first, “We’re in first grade. What’s it to you?”

“First graders dare to come and compete with us for the basketball court? Get lost!” the tall senior glared at Qi Xia, pointing to the side.