Short, Light, Free

Chapter 101: Seven Friends: Fourth Brother

 

I’ll try not to make this story hard to comprehend, but life is not something that can be explained with just words.

I remember a saying that goes: It takes three years to learn something good, but just three days to learn something bad.

But how can a thoroughly evil person become good?

My answer? Seven friends.

They walked in front of me, falling into the depths of the unfathomable abyss on my behalf in order to put me back on the right path and to make me cherish everything that I have.

If not for these seven friends, I might’ve turned out to be a complete bad egg.

…

How did I meet Fourth Brother, you ask?

It might’ve been fate. I did badly in junior high and was relocated to a worse-faring school, Heng San.

My junior high was considered a reputable school so the experimental middle schools shouldn’t be that bad, right?

Who knew that I would be the second worst student in the whole cohort?

During the first prelims in Heng San, I handed in an empty paper for English and came in third within the whole school.

I remembered trying to sneak a peek at another student’s work that day.

When I saw how a female student only used X to solve her linear equation, I gave up on copying her work. It wasn’t doable.

Miraculously, the top three students were all from my class.

The first was our class president, a girl, and the second was a committee member of the cultural class. He was a rough fellow.

And in third place was me, a committee member in charge of hygiene.

Dorm distribution day.

Thanks to the halo effect, I became very considerate toward other students. I made sure everyone got a room so when it came to my turn, there was no spot left.

That was just the beginning of everything and also the start of my friendship with Fourth Brother.

Coincidentally, there were three Year 1 students who were also roomless. As such, the four of us formed a group and were given a room.

This room was on the first floor, beside the security’s form, and was slightly different from other students’.

It looked more like an unused security room and all four of us weren’t satisfied with it.

However, there was nothing we could do since the school had no more space to accommodate us.

We made our ages clear the moment we met.

Boss was born in ’92 so there was no question.

Second Brother was born in April ’93.

Born in ’94, I became Third Brother.

Lastly, even before we could ask, the last student spoke up, “No need. I’m the youngest.”

It was only at a later time that we realized Fourth Brother was actually older than us. Older than me, at least.

No one questioned him during that time and we agreed that each of us would take turns being on duty for a month, starting from the youngest.

That meant that Fourth Brother would have to go first, but he only accepted it with a smile.

As I’ve already mentioned, our dorm was like a security room so it was half the size of a normal student dorm.

The students’ rooms had four beds in four corners whereas the guard room could only accommodate two bunk beds.

Boss and Second Brother shared a bed while Fourth Brother and I shared the other.

Boss immediately claimed the bottom bunk and pointed upward. He said to Second Brother, “I don’t like high places.”

Without a choice, Second Brother made his way up without any complaints.

I looked at Fourth Brother. It was our first time to exchange eye contact.

He was a quiet person and wore a thick, black-framed glasses that made him look mature.

He had a common face that could disappear in a crowd.

He wasn’t from my class and I couldn’t really remember his name, except that there was a Yunhuan somewhere in it.

I had no recollection of his full name. Yunhuan might’ve been his surname for all I knew.

Later on, I simply called him Fourth brother while he addressed me as Third Brother.

He extended his hand out, leaving me in shock.

We continued exchanging a long look before I finally reached my hand out for a shake.

He smiled again, saying, “Comrade, please take care of us in the future. You should choose. Which do you prefer? The top or bottom bunk?”

I zoned out a little. Comrade? It felt like I was back in time before the reform started.

I smiled. “Call me Third Brother. Comrade sounds weird.”

Fourth Brother returned the smile. “My parents taught me that. They said it’s good for socializing and networking.”

I did not notice much when he talked about his family until I realized how significant it was.

“I’ll sleep on top. You can have the bottom, it’s more convenient. Plus, I don’t have as much stuff as you. Are you okay with that?” I asked.

Fourth Brother nodded and plopped down to the lower bunk immediately.

I was fine with it since I knew that the lower bunks belonged to all people.

If there were guests, they were going to be sitting on the lower bunks, and it would be silly to think that their clothes would be clean.

I repackaged my reason, of course, since I was from the city and it was true that I had little luggage with me.

Nevertheless, my home was still about 30 kilometers away so I had no choice but to stay in school.

Fourth Brother was from the neighboring city, Longwan District. Not much of a peaceful region to live in.

…

It would be easy for four strangers to face conflicts when living together.

Additionally, it was a lousy school.

It was common for students from various schools to get into fights, but it was different in our school.

If there weren’t fights to be fought outside, we start beating our own people up.

There were nine classes in school and almost all of them shared a frictional relationship.

You must be wondering why the principal and teachers aren’t managing this matter.

Truth be told, the only thing they cared about was a promotion.

They had no obligations toward students’ affairs as long as no lives were lost. When fights occurred, each side would give their own statements and they would be let off with a demerit. If caught again, they would be expelled. Standard procedures.

It was also common for a student to barge into someone’s dorm to drag him out, so there were usually steel pipes or wooden clubs under the bunk beds.

There weren’t knives but it was a different story outside.

During the first week of school, some students were already expelled from excessive fighting.

Being just beside the security house made it easy for us to seek help whenever necessary.

Also, as dormmates from four different classes, we got to collect information about almost half the school.

We would remind each other about the commotions or conflicts that surfaced between classes.

We quickly became a team.

Our boss, from the second class, was the kind of person to add fuel to a fire.

He hid steel pipes under our beds to ensure that we had something to fight with if someone came knocking on our door.

Second Brother was a bookworm, often busy with his wuxia novels.

There was a vendor at the school entrance that allowed you to borrow books with a 10 dollar deposit.

Second Brother would give over a hundred in order to borrow a whole series.

He would recommend me books whenever I felt bored.

I was usually the neutral party and avoided butting into others’ affairs as much as possible.

I believed that the word ‘foreign’ was a major cause of fights.

Even within a city, when those from the East came over to the West, they were regarded as ‘foreign’.

Territorial fights were inevitable then.

And I was the kind of person that would go all out when triggered.

Fourth Brother was the type that paid no attention to the things going on around him. He had his phone in his hands all day.

I’m sure most of you haven’t seen the first generation iPhone.

That golden apple advertisement was everywhere at that time.

I had thought that Fourth Brother was using a fake one, and I only got to know iPhone4 when I reached university.

I had no mobile in high school junior year and only managed to buy a Nokia after working for some time during my third year.

I remembered Nokia being kicked out by Android just two months after I got mine.

But I digress.

Fourth Brother dropped out of school in his second year, a year before I got my mobile device.

The reason for his departure was admirable and also the reason why I called him one of my seven friends.

We stayed together and were usually free from any crises, save for the times where Boss enjoyed stirring up trouble.

One day, in the second semester of Year 2, as the four of us were having lunch at the canteen, we saw three average looking girls, sitting opposite us, getting bullied by Longhair. Longhair was a guy with fringe that covered his eyes and he was from another class.

A hairstyle like his was trendy at that time.

We took it in but paid little attention.

Yet, Second Brother spoke up, “Wanna be a hero, Boss?”

Boss held his laughter in. “We can’t provoke him, he knows people and has knives under his bed.”

I asked Fourth Brother, “Is Longhair from your class?”

He looked up for a moment and shook his head. “I don’t recognize my classmates.”

We then continued our lunch without too much thought.

Shortly after, we heard a crisp slap and a female’s shriek.

Longhair had slapped the girl and pulled her necklace out.

No one dared to do anything about it but I saw Fourth Brother standing up, walking over with his lunch tray, and smashing it onto Longhair’s head.

Longhair deserved it. He defended himself with an arm and soup spilled all over his body.

He started cursing violently. After a few seconds, he calmed down and asked Fourth Brother, “What are you doing? Do you know who I am?”

Boss shook his head. “Fourth Brother’s dead. This guy’s quite a big shot in school.”

“Sorry,” Fourth Brother responded.

Longhair stood up, only to realize that he was half a head shorter than Fourth Brother.

He removed his stained shirt and threw it to the ground as if getting ready for a fight.

I ran over and stood behind Fourth Brother.

I don’t know what I was thinking back then, but I felt offended on Fourth Brother’s behalf.

Boss and Second Brother did not join in, however.

Longhair added, “I’ll remember this. You’d better not sleep tonight. All four dorms on the second story will be knocking on your door so beware.”

“Apologize first,” Fourth Brother continued.

Ignoring him, Longhair picked his clothes up and left the canteen.

Fourth Brother had planned to make chase but I stopped him.

And the girl was taken away by her two friends as well.

We returned to our seats and Boss shook his head again. “He’s really coming for us tonight.”

“Which floor is he on?” Fourth Brother asked.

“The corner most room on the second story. Are you going to beg for forgiveness? 300 might do the trick but you might have to give it all the way till you graduate,” Boss replied.

“What do you plan to do?” I asked.

“I’ll make the first move,” he answered.

That day, after school, Fourth Brother retrieved two metal rods from underneath his bed.

He gave one to me. “You were behind me earlier. Are you coming?”

I shook my head.

“It’s alright, I can handle it,” he assured, smiling.

I didn’t know what came over me then but my hand reached out for the rod automatically.

When most students were back in their dorms, Fourth Brother and I went up to the second floor with our metal rods.

We walked along the corridor, all the way to the end, and no one stopped us.

Fourth Brother entered and I followed behind.

He raised his rod and crowded Longhair, who was leaning against the wall next to the door.

“Sorry.”

First hit.

“Say sorry.”

Another hit.

I locked the door behind me.

Longhair cried out, unable to return the hit. His three roommates were watching the scene with wide eyes, dumbstruck.

As they got ready to retaliate, Fourth Brother shouted, “We’re only after him. Join in and get beaten, too.”

I’m not sure if it was his affirmative voice or Longhair’s pathetic cry that paralyzed them.

No one moved but Longhair’s classmates came over.

They shouted something about talking things over nicely, but Fourth Brother warned them off with a terse, “Don’t.”

Fourth Brother was the head of this mission so I didn’t dare to move a finger without his permission.

He kept repeating the words ‘apologize’ as he hit Longhair.

I don’t remember how many times he did it but the people outside started threatening to call the cops.

The next moment, Fourth Brother did something unimaginable.

He opened the door calmly.

Longhair’s classmates rushed in with rods and clubs but no one dared to make a move.

Fourth Brother’s eyes were red and what he said next shocked everyone.

He fished his phone out and said to Longhair, “You have people, don’t you? My Uncle has a valve factory in Longwan District. Do you wanna have a showdown?”

He dialed some numbers and said something along the lines of having trouble in school and needing some backup.

Upon hearing that, I drew in a cold breath.

Fourth Brother then threw his iPhone onto Longhair’s bed. “Do you have a contact? Go ahead and call them.”

Longhair seemed to have called his own brother.

Fourth Brother then told everyone who just entered, “It’s been settled. Leave.”

Perhaps the crowd decided that they shouldn’t get involved in something that did not concern them, so Longhair’s classmates left quietly.

Even his roommates evacuated the room.

Fourth Brother closed the door and had me stand by it.

He put his phone back in his pocket before going back to teaching Longhair a lesson.

I wondered if Longhair was really that persistent or if he had just been knocked silly.

Fourth Brother threw a few more hits before lying down on a bed to rest.

Longhair simply lay on the ground motionless.

An hour later, ten minivans arrived.

About sixty to seventy employees came over with Fourth Brother’s uncle.

It was only then that the teachers and security became aware of the situation.

The employees basically flooded the whole corridor and when the dorm door was opened, Fourth Brother was practically like a hero.

Another half an hour passed before Longhair’s family finally arrived.

However, his parents merely stood by the door, unable to say anything.

Fourth Brother’s uncle smoked a pipe as he took a name card out of his pocket. He handed it over to Longhair’s parents. “This is my territory. Come to this address if you wanna fight. Bring however many people you want. We’re not afraid. How do you plan to settle this dispute today? My nephew knows more so talk to him if you want to.”

Fourth Brother had me return to our dorm and told me not to involve myself further since a demerit point might be issued.

I listened to him and I am not sure what happened next.

It seemed that my departure was the reason why Fourth Brother had to take all the blame.

And because he hit Longhair on the same spot over and over again, Longhair’s leg was broken and he had to drop out of school, along with Fourth Brother.

Ultimately, the girl still received no apology

Because of Fourth Brother, I learned how to stand up for people.

But also because I was more introverted, I spent the next year buried in my books.

I graduated and got accepted into Wenchuan University.

Since that incident, however, I never saw Fourth Brother again.