How the Bad Guy Was Made

In the 1990s, in the corridor of the first floor of J City No. 2 Middle School.

“Hey, kid, hand over all your money!” Two teenagers with brightly dyed hair cornered a frail student against the wall.

The student lowered his head and whispered, “I don’t have any money.”

‘Slap!’ One of the taller teenagers smacked the student across the face. “Damn it, don’t talk back to me. Hurry up!”

The student’s mouth turned red from the slap, and tears welled up in his eyes. The shorter, chubby teenager beside the tall one said, “Forget it, don’t hurt him. This kid is the top student in my class, haha!”

The tall one looked at the student and sneered, “So what if he’s good at studying? It’s useless.” He then turned to the chubby one and said, “Fatty, search his pockets. I don’t believe he has no money!”

Fatty grunted in agreement and approached the student. “Xie Wendong, let go of your pockets.” The student, named Xie Wendong, had been clutching his pockets tightly after hearing the tall one’s words.

Seeing that Xie Wendong didn’t respond and still covered his pockets, Fatty kicked him in the stomach. Xie Wendong’s body slammed against the wall. Fatty pried his hands away and reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled five-yuan note.

Fatty handed the money to the tall teenager and spat on the ground. “Damn it, you don’t appreciate kindness.” With that, the two teenagers laughed and left, leaving Xie Wendong in pain.

Xie Wendong was a third-year student at J City No. 2 Middle School. He studied hard and had excellent grades, ranking first in the entire school. However, he was introverted, had no friends, and was often bullied due to his small stature. J City No. 2 Middle School was not a prestigious school, and its management was lax. It was common for young delinquents from outside the school to come and go. These young people, who had dropped out of school for various reasons, roamed the streets. When they saw weak and easy-to-bully students, they would either pick fights or demand money, perhaps to feel a sense of achievement.

After standing in the school corridor for a while, Xie Wendong bent down to pick up his fallen backpack and left the school. On his way home, tears of grievance filled his eyes, and he kept asking himself: Why? Why do they always bully me? Why don’t they bully others? Why me?

No one could give him an answer. The darkness of the evening hid his tears. When Xie Wendong got home, he wiped his tears before entering. He didn’t want his family to know he was being bullied at school. Being weak didn’t mean he had no self-esteem; in fact, his self-esteem was stronger than anyone else’s. Xie Wendong unlocked the door with his key and found only his mother at home. The prepared meal was on the table, waiting for him to come home from school. Seeing him return, his mother said, “Hurry up and eat before it gets cold.”

Xie Wendong nodded and asked, “Where’s Dad?”

“Your dad is on the night shift tonight, he won’t be coming home,” his mother replied while serving the food. Xie Wendong responded with an “Oh,” and sat down, staring at the food without any appetite.

Seeing him sitting there without eating, his mother asked worriedly, “Wendong, what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

“No!” To avoid his mother’s suspicion, Xie Wendong picked up his bowl and started eating silently.

Xie Wendong lived in an ordinary family. His father worked on the railway, often on night shifts. His mother was a laid-off worker who later did some small business outside. Although the family wasn’t wealthy, he never lacked money. Because of his good grades, his parents were very pleased. Whenever he asked for money, they never refused.

The next day, Xie Wendong woke up at 5:30 AM, just like usual. After reviewing his homework from the previous day and having a quick bite to eat, he asked his mother for ten yuan and headed to school. His home was not far from the school, just two streets away, and it took less than five minutes to walk there. When Xie Wendong arrived at his classroom, the door was locked, and no one was there yet. He used the class key to unlock the door and went inside.

He sat in the front row, not because he was short, but because he was a top student. In many schools in J City, the best students sat in the front, while those with poorer grades sat in the back. The seating arrangement was determined by the results of major exams (midterms and finals). The school had its own explanation for this method: students with poor grades were often those who talked during class or didn’t pay attention, so seating them in the back would not disturb others, providing a better environment for those who were serious about their studies and had hopes of advancing.

Xie Wendong sat at his desk reading a book. Gradually, his classmates arrived, and the once quiet classroom became lively. Friends gathered to chat about the TV shows they watched last night, the latest songs by popular stars, and some girls exchanged their cherished stickers. The classroom buzzed like a marketplace.

As the noise grew louder, Xie Wendong frowned and put down his book. At that moment, the chubby boy who had robbed him the previous day entered the classroom and placed his bag on his seat. Seeing Xie Wendong sitting there in a daze, he walked over with a smirk. He ruffled Xie Wendong’s hair and said, “Hey! Did you bring money today?” Startled, Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “No, I didn’t.”

“No money?” The chubby boy chuckled and said, “Then let me check.” He reached for Xie Wendong’s pockets.

Xie Wendong pushed his hand away, his voice trembling, “Don’t search me. I need my money for lunch.” Seeing that Xie Wendong had money but wouldn’t give it, the chubby boy slapped him across the face. “Damn it, are you messing with me?!” The pain made Xie Wendong’s eyes turn red.

At this point, the other students in the classroom turned their attention to the scene. Some were curious, while others were gloating. Seeing his classmates watching, Xie Wendong’s face turned red with shame, knowing his self-esteem was being trampled. His deskmate, a round-faced girl, couldn’t stand it and said to the chubby boy, “Li Shuang, you’re going too far. How can you hit people?”

Li Shuang pointed at the girl and said, “Mind your own business!”

The girl glared and shouted, “So what if I do? You can’t just hit people.” Her friends backed her up, “Come on, Li Shuang, stop it. The teacher will be here soon.” “Xu Na, give it a rest,” another friend said. Xu Na was the name of Xie Wendong’s deskmate. She was usually very lively, like a tomboy, but she had excellent grades.

Li Shuang nodded and said to Xie Wendong, “Fine, damn it, just wait!” He then returned to his seat, breathing heavily.

Xu Na loudly said to Xie Wendong, who had his head down, “What are you afraid of? What’s he going to do?” She then angrily sat down and nudged Xie Wendong. “Why are you so timid? The more you fear him, the more he’ll bully you. Don’t you have an older brother at home? Get him to beat Li Shuang up, and he’ll stop.”

Xie Wendong nodded woodenly and said, “Thank you.”

Seeing his reaction, Xu Na got even angrier and turned away from him.

The difficult day finally ended. After school, the students left one by one, but Xie Wendong didn’t dare to leave. He was afraid Li Shuang would ambush him in the school corridor. Eventually, only he and the student on duty remained in the classroom. The student on duty, Zhang Qiang, had also been bullied by Li Shuang before. Seeing Xie Wendong still there, he asked while sweeping the floor, “Xie Wendong, why haven’t you left yet? It’s almost six o’clock (school ended at 5:30).”

Xie Wendong awkwardly scratched his head and said, “I still have a geometry problem I haven’t figured out. I’ll leave later.”

“Haha, you’re really diligent. No wonder you’re such a good student!” After a while, Zhang Qiang finished cleaning the classroom and picked up his bag. “Xie Wendong, I’m done. Are you leaving? We can go together.”

Xie Wendong shook his head, “You go ahead. We don’t live in the same direction anyway.”

Zhang Qiang said goodbye and ran out of the classroom with his bag. Xie Wendong waited a bit longer, checking his watch. It was already past six, and he figured Li Shuang wouldn’t wait this long and might have thought he had already gone home.

Xie Wendong packed his books, picked up his bag, and left the classroom. After locking the door, he turned and walked away.

(The teaching building of No. 2 Middle School is a sizable five-story structure. The first three floors are classrooms for various classes, while the fourth and fifth floors house laboratories, computer rooms, and language labs. Xie Wendong’s classroom is on the second floor.)

By this time, most of the students had already left the school. Many of the corridor lights were off, making it somewhat dim. Xie Wendong walked to the first-floor corridor, the place he feared the most because Li Shuang and his gang often waited for him there. Seeing the empty corridor, Xie Wendong finally felt a sense of relief. However, halfway down the corridor, a classroom door opened, and four or five people walked out, including Li Shuang and the tall boy who had robbed him the previous day.

With a sinister smile, Li Shuang said, “Xie Wendong, you finally came out. We’ve been waiting for you!” As he spoke, the group surrounded Xie Wendong.

Xie Wendong felt a chill in his heart. He had never been bullied by so many people before, and tears almost fell from his eyes. “Li Shuang, I’m sorry about this morning…”

“Shut up! Don’t say anything else. Just give me your money,” Li Shuang demanded, emboldened by the number of people with him.

“I spent my money on lunch. I really don’t have any left,” Xie Wendong pleaded.

Li Shuang laughed coldly, “No money, huh? I’ll beat it out of you.” With that, he kicked Xie Wendong in the thigh. The others, who were troublemakers from various classes, didn’t hesitate to join in, punching and kicking Xie Wendong. Li Shuang instructed, “Don’t hit his face. We don’t want to get into trouble.”

Forced against the wall, Xie Wendong covered his head with his hands. At this moment, he couldn’t feel the physical pain because it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. He couldn’t hear the outside world; his ears were filled with a buzzing sound.

“That’s enough! Stop,” Li Shuang finally said, stopping the others. He didn’t want to cause too much trouble. Grabbing Xie Wendong’s hair, Li Shuang slapped his face and said, “Bring me ten yuan to school tomorrow. If you don’t, I’ll find people to beat you up again. Got it?”

Leaning against the wall, Xie Wendong bent over, his head lowered, and tears streamed down his cheeks. Seeing that Xie Wendong didn’t respond, Li Shuang yanked his hair harder and said, “Did you hear me?”

Xie Wendong numbly replied, “Yes.”

Satisfied, Li Shuang nodded and left with the others, chatting and laughing as they walked out of the school. “What should we do next?” “Let’s play some games!” “That’s boring. How about billiards?” “Shut up, do you have money?”

As they left, Xie Wendong’s body slowly slid down the wall, and he crouched on the ground, crying bitterly. At that moment, he felt his life was meaningless. What was the point of being a good student if he was still bullied? Why? He punched his head in frustration, hating himself for being too weak, for not fighting back, and for not daring to tell his parents about the bullying.

After a while, he calmed down, stood up, straightened his wrinkled clothes, and left the school. It started to rain as he walked down the street. He was grateful for the rain, as it hid his tears. He just wanted to live an ordinary life, but was that too much to ask? Why could others go to school peacefully while he had to live in fear? If this was a punishment for being weak, he decided at that moment to become strong and never be bullied again. This rainy day marked the beginning of a significant change in his life.