Chapter 59: One Journey After Another

Shang Zhitao dragged her luggage to the entrance of the residential complex and ran into her three dear roommates walking out. She quickly stopped and asked them, “Where are you going?”

“Looking for the agency.” The few of them had been working overtime at home, but the electricity in their apartment suddenly went out. After checking for a long time, they found out that the agency had pocketed the electricity bill they had paid. When they called the agency, they were inexplicably scolded by them.

In an era of rampant shady agencies, many people thought they were lucky and wouldn’t be the ones to get caught, but they couldn’t escape it.

“Then wait for me, I’ll put my luggage back, and I’ll go too.”

“You don’t need to go,” 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 ran, “Wait for me! I’m going too!” During that time, there were many news reports about shady agencies. Shang Zhitao knew that they were not to be trifled with. She was, after all, an adult, and at this time, she had to stand with them.

Zhang Lei exchanged a look with Sun Yuanzhu and劝 Sun Yu, “Go back, there are two big guys here, we don’t need you. You two wait at home.”

“I’m not going back.” Sun Yu stuffed a pair of scissors into her bag. “I’m a good fighter. If those thugs act like rascals, I can show them a thing or two.” Ever since their event in Handan was disrupted, Sun Yu always carried something for self-defense. In her words, “Even thugs have to think twice before messing with this old lady!”

Her thoughts were fierce, but she hadn’t actually put them into practice. Life had indeed forced a delicate girl to become capable of anything.

Shang Zhitao dropped off her luggage and ran to catch up with them. The few of them walked to the small storefront of the agency. Sun Yuanzhu stopped and discussed with them, “How about this? You two stand outside. If a fight breaks out inside, you call the police.”

“No way,” Sun Yu refused.

“Calm down, listen to me.” Zhang Lei took off his coat and put it in Sun Yu’s hands. “We can’t let them take us all down at once. If a real fight breaks out, you two call the police first, then shout for help. If you two go in, we’ll have to take care of you. Okay, brothers?”

“Okay.”

Shang Zhitao had never experienced such a scene. She took out her phone, dialed 110, and stared intently at the movements inside. She herself didn’t realize that her fingertips were trembling slightly. Soon, the sound of someone slamming a table came from inside, followed by “操你妈!” (cāo nǐ mā! - Fuck your mother!). Sun Yu rushed in, and Shang Zhitao quickly dialed 110 and reported the crime. She didn’t realize she was crying, saying the address in a tearful voice. She hung up and shouted “Someone’s fighting!” a few times and also rushed in.

Zhang Lei was right. They had to shout a few times. Only then would people gather around, and they wouldn’t suffer a loss.

She didn’t know where her courage came from, probably from the belief that she couldn’t let her friends face it alone. When she entered the room, she saw several agents surrounding Sun Yuanzhu and Zhang Lei, who were wrestling with them. Sun Yu, on the periphery, picked up an ashtray and smashed it towards someone’s head but was blocked by another person who reached out to hit Sun Yu. Shang Zhitao rushed forward and forcefully pushed that person away.

People outside began to gather. Fighting at real estate agencies was too common in those years. Finally, someone couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted, “The police are here!” making the rampant agents stop.

The onlookers blocked the entrance so tightly that no one could get out. The young agents tried to slip out through the back door but were quickly blocked by Sun Yuanzhu’s sharp eyes and quick hands. His lip was bruised, but he didn’t bother to wipe it. The person who had just been fighting now calmed down and reasoned, “Pay us the electricity bill now. If you don’t pay, give us the money and the electricity card so we can pay ourselves.”

“Don’t push your luck! We told you, the money is with the company, it has nothing to do with us!”

“We don’t know who has the money, but we must have electricity today!” Zhang Lei was really angered by these people. As someone in business, he made friends everywhere and rarely got truly angry, but today he was furious.

One of the rogue agents, probably used to being arrogant and seeing that these young people couldn’t be intimidated, picked on the weakest one and punched Shang Zhitao in the face out of exasperation. Sun Yuanzhu quickly jabbed his arm, but the fist still grazed Shang Zhitao’s face, instantly swelling her fair and tender cheek.

This was really too much bullying!

In her twenty-three years of life, Shang Zhitao had never suffered such grievance. She jumped forward and bit the man’s arm hard. It was winter, and they were wearing thick clothes, so how much force could a bite have? She then grabbed the man’s face with her other hand, regretting that she didn’t have long fingernails like Lumi.

The police finally arrived. Looking at the men and women in the room, the agents hadn’t suffered much loss; it was the four tenants who had. Clearly, they had all been law-abiding citizens before, but today they had been pushed to their limits. So, they simply took everyone to the police station for mediation and education.

“Who started it?”

“They did!” Hands all pointed at the other side. The agents were clearly more experienced. There was no evidence that they had started it. When the bystanders gathered, the fight had already broken out.

“Where’s the electricity bill money?”

“With the company.”

“Where is your company?” The police officer just asked casually. They knew everything that happened in this area; it was just a matter of following procedures.

The few shady agents exchanged glances. One of them said, “We don’t know... We were already in the store when we came, we haven’t been to the company.”

Bullshit!

The police officer cursed them inwardly: Look at you all, acting like grandsons! Why do you have to be shady real estate agents?

The police officer couldn’t reason with these agents. They were well-practiced and stuck together tightly. So, he asked Shang Zhitao and the others, “How do you want to resolve this?”

“First, we’re injured, we need to go to the hospital for a check-up...”

“We’re also injured! We need to go for a check-up too!” the thugs shouted loudly.

“Shut up!” The police officer slammed his hand on the table, and everyone quieted down.

“Second, we want our money and the electricity card back. At the same time, we want to talk directly to the landlord.” Sun Yuanzhu looked at Shang Zhitao and Sun Yu as he said this. “Third, the girls were frightened, we need them to apologize publicly and guarantee that they won’t cause any further trouble.”

“Go to the hospital first.” The police officer looked at these wronged young people, thinking they were quite bold.

“I have one more request,” Sun Yuanzhu interrupted the police officer. “There must be others who have had the same experience as us. Please contact them and solve this together, otherwise, we will resort to legal action.”

The former Sun Yuanzhu was such a gentle person, yet today he was so firm over two hundred yuan. Shang Zhitao suddenly remembered her teacher in school talking about the May Fourth Movement: Look at those seemingly weak students, they were the first to awaken. She suddenly understood that the best thing reading could give a person was probably what Sun Yuanzhu looked like today.

They went to the hospital for medical examinations. The police raided the lair of the shady agents, took away the account books, and arrested the financial staff. The next day, Shang Zhitao and the others met with the landlord. The speed was astonishing.

But the landlord said, “It’s become such a mess, I’m afraid the agency will retaliate. You know about splashing paint and blocking keyholes, right? The neighbors won’t have peace. I’m sorry, kids.”

Shang Zhitao and the others suddenly didn’t know what to say to the gray-haired landlord. The landlord’s worries were valid. She was an elderly person whose children weren’t around. If such trouble was brought upon her, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Auntie, do you think you could give us a few days? We’ll look for a place.”

“Three days, okay?”

“Okay.”

They returned home and sat in the living room, seemingly not wanting to talk much. Sun Yu was the first to speak. She had been scammed by a shady agency before and had experienced such a situation. “So, are we looking for a large four-bedroom apartment or a partitioned one next?”

“Let’s look for a three-bedroom apartment,” Zhang Lei, who had been quiet for a long time, finally spoke. “I’m considering moving to a place near the company. I just got promoted, and work is too busy. A long commute means I don’t get enough rest.”

The last time Shang Zhitao faced a similar situation was in the second semester of her junior year. Her dormitory sisters were discussing their future paths. Some said they would go to Beijing, some would return to their hometowns, some wanted to venture into Shenzhen, and some wanted to take the postgraduate entrance exam. Everyone was young and hadn’t experienced much separation. The day they discussed this topic was particularly sad, and in the end, they all cried.

Today, Shang Zhitao didn’t cry. She knew that everyone would eventually disperse. Changing jobs, falling in love, getting married and having children—the time they spent together was only a year or two. At first, they would still be together often, but gradually they would lose contact and eventually disappear into the sea of people. Only a few people would remain by her side.

The impermanence of gathering and scattering was also the truth of life.

Everyone didn’t know what to say. Zhang Lei scratched the back of his head. “Please forgive me for leaving first, but I really like you all. It’s just that there’s no banquet that doesn’t end.”

“Why so sentimental?” Sun Yu stood up and clapped her hands. “Forget it, forget it. Let’s not discuss what kind of apartment to look for today. Today, let’s send Zhang Lei off! Let’s go for a drink!”

Shang Zhitao nodded. “Okay, let’s drink.”

The few of them went out to the barbecue restaurant next door for drinks, their faces more or less bruised, attracting the attention of others. They were also a bit embarrassed. They never expected that after more than ten years of schooling, they would end up on the same path as the delinquent classmates from their school days, all having to fight such a battle in society.

While waiting for the food, Shang Zhitao looked at her fingernails and then said to Sun Yu, “I’m going to grow my nails out, like Lumi’s. Then I’ll file them to a point so I won’t suffer in the next fight.” In the past year or so, Luan Nian had forced her into a habit of constant self-reflection and summarizing. After the fight, she had been reviewing it, thinking about how to win next time.

Everyone was amused by her. One side of her face was still swollen, and the corner of her mouth was broken, making her look a bit comical. They looked at each other—total defeat, truly miserable.

Sun Yu raised her glass. “Let’s raise a glass to Zhang Lei, congratulating you on moving out of this broken apartment and starting a new life.”

“Don’t say that.” Someone who worked in business and had seen all kinds of situations was a bit moved today. “These nearly two years have really been the happiest time since I came to Beijing. No matter what grievances I suffered at the company or how angry I got, seeing the three of you when I came home made everything better at once. Although I’ve decided to move, our friendship can’t end.”

“In Beijing, it’s not easy to make friends you can fight alongside.”

The situation that day was actually quite comical. For two hundred yuan and the anger in their hearts, the few of them had suffered such a big loss, yet they didn’t feel ashamed. On the contrary, they felt that fighting together had completely made them friends.

But life always has to end, doesn’t it?

Crowded and bustling, no matter how lively, it still has to end!

They all drank a lot of wine. The two boys unprecedentedly peed under the trees on the side of the North Fifth Ring Road, patting each other’s shoulders while peeing, “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 in the distance with their backs to them, blowing in the cold wind, shivering slightly.

Sun Yu rubbed her swollen arm and looked at Shang Zhitao’s swollen face. Suddenly, she felt a little sad. “Look at us, what have we been doing all year? We ended the year with bruises.”

“It was intense and memorable, not a wasted year.”

It was like a dream, experiencing both good and bad. Early the next morning, Zhang Lei moved out. Sun Yu went to organize an event, and Shang Zhitao and Sun Yuanzhu went to look for an apartment.

Before leaving, Sun Yuanzhu saw that Shang Zhitao’s swollen face had a bit of a bruise. That punch was really not light. He felt sorry for her and went inside to get some alcohol. “Let me wipe it for you?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Shang Zhitao turned her face to the side. Sun Yuanzhu’s movements were very gentle. The cotton swab with alcohol lightly touched her skin. He asked her softly, “Does it hurt?”

How could it not hurt?

But Shang Zhitao shook her head. “It doesn’t hurt. Sun Yuanzhu, I think you shouldn’t fight in the future. Someone who studies isn’t suited for fighting.”

“They threatened us, saying if we made any more trouble, they’d put sacks over your and Sun Yu’s heads. That’s why we started fighting.”

Shang Zhitao felt really warm inside. She sniffled. “It wasn’t worth it.”

“It was worth it.”

Adults always think about whether something is worth it before doing it. Where are there so many benefits to weigh?

“It’s not easy to meet in this life. I won’t interfere when I don’t see it, but if I do, I will definitely protect you.”

Shang Zhitao felt her eyes get a little wet. She punched Sun Yuanzhu in the chest, imitating Zhang Lei’s tone, “Thank you, brother.”

“You’re welcome.”

Don’t be so polite.