My House of Horrors

Being punished twice on his first day of school, Chen Ge’s name soon spread throughout the school. He carried his bags and stood at the entrance to the class. The passing students looked at him, and he studied them in return.

The mission given to me by Chang Wenyu is not easy. Every student looks like they have an abnormal side to them.

The class bell rang. Mr. Lui had not returned, but Chen Ge walked into the classroom on his own. He moved the chair of the second student that he knocked out to his seat and sat down comfortably. The new teacher started the class, and of course, Chen Ge was not paying attention. He took out a pen and paper from his bag and started to consider how to search for the children with the qualifications to become the door pushers. He was deep in his thought when a small paper note came from beside him. There were two simple words on it—Thank you.

Seeing this, Chen Ge was surprised. He had thought there was only despair and negative emotions in the blood red world behind the door; the people should not have been able to show appreciation.

“Why are you thanking me? They targeted you because of me, so naturally, I have step forward. That’s what I’m supposed to do.” Chen Ge said to his deskmate, Da Bing, but Da Bing did not dare reply. He sat in his rigid posture like Chen Ge was talking to himself. He had no interaction with Chen Ge.

“Are you afraid?” Chen Ge knew about the worry in Da Bing’s heart.

After some time, Da Bing passed him another note. “Sorry.”

This time, Chen Ge learned his lesson. He used the pen to write something back on the back of the note. “It’s fine. They crossed the line. I can’t allow that to happen.”

Passing the note back, after Da Bing read it, he continued to write. “Me too, but I don’t dare resist. I have no friends, no one to stand up for me. The teacher only sees our results, and I’m dumb.”

Helplessness was heavy in Da Bing’s reply.

“You have a friend now. My name is Chen Ge. What’s yours?”

“Lee Bing, but since I have a big and round face, they all call me Da ¹ Bing.”

“Got it, at least that’s easy to remember.”

“Chen Ge, I’m sorry. I should have said something, but I was really scared. Do you think I’m too weak?”

“No one is born a hero. Furthermore, a person’s personality can always be changed. This is an adaptability to the society and living environment. I know you’ve been trying your best.” Chen Ge passed the note to Da Bing, and then he took out more paper. “Can you tell me more about your past?”

Chen Ge suspected that Lee Bing was one of the people whom he was looking for, so he started to probe.

“What do you mean?”

“Things about you, and the other people in this class, when did they start bullying you?”

Looking at the content on the paper, Lee Bing hesitated for a long time before picking up his pen. He wrote a long passage and slid it back to Chen Ge.

“My actual situation is different from the rest. My parents love me a lot, so their words don’t hurt me. From how I see it, they are a bunch of demons who like to pour salt on other people’s wounds. They get their joy from other people’s misery, but it’ll pass soon enough. After all, there are teachers here, and they don’t dare do anything too serious to me. Chen Ge, I advise you to stop getting into altercations with them. They have their little gang. The guy that you knocked out earlier, I think, knows gangsters outside of the school.”

The content on the paper made Chen Ge feel uncomfortable. The bullied had lost their will to fight, and they only cared about escaping. Perhaps, in their hearts, they believed that they would one day grow old and leave this place, so a little patience was all they needed. They did not know that the experience would be carved into their bones and become a shadow that they could not wave away. Whenever they thought about it, their heart might deny it, but they would still feel uncomfortable. Seeing the silence from Chen Ge, Lee Bing passed a second note. “Just be patient, and it’ll be over. If you resist, you might end up just like Yan Fei.”

“Who is Yan Fei?”

“He was the student who sat where you are now.”

“Where is he now?”

“After that incident, Yan Fei dropped out.”

“He left the school?”

“No, he’s still in the nurse’s office, but it was his parents who helped him do the dropping out process.” Lee Bing hurriedly passed another note to Chen Ge. “He has already found his escape. Please don’t disturb him.”

Chen Ge put his notes away, his eyes wandering between Lee Bing and his own seat. When he first entered the classroom, his own chair had been stepped on, and it was already crumbling. There were many carvings on the table, and the drawer was sticky like it had been used to house trash. These were things that had happened to Yan Fei. Compared to Yan Fei, Lee Bing had gotten the better deal. Those b*stards’ target was Yan Fei; Lee Bing was just the replacement after Yan Fei fell. Evil deeds would be amplified behind the door, and the ugliness in the human heart would be fully exposed. Just from looking at Yan Fei’s old seat, he could understand what had once befallen the poor man.

“Is he at the nurse’s office because he was injured by those people?” A fire was burning in Chen Ge’s heart. He had no idea why he was getting so angry. The school probably did not do anything, or perhaps it was the bullies who lacked education.

“No.” Lee Bing shook his head. He tore out another piece of paper, wrote on it, and quickly passed it to Chen Ge. “They have been bullying Yan Fei, targeting him, tossing his textbooks away, breaking his chairs, and doodling on his school bags and clothes.”

“Why would they bully Yan Fei?” Chen Ge had a feeling that Yan Fei was the person whom he was looking for, and he wanted to know more about Yan Fei’s past.

“I have no idea. Yan Fei comes from a normal family just like you and me. The only difference is, he has quite a bit of pride; he doesn’t like to have others joke at his expense and likes to be alone. Perhaps those guys found it fun to trample on his pride. That must satisfy some kind of sick satisfaction in their heart.

“Yan Fei used to be a good student. He was above average, but due to what happened, his result became worse and worse.

“His parents were anxious, and the teachers ignored him more and more.

“One day, when someone was trying to grab his textbook, he got into a fight with them. Yan Fei had been holding in it, but he was only one person, and he was soon pressed down on the floor. Because it was in the classroom, the teacher hurried over to pull the bullies away.

“When the teacher asked what had happened, many people were silent. Those who finally spoke were part of the bullies. They said that they were just joking. It was because of Yan Fei’s prideful nature that he couldn’t handle the joke and threw the first punch.”