"And that's exactly what happened. The teacher made everyone write a self-criticism. For bullies, it was just a trivial everyday occurrence, but it was the first time Yan Fei had ever written one."
"He was my deskmate. I saw him cry."
"The next day when he came to class, Yan Fei's clothes were all torn up. On his way to school, he'd apparently been cornered by some thugs from outside."
"Their methods of bullying Yan Fei grew more and more extreme, and his grades kept slipping. He was moved from the second row from the front all the way to the third row from the back. The bully sat right behind him."
"He had no friends. Nobody helped him. Everyone was afraid of becoming the next target."
"One afternoon, I suddenly noticed that Yan Fei had bought a pencil sharpener. He spent the entire afternoon sharpening pencils."
"Near the end of the last class, the person behind him stepped on his chair back. Those guys started picking on Yan Fei again, but this time he was eerily calm."
"The bell rang. The moment the teacher left, they crowded around him, pretending to carelessly splash water all over his textbooks and backpack."
"They were laughing and chatting, getting ready to leave — and then I saw Yan Fei take out a sharpened pencil from his pencil case and plunge it straight into the face of the one who bullied him most."
"That person's face was slashed open. It took several of them to pin Yan Fei to the ground like a madman."
"The news reached the school administration. The bullies' parents rushed to the school demanding an explanation. The bullies put on the masks of innocent victims, crying and telling the adults that if they hadn't dodged quickly, they might have been stabbed blind."
"The matter was serious. Yan Fei's parents were summoned to the school. His honest, hardworking father apologized to everyone, bowed his head to the bully's parents, and begged the administration not to expel Yan Fei."
"In front of everyone, that honest father slapped Yan Fei across the face."
"The sound was loud. One slap, right across Yan Fei's cheek, shattering whatever little dignity he had left."
"From that day on, Yan Fei never fought back again. He became silent, like a piece of wood without a soul."
"Sometimes when the bullying became too much to bear, Yan Fei would run away — rush into the bathroom by himself."
"No one knew what he was doing. When the bell for class rang, he would come back."
"Nobody realized how serious the problem had gotten. In truth, nobody had ever genuinely cared about Yan Fei."
"This went on for a while. One day after class, Yan Fei was bullied again. He rushed into the bathroom but never came out."
"When the teacher and students went to check, they found Yan Fei unconscious in the last stall, his lips pale. Beside him lay a razor blade taken from his pencil sharpener."
"They helped Yan Fei up. One student accidentally saw what was underneath his long sleeves and screamed in shock."
"Only then did everyone understand why Yan Fei wore long sleeves and long pants no matter how hot the weather was."
That was the end of Li Bing's account of Yan Fei's past. After hearing it, Chen Ge sat in silence for a long time, unable to compose himself.
The boy had been an utterly ordinary person — the kind you could pass by on the street without a second glance. And yet it was precisely such a child who had ultimately been driven to the very brink.