Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 5
Chapter 5
The auburn-haired boy poured the water into his hand, “I have washed it several times already, but I’m not sure if it is clean.”
“Okay, Big Li, what kind of OCD act are you putting up here?”
“It’s better to be on a safe side. I’m afraid that his whole energy could also be contagious.”
Li Wenxun adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.”What do you mean? Is being a sissy contagious?”
Big Li smiled mysteriously: “You can’t even imagine.. I heard that these kinds of people are all…” He made a dramatic pause and looked around with a smirk.
Shao Qun frowned and impatiently took a gulp of his coke: “I know what you mean. Don’t make people lose their appetite.”
“I heard they’re all gay.”
“Gay?” The boys repeated in unison.
Li Wenxun winked and cursed at them: “Fuck, keep your voice down! Are you afraid that others won’t hear you?”
In the 1990s, homosexuality was a fairly new and unfamiliar term. For the slightly precocious junior high school students, it was not like they haven’t heard about it before, but it was something very distant for them. In their minds, homosexuality had something to do with demons and monsters, and it was simply a sin against humanity.
Some guys were instantly very interested: “Who did you hear it from? How do you know?”
“My eldest brother told me that there are always people like that sissy hanging out in the nightclub he frequents. These people wear tights, put on makeup, and have girly voices. It is known that they are selling their asses to men.”
Several boys gasped at the same time, as if they had just discovered a new sin – it was exciting and titillating.
“That… him…, that guy….him just now, could he also be…”
“I’m 80% sure he is. Have you ever seen a man so cowardly? If you ignore the dirt on his face and look closely, you’ll see that his eyebrows are arched, his voice is high, and his body is also slim. They are all like this.” Big Li was mysterious and smug about his broad knowledge of the subject.
Several guys showed exaggerated expressions of disgust, calling these kinds of people disgusting and perverted.
Shao Qun slapped his thigh, as he remembered a certain detail: “Hey, when he first saw me just now, he blushed!.”
Guys laughed at him: “It’s over, you’re done for! He likes you now! He has fallen for you!!”
“Bah, it’s disgusting.” Shao Qun remembered Li Chengxiu blushing and staring into his eyes. When he thought about what the guys just said, he instinctively felt awkward. Then there was an immediate surge of anger, as if he was horribly offended.
“Oh, it’s nice to be handsome! Not only girls like Shao Qun, but even boys now… hahahahahahaha.”
All the teasing was just adding fuel to the fire. This made Shao Qun feel ashamed, as if he himself had now contracted the virus called “homosexuality” – and it was obviously that nasty sissy who was the culprit in all of this.
Young Master Shao, who had a nasty temper since childhood, suddenly stood up: “Damn, let’s see if I can knock all his teeth out!”
“Oh, oh…” Several people quickly grabbed him and forcibly dragged him back into the chair.
“We’re just talking, but we’re not sure about him. Do you have any evidence?”
Shao Qun stared at them: “He looks like shit. What other fucking evidence do you need?”
Big Li rolled his eyes: “No need to hurry. What’s the point in beating him up? How about we make him kneel down in front of you without even lifting a finger? Won’t that be fun?”
Several guys agreed.
“Then what do you say we do? I am unhappy now, and he is the one who made me unhappy.”
“I have a great idea. It just happens that we’ve been bored recently. How about we have some entertainment?”
“What kind of entertainment do you mean?”
Big Li licked his lips with a mysterious facial expression.
Li Chengxiu really didn’t know what he did to provoke these delinquents.
A few days later, he was the first one to rush out of the classroom after school to catch the bus.
As soon as he left, a group of people blocked his path.
Shao Qun was standing in front of him, his arms folded: “Damn, you’re harder to catch than a celebrity. I’ve come here several times already, but every time you manage to escape without a trace. Are you in a hurry to reincarnate? Why are you running around all day long?”
Li Chengxiu didn’t know what was happening, so he just tightly held his schoolbag in front of his chest, looking at the guys in horror.
He was a student from the top class, so he mostly was around other top students. Thus, he had little contact with Shao Qun and his gang. Now, suddenly there were a bunch of overbearing young masters attacking Li Chengxiu right in front of his classroom. Other students were watching through the windows with curiosity.
Shao Qun glanced at the group of onlookers and loudly cursed them out: “What the fuck are you all looking at? Get your heads back inside, shitstains!”
As soon as they heard master Shao’s voice, the students instantly hid inside the classroom, closing all the doors and windows.
Li Chengxiu stood outside the door completely alone, looking anxiously at Shao Qun’s gang.
Shao Quni pointed at him: “You, come with me.”
Trembling, Li Chengxiu asked: “For…for what?”
Shao Qun bared his teeth and smiled: “I’m taking you out to play.”
Only fools would believe that. Li Chengxiu took a step back in fear: “I, I have something to do.”
Young Master Shao was immediately unhappy. He pointed at Li Chengxiu’s nose and said, “Fuck, are you not going to treat me with respect? If I want to play with you, I will play with you. You coming?”
Li Chengxiu was so frightened that tears rolled down his cheeks, while the finger was still pointed at his nose.
If he missed a day of work, he would lose 15 RMB[18], so he was reluctant to go with Shao Qun no matter what. And who knows what these delinquents were going to do to him. No matter how scared he was, he still shook his head, and then quickly glanced at Shao Qun to see his reaction.
Young Master Shao was burning with anger. In the high summer weather, he had deliberately skipped class and climbed from the first floor to the fifth floor in order to catch this guy. And now, this little sissy was wasting his time. He really wanted to slap him.
Shao Qun fiercely poked Li Chengxiu’s shoulder with his finger and threatened him: “I’ll ask one last time, are you going or not?”
Li Chengxiu didn’t dare to shake his head again, but he didn’t want to nod either. With his eyes full of tears, he kept helplessly looking around.
Except for Shao Qun’s few friends, there was almost no one in the long hall. Other classmates had either left or didn’t dare to come out. Even if there were people around, they would not be willing to help him anyway. It was the first time that he felt so scared and helpless.
“Go… go where?”
“A fun place.” Shao Qun pulled at his arm, “Come on.”
Shao Qun dragged him outside the campus. Li Chengxiu noticed the strange looks and snickers, and the anxiety made him tear up again. He begged in a low voice: “Where are we going? I have something to do, I don’t want to go, I…what do you want?”
Shao Qun said impatiently, “I told you I’m taking you out to play.”
Li Chengxiu cried, “I don’t want to play.”
Shao Qun shook his arm, pointed at him and shouted, “So fucking annoying, damn! Are you crying again?! If you dare cry, believe it or not, I’ll fucking slap you to death!”
Big Li quickly put his arm on Shao Qun’s back to smooth things out: “Oh, Shao Qun, don’t scare him. You should treat your schoolmates well, otherwise we won’t be able to play.” Big Li winked at Shao Qun, deliberately emphasizing the word “play”.
Shao Qun curled his lips and cursed: “You ungrateful animal, I’m taking you to play with me. And you just keep weeping – it’s disgusting. Were you such a sissy from birth?” After scolding Li Chengxiu, he angrily rubbed the hand that he used to grab Li Chengxiu’s arm on his clothes.
Li Chengxiu was frightened and angry, and his tears fell down uncontrollably. The more he wanted to stop crying, the more he cried.
Shao Qun became even more annoyed when he saw that. He had a very bad temper, and he got irritated by such men who were neither men nor women. At this time, he really wanted to just beat him up.
Li Wenxun looked at him, sighed, and adjusted his glasses. Then he said to Li Chengxiu, “Hey, buddy, we really just want to take you to play. What are you afraid of? Do you think we’re going to eat you?”
Li Chengxiu looked at him hesitantly, but still didn’t believe a single word: “Why do you want to play with me?”
Li Wenxun coughed twice and said, “I was on the roof that day. We think that we said all the wrong things. We just want to apologize to you. I think we can be friends.”
“Friends?” Li Chengxiu didn’t believe anyone would want to be friends with him at all. It’s not that he never had such a dream, but since his father ran away and his mother became like that, no one was willing to say a word to him. He couldn’t think of any reason why these elite boys would want to talk to him and become friends all of a sudden. They always acted arrogant and unreasonable at school. Even if they beat someone up, they would never show any remorse. Why would they now apologize to him?
“Yes, we think that you are a good person. Let’s be friends.”
Li Chengxiu looked at him suspiciously, still feeling there was some conspiracy behind all of this.
Li Wenxun saw his doubts, rolled his eyes, and said, “To be honest, the real reason is this – I heard from the teacher that you have the best grades in school. Is it true?”
Li Chengxiu straightened his back and nodded: “Yes.”
“You’re aware that we are going to be divided into different classes in the second year of junior high. My dad said that if I didn’t get into the top class, he would kill me. He is afraid that I will embarrass him. So we discussed it and decided that we wanted you to give us private lessons.”
“Private lessons?”
“Private lessons?” Shao Qun was also surprised, but after Li Wenxun gave him a wink, he immediately nodded, “Yes, private lessons.”
Li Chengxiu looked at the four boys surrounding him. Shao Qun was an arrogant bastard with a horrible temper, the auburn-haired hippie named Big Li without a doubt looked like a delinquent, the person who was talking to him seemed pretty nice and very gentle. Behind them was a boy with a cold face who didn’t say a word this entire time. This thing with the private lessons sounded more or less believable.
But whether it was true or not, Li Chengxiu didn’t want to have anything to do with them. He still felt that nothing good would come out of this.
So he shook his head: “I don’t have time.”
Shao Qun glared at him – he was so angry that he was about to have a seizure. Li Wenxun quickly waved at Shao Qun to shut him up: “Why don’t you have time? I heard that you are always the first one to leave the classroom after class. Now you’ll be leaving just a little later every day. Give us one or two hours…of lessons. The material for the first year of junior high must be very simple for you.”
“I…I have to work.”
“Part-time job? What kind of work are you doing? Oh, right, you smell like burnt oil all the time! That’s because you work in a restaurant, correct?” Big Li approached him, wrinkled his nose, and smiled wickedly.
Li Chengxiu didn’t dare to look up and nodded.
Li Wenxun asked: “Ah, so you leave so quickly every day to go to work. How much money do you make a month?”
Li Chengxiu didn’t want to name the amount, so he deflected and just said: “It’s calculated by the day.”
“Then how much do you earn in a day?”
Li Chengxiu pursed his lips: “…Fifteen, so I have to go every day…”
“Fifteen?” boys almost dropped their jaws on the ground.
It was the 90’s, and these guys were already wearing limited edition sneakers worth more than 2000 RMB[19] and watches that were worth tens of thousands. They had no idea what one could even buy for 15 RMB[20], much less why would one work hard for the whole day just to get this measly amount of money.
Actually, he only managed to get 15 RMB, because his distant relatives treated him decently. If he was just some random illegal[21] underaged employee, he would be lucky to get even 10 RMB.
Getting these 15 RMB every day, as well as leftover food for himself and his mother, was very important to him. To save money, he didn’t dare to take baths or wash clothes too often, and he never bought any unnecessary things. Even though his height was almost 170 cm[22], he still had the cheek to only stuff 50 cents into the coin box on the bus[23]. Every time he saw the slightly contemptuous look in the driver’s eyes, he felt his face get hot.
He really wanted to dress into clean and fresh clothes, and he wanted to look decent. But what could he do, if there was never any money? It was more important not to starve to death after all. Between having dignity and having food the choice was pretty clear.
His classmates were exhausted and nervous when they thought about upcoming examinations, but Li Chengxiu was actually really excited about the day of the senior high school entrance examination. As long as he got admitted to the top high school in the province, the county was willing to sponsor his education, as well as cover his monthly boarding costs. In addition, he would also get a living allowance. He wanted to jump for joy just thinking about it.
Then he’d be able to clean himself up and maybe even make friends. And after a few more years, when he got into a good university and found a decent job, he could have a good life, just like everybody else. Li Chengxiu was full of hope for the bright shining future.
As for now, he still needed those 15 RMB a day. Even if he was beaten up, he would still go to work and earn his money.
Shao Qun showed a strange smile, as if he wanted to mock him but at the same time thought that this whole thing was ridiculous. He snorted and said, “You dash out of here every day like a chicken without a head just for… Okay, how about on the days that you give us private lessons like A-wen asked you to, we give you 150 RMB? And on the other days when we don’t need you, you can go wash your dishes for 15, okay?”
Li Chengxiu was dumbfounded and looked at the boys without an expression.
150? He must have misheard it!
Li Wenxun smiled and nodded: “See, it’s a good deal. You give us classes for ten days, okay? Is there any other issue?”
Li Chengxiu’s face turned slightly red, and he was suddenly really moved.
150! In order to earn that, he would have to work 10 consecutive days for 4 hours without a break in a sultry and sweltering kitchen. And just by giving some lessons to a few people, he could make so much money…
Seeing his visibly shaken expression, Li Wenxun turned back to look at Big Li and Shao Qun with a smug smile. Both of them gave him a thumbs up and mouthed “Well done!” with their mouths.
“Then it’s settled – you are not going to work today.” Li Wenxun took out three one-hundred-notes out of his wallet and handed them to Li Chengxiu. “I’m purchasing two classes from you, Little Teacher Li.”
Li Chengxiu looked at the money that was right in front of him and hesitated to accept it.
“Take it.” Li Wenxun put the banknotes into his hand, “What’s there to think about! It’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
Li Chengxiu still had some concerns at first. It really felt a little too good to be true. He wanted to push the money back to Li Wenxun but, as he was holding it in his hand, he just couldn’t do it.
Three hundred RMB. He was holding three hundred RMB in his hand.
How could money come to him so easily? He felt conflicted for a while, but he couldn’t resist the temptation.
He hesitated to look up at the boys, eyed the money in his hand, and finally gritted his teeth. He took the schoolbag off his back, and carefully put the money inside it.
The guys looked at his cautious appearance, and couldn’t help showing their contempt.
Shao Qun smiled sarcastically and raised his chin: “Okay, so are you coming with us now?”
Li Chengxiu finally lifted his head, his face red: “Where are we going?”
Shao Qun glared at him: “We are taking you to change your clothes first. You can’t teach us, wearing this. Do you want us to put on gas masks?”
