Chapter 8: Scuffle about how long humans can go without food or water...
"...Can I make a call on this landline?"
"Sure." The head teacher was confused.
He had not been told by the film crew that he could not help Xu Sirui contact the outside world. Seeing him staring at the phone with his eyes shining like a dog seeing a bone, he thought this was a perfect opportunity to break the ice with the student, so he took the initiative to say, "Do you want to make a phone call?"
Xu Sirui plucked up his courage and nodded.
The head teacher smiled foolishly and said, "Then go ahead and fight."
Everything went incredibly smoothly. It was only when Xu Sirui picked up the microphone that his hands began to tremble, not out of fear, but out of sheer excitement. Isn't this the case of searching for something without effort, yet finding it without even trying?
He took a deep breath silently, his eyes fixed on the photographers waiting outside the door. He dialed Zhou Tianlan's number with his fingers, carefully put the receiver to his ear, and listened carefully to the ringing tone in the microphone.
The reason he chose to call Zhou Tianlan was because his mother was more likely to be soft-hearted. Their family was a very traditional model of a strict father and a kind mother. As long as he exaggerated the story of his injury, he would definitely feel distressed. Once she felt distressed, she would probably start to waver, and once she wavered, it would be easier for her to leave.
Xu Sirui's idea is very beautiful. Although he is still in the mountains, his heart has already flown back to the city, wandering freely among the skyscrapers.
"Hello?"
The phone rang for nearly a minute before someone answered it. When Zhou Tianlan's familiar voice came from the receiver, Xu Sirui almost couldn't hold back his tears.
"Mom, it's me!" He lowered his voice and urged anxiously, "I finally found a chance to call you. Listen to me, send a car to take me home. I can't stay here for another second. There's nothing. I have to walk or take a bullock cart to get around. I can't eat or sleep well. The education resources are backward. My grades last semester were definitely ruined. And I accidentally sprained my ankle. Now I have to walk with a cane... I still have to feed the pigs..."
He was well aware of what parents were concerned about - grades. Not only did he play the victim, he also deliberately emphasized the importance of studying, which made the head teacher next to him feel very uncomfortable.
However, what came from the other side was not Zhou Tianlan's heartbroken words, but Xu Zhengkang's snorting laughter: "It seems that your life these days is quite rich."
“…”
It's over.
Like most East Asian fathers and sons, Xu Sirui and Xu Zhengkang's interactions were mostly limited to asking, "Where's my mom?" The few times they were spent were spent arguing and fighting after skipping classes. He didn't dislike his father, but he also didn't like him. Their relationship was more like that of police and criminal than that of father and son.
Police officers are known for their impartiality and naturally don't show unnecessary sympathy for criminals. Xu Sirui heard his father casually say on the other end of the phone, "Can't eat well? That's a good thing! Remember the bitter past and cherish the sweet future. Can't sleep well? That's a good thing! Practice your ability to fall asleep. Feed the pigs—get close to animals and cultivate a sense of responsibility. Sprain your ankle—it'll teach you to cherish your body."
"..." He gritted his teeth, knowing that using the self-torture trick on his father was useless, so he simply threw out his trump card, "You don't care about studying anymore?"
"Don't worry, you are my son. I believe in your intelligence. With your ability, even in adverse circumstances, you will definitely be able to learn on your own."
"I have no intelligence, no ability, I'm just an idiot." Xu Sirui, who always believed in adaptability, immediately said self-deprecatingly, "After one semester here, I won't even be able to get into high school."
Unexpectedly, Xu Zhengkang remained calm and composed. He waved his hand and said boldly, "Your father is rich. If you can't pass the exam, I will give you money to go to a private school."
"Fuck you." From what he said, it seemed Xu Zhengkang had made up his mind to abandon him for the rest of the semester. Xu Sirui immediately flew into a rage. The veins on his hand holding the microphone bulged, and he wanted to crush it. His voice also rose, "Give the phone to my mom. I won't talk to you anymore."
"How can you talk to your father like that? Xu Sirui, I'm telling you, begging your mother is useless. As long as you haven't realized your mistake, we won't come to pick you up. Just stay there and be reformed. Come back after a full semester."
"Fuck! I know I'm wrong. I know I'm wrong, isn't that enough?! Give the phone to my mom!"
"You know shit!" Xu Zhengkang was also angry.
The cameraman's attention was drawn to the roaring in the office. He pushed open the door and saw Xu Sirui arguing with the person opposite him, holding a microphone. His face was red and his voice was almost broken. "Xu Zhengkang, am I really your son? In my previous life, did I pull out your oxygen tube or kill your whole family? Why are you torturing me like this?! If you are not happy with me, you might as well stab me to death with a knife. Why didn't you just drown me in the toilet when I was born? What's the point of leaving me in this desolate mountain!"
"Hey! Xu Sirui, you can't make phone calls."
The photographer hurried over to stop it.
Xu Sirui was already furious, and when he saw the photographer trying to grab the microphone, he instantly collapsed. The fatigue, disgust, and grievances accumulated over the past few days all burst out like a volcanic eruption. He covered the microphone and turned to avoid it. The photographer made a move to grab it, and the two of them started to wrestle. Or rather, Xu Sirui was the one who grabbed the other's hair and hit him.
"Hey hey hey——if you have something to say, let's talk it out nicely, if you have something to say, let's talk it out nicely..."
The head teacher was stunned and went forward to separate them, but he was a weak scholar and not only could he not pull them apart, but he was even punched twice by Xu Sirui in the chaos. The pain made him jump away on one leg, holding his stomach and crying out in pain.
"A fight has broken out! Someone come quickly, there's a fight going on in the office!"
Some students noticed something was wrong and shouted for help. The chaos quickly spread to the entire teaching building. Students who had not yet gone home rushed to the office, craning their necks, anxious to see what was happening.
Zhu Yingning was squatting at the school gate, wanting to wait for Xu Sirui to finish talking with his head teacher before going home together. But when she looked up, she found that the fifth floor was full of people.
She thought to herself that something was wrong and quickly jumped up, shooting towards the stairs like a cannonball.
Xu Sirui was in the middle of a fight when he suddenly heard a righteous roar: "A gentleman uses his words, not his fists!"
It's no wonder he lost his composure. In such a critical situation, the sudden intrusion of such a solemn classical Chinese text would have taken anyone by surprise. Taking advantage of their moment of distraction, Zhu Yingning grabbed the photographer with his left hand and Xu Sirui with his right, then exerted force with his wrists, pulling them apart with incredible force.
Xu Sirui staggered when she pulled him and nearly sprained his ankle again. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and cleverly shifted his center of gravity to the healthy foot when it was about to fall on the injured foot.
With her interruption, the originally tense atmosphere instantly cooled down a lot.
There was no fight, but Xu Sirui was still angry. He opened her hand and yelled angrily, "Are you sick?!"
Zhu Yingning didn't care. She looked up at the wall clock and said unexpectedly, "It's half past six. We have to go home. If we go back late, my mother will be worried."
Then, without caring whether others could follow his train of thought, he pulled Xu Sirui and turned away.
**
Xu Sirui is on a hunger strike.
It was not until the next morning that everyone realized what had happened.
He refused to eat dinner after school yesterday, and the crew thought he was just throwing a tantrum again, so they just let him be. But the next morning, he was unwilling to go to school, nor did he want to get up from bed to eat breakfast. No matter how much Liu Guifang tried to persuade him, and no matter how much Yang Ji tried to persuade him, he just curled up in the corner of the bed and didn't move.
Helplessly, everyone had to let Zhu Yingning go to school by himself, and the crew members stayed at home and took turns to persuade him to calm down.
Someone tried to sympathize with her: "Xu Sirui, I understand how you feel. When we first arrived in the mountains, we also felt very uncomfortable and out of place. City life is so much better, with computers, air conditioning, and KFC. We don't have anything like that in the mountains. We completely understand if you don't like it here. But you have to believe that the people in the mountains are very simple and honest. As long as you interact with them with your heart, you will be moved by their innocence and fall in love with this place."
Someone tried to reason with him: "Your parents don't let you go home, not because they hate you or want to hurt you, but because they're doing it for your own good. Think about it, if you stay here, won't you completely forget about online games? Will your internet addiction be cured automatically?"
Hearing this, he pulled the corner of his mouth into a cold smile: "I really can't think about online games. All I can think about is how I died."
“…”
The crew tried everything throughout the day but couldn't persuade him to eat.
When this situation continued for the third day, Yang Ji became a little panicked.
Xu Sirui refused to eat or drink. He could at least survive seven days without food, but without water, he'd be in trouble within three days. They tried to force him to drink some water, but he was as stubborn as a donkey, kicking and punching anyone who dared to get close. With the exception of two female crew members, everyone else on the set had been struck by his shadowless kicks. Some even had their eyebrows plucked out.
Yang Ji realized that Xu Sirui wanted to use this method to force them to send him home.
I have a headache. A very bad headache.
Several playboys in the previous season were also undisciplined, but no one was more difficult to manage than him. After struggling for two days and finding that they could not leave the mountain, they gave up one after another. Only he refused to give in and was willing to hurt his body to go home.
On Wednesday night, Yang Ji pulled Zhu Yingning aside and asked her if she could think of a way to get Xu Sirui to drink water and eat.
She touched her neck in embarrassment: "I don't know him very well, and he doesn't listen to me."
"You two are of the same age, so he must be less defensive towards you. Can you think of a solution? Consider it Uncle Yang's request to you."
Zhu Yingning really didn't want to watch Xu Sirui starve to death in their house. Although his personality was not pleasing, after coming to them, he either despised and belittled them or acted bossy, but...but...
She originally wanted to use some of Xu Sirui's advantages to convince herself, but after saying "but" for a long time, she couldn't come up with a clear reason. She could only nod reluctantly based on her conscience: "Okay, I'll try."
Before going to sleep that night, she sat cross-legged on the bed and glanced at Xu Sirui's back. After two days and one night without food or water, he looked much more haggard. Lying on the bed, even his breathing was weaker than others. At first glance, he looked like a stiff zombie. She cleared her throat and deliberately said to Liu Guifang, "I put the leftover steamed buns from dinner in the iron pot in the back kitchen. I'll steam them tomorrow morning."
Liu Guifang didn't understand what he meant and said casually, "You can arrange it."
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