When I hadn't moved out of this city yet, Xiao P was my only friend at school.
At that time, my family and I stayed in this city for a year, and naturally, I became a transfer student at the local school.
Xiao P and I became friends not because our personalities were compatible, but simply because Xiao P was my desk mate. Additionally, I noticed that Xiao P was the only person in the class who didn't bully other students. So, with these two reasons, as a newcomer from another place, I naturally wanted to get to know Xiao P.
But I think you can guess why Xiao P didn't bully other students. That's right, Xiao P was the one being bullied. Just like that old-school joke about eating, sleeping, and popping pimples.
But maybe it was because this class had an abundance of martial virtue, or maybe it was because this class didn't have enough martial virtue. Every time someone bullied Xiao P, they would politely tell me:
"Can you please stand further away? We're afraid of accidentally hurting you."
I didn't understand, maybe this was a special treatment for me as an outsider.
I have asked Xiao P more than once why he was the only unlucky one in the whole class, but Xiao P never answered that question. He just calmly said:
"Because I'm different from them."
Every time I heard this sentence, I would fall into deep contemplation. I marveled at Xiao P's proud and independent spirit, and I also marveled at how, after thinking about it, I realized that Xiao P really seemed out of place in this class.
I have to say, Xiao P had a winning hand that everyone envied. Not to mention his superior appearance and material conditions, Xiao P was also top-notch in terms of intelligence. In a two-hour math exam, Xiao P would always score full marks within an hour. The only time he went over the time limit was when someone threw all of his answer sheets out of the window. But even so, Xiao P, without his math score, still had a higher total score than the second-place student.
I often reflected on why I didn't make any progress being around such an excellent person. The only time I didn't come in last place was when I peeked at Xiao P's answer sheet. But thanks to technology changing our lives, the school later started using new surveillance cameras during exams, so I never did well again.
But my friend Xiao P's evaluation of this was:
"I envy you too, being able to live an ordinary life."
Xiao P even had a high emotional intelligence when he made sarcastic remarks.
But Xiao P did help me a lot, including but not limited to telling me to run when I threw the leftover sodium metal from the experiment into the drain. I was very grateful for that.
I often brought Xiao P home for dinner because I noticed that Xiao P's lunchbox always had curry rice, and this curry rice would often be spat on by others.
On average, the other students in the class would bully Xiao P three times a day, and that's how the day would pass. And after being bullied by Xiao P nearly a thousand times, the day of the college entrance examination arrived.
Before leaving school, Xiao P invited me to have dinner at his house. I patted Xiao P's shoulder and said with deep meaning:
"You finally understand. If you don't take me home now, I'll leave."
Xiao P smiled, and that was the first time I saw Xiao P smile.
In my understanding, Xiao P should live in a villa with a butler to take care of everything. The reason I formed this understanding was because Xiao P always wore brand-name shoes that I had only seen in advertisements and used pens that cost thousands of yuan. But this understanding shattered into instant noodles when I went to Xiao P's house.
The place where Xiao P lived couldn't be described as luxurious, but it could be called bare. The only thing I thought was valuable was a large iron door connecting the inside and outside of the house.
"Are you afraid that I'll steal your money?" I couldn't help but ask.
"This is really where I live, although it's a bit simple."
There was a moment of silence.
"Then where did you get those shoes and pens?" I couldn't help but ask again.
"I teach rich kids, and they reward me."
"Reward?"
"That's how they define this behavior."
Another moment of silence.
"Then what about that big iron door at your house..." I couldn't help but ask again.
"Let's eat first, you'll find out soon."
Xiao P got up and brought out two packs of instant curry, pouring them into bowls in front of us. Obviously, this was the same curry I saw in his lunchbox every day.
Silence grew even stronger.
Before long, I heard knocking at the door, accompanied by noisy voices outside.
I was about to get up and open the door, but Xiao P stopped me.
"No need to open the door. But if you're curious, you can take a look."
I was puzzled and looked through the peephole on the iron door.
There was a group of people whose faces couldn't be seen clearly. They were banging on the iron door like zombies and cursing Xiao P inside the house.
"What are they doing?"
"I don't know. I don't know them, but they know me. At first, when only one person came, my house could keep them out. But as more and more people came, I sold everything in the house and bought this iron door. It's quite sturdy, just not soundproof."
Xiao P sat there calmly eating curry rice, showing no emotional fluctuations. It was clear that Xiao P was already used to this.
"Why don't you call the police? They can easily catch these people," I said indignantly.
"One person can be caught, ten people can be caught, but what about a hundred?" Xiao P raised his head and stared into my eyes.
I was speechless.
After finishing the meal, I was ready to leave.
"Study well, go to Peking University, and I'll go to Beijing Digital University. We both have a bright future."
"Come visit me when you have time," Xiao P said to me, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"Sure, my home is close by, I can even ride a shared bike here." I reassured him.
Xiao P opened the heavy iron door, and the people outside had already dispersed.
We hugged each other as a farewell.
I moved out of this city, and the next time I heard about Xiao P was after he received his college entrance exam results and jumped from the twenty-fifth floor.
As one of the few people who had contact with Xiao P during his lifetime, the police came looking for me. In the lobby of the police station, a police officer handed me a notebook written by Xiao P. The notebook was thin, and with just a few pages, Xiao P recorded the year we spent together.
It was only then that I learned that the reason Xiao P became the unlucky one was exactly as he said. In that school, Xiao P was far more outstanding than anyone else, and no one would believe that such an outstanding person achieved it on his own. So they desperately wanted Xiao P to reveal some so-called secrets.
And the people outside the iron door were probably similar to those in the school. They saw Xiao P frequently entering and leaving the large courtyards and apartments hidden among the trees, so naturally, they treated Xiao P as a traitor, like a thief. But what's darkly humorous is that what they were most furious about was actually hating Xiao P for not including them.
I felt a sense of sorrow, and after thanking the police, I headed home. Along the way, I noticed that people around me were looking at me with unfriendly eyes.
I didn't understand until I saw the heavy iron door from Xiao P's house appear at my doorstep.