Chapter 5 Whose Fault Is It

  Since I beat Horse Face and Shorty, I really haven't seen them again. Maybe they're really scared now. The nickname "Horse Face" has really stuck, to the point where people have forgotten his real name. I also haven't seen those two people again, maybe they're really afraid of running into me again.

  Like this, the days returned to calmness. Apart from attending classes, I started working hard on playing basketball, hoping that I could grow taller as soon as possible. After a year of effort, the effect was not bad, at least I stood out in our class.

  One day after school, Yang Can mysteriously walked up to me and said, "Ye Zi, are you going to Cui Lei's house tonight to watch a video?". I replied, "Fatty, stop torturing me! Is it interesting to watch those foreign movies every day? Alain Delon's good movies, you have to make him watch porn, can you live up to Zorro who is for the people and against evil?"

  Yang Can waved his hand vigorously, signaling me to keep my voice down, then leaned in close to my ear and said: "Today we're going to watch the real deal, Gao Peng stole his dad's video tapes, all American, really exciting, how about it, want to come with?"

  "Hmm!" It seems I really haven't watched any porn movies from this era, and I'm actually a bit curious. Yang Can thought I was spacing out, thinking I was having an internal struggle with myself, and advised me "Don't worry, tonight when Cui Lei's parents are practicing their stall, they won't notice". I really did get tempted, might as well go, after all it's been ages since I last watched something like that. Watching French movies all day has left me feeling a bit...itchy.

  Chui Lei's family lives in building 13, a distance from my home. I knocked on the door for half a day before Chui Lei cautiously asked from inside, "Who is it?" These little rascals must be watching us right now. "It's me, Ye Kai, open the door," I replied impatiently. "I thought my dad was back," Chui Lei said while opening the door and explaining to me, "If they catch us, we're doomed." I gave him a dirty look as I walked in, "Are you an idiot? Your dad comes back and still needs to knock on the door?"

  Cui Lei's small living room was packed with people, and all the usual playmates were invited. There weren't enough chairs to sit on, so even the small stools were used, just like when watching outdoor movies, but it wasn't clear if they had brought them themselves.

  The movie has no content, a pair of foreigners are doing boring piston movements, and there is not even any extra plot. The movie is meaningless, I turned to observe Cui Lei and others, Cui Lei may not be watching for the first time, his expression looks more relaxed than others, Yang Can and others are miserable, like carvings, staring at the screen with unblinking eyes, panting heavily one by one.

  The movie ended, Cui Lei was the first to get up and walk towards the toilet... Others also tacitly lined up one by one to go to the toilet in turn... Then everyone packed their things and left, it seems that some things don't need training to be very tacit.

  "Hey, Fatty, slow down a bit, don't always be so defiant, it's not good for your body." I said to Fatty's back as we walked to the intersection. "Uh-huh," Fatty responded, but suddenly realized something was off and quickly continued walking without turning his head, weakly saying "I didn't..."

  Later, Cui Lei's home almost became the gang's base, and it became a "sex education base" for these boys who were just starting puberty. Boys of this era mostly started their sex enlightenment in this way.

  One day, Yang Can came to me with a somewhat painful expression. "Did you lose money?" I asked him in surprise, rarely seeing him with this kind of expression. "Cui Lei's elementary school classmate was caught, the day before yesterday he watched a video at Cui Lei's house and on his way back home, he raped a girl from the neighboring family." He still had that 'I'd rather die than speak' expression. "Cui Lei feels very guilty, saying it's all because of him."

  The word "rapist" first intersected with my life, and a wave of anger surged in my mind, not knowing whether to hate the yellow video or to hate Cui Lei's classmate. Cui Lei may also be somewhat despicable, but the most despicable is probably the root cause of "sex".

  Cui Lei, feeling guilty for ruining his classmate's life, no longer invites us to his home. Everyone also dares not look at the video again, fearing they can't control themselves and will end up like Cui Lei's classmate. So everyone puts their energy in a new place.

  The turbulent and prosperous 90s quietly arrived in front of people, the great era also quietly opened its curtain, countless unknowns are waiting for China, waiting for this world.