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墨書 Inktalez
After spending a night at Hunan University Shaoyang Branch, the traveler far from home reconnected with many old classmates and found the taste of home and solace for the soul. Like other freshmen, I continued my journey of visiting schools. On that Sunday after leaving the branch, and for the next three or four weekends, I traversed from one school to another, visiting various colleges in Shaoyang City known as the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons," along with several well-known vocational and technical schools.
Wei School was my second stop. As soon as I stepped through its gates, a sense of pride and a hint of envy washed over me. I felt proud that Wei School was merely a vocational school; although it had more students and a larger area than Gongzhuan, its facilities, green spaces, and sports arrangements resembled those of middle and high schools. In the words of some classmates, they ran "children's classes" here. What made me envious was its location; although it was somewhat remote, it was much closer to the city center than Gongzhuan. The street vendors and small shops selling various goods in front of it were incomparable to those near Gongzhuan. Moreover, there were several large institutions nearby, such as the West District Government and the Mass Art Museum.
After finding my old classmates Shu Yangliu and Zhang Jianhua who were studying in the college program at Wei School, my perception of Wei School deepened. This institution primarily trains nursing staff for hospitals, with each cohort of Xi Hu and Zhong Hu having over ten classes. In recent years, two new majors were added to barely squeeze into the "university" category for college programs. Additionally, there was a somewhat puzzling class for laboratory nurses that also had one class per cohort. These two programs added a few boys to Wei School's long-standing female majority, which still stood at over 80%, giving the school a vibrant atmosphere that often attracted attention from neighboring institutions.
Normal College was the "relative" everyone focused on. When the school bus I was on stopped at Shao Shui Bridge, more than half of the students stood up to get off. As I walked toward Normal College, I counted nearly twenty Gongzhuan classmates ahead of me. Not only were there many new students visiting Normal College, but we also had many old classmates there. It could be considered the largest university in Shaoyang in terms of scale, history, and influence. Every subject taught in high school had a corresponding major here since its primary function was to train secondary school teachers. This arrangement was understandable; however, for some unknown reason, the biology major was assigned to Hunan University Shaoyang Branch and only required two years of study—perhaps this was another reason why biology only accounted for 70 points on the college entrance exam.
I spent the longest time at Normal College compared to other places; unlike my brief weekend visits to other schools, I stayed longer here because the food was good. Compared to Gongzhuan, aside from their unique breakfast buns that were irreplaceable for someone with my appetite, the rest of their meals could be considered heavenly. At that time, there were significant subsidies and benefits for university students attending teacher training schools. In this new era where students began bearing their own tuition fees and living expenses, those coming from rural areas could almost entirely rely on themselves without burdening their families financially while enjoying meat in every meal.
What truly kept me at Normal College was the abundance of old classmates there. In my long-ago diary, I recorded some memories: Upon entering campus, we knew where Zhao Shun and Liu Sun Wang's dormitory was but couldn't find Building 4. Just then, we fortuitously ran into A Ying and another friend who informed us it was right in front of us. When we approached, Zhao Shun was enthusiastically leveling up in a game; reluctantly putting down his cards, he called Sun Wang over to join us.
Just as we got engrossed in our game, Tang Wenyin from our high school approached us. After exchanging a few words and learning that Tang Liming was also around, we shifted our battlefield to their place for some fun. After chatting for a while and noticing it was nearly ten o'clock, I bid farewell and returned to Zhao Shun's dormitory to sleep. However, as soon as I tried to settle down for bed, it turned into past one o'clock at midnight before we knew it. The three of us played cards under the flickering light of our only candle (the school cut off electricity at ten), which eventually extinguished due to our enthusiastic gameplay. We reluctantly left behind an unfinished game of cards and went to bed.
Lying in bed with no sleepiness whatsoever, we reminisced about old classmates—talking about Zhu Wenyao's upcoming wedding and how Peng Zequan and Liu Mouchun were dating girls—eventually leading us to discuss someone else. Zhao Shun asked if I still kept in touch with her and whether we discussed any sensitive topics in our letters. Though I wasn't particularly sensitive anymore, I understood what he meant and replied: "Maybe she didn't bring it up or perhaps she did but I didn't notice." He then hinted that our relationship during school used to be quite good. I hesitated to respond; thankfully this conversation took place in darkness; otherwise my flushed face would have invited more teasing.
The next day before lunch, after some effort I found Huang Qiding and borrowed two volumes of Chinese Ancient Literature History from him. When they mentioned plans to open a restaurant together in the future, I suggested: "Then let Yin Xian Nan design it since he studies architecture; Zhao Shun and Sun Wang can handle accounting since they study math; advertising can be left to Zhao Liang and Qi Ding—you guys are top talents in Chinese!" (Note: Later on among my high school classmates like Wang Jicai and Xiao Wenwu who opened hotels themselves, I worked in hotel management for a while; I'm not sure if they remember my joking remark.)
Electric University emerged only in recent years; it's said to be easier to get into than regular universities, making it popular among high school students who couldn't gain admission through normal channels along with their families. Consequently, Electric University operated rather chaotically across various locations with classes popping up here and there. My lower bunkmate Xiang Ni Hua had several old classmates attending Electric University; accompanying him around Shaoyang’s various Electric University locations became routine for me—visiting places like Teacher Training School, Agricultural Bank Training School, People's Bank courtyard, Zi River Pesticide Factory building among others. Strangely enough, nearly all of Xiang’s “old classmates” were girls; every time we visited them at night we had trouble finding boys’ dorms nearby—it became inconvenient after one or two visits so I stopped accompanying him to those "extracurricular" schools.
Among vocational schools, Supply and Marketing School left a deep impression on me; now I can't recall who accompanied me or whom we sought out but that prominent notice about penalties at the school gate remains vivid in my memory: expulsion for cheating during exams or probation for tardiness; warnings or demerits for being late or leaving early; even expulsion for talking during class! These announcements clearly indicated strict management here—perhaps even stricter than some middle schools.
In my professional journey afterward, I've worked alongside Liu Hua and Liu Shunhua who graduated from this school; Liu Guangzhuo from Agricultural Bank married a Supply and Marketing School graduate who went on ahead to become a graduate student at Renmin University; while working in Changsha or Shanghai my boss's daughter Ming Liu also attended this school—such an impressive institution producing such remarkable individuals! It seems we all attended university around similar times at Gongzhuan; indeed every success has its roots that cannot be overlooked.
As for technical schools, I've visited Yi Ji Tech School, Er Tech School, and Commercial Technical School but don't recall much except that students from technical schools often came from urban families with an inherent pride that looked down upon us rural folks. Additionally at Commercial Technical School I tasted my first Candied Potatoes made by an old classmate studying culinary arts (forgive me for not remembering who it was; if any old friends see this they can identify themselves)—they were tangy-sweet with hints of Western cuisine flavor.
The only middle school I visited while attending university in Shaoyang was Private Jingwen Middle School which back then seemed quite novel—it was reportedly established by a businessman returning from Taiwan where Liu Feixiang from Shi Bao Chong studied at that time when I brought him something there once. The school was tucked away in an alley beside Dongfeng Road with somewhat outdated facilities and lax discipline; I've heard its achievements weren't particularly notable either. Around 2002 I crossed paths with it again when it had relocated—its prospects seemed increasingly dimmer then too. Now it may have faded away without a trace—at least that's how it appears within my view.
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