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墨書 Inktalez
In the county town, high school students do not need to bring their own food to school; they can simply buy meal tickets with money. However, at the Eighth High School of Annan County in Gaoqiao Town, students are required to bring their own food.
On the first day of school, the campus of the Eighth High School was crowded with people. Ox carts, donkey carts, mule carts, and a few parents driving hand-pulled tractors, four-wheeled tractors, and motorized tricycles filled the large campus, making it as bustling as a market.
These were all parents delivering food and luggage for their children.
Gaoqiao Town is 12.3 kilometers away from Laogu Township in a straight line, connected by dirt roads that become dusty when dry and muddy when it rains. There are no bus services between the two townships.
As the school year began, Hu Ruoyun chose not to have his father drive him in a donkey cart. Instead, he rode his Twenty-Eight Bar Bicycle alone, carrying 80 pounds of wheat along with a quilt and mattress to school.
At fourteen years old, he was not much taller than the bicycle itself, and the combined weight of the wheat and luggage was heavier than Hu Ruoyun himself.
There was no other option; his family did not own a motorized tricycle or tractor. Although he could have had his father drive him in the donkey cart, his father had never left Laogu Township in his life and could not read. Hu Ruoyun worried that his father would not find his way back home after dropping him off at school.
The dirt road was marked by deep ruts made by passing wheels, often interrupted by ditches dug by villagers watering their fields or hoses laid across the road. At these times, Hu Ruoyun had to carefully dismount and slowly push his bicycle over these obstacles.
He had to be cautious not only to avoid falling off the bike but also to periodically check that the bags were securely tied and wouldn’t burst open and spill their contents. This was exhausting both physically and mentally.
After an hour of bumpy riding, he finally arrived at Gaoqiao Town and managed to find the school. At the entrance stood a steep hill that required him to push his bicycle up. The moment he dismounted, Hu Ruoyun's legs felt weak, nearly causing him to collapse—it was simply too tiring.
The Office of Academic Affairs had several windows. The first window handled qualification checks; after verifying his examination permit and admission notice, the reviewing teacher signed “Approved for Registration!” along with their name on the notice. The second window was for fees; after submitting 185 yuan for tuition and having it verified, he received a pink receipt.
Outside the Office of Academic Affairs were four large red papers with names of this year's new students and class assignments written in calligraphy. After confirming this information and taking his payment receipt to report to his homeroom teacher, Hu Ruoyun found out he had been assigned to Class Four of Grade One, with a homeroom teacher named Wang Hongjian.
After completing all the procedures, half a day had passed. He then delivered the food he brought to the school kitchen for weighing, exchanged it for meal tickets from the administrator, and proceeded to confirm his dormitory assignment.
The classrooms were single-story buildings, as were the dormitories located at the far end of the campus in a long row. Some dormitory doors were broken with openings large enough for a person to crawl through.
The dormitory administrator opened one of the rooms, which contained twelve bunk beds tightly packed together—accommodating twenty-four boys from two different classes.
Over the next three years, Hu Ruoyun would come to deeply understand what it meant: in winter, there was an overwhelming stench of feet without any heating facilities; in summer, it was filled with the smell of sweat from half-grown boys without any cooling measures.
On either side of this row of dormitories, there were two latrines. All the boys living here, regardless of the season or time of day, had to use these facilities.
When it was time for meals, Hu Ruoyun realized that the Eighth High School of Annan County truly deserved its title as "the worst high school." Here, there was no such thing as the worst; only worse.
As the meal bell rang, the windows selling food were surrounded by upperclassmen, making it impossible to get through. No one bothered to line up, and there was no one to maintain order.
The stronger and taller students charged to the front, while those who were weaker, shorter, or newly arrived freshmen could only wait in the back until they finished before they could eat.
There was no dining hall; not even a table to sit at! With three grades and over a thousand students, regardless of gender, they either carried their meals back to their dorms or classrooms to eat or had to place their bowls and plates on the ground, squatting in groups outdoors to have their meals.
The dish served was boiled eggplant in plain water, costing twenty cents a portion. The broth was so clear that not a drop of oil could be seen. In modern terms: it was truly health food!
The dishwashing area was a rectangular concrete basin with a row of faucets gushing water, splashing everywhere and creating a watery mess; in winter, it was all frozen solid.
What was called a playground was merely a large open space with a few parallel bars on the side. At each end stood a soccer goal, and the running track was just bare yellow earth; when someone ran on it, dust would rise up, choking throats and stinging eyes.
…
Hu Ruoyun also heard that the security environment at this school was extremely poor. Young delinquents from nearby villages often came to harass and bully students who had traveled from afar; even some teachers had been threatened by them! This news left many freshmen in his dormitory feeling anxious.
Hu Ruoyun believed: I do not initiate trouble, but I will not shy away from it!
On the third day after registration, the school held an orientation ceremony for new students with speeches from the principal, teacher representatives, and student representatives…
Following that was a talent show for freshmen. A girl named Wang Bingbing from Class One of Grade One stepped onto the stage in a white dress with lightly brushed eyebrows. She bore a striking resemblance to a young Zhao Liying and confidently sang "Yellow Earth Plateau" by Hang Tianqi. Her voice was powerful, bright, and clear, leaving Hu Ruoyun and other students from rural towns in awe.
Thinking about his own future filled with failures before turning forty-six, Hu Ruoyun felt a surge of determination: "My fate is in my own hands!" He stepped back from the crowd and approached his homeroom teacher to express his desire to perform as well. Teacher Wang was delighted and quickly took him to coordinate with the leaders at the Office of Academic Affairs.
—Since the beginning of registration for new students, competition among the four homeroom teachers had already begun…
After all scheduled performances concluded without any announcements about what they were, Hu Ruoyun appeared on stage wearing sports attire. He held in his right hand a stick about the thickness of an egg that he had borrowed from the physical education teacher's equipment room; it measured around one meter seventy-eight long.
He stood firmly in the center of the stage, his right hand raised high with the staff held straight, while his left hand grasped the staff's grip. Turning his head to the left, he focused his gaze on the front left.
The audience below had yet to react when Hu Ruoyun stepped to the left with his left foot and turned his body 90 degrees into a left bow stance. At the same time, he swung both hands down with the staff in a forward strike, and a gust of wind followed as the staff descended.
The transitions between bow stance, horse stance, advancing step, jumping step, inserting step, and covering step flowed seamlessly like water. With the wooden staff, he executed chopping, sweeping, thrusting, and horizontal strikes in one fluid motion. Even if the audience didn't understand the routines, they were captivated by Hu Ruoyun's swift and fierce movements, powerful and dynamic presence.
After completing two short segments and twelve distinct movements, Hu Ruoyun tucked the staff into his embrace and bowed to the audience, which erupted into thunderous applause.
In Hu Ruoyun's impression of foreseeing the future, not only were conditions harsh, but he also spent three years of high school in a state of confusion.
It couldn't be said that he hadn't studied seriously; he wasn't the mischievous type who would annoy teachers. In reality, only he knew that whether in class or after school, his mind was never truly focused on studying.
Especially in English and algebra classes, he felt as if he were listening to a foreign language—nothing made sense. Fortunately, in humanities subjects, particularly writing, he managed to hold his own. From time to time, he even published poetry, essays, or short stories in various magazines within and outside the province, earning him a bit of admiration from both male and female classmates.
It also helped that this high school was known as the worst in the county; nearly all students here had their own academic weaknesses. Aside from a few exceptionally diligent top performers, everyone else shared a mutual understanding of their shortcomings.
Hu Ruoyun had also tried to make an effort to change what he foresaw as three years of aimless high school life, but it seemed futile.
He still couldn't comprehend English and remained baffled by mathematics.
Disappointedly, he realized that despite possessing the Eye of God, some things simply could not be changed.
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