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墨書 Inktalez
The classrooms of Garden Middle School are quite different from those of Stove Middle School, the most obvious difference being the presence of two blackboards. One stands at the front by the podium, used by the teacher for writing during lessons, a common feature in all schools. However, it wasn't until the 2010s, with the widespread use of multimedia, that this practice began to be replaced by various presentation screens. The other blackboard is mounted on the back wall of the classroom. When I first saw it, I wondered what it was for.
Not long after, the purpose of the back blackboard was revealed. It was a sunny afternoon when my Chinese language teacher, Liu Dazheng, called me over and handed me a copy of "Three Hundred Tang Poems" along with some chalk. He said, "Long Biaosong, choose a few poems that aren't in the textbook and write them on the back blackboard."
Holding the somewhat thin volume of Tang poetry and looking at the assortment of white chalk mixed with red, yellow, green, and blue in my hands, I felt a bit overwhelmed as I faced the glossy blackboard that seemed freshly painted during the holiday: this was something I had never done before. Teacher Liu hadn’t specified which poems to write or how to write them; it was quite a challenge for me.
Though I felt daunted, I wasn't one to back down easily. Moreover, this was a task assigned by my teacher; not only did I have to complete it, but I also wanted to do it beautifully.
In a moment of desperation, I thought of a shortcut—first, I would check how other classes handled their blackboards.
I first walked into Class 49 next door. To my disappointment, their blackboard was just as glossy and lifeless as mine. Perhaps the third graders would do things differently? I crossed a few classrooms and entered Class 44, where the Chinese language teacher also served as the homeroom teacher.
It was beautiful! I couldn't help but marvel at the colorful chalk drawings before me: the entire blackboard resembled a meticulously crafted picture filled with poetry, Chinese language knowledge, idiom stories, and memory techniques. Each section was sometimes separated by simple lines or left blank. In one area, a tall tree trunk served as a divider; its crown perfectly adorned the space around the titles. In the lower right corner of the blackboard—perhaps because they had finished writing or intentionally left some space—there was a cluster of vibrant green grass and vines drawn in chalk, with flowers blooming in various colors...
I decided to follow this example and silently encouraged myself.
When I confidently returned to my classroom and stood before the blackboard, I realized that creating something like Class 44's blackboard would be much more difficult than I had anticipated.
The first challenge was planning overall content. Since this was my first time dealing with such a large blackboard, although I had a rough idea of dividing it into three sections, I had no concept of how much content could fit into each section.
Initially, I tried to copy an essay titled "Hastily," but after writing just two paragraphs, I realized there wasn’t enough space for the entire piece; even using up the whole blackboard would leave little room left. So I had to start over.
Next, I attempted to write a Tang poem. The structure was straightforward enough that formatting wasn’t an issue; however, after writing three lines, I found there was too little content. Each line only contained seven characters—it felt rather sparse.
Finally, it was Deng Huayu standing nearby who reminded me to draw some fine lines between sections first and estimate how many characters could fit per line while leaving some space for selection.
What troubled me next were decorative elements. As a student on Second Day of the Lunar New Year with limited knowledge at that time, my understanding was indeed too narrow. Even as someone who enjoyed reading like me, there weren't many idiom stories or Chinese language facts that could be transferred onto the blackboard. In my urgency to find references and feeling unsure about what little knowledge I could recall accurately, I hesitated; after all, I couldn’t simply copy Class 44’s small sections verbatim.
At this moment, my tendency not to seek perfection surfaced: since I didn’t have much material on hand, why not just write down a few Tang poems and throw in a new poem?
After piecing together various bits and pieces, I finally filled most of the blackboard's space. My hand grew tired from not having written with chalk for so long; looking at what I'd written revealed letters both large and small—not as neat as I'd imagined—but erasing everything to start anew felt daunting.
Moreover, what left me unsatisfied was that aside from using large letters in color for titles on the blackboard, there were no decorative elements whatsoever—it looked particularly dull. While I'd wanted to create lines and shapes like Class 44's design with flowers and plants included, I'd never received any education in that area. Trying to draw from memory resulted in awkward attempts that were quickly erased.
What should I do? I glanced over at Deng Huayu beside me and offered her my chalk; she shook her head vigorously in refusal. Then I looked at Yin Hongsong and Luo Yongzhong—they immediately turned away and even ran out of the classroom.
Since this task had been assigned by Teacher Liu, perhaps it would be best to seek his help.
As if testing me deliberately, Teacher Liu's office door was tightly shut; he rarely returned home during weekdays but had apparently gone back to Garden Street for dinner.
While lingering outside Teacher Liu's door in uncertainty, a beautiful head peeked out from next door—Teacher Deng Luyan emerged. Although she wasn't my subject teacher, she was still a teacher after all; when students encounter difficulties, any teacher can be consulted.
Upon understanding my situation, Teacher Deng said while smiling slightly that she wasn't very good at drawing either but suggested we go check out our classroom together first before leading the way ahead of me.
Entering the classroom, I didn't dare to look too much at Teacher Deng's expression, fearing she might be dissatisfied with the results I had worked so hard on. To my surprise, the first thing she said was, "You copied it quite well." After saying that, she picked three pieces of chalk from the pile I had placed on my desk and began to carefully trace some curved and straight lines along with some faint patterns. Then she outlined them, thickened them, and added colors, occasionally tracing around the title I had originally written with different colors...
In just a few minutes, while I was still in shock and hadn't fully reacted, Teacher Deng had already put down all the chalk in her hands, breathing slightly heavier, and said, "That's it. Just don't tell Teacher Liu that I helped you with this."
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