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墨書 Inktalez
Although I had grown up and lived in the countryside, my father was a principal of a junior high school who worked outside and "ate the country's grain." My grandfather had traveled extensively in his youth and served as the head of a horticultural farm for many years during his prime. The greatest expectation from my family was for me to escape the impoverished and remote rural life and join the ranks of those who "ate the country's grain." Thus, after graduating from middle school, I initiated my own "The First Leap from the Farmer's Gate" under the arrangement of my elders.
The restoration of the college entrance examination system in China occurred in 1978, while middle school students could take exams for vocational schools around 1982. At that time, not only universities and colleges but even vocational schools and technical schools guaranteed job placements upon graduation, allowing graduates to become so-called "national citizens." Among these, only those who were already "eating resident grain" could take the exams for technical schools; otherwise, opportunities were supposedly equal for everyone. This made it the only path for many children of farmers to leap out of the "Farmer Class."
Though it was said that "opportunities were equal," resources were scarce, and acceptance rates were pitifully low. With thousands competing for limited spots, getting into vocational schools quickly became a privilege for some teachers' children. Apart from those who excelled academically and wanted to leave the countryside early, most candidates for the middle school to vocational school exams were related to school teachers. In our cohort, aside from Long Yunshi, who consistently topped the class, participants included me, Lu Hui, Wang Ruimei, Deng Xiuhong, and others—either children of teachers or offspring of local dignitaries. The previous year, a teacher's daughter had successfully entered a vocational school through this route and left the countryside; when we arrived at the county town to take our unified exam at a designated testing site, we encountered many more teachers' children from various schools.
This exam was a chance to escape the Farmer Class and determine one's fate. Although the exam time and questions were similar to those of our graduation assessments, it was held at a high school in the county town.
In an era with underdeveloped transportation, traveling twenty to thirty kilometers to the county town was challenging. Although there was a wide asphalt road right in front of our school, there were no buses available. Fortunately, Deng Xiuhong had a father who was a leader at the supply cooperative of Garden Middle School. He arranged for a Liberation Truck to transport goods to the county town. We seven or eight students taking the exam climbed into the spacious truck bed while my father squeezed into the driver's seat.
Upon arriving in the county town, we checked into the only county party committee guesthouse. Each room had four beds. For some reason, instead of sharing with classmates from my school, I ended up sharing with Liu Pingping from Xizhong Middle School and his father (who was also a supervising teacher from Xizhong).
After dropping off our luggage, both fathers went to collect basins and buckets from the guesthouse while Liu Pingping and I sized each other up: he was noticeably taller and seemed more mature than I was. He glanced at me a few times before opening his backpack to review his books.
The summer heat relentlessly invaded the old building. Without fans or air conditioning, our semi-enclosed room quickly turned into a slow-cooking steamer. Though I tried to mimic Liu Pingping by pulling out my study materials, I was drenched in sweat and couldn't focus on any words. Instead, I found myself jumping up occasionally from my slightly hot bedding to step outside for fresh air or even running under the shade of trees in the yard to cool off.
When both fathers returned and saw us dripping with sweat, they came up with an idea: they filled two buckets with water from a nearby tap and poured it onto the cement floor before using brooms to spread it evenly across every corner of the room.
With the help of cool water and as evening approached, the temperature in our room dropped significantly. I couldn't help but admire my father's foresight in arranging this accommodation. The room was on the ground floor's outer edge; even pouring water wouldn't disturb anyone else. Since we were sharing with unfamiliar companions, my restless nature meant fewer opportunities for playtime; wasting time would affect others' studies as well. The two supervising teachers shared their space too, allowing them to exchange more ideas.
The next morning, after having a simple breakfast at the guesthouse, we walked about a mile to Dongkou No. 9 Middle School for our exam. At that moment, there was still a slight chill in the air. Eager students moved about with excited yet anxious hearts; when encountering familiar faces from our school or others', we merely exchanged brief greetings without forming groups like usual.
To me, taking this exam felt no different than usual; however, my mother's reminders before leaving and my father's silence beside me added subtle pressure that transformed into action during the test. Instead of casually skimming through all questions as I usually did, I meticulously checked each one multiple times after completing them quickly. Although there were few substantial changes after several checks, I persisted for my future and my parents' expectations.
The day’s exam concluded swiftly as we headed back to the guesthouse. Suddenly, my father stopped before a tall figure and called out loudly, "Director Liu! Director Liu!" The man halted and immediately engaged in conversation with my father. It turned out he was a colleague from Suining who had since transferred to work at Shaoyang's education bureau; he was now part of the admissions team for this vocational school recruitment. Upon hearing that I was also taking exams, he readily promised my father: "As long as you meet the cutoff score, I'll make sure you get into a good school."
With this new information about good vocational schools available—especially hearing about an aviation school recruiting in Shaoyang—I began reconsidering my aspirations. Unlike previous classmates who aimed merely for teaching positions upon graduating from vocational schools and returning as ordinary middle school teachers in Dongkou—this wasn't my ideal path anymore. My parents had both graduated from middle school; while my father didn't make it into high school initially and returned home to be a private tutor before reapplying successfully later on—my mother had been unable to continue her education due to circumstances surrounding her high school graduation during the Cultural Revolution—but deep down she always felt slightly superior to him.
Hearing about good vocational schools made me excited; if I got into an aviation program—couldn't that mean flying planes?
Thus began my more careful checking process during exams but also increased hesitation. During math testing near its end with just three minutes left, I found myself stuck between deciding whether an angle should be 30 degrees or 60 degrees; after much deliberation back and forth, I finally settled on 30 degrees just before time ran out.
Stepping out of the examination room brought sudden clarity: that angle represented a central angle—not an inscribed angle—it should have been 60 degrees!
This realization left me feeling even more unsettled; I couldn't quite recall how I'd managed through that exam.
A month passed before results were released: out of seven subjects tested, I scored 578 points—ranking second among all candidates from Garden Middle School (the best historical ranking). However, since the cutoff score for vocational schools was 581 points—I narrowly missed out on both attending vocational school and pursuing aviation!
Among those taking exams alongside me from Garden and Xizhong communes only Long Yunshi and Liu Pingping succeeded in entering vocational schools; they eventually attended Wugang Normal University before returning as elementary teachers in Dongkou. Interestingly enough—they later switched careers entirely becoming police officers—both serving as station chiefs or instructors.
Looking back now—the two top students merely sought early escape from their "Farmer Class" status but lost opportunities for university education along with broader horizons ahead.
As for me—the outcome of this first leap may have failed—but it opened another door leading toward unknown possibilities!
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