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墨書 Inktalez
Before everyone could fully acclimate, just like entering a new class in the past, the homeroom teacher announced the list of Class Monitors. However, we were soon surprised to find that the Class Monitors were not the top students in our class, which was different from several other classes that adhered to traditional methods, and completely unlike my previous experiences.
When Teacher Zeng announced the name of the first Class Monitor—the class leader—everyone in the classroom, including the class leader himself, was taken aback. This was an ordinary boy with average entrance exam scores, named Xie, who came from a remote rural area like me and had no background in schools or leadership. If one were to say he stood out, it would only be due to his height; he was already over 1.7 meters tall and appeared somewhat taller sitting at the back of the classroom. What was even more surprising was that he was a taciturn and rather simple-minded person. Throughout the year and a half history of Class Three, aside from holding the title of class leader, he left no other significant impression on his classmates.
The subsequent positions of Youth League Secretary, Vice Class Leader, Labor Committee Member, and Discipline Committee Member were mostly filled by individuals with similar average grades and common backgrounds. They were not only inconspicuous in school but also quite ordinary in class. Even thirty years later, I cannot recall who those classmates were that served as our leaders for over a year; I truly feel sorry for them.
Fortunately, two Class Monitors left a deeper impression on my memory: the Sports Committee Member and the Study Committee Member.
The Sports Committee Member was a student from town named Liu. He stood over 1.7 meters tall with robust and solid muscles. Besides regular exercise, he also needed sufficient nutrition to support his physique. In the early 1980s, when rural students hardly dared to dream of such physical conditions, I probably couldn't even reach half his weight given my own build at that time. His exceptional physical attributes allowed him to excel in sports within our class and even across the entire grade. Whether it was running or long jump in track events or throwing and basketball in strength or team sports, he could handle it all. Strangely enough, despite his less-than-ideal academic performance, he showed no interest in pursuing a sports major; he only occasionally practiced fitness with sports students or played basketball or led our entire class in running laps around the playground. Later I learned that due to better family conditions, he didn’t need to follow the same path as us toward university; he left us before finishing high school—perhaps moving with his parents to continue his studies elsewhere or directly entering a job that others envied.
As for the Study Committee Member, this position was uniquely held by someone who ranked among the top ten students academically—me. As Teacher Zeng put it: “The Study Committee Member should be someone with good grades because based on annual college entrance exam results, many class leaders and Youth League Secretaries fail to get accepted while very few Study Committee Members do.” This made me somewhat excited: could I easily “pass” into university and escape the heavy labor of rural life? Unfortunately, perhaps due to my brief tenure as Study Committee Member or my assumption that university would come easily because of it, I did not get accepted into university upon graduating high school—a disappointment for Teacher Zeng and many teachers and classmates who had high hopes for me.
In contrast to selecting average students as Class Monitors, Teacher Zeng’s list of subject representatives featured all “elites” from our class:
The Chinese language representative was Huang Dongxiu, the best student in our entire grade; no one could dispute this. Although my Chinese language grades were decent, I never dared to compare myself with her due to my inconsistent essay writing skills. Throughout three years of high school, she remained my only rival in Chinese language classes where I could occasionally compete closely with her—my win rate even approaching 50%.
The math representative was an unassuming student named Jiang Yunrui from Hongmao Commune. He was short yet sturdy like the ceramic jars produced in his hometown. Surprisingly, beneath that rough exterior lay an extraordinary talent for mathematics; it seemed no math problem could stump him.
The English representative was a town student who graduated from Gaosha Town Middle School; it seemed he had an endless supply of English vocabulary. Even more convincing was that English education at town junior high schools clearly surpassed that of rural ones. His spoken English could rival that of Teacher Peng Songren; we rural students who had spent three years learning “mute and deaf English” could only catch glimpses of its elegant rhythm without understanding what was actually being said.
The physics representative was Peng Zequan from Meitian Commune; his commute to school was even longer than mine by over ten miles. During middle school, he lived on campus with his cousin—who might just be our Physics Teacher—explaining his remarkable comprehension skills. Frustratingly enough, our current Physics Teacher Long Yuejun is also my cousin; no matter how hard I tried, I could never catch up to him.
Other subjects like chemistry and biology also had their respective representatives assigned—most likely Shao Jiajian and Zeng Chuanhan from Ma'an Commune—but I can’t recall exactly who they were.
There was also a political representative chosen after much deliberation; surprisingly, Teacher Zeng appointed me again. Although at that time I didn’t yet wish to distance myself from politics as much as later on, serving as a representative for such a subject felt like a small irony.
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