Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
As a child, I often read novels depicting war, where prominent figures would use the "Eight Hundred Killing Clubs" to intimidate heroes who came seeking refuge or found themselves imprisoned. Each time I recalled those moments, excitement mingled with a hint of fear. Now that I've entered university, even before classes officially began, the school administration had already introduced the "Three Strikes of the Warning Stick" for the new students of the Eighth and Ninth Grades.
The first strike involved a week of cleaning duties. Upon arrival, the banners welcoming new students obscured many areas of the campus. Once they were lifted, it revealed a rather unkempt appearance: beneath the low shrubs, various wild grasses thrived, having soaked up rainwater and sunlight during the long holiday, growing almost as tall as the greenery itself, some even peeking out mockingly at passing teachers and students. The dirt area behind the dormitory was littered with dead branches and leaves, but more notably with trash thrown from windows—white paper, black plastic bags, colorful bottles and cans, and worn-out clothes and shoes. Occasionally, there were even a couple of piles emitting a foul odor, hardened and gray. Even the temporarily cleaned playground and teaching buildings were overtaken by garbage that needed further attention from the new students.
It seemed that the school aimed to instill certain awareness in us freshmen by scheduling collective labor around ten in the morning when the sun was at its peak. Each class was assigned a specific area to clean, with tools distributed to each student. At four in the afternoon, the student council would organize inspections; those who did not meet standards had to redo their work. Today’s efforts would be followed by more assignments tomorrow.
As a boy from a rural background, I found cleaning tasks to be light work. However, I had developed a habit of only doing major tasks at home—while I was skilled at planting rice or harvesting in the fields, I always avoided cooking or cleaning. My younger siblings often protested this arrangement, but my mother sided with me, insisting I do more in the fields to compensate. This led to my lack of household skills; I could only cook for myself and my idea of mopping was merely dragging a cloth across the floor. Unfortunately for me, our homeroom teacher, Xiao Xigu, appointed me as the first labor committee member for our class, making me the leader of this round of cleaning duties. Reluctantly, I had to reassign cleaning areas while demonstrating techniques and running around checking on each group's progress.
I was already resistant to this sudden push for cleanliness and thus did not impose strict demands on my classmates. Teacher Xiao was nearing middle age and did not engage as actively as younger homeroom teachers from other classes; he mostly took a hands-off approach. Among the three classes in the Chemical Engineering Department, our class consistently ranked last during inspections. Fortunately, this phase did not last long; although my classmates felt embarrassed about their lack of cleanliness, they were relieved to spend less time under the sun and doing chores.
The second strike involved endless political education sessions. Perhaps influenced by earlier student protests in the year, we freshmen were not targets for retribution but could not escape ideological education from above. The school first gathered over 300 new students from both grades in a grand auditorium for an address by school leaders and political instructors aimed at mobilizing us; next, over 100 students from our three Chemical Engineering classes were assembled in the largest lecture hall for talks by Teacher Zhao from the Youth League Committee and Counselor Teacher Lu. They covered topics ranging from "capitalism" in Eastern European countries to China's severe challenges, discussing causes and consequences of student protests along with various Western philosophical thoughts compared against Marxism's foundational theories.
During earlier protests, most students were preoccupied with preparing for college entrance exams and were largely unaware or uninterested in those events; however, we had some vague memories of anti-bourgeois liberalization movements from 1986 and 1987. Faced with complex theories and distant foreign realities, most students felt confused; any reflections submitted to the school were often forced or copied from one another. Fortunately for us freshmen, since political education primarily targeted upperclassmen involved in protests earlier that year, as long as we met word count requirements for our reflections during learning sessions, we could pass without much scrutiny.
The third strike prohibited forming Hometown Associations. Upperclassmen told us that Hometown Associations were a significant feature of university life—students from Shaoyang City formed associations based on their counties while those from other regions formed theirs based on geographical areas; at provincial universities, associations were organized by province or region accordingly. Perhaps due to fears stemming from earlier protests that made school leaders cautious, traditional Hometown Associations were surprisingly banned under the guise of preventing "illegal gatherings."
Historically speaking, Hometown Associations have existed since before the Ming and Qing dynasties in various towns and cities; particularly during the Republic era when local associations served as platforms for locals to support one another. Their roles have been both praised and criticized: positively for uniting strength and fostering development; negatively for forming cliques and opposing certain authorities. Regardless of their merits or demerits, wherever there are people, Hometown Associations tend to exist; enlightened rulers often utilized these associations as conduits for orders and ideas without people realizing it.
Having been "bitten by a snake once," school leaders implemented rules against Hometown Associations; however, people's power is immense. While formal associations could not be established openly due to restrictions, upperclassmen still managed to connect behind closed doors. Among students from Dongkou studying at Gongzhuan University there were nearly eighty or more; about two weeks into school on a Saturday afternoon, Yuan Peng from our Eighth Grade Mechanical Class quietly informed us: “Let’s gather at Zhi River’s central area after class today!”
Since it was Saturday and classes ended around three o'clock in the afternoon, I arranged to meet Yin Xian Nan from our Civil Engineering class (we attended high school together) and we quietly left campus together. We crossed National Highway 320 and passed rows of houses until we reached Zhi River's edge where several sandbanks lay just northward in the river's center—only about ten meters away from shore—with clear gravel visible beneath the water's surface. We took off our shoes and stepped into the cool water that reached halfway up our calves as we quickened our pace.
Stepping onto grassy patches along the sandy banks without bothering to put my shoes back on, I headed straight toward the largest "island" where over twenty fellow townsfolk had already gathered—some sitting while others stood chatting in small groups. In the center lay several colorful plastic sheets spread out with an assortment of snacks like cookies, candies, fruits, drinks, and sodas.
More townsfolk arrived until there were over sixty people—the inaugural meeting of Dongkou’s Hometown Association officially commenced. To maintain secrecy, it was a simple ceremony: organizers exchanged pleasantries while everyone introduced themselves before diving into eating and drinking without any formal appointments like president or vice president being made known. In this new environment unlike high school where I used to be more vocal about calling out names or making noise—I simply got acquainted with many older classmates while also meeting Lin Gaoxiang from Class One of Eighth-Ninth Chemical Engineering who would become one of my companions exploring university life together for quite some time ahead.
Comment 0 Comment Count