Chapter 1: Back to Parents' Side

  Qiangqiang, who often played soccer downstairs, seemed to have evaporated into thin air and was nowhere to be seen. Ji Bing continued to play games with Da Ming as usual, while also painting alone at home. The happy days of their childhood passed quickly, spring went by, summer ended, and soon it was time for Ji Bing and Da Ming to start school. Da Ming and Ji Bing discussed signing up for school on their own, but the adults at home disagreed, insisting that an adult had to accompany them to handle school matters. They were also helpless, so they reluctantly parted ways, agreeing to meet again at school.

  Dad and mom prepared school supplies such as backpacks, pencil cases for Qiying, and even bought a set of brown corduroy suits with golden threads on the clothes, along with a pair of beautiful sneakers. Qiying's younger brother was envious, muttering to himself: "I want to wear it too, dad and mom are biased." Mom said: "When you go to school, you'll wear the same thing too."

  Qī Bīng's school was just across the Binjiang Avenue, next to the railway. Father was worried, on the first day of school, he still pushed Qī Bīng across Binjiang Avenue with his bicycle, then walked down one station along Binjiang Avenue, and then walked a few dozen meters towards the railway, and saw the school gate. The school was called Yún Jìng Primary School, it had a small playground, and the teaching buildings were all two-story houses. There were many students reporting for registration, bustling about, Qī Bīng felt excited but also strange, even a little bit fearful.

  Qī Bīng was assigned to Class 5 of Grade 1, on the first floor of the teaching building, near the back wall of the playground. The teacher was a woman in her forties, tall and thin, with bright eyes. She arranged the students in their seats and then took roll call one by one. Qī Bīng looked around and found that Qiáng Qiáng and Dà Míng were also in this class, and suddenly he felt less strange, his heart feeling more at ease, having some familiar companions... "Qī Bīng!" the teacher called out. Qī Bīng didn't respond, still lost in thought. "Is Qī Bīng here?" the teacher asked again. Qī Bīng still didn't respond. Just then, Dà Míng stood up from behind and pointed at Qī Bīng, saying: "He's Qī Bīng." The teacher walked over to him: "You're here, why didn't you answer when I took roll call?" Qī Bīng said: "I... didn't hear..." "The other students all heard, but you didn't?" "I..." Qī Bīng stood up in a flurry. "You are elementary school students now, not wild kids anymore. During class, you must focus on listening to the teacher and looking at the blackboard, don't look around or think about other things." The teacher said: "Alright, sit down, and next time don't do this again." Qī Bīng responded softly: "I know, teacher." The students all around looked over at him, making him feel very embarrassed, his head lowered, his face a bit red.

  The classroom, being on the first floor, felt slightly damp and the lighting was rather dim. Above the blackboard hung a portrait that seemed familiar to Qī Bīng, oh, Qī Bīng suddenly remembered the portrait on the bus during the trip, this one was the same as that one. On either side of the portrait were four large characters: "Study hard, strive upwards every day". On the back blackboard of the classroom were written seven yellow large characters: "Warm welcome to new classmates!" The person in the picture looked familiar to Qī Bīng, Dad had mentioned before that it was Chairman Mao; these few words, Qī Bīng could only recognize two or three.

  The first lesson of the new semester, the teacher introduced her name, Teacher He, whose full name is Dezhū, and she is the head teacher of Class Qí Bīng.

  After taking attendance, Mr. He distributed the teaching materials and exercise books. Everyone got their textbooks and was very curious and excited. Qi Bing stroked the textbook with her hand and smelled a faint scent of ink, feeling a sense of solemnity in her heart.

  "Classmates, we're ready to start class! Today's first lesson is Chinese language and literature, which I will be teaching. The other courses will be taught by several other teachers, who will introduce themselves during the lessons." Mr. He said from behind the podium.

  "Also, I need to remind you that when the teacher comes in and stands behind the podium, the student on duty should shout 'Attention!' and all of you should stand up and greet the teacher. Do you understand?" Mr. He asked sternly, scanning the students below him.

  "Yes, teacher!" The students replied in unison.

  "Your voices are not uniform, let's try again!" Mr. He said, prompting the students to respond loudly together: "Yes, teacher!!"

  "Now we begin. Attention! Good morning, teacher! Good morning, classmates! Please take your seats."

  "The other teachers will also follow this same procedure when they come in to teach, so please remember it," Mr. He reminded them as he began to turn the pages of his book.

  In their first language class, the teacher taught them phrases like "Long live Chairman Mao", "Long live the Communist Party of China", "Long live our great motherland" and "Serve the people".

  Qī Bīng's deskmate was a delicate girl with a round face that looked slightly pale, it was she who shouted "stand up". Qī Bīng couldn't help but take an extra glance at her. It wasn't until later that he found out she was the class monitor, handpicked by Teacher He.

  Qī Bīng's class is mostly made up of students from outside the railway area, and other classes are similar. Qī Bīng's class has over a dozen children of railway workers, and most of the rest are from Zhā Jiǎ Diàn. There are very few who are not from these two areas, but even the class monitor is still within the outer railway area. In just a few days, everyone became familiar with each other and quickly started playing together. The girls played games like jump rope, shuttlecock, and catch the chicken after class, while the boys chased each other around and swung on the swings.

  It's strange that the class monitor, who sits next to Jingyi, rarely participates in activities and always sits in her seat reading books. Sometimes, Teacher He comes over to ask her questions, but she just smiles and continues reading her book with her head down.