Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 5 College Entrance Examination Registration

"The Zhongshan Mountains are shrouded in mist and rain, and a million soldiers cross the great river."

The land, once crouching like a tiger and coiled like a dragon, is now more magnificent than ever before; a complete upheaval has taken place, a sight to behold.

It is advisable to chase the poor with the courage of the left, but not to be the overlord.

"If Heaven had feelings, it too would grow old; the vicissitudes of life are the true path of humanity."

Inside the junior high school classroom of the Shiling Brigade, Liu Yimin, wearing a white vest, paced back and forth on the podium. His vest, worn for a long time, had turned almost beige.

The light gray coarse cloth trousers made my legs very uncomfortable, and there were several large patches on the knees and buttocks. Although they were made of light gray cloth, even a blind person could tell that they were patched later.

Because of the heat, he had to roll up his trousers, so everyone could clearly see that he was wearing open canvas shoes with the soles and uppers sewn together, but this obviously wouldn't last long.

"This poem was written by the great leader when the People's Liberation Army liberated Nanjing. The first two lines depict the magnificent scene of the People's Liberation Army liberating Nanjing, and the following line expresses the great leader's revolutionary pride upon learning of the victory. It conveys the great leader's unwavering belief in the ultimate liberation of all of China!"

The two grades of junior high school were crammed into one classroom, with a total of thirteen students, and two students were absent due to work.

The paint on the walls around the classroom, which was made of lime and wheat straw, has peeled off in large quantities. The desks inside the classroom are broken and dilapidated, and the benches are brought by the students from their homes, and they are of different heights and shapes.

A portrait of the leader hung above the blackboard, though the edges were slightly yellowed. Slogans on either side read, "Unity, Tension, Seriousness, and Liveliness." The slogan at the back of the classroom read, "Shorten the school system, revolutionize education." Primary school had been shortened to five years, and junior high to two.

"First-year students recite what we just taught, second-year students recite the text we taught yesterday, and we will check them one by one before the end of get out of class."

The textbooks they are using now are the old ones, with yellowed covers bearing the teachers' portraits and three red flags bearing the "Education Policy." The new books will not be printed and distributed to schools until the second semester of 78.

Opening the textbook, one is immediately struck by the rich atmosphere of that era; almost every page contains quotations. In the math textbook, the problems all use phrases like "Xiangyanghong Commune" or "Qianjin Factory" as subjects.

It was too hot inside the classroom, so Liu Yimin simply moved a stool and sat under the walnut tree outside. A female teacher from the next classroom glanced in their direction and then turned her head away again. That was Li Lanxia, ​​the elementary school teacher, the village secretary's daughter, and Li Lanyong's second older sister. According to seniority, Liu Yimin had to call her "sister."

This is the headquarters of the Maiji Brigade, consisting of three brick and tile houses and a cave dwelling. The walls are painted with white lime, but due to the passage of time, much of the plaster has peeled off. On the mottled wall are painted several large red characters: "Raise vigilance and annihilate all invading enemies!" The exclamation marks are painted particularly thick! The tile house on the left is where the brigade holds meetings, while the remaining two houses have been converted into primary and junior high school classrooms.

Liu Yimin glanced at the sun outside, realizing it was almost time for school to end. He sat by the classroom door, legs crossed, his toes just hitting the doorframe and blocking his way out. He said:
"Recite it, or you're not allowed to go home."

After a while, Liu Yimin's eyebrows furrowed into a knot, he helplessly scratched his hair, and waved to the students standing in front of him.

The student who had been stammering and mumbling just moments before suddenly brightened up, rubbed his nose, and turned to run quickly to his seat.

"Yimin, don't get too worked up." Li Lanxia suddenly stood at the door of the elementary school classroom and said to him. "Sigh, Sister Lanxia, ​​I really have no other choice."

Li Lanxia was a teacher sent by the commune primary school to teach in Shiling Brigade. She was a government employee and received government-subsidized grain rations, unlike brigade teachers like Liu Yimin.

In the following period, Liu Yimin taught classes while preparing for the exam. Even though he knew that the 78 college entrance examination would be easy, he still put in his best effort, and he almost wore out the "Geography Atlas for Educated Youth" in his bedroom.

In mid-June, just a few days before the college entrance examination registration deadline, Liu Yimin rode his bicycle to the commune to register.

Shiling Commune was a relatively large commune. The commune gate was in the shape of an "arch". The two pillars on the left and right were like scrolls, made of cement and marble. A wooden board was hung in front of the pillars, with a couplet on it: "The four seas are churning and the clouds are angry; the five continents are shaking and the wind and thunder are urgent."

The gate bears the six large characters "Shiling People's Commune". Above the characters are three red flag-shaped sculptures on each side, and a huge five-pointed star is placed where the flagpoles intersect.

The screen walls on both sides are inscribed with phrases such as guiding ideology and leadership strength. Inside the commune gate, there is another screen wall with the words "Unite and strive, build the country through diligence and thrift" written on it.

There was a two-story office building inside, with the national flag flying on the roof. There were also many red flags in the courtyard, but the fabric had faded slightly due to the passage of time.

Outside the commune's college entrance examination registration office, a table was set up, and a staff member was dozing off. The registration deadline was approaching, and hardly anyone came; they had been extremely busy the past few days.

"Comrade, I want to sign up."

"The registration fee is 50 cents. Here's the registration form. Fill it out carefully. Oh, it's you? I think I saw you last year. When you were registering, the northwest wind was blowing, and you were shivering from the cold. Are you taking the exam again this year?" The staff member looked Liu Yimin up and down and immediately recognized him.

"I'll take the exam again. I finally have this opportunity, I can't give it up." Liu Yimin carefully wrote down all his information.

"We should thank the Party and the country for their good policies. I'll try my best to pass the exam this year," the staff member casually encouraged. He had said this to countless applicants here before.

As for passing the exam, he felt in his heart that it was impossible for anyone in Mailing to pass. Then he put the form into a file bag and carefully sealed it.

After ten years of accumulating test takers, and with such a large number of test takers, the country's enrollment quota has not increased much, making the chances of getting into university extremely low.

Then, following the procedure, the staff asked Liu Yimin to look at the latest college entrance examination notice issued by the admissions office.

The provincial admissions office recently issued this year's college entrance examination notice, stating that the national college entrance examination will use a single exam paper. Furthermore, to prevent insider trading in admissions, the central government has ordered that starting this year, all college entrance examination results must be publicly posted. Before 77, college entrance examination results were kept in the archives as top secret and were not made public.

This year, college application has changed from applying before the exam to applying after the exam. However, it is a little different from later years. Students apply based on their estimated scores after the exam but before the results are released.

(End of this chapter)