Volume 1 / Chapter 33: The Blackboard Bulletin
At noon, YĂ»kĆng High was as noisy as ever.
Whether on the sports field or in the hallways, the place teemed with students.
Strangely enough, it was the classrooms that were nearly empty.
MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo had already finished sketching her draft. Now, she dragged a chair over and stood at the back of the classroom, staring at the blackboard and thinking about where to start drawing.
She had never formally studied art or layout design, so she hesitated a little before putting chalk to board.
âGuess Iâll start with the hardest part firstâŠâ she muttered to herself, opening the box of brand-new colored chalk that YĂš WÄn had given her. She counted the colors inside.
There were only sevenâthough not the classic red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet of a rainbow. Instead, the set included dark purple, light orange, pale green, sky blue, bright red, soft yellow, and pink. As for white chalk, she could just grab some from the teacherâs podium; there was plenty of that.
YĂš WÄn had also offered her some paint, but MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo turned it down. She didnât know how to mix colors properly, and besides, she didnât want to risk getting herself stained with pigments that might not wash off easily.
Chalk dust, at least, could be brushed away with water. Paint... not so much.
The theme of the blackboard bulletin was âAutumnâs Moodâ, so she began by sketching an image titled âQiĆ« YĂŹâ Autumnâs Sentiment on the right side of the board.
Technically speaking, she was copying from a sketch sheâd drawn herself.
But pencil and chalk felt worlds apart. Chalk took more effort and produced less precise results.
She had originally thought she could finish the visual portion of the board except the text for the blackboard newspaper in one lunch periodâ
Yeah⊠she had seriously overestimated herself.
âXuÄïœyĂĄoïœâ came MĂČ XiÇoxiĂ oâs voice from behind, light and playful. She was twirling the ends of her slightly golden hair as she smiled. âNeed a hand?â
âAh... I-Iâm good, I can handle it,â MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo replied with a sheepish smile. She still wasnât used to asking other girls for help.
âDonât be shy. If thereâs anything simple, I can probably manage it.â
âUh⊠okay. Could you draw a tree? Right in the centerâa maple tree, with falling leaves.â
âYou got it.â Mo XiÇoxiĂ o turned around and called out, âYĆuyĆu, come here! Help me out!â
âUgh⊠Sis, youâre such a hassleâŠâ Mo ZhĂșyĆu shuffled over with drooping eyelids, her whole demeanor screaming âI donât wanna move.â
âLetâs draw the tree together. Lots of maple leavesâone by one.â
âThat sounds like a painâŠâ Mo ZhĂșyĆu already looked like she was about to back out.
Though the two were twins, their personalities couldnât have been more different.
âCome on~ drawing can be fun,â Mo XiÇoxiĂ o said with a cheerful squint.
ââŠFine.â Perhaps sensing something intimidating in her sisterâs smile, Mo ZhĂșyĆu reluctantly agreed.
Instantly, Mo XiÇoxiĂ o returned to her sunny self.
Though Mo ZhĂșyĆu had a feeling that smile hid something sharpâŠ
âThanks a lot,â MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo said again, sincerely. After all, she was the class publicity repâit was her job to do the board, not theirs. The twins helping out was pure kindness.
âNo worries. If no one had volunteered to be publicity rep, I probably wouldâve ended up with the job anyway.â
MĂČ XiÇoxiĂ o picked out a yellow and a green chalk stick, rubbing them together on the blackboard in an attempt to blend them into a sort of brown.
It didnât work too well, but⊠it kind of looked like tree bark. Close enough.
Once she got into the zone, MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo tuned everything else out, fully focused on her work.
So for her, the entire lunch break passed in the blink of an eye.
Even during the midday self-study period, she kept workingâright up until the bell rang for the first afternoon class. Only then did she finish the sketch of Autumnâs Sentiment.
That was the hardest part. Now that it was done, the rest would be easy.
The repetitive task of drawing the falling maple leaves had been handled by the twin sisters. Next came decorative borders and a few lines to separate the text columns.
As for the actual content of the articlesâshe could either copy excellent excerpts or write something herself.
Given her decent Chinese grades, writing it herself seemed more efficient.
âWhewââ Mo XiÇoxiĂ o stretched lazily, admiring the giant maple tree now covering most of the blackboard. âNot bad, not bad! Really feels like autumn~!â
âIâm beat⊠Sis, I swear my handâs about to fall offâŠâ Mo ZhĂșyĆu grumbled listlessly.
âAh, um, thanks again. Want me to treat you to some snacks after school?â MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo offered, feeling a pang of guilt.
Wellâguilt for her wallet, that is.
That 20-yuan bill⊠was it finally time to spend it?
âNo need, no need. Donât mind her, sheâs always like this.â Mo XiÇoxiĂ o quickly waved her hand. âBy the way, Iâve never noticed where you head off after school. I wonder if we go the same way?â
âMe? I head out the left gate, take the small path. My homeâs pretty far.â
âThe left side? Do you bike too?â
âYeah.â
âWe take the left side too!â Mo XiÇoxiĂ o said happily. âHow about we ride home together after school?â
âUh⊠eh?â Riding home with girls?
Definitely one of those daydream-level scenarios.
Though a little shy, she had to admitâit sounded kind of nice.
Walking home alone was boring anyway.
âDo you two live far?â she asked.
âAbout the same as you⊠weâre in ChĂĄngmĂč Bridge neighborhood.â
âOhâdo you know the Legou Supermarket near there?â MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo lit up.
âOf course!â
âMy place is really close to that.â
âOh! DĂ©shĂšng East Village?â
âYup. Looks like weâre totally on the same route.â
âExactly! So we totally should go home together, right, little sis?â Mo XiÇoxiĂ o pinched her sisterâs cheek.
There was actually a good way to tell the twins apart: the elder sister had two dimples, the younger only one.
The elder was always smiling; the younger, not so much.
âI donât mindâŠâ Mo ZhĂșyĆu brushed chalk dust off her uniform and muttered, âBut Sis, youâre doing the laundry today.â
âYou little slackerâŠâ Mo XiÇoxiĂ o chuckled fondly. âFine, Iâll do it.â
âYay! I get to watch TV dramas tonight!â
âYou schemer! No shame at all.â Mo XiÇoxiĂ o tapped her sisterâs nose. âAlright, alright, class is startingâback to your seats.â
In that moment, MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo felt the two didnât seem like sistersâŠ
More like a couple.
What was that strange déjà vu just now?
---
The first class on Tuesday afternoon was Politicsâformally titled âPolitics and Society.â
MĂČ XuÄyĂĄo had thought sheâd be rid of the dreaded subject once she got to high school, but no such luck.
To be honest, she wasnât interested in politics at all. The discussions always felt repetitive, the written answers robotic and formulaic.
In shortâdry and boring.
If it were military history, maybe sheâd be into it. But politics?
Just the thought of it made her sleepy.
Maybe because politics felt so far removed from people like herâordinary nobodies.
Their politics teacher was a man with a little mustache and a faint melancholic air.
That impression, however, shattered the moment he opened his mouth.
âHey everyone~! Been a week since the National Day holidayâdid ya miss me?â
âYesssâ!â
âNoooâ!â
Two voices clashed in the classroom at once.
âTch. Whereâs the love? Donât tell me you prefer Geography class? Thatâs gotta be way more boring, right?â
âWe demand Geography instead!â GÄo YuĂĄn shouted.
âWhat? You saying GuÇn PĂ©ngâs Geography class is fun and my class isnât? Câmon, Iâm WĂ n JiĂ nlĂ©i, the cool politics guy!â
âTeacher, politics is too boring,â LiĂș XiÇowÄi, who sat near the lectern, chimed in. He seemed to get along with all the non-core subject teachers...
âGeography and history are just fluff. If you wanna learn something real, politics is where itâs at! You think politics isnât part of daily life? Wait till youâre workingâevery office is a political arena. If you don't understand human relations and don't know political handling things, it'll be very difficult to succeed in the workplace.â
WĂ n JiĂ nlĂ©i coughed dramatically and tapped the blackboard. âHmm, looks like you had Chemistry during fourth period? These scribbles... YuĂš GĆ«gĆ« taught that, right?â
âYeessââ the class dragged out the word, sounding half-asleep, like paid background actors doing a poor job.
âLucky you guys, haha⊠hey, whoâs on blackboard duty today? Come wipe this down already.â
âTeacher, Iâll do it!â LiĂș XiÇowÄi jumped up enthusiastically.
âGood, good. See that? Comrade LiĂș hereâs got political awareness. Leaders love that. Donât believe me? Just wait and see.â WĂ n JiĂ nlĂ©i stroked his scruffy mustache. âAlright folks, eyes up, ears openâwhat weâre learning today is way more important than any core subject!â
âNow then, flip your textbooks to Lesson Two, Section Two: The Basic Characteristics of a Socialist Market Economy!â
And thus, WĂ n JiĂ nlĂ©iâs lecture began.
Not exactly riveting, but at least he made the atmosphere lighthearted.
Many students chose to multitaskâdoing homework while half-listening.
After all, it didnât matter much.
The politics exam was open book. Whether you remembered the content or not didnât matterâŠ
As long as you reviewed the key points before the test.
If past experience in middle school was anything to go by, right before exams the teacher would hand out all the important excerpts.
You just had to copy them downâjob done.
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