The Divine Beasts of Hongqi High School Live Toward the Sun

Thirty-five children who have just entered Class 1, Grade 7, at Zhen Middle School burst into homeroom teacher Li Jianguo’s life like a herd of untamed beasts. Wang Xiaoye, a left-behind child, brings the whole village’s wild streak to class, hiding loaches in the chalk box. Lin Xiaoya, whose parents are divorced, often locks herself into her seat, with a secretly drawn portrait of her parents tucked inside her textbook. Zhang Qiang, who grew up with his grandmother, is always competing with others during break to see who can climb the tallest Chinese parasol tree, all to “prove himself.” Behind them are families of every kind: parents working far from home who call over the phone to say, “Be good”; divorced parents who pass the buck and treat the teacher like a “judge”; and grandparents stubbornly convinced that “working is better than studying.” Every parents’ meeting leaves Li Jianguo caught between laughter and tears.