Laoban's Notes: Capturing the Late Youth

A three-foot podium and a square classroom. Forty-seven teenagers, each with their own dilemma—— When she was three minutes late, she said, "If you are late again, I will move the table out." The next day, the girl never showed up in the morning reading class again. The phone was blocked, the surveillance camera couldn't find anyone, and we lost contact all night. Something unexpected appeared in the hole in the table, and the girl was too frightened to open the book. The top student was crushed to the point of collapse by the weight of his family, and it was only a matter of time before he ran away from home. Yang Wanyan wrote a letter demanding that the teacher be replaced. Class fees were stolen, rumors spread, and anonymous notes weaved into silent cold violence. Clever words and gossips cut apart the centripetal force of the class. Severe punishment can maintain the bottom line. But prejudice, estrangement, and the invisible wall in the hearts of young people cannot be broken down by rules. He walked between rules and empathy, guarding the last dignity of the lost boy, and carrying the heavy trust of forty-seven families. This is an old class notebook. What I remember is the real confusion, confrontation, collapse, and the light that was picked up bit by bit in the daily life of morning reading and evening classes. Readers say it feels like their high school teacher is secretly writing a diary.