This Smile Comes From

In the early autumn of 2000, fifteen-year-old He Xiaoliang entered Jishan High School and entered his own three years of youth. The old dormitory, the loess playground, the early morning radio broadcast, the plaster statues in the studio, the train on winter nights, and the sound of reading in the closed campus formed the clearest background of his boyhood. Because he had been learning to paint since he was a child, he entered an art specialty class. Through sketches and gouache paintings, he slowly saw the bigger world, and for the first time he understood the weight of talent, hard work, scores and choices. This is the growth story of a group of county high school students. Some people strive to go outside, some are left in place by reality; some find direction in the studio, and some learn to be silent in their youth. He Xiaoliang also gradually understood through exams, sketches, art exams and separations: some people illuminate their youth, but some roads can only be completed by themselves. Many years later, when he looked back at Jishan High School, he realized that what really remained was not just the unspoken thoughts, but the clumsy, sensitive, and serious version of himself that was moving forward.