Cha'a Second Middle School · Chat

— Season 1: Dismissal — Welcome to Cha'a Second Middle School. This is Changchun, historically known as "Cha'achong." Our story begins in this completely ordinary middle school in Northeast China. 4:25 PM. Five minutes before the final bell. In the classroom of Class 3, Grade 8, the air has already shifted into weekend mode. Some are closing and opening their textbooks, opening and closing them again; some have already quietly slipped their backpack straps over their shoulders; some in the back row are whispering coded messages like, "Where are we gaming tonight?" Wang Qiang sits in the window seat, one foot already out in the aisle, ready to sprint out of the classroom at a hundred-meter dash pace. Then, that footstep echoes down the hallway. High-heeled boots striking the terrazzo floor—clack, clack, clack. The pace isn't fast, but the entire classroom suddenly goes dead silent, as if someone pressed the mute button. Wang Qiang silently pulls his foot back. Jia Chun quickly stuffs a crumpled paper ball into his mouth. Ma Zeping pulls an English textbook out of his desk drawer, flips to a random page, and looks as intensely focused as if he were studying *Das Kapital*. The door swings open. Shi Miaona stands at the threshold, wearing a pink top and bright red lipstick, a stack of test papers tucked under her arm. Her eyes sweep across the classroom like searchlights. Out of the thirty-seven students, not a single one dares to hold eye contact with her for more than half a second. "We're not leaving today until we finish the last big problem." This sentence was later voted by successive generations of Cha'a Second Middle School students as the number one "most terrifying phrase." Number two was "Come to my office after class." Number three was "Give me your parents' phone number." Shi Miaona slams the papers onto the podium, turns around, and starts writing on the blackboard. Her chalk strokes are fast and fierce, every character radiating an aura of "you little rascals." Staring at the dense formulas filling the blackboard, Wang Qiang has only one thought in his head: Why does every minute before dismissal feel longer than an entire hour of class? Someone in the back row lets out a tiny sigh. Without even turning her head, Shi Miaona snaps, "Who sighed? Stand up." No one stands up. The classroom is so quiet you can hear the water flowing through the radiator pipes. This is the daily routine at Cha'a Second Middle School. A bunch of students who don't want to be in class, and a teacher who refuses to cut them any slack, locked in a long, drawn-out tug-of-war in a classroom packed with thirty-eight people. Wang Qiang feels Shi Miaona is the greatest enemy of his life. Shi Miaona feels Wang Qiang is the biggest challenge of her teaching career. Neither of them could have guessed that a few years later, they would become the ones who understand each other best. But on this day—Friday, September 3, 2014, at 4:28 PM—they are only thinking about one thing: When on earth is school going to end? This is Cha'a Second Middle School. The story begins at this very moment.