Junior High School at Last
- Ji-li has been waiting for more than a year, but she finally gets to go to junior high. Yippee.
- She and An Yi walk to school together, promising to meet up after class.
- When Ji-li sees her class for the first time, she breathes a huge sigh of relief. No one from her old school is in her class. Phew.
- Translation? No one knows about her class status.
- Teacher Zhang explains to them that they will learn about Chairman Mao's politics in their classes now.
- Ji-li can tell that the lessons are a little last-minute. Pamphlets have been printed out for the teachers on the new curriculum, but none of them include stuff they actually need to learn (grammar, history, math, that sort of stuff)—it's all about Mao.
- They don't even have textbooks.
- Half the time, the class isn't even paying attention, but since the teachers can't seem better than anyone else and will get in trouble if they demand respect, they let it slide.
- Ji-li is conflicted: She wants to help with the revolution, but she also wants to learn.
- At home, things are getting tenser. Her dad gets home late every night from a political study class he's forced to take.
- It's similar to Ji-li's class, except it's designed to get people to confess stuff. The people who are forced to take it are already suspected of being guilty of crimes against Mao.
- One day at school, everyone is chanting about how great Mao is when Chairman Jin shows up.
- Ji-li forgot her book and gets scared she'll be embarrassed in front of the whole school.
- Luckily, a girl in her class, Lin-lin saves the day by letting Ji-li look on with her. What a lifesaver.
- Right away, Ji-li thanks her new friend.
- In math class, Teacher Li tells everyone the latest test results. Naturally, Ji-li got a perfect score… again.
- Chang Hong tells Ji-li good job, and for the first time in a while, Ji-li knows it's sincere. Her new classmates are awesome—they don't make fun of her for doing well or write nasty da-zi-baos about her.
- After class, Ji-li is asked to stay behind and talk about writing for the propaganda group.
- At first, she's thrilled. This quickly turns sour when she thinks back to how things were before. She got good grades, was picked for committees or special groups—and it ended up giving her classmates material to use against her later on.
- When everyone found out her class status, Ji-li was ridiculed for doing well. Everyone assumed it was because she was rich.
- Ji-li decides to turn down the propaganda offer and head home before she can get hurt again.