Evening study hall ended, and the students gradually left the classroom, heading toward the dormitories either empty-handed or carrying a book.
Li Juan walked with a classmate named Ma Zhiying, whose home was in Heiliangwan, Baojiadian. They shared a bunk bed in the same dormitory. Her grades were a little worse than Li Juan's, and she had always regarded Li Juan as a role model.
In those days, relatively few students could get into high school. Forty years later, the figure quoted in cities was that fifty to sixty percent of middle school students entered high school, with the rest going to vocational high schools.
At this time, probably no more than five students in any rural middle school class could get into high school, a secondary specialized school, or a teachers' college.
So those who made it into high school were either extremely hardworking or very gifted.
Ma Zhiying had average talent but worked extremely hard. That level of diligence had been enough in middle school, but high school was proving a struggle, so she set her sights on Li Juan. Whatever Li Juan did, she did too. Her main approach was imitation.
She copied Li Juan because Li Juan had ranked seventeenth in the class when she enrolled, somewhere in the middle, but had risen to second by the end of the first semester. It was quite a rapid climb, and she thought Li Juan's hard work was responsible.
Li Juan was hardworking, but her talent was even greater, so Ma Zhiying's imitation did not produce very good results. Li Juan had advised her that everyone should work out a study method suited to themselves, but Ma Zhiying was somewhat lacking in the ability to learn and had not managed it.
Their friendship, however, had grown closer.
"Is