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墨書 Inktalez
As the year drew to a close, most of the curriculum had been covered, and the subject teachers periodically administered mock exams, which they called "Mock Exams." Although the scores did not count towards our records, everyone was still anxious. Personally, I didn't care much about these tests since my grades had consistently placed me around fifth or sixth in the class—no surprises of advancement or worries of decline.
In the midst of these Mock Exams, one formal exam weighed heavily on me: Physical Education. For eight years in elementary and middle school, subjects like Physical Education, Music, and Art were categorized as elective courses. Teachers didn't pay much attention during classes and rarely set high expectations. At the end of each term, they would either assign a grade based on performance or conduct a symbolic test that no one took seriously.
For me, Music Class was the least enjoyable; I could always manage to mumble through the lyrics during exams and score around sixty. My Art skills remained limited to drawing basic geometric shapes, earning me scores in the seventies. As for Physical Education, aside from a serious test when applying for high school, I usually received scores in the seventies or eighties. I never expected that upon entering high school, Physical Education exams would become serious.
The seriousness of these exams took me by surprise in both content and scheduling. There were three components: Shot Put, Pull-Ups, and Standing Long Jump. Each week featured one exam, starting a month and a half before winter break.
The PE teacher spoke confidently about the exams and even referenced a book titled "General High School Physical Education Curriculum Guidelines" as evidence. However, he completely overlooked that he had never actually taught us the basic techniques for any of these events except for Standing Long Jump. Most students were encountering Pull-Ups for the first time; tall students could easily reach up and hang from the bar with a gentle jump, while shorter students like me struggled just to get close enough to grab it. Fortunately, female students had a different event called Sit-Ups; otherwise, their scores would likely have been zero.
During the Shot Put exam, some classmates attempted to mimic the athletes from Sports Day by spinning twice before throwing. Unfortunately, their lack of technique led to them losing balance and falling out of bounds during their throws—not only did they receive no score due to violations, but they also scraped their palms and knees.
After what felt like an endless and confusing series of PE exams, they finally concluded two weeks before the school's unified final exams. I typically disregarded grades in elective courses and quickly moved on from it all. However, the PE teacher had to fulfill his responsibilities; he meticulously graded everyone according to the Ministry of Education's "General High School Physical Education Standards Manual" and promptly sent the results to each homeroom teacher.
When Teacher Zeng saw that nearly one-third of our class had failed to meet physical standards, he discreetly approached the PE teacher. He suggested that since we had not learned or trained for Pull-Ups or Shot Put, perhaps we could lower the passing standard. The stubborn PE teacher firmly refused.
Teacher Zeng understood that under the current admission system, physical education grades would not affect college applications unless one was applying for a sports major. Thus, he dropped his insistence.
There was a school rule stating that all students nominated for "Model Student" or "Excellent Cadre" must meet physical education standards. Therefore, Teacher Zeng closely examined the physical scores of those ranked in the top ten academically and found that things weren't too bad—only I was below standard.
The clash between Teacher Zeng's persistence and the PE teacher's stubbornness escalated as he presented several arguments: First, students develop physically at different rates; it wouldn't be fair to apply a single standard across all body types—should someone who is 1.7 meters tall and weighs over 100 kilograms be held to the same standard as someone who is 1.5 meters tall and weighs only 60 or 70 kilograms? Second, some students were younger; after all, there was an age bracket next to "First Year of High School" indicating 14 years old—and I hadn't turned 14 yet during the exam. Thirdly, only about ten students in our class qualified for nominations as "Model Student" or "Excellent Cadre." If my failure in physical education disqualified me from consideration, it would reflect poorly on him as well.
Ultimately adhering to his own rigid standards, the PE teacher reluctantly agreed to reassess my score based on a lower standard for those aged 13—resulting in a total score of 53 (with 45 being passing). At last, I officially met the physical education standards and earned recognition as a "Model Student" in my first semester of high school.
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