Eighteen was the age full of curiosity and fantasy in future. I was growing up day after day and we started to talk about love affairs. School regulations fixed the lights-out every evening at nine-thirty p.m. and our hot discussions usually started at that time. Liu Lei said, "I am going to look for a handsome 'prince' loving me. He should always be docile and obedient to me. Li Fei said, "I will find someone I love." But Zhang Ping said, "I should find someone who would love me," instead. Then they all asked me what kind of person I would find. After thinking over for a moment, I said, "I have not made any elaborate consideration yet. But a man leaving me no dish to clean might do." "Isn't  that  your only requirement?" they all laughed.

    Zhang Ping added, "Chen Yan! You've got a lot of boys going after you, already. Just pick one out of them and that is all you would have to do." But I said, "It should not be taken as something like the purchase of cabbages, any   selection at will is enough! You can leave me off for the moment and turn your scrutiny for Liu Lei. Help her to consider what her charming prince should look like." Li Fei said he should certainly be tall and slender. Zhang Ping said  he should be wealthy. I said he must be able to leap onto roofs and vault over walls as the swordsmen in traditional Chinese novels in addition to the readiness to defend the weak and helpless against an injustice. They all laughed with the comment, "Chen Yan has got used to reading the fictions about swordsmen."

    While we were still going on with our hot discussion, I thought of my knocking at the door might fool them. They might take it as our teacher in charge of our dormitory coming to check our discipline. In accordance with our school's regulation, talking is forbidden after lights-out. The teacher in charge of dormitory usually made checking of how strictly it has been observed. Those who violated it  would have their disciplinary mark deducted. Once the total deduction surpasses a certain limit, self-criticisms would have to be submitted. Therefore we were all afraid of teacher's presence. My bunk was just behind the door. So I gave three knocks on the door stealthily. My room-mates all knew it was my mischief. Yet beyond their expectation, a voice in the dialect of Hebei Province came, "What are you doing?" We all laughed. Now Mr. Li, our teacher in charge of the dormitory had really come. She insisted in seeing the person who gave the knocking. I thought, "Now I will have a  trouble again." We all remained in our place without moving to open the door. Mr. Li had to use her key to open the door and entered. She said, "I have been listening outside for quite some time. Just as I was about to knock the door, it sounded and gave me a scare. We all stayed in our quilt and laughed till our tears came out. The teacher wanted to find out who made the door knocking. But all of us remained silent. Mr. Li became impatient and said, "If all refused to admit. Then deduction of marks will be given to all." I thought, "A true man has the courage to accept the consequences of his own action." So I admitted, "I have made the knocking." Mr. Li said, "At the very first moment I had thought it might be you."

    In the next morning, Teacher Wei in charge of our class called me, "Chen Yan!" I stood up immediately. "What did you do after lights-out last night?" I thought, " Why? Teacher Wei has already known about the matter so early in the morning." I must have made Mr. Li angry last night. May be I got her scared somewhat seriously. I hesitated and wondered. Teacher Wei said, "You have caused troubles without feeling regret." The boys around also wanted to know what I had done. So I made gestures while explaining with imitating Mr. Li's Hebei dialect in telling what I did last night. That caused every one, including Teacher Wei, to laugh. I continued "I really did not intend to frighten Mr. Li. But I did not know that just as Mr. Li raised her hand I happened to make the knocking for her. It was merely a co-incidence. Every body laughed almost to the extent of stomach aching. Teacher Wei said, "Chen Yan! You are giving an evasive alibi. You should be punished by standing at your seat during the first class." To me, a punishment of standing at my seat was quite common and it is nothing but an action to raise a hand, I thought.

    I had given so much trouble to my teachers. Teacher Wei once said in joking, " Chen Yan! It seemed that you could not grow up without getting criticized each week. I had thought of learning to be an obedient student. But I just could not keep control of myself. I liked to whisper on the class and liked to answer questions. I had succeeded in learning what the teacher had lectured after her first trial and felt annoyed when she repeated her speech. And I started to feel a little uneasy. Our mathematics teacher mentioned to me, "You should understand, when you have already understood what the teacher lectured, that there still might be some other classmates who have not yet understood. You can do anything else as long as you keep your mouth shut." Under the perception I accepted, once on  a class of mathematics, I played with a table-tennis ball in my hand. But it fell accidentally on the floor. It bumped up and down, making a typical noise with its action and caused the laughing of my classmates. My teacher got really angry as to take away the ball and told the teacher in charge of our class. My behavior left its aftermath. Teacher Wei had me to write and submit a note of self-criticism together with a guarantee to be away from nuisance acts when I understood the lecture. Geography was taught by Mr. Hai, the headmaster of our school and on his class I managed to keep my obedience. But on a class when he talked about the Atlantic, Mr. Hai suddenly said, "Chen Yan! Where is the Atlantic Ocean in your dream?" I was at a loss while all my  classmates laughed, because I was caught sleeping on the class. I felt, "Life is so tiresome to me. During class hours, my mouth has to be shut and sleepiness must be driven away. Listening must be maintained even after I have perceived teachers' lecture. At the start of the fourth period or last period before noon, I began my waiting for queuing at lunch."

    A lagging position in the long queue meant a waste of time. So hearing the bell ringing at the end of the class, I started my hundred–meter dash toward the mess hall. The speed  might even beat my record in physical training class!

    Actually I was not good at sport. I had suffered from allergic asthma. When I did exercises in running, the asthma started to set in after a short run. There were signs of congenital cervico-vertebrate disease on my neck. Headache was frequently felt. Some of my schoolmates have learned to help me by giving me massaging to relieve the pain of my cervico-vertebrate disease. When my asthma set in, I could not lie flat on bed. Liu Lei and others had to hold me up in turn. That caused them to abandon their sleep over the night. I could not help from being deeply moved by their kindness.