Chapter 23 'Unbearable Childhood'_1

"Clang... Clang... Clang..."

At the Sancha River Town Central Primary School, as the small bell remodelled from half a shell of a bomb clangs out, all the children in the classrooms become alert, waiting for the teacher to say those two words they've been waiting for forty-five minutes to hear.

The ringing of the school bell is easy to distinguish. If it's a rapid, continuous ringing, it means it's a preparatory bell, signaling everybody to get ready for class in ten minutes; if it sounds twice, pauses and then again, it's time for class; naturally, a rhythm like this where it clangs once, pauses for a while before clangs again, signals dismissal from school.

As one after another, teachers on the stage pronounce the words "dismissed", the little kids, both big and small, from different classrooms start to swarm out, carrying their mini backpacks.