Not One Less: The last of the white chalks

This is the deal: not one less.

Write the lecture on the board, let them copy it and no one leaves until that bell rings. For 13-year-old substitute teacher Wei Minzhi (Minzhi Wei), it seemed an easy task to earn ten more yen for her exceedingly low salary. And so begins an untold true story buried under the depths of first world China, where classrooms resemble chicken coops and a class of 40 outnumbers the chalks needed for a young teacher to write the whole book on the board.

I’ve watched this movie only once, and after six years the chicken coop classroom suddenly popped into my head as I watched a documentary film with students boxed in a classroom literally made with only four big ply woods and a roof to close it. Starred by the same people in real life, Not One Less (1999, directed by Yimou Zhang) was the very first movie that made me cry as I reflected on how one young girl became so dedicated at searching her naughty student amidst the alienating city.

Due to extreme poverty the initial 40 students of Shuiquan Primary School were eventually trimmed down to 28, and Wei was warned not to lose any more. After losing one talented student recruited by a sports coach, Minzhi tried hard not to lose one again, and eagerly searched for 10-year-old Zhang Huike (Huike Zhang), the naughty but witty boy who disappeared one day in class because he had to find a job in the city to pay for his parents’ debts.

Probably at first she was so frustrated she wouldn’t get her bonus pay after letting go of Teacher Gao’s (Enman Gao) two students, but her search to find the boy who suddenly meant so much to her became her life-changing journey to finally realize hope exists after all.

After a lot of trials with the help of her other students, and she was already staring at the circular lens of the media camera, Minzhi failed to hold back her tears while telling Zhang to come home.

Fortunately Zhang’s cook manager saw the show and they were reunited. Hearing the story, one company generously gave their school boxes of colored chalks and other supplies.

I remember myself crying when Minzhi stared at the camera like she was staring at Zhang, tears flowing because words couldn’t describe how she felt. I also remember the scenes when Minzhi’s students helped her ride a bus without a fare. They had to raise money by working at a construction site to buy pen and papers to find Zhang. Unfortunately though, the papers she still had to post at every corner of the city were brushed away by a street sweeper while she was sleeping by the sidewalks.

Sometimes forcibly finding someone is actually finding heaven along the way.