Chapter 72: The Cafeteria Riot (01)

  Many times, we are hesitant to move forward, and sigh in frustration. It's not because of external obstacles, but because of the constraints within our own hearts. So, we must strive to overcome that difficult hurdle in our minds, that insurmountable dead wall...

  To speak of joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure, this is the innate nature of human beings. Apart from this, in daily life, fear is also a part of human nature, whether it's fear of ghosts or monsters, snakes, insects, beasts...or fear of natural disasters and man-made calamities... The sky had just cleared up slightly, but suddenly dark clouds gathered again, this is the season of wind and rain.

  In March and April 2003, the "SARS" epidemic quietly attacked our eastern country without warning, many people lost their lives inexplicably - the whole nation was suddenly plunged into a panic, and various places immediately launched anti-SARS activities. This evil wind of SARS is like the British ghost ship's strong ships and cannons in 1840, shocking the peaceful and calm eastern land, and waking up many "sleeping" people. After tea and dinner, the topic of conversation among ordinary people turned to SARS, and some people even changed color when talking about SARS. However, this SARS is not a ghost or snake insect, could it be a natural disaster or man-made calamity? Perhaps more often it is a test, a test of a nation's resilience...

  By the end of April, the panic of SARS had spread to Xiangnan area. After receiving the notice from the superior, Yannan Senior High School began absolute closed management: all students were "summoned" back to school, even commuters were not allowed; all gates of the school, regardless of size, were locked with big locks, and a "guard post" was added; anyone who wanted to enter or leave the campus, whether teachers or students, had to show a pass specially approved by the principal. In addition, the most notable thing was that the May Day holiday was cancelled.

  These measures and orders, once issued, shocked the entire school. Just talking about organizing a large-scale cleaning of sanitation, the momentum was like facing a great enemy, with a taste of defending the city to the death - everyone was on high alert.

  In the first week, many students still had a hint of excitement. Because during the day, they only need to attend six classes, and at night, they don't have to study on their own, so they can just relax in the dormitory. However, as time went by, some people couldn't hold back anymore - especially the food problem in the cafeteria infuriated many people.

  Almost from the beginning of the lockdown, the cafeteria has been heavily promoting "radish banquets": stir-fried radish cubes, stir-fried shredded radish, braised radish strips, and braised radish cubes. In addition, there are also dried radishes. Every day, every meal is almost all about radishes, regardless of whether you use 3 yuan, 5 yuan or 8 yuan worth of meal tickets, it's all radishes. Hehe, if you're lucky, you might even get a small piece of meat threads.

  The school is still promoting this every day, saying that radishes have antibacterial properties and eating more radishes can help fight against the SARS virus... The obedient students of course temporarily listened to it and didn't dare say another word. Some naughty ones were scolded a few times and then there was no further talk about it. However, in private, there is a rumor that says Yan Nan County government responded to the call for characteristic agriculture from higher authorities and ordered all villagers in one village to plant radishes. Who would have thought that radishes are hard to sell in the market? The villagers were anxious and furious when they saw the piled-up radishes, and they organized themselves to block the county government gate, with some even having conflicts with the guards. To calm down the public anger, the county government ordered all primary and secondary schools in the county to conduct mandatory purchases. As a result, all schools in Yan Nan County held big "radish banquets", but the amount of radishes purchased was a bit too much. The reason for this is probably that some school leaders were overly enthusiastic about sympathizing with their superiors!

  However, these are just rumors - but after eating too much radish, the students all harbored a bellyful of resentment. And so, a student "riot" was quietly brewing in the making.

  The students' stormy movement took place at noon on Friday. As usual, the classmates rushed to the cafeteria like a tiger coming down from the mountain. However, as soon as they arrived at the cafeteria, seeing that it was again a big plate of radish, the angry students spontaneously smashed the ceramic bowls and aluminum plates...

  One person stirred up another, a group of people stirred up a group of people. Before long, the entire cafeteria was in an uproar, with sounds that could only be described as "deafening".

  The cafeteria staff and student affairs teachers rushed over to stop them, but due to their tough attitude, they accidentally got into a physical altercation with the students. Before long, more than a dozen management personnel were beaten by the angry students until they had "intimate contact" with the ground. Several sensible cafeteria workers and student affairs staff quickly fled the scene.

  "After the "mass exercise", the pots and pans in the cafeteria were smashed to pieces, and the food was overturned all over the floor. Some of the cafeteria staff and student leaders were beaten until their faces were bruised and swollen, and they were covered in injuries! Fortunately, the angry students still had some knowledge of the law, and they restrained themselves, showing mercy with their hands and feet. Otherwise, it's likely that there would have been bloodshed and corpses all over the cafeteria..."

  Due to the "riot" of students, the cafeteria was unable to operate, and Yannan S had no choice but to decide on its own to give all students a two-day holiday.

  War is cruel, but some things are destined to be resolved in the form of war. It's unknown whether student movements count as wars to a certain extent, however, after students made such a big fuss, the school immediately rectified the cafeteria, and on the day students returned to school, everyone had a meaty feast for lunch...

  When the students "rioted", Chen Haonan was doing math exercises in the classroom. As soon as he heard the news, he rushed to the cafeteria and saw that the food was all over the floor, and the pots and pans were smashed to pieces. He couldn't help but be stunned, and let out a few sighs.

  However, sighing is still just sighing. Chen Haonan felt that the trigger for this student "riot" incident was mostly because the school had gone too far, as the saying goes: "When officials become too aggressive, the people will rebel." Also, since he didn't participate in the "riot" and didn't witness its "grandeur", he felt deeply regretful...

  Although so, this student "riot" incident has eliminated some of Chen Haonan's doubts about the "May Fourth Movement" in an instant - thinking back to when the history teacher taught the chapter on the "May Fourth Movement" in class, Chen Haonan was full of questions, but this time he thoroughly understood: no wonder the student army opened the prelude to China's new democratic revolution with a riot, no wonder later generations set up a "Youth Day" to commemorate it, no wonder... the power of students is also not to be underestimated! - Hehe, who says bookworms are useless?

  As for the students' radical behavior, the school only took a low-key attitude and did not investigate further. It's no wonder that many people who were present at the time, including some girls, also "exercised" their hands and feet. With so many people involved, the school couldn't do anything about it, after all, the law can't be applied to everyone. Moreover, the school couldn't possibly expel every student who participated in the disturbance, if that were the case, at least a third of the students would have had to leave, and those fat leaders with big bellies wouldn't they all have to go out and face the northwest wind?