Prologue: A Cave of Human Remains
Recently, an individual discovered layers upon layers of human skeletons dating back over a hundred years in a cave in Cat’s Watch Village, located in the southern part of Xinhuaxiang, Shennongjia. The locals refer to this cave as the “Human Cave,” situated on a cliff of Baojiasan Mountain. An expedition team organized by Xinhuaxiang, led by local villager Yuan Zuqing, after a strenuous trek, found the cave. Upon entering, they were confronted with bones scattered all over, a sight that was truly shocking. According to investigations, these bones have been there for over a hundred years. From the skeletal remains, it was identified that there were men, women, the elderly, and children, totaling approximately 300 individuals. Near the cave’s pond, many children’s bones were found. Upon closer inspection of the cave’s interior, traces of human habitation were evident. Fragments of cups, dishes, and burnt wood and bamboo seemed to narrate the once bustling life within. Why did hundreds of people live together in one cave? What caused their untimely demise? The answers await further examination.
The Nightmare Returns
The Human Cave! Yes, the Human Cave. I never thought I would hear those two words again, especially less than a year after that incident. I am certain that neither the expedition team nor the journalist who wrote this report would know the terror and panic that lie behind the term “Human Cave.” The eerie and ominous nature of it far surpasses the dry bones within.
On a day in May 2002, in the work area of the Morning Star newspaper, I, Naduo, saw “Human Cave” again! I stumbled upon this news while browsing the internet for updates. The first official task of the day at the newspaper office is usually to check the news from the previous days or the current day online. Especially for a reporter like me, without a specific beat, all sorts of miscellaneous news are of interest. This interest doesn’t stem from my fascination with the news itself; quite the opposite, sometimes I can’t even be bothered to read my own newspaper, Morning Star. Whether or not one checks the news online, and how one does it, is a significant indicator of a reporter’s excellence. I might as well boast here that when it comes to checking news online, I am quite skilled. Perhaps many new reporters might not understand the connection between online news and their own reporting. Let me slightly reveal the trick, although I’ll keep some secrets, if a new reporter has potential, they’ll figure it out even if I say nothing, but if they are dense, my explanation would be in vain. Many things are like this. Some might think that online news is useful to us reporters because the internet has no borders, and one can simply copy it. While not unheard of, this is mostly done by editors, especially when they suddenly find themselves short of material for the next day’s newspaper. However, such articles are never attributed to an individual, usually labeled as “compiled by this newspaper,” which is just a fancy way of saying “copied.” Using such a method frequently would not only tarnish the newspaper’s reputation within the industry but could also lead to a sharp decline in circulation, so it’s only used in emergencies.
What I mean, of course, isn’t this harmful method of utilizing online news, and to directly attribute online news to oneself is a grave taboo in the profession. The correct approach is to use the information from online news for secondary interviews. To be blunt, the world is full of fools, and in a profession like journalism, which demands a high level of personal judgment and cultural cultivation, this holds true. You often see a thousand-word article that says nothing or focuses on trivial, well-known facts while glossing over the newsworthy content; conversely, a potentially significant story might only be covered in a brief 200-300 word piece. If you spot such news online, consider yourself lucky; a follow-up call can lead to an excellent article, and I’ve even won awards for such pieces, making it look effortless.
On this day, around 10 AM, I walked into the office, brewed myself a cup of Tieguanyin, sat down at my computer, and browsed through the major news websites for yesterday’s and today’s news. Finding nothing worth following up on, I began to wander aimlessly through different sites. That’s when I stumbled upon this news on the Sina Travel Channel’s Odd News section. I rarely lose my composure like this — just as I took a sip of my still-hot tea, I froze. A chill ran up my spine, my scalp tingled, and I stopped breathing. As Lin Haiyin, a beautiful reporter from the Economics Department, passed by and greeted me, I didn’t react at all, my eyes fixed on the screen. The memories I had desperately tried to forget, terrifying enough that I hadn’t wanted to include them in my memoir, came rushing back in an instant. For over three minutes, I held my breath, longer than I ever had while swimming. Fresh air entering my lungs gradually brought me back to normal. I struggled to swallow the now lukewarm tea, my tongue stinging from the heat. Below the news, there were comments from netizens, many believing it to be a hoax. They found the idea of over a hundred skeletons absurd. If they read my memoir, I wonder what they would think. A fantasy novel? Let them think what they will; after all, only a handful of people in this world know the truth. To be precise, fourteen, plus you, the fifteenth.
Everything is in the past, I told myself. The expedition team went there, and a journalist wrote about it, proving they were safe. That nightmare would not replay itself. Really? Would it really not happen again? Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure. Because “it” might not have been truly eradicated; from a certain perspective, “it” still lives, right here in Shanghai, the city where I live.
I have decided to write down this story, believing that once I finish, I can truly free myself from the shadow of the event that happened a year ago. So, let’s go back to a year ago. The summer of 2001. The educational system in mainland China has always had various issues. Students often bear academic pressures several times that of their peers in other countries, yet their actual capabilities are far inferior. In light of this, in recent years, the intensity of educational reform has been increasing, along with louder calls for reducing the burden on students and promoting quality education. This spans from preschool to university.
The Nightmare Reappears (2)
In the summer of 2001, a peak time for promoting quality education, it was the media’s duty to pay attention and drive this initiative forward. However, for a newspaper like the “Morning Star,” which primarily targets office workers, dedicating large sections to elementary and middle school students’ quality education isn’t feasible. Therefore, aside from covering the general situation of educational reforms, the focus had to be on university students’ quality education. As a “free line” reporter, I was instructed to pay more attention to news leads in this area and to develop any valuable ones into in-depth reports.
