Detention (返校)

Liu Yun-hsiang.

Go to class.

Open your bag.

When written language is used as a tool for communication,

it carries a specific function.

You must phrase your words to have clarity.

Yet when we write poems,

we don't need to constrain our words to have this function.

That's because the lack of this function

is instead a crucial element that allows poetry

to form an aesthetic appeal in our minds.

Does what I said make sense?

Sir.

So you're saying that if I want to say something,

I must say it clearly.

But if I want to flirt with someone…

You don't have to be so explicit. That's right.

-Who would want to flirt with you? -Flirt.

-You're dreaming. -Love.

Let me introduce our newest member, Liu Yun-hsiang.

Come in. Sit here.

Here.

What's this? Do you know each other?

No, sir. But when we went to Hancui Building,

-Wen-liang brought her along. -Idiot.

-Shut up. -He asked me.

You went to Hancui Building?

-Weren't you afraid of getting caught? -We want to write good poems.

We don't want to disappoint you.

Thank you, poetry enthusiasts.

All right.

Each of you will write something today to submit in a contest.

This is a national contest.

I hope our Lanyi Poetry Club will do well this time.

NATIONAL YOUTH LITERARY CONTEST

-I know mine will do well. -It's hard.

Inspiration…

All right.

Winning an award

isn't important.

If you write well, I'll reward you.

What do you want as a reward?

Sir.

You can give us your published poems.

Sir, I want to see it too.

It's out of print.

I didn't save a copy either.

I don't know if I can find it.

Okay, I'll try to find it.

Sir, I don't know what topic to write about.

Writing topic?

-It's so simple. How can you not know? -You do it then.

-Then you tell me. -You can write about…

Encounters.

-Encounters? -Encounters?

-Why don't we write together? -No, I don't want to.

-We can win together. -Shut up. I'm writing my own.

-Shut up. -You shut up.

-Are you okay? -So noisy.

All right, start writing.

Yun-hsiang.

After what happened during the pen spirit game,

are you okay?

I think that story about the girl at Hancui Building is true.

My writing is even better now.

Really?

I'm just kidding.

Yun-hsiang is such a darling.

-You guys write a poem every day? -We…

-We write all sorts of poems. -I'm starving!

-Quiet. -We write modern poems.

-You don't write anything. -That's not true.

Jui-hsin, it's time to eat.

Okay.

Gosh. Dinner looks delicious today.

Jui-hsin said to cook your favorite,

-then only you'd come home for dinner. -Great.

This is your favorite too.

Have some braised cabbage.

Dad, dig in.

WALDEN

The roots below the earth claim no rewards

for making the branches fruitful.

You don't know what will happen.

"You don't know what will happen."

All is unknown.

"All is unknown.

By entering the unknown,

one grows…"

AND UNDERSTAND THE MEANING

The process of writing is a form of self-exploration.

Look.

Isn't it beautiful?

Liu Yun-hsiang.

What are you doing here alone?

Are you okay after the pen spirit game?

Do you want to come to the temple after school?

I'm busy today. Maybe next time.

Are you hanging out with the poetry club now?

Yes, I joined the club.

Why did you join the club?

They're all weirdos.

I'll give this to you first.

I think you should still come by the temple.

Didn't you say there are no ghosts?

So what are you so nervous about?

You've been acting weird lately.

You don't have magic powers.

You can't see anything, can you?

So what if I can't?

I'm worried about you.

What if you're really being haunted by a ghost?

"People are just scaring themselves."

Isn't that what you said?

I knew you would be here.

It's a braised dish today.

I'll leave it over here.

Are you smoking too?

No.

There's a new student in class.

This is a souvenir she gave me.

Uncle Wei.

Have you ever had a girlfriend?

I really don't get girls.

They're nice to you one second,

then ignore you the next.

They don't make sense.

FANG JUI-HSIN'S GRAVE

Is this person your family?

You come here a lot.

She was a senior in my high school.

CONFERENCE ROOM

"Another morning, woken by the alarm.

She decides to leave first,

taking a street that doesn't recognize her…"

Squat properly.

If you want,

I can make him disappear right now.

This is the deal we made.

I can help you.

Stand up.

Are you okay?

Instructor Pai.

This isn't necessary, is it?

Your student wrote these things during lunch break.

I told her to write this.

Rules are rules.

They become meaningless if exceptions are made.

This is school, not the army!

Mr. Shen.

Given your identity, you have to lead by example.

Instructor Pai.

Principal.

What's going on?

Mr. Shen Hua is openly siding with a student who broke the rules.

If this continues,

it will undermine the school rules and discipline.

I asked her to write this.

If anyone is to be punished, it should be me!

Mr. Shen Hua.

Instructor Pai enforces the school rules.

He has the authority.

I disagree. This is my class.

Shen Hua.

Instructor Pai, there is something else I need to discuss with you.

Both of you may go.

Get going.

Return to the classroom.

All right.

Did you write all these?

They're excellent.

Don't write in the classroom anymore.

I'll give you a leave of absence form.

Write in the library's reading room.

Yun-hsiang.

I have high hopes for you.

Keep up the good work.

Dad.

This is a plan I drafted to reform Greenwood.

In this day and age,

if you still manage students using the old ways,

you'll eventually become irrelevant.

This is unnecessary.

You asked me to come back and do things my way.

Now you're not letting me!

How can Greenwood change then?

All you talk about is Greenwood.

You won't achieve anything if you're so narrow-minded.

I put you in charge of Lanyi Poetry Club and the best Class 2-1,

so you can achieve greater things.

Have dinner and a nice chat with Councillor Li's daughter.

Become friends with her.

That's how you can initiate change.

You must remember

that you only have all this because you're my son.

Without me,

you are nothing at all.

I heard that you're a poet.

Do your poems sell well?

I believe that poems aren't a commodity,