The story

"If a fountain pen cannot be used in space, why don't astronauts try using a pencil instead? It would save a lot of research expenses and avoid so much trouble," said Rancho, causing the surrounding students to burst into laughter.

The director felt embarrassed but didn't know how to refute because he had never thought about this question before. "I will get back to you on this," he hesitated, concluding his speech.

"He was the only one who was different," the narrator's voice sounded as the camera moved to a classroom.

A teacher was giving a lecture, and the students were listening attentively. Suddenly, the teacher raised a classroom question, "What is a machine?" Several students raised their hands to answer, but Rancho didn't. However, his smiling face caught the attention of the instructor, who asked in confusion, "Why are you smilling?"

Rancho saw the teacher looking at him and, although a bit puzzled, he honestly replied, "Sir, to study engineering was a childhood dream, I'm so happy to be here finally."

"No need to be so happy, define a machine." the professor grew a bit impatient.

"A machine is anything that reduces human effort," Rancho stood up and answered. Chatur, who was nearby, heard Rancho's response and had a disdainful expression. He felt that it was a wrong decision for the professor to ask Rancho to answer this question, and he had started to dislike this self-righteous guy ever since Rancho embarrassed the director that morning.

But Rancho's answer continued, "It's a warm day, press a button, get a blast of air, the fan - a machine; speak to a friend miles away, the telephone - a machine; compute millions in seconds, the calculator - machine!" Chatur listened inwardly, growing increasingly dissatisfied. The professor standing at the lectern was also perplexed.

Rancho seemed to lack the most convincing example, so he continued, "Just like the tiny zipper on your pants, it's also a machine." He pulled the zipper on his pants up and down with his hand repeatedly. This action infuriated both Chatur and the professor, while the remaining students found it amusing and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha."

Even the audience in the theater couldn't help but laugh at Rancho's actions.

On the screen, the professor couldn't resist throwing the chalk in his hand and exclaiming, "What is the definition?"

Rancho looked innocent and said, "I just gave it to you, sir."

"You'll write this in the exam? This is a machine: up, down... Idiot; Anybody else?" The professor imitated the action, once again causing the students in the classroom and the audience in front of the screen to burst into laughter.

At this point, Chatur couldn't help but raise his hand again, stood up, and gave a textbook-like answer, earning praise from the professor.

"Wonderful! Perfect! Please sit down."

But Rancho had a different perspective, "But sir, I said the same thing, in simple language."

The professor sarcastically remarked, "If you prefer simple language, join an arts and commerce college" Rancho's disagreement with rote education surfaced for the first time and was met with merciless suppression from the professor.

"You think you're smarter than the book?"

"But there are other..."

Seeing that Rancho still wanted to argue, the professor interrupted directly, "Get out."

He pointed towards the door with his hand.

"Why?" Rancho was still puzzled.

"In simple language: out!" the professor imitated Rancho's concise tone and spoke again.

The roommates Farhan and Raju looked at Rancho, their eyes filled with sympathy. Chatur, on the other hand, wore a smile and fully supported the professor's actions. The other students treated it as a comedy and laughed it off. As for Rancho being kicked out, they didn't care.

Thinking it was over, Rancho walked to the door and then turned back. The professor looked helpless. "Why're you back?"

"I forgot something."

"What?"

"Instruments that record, analyze, summarize, organize..." Rancho listed a long string of professional terms, but neither the professor nor the students understood the meaning.

"What do you mean?" the professor asked.

"Books, sir." The students laughed again.

"Couldn't you ask simply?"

"I tried earlier, sir. It simply didn't work." The repeated mockery from before had a full comedic effect, unexpectedly interesting, Bella thought.

The three roommates living together soon became even closer. At Rancho's suggestion, Farhan, along with the former, helped Raju to go to the rooftop of the school. When Raju removed the blindfold from his eyes and saw the situation clearly, he couldn't help but want to escape. He had acrophobia, but now his feet were hovering in mid-air.

Rancho and Farhan held Raju from both sides and reassured him that there was nothing to fear, that he wouldn't fall, and that it was very safe. Reluctantly, Raju sat on the edge of the rooftop, suppressing his inner fear, and leaned against Rancho and Farhan.

They drank, shouted loudly, and vented their emotions. Sometimes, the joy between men is that simple. After a series of interactions, the friendship between the three became even stronger.

Then came the first exam organized by the school. On the day the results came out, the three went together to the bulletin board. On the bright red notice, it was clearly written that Rancho was the first in the entire grade for this exam.

Farhan and Raju were happy and searched for their own names.

Not on the first line, not on the second line...

The two became anxious, but in the end, they found their names at the bottom. Raju was second to last, and Farhan was last.

When they returned to the dormitory, Rancho was still comforting his friends. But on this night, the two with poor grades couldn't sleep.

Why is it that even though they all study, Rancho always contradicts the professor, gets kicked out, but his grades are still the best? They worked hard, and although they sometimes played with Rancho, they always ended up at the bottom. The heartache of facing the ruthless reality and the immediate comparison made their hearts unbalanced.

Starting from the next day, Raju isolated himself from Rancho and became more devoted to praying to the god Brahma, hoping for his blessings. Although Farhan didn't go as far as Raju, he also began to keep his distance from Rancho.

Alienation is the first step to killing friendship. Rancho also noticed this phenomenon but didn't know how to mend it. His goodwill and enthusiasm received no response.

This small dormitory was successfully divided into three spaces.

On the day of taking the class photo, the director sat next to Rancho, the student he least wanted to see. Because the seating was arranged according to grades, Rancho happened to be in the front row, the so-called seat of honor, as he had the best grades.

Chatur, sitting on the side, appeared restless in his seat. After the grades were announced, he wasn't in first place for the first time in his life. He had grown accustomed to always being first in exams, but now it wasn't him, and it caused him an inexplicable panic. And to make matters worse, it was Rancho who had the best grades. This made Chatur, who always considered Rancho a clown, even more uncomfortable. He couldn't lose to anyone, especially not to Rancho.

After the graduation photo was taken, Farhan and Raju looked dejected as they left the scene and returned to the dormitory to start another round of studying. When Rancho returned, he wanted to invite his roommates to go to the rooftop to have a drink and enjoy the breeze. But he received no response. He tried to comfort them again, but it had no effect.

Bella, seeing this, fell into contemplation.

She was no longer just surprised by the director's skillful techniques. The transitions between various scenes were seamless, the lighting and colors in the shots were vibrant, and the narrative perfectly combined style and storytelling. The film was well-paced, and even the fleeting supplementary shots had their shining moments. What surprised her even more was the director's depth of intention and clear expression of ideas. Throughout the storytelling process, the explanations of various details further enriched the characters and the story.

The most memorable scene was when Farhan, who used to mainly photograph animals, capturing their various actions, started photographing buildings after the grades came out, focusing on still shots.

And Raju, who used to always wear a troubled expression, gradually became lively and began to smile after the day on the rooftop. But now, he returned to a gloomy and restless state. In the past, he used to wait for his roommates to leave before burning incense and praying, but now he disregarded it completely, only considering his own feelings without caring about the smoke affecting Farhan and Rancho.

People's actions and movements reflected their inner feelings.

The bond of friendship, the joy of campus life, and the vividly colorful scenes depicted in the shots buried the purity in a series of transformations. Several moments throughout the film could make the audience in the exhibition hall burst into laughter. That pleasant and comfortable feeling during the viewing, if it were a comedy, would undoubtedly be crucial and a guarantee of success. However, it seemed that the director didn't intend to tell a story about how wonderful campus life is.

Conflicts continued to arise.

Raju grew more indifferent, the professor increasingly disliked Rancho, and kept reporting him to the director for disrupting the class. Even the director, the serious elder known as "Virus", didn't like this student who didn't follow the rules, even though his grades were excellent. He tried to advise Rancho, but the latter continued to do things his own way. He resented the professor's rote education and even criticized the director's management of the college.

Finally, the conflict escalated to its extreme with a suicide by another student. That poor student, pleading and desperate, died in the dormitory of the school, labeled as "suicide". Coincidentally, Rancho found the work the student wanted to return when it was discovered.