Chalkboard Lesson in Hohhot Library Dusk

Orange sodium-vapor light spills across a dusty blackboard filled with white chalk equations in a Hohhot campus library reading room. Two worn erasers rest on the wooden sill, their surfaces coated in fine white powder that glows against the dark frame. The room extends backward in layers of receding depth, revealing rows of empty tables and bookshelves fading into the dimming evening. Early spring air leaves no visible trace, but the heavy winter coats hanging on nearby hooks suggest the recent cold. The chalk dust hangs suspended in the warm, yellowish glow, catching the light like tiny stars against the dark slate. A faint reflection of the city lights outside shimmers on the polished wood of the nearest table.