Chapter 84

Second floor.

In the hallway.

The open class for Class 6 ended a bit early, and the parents had already come out, chatting with each other outside, and those with a strong smoking habit even went to the toilet to smoke.

"Hey? What's all the commotion in Class 1?"

"What's going on? Is the teacher reading a passage?"

"It's not a passage. I heard that the experimental class is writing an essay today."

"Oh, the students' essays? Let's go and listen."

"Sure, but let's keep it down. Look, the school leaders and teachers are all inside."

Then, many curious parents gathered outside Class 1 and soon heard Zhang Ye recite "In Praise of the Poplar Tree"!

A parent touched the goosebumps on his hand, his eyes wide with surprise.

The other parents were also stunned, one of them looking at the first parent, "Friend, are you sure this is written by a primary school student?"

The person wiped his sweat, "Yes, their class is having an essay open class."

The parents couldn't help but break out in cold sweat, thinking, are primary school students nowadays so amazing?

...

A few minutes later, the open class ended.

"Class dismissed."

"Stand up."

"Goodbye, everyone."

"Goodbye, teacher."

The Chinese teacher smiled and said, "Thank you all for coming. That's it for today's class. You can take the children home now. The homework for today is to write a reading reflection on 'In Praise of the Poplar Tree.' I will check it in class tomorrow."

As soon as the class ended, the children around Chen Chen's seat were immediately surrounded by a group of kids!

"Chen Chen! Your uncle is so amazing!" De De was the first to run over.

Chen Chen didn't show the pride that children her age usually would. She still had that little sour face and said calmly, "It's okay."

"Is your uncle a big star?" another little boy asked, "Why do the principal and teachers all know him?"

Chen Chen quietly packed away her pencil case and books and said, "I guess so. I didn't know he was so famous."

"Chen Chen, let's go home together."

"I want to go too. Let my dad drive us."

"Chen Chen, Chen Chen, do you want to come to my house to play? It's very close."

A bunch of boys and girls surrounded her, asking all sorts of questions, and their attitudes were very friendly.

Seeing this, Zhang Ye felt quite relieved. It was good to see the little girl getting along better with her classmates. Actually, Chen Chen herself was very cute and pretty, like a porcelain doll, and there was probably no other child in the school as beautiful as her. From an aesthetic point of view, everyone should be very willing to play with her. However, Chen Chen was too cold and had a maturity that didn't match her age, which made her less sociable. After today's incident, he believed that Chen Chen's interpersonal relationships would likely improve. This was the only thing he could do.

Tong Tong and her father were now silent. The father took his daughter out of the classroom without staying a moment longer, feeling very embarrassed.

"Teacher Zhang Ye!" The Chinese teacher suddenly walked up.

Zhang Ye, who was about to take his child home, stopped and looked at her, remembering that she had something to say during class but said she would talk after class. He asked, "Teacher, what was it?"

The Chinese teacher seemed a bit embarrassed. She was about the same age as Zhang Ye, probably not more than two years out of college. After a moment of hesitation, she finally took out a notebook, "Actually, it's nothing big. I just really like your poetry. Your 'The Bird and the Fish,' 'The Seagull,' and 'A Generation'—I've read them dozens of times. Now, if you ask me to recite them, I can do it without missing a word, especially 'The Dead Water,' which is my favorite. I'm your die-hard fan!"

Zhang Ye was a bit awkward when he heard this, "Ah? Thank you, thank you."

The Chinese teacher looked at him eagerly with the notebook, "Can you sign it for me? My husband also likes you. He loves your 'Ghost Blows the Lamp' and listens to it every night, not missing a single episode!"

Zhang Ye immediately took the notebook, "Of course, how many do you want?"

"One... no, two would be best." The Chinese teacher was very happy and handed him a pen.

Zhang Ye's handwriting wasn't particularly good, but that was his normal writing. When it came to signing, he wrote very beautifully. It was a bit funny, as he had practiced specifically for this. He had always wanted to be famous and dreamed of the day when someone would ask for his autograph. Today, his wish finally came true. This was the first time a fan had asked for his signature, a day worth commemorating.

"Done." Zhang Ye handed it back to her.

"Thank you! Thank you!" The Chinese teacher was very excited.

Chen Chen glanced over at them.

Zhang Ye casually patted little Chen Chen's head and said to the Chinese teacher, "Chen Chen is a bit undisciplined and disobedient. Please take care of her in the future."

"You're too kind, too kind." The Chinese teacher immediately said, "Don't worry, I will definitely teach the child well." She then saw that there were no other adults around and whispered, "Originally, Chen Chen's grades might have led to her being transferred to another class this semester or next, but... I will definitely help her and won't let her be transferred."

Zhang Ye said, "Thank you very much."

At this moment, the homeroom teacher, Zhao Mei, also came up quickly, "Teacher Zhang, can you sign for me too? I'm a loyal supporter of your fairy tales. I even mobilized the school teachers to vote for you for 'Little Bunny Foo Foo.' But my favorite is still 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.'"

"Of course, thank you for your support." Zhang Ye signed another one for Zhao Mei.

After finishing, Zhang Ye said goodbye to the teachers and then reached out to Chen Chen, "Let's go, it's time to go home for lunch."

Chen Chen gave him a look of disdain but obediently put her small hand in Zhang Ye's big hand, letting him lead her.

Zhang Ye led the child out of the classroom.

The other parents and children who hadn't left yet watched them go, still discussing.

...

At noon.

Jiaomen East.

The two of them arrived at their building and took the elevator upstairs.

Zhang Ye boasted, "How about that, little one? Did you see how amazing Uncle Zhang is? Don't be so impolite to Uncle Zhang in the future. You need to respect your elders."

Chen Chen tugged at the corner of her mouth, "Hehe."

Zhang Ye: "..."

The elevator arrived, and Zhang Ye led her to the small duplex of Landlady Rao, pressing the doorbell.

Soon, Rao Aimin, wearing an apron and with her hair in a bun, opened the door, "You're back? Wash your hands and get ready to eat."

Rao Chen Chen went back to her room, and Zhang Ye followed Rao Aimin into the kitchen to help, but seeing the full table of dishes, he was startled, "Landlady, what's the occasion? Why so many dishes? Are there other people coming? How many are eating?"

Rao Aimin, while cooking, said, "Just the three of us."

"But that's too much. We three can't eat that much." Zhang Ye thought it was extravagant.

Rao Aimin didn't even look at him, "Stop talking so much. Just wait and eat." She paused and said, "Chen Chen's teacher called me. I heard about what happened at school. Not bad, I didn't expect you to be so famous that even the teachers know you."

Zhang Ye boasted, "Of course, it's just that you always put me down. I'm not bragging, but my popularity is off the charts!"

Rao Aimin shrugged, "Hehe."

Rao Chen Chen, who had followed in, also smirked, "Hehe."

The mother and daughter almost laughed at the same time, with the same expression, which made Zhang Ye very depressed.

You hehe!

Your whole family hehe!

...

Back home,

Zhang Ye, holding his stomach, kept burping. It was so delicious. Landlady Rao, though sharp-tongued, was a culinary genius. Zhang Ye was completely won over by her cooking. Although he had eaten Rao Aimin's food before, it was clear she hadn't put in much effort then. Compared to this time, it seemed like a different person had cooked. It was obvious that Landlady Rao was using this meal to thank him for his help today, so she had put more effort into it.

So fragrant!

His stomach was almost bursting!

Zhang Ye crawled to the computer, browsing the web while digesting his food. Since he had become a fifth-tier celebrity, many people were @ing him on Weibo every day. He didn't mind and read each one. When he saw the latest one after an hour, he immediately paid attention.

The poster was called "Child's Sky."

"Today, I met my idol @Teacher Zhang Ye. For certain reasons, I won't say how we met, but I was fortunate enough to get two signatures from Teacher Zhang Ye and to hear him recite a new work—a prose piece. Weibo can't post so many characters, so I'll post a picture of the text. The handwriting is a child's, so you can ignore that."

The full text of "In Praise of the Poplar Tree" was posted.

This was a picture of the content from Chen Chen's notebook.

Zhang Ye immediately knew that the poster must be the Chinese teacher, so he helped by forwarding it.

"Is this a new work by Teacher Zhang?"

"Does Zhang Ye write prose too?"

"Why not? 'The Seagull' is a prose poem, so it's similar."

"I finished reading it. It's really amazing, definitely like something written by Teacher Zhang Ye."

"Ah, Teacher Zhang forwarded and liked it. It must be his work for sure!"

"Everyone, let's boost this! Another masterpiece after 'The Dead Water'! Don't let it sink!"

"After reading 'In Praise of the Poplar Tree,' I can't help but think of 'In Praise of Zhang Ye.' What kind of talent can create so many classic works?"

"Did you really meet him? What does Teacher Zhang look like? Is he handsome?"

The Chinese teacher replied, "Can't describe him as handsome, but his eyes are very charming. Ha, my husband is coming back soon, I'll delete this reply later."

For the rest of the afternoon, "In Praise of the Poplar Tree" didn't get as many forwards and clicks as Zhang Ye's previous works, possibly because it was more educational. However, many teachers and scholars in the education field treated it as a treasure, forwarding and commenting on it. It wasn't as popular, but it received unexpectedly high praise! This was probably Zhang Ye's least controversial article, and after reading it, no one raised any doubts!