Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 263 New "Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars"

"Student Zhang Chao, thank you for accepting our interview with Fuhai TV. Your speech just now was indeed shocking, and it also left many people who love your work with questions. Why do you criticize your previous creations so fiercely?" Xiao Yajuan, a reporter from the provincial TV station, asked a question that many people are concerned about.

Although Zhang Chao graduated last year, he is too young, and it seems inappropriate to call him "Sir", "Boss" or "Teacher", so most of the reporters who interviewed him prefer to call him "classmate", and Zhang Chao does not mind this.

After Zhang Chao's speech, a symposium was held in the school conference room. However, because Zhang Chao's speech was not only shocking, but also embarrassed many people including Principal Zhou, it ended hastily in less than half an hour.

Zhang Chao frankly expressed at the symposium that he was worried after hearing Principal Zhou say that day that many students applied to No. 3 Middle School because they admired Zhang Chao, and some even chose liberal arts. He finally decided to temporarily change the topic of his speech.

After hearing this, Principal Zhou just wanted to slap himself in the face.

The leaders of the Changfu County Education Department attached great importance to Zhang Chao's opinion and said that they would definitely curb this blind following and provide correct guidance to students.

The school originally planned a signing session, but there were too many students. If we add in communication and interaction, it might not be finished until the evening, so we had to cancel it. Zhang Chao said that he should have a batch of signed books in major publishing houses, and he would ask the publishing houses to send some to the students.

The symposium was barely considered a "successful conclusion", and the only person who was unhappy was probably Principal Zhou. However, he was also glad that Zhang Chao did not really say it out loud, directly criticizing the school's policy of deviating in the direction of "cradle for young writers" as wrong.

Afterwards, Zhang Chao accepted an interview with a TV reporter in the conference room. The provincial TV station naturally took priority, and the interview outline was temporarily adjusted, eliminating the boring preparation of "How do you feel about returning to your alma mater this time?" and directly asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.

Zhang Chao said while peeling an orange: "I used to criticize others, but now I criticize myself, and everyone is uncomfortable with it? - In fact, I have been reflecting on my own creation for a long time, but today, I just took this opportunity to speak out.

To be honest, I was surprised that I could speak like this. This speech was not only a communication with the junior students in No. 3 Middle School, but also a communication with my inner self. Those who commented on my previous works were completely sincere. "

Xiao Yajuan continued to ask: "Does that mean that the direction of your future creations will change? Maybe you will write some works that reflect ordinary people and ordinary life?"

Zhang Chao ate half an orange in one breath, feeling the wonderful feeling of the sweet and sour juice and delicate flesh melting in his mouth. After a while, he answered: "This is difficult. I can only say that I will give it a try. Mr. Lu Xun has a poem called 'Hearing thunder in silence' - it's easy to say, but it's too difficult to do!"

Xiao Yajuan felt that Zhang Chao's current state was different from before. Before coming here today, she did her homework and watched almost all of Zhang Chao's previous interview videos and texts.

In her impression, although Zhang Chao was unusually calm and smart in front of the camera or microphone, he would never be as relaxed as he was today, as if he didn't care whether there were flaws in his language - at least she had never seen Zhang Chao being interviewed while eating.

Just like the answer just now, he frankly said that it was "too difficult" to let the work focus on the ordinary, and he could only "give it a try." This kind of expression, which is almost like "showing weakness" or "leaving a way out", has never appeared in Zhang Chao in the past.

Unless he was setting a trap for others. But today, there was obviously no one who needed him to set a trap.

Zhang Chao seemed to have let go of a lot, but also seemed to have picked up more; Zhang Chao was right in front of her, but also seemed to be far away somewhere else - Xiao Yajuan found it difficult to describe this feeling.

But now, she could only ask the questions she had set: "You mentioned in your speech that you hope that the students of No. 3 Middle School will first find a subject they are interested in or good at, acquire a certain professional skill, experience life, and then decide whether to become a writer.

Does that mean that you still support the existing college entrance examination system and the examination-oriented education system, encouraging students to succeed in the examination first and then consider artistic creation? "

The debate between exam-oriented education and quality-oriented education has been a topic of endless debate since the 90s. Although exam-oriented education has many flaws, it guarantees the bottom line of educational fairness. Of course, this also requires the price of suppressing and missing out on personalized talents.

The biggest problem with quality-oriented education is that the target it targets is actually fictitious, so there is no definite goal or direction for implementation. When this concept was proposed in the late 80s and early 90s, even education experts generally did not have a deep understanding of the education systems in Europe, America and Japan, and did not know what was good about them.

Therefore, "quality-oriented education" has become a collection of concepts of various worships, fantasies and speculations. It is more like a beautiful "wish" or "vision" without a path leading to it.

Whether it is the "happy education" in Europe and the United States or the "relaxed generation" in Japan, the essence is that after the end of the Cold War, the ruling class no longer prepares for world war or nuclear war, reduces the difficulty and requirements of science and engineering education, and deprives the civilian class of the ability to commit violence. (Having a few guns does not mean that you have the ability to commit violence)

——Of course this is off topic.

Now, whether Zhang Chao says that he supports exam-oriented education or quality-oriented education, it will probably cause some discussion.

Zhang Chao finished his orange, took out a book and flipped through it nonchalantly. As he read, he said, "I think 'examination-oriented education' is a wrong definition."

Xiao Yajuan: “Hmm?”

Zhang Chao was more serious this time. He closed the book and explained, "Examination, as the name suggests, means to prepare for examinations. So far, all educational activities of mankind have been accompanied by some kind of examination - it may be written, it may be practical, or it may be evaluated by teachers based on daily performance.

Is there any education in this world that does not have the above three elements? "

Xiao Yajuan first thought of the examples of "exam-free education" in New Zealand and Finland, which are very popular among advocates of "quality-oriented education." But then she thought again, although they claim that there are no exams before eighth grade, teachers' assessment of children is carried out throughout the entire process.

Seeing Xiao Yajuan shook her head, Zhang Chao continued, "Humanity has indeed not yet invented a method that can better reflect the results of education than 'exams.' Since there are 'exams', there must be 'exam-taking', otherwise the social screening mechanism will be paralyzed.

Therefore, all education is essentially "examination-oriented education", which assigns people to different educational institutions through some form of examination, and then to different social positions.

——This is a bit far-fetched, let’s get back to the students——how to ‘take the exam’ is a top-level design and students don’t need to consider it; what students need to consider is how to ‘take the exam’.

All actions that direct the debate between 'examination-oriented' and 'quality' towards students are shameless and vulgar. They will only lead to two results - creating many speculators and hurting many innocent people.

I am giving a speech to students today, so of course I must firmly stand on the perspective of 'taking the test' and tell them not to be willful, not to bet everything on one throw, and to 'take the test' well. "

Xiao Yajuan also digested Zhang Chao's answer for a while, then smiled and asked a question that she had not prepared in advance: "Student Zhang Chao, I heard that because you are good at Chinese, you are helping your classmates with Chinese lessons before the college entrance examination - is this true?"

Zhang Chao nodded, and flipped open the book at hand. He said as he read, "Indeed, it has. The effect is quite good. One student scored over 1 points in the Chinese language test in the college entrance examination, and several others scored over 140 points. You can check with the school to find out the specific scores."

Xiao Yajuan was surprised and said, "Really? Then you are very good at teaching Chinese! No wonder you got full marks in Chinese...Are you afraid that after today's interview is broadcast, someone will ask you to tutor them in Chinese?"

Zhang Chao said calmly: "I'm not afraid, this is one of my abilities - but I'm afraid that charging you a fee may not be acceptable to you all."

Xiao Yajuan nodded in agreement and said, "I can't imagine what kind of price would be enough to invite you to teach. I'm afraid you don't have time, right?"

Zhang Chao nodded implicitly, said nothing, and continued to flip through the book with his head down.

Xiao Yajuan finally couldn't help it and asked, "Is this book your latest work? I see you've been reading it."

Zhang Chao suddenly smiled mysteriously and said, "It is indeed a new work, and it is related to me, but it was not written by me."

Xiao Yajuan was very interested in what book Zhang Chao was reading, regardless of his interview manners. So she immediately asked, "Oh? Which author's masterpiece is that?"

Zhang Chao said calmly, "It's a book written by my father, called 'I Teach My Son to Write Compositions'. It was written just a few days ago, and this is a sample book sent by the publishing house, asking me to take a look. It will be officially published next month, so time is tight, so I have to seize every opportunity to read it."

Xiao Yajuan was confused by Zhang Chao's hard advertisement and was speechless. But this was a news point after all. If she performed well, she might be able to establish a good relationship with Zhang Chao, and it would be much easier to interview him in the future. You know, many journalists can "rise" because they are favored by a celebrity, and even have a long-term follow-up, and then write a best-selling book, which directly changes the trajectory of their career.

So Xiao Yajuan immediately reacted and asked, "'I teach my son how to write?' It sounds very attractive. Is this a summary of your father's experience in teaching you how to write?"

Zhang Chao shook his head and said, "Although this book has this name, it actually contains not only the cases I taught, but also the summary of my father's nearly 30 years of teaching experience. Therefore, it not only contains cases of training students like me with a good foundation to write high-scoring or even full-scoring exam essays;

There are also a lot of cases on how to help students with average or even poor foundations get higher scores step by step. My father graduated from the Chinese Department of Xiamen University, with a solid theoretical foundation and long-term teaching experience. This book is the culmination of his half-life experience in education.

Xiao Yajuan praised in an appropriate tone: "Your father has a profound background, no wonder he was able to cultivate you."

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "We know that even the best writers may not get good grades in the Chinese language exam. Why am I one of the few exceptions? It's because I have been trained in writing by my father since I was a child, which has laid a solid foundation for my writing skills.

His composition teaching method not only trained me, but also trained many outstanding students. It has great universality. "

Xiao Yajuan said, "What you said has really moved me. When can I buy this book? I want to buy one for my nephew. He is not good at writing essays. I have taught him twice and my head hurts."

Zhang Chao held the cover of the book in front of the camera and said, "This book will be published by Fuhai Education Press and will be available in major bookstores early next month.

The question you just raised is very representative - in composition teaching, those who can write may not necessarily be able to teach, but those who can teach will definitely write, and will definitely be good at revising. In this composition collection, there are photocopies of more than a dozen of my middle school compositions, with traces of my father's handwritten corrections on them. I believe it will be inspiring to some students. "

After hearing Zhang Chao say this, Xiao Yajuan was really moved - who wouldn't want to see what Zhang Chao's writing was like before he became a famous writer? Would a famous writer also make all kinds of expression mistakes like an ordinary student?

Not only her, but other reporters waiting for interviews at the scene were also very interested in this book.

When Zhang Chao saw the expectant eyes of the crowd, he finally breathed a sigh of relief - as for how everyone would comment on his hardcore "selling books for his father" after the show was broadcast, he could not care less!

Sure enough, the reporters from the city and county stations later also tactfully focused part of their interviews on this book "I Teach My Son to Write Compositions", giving it enough exposure!
That evening, the news of Zhang Chao's speech and interview at No. 15 Middle School was reported on the provincial TV station. However, the entire news was less than one minute long, and the time devoted to the book "I Teach My Son to Write Compositions" was only about seconds.

The city TV station was much more generous, giving the book a full 30 seconds to introduce it.

The county TV station simply went to Zhang Chao's home to interview Zhang Weiguo again, and finally gave this book a 1-minute short feature.

The next day, related news was reposted by different media outlets, including television stations and newspapers. Within just one week, it had triggered strong reactions in different directions with varying responses.

First of all, the most sensitive are the publishers who put profit first. Anyone with eyes can see that "I Teach My Son to Write Compositions" is a "bestseller". The market for teaching supplementary books is much broader than that for literature.

It is not uncommon for some popular books to sell tens of millions of copies a year. If it is a series of books, it is also very likely to sell hundreds of millions of copies during its life cycle. For example, the famous "5-Year College Entrance Examination 3-Year Simulation" series once occupied 70% of the market share of high school supplementary books.

And the "Huanggang Secret Volumes" series has been the most popular in the past two years. Which high school in the country doesn’t have a few copies?

If "I Teach My Son to Write Compositions" becomes a hit, the sales and royalties from this book may equal all of Zhang Chao's works! The publisher will surely make a lot of money.

How come this opportunity was snatched away by the little-known Fuhai Education Press?
It’s not that no publishing house had contacted Zhang Chao’s father before, wanting to help him publish a book, but they all encouraged him to write “Son Zhang Chao” or “Yan Da Boy Zhang Chao”, but in the end they were all rejected by Zhang Chao’s father.

Everyone thought that this old man was indifferent to fame and fortune - but now he suddenly gave everyone a big job!

It’s all because Zhang Chao’s halo is too dazzling, so the editors have overlooked the fact that Comrade Zhang Weiguo is a graduate of Xiamen University and a teacher with more than 20 years of experience.

Now beating my chest and spitting blood is too much to save the situation, I can only hurry up and contact again——

"Since I can't find 'How I Teach My Son to Write Compositions', what about 'How I Teach My Son to Read Classics'?"

"Oh, yes, and there's also 'How I Taught My Son to Read'!"

"'I Teach My Son Pinyin' is not out of the question."

"President, isn't his father a middle school teacher? He also teaches pinyin?"

"Oh, it's none of your business. Maybe they want it? Contact them right away!"

"Order!"

Zhang Weiguo didn't expect that Zhang Chao's recommendation in the media would have such a strong impact! His phone was almost blown away by calls these days, and even several editors from publishing houses said they would come to Changfu to visit him soon.

Although he was old, he had never dealt with such a situation before. He didn't know what to do for a moment and could only ask Zhang Chao.

Zhang Chao, however, was not polite at all and sent messages to all the publishing houses he had contacted, which roughly meant: don't come to Changfu during the Spring Festival to disturb their family, otherwise they won't get any future books; don't come to Changfu after the Spring Festival, and go to Yenching to find Huang Jiefu to discuss cooperation.

Zhang Weiguo was surprised and asked, "Won't this offend people?"

Zhang Chao said indifferently: "These are all teaching supplement editors of the publishing house. They are completely focused on sales. It doesn't matter. Besides, I am the one who offends people."

Zhang Weiguo believed in his son's judgment and felt relieved.

As time went by, the content of Zhang Chao's speeches and interviews quietly caused a storm in both the literary and educational circles.

Behind the white sandy beach and lush trees, two people were having a conversation around Zhang Chao.

"I heard that you can contact Zhang Chao? Can you invite him over?"

"……I am not sure."

"Then give it a try!"

"Then why did you invite him here? To give a speech? To have a discussion? Or..."

"neither……"

(End of this chapter)