Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 271 The final word

At the beginning of the new year of 2007, a strange sight appeared in bookstores everywhere: "One" story written by the same author was divided into three books and placed side by side on the shelves for people to choose.

Although "Star Chaser", "The Exiled Child" and "Boy·Meteor" were sold together, they not only did not affect each other's sales, but instead won a lot of extra readers for each other.

Parents who buy the children's book version of "The Child Who Exiled the Meteor" often take a closer look at the youth adventure version of "The Boy Who Exiled the Meteor" before purchasing it.

Teenagers who bought the youth adventure version of "Young Meteor" were not satisfied after reading it and wanted to see what the complete story of "Star Chaser" was like.

Adult readers who buy the complete novel version of "Star Chaser" will inevitably be curious about the other two versions and want to know how Zhang Chao "operated" them.

Coupled with the blessing of the "controversial incident" of "Our Way to School", many readers, when buying the book, felt that they had made a small contribution to ensuring that the children of Shire Village could go to school safely as soon as possible.

Even those who usually like to buy pirated books have changed their ways and gone to bookstores to buy genuine books this time.

All three books were sold out at an astonishing rate in major bookstores, with each selling more than 20 copies within a week. The highest sales volume was the children's version of "The Exiled Child", which sold 35 copies.

But even so, there was another person who was the most popular figure in the publishing industry at the beginning of the year, and that was——

Zhang Chao’s biological father, Zhang Weiguo!

The saying "teaching supplementary books are the eternal gods in the publishing industry" is absolutely correct. Once a teaching supplementary book is recognized as "effective in improving students' academic performance", its coverage and longevity are unmatched by any literary book.

Fuhai Education Press ordered a first print run of 50 copies for "I Teach My Son to Write Compositions". Just one week later, when Zhang Chao held a new book launch conference, they were sold out.

Although some of the buyers are book fans and researchers who are curious about what Zhang Chao’s “early essays” look like, the vast majority are curious parents.

It is true that Zhang Chao is a writer, but in their eyes, he has a more "valuable" identity - a person who scored full marks in the Chinese language in the college entrance examination!
In an era where one exam determines your whole life, people would spend a lot of money to buy the study notes of top scorers, not to mention the top scorers. What's more, a book like this that costs only 26 yuan.

In the spirit of trying their best, parents across the country bought this book "How I Taught My Son to Write Compositions" and it was sold out. Although Fuhai Education Publishing House knew from the beginning that this book would sell well, it did not expect it to sell so well. For a time, it was a bit at a loss and could only send out its best soldiers, some of whom supervised the printing factory and some went to various places to coordinate distribution.

You know, a publishing house can be very popular if it has a well-known teaching supplement brand in the province, not to mention that this time it is a national bestseller. Starting with Wang Houxiong and Xue Jinxing, many publishing houses have tried to launch their own teaching supplement stars over the past decade, but more than 90% of them have failed.

Fuhai Education Press, which has been relying on fiscal subsidies and book number sales for years, has completely turned around this time, so Zhang Weiguo's second book was soon finalized for publication.

I Wish I Was a Wild Goose - Selected Poems of Zhang Weiguo

Well, he graduated from the Chinese Department after all, and experienced the literary boom of the 80s, so he also has the sentiments of a poet. Although the level of these poems is, well, quite 80s - but Fuhai Education Press still gave a first print run of 10 copies, and guaranteed that they would sell out!

This also made Zhang Weiguo happy for several days - "Zhang Chao's father" and "poet", the latter made him happier.

At the same time, the controversy over whether Zhang Chao was "exposing old wounds" by launching "Our Way to School" intensified on the Internet, and even quietly spread to the print media, which Zhang Chao had not expected in advance.

The Chinese people, who are in a period of social transformation, have gradually begun to redefine their cultural identity and values ​​after experiencing the pain of the 80s, the inferiority of the 90s, and the confusion of the early 21st century.

We gradually realized that China is not that bad, and the Chinese are not that bad; the fact that we have gone from being extremely poor to becoming the third largest economy in the world in just over 20 years shows a lot.

Many classic works from the 80s and 90s seem to have a sense of "exposing family scandals" and "self-deprecation" today, and are particularly subject to re-examination and redefinition by online public opinion.

The website "Our Way to School" is more direct and more real than movies and TV shows. After all, everyone knows that movies are fictional, so you can blame the directors for exaggerating the problems and sufferings; but the photos on the website are actually taken on the spot, so you can't say that the photographers have ulterior motives.

This has indeed stimulated the sensitive hearts of many people. Especially in large cities where there are a large number of Internet users and a high concentration of them, many people did not expect that there are such backward corners in places beyond their own knowledge.

In an instant, concepts such as China being a "developing country", "unbalanced regional development", and "poor population" were concretized, and this gap easily angered many people. It is no surprise that Zhang Chao was attacked for "exposing his scars".

Faced with the overwhelming criticism, Zhang Chao hesitated for the first time whether to write an article to fight back.

Because this time he was not facing a certain person, such as Bai Ye or Teacher Fang, but a special emotion brewing from the times. If he rashly entered into an opposition with people in this mood and drew the public's attention to "our way to school", he would lose the big picture for the small.

Moreover, not all of those who accused him of "exposing scars" were malicious or unsympathetic to the children in these remote mountain villages. They just found it difficult to accept the reality for a while.

In fact, there are only a few people who really hate Zhang Chao or are just trolls. But the Internet is so magical that a small number of people are often the most active and can make the biggest noise, even dragging in many "people who don't know the truth."

Since we want to do a good job on "our way to school", we can't really push all these things to the opposite side. So, in a rare case, Zhang Chao kept a low profile and kept silent when facing the overwhelming criticism.

But "our way to school" is not silent!

As its influence spreads, more and more rural teachers, village heads, volunteers... have learned about this website, and also realized that if they post photos of their children's difficulties in going to school on this website, they are likely to get help.

As a result, more and more “roads to school” are seen by more and more people——

Some children have to pass a shallow indentation carved into the cliff every day on their way to school, and they need to squat to pass through;

Some children need to climb over several high ridges and then go down to the deep valley to go to school every day;
Some children have to wade across a wide river on their way to school every day. There is only a shaky suspension bridge on the river, which seems to be blown down by the wind at any time.

Some children have to go around the mountains and make countless turns every day to go to school. Some of the turns are so narrow that they are only two feet wide, and there are cliffs next to them.
……

The most shocking thing is a village located on a cliff in the heart of Bashu. The village is connected to the outside world by a thousand-meter-long vine ladder built on the cliff.

The nearly 90-degree vertical cliff and the dilapidated vine ladder are so scary that even adults would be scared at the sight of them. However, it is the only way for hundreds of children in this village to go to school every day.

The road was too long, so the children had to stop and rest halfway up. The wind in the mountains was very strong, and soon their faces and eyes were red and they kept coughing.

In order to reduce the number of trips for the children, the school at the foot of the mountain can only have 10 days off (boarding) for every 5 days of classes. This trip with a drop of 800 meters takes them 6 hours to climb.

The person who took these photos was a young volunteer teacher from the school at the foot of the mountain. He took these photos with a point-and-shoot camera that used film, then took a leave of absence to go to the county town, first developed the photos, then used a scanner to make electronic files, and finally uploaded them to the "Our Way to School" website.

The text he wrote is also very simple:

“These children in the ‘cliff village’ can only eat corn and potatoes at home, but they have to climb for six hours each time to reach the school at the foot of the mountain… Their faces are tanned, but their eyes are still bright.

They would tell me that when they grow up they want to be soldiers, police officers, doctors, and teachers... The height of the cliff cannot be changed, but the gap in people's hearts can; the six hours of time cannot be changed, but the ladder can. "

In the last photo of this group of photos, the teacher did not show the children climbing the vine ladder. Instead, he showed one of the girls smiling brightly but shyly at the camera, as if to say, "Teacher, will many people really see these photos? Then I need to smile prettier..."

People who follow this website look at the photos of children struggling and staggering, and eventually find that no matter how difficult it is, they can always smile brightly when facing the camera.

All criticisms and doubts about this website seem so shallow in front of this smile. Even the harshest critics would stop typing after seeing it.

Is this "exposing scars"? This is clearly a mirror that shows the most beautiful, pure, optimistic and strong faces of Chinese children!
Zhang Chao’s silence was deafening at this moment!
What "Japan says your generation of children is no match for us", what "little emperors", what "little princesses", what "lost generation"... All the doubts about Chinese children are now like the morning mist, disappearing in an instant under the exposure to the morning sun.

It turns out that the children in big cities who can attend summer camps cannot represent "this generation of Chinese children". It is the children from small towns and mountain villages who constitute the mainstream of "this generation of Chinese children".

Before the end of February, the influence of "Our Way to School" had spread beyond mainland China.

First, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, then Singapore, and the Chinese communities in the United States and Canada. The similar cultural background and blood connection made them feel deeply about these photos.

The Chinese people's cultural gene of attaching importance to the education of the next generation began to resonate at this moment. No one thought these were "scars", and no one blamed them for anything, as if saying anything a little harsh would hurt these lovely and strong children.

Since the end of February, the education departments of these small places that have uploaded photos to the "Our Way to School" website have been receiving various calls from home and abroad, all expressing their desire to donate money to build roads for the children.

The staff were stunned for a moment, thinking they had encountered some large-scale fraud, until they saw someone coming to their door with real cash, or transferring tens of thousands of dollars into their accounts in a flash, only then did they realize it was real.

This trend even spread to Sun Yunxiao's spiritual homeland - Japan.

The "competition in the summer camp" also had some small impact in Japan back then, but the focus was on friendly exchanges between Chinese and Japanese children rather than on any comparison of superiority or inferiority. No fool would really shout out "Your generation of kids are no match for us."

At that time, parents who were willing to send their children to China to participate in the rather difficult grassland summer camps were basically Japanese elites who had a favorable impression of China during the "Sino-Japanese honeymoon period". They were either middle and senior government bureaucrats or corporate executives.

As a Chinese writer who has already gained some influence in Japan, Zhang Chao has partners such as Kadokawa and Shueisha, as well as a large readership. Therefore, "Our Way to School" and the turmoil before and after it were translated and published in Japanese newspapers and news.

On the one hand, the Japanese were puzzled as to why some Chinese would use children from other countries to belittle their own children. On the other hand, they were also shocked by the spirit of the children from China's remote mountain villages who insisted on going to school under such difficult circumstances.

Especially as Japan's birth rate declines and the number of "otakus" increases, the strength and optimism of these Chinese children have directly forced the Japanese media and educators to reflect on themselves.

"The other side of the mountain: China's "The Village on the Cliff" provides lessons and teachings"

"Japan's Educational Questions: China's "Cliff Village" Sub-Gives and Demonstration of Education"

"Japan's child offering is a good escape, and China's child is offering a gift"

"Japan's education, re-examination of the time when it comes?" 》

"Tani Yue's Dream: A Trip to the School of the Mountains of China"

"The Smiling Face on the Cliff: China's Son-in-Chief's Admission to the School and the World's Touching させる"

……

For a time, learning from Chinese education became the hottest topic in Japanese public opinion. Some Japanese schools have even submitted applications to the Chinese Embassy in Japan, hoping to organize students to go to the "Cliff Village" for summer camp activities.

They want to prove that "this generation of Japanese children will not lose to the Chinese"!
Zhang Chao was overwhelmed by the information that Ma Boyong, Shuang Xuetao, and his relatives in Japan kept gathering. He had never expected that the impromptu work "Our Way to School" would have such a big impact.

He never expected that the public opinion storm against him would disappear without him making any overt or covert counterattack.

This gave Zhang Chao a sense of realization - could this be what "the righteous will have many supporters" means?
If Zhang Chao and the "Our Way to School" website are the ones who have "many supporters for the right cause", then Sun Yunxiao is naturally the one who has "few supporters for the wrong cause".

This "youth and children's education expert" had never imagined that a website created by Zhang Chao would push him into the abyss of the abyss.

Zhang Chao's interview at Fuhai TV station made him lose all face, but as time goes by, when people gradually forget about it, he still has a chance to make a comeback, it's just that the "market" will be a little smaller.

Even when "Our Way to School" was first launched, he was only panicked for a short while, because he keenly realized that the "exposing scars" controversy might very likely cause Zhang Chao to fail this time.

But when the photos of the children in the cliff village climbing the vine ladder were posted, he knew that he was completely finished.

Although he still sits in the office of the "China Youth Education Research Association", there are no young people outside who listen to his orders. How long can he stay as the "president" and even whether this "research association" can continue to exist are all questionable.

After thinking it over, Professor Sun didn't want to sit there and wait for death. He picked up the phone and dialed a number -

"Hello, is this Mr. Sato? I'm Sun Yunxiao. ... I'm calling you to tell you that I've considered your request to be a visiting professor at the 'University of Education' and I'm ready to go anytime. ...

Huh? What? No need? Didn’t you say last time… Oh, oh, well, sorry to bother you. … I wish you good health. … Goodbye.”

After hanging up the phone, Sun Yunxiao's face turned as gray as the hair on his temples.

Sun Yunxiao never expected that the moment when he was most famous in a foreign country would also be the moment when he had the worst reputation. Although the Japanese like him as a cultural and educational person who promotes "Japan-China friendship", it does not mean that he will accept the bad reputation.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and quickly picked up the phone and called his daughter...

Just when Sun Yunxiao was busy, Zhang Chao received an unexpected invitation from Wang Meng, who had not been in touch for a long time, asking if he was in Yanjing. When Wang Meng learned that Zhang Chao was still in Fuhai, he became anxious:

"Hurry up and pack up and go back to Yanjing to attend an event. Someone wants to see you. ... You'll know who it is when you get there. Come quickly. ..."

Zhang Chao hung up the phone, with a hunch in his heart, but he still booked a plane ticket as quickly as possible, and met Wang Meng in the office of the Writers Association the next day. In addition to Wang Meng, Tie Ning and several other chairmen and vice chairmen were there, looking amiable, but also as if they were facing a great enemy.

Wang Meng was quite relieved to see Zhang Chao, whom she had not seen for a few months, darker and thinner, but more energetic than before. The development of this young man was far beyond her expectations.

If he still felt that "this kid is similar to me" two years ago, now he can't predict where Zhang Chao's "upper limit" is.

Seeing that no one was talking, Zhang Chao asked, "Who... wanted to see me?"

Wang Meng didn't know whether to sigh or lament. She sighed first and then said, "In two days, our Writers Association will have a very important symposium..."

Zhang Chao interrupted immediately, "No, I haven't joined the Writers Association yet. Isn't it appropriate for me to go?"

Wang Meng glared and said in a domineering tone: "Don't mention this! Let me tell you something to be careful of!"

……

In mid-March, Ludao Island, located on the southern coast, was already full of spring. Except that the sea water was still a little cold and it was not too cold to swim, it was not too cold to wear a single layer of clothes.

In the classroom of the Chinese Department of Xiamen University, a middle-aged man in his 40s was teaching third-year students in a very stiff Mandarin:
"…The reason why Japanese literature has achieved great success since the end of the 19th century and surpassed Chinese literature in one fell swoop is precisely because Japan was the first to accept and integrate modern civilization in terms of national culture and social system.…"

When he was speaking proudly, he suddenly caught sight of a boy lying down and sleeping in the audience, and his brows couldn't help but frown.

(End of this chapter)