Overnight, red banners were hung between the large-leaf banyan trees at No. 10 Middle School, which read “Welcome education expert Mr. Sun Xiao to give a speech at school”. There were even posters outside the Yip Fu Building.
In the morning, there were two Chinese classes taught by our homeroom teacher Sun Hui. When they were over, Sun Hui packed up and announced, "Tomorrow afternoon, we will have a class meeting. The whole class will go to the lecture hall to listen to the expert lecture..."
There was a rustling of students from the audience, some were asking questions, some were excited, some were surprised, and Sun Hui said, "No one can be absent. There will be a press conference tomorrow. It would be good for you to listen to more of this..."
As soon as Sun Hui left, a few students in the class went out for some fresh air, while the others stayed where they were. There was a buzz of discussion in the classroom... Hao Di in the front row turned around and saw a group of people gathered together. Hao Di said, "I heard that this expert is very famous..."
Zhang Ping nodded. "Sun Xiao, he's very famous now, giving speeches everywhere... My mom is using this to complain to me now. She thinks she spoiled me too much..."
A group of people wailed and complained.
"Same thing. We had a family gathering last week, and my brother and I were mentioned quite a bit at the dinner table."
"Bullshit expert!"
"You can't say that. Some of it does make sense. You can go and listen to it. Hearing both sides will lead to a clearer understanding."
At this time, this situation of everyone rushing to join in was roughly the same for all the No. 10 Middle Schools.
Cheng Ran knew that this "education expert" was not only famous at this time, but his article about the competition between summer camps in China and Japan caused a sensation in the entire domestic education community. It lasted for a long time and cast a psychological shadow on the entire generation of people born in the 1980s. The impact also spread to people born in the 1990s and even in the circle of friends of future parents, relatives and friends. This article and even similar writing styles have the ability to spread like a virus.
For example, a similar joke says, "Once an educator did an experiment. He gave Chinese and American children a cup of water and asked them to boil the water without using fire. The Chinese children exposed the water to the sun for a day, but failed to do so. The clever American children took four cups of 25-degree water and mixed them together, easily raising the water temperature to a boiling 100 degrees. Rigid thinking and a backward system will never cultivate great scientists with innovative consciousness." Similar comparisons of Chinese children with children from other countries, some of which are even completely fabricated, pointing out the gaps and shortcomings of Chinese children in various aspects, are exactly the same as Sun Xiao's style of speech at the time.
Everyone has “other people’s children” in their student life, and this article by this education expert can be said to be the pinnacle of “other people’s children” in front of Chinese students. The inferiority complex caused to Chinese education in this era is as lethal as when America accused that group of young people of being the “Lost Generation”.
This is a sign of the times. I didn't expect such a person to come to No. 10 Middle School to give a speech. Of course, not only during this period, but even in the next 20 years, this Sun Xiao has been active in the domestic education circle, with the title of "famous education expert", giving speeches and publishing books everywhere.
In fact, Cheng Ran’s attitude towards this is still part of the times.
Although the content promoted by this education expert was biased and he blamed China's education, Chinese parents and Chinese children regardless of facts, from the perspective of the times, it still hurt the inferiority complex of some people at that time and made many people feel patriotic and catch up.
However, Cheng Ran was still somewhat surprised by Sun Xiao's fame. On the way out of the classroom with Zhang Ping to the cafeteria building to buy water, he saw students from the Student Union and clubs running up and down, heading to the large lecture hall in the Yifu Building to set up the auditorium, and some students were talking about things related to Sun Xiao.
Last year, the People's Daily and this year, Guangming Daily interviewed Sun Xiao, and he is currently the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Children's Research". Such a person with a halo and a hot reputation came to No. 10 Middle School to give a speech. At this time, the students of No. 10 Middle School were still "good students" in the traditional sense. They looked up to and respected celebrities with serious titles reported by mainstream official media, especially those in the education field. They were generally excited and looking forward to this speech.
I met Qin Qian and Yuan Huiqun in the garden. Their relationship had become much more distant, but at times like this, they would still say hello. Yuan Huiqun smiled at Cheng Ran and said, "Not bad, Cheng Ran, you're ranked fifth among the top ten handsome men in school!" This was referring to the gossip in the student tabloid.
After being on the list, of course some people in No. 10 Middle School still inquired about Cheng Ran's name. According to Zhang Ping, a senior student in the third floor asked someone to inquire about him, as if she wanted to become a pen pal with him.
But when Cheng Ran heard the title of "school handsome", he felt sour as if he had eaten a lemon, so later on, the term "school handsome" sounded better. The school handsome always gave people the feeling of "the four great talents of Jiangnan bullying men and women and taking extortions".
Yuan Huiqun smiled. Qin Qian was wearing a thin sweater, jeans, and her hair was draped over her shoulders. She looked very slender and fit. She tilted her head and looked at him jokingly. Her eyes were bright. She said, "School coach, you are good at high jump. Why don't you play basketball? Maybe your ranking will move up one place next time."
Qin Qian had obviously come out of the tension in the previous period. During that period, because of Guo Yi, she was actually looking for someone to help her. Cheng Ran happened to appear. In fact, Cheng Ran's appearance helped her to get rid of the mark of Guo Yi in her heart to a certain extent. She was even able to break away from Guo Yi's tricks at the time and felt a little disgusted. Of course, these were all factors that Cheng Ran played in making her sober.
So Qin Qian is not as resentful towards Cheng Ran as before, and may even be a little grateful in her heart. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't like Cheng Ran, but she is attracted to his gentlemanly behavior and takes advantage of his guilt little by little. So now she can joke with Cheng Ran openly, and Qin Qian is very aware of the power of her smile at this time, and maybe she even has a little bit of evil taste in her heart, maybe Cheng Ran will be attracted to her.
Zhang Ping was happy that everyone's relationship had normalized. He joked, "Qin Qian, why are you so modest? You are the second most beautiful girl on the Chaohua list! Your talent index is also five stars! You are the eighth most popular person on the school. The ones ahead of you are all top students who won academic competitions and were admitted to Ivy League schools... What else do you want? Cheng Ran is ranked 38th on the list!"
Cheng Ran was stunned for a moment, feeling a little amused and helpless, "I still have a ranking...?"
This time it was Yuan Huiqun who said with a smile, "Yes, they really gave you a proper ranking, haha, 38th. It's so fun to make this ranking!"
Qin Qian also smiled mischievously. Then she took the initiative to say to Cheng Ran, "Okay, we have something else to do, so we'll leave first."
He said goodbye to them together with Yuan Huiqun, and walked away from the two of them calmly.
Zhang Ping looked at Qin Qian's back with a feeling of lingering interest. He turned around, put his arm around Cheng Ran's shoulders, and said, "Qin Qian is not paired with Guo Yi this time. The tabloids paired her with Su Yang as the most suitable couple. But it's clear that she and Su Yang are just close friends. They even know each other's families. That middle school girl who runs Chaohua News doesn't understand this. She's talking nonsense. She must have read too many Hong Kong and Taiwan gossip magazines."
Cheng Ran smiled and said, "We should be a pair. How about I submit my work and see if I can get it on the list to help you?"
Zhang Ping's eyes almost popped out, and he said in a state of embarrassment and panic, "Fuck you, don't mess around! Do you want me to be beaten to death?"
Cheng Ran smiled. The fun of his student days was this kind of faint smile mixed with immaturity and panic, like the wind in late autumn and early winter, which could accompany people to have good dreams in its tranquility.
Then, Cheng Ran never expected that this relatively peaceful day would be turbulent on the day when education expert Sun Xiao gave a speech...
He would have retreated when faced with such a thing. He did not intend to face the shadows and marks of the times head-on...
But I still feel a little... helpless.
Yay! Everyone, stand back! Cheng Dachui’s high-energy particle cannon is ready.