Chapter 158: That Zhang Ye is Writing a Poem Again?
In the endless night sky.
It was 9 P.M.
Superintendent Song, who had tired himself all day, finally reached home. The moment that he entered his house, he said, “Hurry and make me a bowl of noodles. I can’t take it anymore. I’m starving!”
His wife came out to give him a pair of slippers, “You haven’t eaten?”
“I didn’t have the time.” Superintendent Song sighed, “A troublesome figure came in today. I was busying myself on this small case the entire day. I ran around to do all that, all for what? That Wang Shuixin. I’m definitely not helping him in the future. It’s a thankless, arduous task. If I don’t do it well, I’ll get into big trouble. Thankfully, I can still handle some of that stress, and it’s also giving Old Wang some face.” Superintendent Song laughed and bragged to his wife, “After all, I have been working on the police force for more than a decade. I still can handle the pressure from Zhang Ye!”
His wife disagreed, “I saw the news, too. I think that Zhang Ye is quite a nice person. Don’t make an uproar with him. You mustn’t take things too far.”
Superintendent Song was at a loss of whether to laugh or to cry, “I make an uproar with him? I just need to say a sentence, and he would be dying to retort with ten sentences. And every single sentence pricks a person’s heart, preventing anyone from answering. I’m telling you, just that Zhang Ye’s mouth makes me not feel like talking about it, but I believe that even a corpse could be revived using his mouth. Now, as long as I see him move that mouth of his, I get a headache. You may not know about him coming up with some “My Confession” in front of so many reporters at the yard of our police station. The branch Leader even gave me a scolding on the phone after seeing the news. He blamed me for not doing things well! Tell me, who did I offend? In the future, I’ll never speak to people who are in the broadcasting or literature business. Their mouths are too vicious! Being a policeman for so many years, I have never seen a person who debates so well.”
His wife went to the kitchen to prepare noodles for him, “Since he’s troublesome, why did you arrest him? It’s not a big deal either. If it were me, I would have let him go and that would be it.”
“But he did beat someone, and had done so quite badly.” Superintendent Song consoled, “Don’t worry, I’m just helping Old Wang. I have a sense of propriety. If Old Wang really wants me to help his son right a wrong, I wouldn’t even agree. How can I not settle this problem properly?”
“Yeah, yeah, only you are the one who’s awesome.” His wife laughed with a curled mouth.
“Indeed.” Superintendent Song sat at the dining table, waiting for his meal, “Who do you think I, Old Song, am? Do you think a single Zhang Ye like him can…”
Ring, ring, ring.
The phone rang.
Superintendent Song smacked his mouth and picked up the phone, “Little Sun, I just came home and haven’t even gotten to eating a warm meal. Why did you call again? What happened again?”
The other side was a junior policeman’s voice, “Superintendent! Not good! The reporters came again! This time, there’re tens of them! We can’t even stop them! There are too few people on duty!”
Superintendent Song said, “Just throw all of them out. Is there a need to tell you that?”
“B…But…” The junior policeman was on the verge of tears, “That Zhang Ye, he, he wrote another poem again!”
“What? Repeat that again!” Superintendent Song nearly fell off from his chair when he heard it!
“He wrote a poem again. This time, he wrote it on the small, dark room’s wall with a stone.” The junior policeman hurriedly said, “It’s… It’s called ‘Prisoner’s Song’!”
Superintendent Song said angrily, “How was it written? Quickly repeat it to me!”
The junior policeman said, “I can’t remember it all. The deepest impression I had was of the first two sentences, ‘Shut are the doors for humans, open is the entrance of a dog’s cage… Now, the reporters have taken pictures of the poem on the wall! Some of them have even returned to their offices! It seems that they are going to report it!”
Superintendent Song may be a boor, but these days, few in the civil service were illiterate. He had gone through the education system and knew a bit of literature, hence when Superintendent Song heard the first two lines, he cursed in his heart. He only wished that he could curse all of Zhang Ye’s eighteen generations of ancestors. He immediately said, “Hold the ground! I’ll be there immediately!” Then he shouted into the kitchen, “There’s no need to cook the noodles. I’m leaving!”
His wife came out, surprised, “I’ve already boiled the water. Leave after you eat.”
“What is there to eat!” Superintendent Song wished that he could die, “I encountered a darn hooligan! I got eight generations of bad luck! In the past, people said that eight out of ten scholars were hooligans! I didn’t believe it! But now, I instead feel that ten out of ten scholars are f**king hooligans!”
His wife asked, “Is it that Zhang Ye’s matter again?”
Superintendent Song said, “Of course! He wrote a poem again!”
His wife said, “Didn’t I already say it? You should not have arrested him! He’s such a good person!”
……
On the web.
Zhang Ye’s “Prisoner’s Song” was first published on a tabloid’s official website. They could not wait for it to be published the next day, as it would definitely be published by someone first! Sure enough, following that, several of Beijing’s newspapers began to publish “Prisoner’s Song” and even included pictures. Every newspaper’s pictures were different. Some were taken from the side, some were diagonally taken. Some were bright and some were dark. In the end, it was still Beijing Times, which had the biggest distribution in Beijing, that had the highest quality with their employees. The photography skills were excellent, and the picture they published was very clear and had a great feeling to it.
The picture gave off a tragic atmosphere!
Zhang Ye’s foot was cuffed and he had reached out, using a small stone to write the last period for “Prisoner’s Song” on the wall. In front of him, none of the text of “Prisoner’s Song” was blocked. It was presented clearly, and with the dim lighting, and that empty, small, dark room, the entire atmosphere matched that poem perfectly!
“They still haven’t released him?”
“This is too infuriating! This is too infuriating!”
“What a good ‘Prisoner’s Song’! What a good shall live with fire and warm blood ever after!”
“Open is the entrance of a dog’s cage? They want to make Teacher Zhang lower his head and beg for mercy? Dream on!”
“After seeing that ‘Prisoner’s Song’, I was enraged! Teacher Zhang! You should not live in the fire for eternity! But you should let those people suffer in the fires for all eternity!”
For this matter, many celebrities and public figures were conservative with their words. Some of them even didn’t make any comment or express a stand, as no one knew what had really happened. If they did not say something right, they might be pulled into this matter. Was there a lack of such matters in the entertainment industry? However, after “My Confession” and “Prisoner’s Song” was released, a very prestigious person in the literary circle spoke out!
It was Elder Qian!
The Elder Qian who had made an acquaintance with Zhang Ye at the Beijing Couplet Competition and had strongly recommended his entry into the National Writers’ Association!
Elder Qian posted on Weibo, “What sort of environment can force a person to write a poem of such despair? And what sort of land could raise such a fearless person? I am not very familiar with Little Zhang, but I know him as a person. I also dare to be sure of his character. If the police station is rejecting Little Zhang on this matter, then it must be a ridiculous joke. A person, who can take out all his savings and even borrow money just to raise funds to pay for his fan’s surgery, will beat up someone because of his personal desires or for no good reason? Whose intelligence is the police station insulting? Ever since Little Zhang’s message, it has already been ten hours. Have you not obtained a result from your investigations? You still haven’t announced the actual reason?”
“Teacher Qian has stood forward!”
“Right. Well said. Supporting Teacher Zhang!”
“Strongly appealing to the police station to release him! You should arrest that culprit who had molested a woman and still wanted to beat someone! And not Teacher Zhang!”
“No one is answering?”
“The police station is pretending not to see it?”
“Fine. Brothers, let’s carry on posting. This time, we will add ‘Prisoner’s Song’ to it. It will be posted once on every Tieba and discussion forum… No, a hundred times! I don’t believe that the relevant authorities will not see it! I don’t believe that this world is one with no justice! Anyone who has a little conscience, please push the two poems to the top!”
“Propping!”
“Count me in!”
“I am the moderator of City Forum, Beijing edition, and have stickied it at the most prominent spot!”
At this moment, Zhang Ye’s hardcore fan, Big Saber Bro, posted a picture on Weibo and added a message, “I have already posted it on all of the comment pages and complaint pages of Beijing’s official websites, such as the public safety department, branch departments, and station departments. Who has the link to the official website of the Commission for Discipline Inspection? I’m too lazy to check. Give it to me in private chat. I’ll carry on smearing the boards with Teacher Zhang’s poems. My large saber is again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again unable to endure the thirst!”
“Holy sh*t, so fierce?”
“Big Saber Bro has combat power!”
“Once the Big Saber appears, who can challenge it!”
“Haha, that’s so coquettish! Big Saber Bro is still the same as ever!”
“As expected of the Big Saber comrade who has the strongest combat power in Zhang Ye’s fan club!”
“Right, only Big Saber Bro has a broad mind. We should not be restricted to forums and Tieba. We should smear the boards of governmental websites! We must make the matter big! Let those Leaders all know of the unjust treatment Teacher Zhang Ye has received! I don’t believe that no one will care about this matter to the end! Teacher Zhang Ye is nice to us fans, so how can we flinch when he is in trouble! This is the best chance for us to repay Teacher Zhang Ye! So what about governmental websites? Kill!”
“Right! Attack!”
“Who’s afraid of who!”
“I’m going all out, too!”
“Big Saber Bro, I have private messaged you the Commission for Discipline Inspection website. Please check!”
“Give it to me, too! Do you still remember the words Teacher Zhang Ye gave to our fan club? If you do not leave me, I will always be at your side until the end of life? This was a promise Teacher Zhang Ye gave to us! It is also a promise we made to Teacher Zhang Ye! Never leaving! Everyone, let’s fight shoulder to shoulder!”
“Alright! That was done too well!”
“Never leaving! Always be at your side until the end of life!”
“We will return the debt owed by Number1 for her!”
“Brothers, what are we waiting for!? Teacher Zhang Ye has already used ‘Prisoner’s Song’ to express how he doesn’t fear death! It is time for us to use our strengths!”
Suddenly, there were voices from others.
A person called FloatingRain said, “Friends, I’m not a member of Zhang Ye’s fan club. Can I join?”
Another person called CHAIDJD44 said, “That’s right. I also didn’t previously join the fan club. Seeing that your cohesion is so high, is it too late to join now? Count me in for smearing the boards!”
A junior moderator of Zhang Ye’s fan club said, “All men are brothers! What do you mean, ‘late’? What do you mean, ‘can you join’? This is like a stranger’s words. We are thankful if everyone supports Teacher Zhang Ye, and we can’t be more thankful than that! Everyone is a Brother! Let’s fight together!”
“Alright, count me, Old Chen, in!”
“Me, too. Let me feel my blood boil today!”
“I also want to join your fan club! I’ll listen to your commands!”
Many onlookers joined in the fray. There was nothing else, but they were moved seeing all this. The words exchanged by Zhang Ye’s fan club made their blood surge. They had never seen such a united fan club. There weren’t that many people, but they were like strands forming cohesively into a rope! None of them flinched! Not a single one felt fear! They were all thinking of ways to help Teacher Zhang Ye in a single-minded fashion, as well as contributing their tiny bit of strength! They did not hide and watch the show! To these people, this was probably Zhang Ye’s personal charm!
This was the charm from Zhang Ye’s works!
It was even more so the charm of his personality!
Zhang Ye gave his heart to his fans! To the point of dissipating all of his wealth!
Now, the fans would naturally repay him wholeheartedly. This scene touched many people!
Hence, about 3,500 people started to follow the “Zhang Ye’s Nest” on Tieba, which also meant them joining Zhang Ye’s fan club, becoming one of its members!