Chapter 310: The First lesson is over!
Peking University.
In the auditorium.
Many of the reporters were trying their best to take photographs!
Many of the Peking University students were hungry for more! Compared to those experts or teachers, the students were much more receptive to fresh perspectives or opinions that subverted their understanding. They could accept and understand much more easily, and thus a group of such students were already hooked by interest towards the research and logical reasonings of Zhang Ye’s argument. They all were thinking how Teacher Zhang Ye would continue on from here.
“Teacher!”
“Do you still have more evidence?”
“Teacher Zhang, I have a question!”
“Are you really able to explain all of the logical errors in ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’?”
The Peking University students said one after the other, all scrambling to get their questions answered!
It was already 11:30AM.
The school had initially planned for Zhang Ye to have one hour to give his lecture for “Appreciation of the Classics”, but it had already exceeded the time slot by quite a bit.
Zhang Ye looked at his watch and spoke into the microphone, “Sorry everyone, I cannot answer everyone’s questions during today’s lesson due to time constraints. Those students who are interested can look for me after class to discuss. I also welcome any students, who are not in my elective class, to come and listen in on my second lesson. I welcome anyone who seeks to learn more about literature and those who love classical novels to join me as well. So then, we will be ending today’s lesson here. Class dismissed!” With that, Zhang Ye started packing his teaching materials from the projector and left the stage.
There was no applause.
There was not a single applause.
Instead, it was replaced by a surge of students rushing forward. The moment Zhang Ye got off the stage and was preparing to leave via the aisle, he was surrounded by a large group of Peking University students!
“Teacher Zhang!”
“What will we be tested on for our elective class?”
“Will we be tested on ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’? Can you give us a clue about what’s examinable!”
“Teacher, I still don’t really understand your perspective, could we discuss it?”
At this moment, the students of “Appreciation of the Classics” class had already recognized Zhang Ye’s position as their lecturer. Zhang Ye had used his knowledge to shake up these students! If the students had only respected Zhang Ye because of his Talk Show, his poems, or just because he was such a straight talker, then now the students were convinced by his solid and impressive lecturing skills!
Even if someone did not agree with Zhang Ye’s views or did not like his behavior, no one would be able to cast any more doubt that Zhang Ye did not know how to give lectures!
Who said that as a host, Zhang Ye would not know how to teach students?
Who said that an outsider of the education world would not know how to give a lecture?
The netizens, industry insiders, and experts of the education world that had cast doubt on Zhang Ye before now seemed quite laughable!
From the beginning, he threw out his argument and enticed the audience through his speech. The details were slowly revealed as he spent the entire lecture pushing out his logical reasoning in order of succession. What’s more, Zhang Ye was doing all of it off-script in front of them and without even a backup script highlighting his lecture pointers. The lesson was even done in a Q&A format, taking questions and debating about them. No one would know when and what these students would ask, yet Zhang Ye had countered them with extremely well thought out answers. He even managed to pull them back to his original main argument and drive his point home! He had used the questions from the students to reinforce his views and created a more visual and impactful understanding of them. What was key, was that this lesson was very interesting and no one had fallen asleep from the beginning till end. Not a single person in the more than thousand strong audience lost focus. The entire lesson was all within Zhang Ye’s control. They were all led by the nose by Zhang Ye’s bombshell. As such, the students had a very memorable lesson and gained more knowledge as well!
The education world experts still looked down on this host, Zhang Ye?! They were still biased against a person who was not from their industry? Bullsh*t! With the standard set by his performance today, even a professor with more than 10 years of experience….would not do better than this, right? They couldn’t possibly deliver the lecture better than Teacher Zhang Ye right? Alright, even though there were professors in Peking University and Tsinghua University who had the same standard as Zhang Ye’s lecture delivery and could do it with such interest, logic, and impact, would they be able to do so for a whole hour? Surely they would not be able to do so without a script, but Zhang Ye could! From this alone, no one in the education world would dare say they could do better than Zhang Ye!
This teacher was too interesting!
This was why the students had all surrounded Zhang Ye!
Of course, the group of reporters were even crazier than them!
More than twenty reporters rushed forward and squeezed in trying their best to take some pictures while others held out their voice recorders!
“Zhang Ye!”
“Please accept our interview!”
“I’m a reporter with the Beijing Times!”
“Teacher Zhang, do you realize that your lecture today is going to cause a huge stir?”
“This is only your first time giving a lesson as a lecture, but you’ve already thrown out such a shocking theory! How many people do you think will accept your views?”
“Teacher Zhang!”
“Please tell us about your thoughts!”
“What you said today was too shocking to the people! No! It’s too shocking to the world! Why did you not raise these views before? Did you just discover the shocking secret to ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ recently?”
Zhang Ye raised his hand, “Please let me through. I will not be giving any interviews today. If there’s a need, you may contact the relevant agencies in Peking University and if they allow it, I will give an interview. Sorry, please excuse me.” He was not here as a host, but as a teacher of Peking University. He would need to handle the issues of interviews carefully. The system and characteristics here were different from a television station, the school’s principles did not encourage a teacher to do informal interviews.
The security team had also come to maintain order.
After being tussled left and right, Zhang Ye was finally escorted out safely after 7-8 minutes. It was only giving a lecture, but it felt like he had gone to war. Zhang Ye was at a loss at whether to laugh or cry. He had intended to interact for a short while with President Wu and Dean Chang. The university and department leaders had come specially to listen in on his lecture, so it would have been rude if he just left without saying anything, but there was no other way now, as he could not find them anymore, even after looking left and right. He could only avoid the people and quickly walk back to his office.
……
At the other end.
The auditorium’s dedicated staff doorway.
Wu Zeqing, Chang Kaige, and company were walking out together with a camera crew member as well as the website administrator. They were discussing as they walked.
“Did you get the whole lesson?” Wu Zeqing asked.
The cameraman, who was in his forties, said, “Yes, I’ve recorded everything.”
The website administrator said respectfully, “President Wu, it is standard practice for all our past public lectures to be uploaded onto the Peking University website and also a publicity and showcase for us, but this time, Teacher Zhang Ye’s lecture on ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, should we…..not post it up?”
Wu Zeqing laughed gently, “Why not?”
Secretary Zhen Shuquan said, “There is quite a bit of information overload for this lecture and much of Zhang Ye’s views have not been verified yet. If we post this, it will inevitably cause a commotion? Right now, only a small group of students are slightly convinced by Zhang Ye. They still do not fully believe, let alone others. What more, those education and literary circle’s experts. They would surely make a fuss!”
Chang Kaige sighed, “There’s already a big fuss going on now. Even if we do not post it, when those reporters get back, they will still publish it. We should take the initiative and post it first instead. At least, Zhang Ye’s views will be presented with details, rather than letting the reporters take his arguments out of context and have the possibility of an even greater negative reaction!”
Wu Zeqing said, “Dean Chang is right. Just like Zhang Ye said himself, the more truth is debated, the less obscure it becomes. Having some controversy is a good thing.”
Yan Jiantao raised his eyebrows in disagreement, “Will that really not be a problem? If it is not handled properly, our Peking University will become the target of criticism! After all, Zhang Ye is now a lecturer of Peking University. If his views are made known, then whatever trouble that comes along with it will also have to be handled by Peking University? And furthermore Little Zhang’s point of view has not been perfected or elaborated in full. He’s still so young and wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure from outside. What if the lessons turn out to be a mess later? Wouldn’t it be better if we delayed it for a few more days before posting? To see if Zhang Ye has anymore new evidence to show for?”
Wu Zeqing said flatly, “Hur Hur, there’s no need to wait a few days.” To the website administrator, she said, “Clean up the recording and post it up.”
“Yes, President Wu.” that person acknowledged.
Then, Wu Zeqing said to Yan Jiantao, “Professor Yan, I know that you have always been very stringent towards academic issues, but issues related to ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ are not something that we can be overly stringent with. There are already all sorts of unsolved mysteries to it and at this point of time, being stringent is no longer the single most important factor. A daring questioning and view of it would be the most important thing. I believe that Teacher Little Zhang also wishes to be doubted from the outside world and the world of Redology. Only if that happens would there be more analysis and more debates. With more opinions and views, we will be able to finally gain a clearer understanding and solve this mystery. This should be a good thing.” She smiled as she was saying, “As to whether Teacher Little Zhang will be able to handle the pressure from outside, I don’t think that we should even be worried about it?”
You could worry about anything, everything has a chance to go wrong, but when it came to resisting pressure, a person like Zhang Ye would definitely have no problems handling it!
Professor Zeng was jubilant when he heard these words. “Professor Yan probably does not know the background of Teacher Little Zhang. Back then, during the hijacking of plane, Zhang Ye, who had never piloted a plane, stood forward at the most critical moment and landed it safely. He saved over a hundred lives. We can not use logic to deduce what this man is thinking.”
Chang Kaige, the other teachers and Peking University staff, who were present, had also heard a little about Zhang Ye’s miraculous stories. Their expressions broke out into wry smiles.
Of course, everyone tacitly knew that there was no reason to worry about Zhang Ye about handling pressure! In two live broadcasts, he had scolded his leader once and criticized the SARFT in the other. With all that pressure from the second incident, Zhang Ye could still scold the SARFT with a poem a day in a carefree manner. It could be said that he was the type who fought even harder the more pressure there was. This was the sort of literary hooligan he was. If he couldn’t take the pressure, then no one in this world would be able to take it either!