Chapter 47: The Parents Are Revolting!
Recording studio #4.
Since there was no part where the audience called in, Zhang Ye did not get his assistant, Xiaofang, to help. He began to record his program for Sunday.
“Chapter 3: How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow.”
“Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand and gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow. Its head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on it to represent a face. An old, pointed blue hat that had belonged to some Munchkin was perched on his head, and the rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also been stuffed with straw.”
“Chapter 4: The Road Through the Forest.”
“So the Scarecrow led her through the trees until they reached the cottage. Dorothy entered and found a bed of dried leaves in one corner. She lay down at once and, with Toto beside her, soon fell into a sound sleep. The Scarecrow, who was never tired, stood up in another corner and waited patiently until morning came.”
After finishing the story for today, Zhang Ye looked at the time. He had reserved two minutes, so he quickly did the ending which did not seem like an ending. There was no other way out. Since the station did not give him any notice and the Leader did not say anything, Zhang Ye could only follow the original instructions to end his segment. “Children and our friends in the audience, that will be all for today’s segment. ‘Old and Young Story Club’ will also end today. This segment has gone on for many years. Here, I’ll thank everyone on behalf of Teacher Feng for the ongoing support. Although I have only taken over this segment for five episodes, I have extremely deep feelings for ‘Old and Young Story Club’. I have so many things I want to say in my heart that are so complex. Forget it, I won’t say it. Next week, there will be a new segment taking over, called ‘Soaring Youth’. Please support it.”
…
Office area.
Zhang Ye returned.
“You’ve wrapped it up?” Teacher Feng lamented.
Zhang Ye responded, “Wrapped up.”
Teacher Feng patted him on the shoulder, “It’s been tough on you.”
“It’s been tough on you, Teacher Little Zhang.” Big Sis Zhou, who did editing, gave him a thumbs up.
Xiaofang also looked towards him, “Teacher Zhang, you’ve worked hard. Teacher Feng, you’ve worked hard.”
This was customary. Every time a segment ended, everyone would say this. It was a form of farewell and was also to show respect for the long-term efforts of the Teachers.
Wang Xiaomei and others also said the same words to Teacher Feng and Zhang Ye.
Only Jia Yan did not say it. He couldn’t care less, as he was busy with his new segment. Although he had recorded the first two episodes for his program, he had not done the opening and ending. He was secretly writing a script. Why did he write a script secretly? Maybe it was because Zhang Ye never used a script. This was no secret in the entire Beijing Radio Station. Zhang Ye’s “feat” was often talked about. Zhang Ye was a newcomer and so was Jia Yan; hence, he did not want to lose to Zhang Ye psychologically. He was competitive!
Afternoon.
The last episode of “Old and Young Story Club” was broadcast.
Many office ladies were listening in to Zhang Ye’s program. It seemed to have turned into a rule since yesterday. They all had children, but as parents, they would never find a good children’s fairy tale that could educate their children excessive.
“The Scarecrow, who was never tired, stood up in another corner and waited patiently until morning came.” This was the last sentence for today’s “The Wizard of Oz”.
When everyone heard this, they exclaimed.
“It can’t be? It ended just like that?”
“The story ended? It hasn’t! Isn’t it finished!?”
“Isn’t it a serialized four-chapter story that was to be broadcast over two days? Why did it end up like that? This can’t be an ending. A new character has just appeared. Having saved the Scarecrow, the plot has not even developed!”
“F**k! There’s still more?”
“There must be more stories that come after! It’s not only four chapters long!”
Everyone finally understood it as they nearly fainted!
It was unknown who told Jia Yan. He immediately rushed back to the office when he was eating at the cafeteria. He angrily looked for Zhang Ye, “Teacher Zhang! What happened?”
Zhang Ye feigned ignorance, “What do you mean, ‘what happened?’”
“What do you think!?” Jia Yan was flustered, “Why hasn’t your program ended?”
Zhang Ye blinked, “It’s already over. I even said the ending and even introduced your program.”
“That’s not the problem. I’m saying why are there more parts to the serialized story at the back!” Jia Yan was really furious.
Zhang Ye said, “I can’t care about that. My story is that long. To speak the truth, not even today, it won’t even be finished next week. There’s a total of 20 more chapters in the series. How can I finish it today? Little Jia, I also want to tell a story that could be finished in two days, but unfortunately, I do not have one. I only came up with ‘The Wizard of Oz’ recently. There’s no other way around it. After all, I independently created it. Short fairy tale stories aren’t so easily created. Creating a work is not easy.”
Not easy?
When you composed poems, when has it ever not been done in an impromptu fashion?
When you told ghost stories, when was it not done on the spot?
Original works may be very difficult for others, but it was definitely nothing for you!
Everyone knew Zhang Ye was doing it on purpose. He was wicked! It was too wicked! To leave such a good fairy tale story on a cliffhanger, how was Jia Yan to take over the slot!? Even if he could take it over, wouldn’t he be cursed to death by the loyal listeners of “Old and Young Story Club”? Listeners were originally already unhappy about the ending of the Story Club, with many people saying they would complain or smash windows. Well, maybe they were just speaking nonsense. If Zhang Ye had really finished his story for Story Club, then the end was the end. There was nothing much to it, as time could solve everything. However, now, Zhang Ye had not finished his story. It was a neutered state; wouldn’t this be like blue balls? Wouldn’t this incite the emotions of the listeners? There was nothing more wicked than this!
Zhang Ye’s simple response had pushed it back at Jia Yan.
Jia Yan turned and left, “I’m not speaking to you, I’ll go to the Leader!”
The moment he left, Teacher Feng felt both angry and happy, as he pointed towards Zhang Ye and whispered, “You kid, you sure are something.” He laughed at the end.
Zhang Ye did not care about this. Were you going to bite me if I wanted to tell the story in such a manner?
After some time, Jia Yan returned. He had clearly not found the Leader, as he went back to his seat with a sulking face.
The situation had turned more complex. With the Leader not around and him remaining neutral, this matter was completely in a state of limbo. Furthermore, there were listeners of “Old and Young Story Club” already leaving curses on the Radio Station’s official website. The broadcast of today’s episode had caused quite a commotion!
“Holy shit! This is too damaging!”
“It’s been neutered? It became neutered just like that?”
“Do not end it! This will take the lives of people!”
“My child has just heard four chapters! If I do not continue telling him the story tomorrow, the child will be rolling on the ground screaming! Teacher Zhang Ye, quickly carry on! Do not stop the broadcast!”
“What is the radio station doing!?”
“Teacher Zhang is so bad! He left an unfinished story for us?”
“What ‘Soaring Youth’? We don’t want to listen to it! Return to us our ‘Old and Young Story Club’!”
“Right, return to us our ‘Old and Young Story Club’! We only want to listen to this!”
“Let that ‘Soaring Youth’ die! Soaring, your sister! With ‘The Wizard of Oz’ not finished and stuck in the middle! What fart is it soaring!?”
“Soar, just jump off the building and you can fly!”
“Right, I really feel like jumping off a building! I’m not telling it to my children, as I’m not married yet. It’s because I really love the story!”
There were even children who left messages. Now, children got into contact with advanced technology at a younger age. Thinking back, Zhang Ye only had a computer in high school. Now, children would already have access to that during elementary school. “Uncle Zhang Ye, don’t leave. Please do not end it. I want to hear the later parts of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. This fairy tale is too good. Our school has even left homework for us to listen to your story!”
The response of the crowd was very “loud”.
Not to mention others, even a few older ladies in the office could not accept it. Three ladies discussed before surrounding Zhang Ye’s desk, “Little Zhang, you are too immoral. It’s fine if your program is ending, but you must at least write out the later parts of the story for us. There’s still another 20 more chapters, right? Quickly write. We are waiting!”
Zhang Ye smiled bitterly, “I’ll try my best, sisters.”
Big Sis Zhou said, “You can’t try your best. You must write it well, or it’s too aggravating!”
Suddenly, some parent had left a message on the radio station’s website’s comment section. It was titled, “Do not let the story end. Everyone come in and support.” The content was, “Comrades, parents. Everyone probably knows that the Story Club is ending. The power of the masses is the greatest. Let us show our voice and let the radio station see it. Let ‘Old and Young Story Club’” carry on with its broadcasting!”
There was a sea of responses beneath it!
“Support!”
“Support+1000!”
“Boycott ‘Soaring Youth’!”
“Return the blue skies to the children!”
“Nowadays, there are already so few children’s fairy tales. The only remaining children’s program on the radio are the Beijing Radio Station’s ‘Old and Young Story Club’. We must not let the program end. The children still need this segment! The children need Teacher Zhang Ye’s story! Prop it up!”
There were a countless number of messages. There were also many supporters.
It was just 2 P.M., which meant that in an hour, there were more than 1,500 messages left on the boards!
Radio, which was part of the old media, had already been largely replaced by new media. It had lost its glory days and did not have much of an audience. However, the controversy caused by this matter could make anyone, who looked at the radio station’s website, mistakenly believe that they had returned to the 80’s or 90’s, when the radio was still having its absolute reign. The Big Brother status seemed to return. And the technology and equipment were not prepared for this. The large crowd that flocked to the Beijing Radio Station’s website to show their support or curse had caused the website’s server to nearly crash!
This was a big deal!
Zhang Ye and many colleagues never expected this. They all jumped from fright!