Chapter 567 The students go on strike!
“Dominating!”
“How touching!”
“This kind of incident can only be done by Teacher Zhang Ye!”
“That was really satisfying! My eyes have gone red from watching this video clip! Which inst.i.tution in China has ever had a moment in time like today’s domineering spirit of Peking University!”
“What a good ‘an ordinary citizen’s most humble patriotism’! Just those words and scolding were enough to turn me into a die-hard fan of Zhang Ye!”
“Me too!”
“+1!”
“Love Zhang Ye the most!”
“The Peking University students are too courageous and upright!”
“Love you guys! If you want to marry, marry a Peking University man! If you wish to look for a wife, look for her at Peking University! Teacher Zhang is great! You guys are great too! So cool!”
This topic had rocketed up Weibo’s main page of trending articles in a short period of time. With it’s momentum, it was probably only 15 to 30 minutes away from becoming the top headline. This was mainly due to the live broadcast of the press conference where it was first mentioned and also because it was a big incident, thus pus.h.i.+ng up the topic!
There were countless Likes!
Of course, there were also people who angrily rebuked the incident!
For example, Renmin University’s Professor Ma Hengyuan, who openly criticized the incident on Weibo: “What a mess! What is the meaning of this? Is that the bearing of the country’s best educational inst.i.tution? Can he still be considered a teacher of the people? A black sheep like this should have been removed from teaching a long time ago. Suspension of cla.s.s? Relieved of duties? This is letting Zhang Ye off too lightly!”
A current affairs commentator: “In the past, Zhang Ye often spewed nonsense indiscriminately. However, at those times, what he said was always his personal point of view. But now, his speech and behavior are no longer as simple as just his personal viewpoint anymore. As a teacher of the people, not only did he not teach his students to be good, he even taught them to scold others? Teaching the students how to hate on others? This is clearly not how a teacher should behave. Speaking without thinking will only bring you a moment of happiness, but is there any meaning to that? You’re a teacher and a public figure. Anything you say will always be watched by society. What you need to do is play the leading role, bring about a positive energy to the citizens. However, whether it be as a teacher or a public figure, Zhang Ye has undoubtedly failed in his duty now!”
“That’s right!”
“It’s him again! We’re seeing Zhang Ye again!”
“Zhang Ye is still the same old him!”
“He’s really too much of a troublemaker!”
“With a teacher like this, how can the students’ parents not be worried!”
A constant wave of criticisms!
In just a few short minutes, many experts and academics had already condemned Zhang Ye multiple times!
However, the people supporting Zhang Ye numbered far greater!
A social affairs commentator retorted: “How is positive energy defined? In my opinion, positive energy is not something you can just determine superficially. It does not have a form. Does swearing make something carry negative energy immediately? Anything that does not conform to the mainstream opinion means that it carries negative energy? Who sets the standards on such things? It’s not set by other people but the ma.s.ses themselves. I’ve watched the video clip too. Does Professor Yan’s and Bai Yi’s speech represent the kind of positive energy that you all are talking about? Telling the students that our country is not as good as another country, that we are lacking in standards, that we’re a backward country, and how we should respect a country that basically does not respect us—is that what positive energy is? Bullsh*t! Let me tell you all what I understand as positive energy. In the situation where the delegation intentionally arrived late by more than two hours and under the critical speeches of Yan Jiantao and Bai Yi, when I heard Zhang Ye utter the word ‘pui’—that is what I call positive energy! When I heard Zhang Ye say ‘idiots’—that was also positive energy! So what if it was swearing? So what if he scolded others? Language is only a form of expression, while positive energy runs in a much deeper level of the spirit!”
An online commentator: “Zhang Ye’s speeches are also so full of pa.s.sion and charisma. After listening to his ‘Why Should I Forgive You’ today, I feel that, in the field of public speaking in our country, Zhang Ye’s level can already be considered top of the field. This legendary person has once again brought us such an exciting speech. I know that what I say now may cause some disputes or leave many unsatisfied with my views, but I must still say this from the bottom of my heart. I must give Zhang Ye a Like based on just the word ‘idiots’ that he used to scold them with! Zhang Ye is one of the most talented persons I’ve ever known. The reason why he keeps attracting so much doubt and criticism is also probably because he is so talented that even Earth can’t hold his talent anymore!”
“Scolding Teacher Zhang Ye? That bunch of people must be crazy!”
“The delegation was intentionally trying to create trouble by being late and not giving us face. The two teachers from Peking University even went as far as scolding our own people over this, but Teacher Zhang stepped forward to rebuke with some fair words, so what do you all mean? Are you all unhappy with that?”
“Support!”
“I’m unconditionally giving all my support to Zhang Ye on this matter!”
“While the foreigners scolded us and looked down on us, none of you spoke up and just kept quiet. But when someone finally leads us to speak up for ourselves, to fight back, you all would rather stand up to criticize Teacher Zhang instead? Go f**k yourselves! Bunch of idiots! You all act as though you’ve seen your ancestors when you meet these foreigners? You don’t even dare raise your voices to them, yet you’re willing to clash with your own comrades! You all are exactly the types that are only good in a civil war, but useless in a national war!”
“No matter how others rate him, to me, Teacher Zhang will always be an excellent teacher of the people! His excellence might be missed by some, but we all know it!”
Suddenly, Ma Hengyuan, Tang Dazhang, and many other experts and academics who had denounced Zhang Ye along with Peking University’s students earlier had their Weibo flooded with an outpouring of replies by the netizens!
“Idiots!”
“Idiots!”
The replies were all done in the esprit of today"s scolding by the Peking University students!
Of course, Zhang Ye and some of the experts and students who had supported his actions also had their own Weibo flooded with messages.
“Brain dead!”
“Crazy!”
“A bunch of idiotic nationalists!”
With just a spark, a huge wave of scolding had suddenly erupted!
As it got boisterous online, many news outlets also began publis.h.i.+ng their reports on this matter. And so, the number of people who were following with interest also rose sharply!
The people were heatedly discussing it!
At this moment.
At Peking University.
Zhang Ye’s colleagues had come to see him off downstairs. He was about to go get his car to leave but was then surrounded by countless students who knew of his departure. He could not move at all.
Yao Mi was there. So was Senior Song.
Those whom he had taught before and others whom he had not were all here for him.
A few female students were surrept.i.tiously wiping away their tears, while most of the others were roused. Even with the topic so hotly discussed online, there were barely any Peking University students who had come forward with their account of the incident. That was because they were too busy to go online at all, as after they had heard that Zhang Ye had been suspended and relieved of his teaching duties, all of them came running over in anger. Two third-year female students even took the time to go back to their dorm to quickly make some banners. It was just a simple long piece of paper on which they had written some words using markers. The writing was rushed and somewhat lopsided, but the words still looked very firm and strong!
—”Return Teacher Zhang to us”!
A few girls were holding it up at the side!
“Teacher Zhang!”
“Don’t go!”
“Why are they making you stop your cla.s.ses!?”
“If you leave, then we won’t go to cla.s.ses either!”
“Right! We will all boycott our cla.s.ses!”
“We will go on a strike! Let’s go look for the school heads!”
“Let’s go! We will take this up to the school authority!”
“Return Teacher Zhang to us!”
“Return Teacher Zhang to us!”
With more than a thousand people, their voices shouted in unison!
Not far off, more and more Peking University students also joined in spontaneously!
When Su Na saw this, she suddenly felt very gratified as she realized that the students were not stupid. They knew who was good to them and who spoke sincerely to them. They knew all of this clearly in their hearts, more than anyone!
Chang Kaige and Zhen Shuquan both looked over at him, thinking that this Teacher Little Zhang has really great influence. He could basically rally the whole crowd here. It was unlikely that anyone else in Peking University could do the same as him. Both of them had also learned that the incident had been leaked online and there were many people denouncing Zhang Ye, claiming that he was incompetent and not a good teacher. Actually, Chang Kaige and the others, as leaders of the Chinese Department, also agreed that Zhang Ye was really not suited to be a teacher. He was too hot-headed and impulsive. But right now, in this moment, seeing how thousands of students intended to go on strike and even wanted to bring this issue up to the school authority just because their teacher had been suspended from cla.s.ses, the emotions they felt from this were extremely complex. Incompetent? A teacher so well-loved and respected by the students, who would be in any position to say that he was incompetent! If he was considered an incompetent teacher, then in this whole wide world, how many teachers would be considered a good teacher?
What was a teacher?
What should a teacher do?
The events happening in front of these teachers right now had set them thinking about all these questions.