Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 20 Who's That on TV?
The aftermath of the report meeting continued until Saturday. On Saturday, only the third grade students had classes in school, and the first and second grade students went back for winter vacation on Friday afternoon.

Zhang Chao felt that everyone he met at school was greeting him. Some enthusiastic classmates even brought their essays to class and insisted that Zhang Chao help them revise them.

Before noon, Zhang Chao had received more than 30 essays. Fortunately, teacher Zhang Ting helped him out and returned the essays for him.

At noon, Zhang Ting found him and talked to him about Gu Yan's plan.

"What? Set up a group for top Chinese students to improve their scores, and let me be the leader?" Zhang Chao couldn't believe it.

"Yes. There are several students in our grade whose Chinese scores have reached a bottleneck. They are basically stuck between 120 and 125 and cannot go up. Sometimes they even drop if they don't perform well. The method you introduced last night is very practical and very inspiring to the students."

"Well, aren't there still teachers? Why can't I be the team leader?"

"It is precisely because we teachers have been teaching students for too long that we not only have blind spots in our assessment of students' abilities, but students also feel mentally fatigued by our teaching. You can make up for these shortcomings."

“What is the specific form?”

"Teacher Gu plans to negotiate with the school to not use up the regular classes, but to set aside two days from Monday to Friday afternoon after school and before evening self-study for intensive grade-improvement work, each time for one to one and a half hours."

"I...I'll think about it again?" Zhang Chao hesitated. He was worried that it would take up his writing time.

"What are you still hesitating about? Teacher Gu said that when the time comes, we will clean up the utility room next to the preparation room, put tables and chairs in it, and prepare a computer for you to look up information."

Zhang Chao's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Can I use it normally?"

Zhang Ting looked at him with a smile, as if she saw through everything, and replied: "It depends on your performance. If the score improvement is good, I will ask Team Leader Gu. Also, don't you want to improve your math and English?"

Zhang Chao agreed without even thinking about it this time: "Okay, I'll be the leader of this assault group."

After school in the afternoon, Zhang Chao went home as usual.

Tonight is a hurdle and he has to pass it.

Even though I failed the first mock test, I did well in Chinese, so I can still make up for it. If I did poorly on average, then there would be no hope.

And there's a bonus tonight.

"Dad, Mom. I'm back." Zhang Chao went straight to his room as soon as he entered the room, but was soon stopped by his mother.

"Why are you in such a hurry to go back to your room? How much did you get in the first mock exam? Did you not do well?" No one knows a child better than his mother. Zhang Chao's mother immediately grasped the key point.

Zhang Chao had no choice but to stop and replied awkwardly, "Yes... it's not very good."

"What's the exact score? Less than 500?"

"Uh...you can be bolder..."

“…Is it not 480?”

"...A little bolder..."

"How many points did you get, you damn child?" Zhang Chao's mother's eyes were wide open, filled with murderous intent.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't do well in the exam this time. Just work hard next time. Come on, tell me now, don't make your mom angry." Zhang Chao's father also chimed in. He had a hunch last week, so he didn't ask this time.

“3...337.” Zhang Chao knew he couldn’t escape, so he reported his results.

Zhang Chao's mother held her forehead and almost fainted. Zhang Chao's father stood up from his chair, dumbfounded.

They were very concerned about Zhang Chao's studies and knew his test scores clearly. In a monthly test before the first mock exam, Zhang Chao's total score was 515 points. Although he could not get into a key university, he could still study for an undergraduate degree.

What the hell is this: a regression of nearly 180 points?

Zhang Chao quickly made up for it, "I... I got the first place in the city in Chinese, 145. Look." He took out the Chinese test paper and placed it in front of his parents.

“145?” Zhang Chao’s father is a Chinese teacher. Although he does not teach in high school, he knows the importance of such a score.

Zhang Chao's mother didn't care about that. She was already crying as she spoke: "...What's the point of being good at one subject? The college entrance examination doesn't just test one subject. You are going to, you are going to piss me off to death... Woo..."

Zhang Chao's father immediately began to comfort his wife: "Don't worry, this is unusual, there must be something fishy. Ask the child what's going on first."

Zhang Chao attributed all the reasons to his recent obsession with Chinese and writing, and his failure to review other subjects well.

Zhang Chao's mother pushed her husband away and said bitterly: "It's all your fault! You never let him learn English and math well since he was young. He just keeps writing all day like you..."

When Zhang Chao's father saw that the war had spread to him, he quickly started to put out the fire and pulled Zhang Chao to make a promise.

This went on for more than half an hour before Zhang Chao's mother calmed down.

The family began to eat dinner without any appetite.

Zhang Chao looked at the time and saw that it was already past six o'clock, so he quickly turned on the TV and tuned to Changfu County TV. His parents were a little confused. What was interesting about the county TV program? Apart from the speeches of the leaders, they also sold fake alcohol and fake medicine.

It was the time for the "Changfu News". After the county leaders' speeches were over, the news host said:

"In recent years, the education of our county has made great progress under the care and support of the superior leaders and the unremitting efforts of the front-line education workers. In the just-concluded city senior high school first mock exam, the students of the No. 1 and No. 3 middle schools in our county performed well and achieved excellent results. For this reason, our reporter came to the campus..."

Then the reporter Ye Zhuoying's face full of intellectual beauty and professionalism appeared. The first interview broadcast was with students from No. 1 Middle School. After all, it was No. 1 Middle School, and its grades were indeed slightly better than those of No. 3 Middle School.

The first student from No. 670 Middle School is Xu Yingfeng, who has the highest score in the city in liberal arts, points. This girl is also very pretty, but she is quite introverted and speaks in a low voice.

After the interviews with several students from No. 1 Middle School were completed, it was the turn of No. 3 Middle School. The first to appear was Shen Ming, who ranked third in the liberal arts exam. Shen Ming seemed very nervous in front of the camera, but with the clever editing, he did not look embarrassed.

Soon it was Zhang Chao's turn. He said to his parents with some pride: "Look, who is that on TV?"

Zhang Chao's parents were very surprised to see their son appear on the screen for the first time. They also felt relieved to see that their son spoke calmly, without any embarrassment or restraint like other students.

Even Zhang Chao's mother couldn't help but praise him: "He didn't do well in the exam, but he's quite talkative."

Zhang Chao thought to himself: "Mom, if you want to laugh, just laugh. The curve of your mouth can hardly be suppressed."

After the interview was over, Ye Zhuoying continued in front of the camera: "Our students not only performed well in the exam, but also had excellent overall qualities. They are all-round young people of the motherland. After the first mock exam, Zhang Chao, who won the first place in the city's Chinese language, created an inspirational song, "Your Answer", which was sung by Song Shiyu from No. 3 Middle School. Today, it is also presented to all the students in front of the TV."

Then, Song Shiyu's heavenly voice came out from the TV. The TV station also filmed Song Shiyu recording a song in the studio that day, interspersed with the interview footage of that day, forming a simple MV.

Zhang Chao's parents looked at him in disbelief, as if they were meeting their son for the first time.

Zhang Chao's father said quietly, "Write, write, write... There's nothing wrong with that..."

(End of this chapter)