Top Scholar

Chapter 93 What is a superstar?

Inside the He family compound.

With a holy expression, Su Lu addressed the assembled 'wise men':

“My older brother said that this was a great opportunity—the best way to help the next generation of the two ethnic groups live in peace and cultivate friendships among classmates. That’s why he agreed to become a teacher at Erlangtan Community School.”

As he spoke, he looked at the Cheng brothers and said:

"I firmly believe this. For example, we were classmates for only a few months, but we went from being enemies to best friends!"

"Yes." The Cheng brothers nodded emphatically, feeling honored by Su Lu's statement.

"So that's how it is!" The Su brothers exclaimed in realization. "Big Brother is truly righteous!"

“But my older brother is in trouble now, you’ve all heard about it, right?” Su Lu looked at everyone.

"Yes." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Especially those brothers who spend all day at Erlangtan, they even played a bad role in it... Those silly boys in the community school, they are not their own brothers, but their cousins, and they have been instigated by them a lot.

Upon hearing Su Lu speak of Chun Ge'er's noble character, they were immediately filled with shame and blamed themselves, saying, "We were such bastards! Not only did we not help Chun Ge'er, we also held him back!"

Su Yang slapped himself hard twice. "I started several fights, I deserve to die!"

"No, no, ignorance is no excuse..." Su Lu quickly grabbed him, realizing she had used too much force and triggered the child's adolescent delusions.

"But we have to figure out a way to help my brother turn the situation around!"

"Understood!" the teenagers replied in unison. "What should we do?"

"That's why I called you here to discuss this." Although Su Lu already had a plan, he still hoped to guide them to speak up. Participation fosters initiative.

"We'll go back and find those kids, and warn them not to fight in the school!"

“Fighting is not an option anywhere; only peaceful coexistence can turn hostility into friendship,” Cheng Wanzhou said in a shrill voice.

“That’s right.” Su Lu nodded and said, “Continue.”

"We can also take turns going to the community school to keep an eye on the kids from our clan, and deal with anyone who dares to fight..."

“We can set a goal, like buying them candy if we don’t beat them for three days.” You could tell from these words that it was Cheng Wanzhou who said it.

"Should we offer them sweet water if we don't beat them for five days?" Su said calmly.

"Yes, yes," Cheng Wanzhou clapped his hands and said.

"Sure my foot!" Su Lang said. "How many times can we afford to invite over sixty children?"

"If it's not okay, it's not okay. Don't swear at me." Cheng Wanzhou stomped his foot.

After everyone had spoken at once, Su Lu said in a deep voice, "What you all said is very good, but we still need to come up with a big plan to turn the tide!"

"I've got it!" Su Lang, full of clever ideas, suggested, "We can call them into this courtyard, dress up as ghosts to scare them, and say that if anyone dares to fight again, we'll come to their house tonight!"

"What kind of terrible idea is this? Aren't you just giving money to the shaman?" Su Dan retorted casually.

“Indeed, how can we scholars pretend to be supernatural?” Cheng Wanzhou was quite orthodox. Actually, he was timid and afraid that he would scare himself before he could frighten anyone else.

"I've got it! Thanks for the inspiration, I have a solution!" Su Lu patted Cheng Wanzhou and Su Lang on the shoulders and said to everyone, "There's no time like the present, everyone go and call those kids over, I'll tell them a story, I guarantee it'll cure them!"

"Okay!" Although the boys didn't believe that any story could produce immediate results, they believed in Su Lu.

~~
On summer nights, adults and children alike stay up late.

Adults would spread out mats to cool off under the starlight, while children would run around, playing hide-and-seek, chasing fireflies, fighting crickets, catching eels, digging for cicada nymphs... releasing the boundless energy of the hot summer.

Of course, listening to the elderly tell stories was an important activity for them to enjoy the cool evening air. But these days, people have so few stories to tell, and they keep repeating the same old, tired tales that children have long since grown tired of.

Therefore, the excuse Su Dan, Cheng Wantang, and others used to gather the children was not to listen to stories, but to take them to see interesting things and play fun games...

In short, they coaxed and tricked all sixty-odd children into the He family compound, and then closed the door!
The children felt a chill run down their spines; if there hadn't been so many people around, they would have been terrified.

Then they discovered that their mortal enemy from earlier in the day had also arrived.

"Brother, why did you call us all here?" the Su family children asked Su Lang and the others. "Is it to settle things here?"

"Why didn't you say so earlier? We came empty-handed..." The Cheng family children also complained to Cheng Wantang and the others.

"No, no! Nobody's allowed to lay a hand on him today!" Su Lang shouted. "Otherwise, I'll crush his balls!"

"Don't scare them." Cheng Wanzhou coughed lightly and said softly to the children, "Today, your older brothers have invited you to listen to a story. We spent a lot of money to invite the most popular storyteller in town to tell you a story you've never heard before. We guarantee you'll be captivated!"

"Great! Great!" The children, their appetites piqued by Cheng Wanzhou's words, disregarded all formalities and sat down on the ground, waiting for the storyteller to appear. As night deepened and the torches in the courtyard gradually went out, the children stirred again. But then, suddenly, a series of loud 'bang-bang-chatter' sounds rang out from the main room, instantly capturing the children's attention.

Immediately afterwards, a bright fire lit up the main room, and the children couldn't help but squint.

They then noticed a white sheet stretched across the entrance to the main room, its four corners tied to the doorframe, keeping the sheet perfectly straight. The firelight shone through behind the sheet, illuminating the stains and patches on it clearly…

"Snap!" A crisp sound of a gavel rang out, and the drumming and cymbal playing stopped instantly.

Immediately afterwards, a clear voice came from behind the cloth:
"Enough with the small talk, let's get straight to the point! Today we're going to talk about a story called 'The Monkey King,' which tells of a fairy mountain called Flower and Fruit Mountain located beyond the East Sea..."

At the same time, the light and shadow on the screen flickered, and the shadow of a continuous mountain slowly emerged, with even the outline of the rocks clearly outlined by the firelight.

"The mountain is covered with wildflowers and fruits—peaches, watermelons, grapes, oranges, lychees, longans—you name it, they have it all, all year round!" The voice, filled with longing, exclaimed, "It's truly a paradise for monkeys!"

The children's eyes widened, as if they could already smell the sweet aroma of the fruit; many of the little gluttons were drooling...

At this moment, the mountain shadows on the screen gradually grew larger, highlighting a large, round boulder on the mountaintop...

Then the storyteller continued, "But the highest peak of Flower Fruit Mountain is barren and devoid of any vegetation. A round, huge rock stands alone on the summit, with fine lines visible on its surface. Legend has it that it is the last remaining divine stone from Nuwa's patching of the sky!"

"That spirit stone had endured countless years of wind and rain, when suddenly, thunder struck from the sky—"

The children were listening intently when a cymbal snap suddenly came from behind the cloth, startling them.

"When the spirit stone was split open, a stone monkey jumped out!"

Behind the white cloth, a little monkey really did emerge, jumping and tumbling around...

"Wow!" The children cheered loudly, their hands clapping until they were red, all of them staring intently at the screen, completely absorbed in the play.

What Han Chinese child could resist the allure of "Journey to the West"? Especially since Su Lu even borrowed techniques from shadow puppetry...

Su Dan and Su Yang played drums and cymbals, providing background music to the rhythm of the story. Cheng Wanfan, on the other hand, fiddled with his younger brother's marionette monkey behind the curtain.

Although there was no rehearsal, the movements were messy, and there were occasional mistakes, the children didn't care at all and watched with great interest, not even blinking.

These days, children in the mountains have very little entertainment. The old folks just keep telling the same old stories like "the heavenly dog ​​swallowing the sun" and "the water ghost harming people." The children desperately need some fresh and exciting stories!

The legendary story of the Monkey King, the greatest handsome man in history, completely captivated them. The children listened with rapt attention, forgetting even to urinate.

When Su Yang talked about the Water Curtain Cave, he added the sound of rushing water, which caused several children to wet their pants...

When Su Lu finished telling the story of the stone monkey becoming the Monkey King and deciding to sail the sea to find a master in order to achieve immortality, he deliberately slowed down the pace and drew out the words: "So, will the Monkey King be able to get what he wants? To find out what happens next, please listen to the next chapter!"

'Snap!' Another sound of the gavel rang out, and the fire behind the cloth went out with a 'whoosh,' and the sound of drums and cymbals, along with the monkey's shadow, disappeared into the darkness.

The children lingered in the story, their faces filled with a sense of loss, muttering to themselves, "Where is the Monkey King going to learn his skills?"

At this moment, the white cloth was pulled down, and Su Lu led Su Yang, Cheng Wanfan, and others out to take their bows.

Seeing that such a wonderful performance was actually put on by their own older brother, the children became even more excited, cheering and thanking him enthusiastically.

Of course, I couldn't help but ask Su Lu, "Brother, did the Monkey King learn any magic?"

Su Lu, however, kept everyone in suspense, saying, "Didn't I say that if you want to know what happens next, please listen to the next chapter? We'll reveal the answer in ten days after our ten-day break."

"Oh, another ten days?" The children were immediately disappointed. "That's too long! How can we wait!"

Then the children of the Su family surrounded him, pleading, "Good brother, please tell us a little something..."

"Sigh, alright." Su Lu, unable to resist the 'persuasion,' finally gave in:
"To tell you the truth, this story was told to me by my older brother, who is also your husband!"

"Wow!" the children exclaimed in unison, suddenly feeling that Chun Ge'er's image had become much more impressive.

“Actually, he had been preparing to tell you all this for a long time, but you didn’t respect him and were even unwilling to call him ‘sir,’ so of course he was sad and didn’t want to tell you anymore.” Su Lu finally revealed his true intentions.

"We'll call it tomorrow, and we'll call it every day after that," the Cheng family children hurriedly promised.

"Not only do you have to call me 'teacher,' but you also have to abide by the school rules, not argue or fight, listen attentively in class, and complete your homework." Su Lu seized the opportunity to make an outrageous demand:

"If you can do it, he will tell you about it every day!"

"Okay, okay, we promise!" The children accepted it all without any bargaining.

"Okay, if you can do it, we'll put on a big show again in ten days! We'll treat you to delicious food and drinks! If you can't do it even for one day, I'm sorry, that's it!" Su Lu shouted.

"Don't worry, we can definitely do it!" The ringleaders of the kids who usually led fights shouted, "Anyone who dares to fight, we'll crush their testicles!" They had no choice but to identify themselves as the Monkey King.

The charm of the Monkey King is truly irresistible!
(End of this chapter)