Chapter 23 - Becoming Slightly Famous! (1/2)

The next day on the way to work, while walking past the subway’s west newsstand, Zhang Ye asked, “Has the Beijing Times newspaper arrived? How much?”

“A dollar.” the owner replied mechanically.

Zhang Ye took out some money, “Give me a copy.”

The owner took the money and handed a copy over, “Okay, take it.”

Zhang Ye, broke as h.e.l.l, felt bad giving the dollar. But it was unavoidable; money ought to be spent that had to be spent. He held up the paper and flipped through it page by page. When he arrived at the subway and pushed through the crowd at line 10, a sparkle appeared in his eyes. He flipped to the center page, saw his name printed across the page with the headlines especially attention-capturing – “Two Poems Saved a Life”!

Yesterday night, on Beijing Radio Station’s Literature Channel program “Talk About the World” special, during the call-in session for the “Matters of the Heart” topic, a female university student attempted suicide on the air over her boyfriend’s plans to further his studies in New York. The program host, w.a.n.g Xiaomei, attempted to talk her out of it, but failed. In the end, the guest of the show, the Literature Channel’s “Late-night Ghost Stories” host, Teacher Zhang Ye, saved her life with two poems!

The dark night gave me black eyes, but I use them to seek the light – A Generation.

The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between opposite sides of the world. It is that you don’t know that I love you, when I stand in front of you…The furthest distance in the world is the love between the bird and fish. One is flying in the sky, the other is looking upon the sea. – “The Furthest Distance in the World”, also named “Flying Bird and Fish”.

The above are the poems in their original form.

According to sources, the two poems were composed on the spot by Teacher Zhang Ye. Our reporter also contacted Teacher Zhang for an interview late last night. Although it was just a phone call, he was awed by Teacher Zhang Ye’s literary talent.

Ah?

Awed by my literary talent?

Zhang Ye blushed a little. He had taken the reporter to be a ham salesman. Literary talent, my a.s.s!

The report continued: We have to mention here a side story. At midnight, the editorial department was rus.h.i.+ng the report. After seeing the two works, they were moved. An explanation and review of the two poems were done, but when handed over to the head editor for checks, we were held back from publis.h.i.+ng it. After reading the poems, his own words were, “Delete all the reviews and a.n.a.lysis. Do not use the old way of writing the report. ‘Flying Bird and Fish’, a modern poem like this would immediately hit it off with the reader. And the other, ‘A Generation’, the strength in this cannot be explained by words. This is a great modern poem. Whether or not the author is a rookie, the only word to describe this poem is ‘Great’. Maybe the author’s fame and current era’s background are not enough to make this poem well-known throughout the world, but I believe time will prove much. A few years or maybe a few decades, or even a few hundreds years down the road, the future generations will remember this poem and remember a person – Zhang Ye and his ‘A Generation’. Our generation, their next generation and the future generation of the next generation.”

The review was highly positive. Zhang Ye’s heart fluttered.

Department.

“Morning.” Zhang Ye walked into the office.

a.s.sistant Xiaofang was the first to welcome him, smiling and revealing her small canine teeth, “Teacher Zhang, you came at the right time. We were just talking about the report in the Beijing Times. Have you seen it?”

Zhang Ye smiled. “I’ve also seen it.”

Xiaofang giggled, “People were chatting before about it. You are the first person in our Literature Channel to go in the Beijing Times in the recent years.” She was happy for Zhang Ye. “This is, after all, the Beijing Times. Even though it’s limited to the capital area, the circulation numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. Most people don’t have such a treatment!”

The old host, Teacher Feng, of “Old and Young Story Club” looked over and gave high praises, “Teacher Little Zhang, I heard the rebroadcast last night. I listened to the two poems again and again. Hai, indeed the younger generations will surpa.s.s us in time. I’m about to retire soon, so this station will be in the hands of you young people.”

Zhang Ye quickly said, “It’s not as serious as you make it out to be. My literary standard is still far from accomplished. I came to the station with a learning att.i.tude. Today, it will still be the same. I’m hoping to receive lots of advice from every Teacher.”

Tian Bin and Li Si had already came to work.

Zhang Ye also noticed him and saw the rage in Tian Bin’s eyes. He was jealous and ignored Zhang Ye, before sitting at his desk. After having Zhang Ye rob the position of main host of “Late-night Ghost Stories” from him, Tian Bin was now a stand-in DJ. He usually did not have any work to do and only stood in when there was a shortage. He had not gone on a program for days, so it wasn’t strange that he was mad.

However, Li Si’s att.i.tude today was completely different. It was clear he did not want to speak, but for some unknown reason, he suddenly stopped just as he was about to turn around, “…Teacher Zhang, morning.”

Zhang Ye looked at him, “Oh, morning.”