Chapter 47 - The Parents Are Revolting! (1/2)

Recording studio #4.

Since there was no part where the audience called in, Zhang Ye did not get his a.s.sistant, 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 finis.h.i.+ng 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.

w.a.n.g 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 compet.i.tive!

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 fl.u.s.tered, “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 fas.h.i.+on?

When you told ghost stories, when was it not done on the spot?