Chapter 57 - Zhang Ye’s Anger, “Shuidiao Getou“! (1/2)

In the audience.

w.a.n.g Xiaomei was fiddling with her phone, “Can you access the internet?”

Zhang Ye didn’t know if she was asking him, but replied anyway, “Ah, there is no signal.”

“How will you post without the internet?” w.a.n.g Xiaomei glanced at him.

Zhang Ye blinked, “How did you know I would partic.i.p.ate in the poetry contest?”

w.a.n.g Xiaomei replied matter-of-factly, “With your temper, you wouldn’t swallow your pride just like that. See you, or not, there will you stay, no sorrow, nor joy? I didn’t take that seriously.”

Zhang Ye was embarra.s.sed. It was true; he was not that forgiving.

“Do you need me to ask around for whose phone has a signal? And borrow it for you?” w.a.n.g Xiaomei took the initiative.

Zhang Ye replied, “There’s no need for that. If I want to post, I will go outside to post. But I have yet to think of a poem. Teacher Xiaomei, what’s with you?”

“Why I am so enthusiastic?” w.a.n.g Xiaomei answered, “Because you are the representative of our Literature Channel. You already are our channel’s branded host. If they doubt you, it means they are denying our Literature Channel’s cultural standard. Besides, I don’t think that your poems are worse than theirs. I cannot feel no sorrow, nor joy. I am angry right now.”

Onstage.

The poetry event has progressed to the poetry recital and appreciation round.

After reading a few netizens’ poems, Zhang Huo spoke, “These few poems are pretty well-written. It looks like our netizens are also capable people. Haha. But Sun Mengjie and I are really just here to watch. We are not professionals, so would still hope that the teachers from the Writers’ a.s.sociation would enlighten us a bit.”

The partic.i.p.ants from the Writers’ a.s.sociation pa.s.sed around the responsibility for a while.

Finally, Meng Dongguo stood up, as expected. He was the one with the most influence within the group, “After listening to a few of the poems, I find them still to be okay.”

The female host said, “Still okay? I can understand President Meng’s thought on this; so that means they still have their problems?”

Meng Dongguo laughed “They are only amateurs, so to be able to write like this is not bad.”

“Can you explain to us the differences between their poems and a professional’s? We are still unclear; perhaps everyone here is unclear. The poems sounded pretty good.” Zhang Huo pretended to be a layman.

Meng Dongguo touched his beard and spoke honestly, “Those who don’t understand poetry may not be able to tell the difference. On the surface, it’s quite good. The writing and phrases are elegant. But there are too many ways to read into it. Like the work “Wind Breaking Through Clouds” by that netizen… A professional would know immediately that there are issues with it. The modern-style poetry he wrote? It’s actually not. Modern-style poetry must adhere to a certain tonal pattern, rhyme scheme and parallelism. With the five character poems as an example, it must start with a level tone. The second part requires a deflected tone. Then the third part requires it to go back to the level tone. On the contrary, if the first part uses a deflected tone, then the second part requires a level tone, then in the third part, it has to be a deflected tone. He was not right with that.”

Zhang Huo was enlightened, “I see.”

Meng Dongguo said, “Hence, if they are amateurs or beginners, they are recommended to write modern poems. The requirements are simpler. Well, one of the modern poems that the hosts recited also had a small problem. The mood seemed a bit off, and the entire poem did not have a core literary belief. In our jargon, we would say that it’s lacking ‘spirit’. The words used are pretty, but literature eventually needs to abide by literature. It needs to move the hearts of the people. If a poem that is lacking in essence, energy and spirit, it cannot move the hearts of people, then it is empty at its core. It is just showy.”

“We’re gaining knowledge here.” Zhang Huo said.

Meng Dongguo seemed like he was hooked onto saying more. It was unsure if he did it consciously, but he suddenly mentioned, “Like recently on the internet, there have been several poems with a lot of views. Actually, in my opinion, there are some flaws in their conception. Of course, this could be a matter of ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’, so there’s still room for discussion.”

Sun Mengjie added, “Vice President Meng, are you talking about ‘Flying Bird and Fish’? Or ‘The Song of the Stormy Petrel’?”

Meng Dongguo smiled. “I’ve mentioned it on Weibo. Those who have seen it will know. I have my reservations about these two poems.”

What?

Zhang Ye was mentioned?

Immediately, quite a number looked towards Zhang Ye. Zhang Ye’s seat had become the focus of attention, with many eyes on it.

Zhang Ye had not expected Meng Dongguo to question him openly like this at such an important event like the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Meet. What’s more, this was a live event and held at Zhang Ye’s own unit. Meng Dongguo was now publicly invalidating him and killing his chances with just a simple nod? Did I f***ing kill your father or your mother? Why are you trying to fix me? After your online “education”, you now came to my unit to “educate” me? Are you f***ing sick!?

“What sort of people are they!?”

“How can they say such things?”

“It wasn’t easy for Teacher Little Zhang, too. What are they trying to do?”

“This is a live broadcast program! Aren’t they trying to destroy him!? They are pus.h.i.+ng it too far!”

Many of the Literature Channel’s employees could no longer bear to continue listening. Even those who did not know Zhang Ye well were feeling angry. Yes, even if Zhang Ye was not a professional poet, even if Zhang Ye’s poems were ordinary and not comparable to yours or have literary standards… But you still can’t bully your way around here like that! These people from the Writers’ a.s.sociation were really too much! This was their unit! This was their radio station!

At this moment.

The poetry meet’s website blew up!

“Did you hear that?”

“Teacher Meng said ‘Flying Bird and Fish’ and ‘The Song of the Stormy Petrel’ were problematic?”

“That can’t be? I think those two poems are very good!”

“Can the Vice President of the Writers’ a.s.sociation be wrong? So that Zhang Ye actually isn’t anything. I was still wondering over all that clicks and forwards. So it was just c.r.a.p!”

“Right, this person does not have any ability!”

“Zhang Ye’s poem really has a problem?”

Many people who weren’t already in the know of yesterday’s incident on Weibo became informed of it now. Today, right now, was even Zhang Ye’s “Old and Young Story Club” program’s schedule. The event was broadcast live through the Literature Channel and many of Zhang Ye’s listeners were tuned in. To be pa.s.sed judgement upon by such an authoritative person like the Writers’ a.s.sociation’s Vice President, it would be expected that from tomorrow onwards, Zhang Ye’s segment listeners.h.i.+p ratings would be dealt a big blow. A listeners.h.i.+p ratings drop of more than half would even be possible. Perhaps those who really liked Zhang Ye or those who held their own views would not be affected, but how about the others? The citizens’ views would be affected by herd mentality and belief in authoritative figures!

A newcomer host!

An industry’s Writers’ a.s.sociation Vice President!

Whose literary level would everyone believe in? It was clear at a glance!

This move by Meng Dongguo was really vicious, with the objective to kill off Zhang Ye’s chances!

Zhang Ye was bursting with anger. This was really forcing his hand!

Zhang Huo secretly glanced over to his partner, Sun Mengjie, blaming her for saying a little too much. He was actually biased towards Zhang Ye. It wasn’t because of Zhang Ye’s poems; he also believed that Zhang Ye, as a newcomer, could not be better than these teachers from the Writers’ a.s.sociation. But because Zhang Ye was his colleague and Meng Dongguo had publicly doubted him, Zhang Huo felt that this was uncalled for. After taking a look at the computer tablet, Zhang Huo continued, “Teacher Meng, the two poems you just mentioned… From my understanding, they were composed by our Literature Channel’s Teacher Zhang Ye. Teacher Zhang Ye should be here at the venue, too. I’ve seen the comments left by our listeners and they all feel that ‘Flying Bird and Fish’ is really good. All of them don’t seem to understand what’s lacking in the poem.”

Meng Dongguo smiled without a word, before he said, “Let’s have Big Thunder explain; he is a specialist in modern poems and also a well-known critic. He would explain better than me.”

On hearing that, Big Thunder stepped up, “Haha. Since President Meng called me out and the subject is on this, it’s now the poetry appreciation segment, so let me bring up an example to explain. Actually, President Meng had already said it once on Weibo last night and I fully agree with it. ‘Flying Bird and Fish’ has become very popular on the internet recently, but it is so because of the circ.u.mstances at that time. Because this poem has saved someone’s life before, it leads to it being hotly followed and discussed, furthering its popularity. This practically added a lot of value based on the circ.u.mstances. There aren’t much literary learnings within the poem; likewise for other works by Zhang Ye. Its depth in essence, energy and spirit are just imaginary and I cannot see what he wanted to express. So in the eyes of us professionals, the author is just an amateur hobbyist.”

“It’s like this?” Zhang Huo questioned.