Chapter 311 - Poked a Hornet’s Nest! (1/2)

It was lunch break.

Peking University Chinese department.

In a teachers’ office.

Some lecturers brought lunchboxes in. Beside the water dispenser, there was a microwave oven, so a simple reheating would do. There were other lecturers who were heading to the canteen to get their meals.

At this moment, Zhang Ye returned.

A young female lecturer glanced at him. “Teacher Zhang, you cla.s.s is over?”

Zhang Ye nodded and said, “I just finished.”

The female lecturer smiled and said, “How did your first cla.s.s feel?”

Zhang Ye said with a hearty laugh, “It was not bad. It was quite fun having so many people listen to my lecture.”

“Fun?” The female lecturer gave him a thumbs up and said with amus.e.m.e.nt, “With your hosting background, you must definitely have the proper nerves for it. You must also have seen all sorts of situations. Thinking back to my first cla.s.s, it was even some small, ordinary cla.s.s. There were only about thirty or forty people, but I was so nervous that I began stammering. I nearly screwed up the cla.s.s. By the way, I heard there were too many students coming to listen to your cla.s.s? And there were even quite a few reporters, making you run a public lecture in the end?”

Zhang Ye acknowledged. “It was held at the auditorium.”

“You sure are popular. Normal teachers like us do not enjoy such treatment. Let’s not talk about having so many people attend the cla.s.s, it would be a something worth rejoicing if students don’t skip cla.s.s.” The female lecturer said in a self-deprecating manner.

The other Peking University teachers did not pay much attention to Zhang Ye. Some ate while others busied themselves with work. There were at most a few people who glanced at Zhang Ye before lowering their heads again. Only this female lecturer, who was about the same age as Zhang Ye, chatted with him. One could see how unpopular Zhang Ye was.

“Oh, what did you lecture today?” The female lecturer asked, “Three Kingdoms?”

Zhang Ye sat back at his seat and said to the neighboring female lecturer, “No, I taught ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’.”

“Ah, ‘Dream of the’…What? You taught ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’?” The female lecturer was stunned and felt her mind spinning.

The other Chinese department teachers in the office also became speechless upon hearing that. They all looked towards Zhang Ye. All of them had cla.s.ses in the morning, so they did not know what had happened in the auditorium.

Teacher Wu, who was about to become an a.s.sociate Professor, said, “You can even teach ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’? Little Zhang, this is a university, not a variety program. You have to be rigorous in academic stuff.”

Zhang Ye said casually, “I know.”

The female lecturer was at a loss for words, “You sure are bold.”

Professor Wu and the other teachers all shook their heads slightly.

Zhang Ye kept his doc.u.ments and was about to go downstairs to get food. However, he guessed that many reporters were gathered in the canteen or somewhere nearby to lunge at him. So he did not go there. Instead, he went to a small nearby grocery store to buy a hamburger. He heated it in a microwave oven before returning to the office to eat it.

As he chewed on his hamburger, the other teachers were enjoying their meals.

Just as people were having their lunch, Peking University’s official website posted a recording of Zhang Ye’s lecture. There was nearly no cuts, and the entire lesson was uploaded.

Zhang Ye did not watch it, but was searching for information on the internet while eating. He was preparing for tomorrow’s lesson.

The female lecturer sitting beside him was very curious. She wanted to know how Zhang Ye lectured on ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, so she loaded the video, since she had nothing to do.

Following that, she constantly cried out.

“F**k!”

“Ah?”

“Aiyah!”

“This is…..”

“Eh? What’s up with this information?”

Su Na’s exclamations made all the other teachers in the office speechless.

“Teacher Su.” A female teacher in her forties put down her teaching material, saying, “What are you watching? Why the commotion? Hur Hur, my heart nearly jumped out because of you.”

Su Na was still in a state of shock. “I’m watching a recording of Teacher Little Zhang’s public lecture. Hurry up and watch it. It’s no trifling matter. No one has ever talked about ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ in this way!”

“Little Zhang’s cla.s.s?”

“Really?”

“Alright, let me take a look.”

“I have read ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ several times. There are so many logical inconsistencies. There’s no way to teach this cla.s.s, right?”

From the ruckus caused by Su Na, the curiosity of the other Peking University teachers were piqued. They all loaded the video up.

The video was a bit long. Some people jumped to the main points, while others watched from start to finish. It would not have mattered if they didn’t watch, but everyone showed the same expressions as Su Na!

“This…”

“What is the situation?”

“Holy sh*t! This cla.s.s is defying the heavens!”

“How can ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ not be written by Cao Xueqin!?”

“But what Teacher Little Zhang says make sense. The evidence provided is also very strong!” Su Na supported Zhang Ye.

Professor Wu and another teacher shook their heads. “That doesn’t explain anything. It has not been verified, so how can you speak rubbis.h.!.+”

The female teacher in her forties said, “Little Zhang, your cla.s.s is going to cause chaos!”

Zhang Ye lifted his shoulders and smiled. “It’s alright. I’m already mentally prepared.”