Chapter 329 - How People Looked at Zhang Ye (1/2)

At night.

It was already 8 by the time he arrived home.

He had returned to Cais.h.i.+kou this time, to his parents’ place.

The moment he opened the door, he saw Mom applying a face mask in her pajamas. She looked creepy and nearly gave Zhang Ye a fright. Dad was watching TV in the living room.

“Dad, Mom.” Zhang Ye greeted.

“Son, you’re back? Why are you so late today?” Mom kicked a pair of slippers towards him.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Hai, I went to eat dinner with some of my colleagues. Have both of you eaten?”

Mom said, “We ate a long time ago. Son, how was your cla.s.s today? Was it ideal? Those people from the literary world didn’t cause you any trouble, right?”

Zhang Ye changed his footwear. “Hur Hur, you didn’t watch the video of my open lecture?”

Mom said, “I wouldn’t understand anyway. Your Dad watched it and said it was pretty good.”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes and put his bag down. He said, “Hey, what do you mean ‘pretty good’? It’s far from pretty good. Didn’t you see those bunch of people dumbfounded by my lecture? Not a single one dared to show off in front of me. Didn’t you see the ending too? I was given a standing ovation that lasted for many minutes. I said cla.s.s was dismissed, but the students simply would not leave. Hai, I really envy those college students. If I had such an excellent, legendary, charming and humorous teacher back when I was in school, I would have died of joy.”

“Flattery, like perfume, should be smelled, not swallowed!” Mom chuckled.

Zhang Ye looked towards his father. “Dad, you watched my lecture today?”

Dad acknowledged. “Don’t be arrogant. You are still far from it.”

At this point, Mom couldn’t stand hearing this. She stared at him, “What’s so bad about my son!?”

Dad said in a speechless manner, “I’m saying he still has much to learn and a long way to go. He shouldn’t become arrogant just because he has a bit to show for. He should shun complacency and impetuosity.”

“Learn my a.s.s!” Mom was the cla.s.sic mother that protected her child. She could trample on her child, but could not stand silently while others spoke badly of her son. It was the same even for her husband. “My son is already a Peking University Chinese department lecturer. What’s there to learn? Others should learn from my son instead! Look at our neighbours and colleagues’ children. Which one of them is doing better than our Little Ye? And look at those grandsons from the literary world! They were still inciting others over the internet to scold Little Ye yesterday, but today? They’ve all returned back to their conscientious selves!”

The old couple began squabbling.

Zhang Ye couldn’t bear to watch and retreated to his room.

He had been busy the whole afternoon. He switched his computer on to check for updates and news on the internet. Regarding everyone’s att.i.tudes, Zhang Ye was still very concerned.

“A sensational public lecture!”

“Zhang Ye — A literary prodigy!”

“The shocking secret of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’! Watch Peking University’s Lecturer, Zhang Ye expose the truth!”

“Redology research’s major breakthrough! Logical errors that have plagued Redology studies for decades have finally been answered for the first time! Zhang Ye — The top Redology researcher!”

“The history of one of the Four Great Cla.s.sical Novels – ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ has it been rewritten?”

“Zhang Ye’s public lecture reveals yet another shocking secret. Is this the truth or pure flubdub?”

Peking University’s official website had already posted Zhang Ye’s public lecture online. In the afternoon, it had already made its rounds and caused sensational reactions!

The netizens actively commented!

“What did I say! Zhang Ye’s awesome!”

“G.o.dly! It was really explained by Teacher Zhang Ye!”

“I did not believe Zhang Ye when it first started. How could it be that Cao Xueqin only wrote the first 80 chapters of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, but when I finished listening to the 2nd lecture, I really began to doubt what I had known all my life!”

“Yea, Teacher Zhang Ye might really be speaking the truth!”

“I think so too. His explanations are too logical!”

“That’s right. From historical doc.u.ments to character a.n.a.lysis and even plot logic, it was all explained fully!”

“No wonder no one dared to speak about ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ in the past. No wonder it was not easy to speak about ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’. That is because after the first 80 chapters, it had been continued on by another writer. So how could it be explained properly at all?!”

“If we follow Zhang Ye’s a.n.a.lysis, ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ should be the top among the Four Great Cla.s.sical Novels, and not last!”

“I feel that Zhang Ye’s arguments are still quite controversial. It has to be researched further.”