I’m Really a Superstar

Ding ding dang lang.

The bells went off and signaled the end of the math class.

But in the classroom of second grade, class one, there were no signs that the class had already ended. Everyone was still talking with excitement. After the period was over, students and teachers of the adjacent classrooms also came over after hearing news of the commotion. Many people came to take a look at the celebrity and wanted to see for themselves just how Zhang Ye looked like in real life.

“Look, it’s Zhang Ye!”

“I know him, I know him!”

“Aiyo, it’s really him! My little brother likes him very much!”

“Why did he come to our school? I can finally see him in person!”

“I think he came here last year too. There was hearsay that he’s a relative of one of our students in the second grade.”

“He looks just the same as he does on television.”

“Everyone says that Zhang Ye only has average looks, but why do I think that he’s not bad at all?”

Teachers were human too, especially those female teachers, who were very gossipy as well.

At this moment, Li Jiaxing went up to the rostrum and said excitedly to the students, “Students! Students! All of you might not quite understand, but let me introduce him to everyone. This teacher is Zhang Ye.” He gestured politely towards the direction where Zhang Ye was and continued, “Some of you or your parents might have seen him on the news, and some of you might not understand what is going on, but I’m going to tell all of you about it now. Some time ago, Teacher Zhang Ye was the person who solved the mathematical conjecture that had troubled the mathematics world for several decades. He brought us glory, dignity and honor, and is our country’s most outstanding young mathematician! He’s also one of the top mathematicians in the global mathematics field!”

With every claim made by the teacher, the children felt impressed over and over again.

“Ah?”

“Is that true?”

“He’s that great?”

“Chenchen, your guardian is so cool!”

The students clapped wildly.

Chenchen calmly said, “Yes, he’s passable.”

But Zhang Ye waved it off and said, “Teacher Li, you are too generous with your praise. I’m not that great. It’s just that everyone has exaggerated me. I’m only a simple mathematician.” He was playing it cool! It was too great of an act! Zhang Ye thought to himself about his false modesty, but maintained his tone in a “low-key” manner by sounding very humble.

“Teacher Zhang is being too modest.” Li Jiaxing said, “Students, I hereby apologize to everyone. Just now during lunchtime, I did not consider the issue properly and the thought process was not tweaked well enough for you all. As a result, it caused everyone to fail to understand the logic of the solution and yet I thought that it was because you all were not being serious and attentive in class. I even lost my temper at Chenchen, therefore I would like to apologize and also thank Teacher Zhang. It was Teacher Zhang who had enlightened me. In the handling of our students’ education problem and teaching methods, there are still many things that I have to learn. On top of that, there are also many things for me to learn from Teacher Zhang! From today onwards, I’ll strictly demand more from myself and adjust my way of teaching.”

Zhang Ye waved his hand and said, “Don’t put it that way.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “When I came in just now, I was also probably too overprotective of the child. On this matter, Chenchen has her problems as well. No matter what, she shouldn’t have challenged a teacher like this.” He turned to Chenchen and signaled for her to come over. “Come here, apologize to Teacher Li and the other teachers.”

Chenchen showed a reluctant expression.

Li Jiaxing hurriedly said, “Don’t, Teacher Zhang, you’re making me look bad. I didn’t handle this matter appropriately and there were mistakes in the way I taught, so how could let the student apologize to me? Please don’t say anymore. If you say any further, I will not have any face left to continue teaching math to the students. The mistake has already been made, teachers do the same.” If it were anyone else, Li Jiaxing would not have been convinced or even say such words. But standing in front of him right now was his idol in the mathematics field, a legendary expert of the mathematics world. No matter who Li Jiaxing would be unconvinced by, that person would definitely not be Zhang Ye!

The matter was settled.

Everyone was now satisfied and happy with the outcome.

Under the instruction of the school leaders, most of the teachers were told to disperse and get back to their work. Some returned to their offices while some went back to their classrooms to get ready for the next lesson.

When most of the crowd had dispersed, and with the school leader not around anymore, it became easier to talk about what needed to be said.

Li Jiaxing came up to Zhang Ye immediately to ask him for guidance on some math problems. “Teacher Zhang, can I bother you for a few minutes? I just need a few minutes. I have some math problems I do not quite understand. I’ve even sought my mentor’s advice before, but he was unable to help me, so…”

Zhang Ye nodded and said, “Sure, how can I help?”

They were both similar in age, but Li Jiaxing was clearly older than Zhang Ye by a few years. At this moment, in front of Zhang Ye, Li Jiaxing felt just like a humble student asking about some math questions that had troubled him for a long time, patiently waiting for Zhang Ye’s explanation. Without much thought, Zhang Ye explained it to him in simple terms. Li Jiaxing could understand a bit, but still generally did not understand, mainly because his standard wasn’t good enough. So he took out a small notebook, and scribbled down some notes like a student would. After that, Li Jiaxing promptly thanked him, feeling like he was filled with wisdom and had benefited a lot from the explanation!

It was a case of meeting beats hearsay!

He was indeed a world class mathematics expert!

Li Jiaxing looked at Chenchen and felt that the more he looked at this child, the more he liked her. Those big round eyes, how clever. Her small nose, how cute. Those eyebrows, so likable. As a result, he smiled brightly and said in a very gentle voice, “Chenchen, are you hungry? There is a microwave in the teachers’ office, let me heat up the food for you. You can’t continue without eating your meal.” He picked up the cold lunch box and said to Zhang Ye, “Chenchen is an extraordinarily clever and quick-witted child. To be honest, in my past few years of teaching, I have never come across such a smart child. In the future, she will surely have some great achievements. With your guidance, Chenchen will certainly also have the makings of a world-class mathematician!”

Chenchen: “…”

Zhang Ye: “…”

Form teacher Zhao Mei: “…”

Students of the second grade, class one: “…”

Only half an hour ago, he was pointing at Chenchen saying that she was brainless, poor at math, and did not learn seriously, but now she suddenly gained the foundations to becoming a world-class mathematician??

Li Jiaxing went to heat the food up, and then returned with the boxed lunch and gave it to Chenchen. He also took the initiative to inform the teacher of the next lesson of the reason, so that Chenchen could have permission to eat her meal during class.

On seeing that there was nothing left for him to do, Zhang Ye said to the form teacher, Zhao Mei, who had invited him over in the first place, “Teacher Zhao, I’ll be leaving then.”

Zhao Mei asked, “Are you busy?”

Zhang Ye stopped in his tracks and replied, “I’m not really busy, what’s the matter?”

Zhao Mei smiled and said, “Then let’s go and talk in the teachers’ office. The reasons I asked you to come to school today was first, regarding the matter that happened in the math lesson just now, and second, I wanted to discuss with you the problem of Chenchen’s learning attitude. She’s an infamous problem student in our school and many subject teachers have always intended to have a meeting with Chenchen’s guardian to discuss about her.

Zhang Ye nervously said, “Ah?”

Zhao Mei led him towards the end of the corridor, saying, “Please come with me.”

When Zhang Ye was still schooling, he had always been afraid of having his parents called to school. This was because, when they got home, he would be surely get a beating from them. But now that he as a guardian was called to school by a teacher, he could finally understand why his parents would give him a beating. It was because it was really just too embarrassing! If the child got into trouble, he would also get a scolding. As Zhang Ye was already a big shot B-list celebrity, he was of course not looking too good at the moment!

Ai, having acted so awesomely earlier, he was now on the verge of being exposed as incompetent!

Zhang Ye only hoped that Chenchen’s teachers would give him some face and not talk down to him like how his parents were talked down to in the past!