I’m Really a Superstar

Online, the netizens who had been left scratching their heads at that elementary math problem were all denouncing Zhang Ye in waves.

Offline, at No. 2 Experimental Primary School, in the second grade teachers’ office, Zhang Ye was also surrounded by several male and female teachers, listening to their complaints.

“Chenchen’s too naughty.”

“Yes, in so many years of teaching, I’ve never seen any child as mischievous as her.”

“Teacher Zhang, you’ve been too lax in the caring of your kid.”

“In all the tests that I have arranged for the class, Chenchen has never passed even once.”

“The previous time, during P.E. classes, she even fought with a boy. When we learned of it, we rushed over to check on them. Thinking that Chenchen had been bullied, we scolded the boy without a second thought but later realized that nothing had happened to Chenchen at all. Instead, she left the boy lying on the ground with just a push, giving him a gigantic bruise on his arm. When the boy’s parents came to school to question the teachers and found out that it was a little girl who did it, they did not take it up any further, possibly embarrassed by the fact that their boy had been pushed by a girl.”

“Class one is not easy to handle because Chenchen always leads some of the students to cause trouble together with her. Teacher Zhang, you have to talk to her a little when you return later!”

“Even though she is not your own daughter, as a guardian, you have have to help educate her. After all, you’re also a teacher of the people.”

The second grade teachers were full of gripes.

Zhang Ye could only constantly reassure them, “Alright, I will definitely tell her off when I get back….Yes, what you said was correct….Aiyo, you’re really tolerant….I will speak to her when we go back….Yes, yes, yes…sure, sure, sure!”

This devil of a child!

How worrisome can she get!

Only when the teachers continued with their grieving did Zhang Ye realize how much trouble Chenchen had actually caused. She was already the gang leader of No. 2 Experimental Primary School, giving the teachers all kinds of complaints!

Luckily, because the teachers knew of Zhang Ye’s status as a literary master and an internationally recognized mathematician, they still gave him some face and did not lash out too harshly at him. Of course, there were two female teachers who were just laughingly “criticizing” Zhang Ye for his neglect in disciplining the child, but did not actually have any bias against Chenchen at all. In fact, they really liked the child who appeared like a “porcelain doll” that was more beautiful looking than any others. Besides, Chenchen did not make any trouble for them in their classes anyway, so they just playfully scolded Zhang Ye a little as it was a rare opportunity! A big shot B-lister, a well-known person in society, when put into the hands of these teachers, it would be a wasted opportunity if they did not make use of the chance to say a few words!

As they were there talking.

A soft singing voice floated in from outside.

“When will the moon be clear and bright? / With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky…” It was “Wishing We Last Forever,” but sang in a very odd way. The voice belonged to a woman, but sounded very hoarse and strained. This was not a pitch and tone that most women would be able to sing in and it made anyone who heard it feel very strange.

The singing was getting closer and closer.

A music teacher threw up her hands and said, “Raspy Luo is here.”

An art teacher gently rubbed her ears and said, “It sounds so unpleasant.”

“This Little Luo, why does she always have to sing every day.” A teacher who was much older said, “I wouldn’t mind it if she sang well, but just listen to that.”

Zhao Mei, the form teacher of class one, laughed, “I think it’s not too bad, just that Teacher Luo’s voice isn’t that nice to listen to.”

Beside her, a female teacher nodded and said, “Teacher Luo must not have taken good care of her voice when she was going through puberty, and that must have caused her voice to sound like the manly voice she has now.”

Zhang Ye asked curiously, “Who is this Teacher Luo?”

Hearing Zhang Ye’s question, Zhao Mei said, “It’s Teacher Luo Yu, our school’s physical education teacher. Because Teacher Luo likes to sing a lot, she’s always humming a song wherever she goes. But as her voice sounds really rough, everyone gave her the nickname of ‘Raspy Luo.\'”

Raspy Luo?

Physical education teacher?

Zhang Ye nodded, but his ears perked up and listened carefully to this singing voice that was getting nearer and nearer. There was no music accompaniment or rhythm, just pure singing. However, this singing stirred up a very different kind of feeling in Zhang Ye, but he did not know how exactly he felt about this Raspy Luo’s singing. In any case, it was just a very weird feeling.

Suddenly, the singing stopped.

The teachers’ office door was pulled opened by someone from outside and Luo Yu appeared standing at the door.

Zhang Ye looked over and saw a woman who was built quite muscularly, at a height of about 1.6 meters tall, probably weighing around 160 pounds or heavier. Her face looked pretty normal, not pretty but not ugly either. To use a description from his previous world, she would be called a “tough girl” and probably be known as a tough girl among tough girls. Anyone who saw her would be pretty in awe of her appearance.1

Zhao Mei said, “Teacher Luo, your class has ended?”

Luo Yu’s speaking voice also sounded very hoarse. She said, “Yes. Eh?” She noticed Zhang Ye standing there and asked, ‘Is this a new teacher? Or someone’s parent?”

Zhang Ye introduced him, “This is Zhang Ye, Chenchen’s guardian.”

When Luo Yu heard that, her eyebrows immediately narrowed as she exclaimed, “So you’re Chenchen’s guardian!” She said to Zhang Ye, “That child of yours is really incorrigible. Every time during P.E. class, she just tries to sit it out. When she has to do any running, she doesn’t run properly; it’s also the same for the aerobic exercises. She just doesn’t want to learn them properly. Then there was this incident in which she even fought with someone during my class! She pushed the boy down and left him sprawled out on the ground! Her strength was really too much! In the end, I was called up to see the school leaders because of that and even got a bad scolding from them!”

Zhang Ye thought to himself, knowing that the child had been taught some basics by a certain someone. Chenchen’s aunt had taught her the Eight Trigrams Palm from a young age, letting her learn the basic movements and making her do the horse stance for training. Even if her physical conditions as a child now restricted her from learning the true form of the Eight Trigrams Palm, the basics and foundations were still not something that anyone else her age would be able to match. Zhang Ye felt that even if another kid were to gang up together with that male classmate, Chenchen could still handle them, being such a brawny child!

Zhang Ye humbly said, You’re right, I will most definitely tell her off!”

Luo Yu wasn’t finished. She continued telling him off, “You parents and guardians are always like this! You all spoil the child at home too much, not beating or scolding them, making these children harder and harder to teach these days. They’re not obedient to the teachers at all….” She continued chirping, airing all her grievances.

The math teacher, Li Jiaxing, interrupted and said, “Teacher Luo, that’s enough. It’s not easy being a parent these days, the problem of children’s education is a subject of national importance and would change in accordance with the changes in society. It’s not something that just a few people can have influence over.”

Luo Yu did not like what she heard and said, “If there’s a problem with the children, then it has to be the responsibility of the parents or guardians. Why should it be blamed on society? Besides, is Rao Chenchen just your usual kind of mischievous kid? Let’s not mention her relationship with the other students, just based on her attitude to the teachers, she has never known how to respect others. She always says things here and there that drives us crazy!” She turned to look at Zhang Ye again. “We’ve already called for her guardian to come to school many times to discuss this. It was a Big Sis last time, and this time, it’s you. No matter how many times we call you over, it has not been effective in the slightest! Do you really wish to raise the child properly? Are you just going to neglect this matter like that?”

After brooding for a long time.

Luo Yu finally said all that she wanted to. She drank water from her thermal flask in large gulps before she finally settled back down at her desk, ignoring Chenchen’s guardian from then on.

Zhang Ye was feeling really helpless. When had he ever been talked to like this before? First it was a group of teachers who grumbled to him non-stop, then came a P.E. teacher lecturing him for not properly caring for the child, but Zhang Ye could not and should not talk back to any of that since it was really Chenchen’s fault for being disobedient and always causing trouble. Ai, what a huge loss of face this was.

Zhao Mei quickly eased the situation by saying, “Teacher Zhang, Teacher Luo was just saying that for the good of the child, so she might have been a little harsh, but don’t take it to heart. Teacher Luo is a good person and very meticulous towards the children.”

Zhang Ye said, “I understand. So then, if there’s nothing else, I should be leaving now. I will go out for a smoke and then wait for Chenchen to finish school before picking her up. As Chenchen’s actual guardian is not around and has gone to handle some matters, I will be watching over her temporarily. If there’s anything, you can just contact me.”

“OK, let me see you out then,” Zhao Mei said.

Zhang Ye quickly said, “Don’t worry about it.”

Li Jiaxing immediately said, “Teacher Zhang, take care, take care.” He wanted to see Zhang Ye out as well, but was stopped by Zhang Ye who insisted that he not.

The other second grade teachers also waved happily to Zhang Ye to signal their farewells.

After Zhang Ye left the teachers office, Luo Yu looked at them in some confusion and asked, “What are you all up to? What Teacher Zhang? Why are you being so polite with him? You guys even wanted to see him out?”

The fine arts teacher said in a speechless manner, “You’re really a thick one. Don’t you know who that is? If you knew who he was, would you have criticized him so harshly?”

The music teacher laughed and said, “Little Luo’s still the gutsiest.”

Luo Yu was a little taken aback when she asked, “Who is he?”

Li Jiaxing glanced at her and asked, “You don’t even know who Zhang Ye is?”

Luo Yu, still not knowing what was going on, said, “What Zhang Ye or Li Ye? I don’t know them at all.”

Zhao Mei didn’t know how to react. She said, “The song you were singing just before you came into the teachers’ office just now, wasn’t that song written and composed by Zhang Ye based upon his poem Shuidiao Getou?”

When she heard that, Luo Yu’s eyes immediately widened as she froze in her seat. After being stumped for a second, she rose from her chair and said, “Ah? That was Zhang Ye??”

Li Jiaxing said, “How could he not be?”

Luo Yu nearly fainted right there, but continued, “He—he was wearing sunglasses and I couldn’t recognize him at all! Holy shit! I’ve been singing that song that was written and composed by him almost everyday!”

Li Jiaxing said with a belittling attitude, “Come now, why would a P.E. teacher like you not do something else but just sing that song everyday. When you were coming into the office earlier, Teacher Zhang Ye already heard your singing. That lousy voice of yours probably left the original writer and composer feeling frustrated!”

The language teacher giggled, “Before you came in, we had already spoken to Teacher Zhang Ye for a long time about Chenchen, but we were just talking in general and letting him know what the problems were. But you, you were really unforgiving, you even accused Teacher Zhang Ye of being negligent in properly caring for his kid! No matter what, he’s still a Peking University associate professor.”

Luo Yu exclaimed, “I—I really did not know it was him! How could he be Chenchen’s guardian? Aiyo, I’ve heard rumors that Zhang Ye’s temper is really bad. Do you guys think that I’ve gotten myself into trouble now?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“That’s for sure.”

“You’ve made a huge mess this time!”

All of the teachers were gleefully quipping at Luo Yu’s troubles.

Luo Yu vomited blood right there!

1. http://yingyu.xdf.cn/201309/9682655.html