Chapter 311: Poked a Hornet’s Nest!

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 class is over?”

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

The female lecturer smiled and said, “How did your first class 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 amusement, “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 class, it was even some small, ordinary class. There were only about thirty or forty people, but I was so nervous that I began stammering. I nearly screwed up the class. By the way, I heard there were too many students coming to listen to your class? 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 class, it would be a something worth rejoicing if students don’t skip class.” 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 classes in the morning, so they did not know what had happened in the auditorium.

Teacher Wu, who was about to become an Associate 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 documents 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 class?”

“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 class, 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 class 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 rubbish!”

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

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

A debate was launched in the office immediately regarding Zhang Ye’s public lecture. A teacher felt Zhang Ye’s evidence was very reasonable. Teacher Su Na had her reservations, while the other teachers were adamant. They felt Zhang Ye was being too irrational. How could you teach something that was not verified? If that were the case, couldn’t you have rested on your laurels and taught Three Kingdoms? It might not be interesting, but it would not have stirred such a controversy. This theory of yours is enough to f**king poke holes in the world of History and Literature!

……

Indeed, the external world went into chaos!

No, it would be more appropriate to say that the heavens were overturned!

Once the Peking University’s official website posted the video, many people rushed to watch it..

For example, Zhang Ye’s old friends and colleagues, or his hardcore fans, or those experts and professors from the academia world who doubted Zhang Ye’s lecturing ability. There were also netizens who liked to join in a bustle. After all, the news of Zhang Ye joining Peking University was still hot. Many people knew about it. Although people did not care much about Zhang Ye’s classes, they also wanted to take a glance at it once the video was out.

Yes, a large number of people only wanted to glance at it, but after this glance, none of them were able to close the video!

His new friends were stunned!

His old friends were also stunned!

“Holy motherf**king sh*t!”

“This is crazy!”

“My titanium dog eyes are blinded!”

“I feel like Earth can no longer stop Teacher Zhang Ye!”

“Dear, Dear, hurry up and watch this. Face-smacking Zhang has caused trouble again. This time he is not smacking his Leader or unit’s or relevant department’s face, but he’s smacking the entire world’s face!”

“I’m completely convinced by Teacher Zhang! He is too good at stirring up trouble!”

……

Beijing Television Station.

In a small office.

Xiao Lu, Dafei, and the Hou twins finished watching Zhang Ye’s public lecture recording in shock. Then after staring all day blankly, they either smacked themselves in the forehead or fainted!

Hou Di shouted “f**k” before saying, “I’ve finally realized that if Teacher Little Zhang does not cause a commotion a day, he won’t be able to sleep well that night!”

Xiao Lu said, “This time he’s doomed!”

Hou Ge said, “That’s right. Zhang Ye is going to cause public outrage!”

Xiao Lu said in a panic, “When he took up teaching duties at Peking University, many industry insiders were not optimistic about it. They were all scolding him. Now with this, wouldn’t Teacher Zhang Ye become the target of public censure!? Everyone’s firepower will be focused on him? No, I have to give him a call! He can’t say that or he won’t be able to carry on in the industry anymore. How many people is he offending!?”

Dafei stopped her. “Don’t make the call. Don’t you already know Teacher Zhang’s temper? When has he been afraid of offending others? He would ignore it even if others criticize him. That temper of his probably is afraid that he offends too few. Teacher Zhang is the kind of person who gets more excited the more people he offends!”

……

Beijing Radio Station.

Wang Xiaomei had finished her work late at noon, and had just returned to the office to eat.

The moment she stepped in, Big Sis Zhou and Auntie Sun shouted, “Xiaomei! Hurry up and watch this!”

“Watch what?” Wang Xiaomei leaned over. And she saw Zhang Ye saying calmly in his public lecture, “the last 40 chapters of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ was in no way written by Cao Xueqin!”

Wang Xiaomei exclaimed and returned to her seat with a calm expression. She continued eating, but as she ate, she began to lose her appetite. She clutched her hair, at a loss whether to laugh or cry and muttered to herself, “This Zhang Ye!”

……

Shanghai, Weiwo company.

Zhang Ye’s colleagues were all dumbfounded!

After watching the video, Zhang Han shouted three times, “Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!”

After Dong Shanshan finished watching, she did not say a word. After half a minute’s silence, she stood up and went to the recording studio to record her program. She was already at a loss as to what to say!

……

A hospital in Beijing.

Deputy Station Head Jia, who was in an orthopedic ward, was watching Zhang Ye’s video on his cellphone. He did not have the patience to finish watching it. He only watched the first ten minutes before stopping. He closed the video and took a deep breath, and suddenly erupted in laughter. “This Zhang Ye has really sent himself to his death!”

……

On the web.

On the newspapers.

All the relevant news reports came out one after another. It was all rushed out by the reporters who had personally attended the public lecture!

“Zhang Ye has once again launched his missiles!”

“Zhang Ye’s Peking University Public Lecture! Questioning ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’s’ Author!”

“A person challenging the entire Literature world—Peking University Lecturer Zhang Ye!”

“The last 40 chapters of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ were written by someone else?”

When Zhang Ye kept a low profile, he did it very well, but whenever he rose up, it would always be stunning. For example, it could be said that he poked a hornet’s nest today!

The Literature industry was stunned!

The Education industry was stunned!

The History industry was also stunned!

The people who held authority in these industries publicly criticized Zhang Ye. They also believed that Zhang Ye was not suitable as a lecturer, and guessed that there would be problems with his first lecture. Zhang Ye’s notoriety was already not something a few people knew. However, no matter how they thought of it, they never expected Zhang Ye to publicly challenge what the entire country, or even the entire world had considered conclusive!

Numerous industry insiders appeared!

Some were from the education industry, some from the literature industry. There were even people with authority in the field of history. As for those Redologists and Redology enthusiasts, who had disappeared for a long period of time, they also could not sit idle. They all appeared to point their spears at Zhang Ye!