Chapter Sixteen: Talking About Life and Ideals Everyone Has Hopes

  The incident of Huo Pian has passed for a week. In this week, Zhang Shao Wei actively cooperated with the reform and made significant progress.

  In the director's office, Qi Zhendong had a serious expression, his face as gloomy as his recent mood, so somber that it seemed to drip water.

  "You little brat, how did you manage to cause such a big commotion? Wu Dalong's leg was almost broken by you, and I heard that Old Zhang's good-for-nothing son was almost choked to death by you. This matter is really too reckless."

  Ye Haodong whispered: "Almost..." The underlying tone was obvious: "Isn't it still a bit short?"

  Zi Zhendong was used to seeing juvenile delinquents scared out of their wits in front of him, but Ye Haodong's constant composure really got under his skin. He glared at him: "You little brat, you've made such a big mess and still dare to talk back? Believe it or not, I'll take back what I said earlier and let you get nothing?"

  Ye Haodong continued in a low voice: "Words that have been spoken can be taken back, but what has been pulled out..."

  Zi Zhendong was furious: "You little brat still has the nerve? Do you think I'm all talk and no action?"

  "You can't."

  Qī Zhèndōng's face turned red with anger, and he sneered: "Why can't I?"

  Ye Haodong's face was expressionless, his tone calm and determined, as he let out a fart: "Because you're the invincible Qi Zhendong, Jiang Wei's most revered big brother."

  This shameless and over-the-top flattery dispelled Qi Zhendong's anger faster than clouds in a hurricane.

  Qian Jin smiled and came out to mediate: "Young fellow, things are going well. Tell Zhang Shaowei about the guitar when you get back, we've approved it."

  "Let him perform well for these days and I or Commissioner Qian will find an opportunity to praise him, also give him some confidence."

  Ye Haodong: "That's the best, actually. To be honest, we are just half-grown kids who haven't completely lost our innocence and can still be saved. I truly hope that in the future, you two leaders will first treat us as normal children, and then consider us as educable children."

  "Your so-called 'educable' children do not include you. If you, young man, commit a bad deed, it has nothing to do with being ignorant or inexperienced. If you deliberately oppose the Party and the people, you should be taken out and shot. There is no need for education at all. They are committing crimes because of ignorance, but if you commit a crime, it's intentional!"

  Ye Haodong smiled: "Can I take your words as a compliment?"

  "Potato moving house, hurry up and get out of here!"

  Qian Jin: "Take that guitar up."

  In the spring of 1994, in the East District Juvenile Detention Center, Ye Haodong walked out of the director's office with his guitar, his proud figure forever etched in the minds of the juvenile delinquents waiting in the corridor outside room 306.

  Wu Dalong sincerely said: Real chicken 1, stupid cow 1!

  Li Wei: Can Dongzi Lao Da get a few yellow books by begging from Guan Jiao?

  Zhang Shaowei was so moved that he gave him a slap: Shut up!

  Choi Woo-shik thought to himself: It's simply too thrilling!

  He Lin didn't say a word, but his eyes had a few more melancholic feelings.

  Although the juvenile delinquents are not very old, they have all experienced extraordinary things and matured early. On the surface, Zhang Kuang seems to be hated, but in fact, deep down, they are not without softness and delicacy. In their subconscious, they also yearn to be accepted by society again, only this desire is often suppressed by the scolding and misunderstanding of adults. Ye Haodong's "heroic" act in the eyes of these young people proves that those strict and even ruthless educators are not heartless social machines after all. As long as everyone makes an effort to change, each person's hope is still there. In these young people, the idea of turning over a new leaf has never been far away. This paragraph was added at the insistence of my wife, who said that I owed it to the educators' triangular badges for being able to turn over a new leaf back then.

  When the guitar sound rose in room 306, it seemed that a faint emotional current flowed like water throughout the third floor and quickly spread to the entire dormitory building. That emotion seemed to be verifying hope. In the juvenile reform school under the dictatorship of the proletariat, the unprecedented warm move by Director Qi Zhen Dong and Political Commissar Qian Jin broke through the thick ice shield built in the hearts of the young offenders, revealing a thread of thawing.

  Zhang Shaowei is indeed very talented in music, he writes lyrics and composes songs himself, and his singing has a playful and irreverent light rock style. According to him, his favorite singer is Zheng Jun. Since middle school, he started learning guitar and tried composing songs on his own, at that time the only class he was punctual for and followed classroom discipline was music class. Before, when I heard him talk about this period, I thought he was bragging, but when the most influential songs of American band Guns N' Roses "DON'T CRY" and "NOVEMBER RAIN" flowed smoothly from his hands, which were previously thought to be only suitable for holding a knife, even Ye Haodong couldn't help but praise: "Damn it, although I don't understand what you're singing, it sounds really good, you little kid is really talented!"

  He Lin said in a slightly coquettish tone: "These are the most influential songs of Guns N' Roses: 'Don't Cry' and 'November Rain', they're extremely difficult to play, I've listened to them but can't play them."

  Ye Haodong: "What band? Sigh, forget it, don't mention it, it's like playing a lute to a cow."

  Everyone thought Zhang Shaowei was playing the piano, and Ye Haodong's casual self-mockery was quite fitting.

  Zhang Shaowei couldn't believe that He Lin also understood guitar. The song he played was not only very difficult, but also very obscure, and He Lin could accurately say its origin. Although he admitted that he couldn't play it himself, it was enough to make Zhang Shaowei feel a sense of resonance, and their shared hobby brought the two closer together. With their simple and pure hearts as teenagers, He Lin's interest was piqued, and he had already forgotten about being bullied by Zhang Shaowei earlier. The two of them left others behind, gathered together, and started discussing music.

  Zhang Shaowei's first performance ended, and Qi Zhendong and Qian Jin met at the end of the corridor, exchanging a knowing smile.

  Ye Haodong had been serving his sentence in juvenile detention for two months when June 1994 arrived, and the steps of summer were gradually approaching.

  In the spring, they were drowsy; in the autumn, they were lethargic; in the summer, they dozed off. During afternoon classes, Chen Hong, Song Chao Du and Yang Jun Hu slept even more soundly than two months ago, with Yang Jun Hu emitting thunderous snores.

  Ye Haodong now knows the name of the middle-aged teacher: Song Shicai.

  For over a month, Song Shicai's teaching style has changed. Previously, Song Shicai thought: Although it is said that there are no classes to teach, those four bad boys in this classroom are not only extremely stubborn but also highly flammable. Don't mention carving them, even touching them might cause an explosion.

  However, recently, the situation has quietly undergone some changes. Ye Haodong's arrival gave his class a true listener. Under Ye Haodong's influence, even Zhang Shaowei, who was previously the most mischievous, seemed to have changed greatly.

  A few days ago, in the afternoon, Song Shicai suddenly discovered that this kid had actually brought a book to class! Moreover, what was even more unthinkable was that throughout the entire lesson, Zhang Shaowei was reading and writing on the side, humming with an air of intoxication as if he had reached a state of ecstasy while reading. Had my teaching level already reached the point where even the most stubborn student would nod in approval? Soon, Song Shicai noticed the name of the book: Guitar Tablature and Fingerstyle Training.

  Mr. Song, who was hit on the head, did not become discouraged. He placed the emphasis of his teaching entirely on Ye Haodong. In the process of giving lessons to Ye Haodong, Song Shicai discovered that although Ye Haodong was young, he had a deep understanding and often cut to the heart of the matter when looking at problems. Therefore, Song Shicai adopted a method of discussion between two people when teaching, respecting Ye Haodong's ideas while slowly and carefully imparting his knowledge to him. The side effect of this method was that the two would often debate fiercely, disturbing Chen Hong and others' beautiful dreams.

  Today, the two of them discussed whether diplomas or knowledge is more important. Ye Haodong's point of view was: how much contribution a person can make has little to do with which university they graduated from. He firmly held his ground and gave examples, saying that Bill Gates dropped out of college but years later, Harvard University invited him back to give lectures, and the people sitting below him were all professors and doctors with a lot of knowledge. He also said that Li Ka-shing and Wang Yongqing both dropped out at 15 and didn't read much books, but now they manage a group of PhDs and masters under them, from which we can see that reading how many books or getting what diploma is not the key to changing one's fate!

  Having gone through the hardships of being uneducated, he had a deep understanding of social reality. Song Shicai sneered at Ye Haodong's naive view: "How many masters are there in this world? How many Wang Lis?"

  When the two of them were arguing with red faces and ears, Song Chao and three others were woken up by the noise. They opened their sleepy eyes to see the two people butting heads.

  Ye Hao suddenly felt that this might be an opportunity to influence the three of them. He changed the subject: "How do you know I can't become someone like Wang Li? How do you know my ideal isn't to become someone like them? I understand what you're saying, most people can't become them, and in the future, most people's main way of making a living will still be to attend a good university and find a good job. But I want to ask you, what is your ideal? Do you have the same ideals as me?"

  Song Shicai was asked to frown, his ideal is very simple, so simple that after Ye Haodong said the ambitious goal in his heart, Song Shicai even had a feeling of being embarrassed to say it out loud. However, he still spoke out: "My ideal is to become a formal people's teacher recognized by the state."