"The space upstairs is too small, so I'll help this younger brother tag the national team."
"Waaaaah~ Please, little brother, don't give up playing football! Whether I can see the national football team reach the international stage before I die depends on you!"
While some netizens were captivated by Jiang Shuai and cheered wildly, others naturally had their doubts.
"Hehe~ Familiar routine. Let's skip the script and get straight to the point! How many years has this kid been training? Is he planning to sell soccer balls or jerseys and shoes?"
"Are short video scripts these days really this outrageous? Someone can play football this well on their very first day? If there really are such incredible prodigies, are the local sports bureaus blind? Why didn't they send them to the provincial team?"
"No...you're criticizing the wrong thing, aren't you? Shouldn't you be criticizing the school first? The government has repeatedly issued orders strictly prohibiting summer tutoring, so what's wrong with this school?"
"I just want to know how much this tutoring center charges students? I've already reported it, just wait and see!"
...
Chu Mengluan was happily scrolling through the comments section after her first independent shoot went viral when she suddenly came across a comment questioning whether they were openly offering paid tutoring during the summer and even threatening to report them.
Could this really be a violation of national regulations?
Chu Mengluan wasn't a teacher trainee, and she didn't have any school-aged children. She didn't usually pay attention to this kind of news, so how would she know that tutoring was legal? Worried about bringing shame to the school, Chu Mengluan hurriedly found Jiang Baichuan and showed him the comments from netizens.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang Baichuan, after reading the comments section where people were clamoring to report him for illegally tutoring, actually laughed: "I already reported this to the county, but they said they couldn't do anything about it. They haven't even had enough music and PE teachers for themselves these past few years, so we can forget about it. Here's what you do: reply to them saying that our school doesn't have music and PE teachers; they're usually taught by academic teachers. This time, we specially invited a professional arts and sports teacher from a teachers' college to give the children some basic arts and sports lessons. If they're really worried, they can recommend suitable arts and sports teachers willing to work in rural primary schools."
"Pfft~ Okay, haha!" Chu Mengluan felt both sad and amused. Don't be fooled by the righteous and awe-inspiring appearance of these trolls online. If you really asked them to come to the mountains to teach with a monthly salary of just over a thousand yuan, they would be a fool to do so!
Sure enough, once Chu Mengluan replied, the topic of illegal tutoring was finally dropped.
However, some kind-hearted netizens asked them in the comments section why the local education department did not provide the school with a physical education or arts teacher, and whether it was discriminatory treatment.
Before Chu Mengluan could even react, netizens from the education system or those with school-aged children immediately stepped in to answer their questions.
"Let alone schools in the mountains, there aren't enough music, art, and physical education teachers to go around in the city, okay? You really can't blame the local education department for this."
"Thumbs up to the principal of this tutoring organization! My son is in fifth grade, and he's been taking extra classes during winter and summer vacations to catch up on his previous PE, music, and art lessons. We've already spent tens of thousands of yuan o(╥﹏╥)o"
"It would be good if a few tens of thousands of yuan could make up for it. My daughter is in sixth grade. Her academic classes are already very tiring. After school, she still has to go to basketball, swimming, art, and vocal lessons. She's so tired that she can fall asleep in the bathtub. Please help my child!"
"I hope my daughter's school principal sees this video too, really! Instead of spending winter and summer vacations playing on their phones at home, they should catch up on the physical education, art, and music classes they've missed."
"No, please. Teachers are already exhausted, and they rely on winter and summer vacations to keep going. Let them off the hook!"
"You should take a closer look at this video. The principal invited university students to tutor children in arts and physical education classes in the mountains for free. I think this is a good idea. It provides internship opportunities for teacher trainees and allows schools that don't have time to teach arts and physical education classes during the holidays to make up for it. Thumbs up to the principal!"
...
The video touched on one of the most pressing education issues in society, and the comments section was buzzing. Because of its high viewership, the video went viral locally, and even the local education department saw it. However, when the matter was reported to the top leader, after a meeting, everyone decided to just pretend nothing had happened.
What else can we do? Tell Jiang Baichuan to stop the tutoring immediately? People will be crying and begging for their teachers right away, with ready-made reasons: You won't let me hire college students to tutor during winter and summer vacations, fine! I won't tutor anymore, just give me the music, art, and physical education teachers from the school, okay?
If they were truly qualified, they wouldn't be playing dead here in the face of netizens' doubts and anger.
Music, art, and physical education teachers have been in high demand these past few years! Since the curriculum reform, they've been in such high demand that it's practically a fight over them!
To put it bluntly, people who study these kinds of majors and have teaching certificates have no trouble finding jobs. Even if they can't get into a public school, private schools or schools that specialize in this kind of training are recruiting people, and the salaries are not low. Why would they give up a good high salary to come to this poor and remote area to teach?
Besides, this has nothing to do with being noble or not. We're all just ordinary people. Teachers also need to earn money to support their families, care for their elderly parents, and raise their children. Not everyone is like Jiang Baichuan, who would never get married or have children for the sake of those dozens of students in the mountains... This is another reason why the county turned a blind eye to Jiang Baichuan's illegal tutoring.
True martyrs hold even their enemies in awe!
Jiang Baichuan has been illegally tutoring children for years, and he's also been illegally running a canteen for many years. Why do the higher authorities turn a blind eye and ignore it? It's not that Jiang Baichuan has powerful connections; it's because it's just too difficult for these children in the mountains to go to school!
If they really remove Jiang Baichuan as principal, then Langshan Primary School will probably be unable to continue operating. Where will these children in the mountains go to school then?
In this world, there will always be people who sacrifice themselves for the people. As bystanders, they can't help, but they can't exactly throw stones at people from behind, can they? Even corrupt officials wouldn't have the heart to do such a thing; it's too heartless.
Chapter 47
The matter of "illegal tutoring" was left unresolved, but the video account of Langshan Primary School was thoroughly heated up by netizens.
Some people even went back to watch the earlier videos and saw the two intern teachers pretending to be living a "peaceful and quiet life" at the beginning, but later, due to reality, they had no choice but to join the army of raising pigs and chickens, carrying manure and planting vegetables. It was both funny and made them want to cry. This is what real teaching in rural areas is like, right?
Compared to those so-called "volunteer teachers" with permed hair and exquisite makeup, Fang Xingchen, wearing liberation shoes and carrying pig manure to plant vegetables, and Chu Mengluan, wearing an old-fashioned floral headscarf and crawling into the chicken coop to find eggs, are more like real rural teachers who went to teach in rural areas. And because they are down-to-earth and silly, the two quickly gained hundreds of thousands of fans online.
Even their school heard about the two students' story of teaching in the mountains. Their counselor even called to tell them to keep as much material as possible so they could write a good internship report when they returned. It seems that as long as they can persevere until the end of the summer, they will definitely receive an award in this year's provincial evaluation of outstanding college students' summer social practice...
What surprised netizens even more was that, while they had inadvertently discovered a young soccer player, they were about to witness the birth of another miracle—
Because there are only two teachers, all students in the school take music, physical education and art classes together. After two days of assessment, Chu Mengluan selected Jiang Cancan, a third-grade student, as the lead singer for the music class.
There was no way around it; this child's voice was practically kissed by God! It gave teacher Chu Mengluan quite a fright on the very first day of class!
In addition to basic music theory, the music exam for elementary school to junior high school entrance also includes a selection of classic pieces for students to randomly choose and sing. Chu Mengluan's task was to help the children become proficient in all the required pieces for the entrance exam during tutoring sessions, and most importantly, correct any off-key singing. After all, when Jiang Baichuan and Jiang Caiyun taught them before, they often used dialects and sang off-key, cough~
Therefore, Chu Mengluan arranged "Singing for the Motherland" as one of the required songs for the first lesson of the semester. Because she wanted to assess the students' abilities, she had each student stand up and try singing a verse on the first day.
As soon as Jiang Cancan opened her mouth and sang the lyrics "The five-star red flag flutters in the wind," Chu Mengluan's legs went weak, and she almost knelt down before this girl!
What an amazing voice! She wants that heavenly voice too, waaaaah...
Jiang Cancan's clear and melodious voice not only amazed the teacher but also the netizens.
"Holy crap, what an amazing voice! I need to find out more! Has this kid really never received any professional training?"
"The person upstairs suggests checking out the blogger's previous videos; this school doesn't have a music teacher (crying emoji)~"
"Mommy, I heard a fairy singing, waaaaah~"
"This isn't a gift from God; it's as if God turned the rice into mini rice balls and fed them to this child bite by bite by His own hands, isn't it?"
"Music academies, hurry up and grab your students!"
"If you can sing, sing more! Teacher, please arrange a solo concert for this student Jiang. Online payment is also acceptable."
"Upstairs, if you can talk, say more! My kid is tone-deaf and I'm already starting to worry about the high school entrance exam, sob sob~ Could you please release an album of songs that are essential for the high school entrance exam?"
...
Wow! Jiang Cancan, you're a big star now!
"My sister says this is called an internet celebrity, which means someone who is very, very famous online. Anyway, Jiang Cancan, you have a lot of fans now!"
"Jiang Cancan, can you sign my autograph? I heard that celebrity autographs can be sold for money. After I sell them, I'll buy some sausages and we'll share them..."
Jiang Cancan, a third-grader, became an internet sensation and quickly became the center of attention at school. This left the introverted and shy Jiang Cancan feeling somewhat lost and secretly excited, since few classmates had ever wanted to play with her before. Now, not only were people willing to play with her, but they also wanted to hear her sing.
“Principal, I think Jiang Cancan is a promising talent for music. Could you please ask her family about her? If they're willing, I can help her get in touch with schools. With her talent, many music schools offer tuition-free admission.” Chu Mengluan even went out of her way to find Principal Jiang Baichuan specifically for Jiang Cancan.
She herself studied music from elementary school, so she knows all too well what the word "talent" means in this industry.
To put it bluntly, this industry is all about natural talent. No matter how hard you practice, you can't compete with someone who's born with a great voice. Why are music academies and training schools so keen on organizing all sorts of music competitions? Don't listen to their tales of initial aspirations and ideals; it's all about using competitions to scout out promising young talents from the community!
If a competition can find a promising talent and nurture them, that talent will be a golden brand for the academy to enjoy for a long time.
Like their school, a teachers' college, why are the music department's admission scores so high? Isn't it because a legendary singer, a true "evergreen tree" of the music scene, graduated from the school twenty years ago? Just because the school is the singer's alma mater, every year when the music department admits students, parents engage in all sorts of open and covert competition...
“Several local music training schools have already messaged us privately, saying they can offer Jiang Cancan admission without examination, waive all tuition and fees, and scholarships are also negotiable. Principal, you know our school's situation. Without a professional music teacher, Jiang Cancan's talent will be wasted.”
"Okay, tomorrow is Friday. After school, you can come with me to Jiang Cancan's house to talk to her parents in person. After all, it concerns the child's future, so we need to hear the parents' opinions." This was the first time Jiang Baichuan had encountered something like this. It wasn't uncommon for children from the mountains to get into good schools, but as far as he knew, this was the first time a child with a musical talent had ever been admitted to such a school!
No one expected that, just as they were agonizing over which school to choose for Jiang Cancan, fate would once again decide to give its own daughter, Jiang Cancan, a chance to shine...
J Province TV Station has always been known for its children's programs. Many children's programs planned in conjunction with various entertainment companies and major education groups in the province have received a lot of attention. Among them, the music program "Young People Singing for the Motherland", which sounds very rustic but is actually very high-standard, has become popular all over the country and frequently goes viral. The first season alone discovered several promising talents who were hailed as having "heavenly voices".
The show is currently in the planning stages for its second season, boasting a strong lineup of guests including many talented singers from the entertainment industry, and renowned professors from major music academies across China. However, a problem has arisen—
Like all shows that become wildly popular, the first season was so amazing that it inadvertently raised the audience's expectations for the second season. The mentors and guests were relatively easy to find; as long as enough money was spent, there was no big name that couldn't be invited.
The problem is, it's easy to find big-name mentors, but it's hard to find talented singers!
Although it wasn't a talent show, the six-month recording period could indeed affect studies. Most parents, especially those whose children have good grades, wouldn't let their children neglect their studies just to participate in a competition. And those with average grades who wanted to gain admission to major music academies through the competition might not necessarily have the talent. Just when the production team was frantically selecting contestants, someone tagged the production team and recommended a "hidden lark in the deep mountains."
"Holy crap! Which school does this kid go to? Why wasn't she registered?" The assistant director in charge of the preliminary selection got goosebumps after hearing Jiang Cancan's a cappella singing.
With that voice, there's no need for auto-tuning. If she just went on stage and sang a cappella, the mentors would probably fight over her.
The assistant director frantically followed the directions from netizens and opened the video account of Langshan Elementary School. At first, he only watched the few videos where Jiang Cancan sang. As he watched, his fingers started moving on their own and somehow he slowly scrolled to the videos of the intern teachers' daily lives, as well as the videos of the stingy principal and his spendthrift nephew...
"Hahaha, this is hilarious!"
"There's no need to scold my nephew over a few eggs, hahaha~"
"Please, Principal, I'll send you some money. Could you buy two pounds of pork for the student teachers?"
The assistant director was laughing so hard he was shaking, but he still had to force himself to leave a bunch of comments in the comment section. He also followed the directions to other websites where he could tip the school's account. He couldn't help it; seeing the two intern teachers eating boiled vegetables all day and dreaming of eating a bite of pork lard was both funny and heartbreaking. He couldn't help but want to spend money to buy them two pounds of pork lard...
After watching all the videos of Langshan Primary School with great satisfaction, the assistant director put down his phone, rubbing his cheeks which were sore from laughing, and secretly began to ponder in his mind.
The show invited four guest mentors this time. While they are called mentors, they are actually just using the guests' popularity to attract viewers to the show. Many ordinary people may be amazed by the songs they sing, but when it comes to actually performing on stage, they still can't compare with experienced celebrities. Therefore, the show is still using a guest team format.
The guests invited this time include Xu Ying, a singer who has been popular for more than 20 years; Cheng Tianwang, a veteran in the entertainment industry who is involved in film, television and music; Qi Feier, who has sung theme songs for many film and television dramas in recent years; and the last one, who is also the most controversial, is Wei Sheng, a popular idol whose reputation has been almost polarized in recent years. We had to invite him because he is a popular idol that the station is currently "promoting".
The person most suitable to "discover" Jiang Cancan should be the singer Xu Ying. It is said that Xu Ying was also a poor child from the mountains. At first, she went to work in the cafeteria of a university with her fellow villagers. She was actually a dishwasher. Later, she had a stroke of luck and was discovered by a university professor who found that she had a great talent for singing. The professor cherished talent and couldn't bear to see her with such a good talent spend her whole life as a dishwasher. He funded the singer to go to a music training school.
The diva lived up to her reputation; perhaps she was born for this, as she actually got into the music department of this university and became the professor's last disciple, the youngest student, and the most famous student the professor ever taught. She also transformed the university's music department from an unknown in the music scene to the hottest one it is today.
However, it is said that the singer has a very bad relationship with her family of origin, and even fought a lawsuit against her biological parents for alimony in her early years. It is unlikely that she would want to go back to the mountains and relive those unpleasant childhood memories.
Even Jackie Chan wouldn't do; he grew up in Hong Kong and can't speak Mandarin fluently, let alone the complex and difficult Langshan dialect.
The only two left are Qi Feier and Wei Sheng, two young people.
Qi Feier is the sponsor's darling and someone else's artist, so the station has no right to send her to the mountains to feed pigs. That leaves only Wei Sheng.
Speaking of Wei Sheng, he has become a legend in the entertainment industry in recent years.
He was originally a lowly post-production worker at J TV station, who unfortunately ended up producing a bizarre show. How bizarre was this J TV show? They invited a total of nine guests, but one of them was arrested for drunk driving before even joining the production team. They managed to get one more added and filming started smoothly, but after only two episodes, one of the male guests, unable to control himself, solicited prostitutes during filming and was reported by the Chaoyang residents, caught red-handed... But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that after this guest was arrested, he heard that the whole internet was mocking him, and his company decided to drop him. So, he just went all out and confessed to two other male guests who had gone to hotels with him to get their hair done and "treat insomnia" with pretty female fans.
That's bad, there were only nine guests in total, and four of them went in at once!
The director was at his wits' end. What was worse, the show was so "addictive" that it seemed to be under some kind of curse. No one dared to invite any other guests! After all, people in the entertainment industry are said to be a bit superstitious, and this show was considered "cursed"—who would dare to come?
With the show on the verge of failure, and the station facing hefty breach of contract penalties from sponsors and advertisers if it couldn't continue, the director gritted his teeth and thought, "Even established stars are prone to scandals, right? Surely finding some ordinary people to partner with won't cause any problems?"
Wei Sheng, who has a decent image and temperament, was thus forced into the role and pushed from behind the scenes to the forefront just to fill a quota.
His reason for participating in the show was simple: the show offered ordinary people 50,000 yuan per episode. He calculated that there were still ten episodes left, and since he didn't have a management company, all the money he earned, except for income tax, was his own. If the show was successfully completed, he would have the money to make a down payment on a house.
Unexpectedly, this former behind-the-scenes staff member, who worked "diligently" on the show, became an internet sensation because of his clean-cut and handsome appearance and his various quirky and unconventional actions that seemed completely out of place with his looks...
After all, who would have thought that the first thing a handsome and cheerful young man does upon waking up in the morning isn't to look in the mirror and admire his good looks, but rather to obediently drink hot water and eat oatmeal? He also likes to soak his feet! And every few days he'll cook all sorts of nourishing and health-preserving soups for the cast and crew!
What left netizens speechless was that during the recording of the show, Wei Sheng would buy a lottery ticket every Saturday—although he had never won even the smallest prize, he claimed that 6 was his lucky number and he firmly believed that as long as he kept buying tickets, he would definitely win a big prize one day…
Good heavens! Netizens are dying of laughter at this silly guy who's seriously trying to be funny!