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Chapter of Free and Easy Wandering
Qiu Wan saw Director Zhao's expression soften, and he even smiled gently at her. Zhang Qiu shook his head helplessly and quietly explained to Lucia, who covered her mouth and laughed, "Before I came here, I heard that the schools here are quite bureaucratic, but I didn't expect it to be true."
"Dear friends, good morning," Director Zhao began in simple English. "This time, Aton High School is here for an exchange, and we extend a warm welcome. Our Beiluan No. 1 High School has been established since the same era as the Republic and has always been an outstanding school in all aspects, leading in the entire city..."
Zhang Qiu exchanged a knowing smile with Jiang Xue, remaining noncommittal as they quietly listened to Director Zhao's lengthy speech from the front. However, under the table, their hands were tightly clasped together. Lucia noticed this scene and exaggeratedly feigned shock, her blue eyes wide like glass beads as she gasped.
The meeting hadn't been going on long when Director Zhao continued to speak passionately, but no one in the audience was really listening. The students from the exchange group remained polite and quiet, but each one was fiddling with their phones or looking at what they had brought. Realizing his awkwardness, Director Zhao hastily concluded his speech and announced that the exchange activities would officially begin.
According to the schedule, the first activity involved taking the students from Aton High School to experience a class at Beiluan No. 1 High School. Naturally, the graduating classes could not be disturbed by these visiting students, so Director Zhao led everyone to the pre-arranged Sophomore Year class. The Chairman of the Sophomore Year Student Council, Zhao Jialiang, had been waiting there early. When he saw Director Zhao approaching with a group of tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed European and American students, he enthusiastically ran over to greet them.
"Brother Qiu!" Zhao Jialiang was surprised to see Zhang Qiu at the end of the line because another student was doing translation work. Zhang Qiu was walking at the back with Jiang Xue and Lucia since Director Zhao was leading the group. When Zhao Jialiang called out to him, Zhang Qiu stepped forward and smiled at Zhao Jialiang, who was dressed in formal attire with a tie. "With how you're dressed for your task, they haven't given you any trouble, have they?"
"No, Brother Qiu, thank you." Zhao Jialiang sincerely expressed his gratitude; he knew that without Zhang Qiu's help, he would have been in serious trouble. There wouldn't have been any opportunity for him to practice as a host for foreign guests at this reception; even whether he could continue studying at Beiluan No. 1 High School was uncertain.
"Do you two know each other?" Lucia asked curiously about how this formally dressed boy interacted with Zhang Qiu.
"Yes, let me introduce you. This is Zhao Jialiang, a great guy," Qiu Wan said as Jiang Xue translated for him and added herself, "He is also the Chairman of the Sophomore Year Student Council."
Lucia warmly greeted Zhao Jialiang: "Hello, I'm Lucia, the leader of this exchange group."
"Zhao Jialiang, let's head to the classroom," Director Zhao commanded authoritatively while watching them laugh together as if disregarding his position as an older supervisor. Zhao Jialiang became serious and led everyone into a pre-arranged classroom on the first floor.
Zhang Qiu stopped at the door and said to Lucia: "Do you have any plans for lunch? If you have time, let's chat."
Lucia nodded vigorously: "I was just thinking about talking to you too; I have time during lunch. But right now, I need to fulfill my duty and lead my team in this exchange."
"What's wrong? Aren't you coming in?" Jiang Xue caught on to Zhang Qiu's implication that he wouldn't be joining them anymore.
"Classmate Zhang Qiu, if you have something to do, go ahead. The students from the exchange group should go in and participate in the activities." Zhang Qiu's reluctance to attend was exactly what Director Zhao wanted; if this troublemaker accompanied them the whole time, who knows what kind of trouble might arise. It was unclear what Jiang Xue had discussed with the leader of the exchange group that made her specifically request to see Zhang Qiu.
"Director, I have nothing to do; I can participate." Zhang Qiu suddenly changed his mind. Initially, he thought attending the class meant just sitting on a stool at the back of the classroom, which seemed pointless. He would rather return to his class and hang out with his brothers. However, Director Zhao's words were clearly intended to discourage him from participating, which sparked Zhang Qiu's rebellious spirit; he hated when others imposed their thoughts on him. Since you don't want me to join, then I will join.
Director Zhao's expression immediately turned cold. Zhao Jialiang noticed this change and quickly stepped forward to ask, "Director Zhao, where would you like to sit?"
"I can sit anywhere; just arrange them properly," Director Zhao waved his hand.
Lucia curiously watched Zhang Qiu, who had gone from not participating to suddenly wanting to join. She couldn't understand how he changed so quickly. Before she could think more about it, she was led by Zhao Jialiang to her seat. Zhang Qiu didn't even glance at Director Zhao and followed Lucia into the classroom, clearly feeling a murderous glare behind him. Jiang Xue looked at Zhang Qiu and then at Director Zhao, who was glaring at Zhang Qiu's back, shaking her head helplessly.
At the back of the classroom, two rows of chairs had already been set up, each with a brand new Chinese language textbook placed on it. Director Zhao, along with Iris, the leading teacher from Aton High School, and Lucia, the leader of the exchange group, were all arranged in the middle of the front row. Jiang Xue and another student responsible for translation followed closely behind Lucia and Director Zhao. Zhang Qiu was also assigned a seat in the front row, but Director Zhao called over Zhao Jialiang and quietly reprimanded him for placing Zhang Qiu in the front row; those seats should be reserved for students from the exchange group.
Zhao Jialiang received Director Zhao's orders and approached Zhang Qiu. Zhang Qiu glanced at Director Zhao, who was focused on the podium. He smiled slightly without getting angry and stood up to make room but was stopped by Lucia grabbing his arm and asking, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to sit in the back; the director wants me to leave the front row for your students."
Jiang Xue translated honestly; Director Zhao was quite dissatisfied with Zhang Qiu's wording. After hearing Jiang Xue's translation, Lucia smiled brightly and said, "It's fine; just sit here; they are taller."
Although Director Zhao didn't know much about this blonde girl, it was clear from her actions that she wanted Zhang Qiu to sit down. He asked the student responsible for translation beside him, who conveyed her words to him. Director Zhao nodded slightly and said nothing further.
The seats at the back of the classroom were filled with people, and several teachers without classes were also brought in from the office to accompany them. The students in the classroom were all dressed uniformly in school uniforms and curiously turned their heads to observe this group of people they usually only saw in movies. The teachers in professional attire stood at the podium and loudly prompted, "Students, please quiet down; let us give a warm welcome to our leaders and students from Aton High School's exchange group."
As soon as the teachers finished speaking, enthusiastic applause erupted in the classroom. Director Zhao sat in his seat, proudly displaying his beer belly while clapping joyfully. Once the applause subsided, the teacher at the podium looked at Director Zhao, who softly uttered a few words: "Let's begin, Mr. Ma."
Mr. Ma naturally picked up a textbook and instructed the students to turn to a specific page. The large screen in the center of the blackboard displayed three big characters—Chapter of Free and Easy Wandering.
"Students, today we will discuss a very famous piece of writing in our country's history—Chapter of Free and Easy Wandering. This article is filled with philosophical thoughts and teaches us many lessons; now let's break into groups for discussion as we usually do."
As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the students in the odd-numbered rows turned around to face their classmates in the even-numbered rows, holding their textbooks and engaging in intense discussions. Zhang Qiu watched the lively scene and suddenly smiled.
Just as expected, this exchange class was arranged in advance, much like the classes observed by leaders. In a real classroom, there is hardly any opportunity for discussion; time is precious, and it would be better for students to solve more problems than to waste time discussing. Zhang Qiu thought about Xu Qing Chu, who was implementing curriculum reforms in their Senior Year. They had not participated in a single class yet and had no idea what it was like.
The discussions were very intense, and the students appeared very engaged. The language teacher at the front saw that it was almost time and called for a stop, abruptly ending the discussions. The students quietly looked at the teacher, while the exchange students in the back watched with great curiosity. Director Zhao wore a broad smile, clearly pleased with the atmosphere generated by the recent discussions. Only Zhang Qiu flipped through their brand new Language Class notebook out of boredom, landing on Chekhov's "The Man in a Case."
"Wang Meng, you come up and share your group's discussion results."
The language teacher called out a name, and immediately a student stood up straight, holding their notes. After adjusting their glasses lightly, they began: "In 'Chapter of Free and Easy Wandering,' it starts with Beiming having fish named Kun, which is so large that its size is unknown for thousands of miles. Kun then transforms into a bird named Peng. Through the comparison of Peng with the cicada and Pigeon, it illustrates the relationship of greatness. Both great and small have their own places."
The language teacher smiled and nodded in satisfaction: "Good job, Wang Meng. Please take your seat."
After Wang Meng finished answering, they sat down while the teacher randomly called on several other students. None of those called hesitated; all expressed their group's discussion views. The language teacher concluded: "Everyone's contributions were excellent! Through our earlier discussions and your sharing, the theme of this article has become very clear. Now let me summarize; you can take notes." As soon as the teacher finished speaking, there was a rustling sound of paper turning.
"This article first contrasts the great Peng with animals like cicadas and Pigeon to explain the distinction between 'small' and 'great.' On this basis, the author points out that whether it's the clumsy cicada or Pigeon or even the great Peng that can soar to ninety thousand miles high using wind power, they are all 'dependent' and not free. This leads to an explanation of 'the sage has no self, the divine person has no achievement, and the saint has no name.' The article concludes with a debate between Hui Zi and Zhuangzi regarding 'useful' and 'useless,' emphasizing that one must not be used by society to achieve true freedom."
The language teacher's eloquent discourse left everyone present in awe; even the exchange students could not hide their surprise as they widened their eyes and opened their mouths in amazement.
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