Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, the Diary of a 95 Flower

Jiang Yang could predict that Yang Chaoyue would receive these private messages, and he could guess most of their contents.

Now everyone is definitely praising Yang Chaoyue.

On the one hand, it's because Chaoyue (超跃) grows from the bottom up, and the growth trajectory is visible, making it easy to relate to.

From extras to featured roles to supporting characters in major dramas, it's easy to win over netizens.

Later, Chaoyue will become the protagonist.

Furthermore, if the lead actor is from a hit drama, netizens will be even more eager to discuss it.

Another reason is the negative trending topic about Jiang Yang himself.

Yang Chaoyue was speaking up for Jiang Yang.

It was expected that during that period, Yang Chaoyue's private messages would be filled with insults directed at her.

Public opinion has now reversed.

The private message to Yang Chaoyue naturally led to a reversal of the situation.

Jiang Yang wasn't really interested in watching, but Yang Chaoyue grabbed his shoulder and begged him, "Brother Yang, please take another look, I'm begging you."

"Is this how you beg for help? Where are your hands?"

"Put it on your head, then."

"You didn't just put it on my head, you fucking pressed the back of my head down and forced me to look at it."

"Oh, hey, I'm excited."

Yang Chaoyue let go, and saw Jiang Yang raise his head and come closer to look. She couldn't help but smile.

Very happy.

Praising yourself in private messages will allow Yang Ge to see them.

Just like letting Yang Ge feel his own growth.

During the period when I was being relentlessly criticized, it was Yang Ge who encouraged me.

Yang Chaoyue didn't want to show Jiang Yang the private messages that dared to insult her, because she was ashamed.

Yang Chaoyue swiped the screen a few times.

Several private messages encouraging Yang Chaoyue were displayed above:
Ignore those idiots who call you unsophisticated. We girls from the countryside aren't afraid of being criticized; we just want to be famous.
[What are you afraid of, a girl who fought her way through the days of Tieba? Yang-ge's songs are meant to let you sing with the spirit of a working-class girl!]
[Yang Chaoyue, the pride of Yancheng, was still sewing at a sewing machine last year, and this year he's sharing the stage with top celebrities. Next year, it'll be your turn to hold a concert.]
[Seeing your Weibo posts encouraging each other, these are true sisters, a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry.]
Some praised Yang Chaoyue's acting skills.

These private messages, praising her to an extreme degree, made Yang Chaoyue the happiest:
[Your scenes with Jiang Yang in "A Little Reunion" were absolutely amazing! For someone without formal training to act like that, you far surpass those actresses born in the 85s and 90s. I would call you the strongest actress born in the 95s in terms of acting skills.]
[The little beggar in "Go Fighting!" made my grandma cry; she said you looked just like her when she was young.]
Jiang Yang glanced at it.

This explains how Yang Chaoyue is viewed by netizens today.

Yang Chaoyue's genuine and unpretentious personality, embodying the warmth and life of rural life, is now admired by many.

This is also why many people dislike him.

The rustic charm of rural life is often criticized as unsophisticated.

Being genuine and unpretentious gets you criticized for speaking without thinking.

In the era of internet traffic, it's impossible for everyone to like Yang Chaoyue, and it's also impossible for everyone to dislike Yang Chaoyue.

This is the case now.

This will be even more true in the future.

But what we can do is let more people know about Yang Chaoyue.

"Chaoyue, you're taking the college entrance exam next month, you know that, right?"

"I know!"

Yang Chaoyue took out a review book from her large handbag.

Five years of college entrance exam preparation, three years of practice.

It is the English subject.

The corners of the pages were curled, and the title page was wrinkled.

Jiang Yang remembered this textbook; it was one of the textbooks he bought for Yang Chaoyue when they first started living together last year.

The name Yang Chaoyue was written crookedly on it.

The handwriting was very bad, but it was very simple and honest.

Yang Chaoyue's signature has now been specially designed; it's messy yet beautiful, and he must have practiced it countless times in private.

It's clear that Yang Chaoyue is a very hard worker.

Each page has annotations and underlined notes.

Even without considering these factors, Jiang Yang knew how hard Yang Chaoyue was working, because every time Yang Chaoyue used the textbooks he bought to study, Jiang Yang would receive a notification that he had gained the corresponding attribute bonus.

In terms of English alone, my vocabulary has improved to the level of IELTS.

If a foreigner comes along, we can communicate fluently in English.

But they cannot be Indian.

Because Yang Chaoyue hadn't yet learned English with a curry accent, Jiang Yang hadn't exploited that attribute.

"Sure, how about the exercise?" Jiang Yang asked.

"Hold!"

"I asked you how to say 'exercise' in English, what are you talking about?"

“Exercise,” Yang Chaoyue immediately said in English and spelled it out fluently.

Jiang Yang knew that.

He reaps what he sows.

The English skills he extracted from Yang Chaoyue were not for nothing.

"By the way, Yang, I want to talk to you about something, it's related to the kids in my hometown."

Yang Chaoyue got down to business.

It was the situation of the children in the village that I saw when I video-chatted with my mother earlier.

Although not a child of Wanggang Village.

But she always cared about her mother and sister in that village.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yang understood Yang Chaoyue's meaning: "Chaoyue, I think the same way. Sending it directly would cause a lot of trouble, arouse suspicion, and might even lead to comparisons among people."

"Is there any good way?"

“We can help those children through schools.”

"Through the school."

Yang Chaoyue paused, seemingly understanding something.

Listen patiently as Jiang Yang continues.

"You can distribute the shoes you want to donate as teaching materials, and print the school badge on the shoes to reduce their resale value."

"That makes sense, that's a good approach."

Yang Chaoyue's little brain quickly grasped many things. He nodded to himself and muttered, "Yes, yes, if my sister's school in my hometown can do this, then my school in my hometown can too."

Immediately.

She took out her phone and sent a message to her teacher at her school back home.

Jiang Yang did not disturb them.

He simply reached out and gently pulled Yang Chaoyue into his arms.

Take a look at Yang Chaoyue's phone screen.

Yang Chaoyue typed out a message: ["Teacher Zhang, this is Chaoyue. Are you busy? There's something I'd like to ask you."]
The other party was Teacher Zhang from Chaoyue's hometown primary school.

I taught Yang Chaoyue when I was in elementary school.

I teach physical education.

Back then, he was two heads taller than Chaoyue, and Teacher Zhang was only in his early twenties.

Now Chaoyue is as tall as Teacher Zhang. Teacher Zhang is thirty years old and has become a director.

He is also a physical education teacher and handles logistics.

The last time Chaoyue was back in his hometown, he contacted Teacher Zhang. At that time, they talked about replacing the children's old desks and chairs.

I received a reply from Teacher Zhang.

It was a voice message: ["I'm teaching a PE class to the students, but it's okay. Chaoyue, you know how strong kids are! I made them run five laps around the track, and they still play basketball with such energy. Chaoyue, what do you say? Let them have some free time now. You know how much playtime I have in PE class."]
Yang Chaoyue listened to it twice.

The first time was to listen to what Teacher Zhang was saying.

The second time is to listen to the background noise in this passage.

It was obvious from the sound that Teacher Zhang sent her this WeChat message from the playground.

Because you can hear the dull thud of the basketball hitting the rim.

Some girls were jumping rope, shouting in their hometown dialect: "Two eight two five six, two eight two five seven..."

Jumping rope is no longer popular in big cities.

The kids back home still know how to play.

However, there are far fewer of them than before; most of them are playing on their phones.

When I was in elementary school, there was a small shop near the school gate that sold picture cards.

I bought it to play with my classmates, and whoever flipped it over won.

These past few times when I went back to my hometown, I didn't see any children playing with picture cards when I passed by the school or in the village alleys.

Times are changing.

Children's childhoods are also changing.

Yang Chaoyue herself never imagined that last year she couldn't see a future in the factory, but this year she can do what she can for the school in her hometown, trying her best to prevent the children from following in her footsteps.

You must make a concerted effort to finish reading the book.

Immediately afterwards, Teacher Zhang sent over a photo.

These are photos of children playing on the playground.

You can see the words "Wanggang Primary School" on the cement pillars at the school gate in the distance.

Several girls were hopping on the playground with their legs together.

On the basketball court, several boys wearing red scarves were scrambling for a basketball.

Judging from the students' height, Teacher Zhang should be teaching older students.

Most girls have already developed and are generally taller than boys.

"Brother Yang, look, this is the primary school I used to go to."

“I saw it,” Jiang Yang said with a smile.

“I used to be in this class, and there are these steps. I fell down from them once, and my head was all swollen up. My mom was heartbroken.”

Yang Chaoyue zoomed in on the photo and became unusually talkative.

After saying a few words, she suddenly stopped and looked at Jiang Yang: "Brother Yang, will you find me annoying if I tell you all this?"

No, I like listening to it.

Jiang Yang put his arm around Yang Chaoyue, lowering his shoulders slightly to make Yang Chaoyue more comfortable: "I like listening to you talk about your childhood."

"Hehe, as long as you're not annoyed."

Yang Chaoyue pointed at the photos.

Each place I point to is like opening a box of memories.

The light from the phone screen was reflected in his eyes.

Her fingertip suddenly moved to the osmanthus tree at the edge of the playground: "Ah, Yang-ge, I suddenly remembered, my glass marbles are buried under this tree. Let me tell you, Yang-ge, do you know what glass marbles are?"

"I know, it's those transparent beads, and also frosted glass ones."

"Ah, yes, yes, that's it."

Yang Chaoyue's face was full of smiles as he gestured, even sticking out his little finger: "You played this when you were little? I thought kids who grew up in big cities played something different from us."

“I’m from Chongqing, but I grew up in Tongliang, a small county town. You’ve been to my home before, it’s not very developed. Zhou Ye, on the other hand, grew up in a big city.”

"Yes, yes, yes, yes."

Yang Chaoyue was even happier to discover that Jiang Yang had played the same game as her when she was a child.

It seems she had a childhood similar to Jiang Yang's.

She wiggled her hips.

She felt more comfortable sitting in Jiang Yang's lap and continued, "Back then, I used to play marbles with the boys in my class. I lost a lot, and I was so angry that I kept playing, but I kept losing. I cried so much that snot bubbles came out of my nose. The next day at school, the boys in my class who had won marbles from me laughed at me. I was so angry that I wanted to fight them. Looking back now, it was so childish. The class monitor secretly returned two marbles to me. Now that I think about it, they were definitely his own. But that class monitor..."

Her voice suddenly softened.

Pause.

Didn't go on.

Jiang Yang asked, "What happened to the class monitor?"

Yang Chaoyue sighed: "He didn't finish junior high school. He was actually a good student, but his family kept telling him that it takes so many years of studying to earn money, so he might as well just go and work. They said college graduates don't earn much these days, so he didn't finish junior high school and went to work with relatives. Later, he went to Foxconn... I heard he jumped off a building last year. I heard it from my classmates back home during the Spring Festival. They said he was forced by his girlfriend, that she cheated on him, and he couldn't think straight."

Done.

Yang Chaoyue sighed again.

She gripped Jiang Yang's hand tightly.

Sometimes I feel that the news circulating in the village is just like the rumors on the internet—it's hard to tell what's true and what's false.

That's for sure.

The class monitor from elementary school, who was slightly shorter than her, is truly no longer alive.

His life was forever frozen at the age of eighteen, on the ground of the Foxconn factory area.

Several other people jumped off buildings in the same month.

I don't know if he was really forced into it by his girlfriend.

It's also possible that they were forced into it by life.

Yang Chaoyue pressed the voice button and sent a voice message to Teacher Zhang:
"Teacher Zhang, is the basketball hoop working well?"
["Haha, it works great, Chaoyue! Now all the students in the school know that the basketball hoops on the playground were donated by a girl named Chaoyue. Clips of your acting are also being shown at school. The kids all know you're a big star, and they watch your 'A Little Reunion' when they get home."]
[“I’m not a star, I’m just a small-time actor now.”] Yang Chaoyue sent the message.

She posted another message: [“I noticed the children’s shoes are always worn out, many are made of rubber. I’d like to donate sneakers to all the children in the school. I’ll have them custom-made in a factory, with sizes divided into six categories according to grade. Some children grow quickly and have big feet. We’ll also embroider our Wanggang Primary School emblem on the uppers of the shoes. Teacher Zhang, what do you think?”]
The message was sent.

It took a full half minute for Teacher Zhang to reply to the voice message, his tone becoming somewhat restrained and much more serious:

"Oh, Chaoyue, thank you so much! But I can't make that decision myself; I have to discuss it with the principal."
After talking with Teacher Zhang, Yang Chaoyue felt much more at ease.

Knowing this is just the beginning.

It's not enough to just chat with the teacher for a few minutes.

I still need to talk to the principal; I have to visit the primary school several times when I go back to my hometown.

There's still a lot to come, and Yang Chaoyue has already looked into it. It's easy to discuss with the principal about unifying the distribution time.

The shoe design is a bit complicated.

The soles of the shoes must be non-slip, because there are many gravel roads in my hometown in the countryside, and when it rains, there is a lot of mud.

There are also options for choosing garment factories, which require further investigation.

What I want to see most is my younger sister, Kailin, and her classmates running and playing on the playground in well-fitting, non-slip sneakers, instead of walking with her sandals cracked and hurting her feet like she is now.

What I fear most is seeing parents selling shoes embroidered with school badges and names to scrap collectors, while their children continue to wear cracked old shoes to school.

I also don't want the principal to use the donation as a political achievement to promote himself, and to put up a banner at the school gate that reads "Donation Ceremony of Famous Alumnus Yang Chaoyue", which would attract marketing accounts to hype it up and exploit the suffering.

This is the first time I've done something like this.

Yang Chaoyue had no idea whether he could do it well.

"Chaoyue, why don't we find a clothing factory that works with the film crew instead of a shoe factory? We can just tell Lao Zhong directly. It will be a donation in both your name and the film crew's name, which will save a lot of money," Jiang Yang thought subconsciously and asked.

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PS: Please vote for me with monthly tickets! I'm so grateful! (End of Chapter)