Mountain boy picks stars

1

A rising sun is slowly ascending.

It has given the vibrant Yellow River Experimental School a golden glow.

A flock of happy little birds flew merrily among the trees on campus.

Inside the campus, a red banner reading "Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Yellow River Experimental School" still hangs, celebrating the school's anniversary of becoming the same age as the People's Republic of China.

Ms. Zhou Sixuan, now in her middle age and serving as the school's principal, slowly walked out of her office.

Zhou Sixuan sighed, "Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the school's 80th anniversary, the same year as the People's Republic of China, is approaching. As the anniversary approaches, how much I must miss those students I taught during my first year as a homeroom teacher, those students who loved chasing after celebrities! I wonder if their dreams of meeting their idols have come true..."

At this time, Yuan Liuxing, Lu Jiahan, Mao Zhiling, Shi Xuankai, Cheng Hongdou, and other classmates who had already come of age arrived at Principal Zhou Sixuan's office, returning to their alma mater to participate in the school's anniversary celebration.

2

Twenty years after graduation, during the 80th anniversary celebration of their alma mater, which is the same age as the People's Republic of China, those mischievous students from that class returned to visit their teachers.

Yuan Liuxing and the other students cried out, "Teacher Zhou! Teacher Zhou!"

…………

Teacher Zhou no longer recognized the students from back then, and asked with doubt: You are...

Yuan Liuxing and the other students said, "Teacher Zhou, we are the students you taught in your first year as a homeroom teacher!"

Teacher Zhou exclaimed excitedly, "Oh? That's wonderful! That's wonderful! We've been eagerly awaiting your return for our alma mater's anniversary celebration!"

Yuan Liuxing and other classmates said, "Teacher Zhou, no matter how far we go, we will always be Teacher Zhou's students, always students of our alma mater, and always in our hearts for our alma mater!"

Teacher Zhou was extremely excited: "Great! Great! I'm so happy that you can come back to visit. As your teacher, I'm so touched!"

How happy they must be! Back when our class had its "nine stars chasing stars" reform, did you all achieve your respective goals for chasing those stars?

Yuan Liuxing and his classmates said, "Teacher Zhou, we've come back to give back to our alma mater! Back then, Teacher Zhou's 'Nine Stars Reform' for our life's idol-chasing helped us establish correct values, worldviews, and outlooks on life from a young age, setting the right course from the very beginning. Now, our idol-chasing dreams have all come true! The dream proposed by Mr. Liang Qichao a hundred years ago, 'When the youth are wise, the nation is wise; when the youth are strong, the nation is strong,' has also been realized! Our nation's great rejuvenation 'Chinese Dream' has also been realized!"

Zhou Sixuan: "Seeing you all today makes me so happy!"

Yuan Liuxing and the other students said, "We are so grateful to Teacher Zhou for nurturing us! If it weren't for Teacher Zhou's 'reform of the idol-worship experiment' back then, which guided us onto the right path of idol worship, we don't know where we would be now..."

The teacher and student held hands tightly.

Teachers and students celebrated the school's anniversary together and reminisced about how the students had grown up along the same path of "idol worship" they had taken back then.

3

Every student in the class, through the influence of Teacher Zhou's "idol-chasing reform," has transformed their interest, cultivated during their early years of idol-chasing activities, into a pursuit of self-improvement through twenty years of unremitting efforts. Each student has achieved something in their own field.

Back then, everyone in the class achieved excellent grades: Mao Zhiling, who won the "Diligent Beauty Star" award that year...

She became the chief engineer and entrepreneur of a world-leading technology innovation company.

Following the path of "behavioral beauty star" back then, Cheng Hongdou became a master craftsman who made significant contributions to key national projects.

Following his special talent as a "healthy beauty star," Shi Xuankai embarked on a professional sports career, winning awards in world boxing competitions and bringing honor to the country.

Yuan Liuxing, who won the "Spiritual Beauty Star" award that year, continued to leverage his organizational and service talents and became a popular and outstanding public servant.

Lu Jiahan, who won the "Art Star" award that year, became a vocal professor at a prestigious university music academy, cultivating high-level musical talents for the country...

During their teenage years, this group of students, who were once lost in the "confusion of idol worship," were guided by Teacher Zhou based on the "Four Pillars of Education for the 21st Century" established by UNESCO—learning to know, learning to do, learning to live, and learning to be—and the "Nine Beauties" aesthetic education requirements strongly advocated by the state for primary and secondary school students—beauty of the soul, beauty of etiquette and music, beauty of language, beauty of behavior, beauty of science, beauty of order, beauty of health, beauty of diligence, and beauty of art.

Through in-depth teaching practices rooted in students' real-life situations, a "Star-Chasing Reform Teaching Experiment" was developed, exploring a new star-chasing theme that best suited students' actual circumstances. Students gradually escaped the "star-chasing maze" of blindly idolizing film, television, and music stars and becoming addicted to online games, re-establishing the true "stars" they should admire during their adolescence. Later, they all achieved success in their respective fields, ultimately realizing their childhood dream of "reaching for the stars"!

4

What worries Teacher Zhou the most is Huang Xiaoxing, a poor child from the mountain village who was a cowherd and left-behind child. In his childhood, he often looked up at the starry sky on the mountaintop by the Yellow River in his hometown, dreaming of flying to the sky and picking stars. He followed his father, who was working in the city, to study, but his dream was ridiculed by his classmates in the city who were obsessed with chasing movie and music stars, who said he was ignorant and didn't understand how to follow celebrities.

Originally a simple, kind, and optimistic boy from the mountains, he was ridiculed as a "mountain idiot" and a "star idiot," leading him to despair and doubt his childhood dream of reaching for the stars. Through his teacher's "star-chasing experiment" reform, he finally awakened, rallied, and won the "Science Star," establishing his direction for growth. Following the path of his "Science Star," he later gained admission to a prestigious national 985 university specializing in aerospace engineering. Despite enduring ridicule, setbacks, and hardships, he persevered through adversity and setbacks, never giving up on his childhood dream of reaching for the stars. Finally, he boarded the Shenzhou spacecraft and ascended into the vast expanse of space, participating in scientific experiments on the International Space Station. Stepping out of the spacecraft, he finally realized his childhood dream of flying into space and "reaching for the stars."

Huang Xiaoxing, a poor child from a mountain village who used to herd cattle and was left behind by his family, is now a space payload expert and aerospace scientist. He will soon be going to the International Space Station to conduct scientific experiments and tirelessly explore the mysteries of the universe.

Huang Xiaoxing is in the most intense preparation period before launch and will not be able to return to participate in the 80th anniversary celebration of his alma mater, which is the same age as the People's Republic of China.

Just before takeoff, a video was filmed to send blessings to the alma mater on its anniversary, wishing the teachers and students well.