Chapter 420 The Last Lesson (Subscribe for monthly tickets)
In mid-July, the sun is intoxicatingly warm.

Before we knew it, the rising sun quietly slanted down to the west of the sky. The warm sunlight poured into the campus, and the green grass was dyed with a layer of golden color.

Without knowing it, the senior students of Jiangchuan No. 1 Middle School have already reached the end of their high school life.

Graduation is approaching and the senior class is partying.

In the sadness of parting, some students vented their inexplicable thoughts in the noises of quarreling and tearing books, some students played the guitar as if expressing the sorrows of youth, and some students blocked the girls at the corners of the stairs and in the small forest. What they did specifically is unknown to outsiders.

Class 156 of Grade is quiet.

The arrival of Wang Mingzhen, this respected old man, calmed the students' restless hearts.

He spoke slowly, "Students, to be honest, I am a little selfish. I shouldn't have affected your mood at this time, but I always think that you are the last class of students I will teach. I want to stand here and put a perfect end to my more than 30-year teaching career. I hope you will forgive me for taking up the last of your precious time."

Wang Mingzhen stood up again with the help of his cane, bowed to the students, and said, "Class begins."

"stand up."

"Hello students."

"Hello teacher."

"sit down."

"Students, please turn to Yang Jiang's "Meng Po Tea"."

Wang Mingzhen has no idea how many times he has talked about this article in Class 156.

Zhang Yunqi knew it very well.

The students in Class 156 are familiar with it.

Wang Mingzhen did not bring a lesson plan. He was leaning on a cane and did not cough at this time. He leaned on the podium and recited his favorite article to the students in a slow and gentle voice, just like before: "I boarded an open-air train, but it was not a car because it did not run on the ground; it was like a raft, but it did not go on water; it was like an airplane, but it had no cabin and it was a long train; it looked like an automated conveyor belt, very long, with railings on both sides, full of passengers, running in the sea of ​​clouds..."

Every sentence is a metaphor, like a dream talk.

In the middle of July, snow was falling outside the window.

Wang Mingzhen seemed not to hear it, as if it was a whisper.

During that period of time, the classroom and outside the classroom seemed to have become two different worlds. When Zhang Yunqi occasionally looked up, he saw a ray of sunlight splitting the classroom in two. There were bits of dust under the beam of light, and the old man just stood in the dust, talking slowly and leisurely. Every grain of dust was flying dazzlingly, forming the final picture of his high school life.

I don’t know how long it had passed, but I finished reading Yang Jiang’s "Meng Po Tea". Wang Mingzhen did not make any annotations. He had explained this reading comprehension text many times, and everything he wanted to remember should be remembered.

Under the gaze of the students, he picked up the white chalk, walked to the blackboard with his cane, and wrote nine powerful words: "Take your time, think positively, and look forward."

Wang Mingzhen threw away the chalk, turned around and looked at the students under the podium, and said slowly: "Students, I recently saw a set of data, and today, I want to share it with you."

Facing the students' curious eyes, Wang Mingzhen coughed twice and said, "This year is 1995. There are 12.11 billion people in my country, and 8.64 million of them are rural residents. Among every 38441 people, the educated population is: 27283 in primary school; 8282 in junior high school; 2065 in high school; and 4 in college and above. As for the gross enrollment rate of higher education, it is less than 1.4505%. There are still 12.01 million illiterate and semi-literate people in the country, accounting for % of the country's population."

At that moment, the classroom was quiet. The students could not understand the meaning of the data presented by Wang Mingzhen, but they could always vaguely feel a sense of indescribable power, just like seeing towering mountains and surging rivers.

Wang Mingzhen's wrinkled face showed a hint of smile. He held his cane and said, "Do you know what these data represent? One thing, we are lucky, everyone here is lucky, because no matter how we do in the college entrance examination, at least we still have the opportunity and right to study! We are 12.11% of the 4 billion people!"

Wang Mingzhen said: "Born in such an era, the wave of reform and opening up has promoted the continuous renewal and reform of all levels of society. Everything is changing with each passing day and thriving. As a person who has experienced it, I can clearly feel that the future of our country is changing from hazy to clear, from confusing to bright. In other words, our country has countless opportunities waiting for you young people who are creating the world to grasp. Standing on the wave of the times, we are also lucky."

Wang Mingzhen said: "In three days, it will be the college entrance examination. As lucky as we are, there is no need to be afraid. It is great to get a good score and get into an ideal university. But if we fail, what's the big deal?"

Wang Mingzhen said: "Children, you will gradually understand that compared to the current college entrance examination, you will have more and greater desires in the future. You want to be an entrepreneur, a scientist, a big star; you want to be rich and have a beautiful partner; you want to live a wonderful life and attract attention... However, not everyone can stand in the center of the stage. Although this era is full of opportunities, everyone here, your future is still likely not to be what you want. But what's so great about that?"

Wang Mingzhen looked up at the students under the podium and said deeply: "You should know that even in this prosperous era full of opportunities and hope, there are still 8.64 million ordinary people in our country who are struggling in the swamp. However, this does not prevent them from working hard to manage their own lives and feel the sparks of life in the mundane world. What are the sparks of life? Those things that are willing to endure some bitterness for a little sweetness."

"Students, now is the starting point of your long life journey. As 12.11% of the 4 billion people, your starting point in life is already very lucky and glorious. However, if you don't do well in the college entrance examination, if you can't stand in the center of the stage in the future, then you can stay on the edge of the stage and work hard to manage your ordinary life. This is just as good."

"Because this world is ultimately made up of the working people. In the future, you will slowly feel that fishing has its own pains, shepherding has its own pains, the blacksmith has scars on his hands, and the farmer has calloused feet. Among all the sufferings in the world, there is nothing more painful than being human! However, we all have the right to suffer, and we also have the right to witness the fishermen's harvest, the shepherds' return, the blacksmith's forging of magic weapons, and the farmer's harvest of wheat! Ordinary as he, ordinary as she; ordinary as me, ordinary as you!"

"Clap clap clap..."

At this time, applause broke out.

All the students in Class 156 stood up and applauded the old man at the podium with a deep gaze and earnest teaching.

The old man leaned on his cane and said, "Students, this is the last lesson I want to teach you. No matter what the future holds or what circumstances we are in, we must accept ourselves, respect ourselves, and love ourselves. For many things, we can be more open-minded, take things slowly, and look forward."

Wang Mingzhen pointed to the nine characters on the blackboard and said, "Finally, I still want to give you a word. In the past two years that I have been with you, I have repeatedly recited to you Yang Jiang's Meng Po Tea. I hope that you can get good grades in the college entrance examination, but I hope even more that when you walk out of this classroom and move forward with an increasingly heavy life, you will still not lose the ability to feel happiness and freedom!"

Having said this, Wang Mingzhen looked up at every Aokiji face under the podium, bowed, and said, "get out of class dismissed."

get out of class has ended.

At that moment, the classroom was silent.

The setting sun penetrated the glass windows, forming dim beams of light in the classroom, shining on the slightly uncomfortable young faces. Dust was floating, and the incandescent lamps above the heads and the creaking electric fans were all coated with a layer of gold.

In a trance, Zhang Yunqi suddenly heard crying.

Some girls were lying on their desks in tears, perhaps because they were touched by Wang Mingzhen's words, or perhaps because they were graduating like this. But crying is contagious, and many people started crying all of a sudden. The air was filled with the sadness of parting.

It's time to wave goodbye.

Graduation is a cruel season after all. Both the mature and the immature will be harvested together, and everything will be gone with the wind in the blink of an eye when spring turns into summer.

All that remains are memories.

Many years later, when these people in the classroom are wandering around the world, there will always be a few nights with lonely starry sky, when they think of these days, they will smile.

No one can defeat time, but fortunately, memories are immortal.

******
(End of this chapter)