Chapter 24: 52 Hz
The Donglou Cultural Corner is a remote place in the Experimental Primary School, so not many people noticed the content in the cultural corner at the beginning, maybe only a few scattered ones. But after one class, the number of students who came to worship the great god gradually increased.
There were dozens of them after the first class, but by the second class, there were hundreds of them. They were packed in three layers inside and three layers outside. The short ones had to stand on tiptoe to squeeze forward, but could only look at the countless backs of heads in front of them in despair.
Such scenes often appear at the airport where fans pick up their idols, or at sales conferences promoting the effectiveness of a certain drug, music festivals, concerts, autograph sessions... but they should not appear in this cultural corner that was created just for formalism.
What a coincidence, the flag-raising ceremony was right after the second class. The extremely familiar melody of "March" echoed in the campus. According to convention, each class had to assemble in five minutes. Students should be lined up in front of the flagpole, wearing bright red scarves on their chests .
But today's queue was visibly short of people. The dean's face instantly turned cold, and the principal next to him frowned in dissatisfaction.
It was not difficult to find out where the students had gone. The dean of studies gave the answer in just a few words. He rushed to the cultural corner with a thermos cup in his hand and scolded the group of children for being ignorant and standing around instead of going to the flag-raising ceremony. A few students in the back row ran away, but the crowd did not disperse.
If it were just one or two children, they would be scared after hearing a few words from him, but as the saying goes, three people make a tiger, they have gathered into a large group and they don't pay any attention to him at all.
"This... isn't this our class's blackboard newspaper? Who made this? It's so awesome!"
"Why do I feel so sad after reading this? Such sad content."
"Stay away, don't damage it!"
"let me see!"
The noisy crowd forked out a path in the middle due to the dean's hard work. When he reached the blackboard and saw the content on it, he was also stunned for several seconds.
“No wonder…”
During the third class, the head teacher Zhu Ziqian walked into the classroom of Grade 4 Class 2. The noisy classroom suddenly became quiet. She looked around the classroom and finally her eyes stopped on Jiang Yulu.
"Jiang Yulu, who made our class blackboard newspaper last week?"
Jiang Yulu, who was called, stood up, with the corners of her mouth rising uncontrollably.
“It’s Yu Yu.”
Hearing this name, the expression on Zhu Ziqian's face changed again and again. Jiang Yulu saw it and felt a sense of satisfaction as if a great revenge had been taken.
Huh, teacher, is this the good student you want us to be? It seems to be just like that.
However, Zhu Ziqian's next words caught her off guard. "This issue of the bulletin board is very well done. In the meeting just now, the principal personally selected our class as this week's civilized class. I hope that all students can follow Yu Yu's example and work hard to bring honor to the class in all aspects."
There was thunderous applause and cheers in the class. The students twisted their heads and searched for a long time before they found Yu Yu, whose half head was hidden under the table.
Although they don't mention it, in fact every student attaches great importance to class honor in their heart. However, no one expected that the transfer student who didn't fit in with everyone would quietly bring such a great gift to the class.
"It's been a few weeks since our class received a civilization class?"
"This time, it's all thanks to Yu Yu..."
"It was actually made by Yu Yu? Just after class, Li Fang and I went to see it. It was so beautiful!"
Yu Yu, who was promoted from an unknown person in the class to a hero in an instant, felt quite uncomfortable. He buried his head in the table with a blushing face.
Xu Cheng looked at the scene with a smile, and was inexplicably reminded of the fact that ostriches would bury their heads in the ground when they were scared. Then looking at Yu Yu beside him, it seemed particularly funny.
The only one who felt that something was wrong was Jiang Yulu. Why did it feel like the plot development was completely different from the script she had written? Did something go wrong?
However, what was even more surprising was yet to come. When Zhu Ziqian asked in surprise whether Yu Yu had completed it alone, the usually taciturn Yu Yu suddenly stood up and shook his head vigorously.
Her voice was trembling with fear, her hands clenched into fists, and she seemed to use up all her strength to say the few words, "Xu Cheng drew it, and I wrote the words..."
The sound was subtle, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
All eyes in the classroom were suddenly turned to the "he" that Yu Yu mentioned, while Xu Cheng just sat in his seat calmly, as if nothing had happened.
There was another commotion in the class. Only Li Qiuyang had an expression as if he had expected this. That ordinary boy who was usually friendly in class and had average grades, turned out to be a brilliant talent once he made a move.
Jiang Yulu waited for the class . She really wanted to see for herself what had happened. What great work had been inadvertently led to by her little girl's revenge?
The bell for the end of get out of class had just rung, and almost the entire school had gathered in front of the cultural corner to watch.
As she struggled to make her way through the crowded crowd, she finally waited until the head blocking the way in front of her moved away. In the middle of the dark gap, a magnificent picture suddenly appeared, as if it had opened up.
Tranquility, depth, sadness and loneliness make people meditate on the May breeze blowing across the lake, whales singing in the depths of the sea, and the stars shining in the universe.
Amid the crowd's shove, Jiang Yulu couldn't help but take a few steps forward. Her vision became clearer, and she could finally see the entire poster at a glance...
That is a big fish swimming in the blue ocean.
In an instant, Jiang Yulu felt as if an electric current was spreading from his spine and limbs all the way to the top of his forehead. A numbing feeling exploded from the center of his scalp, and along with the strong impact of the big fish in front of him, it spread to his head like dense ripples.
It was as if a huge wave rose up to a height of ten thousand feet and swept her away, drowning her in the deep blue ocean. Then, the huge fish that almost spanned the entire blackboard came truly to life. In front of that enormous body, the first thing it felt was its own insignificance, but it did not care at all. It just swam in the deep sea at the speed of a thousand miles, singing its own whale song.
If the picture gives life to this blackboard newspaper, then the content truly gives it a soul. The beautiful colorful handwriting is like a preface to this lonely ocean.
"A famous Zen monk asked: What does the sound of a hand clapping sound like?"
"The answer is: it resonates at 52 Hz."
"In 1992, a whale with a strange cry was detected in the waters of the northern Pacific Ocean."
"Some people poetically call the sounds made by whales whale songs, which are the way whales communicate with each other."
"The vocalization frequency of ordinary whales is generally between 15 Hz and 40 Hz, but the vocalization frequency of this whale is 52 Hz, so people named it the 52 Hz whale, also known as Alice."
"For more than 20 years, Alice has never been with other whales. She has been swimming alone in the endless ocean. Because she is the only whale in the world that sings at this frequency, other whales cannot understand or even hear the sound she makes."
"It is the loneliest whale in the world."
Jiang Yulu's chest kept rising and falling, and her pupils were shaking violently. Like countless other people, under the tsunami-like impact of this scene, she seemed to have turned into the lonely whale, seeing herself at a certain moment when she was not understood.
Every child has been lonely at one time or another, and how could there be a lack of lonely moments in future life?
I ate at a buffet alone, but when I came back to pick up the food, I found that the plate had been taken away by the waiter. I went to buy a drink alone, but the second drink was half price. I took a bus alone and had to drag my luggage to the toilet. I even watched Makoto Shinkai's movies alone, from Your Name to Lingya Journey...
Alice, who sang the 52 Hz whale song in the deep sea, let everyone see the loneliness deep in their hearts.
Childhood will fade away with the songs, and the spring of 2002 will eventually become a bubble in the memories of countless people.
Many years later, when the students of Experimental Primary School have been replaced by one batch after another, those who have graduated for many years and are now in various corners of society, when they recall their childhood, always think of the big fish swimming in the cultural corner.
Jiang Yulu would be amused by her own childish behavior as a child.
Yu Yu will always remember that flower rain season with the fragrance of peach blossoms, when a figure descended from the sky and saved himself.
That memory was deeply engraved in the most beautiful time. The whale named Alice not only adapted to the situation, but also encouraged every lonely heart.
A few days later.
"Legend has it that the Sea King wanted to submerge the continent, so the whale made a deal with the Sea King to save humanity, willing to sacrifice its own loneliness in exchange for a few pieces of land for humanity. That's why the whale's voice is lonely."
"Where did you see so many stories?"
Lin Wanzhou took the tissue that Xu Cheng handed to her and wiped the corners of her eyes. "Xu Cheng, can you please not let Alice be so lonely? Every time I think about it, I feel so sad."
Xu Cheng was stunned. "Well, I don't have that ability, but..."
He stood up, recalling the fragments of memory from the future.
"Maybe one day, we can hear the same 52 Hz whale song in the ocean. Maybe Alice will teach her song to other whales. Maybe she will no longer be lonely..."
