Standing ovations don’t come the way of many high-school teachers. But one educator in Jiangsu has indeed struck such a chord in the hearts of his students to bring them to their feet in a birthday surprise that has gone viral on the Chinese internet.
许多高中老师不会起立鼓掌。但江苏的一位教育工作者确实引起了学生们的共鸣，他的生日惊喜在中国互联网上疯传。
Students at Xuzhou Shuen Middle School in our very own Jiangsu Province had planned the surprise to perfection. “Mr. Ma!”, one cried out to him down the corridor. “There’s fighting in the classroom!”
江苏省徐州顺恩中学的学生们将这个惊喜策划得非常完美。 “马先生！”有人在走廊里向他喊道。 “教室里打架了！”
But when Ma Weidong, 54 last Friday, 17 February, burst into his classroom to intervene in the supposed kerfuffle, he found only two male students laughing at him.
但2月17日上周五，54岁的马卫东冲进教室干预这场所谓的混乱时，发现只有两名男学生在嘲笑他。
Just as he thought the prank was all over, the lights suddenly dimmed, the class monitor brought over a big cake and the whole class burst into a round of “Happy Birthday”.
正当他以为恶作剧结束的时候，灯光突然暗了下来，班长送来了一个大蛋糕，全班爆发出一阵“生日快乐”。
As Ma turned his head to his blackboard, he read the words, “Happy birthday, Mr. Ma; no longer a 54-year-old kid” (已经不是54岁的小孩子), while scores of his students took to their feet in applause.
当马云把头转向黑板时，他读到了这样一句话：“生日快乐，马先生，不再是54岁的小孩子了”，几十名学生起立鼓掌。
But the particularly heart-warming part was still to come.
但特别暖心的部分还在后面。
A video of the surprise circulating online has received more than 2.5 million likes and been aired by a number of media outlets. In it, Ma can be seen to stroke back his hair in reaction to the surprise. In reality, he was wiping away the tears he was shedding at his students’ thoughtful actions. The video can be seen in this report published by the Yangtze Evening News.
这段惊喜视频在网上流传，已获得超过250万个点赞，并被多家媒体转载。在视频中，可以看到马云因惊讶而把头发向后梳。事实上，他正在擦拭因学生们体贴的举动而流下的泪水。这段视频可以在扬子晚报发表的这篇报道中看到。
The backstory to Friday’s fun, though, also tugs at the heart strings. Having accidentally learned that Friday was to be Ma’s birthday, class monitor, Huang Guanpeng, summoned the whole class for a meeting.
不过，周五有趣的背景故事也牵动着心弦。无意中得知周五是马老师的生日，班长黄关鹏召集全班同学开会。
Hearing Huang say, “Mr. Ma is from another province; we want him to have an unforgettable birthday in Xuzhou”, cajoled the whole class to unanimously decide to give Ma the birthday celebration. The students then used their after-class time of the day before to make the necessary preparations for the surprise.
听到黄老师说：“马老师是外省人，我们要让他在徐州过一个难忘的生日”，全班同学哄着，一致决定给马老师过生日。学生们利用前一天的课后时间，为惊喜做好了必要的准备。
Hailing from Xinxiang in Henan Province, Ma came to Xuzhou Shuen Middle School as head teacher of the senior-high school first grade in 2021.
来自河南新乡的马先生于2021年来到徐州顺恩中学担任高一年级班主任。
After his surprise, Ma acknowledged that teenage years are indeed the most rebellious and unmanageable, but said that as long as students are treated sincerely, they will feel it. “Only by understanding can you enter their hearts”, said the birthday boy.
马云惊讶后承认，青少年时期确实是最叛逆、最难管教的时期，但他表示，只要真诚对待学生，他们就会感受到。 “只有了解，才能走进他们的心。”寿星说道。
