Restart life

Chapter 187 0184 [Even Asking for Help Requires Method and Strategy] (Bonus chapter for the adorable Alliance Leader)

Student tickets for Li Ao's speech at Peking University were limited.

There were too many students who wanted to participate, so it was impossible to allocate them all; they could only be distributed to each class proportionally.

On average, there are only 2 tickets per class.

The allocation of places to the class is basically decided by drawing lots; otherwise, it would be unfair no matter how it's distributed.

The Yuanpei Class was particularly unlucky; 140 or 150 people were vying for those two tickets.

Chen Guiliang couldn't possibly take up anyone's spot, so Director Zhu gave him a "hanging ticket"—he carried a plastic stool and hung it somewhere in the corridor.

When they woke up in the morning, Jiang Junlai, Tong Zhihong, and Li Heng, who shared a dormitory, ran to the teaching building for class with resentful looks on their faces. None of them had managed to get tickets.

Chen Guiliang arrived at the office building auditorium just in time and found it already packed with people.

Many students without tickets held up various homemade banners, just like fans waiting for their idols, intending to stay outside the venue the entire time. Especially from outside the doors and windows, they could hear what was being said inside.

One of the banners was particularly interesting: Brother Ao, welcome back!
The auditorium doors were already open, and Chen Guiliang entered with his ticket and a stool. He hung his stool in the innermost aisle of the first row of the student section, trying to avoid disturbing others.

After waiting a few minutes, shouts came from outside, and the scene was just like a fan meeting.

Accompanied by several leaders, Li Ao strolled through the Peking University campus. Feeling the enthusiasm of the faculty and students, he said to the leaders beside him, "I had prepared many sharp remarks, but the current atmosphere makes me feel that it is not appropriate to say those. Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, I have decided to say more gentle things."

Upon hearing this, the leaders visibly relaxed.

They chatted as they entered the auditorium and took their seats. Since it wasn't time yet, they remained seated and continued chatting.

"Bang bang bang!"

The students outside the window couldn't wait any longer and pounded on the windowpane, shouting, "Brother Ao, say a few words! Say a few words quickly!"

The school leader smiled and said, "It seems that Teacher Li is quite popular among the students."

Li Ao replied, "You can praise me after I finish speaking."

The school leaders were left speechless, both amused and exasperated.

Soon, Li Ao walked onto the stage: "Everyone, you've finally seen me. Director, Principal, President... and children... are you nervous giving a speech...?"

"The other night, I made up a story. A young lady from Beijing saw someone walking back and forth in a building, muttering to himself. The lady asked him, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'I'm going to give a speech at Peking University.' The lady asked, 'Are you nervous?' He said, 'I'm not nervous.' The lady said, 'If you're not nervous, why are you in the women's restroom?'"

It was a lame joke, but some people chuckled.

Then, Li Ao added, "That person is Lian Zhan!"

"Hahaha!"

The whole place burst into laughter.

Because a few months ago, Lian Zhan also gave a speech at Peking University.

Li Ao continued his tirade: "Lian Zhan fooled you... To those of you who think Lian Zhan is right, I must warn you, you might be very disappointed today..."

After a while, he took out Mao's Selected Works, which he always carried with him, and explained what true liberalism is.

The essence of liberalism lies in two things: first, introspection; and second, seeking the law.

The so-called self-examination means that you should criticize yourself and allow others to criticize you, rather than only focusing on your freedom to criticize others.

That is true high-level liberalism.

The leaders, however, grew increasingly serious, because some of Li Ao's words made them tense.

"...Unyielding to power, uncorrupted by wealth, unmoved by poverty, and unswayed by fashion. Thank you all!"

The presentation was finally over, and the leaders all breathed a sigh of relief.

Thunderous applause erupted both inside and outside the venue.

Chen Guiliang also applauded several times, especially the part about liberalism. He thought it was very well done.

The liberalism that Li Ao believes in is limited liberalism, not the neoliberalism that is currently popular!

The leader said a few more words, and then the students began asking questions.

One student was very outspoken, directly accusing a school leader of suppressing academic freedom... The leader's expression was extremely unpleasant.

Chen Guiliang raised his hand several times before Li Ao finally said, "Give the microphone to the student in the aisle."

Many teachers and students who had been paying attention to Li Ao only then noticed Chen Guiliang hanging there, and burst into laughter.

As the staff passed the microphone around, Li Ao asked, "What are you laughing at? Is this student very famous?"

Chen Guiliang took the microphone and stood up: "Today's speech was excellent, and I basically agree with Mr. Li's views. However, I also have some objections, and I wonder if I can express them."

Li Ao said, "As I just said, liberalism requires allowing others to criticize oneself. If I said anything wrong, please feel free to point it out."

Chen Guiliang said, "Mr. Li told us not to criticize the Beiyang warlords, but to reflect on history. He even used the example of the Beiyang warlords inviting Cai Yuanpei to be the president of Peking University to prove their magnanimity. I think this is very inappropriate." "Why is it inappropriate?" Li Ao asked.

Chen Guiliang said:

"First, the Beiyang warlords were a mix of good and bad, and there were many factions, so they cannot be simply categorized. Even the same warlord could do both good and evil. But as a whole, the Beiyang warlords are difficult to overturn."

"Secondly, it was Fan Yuanlian who invited Mr. Cai Yuanpei to be the president of Peking University. Mr. Fan was the first president of Beijing Normal University and one of the founders of Nankai University. He himself was against the Beiyang government. However, at that time, during the struggle between the government and the executive branch, Duan Qirui invited Fan Yuanlian to be the Minister of Education in order to win over more forces."

"When Mr. Cai was the Minister of Education in the South, he invited Mr. Fan to be the Vice Minister of Education so that Mr. Fan could take over the educational resources left over from the Qing Dynasty. When Mr. Fan went to the North to be the Minister of Education, he would definitely invite Mr. Cai as well. If the Beiyang warlords really had the magnanimity, Mr. Cai would have been the Vice Minister of Education, not the President of Peking University."

"Mr. Fan and Duan Qirui were political allies. When Li Yuanhong ousted Duan Qirui, Mr. Fan could no longer hold his official position, and Mr. Cai also faced difficulties at Peking University. At this time, Li Yuanhong was the nominal leader of the Beiyang clique. He did not tolerate Mr. Fan and Mr. Cai, but instead did his best to suppress them."

"Therefore, I believe that Mr. Li Ao's discussion of the Beiyang warlords is completely unfounded and cannot withstand scrutiny. It is pure fabrication."

Li Ao adjusted his glasses, looking slightly embarrassed, then smiled and said, "This student spoke very well, with sound reasoning and evidence. I humbly accept his words and retract my statement about the Beiyang warlords."

"Clap clap clap!"

The teachers and students in the audience applauded enthusiastically.

After criticism comes praise.

Chen Guiliang continued, "Mr. Li's discourse on liberalism is brilliant. Some people nowadays, and even some media outlets, only care about their own freedom. They even deprive others of their freedom in the name of their own."

"Nothing in the world is absolute, but relative. I believe that a person should bear as much responsibility as they enjoy freedom. Freedom without responsibility is pseudo-liberalism."

"To put it bluntly, even farting in public can result in being looked down upon. But words carry more weight than farts. If someone's free speech causes serious consequences, I believe they must bear the corresponding responsibility."

"Of course, some people and some media outlets these days are worse than spouting nonsense!"

A burst of laughter and applause erupted from the audience.

Li Ao smiled and said, "Not vulgar at all, very well said."

Chen Guiliang said, "I've said all this just to get Mr. Li Ao's attention. I hope Mr. Li Ao can join Kaixin.com, write some articles there, and discuss more topics with mainland netizens."

Li Ao was taken aback: "What is Kaixin.com?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Kaixin.com is the largest pan-social networking community in mainland China. As long as it does not violate the law and morality, anyone can freely write articles and express their opinions."

"I'll go take a look later." Li Ao didn't immediately agree.

"Thank you."

Chen Guiliang sat down and handed the microphone to a staff member.

After the Q&A session with the students ended, school leaders accompanied Li Ao as he left.

Chen Guiliang squeezed through and handed over a note: "Mr. Li, this is the website address for Kaixin.com."

Li Ao was both amused and exasperated.

After leaving the auditorium, he finally realized: this was no ordinary student; otherwise, he would have been stopped and wouldn't have been able to hand over the note with the website address on it.

Li Ao asked, "Who is this student?"

The school leaders were surprisingly familiar with Chen Guiliang's resume: "His name is Chen Guiliang, and he's a sophomore. He comes from a rural area and has no family background. Last year, he wrote a historical novel, which has sold over a million copies. He also owns two companies, one of which received venture capital, making him worth over 100 million yuan."

"That's amazing?" Li Ao was quite surprised.

The school leader said, "He is indeed outstanding. He started a company with his writing fees as soon as he entered university, and I didn't expect it to grow so big in just one year."

Li Ao sighed, "China produces talented people. It's a real pity about Wu Ziyou."

They are about to visit Wu Ziyou.

Wu Ziyou is a 15-year-old middle school student, a young writer and poet, best known for his work "Whose Youth Is as Wild as Mine". He is now suffering from cancer and doesn't have much time left.

Wu Ziyou is currently recuperating at Peking University Hospital, having just undergone a lobectomy.

Kaixin.com also invited Wu Ziyou to join, and it was not a gimmick to use cancer patients.

Wu Ziyou enjoyed writing and publishing his works, and was frequently invited to participate in television programs. Knowing he didn't have long to live, he wanted to leave behind more and be remembered by more people.

Wu Ziyou has been posting on Weibo these past few days because he is often too weak to get out of bed. Using his phone to write on Weibo is very convenient when he can't access a computer.

A single Weibo post can only contain 70 Chinese characters, just enough for him to write a short poem.

The note Chen Guiliang handed to Li Ao was stuffed into Li Ao's pocket and quickly forgotten about.

It wasn't until he returned to Taiwan, when his wife Wang Xiaotun, who had accompanied him to the mainland with their children, took out a few items and said, "These are the things from your clothes that you changed out of. I don't know if you still want them."

Li Ao then remembered that website.

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(Please vote for me for monthly tickets at the end of the month; I'm even losing my place in the top ten. I'll try my best to adjust my mindset.)
(End of this chapter)