Restart life

Chapter 540 0528 [No Need to Be Too Cautious with Your Words]

It rained heavily last night, and it was cool and pleasant when I woke up this morning.

While Bian Guanyue was still sleeping in, Chen Guiliang had already gotten up; he was going to attend Peking University's graduation ceremony and degree conferment ceremony.

Previously, undergraduate and graduate students were together, but starting this year, the event will be held over two separate days.

First, universities have expanded their enrollment, resulting in more graduates.

Secondly, society is developing, there are more families with better economic conditions, and more parents are traveling from afar to attend the ceremony.

Combining the two methods results in too many people, and the venue can't accommodate them all!
Chen Guiliang attended the undergraduate ceremony today and planned to accompany Bian Guanyue to receive her master's degree certificate tomorrow. However, Bian Guanyue told him not to go tomorrow, as it was inappropriate to appear in public for two consecutive days, and she also didn't want to be surrounded by onlookers.

Chen Guiliang didn't eat at home, but arrived at school a little early to relive the breakfast he had at the cafeteria.

I still miss it.

His former classmates and roommates had long since gone their separate ways. Apart from Guo Feng, only two others had joined his company.

One of them is working diligently on technological research and development at the Chengdu Cloud Computing Center.

One of my roommates is a year younger than me and is currently a programmer at Youke.

Many more are still pursuing further studies, and it is estimated that some will return to China in the future.

One of my classmates who graduated that year was selected for a government post and is currently undergoing training at the grassroots level. Because it's a remote and small place, it's difficult to attract normal investment, so last year he reluctantly came to Chen Guiliang for help.

Chen Guiliang didn't think much of it and invested two million as a token gesture, partnering with other alumni to start a handicraft factory.

After investing the money, he stopped paying attention to it. I heard recently that it has turned a profit, and that it was through alumni finding channels to export to Europe and the United States.

While having breakfast in the cafeteria and chatting with the students, Chen Guiliang hailed a bicycle and asked a junior student to take him to the gymnasium after leaving the cafeteria.

He suddenly thought of shared bicycles.

Forget it, this thing ended up causing a huge mess.

Although Didi hasn't officially launched yet, it has already been raising funds. Chen Guiliang heard about it, but didn't invest.

He has more good projects to invest in, so there's no need for him to get involved with Didi.

Along the way, many graduates were taking photos in their graduation gowns. There were also elderly alumni who had been invited back as guests at the graduation ceremony, strolling around the campus with their gray hair.

"Senior Chen, let's take a picture together!" The junior drove Chen Guiliang to the Qiu Deba Gymnasium and pulled him to take a picture with the bicycle.

Chen Guiliang smiled and cooperated, saying after the photo was taken, "Thanks."

"Easy to do."

After Chen Guiliang entered the gymnasium, the junior student happily posted on Weibo: "I ran into Chen Laozu outside the cafeteria today. Chen Laozu actually stopped my car and asked me to give him a ride to the school gymnasium. Do you guys think my car is worth anything now?"

Soon, people started commenting and sharing, but most of them were Peking University students.

"You've struck it rich, brother. The bicycle that Old Master Chen rode on must have been imbued with the abstract energy of the primordial chaos. It's worth at least a few million."

"Would you sell it for 50 yuan? I want to keep it as a collectible."

"Damn, I just got to the first canteen. If I had been a few minutes earlier, I would have run into Senior Brother Chen."

"..."

Chen Guiliang arrived quite early, but when he got to the guest seating area, he was sitting there all alone.

Some invited alumni have already arrived, but they are all wandering around outside. Only he has come here and is sitting here like an idiot.

Then play on your phone.

But he couldn't have any peace and quiet at all, as students kept coming up to him and asking for photos. Before long, he was surrounded by a large group of people.

"It's quite lively here," an old man squeezed through the crowd.

The students quickly made way.

Chen Guiliang glanced at the nameplate on the old gentleman's seat: Academician Wang XX.

"Hello, Academician Wang." Chen Guiliang stood up and shook hands.

Academician Wang smiled and said, "I know you. Our Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been cooperating closely with HarmonyOS Technology in the past two years."

Chen Guiliang said, "Thanks to the help of experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, HarmonyOS Technology has been able to produce high-quality products."

Academician Wang asked, "Your self-developed power chip seems to have reached the tape-out stage? Do you plan to continue to delve deeper into the chip field in the future?"

"We're still figuring it out. We'll try making power chips first, and then other chips later," Chen Guiliang replied ambiguously.

Academician Wang said, "Everything has to start slowly, and you have already done very well." Just then, another alumnus, who was also an academician, came to the guest seat.

Chen Guiliang felt the pressure; he was surrounded by academicians, and they were all quite old.

The main issue is that these academicians and alumni didn't give speeches on stage, but he was supposed to give a speech on behalf of all the alumni.

The stadium was getting more and more crowded.

Chen Guiliang glanced behind him and noticed that compared to when he graduated, not only were there many more undergraduate graduates, but the number of parents had also increased significantly.

In the past, only a minority of parents came to participate; most graduates did not have their parents accompany them.

Many parents started taking pictures as soon as they came in, especially of the banner on the stage, and then proudly posted them on Weibo to show off that their children had graduated from Peking University.

Once the seats for leaders and guests were filled, the graduation ceremony and degree conferment ceremony officially began.

Speeches by leaders at all levels, screenings of campus documentaries, live theatrical performances, and poetry readings. Speeches by graduating students and faculty representatives…

When it was Chen Guiliang's turn to go on stage, many students suddenly started to jeer, and parents also took out their phones to take pictures.

"Respected leaders, teachers, guests, and dear classmates: Good morning! It is a great honor to be back to attend the graduation ceremony and share this joy with you all..."

"I also received my degree here a few years ago... but not here, the venue is different. Back then there weren't so many graduates, so we just did it together with the graduate students, we didn't need a place as big as a stadium..."

"Actually, I'm not qualified to speak on behalf of the alumni. Many accomplished alumni are here today. The people sitting on either side of me are all academicians. I'm trembling with fear with just a bachelor's degree..."

Chen Guiliang's speech started off with lighthearted topics, eliciting frequent bursts of laughter from the audience.

It quickly became serious and solemn.

"In recent years, especially the last two, many sensational public events have occurred. The overall social atmosphere has become one of 'doubt,' a comprehensive doubt! Doubt about whether our country and nation have a future..."

"Although I don't post or reply to Weibo posts as often anymore, I still occasionally check the messages from netizens who tag me. One recent graduate left a deep impression on me by tagging me on Weibo. He said that he was full of ambition and enthusiasm when he was studying, but after graduation, he found that society was not like that, and that his bosses were a bunch of idiots... These are his exact words..."

"He also pays attention to all sorts of public events, and he especially likes to tag me, sending me very detailed information. Some of these events are shocking and make one feel hopeless about the current state of society..."

"What I want to say is that young people should look forward and not let the mud under their feet hold them back. When I was in junior high school, I had to walk along a dirt road every day, which became muddy and difficult to walk on when it rained. I thought it would always be like that, but the village road construction project turned it into a cement road... Society is developing and is slowly getting better. This development is inseparable from the silent hard work of countless people, as well as the supervision and appeals of the public..."

"I actually dislike some public intellectuals, but I have to admit they've played a huge role. The current disheartening public opinion environment is actually a sign of social progress. Because in the past, it was difficult for similar events to be reported quickly..."

"Some people like to talk about foreign countries, especially comparing foreign labor laws with China's. What many may not know is how much resistance the new labor law, with its obvious loopholes, faced a few years ago. Part of that resistance came from abroad, especially from the United States..."

"Many large American companies even clamored through irregular channels that they would withdraw from China once the new labor law was implemented. At the time, dozens of left-leaning members of the US Congress jointly petitioned Bush not to obstruct China's new labor law..."

"Young people are the future of a nation. I hope you will not feel despair or discouragement. Your spirits will inspire the nation. The future of the nation is a reflection of who you are. Those you disapprove of will eventually be abandoned by the times. No matter how many resources they control, they will grow old and die..."

"In the future, information will become more readily available and transparent, and there will be fewer and fewer public incidents that cause despair. I am very pleased that there are many voices of justice in society, propelling China towards a more civilized and progressive direction..."

"The future of China is in the hands of us young people!"

There was thunderous applause.

Although Chen Guiliang is known for his abstract style, he has always been very cautious in his public statements. This caution was deeply influenced by the public opinion environment ten years later.

He now fully understands that this era doesn't require much caution; you can say whatever you want directly.

Today's speech is not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather a reflection of the terrible public opinion that has prevailed in the past two years.

It's so bad that many young people feel China has no future.

Chen Guiliang gets tagged in all sorts of outrageous news stories every day, and seeing too much of it is really depressing. He's even starting to understand why some public intellectuals are so extreme.

Sure enough, after Chen Guiliang finished his speech, no one, from the principal to the students, from the alumni to the parents, thought there was anything wrong with what he said.

Everyone applauded enthusiastically, clapping loudly.

Chen Guiliang returned to his seat, and Academician Wang smiled and said, "You spoke very well, with the passion and boldness of a young person. Some news these days makes me very angry."

"I'm just being a smooth talker," Chen Guiliang said.

Academician Zhang, who was standing next to him, said, "Your Weibo account is now a very important tool for oversight. Although rumors are rampant, its merits outweigh its flaws, and it deserves to be vigorously promoted."

Chen Guiliang sighed, realizing he was being forced to become a public intellectual.

There are some things he still can't say.

For example, during the discussion of the new labor law a few years ago, an entrepreneur surnamed Liu publicly stated: "The new labor law still focuses too much on protecting the interests of workers."

Chen Guiliang was too lazy to argue with this person, because it would be pointless.

(End of this chapter)