Chapter 261: Chapter 261

Mr. Deng leaned on his crutches and looked down at the densely packed students with a smile, "Life requires grand goals and diligent pursuit of them."

"And it’s unrealistic to expect life to be smooth sailing. The grander the goal, the bigger the setbacks one will encounter in the process of achieving it. At such times, we need to use tenacious will to overcome difficulties and never give up. The spirit of perseverance is an important guarantee of success. Those who lack determination often abandon their endeavors halfway or fail just as they are about to succeed."

"Opportunities always flash by occasionally, they don’t come knocking every day. When the timing isn’t right, you need to actively prepare for your plan and goals. Only then, when the opportunity arises, might you seize it with greater certainty and not let it slip away."

"Goals should be kept in your heart, not hung on your lips. It’s only through action that we achieve results; mere talk without action leads to nothing."

He laughed and continued, "This is from the speech I’ve been giving. I’ve said it so many times I’ve memorized it."

Everyone laughed at this, then he waved his hand for silence and his expression turned serious again: "You are the university students of the post-1977 generation, you should appreciate more than anyone the difficulty of obtaining this chance to learn."

He went on, "You should feel that our country needs talents! Kids, our nation needs talents!"

For a moment, the vast auditorium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the only sounds were the thumping of everyone’s hearts and the heartfelt cries of an old man.

After taking a breath, he continued, "The state will provide you with as many learning opportunities as possible. We are all children of the motherland, and we study not to become officials, but to serve the country!"

Below, there was a round of applause. Mr. Deng moved his legs a little, then smiled and added, "Finally, I will quote a saying of our great leader as the closing statement for today’s speech."

"The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the final analysis, it’s yours. You, the youth, are full of vitality and in your prime, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hopes lie with you. The world belongs to you. China’s future is yours!"

There was another round of applause below, and at this time, the staff moved a backrest chair to the front of the platform. Mr. Deng glanced at it, smiled, and said, "Then I’ll sit down for a bit; I’m old, and my legs aren’t so good." With those words, he walked over to the chair, and someone immediately passed him the microphone.

Mr. Deng looked at the agenda handed by the staff, nodded, and said, "There are a few students that I want to ask questions to, so I’ll start, and then those who respond can come up and ask me one question, alright?"

The audience burst into laughter.

Mr. Deng first asked a female student from the Chinese literature department if she had read Dream of the Red Chamber, and the girl, taken aback for a moment, quickly said she had.

Interested, he inquired which character she liked most in the book, and the student said Wang Xifeng. Mr. Deng’s interest grew, and he asked why. She answered that it was because of Wang Xifeng’s daring and passionate personality!

Mr. Deng laughed, greatly satisfied with the answer. Li Xianglu, however, thought of the perspective on observing things Su Yan had shared with her; was this implying that Mr. Deng was telling all the students about cultural openness? After all, Dream of the Red Chamber was banned ten years ago, and now it was being discussed openly, showing the old man’s intent.

Next, he posed questions to several students from the mechanical engineering department and seemed very pleased. He glanced at the paper in his hand and called Qin Xi’s name.

Qin Xi appeared unphased by stage fright, even in front of two thousand people, maintaining his composure.

Qin Xi’s suggestions on women’s rights piqued Mr. Deng’s interest, and he slapped his thigh exclaiming that with such talent, there’s no worry about the path to a powerful nation!

As Li Xianglu was lost in thought, her name was suddenly called out. Her legs trembling with nerves, she took a deep breath, stood up, and smilingly looked toward the podium: "How are you, sir?"

Mr. Deng blinked and replied with a smile, "Oh, I’m fine, little girl, you speak English very well!"

At this, there was yet another burst of applause from the audience. Once the applause subsided, Li Xianglu gave a brief self-introduction in English.

Mr. Deng laughed and asked Li Xianglu some common knowledge questions about finance and concluded with an English question, "What do you think about the Matthew effect?"

Li Xianglu was slightly startled; they hadn’t covered the Matthew effect in their third year, and it wasn’t in the material her professor provided—it was a Western financial concept. Although not taught at school, Su Yan had explained it to her.

Li Xianglu responded clearly in English, "The Matthew effect refers to the phenomenon where any individual, group, or region that succeeds or progresses in a certain area—such as in wealth, reputation, status, etc.—will accumulate advantages and get more opportunities for even greater success and advancement. However, I think this isn’t good and unsuitable for our country’s national conditions. In a way, the Matthew effect also represents an income distribution injustice in economics where the poor get poorer, the rich get richer, and the winner takes all."

Mr. Deng just asked whatever came to mind, and he didn’t expect such a reply from a third-year college girl. He immediately stood up, nodding his head and said, "Good, well said! Keeping our national conditions in mind is impressive. Mr. Song, your students are quite remarkable!"

At this, Principal Song, sitting in the front row, excitedly stood up, signaling Mr. Deng, also thrilled inside. Coming from a finance background, he knew that a third-year student would typically struggle to answer such a question; this showed the student’s dedication.

Li Xianglu felt slightly embarrassed, as the Matthew effect was a classic concept in her past life, something even non-finance majors would have heard of. It was an economic model that was criticized in later economic studies.

Just then, the maroon curtains at the back began to sway, followed by muffled shouts and the sound of hurried footsteps. The auditorium was extremely quiet; everyone wanted to stand up, some even considered rushing to the platform to protect Mr. Deng.

But Mr. Deng just smiled and shook his head, "It’s alright, kids, don’t be alarmed, I have a strong will to live."

This relaxed everyone, and numerous security officers rushed to the back. However, Mr. Deng remained calm, continuing to ask and answer questions that everyone was eager to know. Half an hour later, the lecture officially came to an end, lasting half an hour longer than planned, yet everyone still felt it wasn’t enough.

After Mr. Deng left, the university security and about seven or eight police officers arrived, leaving about ten people behind and instructing the rest to quietly evacuate.

As everyone was not yet dispersed, dozens of oddly dressed people rushed in from various entrances and exits.

Li Xianglu was surprised to discover that they seemed to be wearing riot gear.

PS: Fortunately, it was just in time.