Chapter 1157: No Regrets (5th Update)

When Ye Tianlong followed Lan Xiaomo to the second-floor deck, the yacht was setting off fireworks, which were very beautiful.

The fireworks lasted for half an hour and illuminated half of the river. Lan Xiaomo told her aunt that the fireworks were worth one million.

Ye Tianlong sighed and sneered, thinking of Lan Pingping's mask.

After waiting for a while, he and Lan Xiaomo went forward to find a seat and sat down.

There were already many men and women in fancy clothes standing and sitting around, looking at the glamorous emcee on the high platform.

The emcee first thanked the guests present, and then asked Lan Tianxin to go on stage to give a speech. Lan Tianxin hid her annoyance for losing the mahjong game and forced a smile.

She thanked everyone with ease, and then briefly introduced Lan Pingping, and said that she was happy to have such a daughter.

Finally, she asked Lan Pingping, who was wearing a long skirt, to give a speech on the stage.

Lan Xiaomo pulled Ye Tianlong and whispered, "Is my cousin pretty? Does she have a good figure?"

Ye Tianlong knew what she meant and smiled leisurely, "Golden exterior, rotten inside."

Lan Xiaomo raised the corner of her mouth, "You are sensible."

At this time, Lan Pingping walked onto the stage with a smile on her face, her pretty face radiating light under the lights. She waved like a queen, signaling everyone to be quiet:

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, welcome to my cocktail party."

"I am very honored that my foreign friends can come all the way to China to see me."

She pointed to Zhang Daji and the others, "It is your presence that makes me feel not alone in China, not alone."

This remark made many people frown, especially Lan Pingping's friends in Mingjiang, who felt as if they were being despised.

Then, Lan Pingping smiled into the microphone again: "Many people asked me why you came back to China?"

"Actually, I really didn't want to come back. The reason I came back was just to help my mother and help her support the Lan Group."

She looked helpless and said, "My uncle is old and my sister is immature. If I don't come back, my mother will have a hard time."

Lan Xiaomo bit her lips: "What does she mean?"

Ye Tianlong smiled: "It means that your father is old and you are incompetent, so she has to inherit the Lan Group reluctantly."

He also looked at the third floor. Lan Tianxiang did not come down to show his support, but just sat on the bench in front of the railing with a cigarette in his mouth.

Lan Xiaomo did not say anything, but his eyes were thoughtful.

"Some people say that China is actually pretty good and developing rapidly. I was surprised when I heard that. What? Are you kidding?"

At this moment, Lan Pingping had an exaggerated expression on her face: "When I was studying abroad in Tupski, I was smiling all day and feeling happy physically and mentally."

"Not to mention the precious humanistic spirit, comfortable medical resources, and free speech, even the air we breathe every day..."

When she said the last sentence, she sniffed the air hard, showing her intoxication at that time: "It all exudes the same fragrance as bread."

"It's so fresh and sweet, everyone, do you understand that feeling? It's very beautiful and very comfortable."

"Looking at you like this, I think you can't understand it. As long as you don't go out, you will never understand that kind of-"

Lan Pingping almost screamed: "Fantastic."

Ye Tianlong's eyes flashed with a hint of teasing, and he looked at Lan Pingping without comment.

Lan Pingping put her left hand on her chest: "Do you know that when the plane flew from Tupuski to China, I felt very heavy."

"I went from enjoying the fresh air to slowly cleaning my mouth, and finally covered my mouth and nose and put on glasses."

There was a glimmer in her eyes: "Why are there tears in my eyes? Because I said goodbye to the land I love."

"Many of my foreign friends came to China and all said to me in surprise, Pingping, how do you live here?"

"With such a sky, such air, and such an environment, how can you survive? It's terrible, too scary."

Lan Pingping pointed at Zhang Daji and others: "They feel that if they don't wash their mouths and noses for a day, it's like being buried in the soil."

"I smiled and told them that I have a killer weapon, otherwise they will soon get sick or even die."

After the voice fell, Zhang Daji and others applauded and cheered: "Pingping said it well, Pingping said it brilliantly."

Lan Xiaomo and others fell silent, and Lan Pingping's exaggeration made people feel aggrieved.

Then, Lan Pingping took out a string of masks from behind, eight in a row, connected together, and shouted with a bright smile: "This is my trump card."

"Do you know why eight masks are needed?"

This time, before Lan Pingping could perform herself, a discordant voice shouted: "I know! Eight for a course of treatment!"

The whole audience laughed, and the depressing atmosphere was instantly swept away.

Hearing such ridicule, Lan Tianxin immediately stood up and shouted: "Whose child is so rude and makes trouble?"

Ye Tianlong stood up with a smile: "Aunt, I'm sorry, I said it, but I'm not making trouble, just reminding that my cousin has a disease and needs to be treated quickly."

Lan Tianxin's face sank: "Ye Tianlong, what nonsense are you talking about? You want to make trouble? Can't bear to see Pingping get better?"

"Sister, stop talking."

Lan Pingping shrugged: "I will definitely be slandered and insulted by many Chinese people for what I said tonight. I have already thought about this."

"I just want to say that different opinions must be wrong. Do you have to accuse people?"

"Have you not always advocated criticism and self-criticism? How can you not accept criticism when you hear the truth?"

She looked like she had already seen through it and sneered: "It seems that there is really no such thing as freedom of speech here."

"But the saddest thing is that some people don't have freedom themselves, and they don't see others having freedom."

"Whenever others tell the truth, they will attack and accuse them wantonly. It's so sad."

Zhang Daji and the others also shook their heads, feeling very sad and with a hint of pity. It seemed that Ye Tianlong and the others were really unable to hold themselves up.

Ye Tianlong raised a smile: "Cousin, advocating freedom is a good thing."

"You just have to know that when you respect your own freedom of speech, you must also admit that others have the freedom to criticize you."

He said very rudely: "Otherwise, it is pseudo-freedom - my freedom, but not your freedom."

Lan Pingping's pretty face sank, and her tone was sarcastic: "Ye Tianlong, you sound like you know how to speak freely?"

"Don't use your narrow Chinese views to explain the universal values ​​of foreign countries."

She said something in English: "You don't even speak English, and you still talk to me about real freedom of speech, it's childish."

"Freedom of speech, do you know the mainstream interpretation in the West?"

Ye Tianlong slowly walked towards the high platform. When the light shone on him, he looked as straight as a javelin. He responded directly to Lan Pingping in English:

"Freedom of speech means that the government cannot arrest you for what you say."

“That doesn’t mean other people have to listen to what you have to say, and it doesn’t mean other people have to tolerate you.”

"Freedom of speech does not protect you from criticism and other consequences."

“If you are insulted, boycotted, laid off, blocked, or even beaten and shot, your freedom of speech has not been violated.”

Ye Tianlong said the last sentence: "Because other people are also exercising their right to freedom."

The whole place fell silent.

Lan Pingping wanted to say something, but found it impossible to argue. Zhang Daji and the others also turned their heads to avoid looking, making it clear that what Ye Tianlong said was without substance.

Moreover, Ye Tianlong's fluent English gave them another blow. Lan Pingping was very surprised that Ye Tianlong spoke English better than herself.

Lan Tianxin's eyelids twitched as well. Ye Tianlong's talent was beyond imagination, and he didn't seem to be a freeloader.

"What I was talking about was the China issue, not freedom of speech."

After a brief silence, Lan Pingping struggled to say: "Don't change the subject. China has a problem. Can't we talk about it? Can we just talk about it?"

She hopes to regain some face.

"Didn't I say that? You have the freedom to criticize China, and I also have the freedom to criticize you, without interfering with each other."

Ye Tianlong looked directly at Lan Pingping: "Besides, China has problems, but it has been making progress. But you, the more you live, the more confused you become."

"The Western humanistic spirit, comfortable medical resources, and free speech rights are undeniable in their superiority, but there is no need to boast about them."

"The essence of it is that it has something to do with the money in your card. My aunt is worth tens of billions. Even in the most war-torn place, you can still enjoy it like heaven."

"If you only have three melons and two dates in your hands, how comfortable can you see?"

His tone was very sincere: "China has many shortcomings, and no one denies it. You are scolding, and I am scolding, but I am more objective than you."

"In the past few decades, China has exposed many problems, but it has been working hard, making progress, and improving."

"In terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation, light industry and national defense, which aspects are we not working hard on? I don't want you to deliberately flatter the country, I just want you to view it more comprehensively."

"See its bad points and its good points, and give it a little more time."

"Instead of enjoying its benefits while magnifying its shortcomings."

When Lan Tianxiang sat up straight, Ye Tianlong looked around at everyone and said in a warm and mellow voice: "Give me a simple example."

"You shouted that you must wear eight masks when you return to Mingjiang, while you bought a luxury car and drove a yacht. You also set off a million fireworks in one go tonight."

"As long as you don't drive a luxury car or a yacht, instead use shared bicycles and buses to go out, don't set off millions of fireworks, and turn them into green plants..."

"With eight masks, you can save one, right? Then why don't you save one?"

"You are holding eight masks in your left hand and destroying the environment with your right hand. Did what you just said slap you in the face?"

Lan Pingping's pretty face became extremely ugly and endlessly embarrassed. Zhang Daji also lowered his head, but Lan Xiaomo and the others secretly cheered.

"Tonight is not my venue, but having said so much, as a person who has been abroad for eighteen years, I will leave one more sentence about "Beiyang Navy"."

"I have gone to the West and fully understand China's plan for self-improvement. I have nothing else to seek!"

"Carrying the future of the country on our backs, absorbing all the science of foreigners, and traveling 70,000 miles to say goodbye to our motherland and our parents' country..."

"Work hard without regrets!"

Lan Tianxiang crushed the cup with a 'click' sound...