Chapter 523: Wu Yun's Speech

“And now, let’s welcome President Xia Wenwu to the stage!”

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience. To be fair, after listening to several deans and administrative teachers speak, everyone had been getting antsy. If it weren’t for their interest in Wu Yun’s final speech, many of the older students probably couldn’t have sat still and would have just bailed.

Fortunately, Xia Wenwu’s speech wasn’t long. It was just a brief fifteen-minute review of past achievements and a look toward future developments.

Xia Wenwu concluded his speech with, “Alright! I wish all of you a happy university life! I hope everyone finds fulfillment here at school! And now, let’s turn the time over to our student representative, Wu Yun!”

The area instantly erupted in thunderous applause, mixed with screams and cheers.

The host, Li Ling, spoke up at just the right moment, beginning her introduction of Wu Yun and his contributions to the school.

“Please welcome, Wu Yun!”

Wu Yun was dressed a little more formally today. His white shirt seemed to gleam under the rising morning sun.

Luckily, the sun only hit him from the side, allowing him to clearly see the expressions of everyone in the audience.

Wu Yun took the microphone, scanned the crowd, and chuckled. “I didn’t realize I was so popular! Hey! You students behind the fence over there, stop hiding! There’s still plenty of room in here!”

HA HA HA!

As laughter spread, many who had thought Wu Yun was unapproachable suddenly felt he was much more relatable.

“I was planning on reading from a script today, but the president threw me a curveball and asked me to give an impromptu speech!”

“That’s actually pretty challenging! But I’ll give it a shot! Of course, if it’s no good, I hope you’ll forgive me! And if you can’t forgive me, feel free to flame me online, that’s fine. But if you resort to personal attacks, I’ll hit you back with a lawyer’s letter!”

Those who knew Wu Yun and got the reference immediately started laughing. This left others who didn’t get it completely baffled. They wanted to ask what had happened, but were shushed by their classmates with a similar line: “Go look up the news yourself! Don’t interrupt me while I’m listening to the speech!”

Wu Yun observed the crowd’s expressions and smiled. “Don’t worry! This is a battle of words, not fists!”

“Alright! No more joking around! Let’s begin today’s speech!”

“Since I don’t have a script, I’ll just say whatever comes to mind!”

“I’m guessing a lot of you want to ask me how I made my fortune!”

“I’d break it down to ninety percent luck, one percent sweat, and nine percent vision and courage!”

Looking at the expressions around him, he could see that most of them had a look that said, ‘You’re full of it.’

“Don’t be so quick to disbelieve! Let me give you a couple of examples, and you’ll probably get it!”

Standing at the podium, Wu Yun raised a finger and said, “For example, let’s say your family has a self-built house in the suburbs. You’ve lived there for over ten years, and you figured that’s just how it was going to be. You thought your future depended on you working hard enough to buy your own apartment in the city.”

“But then, you get really lucky! You happen to catch the dividends of urban development—demolition and redevelopment. Your building gets you a compensation of millions, or even tens of millions, or perhaps several new apartments of equivalent size!”

“With luck like that, haven’t you just saved yourself twenty years of struggle?”

At this, many people in the audience nodded thoughtfully.

“Actually, there are many people who got their start through similar strokes of luck. Many of you have probably heard stories like this!”

“But! The vast majority of them just stop there, never moving forward. In the end, they just fade back into the crowd.”

Wu Yun saw flashes of anxiety and resentment on some faces but continued smiling as he said, “In other words! Luck isn’t the deciding factor for your success most of the time. It can only give you a head start on others!”

“So don’t complain that your family didn’t leave you a billion-dollar fortune, or that they didn’t leave you a small plot of land just waiting for a demolition payout!”

“I see some of you aren’t convinced. So let me ask you: if you got a ten-million-yuan demolition payout or won ten million in the lottery right now, would you choose to spend it on a house and a car, or would you use it to start a business?”

As he spoke, Wu Yun pointed to a young man in the front row. “You there. Tell us, what would you choose?”

The young man was bold. He stood up, patted his rear, and shouted, “First, I’d have to get that ten million!”

“HA HA HA HA!”

Wu Yun chuckled into the microphone and continued, “Alright! It’s an unrealistic hypothetical, I admit! But I think the vast majority of people would choose to buy a car and a house, or even choose to just ‘lie flat’!”

“‘Lie flat’?” Wang Xuanmin said to the Dean of the School of Foreign Languages next to him. “What a vivid descriptor!”

The Dean of the School of Foreign Languages sighed in admiration. “He’s truly a genius! That kind of creativity alone sets him far apart from ordinary people!”

…

“As the old saying goes, ‘Your harvest is only as big as your courage.’ It’s not that things are impossible, it’s that you’re afraid to even imagine them!”

“But most people gravitate toward stability in their hearts! Even if an opportunity was staring you in the face, you might not have the guts to take it!”

“That’s why I say not everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship!”

Seeing that some people were still unconvinced, especially the young man who had just stood up, Wu Yun decided to make an example of him. “You! Yes, you! I’ll give you ten million. Your task is to find a profitable project. In six months, you return the principal to me! You can keep all the profits!”

“Of course, if you don’t make any money, you’ll have to pay me back the ten million plus interest, at the bank’s standard loan rate!”

“So, do you dare to seize this opportunity? If you agree, I’ll transfer the money and we’ll sign a contract right now!”

The freshman, who had worn a disdainful expression just moments ago, suddenly fell silent. He looked rather awkward, and a hush fell over the surrounding students.