Chapter 1979

"Students!" Zhou Andong looked at the crowd below with a smile: "The moment you stepped into the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the gap between people was already destined.

I tell you, don't care about your background, don't care that the people around you are better than you, or that their families are better than yours. When life sets up heavy obstacles for you, just hold on a little longer.

After gritting your teeth and breaking through, you will find that what you want is in your hands. Therefore, don't doubt yourself, and don't doubt your hard work, because these are all a kind of accumulation and precipitation.

How big a person's pattern is determines how big their achievements will be. Pattern is the internal layout of a person's psychological elements such as vision, breadth of mind, and courage..."

Zhou Andong felt that the time was almost up, and the speech was coming to an end.

"Students, the Central Academy of Fine Arts is the highest art palace in our country, and you are all the pride of heaven. Please remember, when you paint China, you cannot just paint China.

You must paint the thousands of lights in the vast land of China; you must paint the majesty of the Five Mountains and the grandeur of the rivers. You must paint the heaviness of the Qin and Han dynasties and the majesty of the Tang and Song dynasties.

You must paint the long history of five thousand years and the vastness of 9.6 million square kilometers. You must paint the burning heat of the heart and the clarity of love; you must paint the light of the awakening era, the fire of rebirth from nirvana, as well as the fragrant rice flowers on both sides of the strait and the white doves released in the morning..."

Zhou Andong bowed: "Thank you, everyone!"

Everyone was still wanting more, but the enthusiasm of the applause had not diminished at all.

Zhou Anqin took the microphone and walked onto the stage: "Thank you to Mr. Zhou Andong for his speech. Next is the Q&A time; whoever has questions, please raise your hand."

Swish, more than half of the people raised their hands, and even the students in the back raised theirs; regardless of whether they could be called on, the point was to participate.

"That student!" Zhou Anqin pointed to a male student in the front.

A student from the Student Union walked over with the microphone and handed it to the male student.

The male student took the microphone and looked a bit nervous.

"Chairman Zhou, have you ever had any regrets?"

No one expected him to ask such a question; naturally, Zhou Andong didn't expect it either.

Everyone's eyes were on Zhou Andong, looking forward to his answer.

"Regrets!"

Zhou Andong paced back and forth on the stage; art students are mostly sentimental and prone to melancholy.

Therefore, his speech today was not that intense, and the question from this male student confirmed this point.

So his answer definitely had to be a bit more sentimental and literary.

Chicken soup for the soul is his specialty, after all.

"What is regret?" Zhou Andong looked at the male student: "It is the youth drawing the bow to the full at the first meeting, fearing neither the years nor the wind, but in the end, the east wind wakes the hero's dream, and life grinds down the youth's heart.

I thought that life is a journey of mountains and rivers, where we would meet again, but later I discovered that once we part, there is no return date, and we only meet in dreams.

And I thought the greatest regret in life is that the loved one is separated by mountains and seas, and the mountains and seas cannot be leveled; later I learned that the sea has boats to cross, the mountains have roads to walk, and mountains and seas can be leveled, but what is hard to level is the human heart.

No one has no regrets; it's just that some people don't cry out in pain. Even in the prosperous Chang'an of thirty thousand miles, isn't regret written everywhere? The high-minded person wastes half a life and achieves success in old age; is that not a regret?

Li Bai is free and easy, having the ambition of a great roc, but ends up a prisoner, and eventually lives a lonely life; is that not a regret? Pei Twelve is a woman, whose literature is not inferior to Li Bai's and whose martial arts are not inferior to the high-minded, but she has no way to serve the country just because she is a woman.

The young Du Fu is comfortable and agile, but in the end, he only says, 'The children in the south village bully me because I am old and weak'; is that not a regret? No one is without injustice, and all love is a sin; everything is changing, and it is hard to satisfy the human heart.

Just like the character 'ren' (person) has two strokes: one stroke writes the first half of life, writing about persistence, and the other stroke writes the second half of life, writing about letting go. What we need to do is to have mountains and water in our hearts without being pretentious, to be quiet without fighting, to stay away from right and wrong, to stop, to forget, to follow the wind, to walk, to watch, to be calm, not to miss the past, and not to fear the future!"

"So, students, don't have regrets. Life is a practice; there will always be someone who will accompany you for a journey. The people you are meant to meet cannot be avoided, and the tribulations you are meant to experience cannot be escaped.

The person who makes you experience a love tribulation is the one who saves you in this life. The gathering and parting of life is the norm; it arises from karma and is all destined. The regret you think you missed is very likely a tribulation you avoided.

You just need to understand that birds and fish are not on the same path, and from now on, the mountains and rivers will not meet. One thought is a tribulation, and letting go of one thought is rebirth.

The heart changes with stillness; it is helplessness and also courage. Give time time, let the past pass, and let the beginning begin. Love rises with the wind, but when the wind stops, the feeling is hard to level; every stroke is heaven's will, and there are no failures in life."

"Wow—"

The applause was enthusiastic; this time, the girls clapped the hardest.

"Me, me, me..."

A petite and exquisite girl standing in the front raised her hand, jumping up and down.

The student from the Student Union handed the microphone to the girl.

"Brother Dong!" The girl looked petite and exquisite, but her voice was very crisp: "What is the difference between liking and loving?"

Zhou Andong scratched his head: "Do you art people all like love and romance?"

"Hahaha..."

Laughter rang out, and the girl also said with a smile.

"Is love not human nature? It's not just us art people; don't workers and farmers have love?"

"You're right." Zhou Andong nodded and pondered for a moment: "Some people say that liking is being reckless, but love is restraint.

Others say that liking is trying every possible way to get something, while love is the helplessness of letting go. Liking is happy and rational, knowing what should be done.

Love is painful and irrational, knowing it shouldn't be done but doing it anyway, and so on and so forth."

Having said this, Zhou Andong paused: "A thousand readers have a thousand Hamlets; beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I think liking should be liking your strengths, while love is liking both your strengths and weaknesses.

Liking should be the ambiguity at the beginning, the temporary sweetness. While love might be firewood, rice, oil, and salt, it might be a mess, it might be a mix of sadness and joy. But you will still mend it and grow old together.

Liking is you are happy, I am happy. Love is you are happy, then I am happy. Zhang Wuji in 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' had a crush on Zhu Jiuzhen in his youth.

For A'li, it was pity, concern, and being moved; for Xiao Zhao, it was master and servant, even more than family; for Zhou Zhiruo, it was liking and responsibility; only for Zhao Min was he willing to give up the world and give her happiness.

We have too many feelings in our lives that look like love but are ultimately not love, so you want to ask me what the difference between liking and loving is.

I think it's like the characters 'ding' (order) and 'ding' (settle) in Chinese, same sound but different meanings; one is pre-ordering, the other is firm, certain, and determined. Do you understand now?

Finally, students, I wish everyone joy at the first sight, and a heartbeat even after a long time; even if there are a hundred charms and thousands of colors in the world, you are the only one I am devoted to."

Because of time constraints, the speech ended, and many students who wanted to ask questions could only put down their hands with regret.

However, the applause then resounded through the small square of the Central Academy, but the students were reluctant to leave for a long time.