Chapter 171

When Li Ye, Sun Xianjin, and the others arrived at the lecture site, the vast majority of the seats were already occupied, with only a large area in the front row left completely empty.

No need to ask, that area was not prepared for ordinary students like Li Ye.

But in the current situation, wanting to find four empty seats in a row was simply impossible.

Bian Jingjing couldn't help but say: "Economics lectures, are they this popular?"

Sun Xianjin said: "Yes, every lecture, you can hear a lot of fresh knowledge."

Although it was already '82, and the atmosphere of ideological liberation was already very strong, much of the knowledge taught in class was still very outdated, especially economics.

Due to the needs of industrial and manufacturing development, disciplines like physics and mechanical engineering had already been updated to, or were close to, the latest international status, while economics, for many reasons, lagged far behind.

Therefore, open "lectures" were the most popular and precious way for everyone to learn knowledge.

Once news of a lecture spread, not only would Jingda's economics students come, but students from other schools would also come to listen.

It was just that it was still early now; if they waited any longer, the corridors would be packed with people.

But fortunately, quite a few people from the '82 Economics Department had also come. Chen Xiaoling, who hung out with Seeing Zhen Rongrong all day, stood up and waved at Li Ye and the other three.

"Li Ye, Sun Xianjin, come over here."

Chen Xiaoling's shout naturally attracted the attention of others.

When someone saw Bian Jingjing and Watching Wen Leyu, almost everyone at the scene looked over.

"Look, it's that freshman who practices high jump."

"It really is. Who is that short boy next to her?"

"Don't know, just a nobody."

"Heh heh~"

In this day and age, there were few girls in college, so it was normal to be highly noticed. Because of her height, Bian Jingjing couldn't help but attract attention even if she wanted to.

Even Watching Wen Leyu, at 1.7 meters tall, stood out from the crowd, but the little girl was always cold and low-key, not as eye-catching as Bian Jingjing.

Chen Xiaoling and the others squeezed and made room, freeing up a few seats for Li Ye and the others. Sun Xianjin found a broken stool from who knows where and managed to squeeze in and sit down in the aisle.

After sitting down, Watching Wen Leyu gently poked Li Ye and asked: "Today's lecture, is it related to the little days?"

Li Ye nodded slightly, indicating he knew.

At the very front of the lecture site today, a banner was hung horizontally—Morishima Michio Marxist Economics Lecture.

The first four Chinese characters looked like a little day's name at a glance.

This was a common form for many lectures at this time: first introduce a foreign economics figure, then describe his personal research, and then everyone would study and discuss it together.

And Morishima Michio was an economics figure from the little days.

Li Ye knew the lecture topic today in advance, which was why he said he didn't plan to ask Watching Wen Leyu when Sun Xianjin asked him if he would.

Because although Morishima Michio's research direction hung the name of Marx, which was relatively compatible with the environment in the interior at this time,

the economic environments of the two sides were different, plus other reasons. If there wasn't an intense argument in a while, that would be a ghost.

Watching Wen Leyu asked again: "Then are you here to express your opinion today?"

The little girl knew something about Li Ye, knowing he was a "Great Zhonghua Supremacist," so she thought Li Ye might be here to stir up trouble today.

Li Ye shook his head and said: "I only brought my ears today; my mouth was left in the dormitory."

Watching Wen Leyu pursed her lips without laughing out loud. She was already used to Li Ye's random outbursts of "fun."

But Chen Xiaoling, Seeing Zhen Rongrong, and others on the side laughed. A random cheesy joke from decades later would be a funny joke in the 80s.

"You shouldn't talk like that."

A classmate in the front row heard the laughter of the few girls and turned his head.

"Since you've come to Jingda, your courage should be a bit bigger. Who knows what kind of unknown difficulties we are facing? Only by discussing more can we find problems and better build our country."

"Being cautious and hiding one's clumsiness, being worldly-wise and playing safe—this kind of character and style is of no benefit to the progress of our society."

Everyone was stunned, and for this person's abrupt words, they were all a bit slow to react.

Li Ye was just about to speak, but Seeing Zhen Rongrong snatched the words: "We are all freshmen and haven't accumulated enough knowledge yet. Today we came with an attitude of learning. It's not wrong to listen more and speak less."

"So what if you're freshmen? When we were freshmen..."

"Alright, be a bit more patient with the junior students,"

another classmate in the front row pulled that person back, then said kindly to Li Ye and the others: "He just has this impatient temper. Don't mind him! Before you can fully understand some problems, listening more and speaking less is correct."

That impatient student was a bit unhappy and whispered to his companion: "Now the freshmen are starting to learn the Doctrine of the Mean. When we were freshmen, we didn't have so many thoughts."

"Alright, alright, the lecture is about to start. I'm telling you, open fire less today! Don't make us help you argue every time."

"Arguing is also a good way to learn and progress. You guys are just too conservative. Besides, who asked you to help me? You guys just sit tight and watch the show. No, watch me open fire..."

Seeing Zhen Rongrong and the others were all between laughter and tears. It turned out they were sitting next to a cannon today.

Watching Wen Leyu pulled Li Ye's sleeve and shook her head at him with a smile, as if saying: "Don't mind it, there are plenty of such hot-blooded youths at Jingda."

Li Ye smiled and nodded slightly, indicating he didn't mind.

College students at this time were very straightforward, as if they couldn't tolerate sand in their eyes. If they caught a small problem, no matter who you were or how high your status was, they would dare to argue with you for two hours.

As for college students in later generations, they lost this hot-bloodedness and persistence. Everyone became realistic, and they were too lazy to waste energy on arguments without practical significance.

This seemingly "rational" change lost some positive motivation and belief.

Five minutes before the lecture started, Professor Zhang of the Economics Department arrived early. Coming in with him from the small door were some young teachers, as well as a group of special students.

Li Ye saw Nakamura Naoto, as well as a few international students with yellow hair.

That cannon in the front row spoke with contempt.

"It's truly strange! A group of students actually sitting with teachers. Don't they feel that their virtue doesn't match their position?"

"Old Yu, keep your voice down. Don't provoke Mr. Zhang to get angry! Otherwise, no one can save you."

"I'm not talking about Mr. Zhang. I'm talking about those few in front. They went to the chrysanthemum once, and now they're incredible..."

That cannon was obviously also very afraid of Professor Zhang, and his tone unconsciously weakened.

In the current Jingda Economics Department, middle-aged and young professors were called teachers, while old professors were called "Mr." It sounded a bit old-fashioned, but this was how everyone expressed respect.

Although Professor Zhang was not old, he was also a master-level figure in the domestic economics circle. Even the most arrogant students had to restrain themselves a bit in front of him.

"Ahem, time is up, let's begin."

"Morishima Michio has conducted in-depth research on Marxist economics, proposing unique insights in labor value theory, reproduction theory, value transformation theory, etc..."

Professor Zhang didn't say a word of nonsense and started by talking about Morishima Michio's two most famous research results.

He proved that Marx's two propositions, "total production price equals total value" and "total profit equals total surplus value," hold true simultaneously, making his model the model closest to Marx's original intention.

Now you know why Morishima Michio was chosen as the research object in this relatively sensitive period of '82, right?

Regardless of the theoretical connotation of his research, on the surface, it sounds like he is from the same school as us!

So everyone at the scene, regardless of whether they understood or not, was listening intently to Professor Zhang's lecture.

Seeing Zhen Rongrong and the others were listening while desperately taking notes, hoping to write down all the content of today's lecture.

For freshmen, this knowledge was still too raw.

Seeing Zhen Rongrong felt her hand was cramping from exhaustion and couldn't keep up with Professor Zhang's speed. In her frustration, she noticed that Li Ye's hands were empty.

"Li Ye, didn't you bring paper and pen?"

"Oh, I don't need them."

With the help of his "biological hard drive," Li Ye had the ability to never forget what he heard, so he naturally didn't need paper and pen.

That cannon in the front row heard it again and turned his head to look at Li Ye several times, as if to remember his handsome face so he could fire a shot at Li Ye in a while.

Go pick up girls somewhere else, what are you showing off here for?

The one-hour lecture ended quickly. Professor Zhang not only talked about Morishima Michio's research theory but also talked about many practical examples,

describing the rise of the little days in the past few decades and their future prospects from multiple aspects such as economics, sociology, education, and history.

At the very end, Professor Zhang said: "Therefore, I believe that the little days' economic take-off is flawed and distorted.

We must learn from their experience, but also be cautious of their mistakes to avoid falling into the danger of collapse."

Li Ye was suddenly shocked.

He was truly shocked. He had always had a sense of superiority in his heart—"Everything you think is unknown, I know clearly."

But at this moment, the sentence Professor Zhang used to conclude made him know what an "economist" was.

Because just this year, Morishima Michio had just written the book "Why the Little Days Succeeded," and with the help of the little days' economic situation, which was at its peak at this moment, he became famous for a while.

But in another ten years or so, Morishima Michio would write "Why the Little Days Will Decline."

Under the current situation where the little days were arrogantly wanting to "buy the Statue of Liberty," Professor Zhang actually boldly predicted the decline of the little days.

What is awesome?

This is it.

However, almost everyone at the scene thought that this sentence of Professor Zhang was just a Zhonghua-style "double-sided rhetoric." Anyway, people from Zhonghua liked to have reasons for both sides.

Only Li Ye and Nakamura Naoto thought otherwise.

Professor Zhang drank the last sip of tea in his glass and packed his things, preparing to leave.

After he left, it was time for everyone to discuss actively, but this discussion usually evolved into an argument, a loud argument, in the end.

But Nakamura Naoto stood up, blocked Professor Zhang's way, and said in not-so-fluent Chinese: "Mr. Zhang, what you said at the end just now is very wrong and very irresponsible. You should correct it."

"..."

The whole audience was shocked, and even a few young teachers were so surprised that they couldn't react for a while.

Although Jingda's atmosphere was very free and one could argue as long as there were different opinions, publicly questioning a figure at the "Mr." level like Professor Zhang was still extremely rare and extremely bold.

Professor Zhang didn't get angry, pushed his glasses, and said calmly: "Which sentence of mine do you think is wrong?"

Nakamura Naoto said excitedly: "Mr., you said our country's take-off is distorted, and you also said it will fall into the risk of collapse. Isn't this wrong?"

Professor Zhang said: "I just said it's possible. The characteristics of capitalism lead to its theoretical flaws. Several other countries have verified this problem, so you cannot avoid this risk..."

Professor Zhang explained patiently for a few sentences. He usually wouldn't bother to explain such basic knowledge, but because of Nakamura Naoto's status as a friend, he gave him face.

But Nakamura Naoto was relentless: "Mr. Zhang, we are different from other countries. Our people are hardworking, diligent, and intelligent. We only used a few decades to walk the path they took for hundreds of years, creating a miracle that the whole world pays attention to..."

The atmosphere at the lecture site became awkward.

A few teachers wanted to step forward to stop Nakamura Naoto, but Professor Zhang waved his hand, telling them not to move, and let Nakamura Naoto preach there excitedly.

Yes, it was preaching. Nakamura Naoto's attitude was already very impolite.

Perhaps it was the concession of the Zhonghua people during this period that made him misunderstand the temper of the Zhonghua people, thinking that the powerful Great Little Day Empire had returned.

Li Ye, who only brought his ears, could no longer hold back.

Many times, "rationality" is a false proposition.

For example, "fighting" in later generations. Everyone knows that as long as the other party strikes first, don't fight back, lie down immediately, and you can open your mobile phone to choose your favorite motorcycle.

But when it really comes to that moment, with blood rushing to the head, how many men will rationally follow their hearts, let the other party beat them, curl up and hold their heads to "stand in an invincible position"?

Li Ye's eyes moved, and he found that the guy named "Old Yu" in the front row was already trembling with anger.

Obviously, he was about to fire the first shot.

I have a ball of fire in my heart, how can I let you take the lead?

Li Ye stood up with his head held high and said sternly: "I'm really sorry, whether your little days' economy rises or falls doesn't seem to depend on your hard work, diligence, and intelligence, but on another more powerful country, right?"

Posted a bit late today, didn't fix the typos in time, sorry everyone! Sorry, sorry.

Thanks to the book friends for the tips, thanks to book friend "Holding a Pig and Running Fast" for the 500-coin tip, thanks to the two big bosses.

(End of chapter)