[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981":3,"chapter-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-252":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","That Year, the Flowers Bloomed in 1981",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2294670,4489,"Chapter 252: Thank Goodness This Brat Was Born a Few Years Too Late","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-252",252,"\u003Cp>“Absolutely nonsense. The affirmative side keeps insisting that private ownership is tied to love, even dragging in family ethics, but they’ve fundamentally confused the relationship between family and love.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bloodline inheritance only proves a connection to marriage and family, not to love itself. Don’t even mention the tragic arranged marriages in historical records—just in our recent times, how many arranged marriages were devoid of love and filled with sorrow?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaping to his feet, Lu Gang launched a scathing rebuttal against Pu Xianghe’s remarks, his righteous fury sweeping toward Li Ye and the affirmative team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pu Xianghe pursed his lips and turned to look at Li Ye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye gave him no signal, instead resting one hand on his forehead, elbow propped on the desk, letting out a soft sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heeiiii~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pu Xianghe wanted to laugh—he and his team had prepared several strategies to lure Zhu Yonghe’s side into discussing marriage and family, but they never expected the opposition to walk straight into the trap right at the start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since they’d fallen for it, they might as well follow the plan and “perform.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pu Xianghe sat down “dejectedly,” head bowed, barely holding back his laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Xianjin, meanwhile, widened his eyes and continued glaring across at Lu Gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Debate team captain Zhen Rongrong frowned stubbornly and said, “We request to end our rebuttal. It’s now the opposition’s turn to speak.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Zhen Rongrong finished, the debate hall erupted again in chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? They’re giving up already? Freshmen just aren’t resilient enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah! At least argue back a few points! Didn’t they prepare anything? This is way too hasty!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s not that they’re hasty—it’s that the affirmative’s argument is too hard to counter. If they claim love is selfish, half the audience here would object.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Half? Ninety-nine percent would object. Forget it—it’s not their fault. These freshmen just lack experience.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhen Rongrong’s “surrender” surprised not only the audience but also Zhu Yonghe and the opposition team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the \"flash in the pan\" incident, Zhu Yonghe had prepared thoroughly for a tough battle—even if the affirmative’s position was weak, he dared not take it lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when everyone was still discussing strategy, Lu Gang suddenly stood up to rebut Pu Xianghe, and Zhu Yonghe had been annoyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now Lu Gang had said just a few words, and Li Ye’s team had surrendered—was all his preparation useless?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, even if your fist hits air, you’ve got to swing a few times to show the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Zhu Yonghe and his teammates rose one by one to state their position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The great poet Pushkin once said: before great love, reason falls silent. Love is everything—it admits nothing else, not even selfishness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A marriage without love is tragic, but that doesn’t diminish love’s nobility and selflessness. Lu Xiaoman fell in love with Xu Zhimo; though heartbroken, Wang Geng gave the two lovers his sincere blessing—this proves the affirmative’s argument invalid.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yonghe and his teammates took turns praising the greatness and selflessness of love; Lu Gang even recited a famous poet’s love poem on the spot, stirring deep resonance among many literary youths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under their descriptions, love’s beauty was magnified endlessly, winning overwhelming approval and applause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the enthusiastic applause, Li Ye and Zhen Rongrong either sighed heavily, feigning defeat, or glared stubbornly like pigs unafraid of boiling water—drawing waves of laughter from the crowd, and some encouraging claps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amusing the audience counts as bonus points, doesn’t it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Wen Leyu, sitting in the front row, frowned at Li Ye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She felt Li Ye shouldn’t give up so easily. Knowing him, if this debate had little chance of victory, he’d have refused to engage outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, after watching Li Ye for a moment, Wen Leyu saw him wink at her, making a gesture only they understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Leyu relaxed—Li Ye was clearly setting a trap, as usual. As an audience member, she just needed to wait patiently for the twist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Both sides have finished their statements. We now enter the free debate phase.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The teacher on stage was bored—she’d expected some exciting moments today! Instead, she’d just listened to a string of love poems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d seen countless love poems before—written for others, written for herself—what was the point?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yonghe and his team also found it dull. An easy victory didn’t satisfy a strong debater’s desire to conquer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the moment the teacher announced free debate, an astonished voice rose from Li Ye’s side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Teacher, is free debate starting already? But the opposition has spent all this time praising love’s greatness without fully refuting our argument?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly! We’ve repeatedly stressed that love arises from family—how can you ignore that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the female debater, Zhen Rongrong added softly, “I’d like to ask the opposition: what do you believe is the foundation of love? If you find a lover you truly love in the future, isn’t marriage your ultimate goal?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” Sun Xianjin twisted his neck dramatically, shouting like a comic performer: “The great leader told us: dating without the intention of marriage is sexual harassment!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The classroom’s atmosphere shifted abruptly; everyone stared in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Earlier, Li Ye’s team had sat silently, taking the opposition’s fifteen-minute praise without resistance, making everyone think they’d surrendered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now it sounded like they’d been watching a show?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Li Ye stood up, looking genuinely puzzled. “I was truly baffled listening just now. Does the opposition not realize that love outside marriage could land you up to fifteen years in prison?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahahahaha~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every woman in the room, including Wen Leyu, burst into uncontrollable laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era, the crime of \"Liu Mang\" still existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And women in this era were nowhere near as permissive as in later times—nearly 100% of girls pursued love with marriage as their goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So they wholeheartedly supported the law that punished seducers with fifteen years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some men, however, just chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Gang stared at Li Ye, his eyes nearly blazing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because when Li Ye said that last line, he’d locked eyes directly with Lu Gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Lu Gang instinctively thought this was a “warning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In high school, Lu Gang had openly dated his girlfriend; teachers ignored it because his grades were excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After entering university, he immediately broke up with her, claiming the distance harmed their love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the girl had also gotten into a university in Jingcheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Impossible. He couldn’t possibly know.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Ye really did know about Lu Gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Lu Gang’s \"lighthouse biubiu\" incident, he had sent his older sister a letter equivalent to a suicide note—later seized by the Lantern Bureau police and exposed by the newspaper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that letter, Lu Gang had written: “I’ve experienced all the joys life offers—the wedding night, the imperial examination success.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister, you know I started dating in high school, and in college I even brought the girl back to my 262 Hospital hometown to spend the night.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That last line alone could have landed him fifteen years in prison in 1983.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The affirmative is muddying the waters. Love and marriage have no inherent connection. If marriage equals love, then if Huang Shiren kidnapped Xi’er and married her, would that mean they now had love?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yonghe and his team finally realized—they’d unknowingly stepped into Li Ye’s trap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But how could Peking University students be pushovers? They immediately launched a fierce counterattack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Pu Xianghe, who’d pretended to be defeated for so long, now shouted loudly: “Huang Shiren and Xi’er’s marriage was illegal!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For thousands of years in China, forcibly taking a woman has never been allowed. Don’t insult the audience’s intelligence by using an illegal marriage as an example!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahahahaha~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone in the hall burst into laughter. Just moments ago, they’d thought today’s debate was dull—but now they’d witnessed a hilarious comedy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Gang, seething with rage, stood and shouted: “The affirmative mustn’t mislead students and teachers! You’ve only emphasized love’s connection to family and marriage, yet never proven love is selfish!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can the emergence of private ownership and selfish family property be equated with selfish love?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course it can be equated!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye stood again, calmly stating: “Let me tell you a true story. A couple, in their hardest time, had only one piece of bread left.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The wife lied to her husband, saying she’d already eaten, and gave him the only bread.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I ask the opposition: why didn’t the wife eat it herself? Why didn’t she give it to other starving people? Didn’t she know starvation could kill?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye turned sharply to the audience. “What force, what reason, made this wife give the bread to her husband?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Leyu became the perfect straight man, shouting: “Love!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes! Love!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The power of love!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Love forever!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless people echoed Wen Leyu’s answer; the hall erupted in chaotic excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhu Yonghe finally spotted a flaw and shouted back: “The example you just gave proves love is selfless, not selfish!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, you’ve misunderstood again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye smiled. “If they were merely lovers, not husband and wife, would you say she should give the bread to her parents or her younger brother?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yonghe hesitated—if the woman wasn’t married and had only one piece of bread, refusing to give it to her parents or brother might get her beaten to death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Gang stood again, interrupting: “But Li Ye, even if your example is valid, it only proves love can be selfish or selfless. The wife choosing to starve for her husband is the strongest proof of selflessness!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye curled his lips, revealing white teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Gang thought he’d found Li Ye’s weakness, unaware he was sinking deeper into the tangled web of marriage and love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the moment they engaged Li Ye, they’d already walked onto the path he’d pre-set.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They should never have engaged his argument at all—only discussed love, never touching marriage or family, to avoid falling into Li Ye’s trap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye spoke calmly: “Let me ask one final question: if the four of you establish families in the future, would you be willing to let your wives’ love be directed toward someone else?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you saying?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Gang nearly jumped up—was this guy trying to make him wear a green hat?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye spread his hands, smiling. “See? All of us want to monopolize our wives’ love, refusing anyone else access. That’s the selfishness of love.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And marriage? Marriage is love’s best vessel, its strongest guarantee—the clearest proof of selfish love.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye’s smile faded as he declared proudly to everyone present: “Classmates, remember this: marriage is equivalent to love, and love is merely the prelude to marriage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you speak of love apart from marriage and family, no matter how splendid the love poem, it’s bullshit; no matter how dazzling the romance, it’s but a fleeting bloom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room fell silent, leaving Li Ye, who had built up his passionate speech, feeling awkward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shouldn’t there be laughter, applause? Why is everyone’s face flushed, staring at me dumbfounded?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, Wen Leyu extended both hands, palms down, and slammed them onto the desk in front of her like drumming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thump thump thump thump~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vigorous clapping echoed through the classroom, triggering a chain reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the girls began wildly pounding the desks, swaying their heads with delight, casting aside all feminine decorum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thunderous noise had already decided the outcome of the debate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone present had cast their votes with their fervor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What’s this nonsense about love being great and selfless? Let me accept half of my husband’s love? I’ll tear you apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Love is selfish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The several judging teachers on stage looked at Li Ye with complex expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【This little brat is lucky he was born years later—otherwise he’d be a heretic spreading dangerous ideas!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1965,"2026-06-20T05:05:01.382Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e7fe921c4c6459becc9c9fa407fd98e5bba43ca64617fe6ede8d2cb6e73c3270","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-253","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-251",884,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthat-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-cover.jpg"]