Chapter 292: What Does Pan Jinlian Say?

Shameless~

「」

Li Ye's three light words struck like a thunderclap, silencing the entire crowd of hundreds.

Yang Chen, sitting beside Li Ye, immediately tugged at his pant leg and nodded toward a camera in the corner, signaling him to watch his words.

The judges also frowned slightly, clearly disappointed by Li Ye's "impulsive insult."

"He fell for it. What a pity."

This was the collective view of the judges and some students.

Earlier, He Xue had asked Li Ye, "If your dad beats you, what can you do?"—a subtly provocative challenge—but Li Ye defused it cleverly with "morality defeating morality."

This time, He Xue directly targeted Li Ye with "your fiancée," which was a clear misstep, obviously meant to stir trouble.

Even though He Xue spoke passionately, she only stirred the emotions of most of the female audience, whose numbers didn't even reach "half the sky"—how could they sway the judges' psychological balance?

But Li Ye's near-swearing "unscrupulous" was a real, undeniable flaw.

Upon hearing Li Ye's words, He Xue didn't get angry—she smiled. She immediately rose to launch a counterattack, her rebuttal lines already rehearsed.

Is breaking up unscrupulous? Is this the morality nurtured by five thousand years of civilization? This is clearly proof of five thousand years of feudal oppression against women.

But as He Xue was about to stand up, she realized Li Ye had risen faster than her.

"First, let me clarify: I'm not saying the third speaker for the opposition is unscrupulous—to avoid misunderstanding—I merely mentioned Pan Jinlian because her words just now reminded me of her, so I made this observation."

He Xue:

Her teammates:

The rest:

Last year, Dongshan TV's drama "Wu Song" aired nationwide and became wildly popular; its main characters were household names. Pan Jinlian, as the undisputed female lead, was infamous for everything she did.

But using Pan Jinlian in this context seemed inappropriate.

Moreover, Li Ye's line "I'm not saying the third speaker is unscrupulous" sounded insincere and deeply suspicious.

He Xue flew into rage and tried again to stand up and rebut, but as soon as she tensed her legs, Li Ye kept speaking.

Li Ye's perception was razor-sharp—he meant to choke her words in her throat, making her desperate and agitated.

【You want to play mind games on me, you bitch? Fine, don't blame me for playing dirty—you've probably never seen Luo Mouhao's style.】

"Back then, Pan Jinlian also had different interests from Wu Dalang, so she wanted to break up with him. When Wu Dalang refused, she said, 'Big Brother, just drink your medicine.'"

"Puh~"

Someone couldn't help laughing, then the whole hall erupted in roaring laughter.

"Hahahaha~"

"'Big Brother, just drink your medicine'—was that even in the TV show?"

"The TV line wasn't like that, and the Jingda third speaker's tone was off."

Li Ye's tone was definitely off—not salty, not bland, pure Luo Mouhao style.

If you reason with him, it's fine; but if you so much as play a trick, he'll immediately find a bone in your egg and make you bite it first to test its hardness.

If you don't bite, he'll call you a thug and refuse to record.

Grab one percent of a flaw, make me understand it first—don't even talk about the other ninety-nine percent.

You say morality shackles women—then explain to me, is Pan Jinlian's case moral or not?

You say I'm unprincipled—weren't you the one who broke the rules first?

The laughter interrupted Li Ye's speech, so He Xue finally seized the chance to stand up, ignoring the still-noisy crowd, and shouted at Li Ye.

"Third speaker for the affirmative, are you trying to confuse the issue? Pan Jinlian didn't leave Wu Dalang because of different interests."

All the lines Li Ye had prepared were no longer needed.

The opponent had walked right into the trap.

Li Ye sat down and turned to glance at his own teammates.

【I've gone this far—come on, don't tell me you still don't get it?】

Yang Chen, after a half-second delay, finally understood Li Ye's look and stood up to ask: "Then why did Pan Jinlian leave Wu Dalang?"

He Xue answered without hesitation: "She was lured by Ximen Qing's wealth and handsomeness, committing illegal acts—this proves the importance of law."

Qin Yongsheng continued: "But if Wu Song hadn't returned, would Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing have faced legal punishment? Without morality, wouldn't Pan Jinlian have felt no guilt at all?"

He Xue's teammate quickly stood up: "That only proves loopholes in the law—if our legal system is sound, evil will eventually be punished."

「」

The two sides exchanged several rounds, arguing endlessly over whether morality or law was more important, but He Xue suddenly felt something was wrong—she was talking about morality as a shackles on women, yet Pan Jinlian's case clearly deserved moral condemnation and inner torment.

【So cunning—this Huang Shiren really isn't good.】

He Xue glared at Li Ye, who sat calmly watching the show.

But the next moment, Li Ye slowly stood up and calmly asked: "May I ask the opposition—how can you be certain Pan Jinlian didn't leave Wu Dalang because of different interests? Law requires evidence."

He Xue clenched her teeth and stood up: "Because Ximen Qing was handsome and wealthy, charming and elegant—but I remind the affirmative: Pan Jinlian doesn't represent all women."

He Xue realized the hole around Pan Jinlian couldn't be plugged—she couldn't represent all women, but such women did exist.

But Yang Chen grinned and said: "See? Even in the opposition's third speaker's mind, wealth and handsomeness rank higher than shared interests—under Ximen Qing's conditions of wealth and beauty, she automatically dismissed the possibility of differing interests."

So how much of your so-called moral shackles is truly about differing interests, and how much is about wealth and handsomeness?"

「」

The opposition froze for several seconds, unsure how to rebut—their third speaker had already been burned once, so they couldn't just yell "you're lying."

But wasn't that exactly what we meant? Pan Jinlian was a greedy, vain woman—but I never said all other women are like that!

Still, He Xue's teammate began to rebut.

"Affirmative, please note: we never ranked wealth, handsomeness, and shared interests, nor did we compare modern women with feudal-era women."

"But didn't you just say morality is a five-thousand-year feudal shackles on women?"

"Our position isn't—"

The two sides began arguing again, but Li Ye knew the opposition was finished.

The more they explained, the worse it got.

He Xue shouldn't have tangled with Li Ye—or rather, she shouldn't have tried to play mind games on him at all.

Why not just debate properly?

Li Ye could pick up just one or two tricks from modern internet trolls and smear you all over your pants.

"Free debate is now over. The opposition will deliver their concluding statement first, followed by the affirmative."

The moderator, unable to watch any longer, declared the next phase—this derailment had gone too far.

The opposition's concluding statement was still impressive, but their fourth speaker, clearly shaken by earlier events, had hastily revised their prepared script, shifting from "law is the standard for human conduct" toward "morality is not the only standard."

While this sounded more reasonable, it was far less sharp and clear than their original "law above all" stance.

While the opposition delivered their conclusion, Li Ye quickly jotted down a few lines and passed them to his own fourth speaker, Qin Yongsheng.

Qin Yongsheng read them and immediately organized his thoughts.

When it was his turn, he first praised the opposition's debate as brilliant, then said: "Morality is the standard that governs conduct; law is the tool for judging good and evil.

But moral standards are not static—they evolve with time. The moral standards of five thousand years ago differ vastly from today's.

Yet in every era, moral restraint remains a necessary standard for social harmony.

Compared to cold, impersonal law, moral restraint is warmer, more humane, and better at extinguishing evil intentions before they manifest, preventing and reducing crime."

"Applause~ Applause~"

The audience erupted in loud applause—clearly, the concept of morality still ran deep in their hearts; the cultural inheritance of five thousand years carried unique charm and immense power.

After both sides delivered their concluding statements, the formal debate ended. The audience Q&A was merely for entertainment and atmosphere.

But the questions the audience asked were serious.

"Affirmative speaker, if a woman truly has different interests from her husband, must she endure moral condemnation just to end a mistaken love?"

Yang Chen and the others looked at Li Ye—their eyes said: "Brother, this one's for you."

Li Ye stood up and answered formally: "I don't know what marriage means to you,

but Western wedding vows say: 'For better or worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.'

In our Eastern tradition, it's even more devoted: 'Alive, we share the same bed; dead, we share the same grave.' So what kind of social bond is marriage?"

"I believe marriage is a noble, sacred contract. If one party unilaterally breaks it, that's a breach—legally and morally, they must pay the cost."

Li Ye looked at He Xue coldly: "Modern law already grants either party the right to unilaterally dissolve marriage in the name of fairness and freedom—so now you won't even pay a single penny of breach cost?"

"If such a sacred contract requires no breach cost, where is the nobility of marriage?"

"If such a pure contract has no restraint at all, what's the difference between a solemn wedding and a childish farce?"

"Don't be so selfish—only raise the law high when it benefits you, and trample morality underfoot."

"But what if you later find something in traditional morality that benefits you—what then?"

"If everyone uses 'different interests' as an excuse to hide Pan Jinlian's filthy motives, will this society still have pure, clean love?"

「」

"Clap~ Clapclapclap~"

A sparse round of applause began.

Wen Leyu started clapping, and Pei Wenhui and Li Dayong immediately joined in, showing support for their brother.

Fu Yingjie, who reacted half a beat late, received stern glares from Wen Leyu and Li Dayong.

The eight of us are united—do you have a screw loose?

"Applause~ Applause~ Applause~ Applause~"

Applause erupted suddenly, rolling like thunder.

The most enthusiastic clappers were, ironically, the very girls He Xue had hoped to stir.