Chapter 3305: Keep the Anger Alive

"Another color?" Ye Chen's words made Dong Ruolin ponder for a moment, then she suddenly realized.

She couldn't help but exclaim: "Ye Chen, you put it that way, and it really seems to be the case. Before, Tavana was always actively promoting the blue camp, making a big fuss, and even kept urging her fans to vote. I didn't expect she'd still lose despite putting in so much effort. If it were me, I'd definitely be gloomy too."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh: "Just now I saw her looking unhappy, and I thought the Mitsui family hadn't paid her performance fee. If it were really a dispute over appearance fees before the performance, maybe we wouldn't even get to see this show today. But then I thought again—maybe the Mitsui family wouldn't actually stiff her over this little bit of money..."

Xiao Churan couldn't help but laugh and said: "Ruolin, your tongue is too sharp."

"Hehe." Dong Ruolin laughed: "To be honest, Churan, although I really like Tavana's songs and her talent and performance style, to be frank, I don't like any public figures who bring personal agendas, especially her constant advocacy for supporting sexual minorities. I think her support is fine—she can silently support in her heart and no one will mind—but she shouldn't rely on her large fanbase to constantly talk about this issue. Many of her fans are still minors, and minors lack full behavioral and judgment capacity. Outputting ideas that don't align with mainstream values to such a group is extremely irresponsible."

Ye Chen, hearing Dong Ruolin's remarks, couldn't help but marvel: "Impressive, Ruolin—your words really opened my eyes."

Dong Ruolin giggled and said: "Don't look at us as having no abilities—this sense of justice has always been strong, never weak."

Meanwhile, Carrie West had been silent, busy sending a message to Fei Keixin on her phone, telling her she had met Ye Chen here.

Then, smiling, she asked Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, how do you view the current situation in the United States? Are you leaning blue or red?"

Ye Chen thought for a moment, then smiled: "I don't lean toward anyone—I just hope this world could be more normal. I don't know why, but in recent years, many strange and bizarre things have seemed to emerge all at once. We were taught from childhood that humans have only two genders, yet suddenly some people in America claim there are nearly a hundred genders. For me personally, that's hard to accept."

As he spoke, Ye Chen added: "Yesterday I went to watch a match—the women's championship final. There was a male athlete claiming a gender disability who fought his way through, defeating who knows how many real women to reach the final. Perhaps for a few, his rights were respected, but for the women he defeated, whose rights are being respected? Americans love to accuse others of exaggeration, but in fact, they themselves love to exaggerate, especially loving to lose big over small things. Their pattern is: once a small group becomes the focus of attention, they dedicate themselves to defending that small group's rights while sacrificing the rights of the majority. It's utterly bewildering."

At this moment, Mitsui Yoshitaka had already finished his opening remarks and brief speech.

Then he looked toward the listless Tavana and said: "Next, I'd like to invite our today's protagonist, the current most influential international superstar Tavana Svet, to the stage to say a few words. After all, the guests present include my daughter, and they are all fans of Miss Svet. They usually listen to her songs, and today they finally have the chance to meet her at this party—surely they also want to hear what she has to say."

The venue instantly burst into cheers.

However, much of this cheering was actually just giving face to Mitsui Yoshitaka, the patriarch of the Mitsui family.

Upon hearing she was to speak on stage, Tavana's eyebrows twitched slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

She knew this was part of the originally scheduled party flow: after the host Mitsui Yoshitaka finished speaking, she would go up to say a few polite words—usually just mutual flattery, nothing special. But Tavana was visibly burdened with worries at this moment. Seeing Mitsui Yoshitaka invite her to the stage, she hesitated briefly, then kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, stood up, and walked to the small stage.

After taking the microphone from Mitsui Yoshitaka's hand, Tavana pondered for a moment, still unsure what to say.

Many in the audience had already taken out their phones to record, when Mitsui Yoshitaka spoke up: "Ladies and gentlemen, today's party is purely a private gathering. Miss Svet is an international public figure, so please do not photograph or record her here, and certainly do not upload anything online, to avoid causing her unnecessary trouble."

Upon hearing Mitsui Yoshitaka's reminder, everyone quickly put down their phones.

But at this moment, Tavana Svet suddenly said: "Thank you, Mr. Mitsui, for your hospitality. However, I really hope everyone will record what I'm about to say and upload it to the internet. If you do, I will be deeply grateful."

As she spoke, amid everyone's confusion, Tavana spoke with righteous indignation: "You've surely all heard the latest news from across the ocean. As a member of the deep blue camp, I personally find this news extremely infuriating! I want to say this is a regression in human progress! For years, we've fought for the LGBT community, struggled to uphold their rights. But now, all these achievements are on the verge of collapse. I hope everyone here can actively participate in the righteous action to defend LGBT rights—eliminate discrimination, eliminate colored lenses, let them enjoy the same rights as ordinary people! Although we've lost this four-year term, we will surely gain more four years in the future! Possibly even fourteen, forty, or even four hundred years!"

Most of the Japanese present were momentarily stunned, exchanging bewildered glances.

They had originally prepared to hear Tavana praise Japan, then declare how much she loved Japan and how important Japanese fans' support was to her. Although they knew such talk was utterly hypocritical, in this setting it was an unchanging tradition.

Yet those Japanese who had braced themselves for praise were surprised to find Tavana mount the stage and deliver a passionate, impassioned speech—without mentioning Japan or Japanese people even once, instead devoting her entire talk to speaking up for LGBT.

The Japanese mindset is relatively traditional, and the theory of LGBT equality simply cannot convince them. Tavana's sudden utterance of such remarks in this setting truly left these Japanese momentarily unsure how to respond.

Mitsui Yoshitaka, at this point, could only awkwardly smooth things over: "I once heard someone say—roughly speaking—that young people must keep their anger, for only by holding onto anger can they have greater drive to move forward and transform themselves. Seeing Miss Svet so wholeheartedly devoted to certain minority groups, so deeply empathetic, I now find myself increasingly agreeing with this saying."

Seeing Mitsui Yoshitaka step in to mediate, everyone burst into laughter and applause—also helping Tavana save face a little.

At this moment, Mitsui Yoshitaka's assistant suddenly walked onto the stage, whispered a few words in his ear, and Mitsui Yoshitaka's expression immediately relaxed. Excitedly, he said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I've just received good news! Fei Keixin, chairwoman of the American Fei Group, is already on her way to attend our party!"