Bai Yi stopped.
The others also turned around to look.
The person who interrupted the speech was a Peking University leader. He seemed to have just received a call in a hurry and then shouted, "Wait a moment, there's an important guest coming for a visit!"
Important guest?
Who was it?
And they even had to pause the welcome ceremony?
Upstairs, some of the delegation members stood up as if they were very respectful. They all walked towards the main entrance, with a few of the leaders even personally going out to welcome them. It was a completely different attitude from how they treated the Chinese side. A few of the Peking University escorts also hurriedly went out to welcome them. This call was rather sudden as there was no prior notice. It turned out to be a team led by one of the senior officials of the Japanese political delegation. Their afternoon itinerary had suddenly changed. Perhaps it was because they had heard that quite a few people from Tokyo University had come to Peking University to attend the exchange, so one of the political delegation had also chosen to meet them here!
"Who's here?"
"I don't know."
"Aiyo, I think it's the Japanese political delegation!"
"They're here at Peking University too?"
"Whoa, why are there so many reporters!"
The first thing they saw in the auditorium was not the silhouettes of people, but the flashes of cameras. There were about 20 Chinese and Japanese reporters accompanying them. They were taking pictures as they walked. A Central TV reporter was taking pictures backwards and accidentally tripped. But he immediately got up and continued taking pictures, not even bothering to take pictures of the dirt on him.
It was a team of about a dozen people.
The leader was a Japanese official named Matsumoto. "Hello."
The Peking University people immediately said, "Welcome, welcome."
Matsumoto smiled and said, "& … ¥#) @!"
The translator said, "We heard that there will be a Sino-Japanese university exchange event today. We are very interested and pleased to see such cooperation. Please carry on, don't mind us."
Since the big shots had arrived, they were naturally invited to the front row upstairs. The Japanese University delegation naturally sat at the back to make room for the front row. The other seats were of course occupied by the Peking University escorts and the Chinese officials accompanying the political delegation. Some people saw a few familiar faces among them. They were a few officials from the Chinese education world who were accompanying the political delegation.
A Chinese official said to the Peking University people, "Carry on, don't interrupt the event because of us."
The people from Peking University nodded. "Alright, Teacher Bai was giving a speech just now. Then … let's continue." They gestured and went down.
The Peking University students were all silent. Some of them also looked upstairs. They had never seen so many important people, so they could not help but stop whispering.
Bai Yi was also surprised to see that the Chinese delegation had been alerted. In that instant, he straightened his back as though he had been injected with a stimulant. He was actually a little nervous. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he continued his speech. "We are now interested in Japan on a cultural level, but there is also a political level as well. What we haven't done yet, Japan and the Western countries have done. The Western countries and Japan agreed on this, so the Western countries felt that it was a matter of course. In the eyes of western countries, Japan was a Japan with culture, politics, and history. Therefore, our feelings are more complicated than Westerners'. "
He was not a professional in Chinese, so his speech was not as neat and well-written as Professor Yan's, but it still expressed the core point.
"We pay attention to Japan because we see Japan as the other. With a reference, we pay attention to Japan. But this kind of attention is undoubtedly due to the expectations of China itself. Based on the coordinates of China's own development, we treat Japan as the other. In fact, the problem is still China's. We can start from our own problem awareness and pay attention to Japan, treating Japan as the other. But there should be a prerequisite for such an expression, that is, you must give everyone a comprehensive perspective and observation, not a half-baked observation, or an incomplete presentation to others. At the same time, it is not fair to Japan. "
Some people were suspicious of this point of view, but many understood. It was rare to see someone talking about Japan from such a perspective.
Upstairs, Matsumoto nodded and whispered to another official beside him.
Bai Yi: "We need to start from ourselves and learn to forgive …"
Bai Yi: "We need to start from ourselves and learn to respect …"
Point after point. "Without understanding, there is no right to speak. We need to learn to understand another person, another country. We need to learn to forgive and respect another person, another country. Yes, this is what I want to say. My speech is over. Thank you, everyone." He bowed.
Matsumoto led the applause!
The political delegation also did the same!
The students and teachers of Tokyo University also applauded enthusiastically!
Only the Peking University students downstairs were silent. Some of them also applauded, but their eyes were empty and their clapping movements were mechanical. Many of them felt a tightness in their chests. They felt that their speech was reasonable, but they could not accept it. They felt that something was not right!
Some of the Peking University teachers were the same.
Su Na took deep breaths and regretted coming here.
Another 50-year-old History Department professor also kept a straight face and did not say a word.
Respect?
Forgiveness??
At this moment, a lot of people had a lot of things to say, but they couldn't say them. They didn't know what to say, especially when the Japanese political delegation and the university delegation were sitting upstairs. So, they could only applaud and go with the flow.
A female Peking University student muttered to herself, "Was our previous attitude really our fault? No meaning? We should learn to forgive? "
The freshman beside her shook his head. "I don't know either."
Another freshman who was in the same class as them said, "Since Professor Yan and Teacher Bai have said so, they must have their reasons. Hai, it's just that I feel a little stifled in my heart, but I don't know what it is."
A student said, "We really can't throw away all the Japanese stuff."
Yao Mi, who was sitting in the back row, also fell silent.
Li Li said, "Mimi, what's the matter?"
Yao Mi clenched her fists and said, "I'm not feeling well. I want to go back."
"Not feeling well?" Li Ying asked with concern.
Beside her, Senior Song said with a dark expression, "She must be feeling unwell. Me too. I feel like there's something stuck in my chest and I can't get it out!"
Senior Zhou was also thinking about Teacher Bai's speech. "Forgiveness?"
At this moment, the host went on stage and announced, "Next up, we invite the famous mathematician, Teacher Zhang from Peking University's Math Department to give an academic speech. Everyone, please welcome him." There was no mention of Dale's Conjecture, as this was a more official and formal occasion. Dale's Conjecture had not been verified yet, so they naturally could not say that it had been solved by Zhang Ye.
Applause rang out.
However, many of the Peking University teachers and students in the audience were still a little depressed.
Upstairs, a Peking University staff introduced Zhang Ye to the political delegation. "This is Zhang Ye, the mathematician who made a major breakthrough in the proof of Dale's Conjecture."
Matsumoto nodded.
The Japanese mathematician interjected and said to Matsumoto and the others, "Dale's Conjecture has not been verified yet, so the result is still uncertain."
This was not translated.
Matsumoto and a few of the Japanese officials nodded and looked at Zhang Ye with great interest.
The other Japanese political delegation and university delegations also turned their attention to Zhang Ye, including the Chinese and Japanese reporters. They all pointed their cameras at Zhang Ye, wanting to hear how he would solve Dale's Conjecture.
The atmosphere upstairs and downstairs was completely different. It felt like ice and fire.
Zhang Ye walked up the stage with his speech in hand. Naturally, he could feel the state of the Peking University students. On the other side, Professor Yan had already finished his speech and went upstairs to accompany the political delegation. Bai Yi also quickly walked upstairs after he got off the stage. He was probably anxious to meet with the Japanese officials. Zhang Ye looked from one to the other, then upstairs, then downstairs. The scenery was different and it was very lively.
The host quickly signaled with his eyes.
Su Na also did not understand. What was wrong with Zhang Ye?
Dean Pan looked at him. Did he forget his lines? With your memory, how could you forget? If you can't do it, then look at the script. Isn't it in your hands?
Forgiveness and respect?
Zhang Ye also asked himself this question in his mind.
Then he held the script in front of his eyes and looked at it. He knew that with so many eyes on him, with the political delegation present, and with the friendly atmosphere between China and Japan, he should stay out of it. They could say whatever they wanted, he just had to follow the script and finish his task. That was what he really thought. So he opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but found that he could not say a single word. It was as if there was a voice in his head shouting at him, shouting at him incessantly.
He lowered his hand and looked around, then slowly placed the script on the podium. He gripped the microphone tightly and finally spoke.
When he opened his mouth, everyone who was waiting to hear Zhang Ye's academic report and Dale's Conjecture were stunned.
Zhang Ye said in a soft voice, "The Japanese Prime Minister has visited China, the Japanese political delegation has visited Peking University, and many of our countrymen are cheering: 'China-Japan friendship has turned a new page!'"
There was a sudden silence upstairs!
When Matsumoto heard the translation, he had a suspicious look on his face.
Professor Yan was stunned!
Bai Yi also stared at Zhang Ye who was at the podium downstairs!
All of the Chinese and foreign reporters, all of the Peking University teachers and students, and even many of the students who were still immersed in the two previous speeches, suddenly looked up in shock!
Zhang Ye said calmly, "Professor Yan's new thinking towards Japan has found a footnote, and Teacher Bai's theory of goodwill towards Japan has been put into practice. There are people who claim that the number of Chinese who 'know Japan' is not as many as the Japanese who 'know China'. There are people who grieve that our countrymen are not as cultured and polite as the Japanese. There are even people who curse our countrymen for being narrow-minded, nationalistic, and lacking in the demeanor of a big country … It seems that the abnormal relations between China and Japan in the past few decades after the war were all caused by our country. We should turn the page and look to the future, opening up a new era of friendly relations between China and Japan. "
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
"Pui!"
Amidst the dead silence, a "Pei!" resounded through the hall without any warning, startling everyone and causing them to break out in a cold sweat!
Zhang Ye slammed the table. "Why should I forgive you! Japan!!! "
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