Chapter 118 Graduation Speech

After getting the acceptance letter from Harvard, Lin Ming Yang had actually officially left his status as a high school student, but there was still an official celebration like a degree conferral over at Moss High School. The principal, Matthew, didn't realize that Lin Mingyang was in South Africa, so when he called him, it happened to be the early morning hours of the local time in South Africa, and Lin Mingyang was woken up from his sleep.

In a daze, he didn't hear a word Matthew said, but only knew that the other party wanted him to go back, and then words such as stage, speech and so on were intermittently deposited into Lin Mingyang's brain. When he woke up the next day, he vaguely remembered that there was such a thing, as if Matthew asked him to make a speech on behalf of the graduates, and he agreed to do so with a dreamy mouth.

Another week in Johannesburg, during which the crew did not have any security conflicts during filming, to determine that there will not be any major problems, Lin Ming Yang this is really assured to return to the United States.

After returning home, he learned that his good friend Reed was also lucky enough to receive an acceptance letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Learning that his son had been admitted to one of America's top institutions, the old Reed was so excited that he almost decided to sell his gas station and move his entire family to Boston. Luckily, Reed was able to talk his father out of this crazy idea.

"I don't want to go to Boston and spend my days polishing cars and pumping gas for other people. I have much more ambitious dreams that I need to fulfill." Reed was telling this as a joke to Lin Ming Yang, and by this time they were all in the floor's restroom changing into their bachelor's uniforms and preparing for the graduation ceremony that was to follow.

Lin Ming Yang had never understood before why American high school students had to wear bachelor's uniforms even when they graduated, and then Reed told him that it was because after high school some of them wouldn't be going to college, only to a skills school or something else, and if they didn't wear them now then they wouldn't have the chance to wear them later. Lin Ming Yang reluctantly accepted this explanation, no wonder America didn't object to students falling in love since middle school, they actually accomplished a lot of college things in high school.

Regardless of what Lin Ming Yang thought, the rest of the people around him valued this graduation ceremony, all the parents who came to this ceremony entered in formal attire. This was something that made Lin Ming Yang very emotional, probably because of the fact that there was a soul inside him that was Chinese in his previous life, he couldn't help but connect the reactions of these American parents in front of him with the reactions of those Chinese parents that he had watched so much of in his previous life.

Chinese parents seem to educate their children with only one result in mind. When they graduated from high school, a college acceptance letter seemed to be the standard by which they judged the results of their children's education. Every year when new students enroll in college, the campus is always the busiest, because almost every student sees his or her relatives around them. However, after the hustle and bustle, the parents' education seems to have served its purpose once they have shoved their children into the school. They care about their children's living conditions in school, whether they have enough money to spend, and what the quality of the food in the cafeteria is like, but many of them don't even think about what their children are actually learning in school. They don't even know if their children have failed a class or skipped a class. They seldom pay attention to the process of college education and only care about that degree and diploma at the end.

Compared with the crowds in front of him and the excited faces around him, Lin Mingyang realized that the graduation ceremony of any university in China looked a bit shabby compared to that of a high school, not in terms of the number of people, but in terms of the degree of attention and the enthusiasm of participation. This difference is especially evident in the parents, and reflects two very different educational philosophies.

Compared to the parents of the students sitting around them, how many of the Chinese parents who sent their children to school in the dust were able to sit in the audience and share this moment with their children when they graduated?

Just as he was lost in thought, a burst of enthusiastic applause suddenly interrupted Lin Mingyang's thoughts, seeing that the applause was about to end, Lin Mingyang was still sitting still, Ruide who was sitting next to him could only poke him quietly with his hand, "Felix, it's time for you to go up to give your speech!"

Only then did Lin Ming Yang react to the fact that everyone was applauding to welcome him to the stage. He somewhat hastily organized his attire, then under everyone's gaze, he jogged all the way up to the front stage.

Principal Matthew gave up the lectern, and at the end he didn't forget to display his humor, "Felix, you can get busy and go, there won't be any more people urging you to be on time for class in the future!"

The latter part of this sentence was more like a speech to all the graduating students on stage. There was another round of applause from the stage, but this time it was for their lovely principal, Mr. Matthew.

"Actually, I can write a script ahead of time and then read from it once I'm on stage, as an actor, I do this a lot." Lin Ming Yang's opening remarks drew a burst of laughter from the stage, and only when the following quieted down did he then continue, "But today I'm not going to do that, so the content of my speech might be a bit disappointing to our beloved principal Mr. Matthew, because I don't want to talk about life and ideals with you all here, let alone talk about the American dream, because all that's just bullsh*t! "

Cheers and applause rang out at the same time, and although another parent frowned, all the students here, felt that Lin Ming Yang's start like this was too powerful. So the hilarity on the stage went on and on, and finally the principal, Matthew, pointed his wrist towards Lin Ming Yang under his own seat, telling him to pay attention to the time, and only then did Lin Ming Yang press his hand towards the stage.

"In front of our dear parents and esteemed teachers, in this solemn occasion, my next speech may be a bit out of place. I'm only saying this so that everyone can be mentally prepared. But I will never talk about any topic that has nothing to do with high school, like college acceptance letters, that doesn't belong in our high school life. On that note, classmate Bartleby is sitting down here today, and the only thing I want to tell you is that your story has been made into a movie by me, and it might be released soon. I can't guarantee that you'll like 'Bartleby' in the movie, but it's a gift from me to you."

Applause rang out, and Bartleby, who was sitting on the stage, nodded excitedly towards Lin Mingyang.

"Has it ever occurred to anyone that you'll never see her again, that she'll be gone as soon as she graduates, and that the next time you'll see her will be at the earliest at the reunion ten years from now, if you're both still alive at that time!"

There was another roar of laughter from the stage, everyone didn't mind Lin Ming Yang's well-intentioned joke.

"By that time, she must be pregnant, raising someone else's flesh and blood in her belly, she must be grinning like a cow, she won't even remember you, even though you sat in the same classroom as her every class, she never noticed you. If you don't say anything, she'll never know, and you'll surely regret it, maybe not today, or if it's not tomorrow, but surely not long from now, and you'll spend the rest of your life in regret."

The stage was silent and quiet, no one clapped this time, and one unresponsive guy was about to raise his hand when the people around him gave him a stern look and had to put it down in a sarcastic manner.

"Today we look to the future and look forward to getting out of here, but today I'd like to look back just as much, at the four years we've had at Moss High. Though I may have stayed at this school for a shorter period of time than anyone here, it has ultimately left me with some of the fondest memories of my youth. I can look back on the past without a single regret, without regretting the things we wanted to do but didn't do, or the things we wanted to say but didn't say. Today I stand here just to tell you all, in these four years, is there a thing you wanted to do but didn't do, a word you wanted to say but didn't say, and after today, you'll never have the chance to do it!"

Many people were looking down and thinking about Lin Ming Yang's words, because everyone definitely had regrets about their high school.

"If you've ever had a crush on a certain girl but never confessed, if you've ever had a crush on a certain boy but have always been too shy to speak up, then just for today, let's just say the words we've been holding in our hearts, boldly say I love you to him/her, and don't leave any regrets in your youth! After the graduation ceremony is over, let's all do what we should do!"

The rising and falling whistles, warm cheers and thunderous applause almost toppled the entire auditorium as Lin Mingyang's speech received a warm response from the students. The parents of the students on the sidelines were hard pressed to determine whether they liked this speech of Lin Mingyang's, but they sent their own applause anyway.

It wasn't the speech that Matthew wanted to see the most, but at least it was the least bad outcome, and as Lin Mingyang was about to get off the stage, Matthew called out to him.

Returning to the lectern Matthew pressed his hand down towards the stage, but he realized that he didn't seem to work as well with this trick as he did with Lin Ming Yang, in the end he could only knock on the table forcefully, only then did the excited students on the stage quiet down.

"Ladies and gentlemen ... you must be wondering why I'm not addressed as girls and boys, because from today onwards, you should consciously realize that you are no longer children. Our United States of America pleads with her children to become youths sooner rather than later, and for the sake of our America, I personally plead with you!"

After saying this he bowed deeply toward the stage and all the students and parents stood up and applauded vigorously.

Only when the applause died down did Matthew continue, "I know that after listening to Felix's speech, all of you must be eager to do those things that you once wanted to do but didn't, to say those things that you once wanted to say but didn't, but before we do that, I would like to emphasize one thing, no vandalism of public property in the school, no physical assaults on our teachers, no Physical assault, any of which could send you to jail instead of college."

The applause from the stage was sparse, and some people covered their mouths and giggled, but Matthew didn't care, as he was sure that he was going to make an announcement that would make some of the students go crazy: "Just now Felix encouraged all of you to boldly confess to your sweethearts, and while you haven't formally left this school, and while I, the principal, is still the principal in your hearts, I'm give all the girls present a chance. Female students who have had a crush on Felix and still like him now, please be brave and raise your hands!"

Despite that encouragement from Lin Ming Yang just now, many of the girls were hesitant as they were still sitting with their parents, and only a small number of them raised their hands without hesitation.

"The situation seems to be somewhat different from what I expected, it seems that Felix isn't as popular as I thought he would be, so is it really only so many? If I tell that your reward will be a warm hug from Felix with a chance to confess your love attached, does anyone else want to hesitate?"

Matthew's words were like magic attached to them, stirring up a furor among all the girls, who no longer cared about what their parents beside them would think, and raised their hands without hesitation.

More than a hundred girls, raised their right hands in unison, what a spectacular sight. Matthew glanced at Lin Mingyang beside him, a gloating smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. This kid wasn't one to love the limelight, this time he finally let him fall into his own hands.

"Oh my god!" Catherine, who was sitting under the stage, covered her face in pain, she didn't think that her son would be able to date more than two hundred girls from the whole school at the same time.

"This can at least show that everyone likes him!" Lin Qinghai half-wrapped his arm around his wife and patted her on the shoulder, he looked at his son who stood on the stage with an embarrassed expression on his face and couldn't help but exclaim, "What a jealous boy!"

And on the stage, Lin Ming Yang looked helplessly at his principal, although he hated to beat this stinky old man up in his heart, he had to show a very forced smile on the surface, "Are you sure you're not joking with me?"

"Look, they're already lining up, I'm announcing now that it was just a joke, do you think they'll agree?" Matthew looked at Lin Ming Yang with a smirk, "The words were your own, everyone should not have any regrets on this day, and I'm just going along with the public opinion and giving these girls a chance to make up for their regrets!"

"But so many parents are watching from the stage, isn't it a bit out of character for you to act like this? Affecting the school's reputation not to mention, the school managers can all be sitting under the stage, are you not worried at all?"

Lin Ming Yang even used coercion, but Matthew remained unmoved, "Anyway, I can put everything on you in one fell swoop, and as you've just seen, you're even more influential than I am in this group of students. They're not just your fans, they're also your classmates that you've been living with for four years, could it be that you can't bear to let them down?"

Without waiting for Lin Ming Yang to reply, Matthew clapped his hands, "Ladies, you may begin!"

...

At first, it was just a hug, but after a bold girl left her lipstick on Lin Mingyang's face, the so-called hug was upgraded to a kiss and a hug, Lin Mingyang's parents couldn't bear to see their son being hugged and kissed by more than a hundred girls, so they left the stage with a mention of it! The first time I saw this, I was in the middle of a conversation with my son.

Ruide stayed until the end, looking at Lin Mingyang's face full of lipstick, he took out a tissue with some sympathy.

"From today onwards, you have one more capital to be proud of than others. Look, you once hugged eighty percent of the girls in the entire grade, and you know exactly what their circumference ratio is!"

"Then try you instead?" Lin Mingyang took the paper towel from his hand without any good manners, at this time, a group of reporters suddenly poured into the auditorium entrance, not waiting for Lin Mingyang to make any reaction, their cameras had already frantically pressed the shutter.

The next day, the headlines of all the entertainment news in the whole of Hollywood, all of them used the photo of Lin Ming Yang's face full of lipstick. The commentary accompanying the New York Times read, "Felix, who crossed the threshold of adulthood, ended his high school years in this most special way!"