"This doesn't mean we can't rely on others. Rather, it means that when we rely on external things or others, we can't forget to be independent. We ourselves are our greatest support. Other people may suddenly stop relying on us one day, but we will never give up on ourselves, right?"

The audience responded resoundingly: "Yes!"

Xue Huan smiled. "How can one become one's own supporter? Does anyone know?"

"To have a lot of money!"

"I want to become a high-ranking official!"

"Become a martial arts master!"

…

"Haha, that's right. What you're talking about is a way to achieve it. Once we have a lot of money, we can buy whatever we want, eat whatever we want, live in a big house, and hire people to protect us and accompany us on trips..."

"When we become high-ranking officials, we won't be bullied, we'll be able to work for the people, be respected and loved by them, and bring honor to our family, so that our descendants will benefit from it...

"Once we become martial arts masters, we will be very powerful, able to climb walls and fly over rooftops, fight for justice, and dominate the world..."

"But have you ever thought about how to achieve these goals? You've just started school, so you can take your time to think about it. There's no need to rush to answer me right now."

"The second thing I want to tell you is that each of you is a treasure. Do you often wonder why my parents abandoned me? Why am I an orphan? Why do others have families, but I don't?"

Every time Xue Huan asked a question, the eyes of the children in the audience widened a little, because the questions she raised were indeed the questions they often asked themselves in their hearts.

She got it all right!

Even if some children have pretended not to care about the fact that they are orphans, sometimes they still can't help but wonder, why?

"Let's talk about the first question first. Why did your parents abandon you? First of all, I want to tell you that you were abandoned not because of any fault of your own, but because of the irresponsible parents who gave birth to you.

"You didn't have the chance to choose whether to come into this world. Since they gave birth to you, they should have taken responsibility, but they didn't. So, whose fault is this? Obviously, it's theirs."

Many children cried. No one had ever told them that being abandoned and becoming orphans was not their fault, but the fault of the people who abandoned them.

Feng Xian and others were quite shocked, and their world views were somewhat impacted.

Xue Huan continued, "Since you're not at fault, then, hold your heads high and stand tall. You owe no one anything, and you haven't done anything harmful. There's no need to feel sorry for anyone. Others may not love you, but you must learn to love yourself, because each of you is a unique treasure."

"The last thing I want to tell you is that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. Let me tell you a little story. A chef took in two apprentices. He didn't teach them anything except to practice shredding radishes.

"The older disciple practiced every morning and evening, constantly practicing. The younger disciple also practiced very seriously at first, but he felt that he had already learned how to cut radish into strips, and the master had no intention of checking their practice results, so he gradually became lazy.

"The eldest apprentice practiced diligently, and finally he could shred radishes quickly and skillfully, as thin as a hair, even with his eyes closed. One day, a wealthy businessman was hosting a banquet and invited the chef to his home to preside over the cooking. The chef needed an apprentice to help him, but who should he bring?"

Everyone: "Bring up the apprentice!"

Xue Huan smiled. "That's right. The chef ultimately chose the eldest apprentice. I'm sure you all know the reason. The eldest apprentice diligently completed the tasks assigned by the master, striving for perfection. Even for seemingly simple tasks like shredding radishes, he never slacked off. He always worked hard to become a chef. When the opportunity arose, he was naturally chosen."

"Some of you said you wanted to make a lot of money, become high-ranking officials, or become martial arts masters. Then you must start preparing now, not wait until tomorrow or in the future. Because every day before you achieve your goals, opportunities will come at any time. You can't wait until the opportunity comes to prepare, otherwise it will be too late.

“Take studying for the imperial examinations, for example. Those who made it to the top didn’t start studying just before the exam. Instead, they studied for more than ten or even decades, working hard day after day, accumulating enough knowledge to achieve their success.

"Only by being adequately prepared can we seize the opportunity when it comes." Xue Huan ended the speech with this sentence.

Thunderous applause came towards her.

Xue Huan bowed again and walked off the stage.

Cao Hu gave her a thumbs up and said, "Dean, what you said is really good."

Others also looked at her with admiration.

Xue Huan responded with a modest smile, but felt a little ashamed in her heart. In order to make this pot of chicken soup, she racked her brains for a long time last night. Finally, she went through the speech perfectly and did not bring shame to the title of "Dean" on her head.

On the stage, Nan Tang summarized Xue Huan's speech, "...Next, please invite Dean Zhou Aozhou to the stage to speak."

Zhou Ao walked onto the stage with a serious expression on his face. He looked like a very strict teacher, which could easily make students nervous.

Zhou Ao flipped open the school discipline handbook in his hand and got straight to the point without a word of nonsense: "I just gave each of you a booklet. This booklet contains the school rules and regulations that you will abide by in the future. It doesn't matter if you don't know them. I will read them to you one by one. Remember them in your heart and don't make mistakes in the future. Otherwise, you will be punished at the very least, and expelled from the academy at the worst."

When they heard the word "expulsion", the students were startled and sat up straight unconsciously.

Zhang Mo, a young man sitting in the corner, frowned, wondering if the true face of this academy was finally being revealed. Were all the good things they had shown before just a facade to deceive them?

The so-called school rules and regulations may just be an excuse to enslave and exploit them in the future.

However, when Zhou Ao really read it out, his frown couldn't help but relax. He found that he seemed to be wrong, because those school rules sounded very normal and were all for the students.

"No lateness, early departure, or skipping classes..."

"You are not allowed to insult or bully your classmates, and you are not allowed to fight..."

"You can't run over the wall, you can't do anything dangerous..."

Zhou Ao read them one by one, and even elaborated on some of them.

Halfway through the lecture, the bell rang.

Zhou Ao paused, wanting to keep the class going to finish the rest of his speech. Xue Huan coughed twice as a reminder.