27 A Fatal Blow (1/2)

”Ruoran is right. Money is the root of all evil!”

”'Wan' doesn't mean 'all.' If you don't understand, then refer to the Cihai Dictionary.”

”Xiao Luo, let's see how you refute this time.”

The female students who had a good relationship with Huang Ruoran jeered at Xiao Luo to express their hostility against him even as they applauded enthusiastically in support of Huang Ruoran.

Huang Ruoran looked at Xiao Luo quietly with eyes full of hostility.

Xiao Luo looked at her and chuckled, ”No matter how you cut it, one apple can only be one apple after all. It may seem that Huang Ruoran has listed many ”evils,” but in fact, there is only one, and that is the greed for money. Is the desire for money the only type of evil? The answer is no.

If you say 'wan' doesn't mean 'all' or 'everything,' then I would like to ask, if I say that you 'must not (wan wan bu ke) agree with my position' today? Does that mean that you disagree most of the time, but occasionally, you may agree? The answer is of course not, so the word 'wan' here means 'all.' ”

”F*ck me!”

Zhu Xiaofei couldn't help but spit out a swear word. The reason is that Xiao Luo's rebuttal was too convincing, even if someone wanted to be convinced by Huang Ruoran's assertion, it was impossible now. If Huang Ruoran's previous statement was compared to a violent storm, Xiao Luo's counterattack was like a rough and angry sea. The whole world was in a state of turmoil under these two waves of language power.

Everyone's ears perked up. They saw that it was not only Huang Ruoran who had a strong command of English and was highly eloquent but also Xiao Luo. The control the two of them had over spoken language was freaky.

Xiao Luo still kept a slight smile on his face. He continued, ”Money cannot comprehensively cover all the evil in the world. According to anthropological research, the forms of evil fall into four categories. Three of them are wholly unrelated to money. Only one of them is greed.

I will not talk about greed for money now. I'll talk about the evil of extremist beliefs. In 1995, some cult members released sarin nerve gas at a Tokyo subway station, killing twelve people. More than 5,000 people were admitted to hospitals for treatment. Also, during the Crusades, it wasn't only adults who were harmed. Many innocent and unarmed women and children were burned alive even as they hid in churches.

These cases account for most of the deaths and injuries. Shouldn't this be included in the so-called 'all evil?'[ And if so, what does it have to do with money?

Wu Sangui let the Qing soldiers enter the pass. He did it for Chen Yuanyuan, not money. Some time ago, the news reported about an obsessed man who killed his girlfriend and dismembered her body into thirteen sections because she found a new love. Is the cause of this evil deed hatred in his heart or the loathing that already exists in him? Or perhaps it's because his girlfriend didn't give him a breakup fee?

Various examples show that money isn't the cause of all evil, so I don't think that money is the root of all evil. At least, it can't even compare to many other types of evil at all! ”

The class gasped as they listened. This technique behind this rebuttal was compelling. It was a direct strike against Huang Ruoran's point of view.

Tutor Zhong Meili's eyes welled up with surprise. Her class had not been so lively in many years. Not only did the newly arrived Xiao Luo push her students to an unprecedented peak, but he also made her, as a tutor, excited. She never thought that a topic she had thrown out could actually trigger such a fierce verbal showdown.

At this time, Huang Ruoran spoke up. She met Xiao Luo's question head-on. ”The first question you said is primarily a problem of evil cults. Asahara Shoko solely planned the poison-gas incident at the Tokyo subway station. He was the founder of Aum Shinrikyo. He sold one strand of his hair to his worshippers for 30,000 yen and a cup of bath water for 50,000 yen. He might not have said it, but whatever was going through his mind, wasn't it ultimately about money?