Chapter 539: Graduation Ceremony

Chapter 539 Graduation Ceremony

After the competition, at the post-match press conference, thirteen of the sixteen event champions attended, with two unable to make it due to flight issues.

As expected, most of the questioning time at the press conference was reserved for Meng Fan. Facing a variety of questions, including some tricky ones, he handled them with ease, mainly because he was genuinely confident and unafraid of misspeaking, let alone being laughed at for it.

The reporters' questions primarily focused on how Meng Fan trained and how he managed to elevate his performance to such heights, as well as what his training results were like before and whether he already knew he would break records. They also brought up matters related to UFC, asking him to discuss that match.

"As for how I train, I won't go into that. If you're really interested, you can interview my coach."

"During my training, of course, I've thrown record-breaking results. In general, my final performances in both events today were a normal reflection of my training outcomes. I know you're going to ask more, so I'll answer it all at once. I've thrown better results in training than my current bests, but whether those results can translate to the competition floor will only be known in future matches. Saying anything now is useless. Even if you don't think I'm boasting... talking big, I have to be cautious, right?"

"..."

"I'm not particularly fond of answering questions unrelated to this competition, but since you've asked, I've also talked about combat sports before. Whether it's UFC or other fighting competitions, if you're serious about having me fight, don't rack your brains over convoluted methods. Just offer me no less than the appearance fee from my last UFC match, and as long as my schedule allows and the event is reasonable and legal, I'll definitely go."

"Don't overthink it. There's no other reason—it's purely for the money. While I'm still young and can earn this kind of money, I'll make as much as I can."

Hearing Meng Fan's words, the national team's coaches and leaders wore complex expressions, while the reporters, like sharks sensing blood, scribbled furiously. What a great news angle this was! As for why Meng Fan wanted to earn more money, every reporter present knew, but that wasn't important. What mattered was that Meng Fan wanted to make more money... Well, would writing it like that have any impact? It should be written as—

Before the press conference even ended, reports related to "Meng Fan's Shortage of Money" began appearing online. These weren't false reports; they faithfully transcribed Meng Fan's interview responses, but the headlines easily skewed the content.

As soon as the news broke, it immediately trended. On Weibo, for instance, the hot topic list was filled with items related to Meng Fan.

#MengFanShotPutNewWorldRecord#

#MengFanJavelinNewWorldRecord#

#DiamondLeagueMengFanDoubleChampion#

#SweepingThrowingEvents#

#MengFanShortOfMoney#

#MengFanSaysEarnMoreWhileYoung#

The hot topic area about Meng Fan wanting to earn more money was the liveliest. A small group of Meng Fan's haters sprang into action, instantly slapping labels like "money-worshipping" on him.

"As a national idol, how can Meng Fan make such remarks! This kind of money-worshipping, profit-driven mindset will have a severely negative impact on the youth!"

"Oh my god, Meng Fan is short of money! He's already made a fortune from comics, films, albums, and endorsements! Human desire is truly a bottomless pit! How much more does he want to earn?"

"Don't you know he's making money from that animation industrial park? How much capital is being thrown at him? It's all because they're betting on him being the Olympic five-gold champion, right? He's riding on the national resource platform, reaping benefits, and still not satisfied!"

"..."

Well, this was indeed a tiny group of haters. Even if their numbers multiplied ten or a hundred times, such brainless remarks and trends wouldn't have any effect.

First, Meng Fan had a massive base of loyal fans. Second, passersby weren't blind. No matter how little they followed Meng Fan, they'd been bombarded by various information and knew something about him. They might not know how much money he made, but they knew how much he donated and where some of his money went.

Was Meng Fan short of money? Not really, but also very much so.

Mainly, it was because Meng Fan's ventures had grown too large—specifically, those ventures that only lost money and never turned a profit. Not to mention the recent foundation related to combat sports; just the earlier animation-related foundations and charitable actions benefiting the entire animation industry were enough to drain Meng Fan's funds.

For this reason, Meng Fan knew he couldn't do it alone. Just like with combat sports, he brought many others in. He didn't recruit them for free—few would join without incentive. Based on benefiting the entire industry, Meng Fan gathered a group to discuss and structure a relatively healthy and reasonable platform. While expanding and cultivating a larger market, they also had to pre-allocate a slice of the pie for those brought in.

Few people would do business that only brings losses.

Meng Fan wasn't the type to impulsively decide on charity. He understood clearly that in non-disaster, non-crisis matters, pure public welfare or charity wouldn't last long and wasn't healthy. After leading the initial attention, he had to introduce and expand marketization and commercialization. Only then could he provide the best, healthiest, most orderly, and most sustainable help to the industry.

Going back, those who followed Meng Fan knew where his money went and understood why he said he wanted to earn more.

Moreover, to put it bluntly, what was wrong with someone saying they wanted to earn more money, especially when the money was earned legitimately, reasonably, and legally?

This minor episode, barely an interlude, quickly passed. But the brilliant moments and miracles Meng Fan created in this competition would forever be etched in the history of human sports.

...

Before long, it was the end of May. Major universities ushered in a bittersweet and hurried graduation season.

The China Academy of Art was no exception. Like other schools, graduating students were busy job-hunting, preparing for graduate exams, or racking their brains over how to break up gracefully—or how not to break up at all. Unlike other schools, the graduation season here featured many graduation exhibitions.

Meng Fan had originally planned to hold a graduation exhibition but later gave up. Not because he was too busy to prepare—no matter how busy, he could squeeze out time for an exhibition—but simply because he couldn't be bothered and didn't see the need. Besides, he wanted to spend more time helping Wu Tong with her exhibition.

Wu Tong's graduation exhibition had long been ready. All Meng Fan could do was move things around—tedious and trivial work—but he enjoyed it endlessly. Wu Tong once urged him to go rest or do his own thing, but seeing that he wouldn't listen, she stopped persuading him. As long as he was happy.

Winning championships and such major events brought a sense of achievement, but small tasks like moving paintings and rearranging stands also brought happiness. If one only chases the big things, life may seem passionate but ultimately becomes tedious. Finding meaning and joy in the small things is where the real charm lies.

After Wu Tong's graduation exhibition went smoothly, Meng Fan soon participated in the fourth leg of the Diamond League, the second stop for javelin and shot put. He once again broke both world records, accumulating 16 points in each event.

During this period, Meng Fan didn't receive any invitations from major combat sports events—after all, a $100 million appearance fee wasn't something every event could afford, and even if they could leverage it for good results, it would take time to prepare. He did, however, land two endorsement deals with sky-high fees: one billion RMB per year for each, one signed for two years and the other for three.

After returning to China from the competition, Meng Fan mostly stayed in Hangzhou. There was a lot to do there—the animation park, the film company, and training for weightlifting, wrestling, judo, shooting, and javelin. Yet, despite being so busy, he still found time to go on dates, shop, and watch movies with Wu Tong. The only downside was the strict diet during the competition cycle. Of course, the grand harmony of life was never missing.

Then, in the blink of an eye, graduation day arrived. The sense of parting among Meng Fan's animation class was much lighter than in previous years. Mainly because most of those who wanted to continue in the comic industry after graduation had decided to stay in Hangzhou, with many joining the animation sector of the Xizi Lake Cultural and Creative Park. This place had now gathered the largest number of animation companies in the country and was in dire need of talent. In other words, everyone could see each other whenever they wanted—maybe even get tired of it.

Of course, the fate of love after graduation wasn't something that could be decided just by working in the same city. After graduation, many practical issues arose, and some people would choose to embrace a marriage with better material conditions.

At the graduation ceremony, both Meng Fan and Wu Tong were representatives of outstanding graduates and had to give speeches. Meng Fan's turn came right after Wu Tong's. She came down, and he went up.

"Thank you for the wonderful speech from the previous classmate!"

Meng Fan's opening line drew laughter from the entire audience, and everyone generously responded with thunderous applause.

"Hello everyone, I'm Meng Fan from the Animation Department."

"First, let me share some good news about myself. You may have heard it before—I've officially been appointed by the academy and will start teaching in the Animation Department next semester. I'm very grateful for the trust from the academy and department leadership. I'll do my best in teaching and strive not to mislead students."

"Next, I'd like to take this graduation ceremony as an opportunity to share with you how I've spent these past few years. Of course, many things are already known to you—perhaps even better than I know them myself. I mainly want to share a few small stories that few people know about, or maybe only a handful. These stories are very important to me personally, and I hope they can offer you some food for thought."

(This chapter ends)