Senior Sister, Shut Up!

The author said if you aren’t interested in the debate, you can skip the next few chapters. He himself is a big fan, which is why he wrote about it.

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Lu Yu, the judge from the Department of Finance, looked at the debate topic and then at the teams on both sides. He turned to Zhao Lu with a smile. “The situation seems pretty clear, doesn’t it? It’s just a matter of how long the affirmative team can hold out.”

“That’s hard to say.”

Before Zhao Lu could respond, Lin Jingwen smiled and said, “I’m rooting for the affirmative team~”

“Are you rooting for the handsome guy?” They were all members of the school’s debate team, so the three were quite familiar with each other. Lu Yu could easily tell what Lin Jingwen was thinking at a glance. “What if the handsome guy loses?”

“If he loses, I can go comfort him,” Lin Jingwen said mischievously, winking.

“Then you’ll be disappointed.” Zhao Lu lazily leaned back in his chair and yawned. “He’s already taken. Stop thinking about it.”

“Ah~” Lin Jingwen sighed in disappointment. “Sure enough, it’s not the turn of senior sisters to get top-quality young hunks, huh?”

“Isn’t she his team leader?” Lin Jingwen had a strange expression before immediately feeling vexed and envious. “You guys have it too good. The Department of Foreign Languages is like a nunnery…”

“You need to broaden your horizons.” Lu Yu pointed at himself. “Isn’t there a ready-made one here?”

“Sorry, I like handsome.” Lin Jingwen grinned at him, showing her teeth. “If you were at Zhao Lu’s level, I guarantee I’d give instead of take.”

“Ahem…” Zhao Lu coughed. “My wife is sitting right there. Don’t talk nonsense.”

Lu Yu and Lin Jingwen looked at each other and rolled their eyes at Zhao Lu.

They had been invited by Zhao Lu to be judges, but before the match even started, they were already stuffed with dog food.

“Brother Zhao, when this is over, don’t forget to settle my work-related injuries.” Lu Yu sighed faintly.

“Yeah, and throw in some compensation for my broken heart,” Lin Jingwen added teasingly.

“You two should just get together already.” Zhao Lu yawned again. Then he looked at Qi Lianyue, who was sitting in the team leader position on the right. All he wanted was to end the match as soon as possible so he could go for a walk with his girlfriend.

At this moment, the moderator finished explaining the rules of the debate and announced the official start of the match. “Please welcome the first speaker from the affirmative side to begin their arguments. You have three minutes.”

Before the moderator finished speaking, Ding Ning had already stood up with the first speaker’s script in her hand. Her gentle yet firm voice clearly reached the audience’s ears.

The first speaker’s script was the foundation of the team’s arguments, and the most common format followed the structure of introduction, body, and conclusion.

First, the introduction would clarify important terms in the debate topic, define them, and then outline the team’s main arguments and objectives—what the team needed to prove.

After completing the introduction, the first speaker would move onto the body, which connected the three main arguments, set the battlefield, and established the direction of the team’s offense.

Finally, the conclusion would summarize the common themes of the arguments, emphasize the key points of the debate, and highlight any details that were easily overlooked, providing a final, comprehensive reinforcement.

In Jiang Miao’s opinion, the affirmative side was at a disadvantage from the start, and the three main arguments were actually not particularly important. The focus was on the right to define the terms at the beginning.

Especially when it came to the concept of ‘freely trading lifespan’, it was essential to explain the underlying mechanism clearly.

“The principle of this black technology is selling the time just before the seller’s death to the buyer. This time is added to the end of the buyer’s lifespan.

“For instance, if a young person sells a year of their life and their expected lifespan is eighty years, it is essentially selling the year they would have lived at age eighty to the buyer.

“If the buyer’s expected lifespan is also eighty years, after purchasing the year, the additional time will be added to the end of their original eighty years, extending it to eighty-one years.”

In order to clarify this definition, the affirmative side didn’t mind spending more time on it and even gave simple examples to make it easier to understand.

Even if it meant compressing their subsequent arguments, they wanted to make sure this definition was clear.

“Interesting.” Lu Yu nodded while making notes on a piece of paper. Then he asked, “Did she come up with this definition herself, or was it decided when you agreed on the debate topic?”

“It was decided beforehand. There’s no dispute about this.” Zhao Lu nodded. The paper in front of him was still clean. “Otherwise, the affirmative side wouldn’t have a chance.”

“That’s true.” Lin Jingwen nodded while also taking notes. “Otherwise, people might look at the topic and think that buying time means it can be used immediately. But actually, the bought time only takes effect once people’s own time runs out.”

“Therefore, our team’s task is to explain the benefits of this black technology and prove that its drawbacks are outweighed by its advantages, thereby supporting our position.”

After finishing the introduction, Ding Ning began outlining the affirmative side’s main arguments.

Since she had already spent over a minute on the introduction, the subsequent parts were simplified considerably.

In essence, selling time could provide young people who were unable to pursue their dreams due to financial constraints with the necessary starting capital, creating new possibilities.

And buying time could give terminally ill patients extra time to fulfill their unfinished wishes.

When balancing time and money, the value of each depended on a person’s stage in life.

At stages where time was less valuable and money was more valuable, exchanging time for higher-value money could help in personal development. Conversely, at stages when time became more valuable and money less so, exchanging money for higher-value time optimized the allocation of both resources.

This was the value of this black technology.

“The argument is a bit weak.” Lin Jingwen continued writing, shaking her head when Ding Ning finished outlining the arguments and moved to the conclusion. “I feel like it can break with a poke.”

“Well, it’s a topic that favors the opposition side. Let’s see how the rest plays out.” Lu Yu also shook his head, understanding the affirmative side’s arguments.

“Time is up.” After three minutes, the moderator stopped Ding Ning’s speech and said, “Next, let’s invite the fourth speaker from the opposition side to question the first speaker from the affirmative side. You have one and a half minutes.”

As soon as the moderator finished speaking, Wang Xin adjusted his glasses and stood up.

Seeing Wang Xin’s calm expression, Ding Ning immediately recalled his formidable and sharp performance last week and became nervous.

“Hello, my fellow debater. First question.” Wang Xin picked up a piece of paper on the table and asked calmly, “Do you think young people who easily acquire money from selling time are more likely to use it to develop themselves or to squander it?”

“According to our definition, because the time traded is only from the period right before death, the price of time will gradually settle into a reasonable range. The money earned from selling time isn’t enough for—”

Ding Ning tried her best to defend the argument, but Wang Xin had raised his hand.

During the questioning, if the responding party spoke for more than five seconds, the questioning party had the right to directly interrupt to prevent time from being wasted maliciously.

“Easily acquired money is clearly more likely to be used for immediate gratification,” Wang Xin summarized briefly before asking the next question. “Now, may I ask, if rich and poor people come to the market to buy time, who is more likely to get it?”

“Our stance remains the same. The price of time won’t be expensive, and within normal market rules, there will definitely be a reasonable price range, so—”

“Thank you. Clearly, the rich have an advantage in purchasing power. As for the price issue you mentioned, please provide logical reasoning in your later argument.” Wang Xin skillfully cut off the response and continued with the next question. “Third question, can organs and blood be sold?”

“Sorry, I believe organs and blood cannot be compared to the time humans have and therefore cannot be likened in the same way.” Ding Ning struggled to maintain her composure, her expression visibly strained.

In the audience, Chen Haoshang observed Ding Ning, who was struggling under the pressure, then glanced at Wang Xin across from her and fell into deep thought.

Wang Xin looked at the time. Only about ten seconds left. He decisively nodded at Ding Ning and returned to his seat. “Thank you. My questioning is complete.”

“Amazing. Is the opposition side’s fourth speaker so fierce?” Lin Jingwen suddenly became interested in this fair-skinned and elegant junior brother. “It looks like the affirmative side’s arguments are going to be dismantled.”

“There’s no chance of winning.” Lu Yu shook his head. “If the opposition side weren’t so powerful, there might be a chance for a comeback. But from the fourth speaker’s questioning, I don’t think there’s a chance.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Let’s continue watching. It’s just getting started.” Zhao Lu rested his chin in hand, his paper still completely blank, with no notes taken.

The moderator said: “Next, let’s invite the first speaker from the opposition side to present their arguments. You have three minutes.”

Song Huanhuan stood up in response. Seeing the timer on the screen behind the moderator start ticking, she immediately began the opposition side’s arguments.

The opposition side didn’t compete for the right to define the ‘time trading mechanism’. After all, it was a preset condition of the topic.

Therefore, after briefly outlining her team’s stance and task, she began laying out the opposition side’s arguments.

In summary, there were three arguments.

First, humans were short-sighted, especially young people. Once they became addicted to selling their time, it could easily lead to their downfall.

Second, once the trading market opened, middlemen would inevitably emerge. They would go to impoverished areas to acquire cheap time and then sell it at high prices out of ICU hospital wards.

Third, markets needed boundaries. Some things should not be freely traded, and time, as something inherently linked to human life, was just as untouchable as human organs and blood.

While Song Huanhuan was presenting her arguments, Jiang Miao kept taking notes. Sometimes, he furrowed his brows, sighed, or shook his head, looking rather troubled.

Although Senior Sister had motivated him before the debate, to be honest, the opposition side didn’t have any obvious flaws to attack.

So when the moderator announced, “Let’s invite the fourth speaker from the affirmative side to begin questioning,” Jiang Miao froze for a few seconds.

However, he quickly returned to his senses, stood up calmly, took a deep breath, and became serious.

“Hello, fellow debater.” Jiang Miao didn’t forget the basic debate etiquette and then asked, “May I ask, since playing video games can lead to addiction, should video games be allowed in the free market?”

The first question left Song Huanhuan stumped, but she quickly regained her composure and replied, “Video games and trading time are different. At least drugs cannot enter the free market.”

“The reason drugs are prohibited is that they directly target the physiological addiction mechanisms,” Jiang Miao countered calmly. “Selling time, however, does not involve a physiological addiction mechanism, so your first argument is too extreme.

“Second question.” He didn’t give her time to respond and continued, “With this technology, can everyone sell their time?”

“Yes.” There was no doubt about this. Song Huanhuan could only nod.

“Under these circumstances, there will be an abundance of sellers.” Jiang Miao pressed, “May I ask where those supposed middlemen will come from?”

She lost her words at his question.

At this point, he had already achieved the goal of his question, so he didn’t give her a chance to speak and continued asking, “Fourth question. Is working equivalent to selling one’s time?”

Upon hearing this, Song Huanhuan immediately perked up.

She had prepared for this one!

“The nature of work is different,” Song Huanhuan responded earnestly. “When we work, we exchange our time along with the skills, abilities, emotional intelligence, and intelligence we possess in return for money.”

“So you’re adding time.” Jiang Miao continued, “If you take away skills, abilities, emotional intelligence, and intelligence, can time alone no longer be sold?”

“In that case, the experience and wisdom you gained during that time would be lost.”

Jiang Miao shook his head. “But as we stated at the beginning, what we’re selling is the time counted backwards from the moment before death. When someone is lying on a hospital bed waiting to die, what meaning does the experience and wisdom they’ve gained hold for them?”

“No, that’s not right.” Song Huanhuan returned to her senses and immediately steered the debate back to the opposition side’s argument. “Just like how organs and blood can’t be traded, time can be given, but it can’t enter the free market.”

“I look forward to your team’s further argument on the consistency between time and things like organs and blood. Otherwise, that analogy won’t hold up.” Jiang Miao shook his head. “Otherwise, we could just as easily point to many items that can be sold, such as hair.”

“Time’s up,” the moderator said after one and a half minutes, bringing an end to the questioning.

In the audience, Su Huaizhou flashed a gratified smile and threw a triumphant look at Qi Lianyue, who sat across the aisle.

However, Qi Lianyue ignored her and quietly recorded the situation of the debate on her paper.

“Not bad, as expected of a man I fancy.” Lin Jingwen’s eyes sparkled as she recorded Jiang Miao’s arguments. “He’s found flaws in all three of the opposition side’s arguments. While he didn’t completely break them down, it’s already quite impressive for a single round of questioning.”

“Not bad.” Lu Yu nodded in agreement. “After all, the topic itself puts the affirmative side at a disadvantage, and questioning is much easier for the opposition. But he still quickly found angles to challenge them. Although there are still some gaps, for the affirmative side, it’s already quite good.”

“I bet he put in a lot of effort preparing for the match, huh?”

“He probably predicted the opposition team’s arguments and prepared his questions well. Very well done.”

Hearing this praise, Zhao Lu, who had been somewhat distracted, straightened his lazy expression a bit and looked at Jiang Miao.

Although he didn’t manage the department’s team much, he had seen the finals list.

Originally, the affirmative side’s fourth speaker should have been a girl named Pei Jue, but now it was Jiang Miao. Moreover, Zhao Lu remembered it was his first time going on stage.

He didn’t know if it was a last-minute substitution, but judging by his performance, his preparation probably wasn’t as thorough as Lu Yu had thought.

It seemed that his ability to think on his feet played a bigger role…

Thinking of this, Zhao Lu picked up his pen and jotted down a note on his blank sheet of paper.

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Read advanced chapters (25+) @ /c/CharmaineTL