275: Chapter 275 The First Meeting of the Comparison Club
After successfully recruiting the first batch of 50 members, Lei Zhen didn't just sit idle.
He found Principal Liu Hua to apply for an independent club activity room and also requested the use of the school's lecture hall.
Principal Liu was miserable about this.
With the club established, the next step was the first club activity to highlight the authenticity of running the club.
The next evening, the school's multimedia lecture hall.
The usually deserted classroom was packed tonight.
All fifty founding members were seated, each holding their free, authentic LV bag, with complex expressions and mixed feelings.
Although everyone had truly received the benefits and earned a designer bag worth over ten thousand, at the bottom of everyone's hearts, the two words "Comparison" still carried an inherently negative meaning.
In traditional understanding:
Comparison = vanity, restlessness, money-worship, love of vanity, overestimating one's capabilities.
Even though they had joined the club, many members still felt a hint of embarrassment and awkwardness.
Many people whispered.
"To be honest, the bag is great, but the club name is still so shameful."
"Exactly, joining the Comparison Club, will others think we are the type of people who are especially vain?"
"Can we really compare openly? It just feels weird."
"Do you think the president is plotting something bad? If he wants me to sell my body, I won't do it."
The whispers in the classroom rose and fell; everyone was waiting for Lei Zhen to give an answer.
What exactly is the Comparison Club going to do?
The lights came on.
Lei Zhen walked onto the podium alone, standing tall, calm, and composed.
He didn't take any notes, didn't use a PPT, and his gaze calmly swept over the fifty members below.
The whole venue went silent instantly.
Lei Zhen spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but extremely penetrating.
"I know that everyone here has the same question in their hearts right now."
"Why did I establish a Comparison Club? Why did I want to openly and honestly bring the 'comparison' that everyone hides in the deepest part of their hearts—the one they are most afraid to admit—out into the open?"
The eyes of everyone below focused instantly.
Lei Zhen continued to speak slowly, every word clear, striking directly at people's hearts.
"From childhood to adulthood, everyone has taught you one sentence: Do not compare."
"Parents teach you, teachers teach you, society teaches you."
"Everyone tells you that comparison is wrong, that it is vanity, that it is pathological, and that it is despised by others."
Everyone below nodded one after another; this was everyone's deeply ingrained cognition.
But the next second, Lei Zhen's tone changed, his voice sonorous and powerful, completely subverting everyone's worldview.
"But today, I want to tell you a cruel truth."
"This truth is—the biggest lie in the whole world is 'Do not compare'."
The whole venue was shocked!
Everyone's pupils shrank, stunned on the spot.
Lei Zhen's gaze was sharp as he continued:
"I ask you."
"Do you really not compare?"
"When you take exams, you secretly compare scores; isn't that comparison?"
"You secretly compare figures, outfits, and appearance; isn't that comparison?"
"You compare whose family background is better, whose life is easier, whose future is more promising; isn't that comparison?"
"Don't talk about you girls, even boys are the same. Sneakers worth a few dozen yuan can already meet personal needs, but why is everyone still partial to mid-to-high-end brands like Adidas and Nike?"
"The truth is that everyone is comparing."
"Everyone is comparing, all the time."
The venue was deathly silent.
Every word stabbed fiercely into everyone's hearts.
That's right.
Human nature is inherently comparative.
It's just that everyone's comparisons are all hidden in the dark.
Lei Zhen's voice became increasingly steady and powerful:
"This is the most pathetic part about ordinary people."
"Even though everyone is secretly comparing, everyone pretends to be aloof, pretends to be indifferent, and pretends to have no desires."
"Some are secretly jealous, secretly inferior, secretly envious, secretly anxious."
"Because others are better than them, richer than them, prettier than them, work harder than them, they emo late at night, engage in self-internal friction, and self-denial."
"Comparisons in the dark only bring inferiority, jealousy, distortion, and internal friction."
Everyone's spirits were shaken, listening intently.
Lei Zhen stood on the podium, his gaze sweeping across the audience, speaking with a resounding voice, declaring the true ultimate purpose of the Comparison Club:
"Therefore, there is only one meaning for the existence of the Comparison Club!"
"To drag everyone's dark, inferior, distorted, secretly hidden comparisons out into the sunlight!"
"We will no longer compare secretly; we will compare openly, honestly, and straightforwardly!"
At this moment, the air in the entire classroom seemed to be ignited.
Lei Zhen's speaking speed was not fast, but every sentence struck the heart, completely reshaping everyone's cognition.
"Open comparison is not vanity, it is benchmarking!"
"Open comparison is not jealousy, it is motivation!"
"Open comparison is not restlessness, it is moving upwards!"
"Compare openly, and then strive to become stronger!"
Lei Zhen pointed his finger, his tone incomparably firm:
"Comparison is the source of all human progress."
"Students compare grades, so academic performance improves."
"Adults compare abilities, so careers rise."
"Countries compare technology, so national strength grows."
"Without comparison, there is no competition."
"Without competition, there is no progress."
"The world is ignorant, defining the pathology of 'secret comparison, internal distortion' as comparison itself."
"And today I tell you—true comparison is the benchmarking of the strong, it is the ambition to move upwards!"
He looked at the fifty members below who were completely stunned and shocked, and slowly stated the ultimate creed of the Comparison Club.
"Starting from today."
"We will no longer be ordinary people who secretly engage in internal friction."
"We openly acknowledge our desires."
"We uprightly pursue beauty."
"Others are sloppy, we are refined!"
"Others are fat, we are slim!"
"Others are decadent, we strive to become stronger."
"No hiding, no pretending, no sourness, no internal friction."
"Face the gap, benchmark against the strong, surpass opponents!"
"This is—the righteous path of the Comparison Club!"
The whole classroom was silent.
After a full three seconds.
Everyone was like waking from a dream; the shackles, chains, and traditional outdated concepts in their hearts for many years were completely shattered!
So...
It wasn't that comparison was wrong.
It was that everyone's previous way of comparing was wrong!
Secret comparison breeds darkness.
Open comparison breeds the strong!
A female student felt numbness all over, and her eyes lit up instantly.
"So... comparison is actually positive?"
"The president has completely changed the worldview I've held for twenty years!"
"That's right! Secretly envying others and being secretly inferior every day is not as positive as comparing openly and striving to become better."
Everyone suddenly saw the light; all the shame, embarrassment, and prejudice in their hearts were swept away.
Replacing it was an unprecedented clarity, confidence, and passion.
Lei Zhen looked at the crowd who had been completely convinced, a faint curve appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"Remember."
"Secret comparison is the jealousy of a petty person."
"Open comparison is the ambition of the strong."
"From today on, you who have joined the Comparison Club."
"No longer fear comparison, no longer feel ashamed of comparison."
"Use comparison as a sword, use benchmarking as the path, move upwards all the way, and strive for self-improvement for life!"
"If you understand, applaud!!"
After half a second of silence at the scene, overwhelming applause instantly resonated throughout the venue.
Everyone shouted in unison.
"Comparison is not a sin, long live comparison!"
"Comparison is not a sin, long live comparison!"
"Comparison is not a sin, long live comparison!"
The first general meeting of the Comparison Club.
Became legendary.