Shadowing Practice: How I Bought a 1.5M House at 29 Years Old (It's Not What You Think) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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If you had looked at my life growing up,
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If you had looked at my life growing up,
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you would have never guessed that one day I'd be standing in a home like this,
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let alone owning it.
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The truth is, I shouldn't be here.
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Based on my childhood, my trauma,
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and the darkest moments of my life,
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the more logical ending would have been one of despair.
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If it weren't for God's intervention,
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I probably wouldn't even be alive to tell this story.
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I'd probably be dead.
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So, let's set the record straight.
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No, I did not buy a 1.5 million dollar house all on my own,
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and I'm not here to sell you a fantasy of overnight success.
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What I am here to do is show you that healing,
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redemption, and true abundance are possible,
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no matter where you're starting from.
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Chapter 1 God Saved Me and Restored My Hope I didn't grow up with wealth.
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In fact, I grew up in full survival mode,
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having been raised in a rural district in Vietnam.
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I lost my dad in middle school and fell into a deep depression in high school,
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and for a long time,
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I didn't see a way out.
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I didn't believe that my life could ever feel safe, stable, or abundant.
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But God wasn't done with me.
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You can watch my full testimony video later in my description,
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but my divine encounter with Jesus flipped my world upside down in the best way.
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I wrote more about this in my book, Forever Home.
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But basically, I learned that in order for someone to regain a sense of agency over their lives,
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they need to witness firsthand that real change is possible.
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The best way to witness this is for an attachment figure,
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such as a parent or mentor,
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to pull them out of survival mode to help them feel safe again.
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This was exactly what God did for me.
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When I was at my darkest moment and wanted nothing to do with him,
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he reached out to me in a divine encounter
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and immediately made me feel safe for the first time in a long time.
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My circumstances didn't change overnight,
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but this experience planted something in me.
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Hope.
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I finally believed that maybe my life didn't have to stay this way.
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That shift in perspective changed everything because before I could build a better life,
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I had to believe one was even possible.
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Chapter 2.
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I sought help for my mental health.
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Faith gave me hope, but healing required action.
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I knew that if I didn't deal with the trauma I had lived through,
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I'd always be stuck in survival mode,
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no matter how much money I made or how many church services I attended.
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So I got help.
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I found a Christian counselor that I trusted.
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I surrounded myself with people who spoke life into me,
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and I worked through the pain I had buried for years.
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And here's the thing, if you don't heal,
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you will recreate the same cycles of brokenness.
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There aren't many things that are black and white in life,
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but when it comes to trauma,
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you either break the cycle or you repeat it.
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There is no in-between.
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I learned that the start of a truly abundant life is having a sound mind.
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Building became the foundation that allowed me to build everything else.
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Chapter 3 I pursued an unconventional dream.
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Healing my mind allowed me to feel safe in my own skin,
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and therefore confident enough to pursue an unconventional dream.
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All of my life, I did what I was supposed to do.
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I graduated high school, went to a good college,
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got a stable 9-to-5 job, but it drained me.
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I always loved home styling,
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but I never thought I could make a career out of it.
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Then one day, I started sharing my home decor online, just for fun.
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I had no idea that what I was doing would one day replace my full-time income.
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And what a full-circle moment it was
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when I quit my corporate job to share parts of my cozy home for a living.
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God has a way of using what we love and the gifts that he's given us for a bigger purpose.
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To some people, success might look like climbing a corporate ladder.
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But sometimes, the life God has for you looks nothing like what you expected.
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It takes faith to pursue it anyway.
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Chapter 4.
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I partnered with my spouse.
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My husband and I met when we were still becoming who we were meant to be.
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He was chasing his dream job,
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I was figuring out mine,
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and we didn't have it all together.
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But we supported each other through that strenuous season.
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Eventually, we each achieved our career dreams,
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got married, and combined our income.
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Here's what I learned.
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Wealth isn't just about money.
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It's about who you build with.
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Instead of focusing on what we lacked,
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we focused on what we could build together.
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And when the housing market opened up during the pandemic,
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we took a leap.
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So if you're single, I want to encourage you.
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Focus on becoming the kind of person you'd want to build a life with.
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And if you're married, remember that unity in vision and faith is worth more than any paycheck.
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Chapter 5.
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I reconciled with my mom.
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My relationship with my mom was strained for years.
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Her financial stress of being a single mother played a big role in that.
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I had no doubt that she loved me,
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but when people are stuck in survival mode,
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they simply become their worst selves.
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However, as I healed, I realized that this was my mom's first time living as well.
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She was trying to navigate a very challenging life all on her own.
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She didn't have her parents covering,
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so she had no point of reference when it came to parenting me.
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And as for me, I couldn't hold on to bitterness and expect to live in abundance.
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So once I saved enough money from making these videos,
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I decided to cover my mom's bills and helped her move into a beautiful apartment with gorgeous amenities.
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I wanted her to experience peace.
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Later that year, when the world turned upside down during the pandemic,
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home interest rates hit a record low.
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My husband and I pooled our savings to buy a starter home.
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But God had bigger plans.
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My mom, the same woman who had a strange relationship with me for decades,
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stepped in and gave us a generous portion of her life savings,
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not just for a starter home, but a forever home.
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I never expected her to bless us in this way because I wanted to take care of her.
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Instead, she helped us to buy a home that would be cherished for generations.
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When we prioritize relationships over resentment,
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we open ourselves to God's provision in ways we never expect.
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Chapter 6.
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I shared my story shamelessly.
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The great thing about following Jesus is that you don't have to be ashamed of your past.
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In fact, you can boast about your weaknesses because it will highlight God's goodness all the more.
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I used my platforms to share transparently about my past addictions,
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family trauma, and mental health struggles,
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and that honestly led to opportunities I never could have planned,
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including a book deal that helped pay for our home renovation.
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Apostle Paul said, So to keep me from becoming proud,
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I was given a thorn in my flesh,
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a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
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Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.
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Each time he said, My grace is all you need.
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My power works best in weakness.
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So now I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses,
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so that the power of Christ can work through me.
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That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults,
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hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ.
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For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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So whenever the enemy shames you about your past and tempts you to hide it,
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remember that in Christ's economy,
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your weaknesses become your strength.
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This house isn't just a home.
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It's proof of what God could do.
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It's a tangible reminder of how he restores,
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redeems, and provides in ways we could never orchestrate ourselves.
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If there's anything I want you to take away from this,
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it's that your past does not define your future.
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The same God who lifted me out of the pit can do the same for you.
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The question is, will you trust him with your story?
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If you're in a season of rebuilding,
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I want to encourage you to start journaling through it.
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Writing things down helped me so much in my journey and that's why I created the Abundant Life Journal.
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It's designed to help you reflect,
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dream, and step into the life that God has for for you.
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You can order it through the link in my description today.
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If this video resonated with you,
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drop a comment and share your biggest takeaway.
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I'll see you again soon.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills through a profound and inspiring narrative shared in a YouTube video titled "How I Bought a 1.5M House at 29 Years Old (It's Not What You Think)." The speaker recounts their journey from a challenging upbringing to achieving home ownership at a young age. As you engage with this content, you will enhance your listening, vocabulary, and speaking abilities by focusing on emotional expression and storytelling. Embrace the shadowspeak method by repeating phrases to improve your fluency and confidence in English speaking practice.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Survival mode: A state of existence focused on basic needs and safety, often due to trauma.
- Divine encounter: A significant and transformative meeting or experience with a spiritual aspect.
- Hope: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, essential for personal growth.
- Mental health: Emotional, psychological, and social well-being that affects how we think, feel, and act.
- Agency: The ability of individuals to act independently and make their own choices.
- Healing: The process of recovery from trauma or difficult experiences.
- Redemption: The act of being saved from sin, error, or evil, often leading to personal transformation.
- Action: The process of doing something in order to achieve a goal, especially after recognizing a need for change.
Practice Tips
To effectively use the shadowing technique with this video, follow these steps:
- Watch and listen: Play the video at a slower speed to grasp the speaker's tone and pacing before attempting to repeat.
- Shadow the speaker: As you listen, pause frequently and repeat what the speaker says. Focus on the emotional undertones and rhythm of their speech.
- Engage in English speaking practice: Once comfortable, challenge yourself by mimicking the speaker in real-time, maintaining their emotional expression and pacing.
- Record yourself: Capture your shadowing attempts to analyze your pronunciation and intonation. This will help you refine your skills over time.
- Discuss the content: Share your thoughts about the speaker's journey with a language partner or online in a shadowing site forum to practice conversational skills.
By integrating these practices into your English learning routine, you'll develop more natural speaking abilities while gaining insight into resilience and personal growth.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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