TITLE: The Stain That Cannot Be Washed Clean
Prelude: Some people go through their entire lives without understanding that the moment someone chooses to betray you, they are no longer your colleague or partner — they become your opponent and enemy. And with enemies and opponents, there is simply no room for sentiment. Only total defeat and subjugation. Those who have seen enough of the world know not to be swayed by emotions or public opinion, because anyone with clear eyes understands: behind every apparent injustice, there is always a reason for its existence.
Here, Master Chi has no intention of defending or making excuses for the Chinese corporation in question — besides, everyone carries their own measure of right and wrong, and a few words from Master Chi can hardly settle such a matter.
But the other central figure in this affair — the gentleman named Mr. Li — his career, his prospects, his future in business: Master Chi can tell you plainly today. Finished. Done. He will never rise to anything significant or respectable.
Even if, in the eyes of the law, he is innocent.
Why?
Because no matter how much public opinion supports him today, he cannot change one fundamental, core truth: he attempted to use leverage — threats — for personal gain.
The word “threats” may sound a bit heavy, perhaps. But even his own statement made it clear that he intended to use certain sensitive internal company information as a bargaining chip for his own benefit.
That will become a stain he can never wash away for the rest of his life.
Don’t be fooled by how the scales of public opinion seem to tip in his favor right now. Two weeks from now, no one will mention this affair again. Two months from now, no one will remember to follow up. Half a year from now, it will be as if none of this ever happened.
But the brand mark of “attempted leverage and internal whistleblowing” — that will become his life’s scar. It can never be cleaned away.
Just like a certain entrepreneur who ran into trouble overseas: the label “suspected sexual predator” and that photograph in the orange vest will flash through people’s minds every single time he appears in public.
You may be innocent. But if you were truly that clean, how did you end up tangled in such a mess in the first place?
Then there is this man’s other peculiar fixation: he remained obsessively determined to meet personally with Chairman Ren.
Even when he was still employed at the company, he once tried to ambush Chairman Ren at the door of a conference room.
(Truly — people without common sense or basic judgment love doing exactly this kind of thing. Completely convinced they are in the right. Won’t stop until they’ve run headfirst into a wall.)
In the media interview, he even stated it outright: “My demands can only be resolved if I meet Chairman Ren personally. No one else will do!”
As if a single audience with Chairman Ren would let him air his grievances, earn recognition, and be reinstated to a position of importance.
But anyone with any sense knows: this behavior is an absolutely fatal taboo in any institution, platform, company, or team. Whoever dares pull this stunt — not only will the boss not respect you for it, everyone around you will unite to bring you down.
Yes, let me say it once more: he is legally innocent and without crime.
But if a person has been — even if only suspected of being — involved in any of these four cardinal sins: leveraging threats, informing on others, secret evidence-gathering, leapfrogging the chain of command for personal credit — and that reputation has spread, tell me honestly: will anyone still accept him?
I remember back when I was living in Vancouver as a child. A man in the neighboring community was accused of child sexual abuse. With the help of his lawyers, he was eventually cleared of all charges, and the community welcomed him back.
But for the rest of his life, he would never again hear children knocking at his door for Halloween candy. The parents in that neighborhood would never — not for a single moment — allow their children anywhere near him.
You may be innocent. But if you were truly that innocent, how did you come to be tangled up in this kind of trouble at all?
Master Chi writes this piece today not to stake out a position or push a particular opinion. More than anything, the hope is simply this: that you come to understand that in this world, being “right,” having “reason” on your side, acting “rationally” — these things absolutely matter. But equally important are the unwritten rules. The codes that can never be openly stated, yet that everyone is required to obey.
If you refuse to accept that, fine. No one is stopping you from pushing back. But the consequences — you must be prepared to bear them yourself.
In all the life patterns (格局) Master Chi has ever read, the most hopeless — the ones with the least possible chance of ever rising — belong without question to those who rely on betrayal and informing on others to advance themselves at someone else’s expense. The rat-like opportunists who sell out their own for personal gain.
I need no further evidence beyond this Mr. Li. Ask yourself: why is it that after grinding away for over a decade, he remained at an extremely low rung within the organization? The answer speaks for itself.
Take this as a word of advice from someone who has seen it all. You can walk the righteous path or the unconventional path (zhèng mén or piān mén) — both have their place in this world. But those who depend on selling others out to climb toward wealth, status, and glory — that is something even Heaven cannot forgive. No matter how “right” you believe you are.
It really is that simple.