1 - If your finances allow, give your children access to schools with stronger faculty credentials and better academic pedigree. As you’ve likely noticed, the majority of food safety and education scandals in recent years have disproportionately come from smaller cities. Keep this in mind: talented educators and medical professionals overwhelmingly tend to build their careers in major cities.
2 - Keep an eye on what your elders are impulse-buying online — those unregulated products with no manufacturer info, no certifications, and no quality guarantees are a consistent hygiene risk. When it comes to food, never chase a bargain. It has always been: you get what you pay for. If the price looks wrong, the quality is wrong — you just can’t see it yet.
Do you know? In this world, purely soft and kind people rarely rise to the top.
A purely good person is like a herbivore with no claws or fangs to protect itself. No matter how hard it grazes and grows, it remains fundamentally defenseless.
And so your fate is sealed: one day, the very people you trust most — family, confidants, close friends, business partners — will drain you dry in ways you never imagined.
This afternoon, over tea with a friend, I arrived at this conclusion: In your lifetime, you must experience poverty at least once — because only when you’ve truly hit rock bottom, with nothing left, will you understand just how terrifying it is to have empty pockets.
The people around you will reveal their coldest, most unvarnished selves. You’ll discover that in their eyes, you are utterly worthless — and you’ll find yourself powerless to do anything about it, unable to move a single step forward.
Around mid-last year, a friend’s daughter returned to China after studying abroad and was figuring out her next steps. Her father specifically asked me to mentor her — at the very least, help her develop the ability to stand on her own two feet.
I had actually read this young woman’s life pattern (格局) when she was thirteen or fourteen years old — she was born with the makings of an entrepreneur. So I agreed.
Today, two rather significant things happened — one concerning world affairs, the other concerning life itself.
The world affairs: Zelensky’s heated confrontation with Trump and his Vice President Vance during their White House meeting.
My own view? “Neither here nor there.”
Because from the highest macro perspective, human civilization has now entered a new phase of global realignment and consolidation.
Going forward, barring any dramatic wildcards, the world chessboard will have only two and a half players left who truly qualify as players.
1. When everything seems to be going against you — visit a thriving, slightly upscale hair salon. Have your hair and face tidied up properly. Pay special attention to the tail ends of your eyebrows; any stray hairs there should be removed without hesitation.
2. When minor misfortunes keep cropping up — take a walk through a temple with strong, active incense offerings. If, while passing by a statue of a dharma protector, you feel as though something has been pulled away from your body, you may return home with a settled mind.
Master Chi: Let me sum up the essence of this whole situation in one paragraph.
There is a grand theater. It normally has some messy, anything-goes content that keeps the traffic flowing — nothing too extreme, so everyone turns a blind eye. After all, who doesn’t want a little entertainment to fill up an ordinary day?
But recently, inside this theater, a rival act brought a deceased person into their show — and that stirred up a serious controversy. All kinds of opinions and conflicts erupted. Even the audience in the seats got riled up: some furious, some indignant, and there was a growing undercurrent threatening to explode into something much bigger.
Tomorrow, the battle of the Yi Si year officially begins.
I know — you’re carrying a quiet, gnawing fear in your heart. You worry that this year will be just like the last: a full year of frantic effort with nothing to show for it, followed by the familiar cycle of disappointment, frustration, and grief.
At the same time, you’re bracing for the black swans and gray rhinos — all those unpredictable disasters that seem determined to pile up on you one after another until you can barely breathe.
Recently, quite a few readers have been venting to me — saying that Spring Festival just doesn’t feel the same anymore.
And honestly, they’re right. In my memory, Spring Festival meant living a vibrant, red-hot life during the coldest days of the year. Warm. Lively. Fun. A genuine renewal of spirit.
I still remember those times — one or two weeks before the festival, everyone would begin their preparations in earnest. First came the intensive airport runs, welcoming family members flying back from abroad. Then came settling them into hotels or assigning them rooms in the house.
Pay close attention — tonight’s article is important, because every word of it is solid, practical wisdom.
Also, I encourage you to participate in the blessings section in the comments. It’s genuinely powerful.
Counting on my fingers: two days until New Year’s Day, four weeks until Spring Festival. There are many things we should be preparing for in advance.
Especially when it comes to traditional cultural practices — there are quite a few important details, more than most people realize.