Student Question:
Hello Master, some background: I’m a college senior. Both my parents work at my uncle’s company. It started when my father’s factory investment failed and our family went bankrupt — no debt, but no money either. That’s when my uncle invited my father to join his company as a manager. The role was demanding, overseeing many employees, but paid around four to five thousand a month — not much, yet it was rain after a long drought.
People often ask me how to improve their professional capabilities — whether there’s some shortcut they’re missing.
I’ve thought about it, and honestly, the paths boil down to just a few:
Read like your life depends on it Work like your life depends on it Take care of your body That’s it.
For ordinary people without exceptional talent, there’s no special growth formula. Those legendary stories you hear? They’re written for geniuses — they have nothing to do with the rest of us.
Whether you are a man or a woman, be extremely cautious — do not marry on impulse, and do not marry because of an unplanned pregnancy. If you discover incompatibility after marriage, divorce early and cut your losses. Act decisively when the moment calls for it — hesitation only deepens the wound. A good relationship will make you feel genuinely happy. If someone consistently brings you pain, that is not a good relationship — full stop.
Once a person can recognize patterns, those patterns lose their power over them. This is true not only in chess, but in every other domain of life. If you look back at the formulas used by the most popular magazines of our youth — Reader, Yilin, Zhiyin — you’ll find they didn’t just capture human nature; they captured the core desires of their era. At the very least, their approach to shaping public opinion is worth studying.
As the year draws to a close, many of you have been asking me with concern: Master Chi, what should I be doing right now to make sure the new year goes smoothly?
There are many answers to this question. The most important is to plan your monthly arrangements in advance based on your own destiny framework (格局). Another is to adjust the layout of your office and study desk according to the year’s conditions.
Student Question
Reaching out to you as a long-time follower, hoping to consult Master privately on a real estate question here in Shanghai.
I’m a newcomer to Shanghai. My husband and I run a small foreign trade business together — about ten employees, focused on a niche product category for over a decade. The early years were tough, but in the last five years we’ve developed some major clients and things have steadily found their footing. Annual revenue is roughly 1 to 2 million RMB. Our child currently attends a well-known private primary school.
Let me begin with a point: “If a person carries poison in their heart, they are destined to ceaselessly deplete their own karmic merit (福报).”
Yesterday, beneath one of my articles, a young woman left a comment: “Thank you for your support, Master. In late 2023, my husband and I made up our minds. Within the limits of what we could afford, we traded up for a home of our own. It’s no mansion, but we love it! The children finally have room to run and play. I believe our lives will only keep getting better!”
These past two weeks have been genuinely hectic — business matters piling up on one side, and with year-end approaching, I’ve taken the chance to meet with many friends.
By usual standards, the social gatherings wouldn’t start until January. But this year — well, you know how it is. Everyone is more eager to fire each other up, to lift each other’s spirits.
So yes, between dinners, tea sessions, and drinks, the quiet moments have been fewer. Even so, there’s something I’ve been wanting to share with you.
Against All Expectations
Two years back, a wave of pledge crises swept through public companies — the unintended consequence of a well-meaning policy. To prevent excessive market volatility, rules barred major shareholders and executives from selling large blocks of shares through normal market transactions. Under this framework, the only way shareholders could convert holdings into cash was by pledging them as collateral. The result: it became standard practice for controlling shareholders and key executives to pledge 70–80% of their equity stakes to unlock liquidity.
If you want consumer spending to rise while simultaneously siphoning away the money people could spend, consumption won’t go up — it’ll shrink even further. When people feel financially insecure, they cut expenditures. That’s precisely why Alibaba bet wrong while Pinduoduo seized the moment: Alibaba gambled on a national consumption upgrade, while Pinduoduo gambled on a national consumption downgrade.
Many people are waiting for a money-printing story that drives housing prices back up. That story is not going to happen.