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.
1 - Even if I possessed the skill to overturn the heavens, there is still one hurdle in this world I cannot clear: helping a weak woman stage her comeback.
Among all the sisters who have come to me for destiny readings (命理) and life planning, I have seen many poor women and many foolish women — but helping them was never truly difficult. You identify the root issues in their wealth fortune and life pattern (格局), and you address them.
Let me start with some everyday thoughts. These days, Mr. Wong Kar-wai’s Blossoms Shanghai has been enormously popular. The costume design, set dressing, solid script, and brilliant performances from the cast have all been exceptional.
But from a personal standpoint, Blossoms Shanghai is ultimately a supreme work of art.
And precisely because it is art, it has its own limits — there are things that are difficult to articulate and inconvenient to portray on screen.
Student Question
Hello Master, I’m writing about a problem rooted in my family of origin. My mother is hardworking and down-to-earth, but she has always been prone to anxiety, suspicion, and endless nagging. Her parenting style was very strict when I was young — strict enough that, despite decent grades, I nearly fell into depression during my final year of high school.
Years have passed since then. My father, through hard work and perseverance, has built a solid material foundation for our family. Yet my mother still nags — relentlessly, without end. I genuinely don’t know how my father has sustained what feels like a suffocating marriage for this long.
I’ve consumed a lot of content from so-called relationship coaches and marriage consultants. It all boils down to one word: nonsense. Just like people who teach others to build businesses while they themselves are nothing more than ordinary office workers — many who give relationship advice are themselves unhappily married, or completely alone.
Remember: the more important something is in this world, the more it calls for returning to simplicity. The greatest truths are always the simplest.
Student Question
Dear Master Chi, greetings! I have a self-built rural home in my hometown. The neighbors to the west raised both their house and their perimeter wall higher than ours many years ago; the neighbors to the east are at the same height as us. Things haven’t gone well for our family over the years — a few unfortunate events have occurred. I’ve heard the saying, “Better to let the Azure Dragon rise ten thousand feet than to let the White Tiger press down upon you,” and I can’t help but wonder if this might be a factor. I would be grateful for your guidance on whether there is a connection, and whether any remedy exists. Thank you sincerely!
Student Question
Hello Master, I met this man who is still working on his PhD. From my perspective, he seemed to have great prospects ahead of him — a future annual salary of over a million, willing to hand over his paycheck to his future wife, cook for her, and take her home.
But he told me that doing his PhD left him no opportunities to meet women. That immediately felt off to me. Shanghai has more women than men, his university is no exception, and there are plenty of social mixers on any college campus.
The truth is always something nobody wants to hear, because the truth is simply too harsh.
What follows is what I told a client last night while reading her destiny framework (格局). If you’re a woman with genuine insight, you’ll find real nourishment in these words.
As for the final section — that is the most critical core. It’s brief, but I hope it serves you well:
Young woman, one day it will suddenly dawn on you.
This article is written especially for women born into ordinary circumstances, whose lives haven’t gone as hoped — yet who are still fighting for their future. It’s not a long read, but it’s worth every word.
As many of you know, I have a particular fondness for smart women.
Let me be clear about what that means. The essence of a smart woman is not sharp-tongued cleverness or calculated penny-pinching. And it’s certainly not the hysterical refusal to yield an inch or haggle over every last detail.
If you were an Israeli military commander facing the current battlefield situation, how would you advance? If you were a Hamas commander facing present realities, how would you set your defenses? The professional questions involved here fall into a blind spot for many people. Publishing this openly would invite endless abuse from the ignorant, so the following two pieces will be discussed within a limited circle. For field commanders, there are far fewer emotional elements mixed into decision-making — it is mostly a calculation of real-world trade-offs, choosing the lesser of two evils. Such choices may seem cold-hearted, even morally compromising.