Back when I said on March 5th that “the market is going to take another hard hit,” something both amusing and frustrating followed.
The most entertaining part: one reader immediately jumped into the comments with “How could it possibly crash? Do you have any idea how much money is sitting on the sidelines waiting to come in? The data shows xxxx — you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The title I originally had in mind for this article was “As a Woman, Remember These Four Slaps That Will Snap You Out of Your Confusion” — but after some thought, I changed it to “four moments.”
For one, “moments” carries a more refined quality. And two, a slap ultimately implies pain and the sting of being struck — yet all I hope for is that you, as a young woman, are able to grow and level up. Pain isn’t a requirement.
Every year, as the Spring Festival approaches, we find ourselves gripped by the same quiet worry: will the year ahead bring us soaring fortune — or a relentless string of misfortune?
Master Chi believes this is a worry everyone should carry. Everyone, that is, except you.
If you have walked alongside Master Chi this past year — truly walked, growing together — then I am certain you have gathered a wealth of wisdom and inner tools that will serve your rise. That is enough. You need not worry about a thing. Because you have already acquired something far more valuable: the insight to draw nourishment from every joy and sorrow life brings.
Note: Master Chi’s long-form writings on the art of mind are meant to be absorbed in quiet contemplation. Before reading, ensure you have at least ten uninterrupted minutes — and save this for future reference.
On the path of personal advancement, Master Chi has one crucial principle he wants you to carry with you always: every person who has risen to the heights of power and glory — without exception — carries within them some deeply flawed and unsightly imperfections.
After years of wandering the world, Master Chi has had the privilege of observing many powerful clans and distinguished households. If there is one insight to distill from all of it, this phrase captures it best: A family that puts family tradition first will rarely fall into ruin; a family that puts wealth and status first carries the seeds of its own decline.
Those families who measure everything by material standing — so many of them have eventually collapsed amid turbulence, scattered and estranged, their bonds dissolved. The root cause is nothing other than an excess of pragmatism and snobbery.
A few days ago, a reader sent me a question through my backend:
“Master Chi, I’m a completely ordinary urban office worker. I spend my days buried in mundane, unremarkable tasks — a textbook example of what you often call the blood-and-sweat working class. But after reading your articles, I simply cannot bear to keep wasting my life this way. I want to give my parents filial devotion and security. I want to give my wife and children material comfort and a good life. But your consultations and community membership represent a significant financial burden for someone like me. Could you write an article for us blood-and-sweat workers — offer some guidance to those of us who have been forgotten by the world, on how to move up?”
The hottest topic making the rounds these days is none other than a tech giant’s little princess making her debut in the entertainment world (梨园行 — literally the “Pear Garden,” the traditional term for China’s performance arts industry).
For most people, it’s genuinely baffling. Here’s a girl born with every advantage imaginable — a flawless life trajectory, top-tier resources from day one — choosing to walk into this world. It’s not that entertainment is lowly or beneath anyone. But at its core, the entertainment industry is fundamentally a trade built on getting people to talk about you and keeping eyes on you.
Preface:
When I was young, Master Chi also admired all manner of heroes — business titans, capital predators, political strongmen. Each commanded their era, magnificent and thunderous. But what fate gave them was brilliance, not happiness.
Looking back now, very few among those heroes found peace in their later years. This is because they walked the path of overt victory, relying on reckless aggression and clawing wealth from seas of blood.
Everything in this world revolves around the idea of fate and connection — people, events, and principles alike.
Some of life’s deepest truths may have passed through your ears without leaving a mark — not because they were wrong, but because you hadn’t yet lived enough to feel their weight. Only after walking through enough of life do they suddenly hit you with full force.
So for this article, Master Chi asks very little of you — just let your eyes pass over it once, and let it pass through your heart once. That is enough.
This morning I came across the story that’s been making waves lately — a driver saved a couple’s child, yet the couple refused to testify on his behalf. I have to say a few words about this.
The question on everyone’s lips: will this couple — who pressured someone into breaking the rules, then walked away without a care — face consequences?
My answer: without a doubt. It’s only a matter of when.