Student Question:
Hello Master, I’d like to ask about investing. I worked at a bank in Beijing for several years but made no real progress in my career, so I eventually resigned. My parents gave me a sum of money, and I decided to use it to invest and make it grow.
Because I desperately wanted to succeed, I cast a wide net looking for projects. At first I felt like there were plenty of money-making opportunities out there — what I lacked wasn’t projects, but the right people. So whenever I met someone who seemed capable and had a project, I’d invest in that person.
This article is pure and direct — every so often, I sit down and distill these essential clarity points for women.
Fortunately, the vast majority of my female readers are sharp-minded women with clear heads and a broad perspective on life. And every article I write is, in truth, written for perceptive, intelligent women to begin with.
So for the core content, I can just say it straight — no need to walk through it point by point in tedious detail. When smart people talk, you don’t need to spell everything out. You just know.
Student Question
I’m a 33-year-old divorced man working at a property management company in Suzhou. The work is idle and I lack motivation — it feels completely unsuitable for me. I’m an energetic, quick-thinking person with strong execution skills who enjoys outdoor activities and extreme challenges. I just want to find an industry that suits me better, but I don’t know where to start.
Master Chi’s Response
First, there are three directions to address this problem.
【Student Question】 Hello, Master. In the current mainstream views and analyses of the property market, many reasons are cited for why the state needs to intervene to maintain housing prices:
Real estate is the mother of all industries. When the property market rises, the economy does well. Rescuing real estate is not about rescuing developers — it is about rescuing debt, rescuing the currency, rescuing domestic demand, and ultimately protecting employment. It is also said that 75% of Chinese residents’ assets are tied up in real estate, while Americans allocate only 28% of their wealth to housing. So if property prices crash sharply, many people will end up deeply in the red. In your view, when it comes to risks in China’s current property market — which single point deserves the most attention?
End of the month — taking a short rest, so no lengthy essays today.
Half a year has passed once again, so let me jot down a few concise thoughts. Some points remain unchanged at their core; others have been lightly updated:
1 - A reminder once more: throughout all of 2023 and into early 2024, this is not the time to charge ahead aggressively in your career. Don’t agonize over the future. If you’re not losing ground and you’re holding your footing steady — that alone is something to be grateful for.
Student Question
Master, hello. First of all, thank you for your earlier advice — that women from well-off families should simply ask their parents to introduce potential partners.
I followed that advice. The person I married was someone my family had known for generations. My parents made the introduction — very reliable, similar in age, similar family background.
Before that, I had paid fees to several of the more popular matchmaking agencies. On average, meeting one candidate cost 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. None of them worked out. I wouldn’t say matchmaking agencies are necessarily bad — I can only say that the “quality men” on these platforms are all out there running their own selection process.
Student Question
Master, how does one find the work they truly want to pursue for the long term? I always feel drawn to many industries — like I could get into them, but also like I can’t quite make it work. Even my side hustles have become a scramble for everything at once, wanting to try a little of this, a little of that.
Master Chi’s Response
1. In a large market with real potential, stop chasing trends.
There is a hidden iron law in this world that you must commit to memory: the lower your self-awareness, the more severe your inner conflict — and the more turbulent your life will be.
The opposite is equally true. A person with high self-awareness carries an exceptionally clear sense of themselves across every dimension — from the small details like how they dress, carry themselves, and speak, to the larger picture of career goals, wealth composition, and who they should marry.
Today Shanghai hasn’t stopped raining, and I’ve had my hands full with countless matters — writing a long piece simply wasn’t in the cards.
That’s fine, actually. It’s the perfect occasion to share a few small insights.
Especially these past two years, everyone has their own difficult chapter to get through. Knowing how to shake off the “dirty things” — the negative energies that cling to us — has never been more important. Only when you’ve freed yourself from them can your days flow with real auspiciousness and ease.
I’ve always felt that many women today carry a deep misconception about those three words: “love yourself.”
In my view, loving yourself as a woman isn’t simply spending money on flashy, impractical things — pretty clothes, luxury fragrances, expensive designer goods. That kind of buy-buy-buy self-love is, at its core, the result of being brainwashed by brands. It’s the mentality of someone who gets taken advantage of without even realizing it.