Student Question:
Master, hello! During this year-end period I’ve been frequently revisiting your past articles, and every single word has helped me grow — I want to express my gratitude first.
What moved me most, actually, was the single mother you wrote about in your last article. Her grounded, feet-on-the-ground approach truly impressed me — because, truth be told, I am also an ordinary single mother, raising two children here in Hefei, a city that’s decent enough to call home.
Deep down, I’ve never been one to actively cozy up to the wealthy and powerful people around me. It’s not that Master Chi has some noble character — I simply know my own limits. When a distinguished guest invites me to examine their fortune (运势), life pattern (格局), or Feng Shui, I won’t decline. But when it comes to business tips or joint ventures? Honestly, I don’t dare take that on. The reason is simple: “I’m grateful for the recognition — but I genuinely can’t catch what’s being thrown at me.”
Master Chi wants to share something straight from the heart with you.
To truly see through a person’s life circumstances, you often don’t need complex or profound destiny reading analysis. You simply need to know which key elements to look at and examine them carefully — and you can figure out roughly eighty or ninety percent of where their future is headed, high or low, noble or common.
So what is the key that determines a person’s destiny and opportunities?
To be candid with you — each of our futures is intimately tied to them.
What’s remarkable is that all these events arrived in rapid succession just before the Major Snow (Dàxuě) solar term. It seems next year will be a year of optimism — and one that transforms the destiny of countless people.
No rush. Let’s unpack it all in the article.
Since this is a casual essay, let me just talk freely about something I’ve accumulated over many years of reading people and destiny charts — my thoughts on what it truly means to be a “good woman” or a “good man.” Think of it as a leisurely weekend conversation between friends.
But even though it’s casual, I hope you’ll treat it as a high-quality late-night heart-to-heart. Read every word carefully and let it settle in your mind.
Let me get straight to the point and directly answer the question posed in this article’s title: “Why are most people destined to be cast aside by the world?”
The answer is simple: because the core capital of the vast majority of people can only generate value when backed by physical stamina. Take a talented programmer — no matter how skilled, they still need the physical endurance to sustain endless 996 or even 007 work schedules (996: 9am–9pm, six days a week; 007: around the clock, every day). Take a hardworking sales rep — no matter how driven, they still need the physical stamina to pound the pavement from client to client. So if they cannot overcome the physical decline that comes with age, being discarded is their inevitable fate.
Part 1
Home is the origin of everything.
If someone in your eyes seems to face one setback after another, mired in endless troubles, yet somehow remains cheerful and full of vitality — just look into their home environment, and all your answers will reveal themselves.
Because their family is undoubtedly their greatest pillar of strength, providing a steady warmth that never wavers.
Equally, if someone in your eyes appears perfectly composed, with no apparent reason for sorrow, yet they remain depressed and in pain — just look into their home environment, and every mystery dissolves.
(This piece is a classic revisit, so that new readers won’t miss a gem from the archives.)
Today, Master Chi wants to talk with you about two things: noble benefactors (Gui Ren) and inner circles.
For most people who grew up without privilege, the knowledge they lack most is the art of transactional exchange in human relationships.
The result? Many have worked hard enough to develop real ability — but they remain alone, never managing to break into a tier where they can share the spoils with other powerful people.
This weekend, I want to talk about something personal — the first woman in the world who taught me “emotional intelligence”: my mother. And the first man who taught me “strength”: my father.
Before my family found its footing and eventually went abroad, we once lived out of necessity in a small longtang (Shanghai alley neighborhood). Though the years have made the memories hazy, I can still vaguely picture how cramped and narrow our unit was — roughly the size of a modern studio apartment with half a bathroom. The kitchen we shared with everyone else on the lane.
A reader once asked a remarkably sharp question: “Master, across the different levels of society, are there concepts that belong exclusively to the upper tiers — things the lower tiers have no awareness of at all?”
I thought about it, and answered with two words: Planning.
The word “planning” doesn’t tend to circulate among ordinary people, because it’s almost exclusively used by those in positions of power and decision-making — strategic planning, urban planning, industrial planning, platform planning. The word itself carries an inherent meaning: set a goal with an execution plan, then advance toward it systematically. It radiates sophistication the moment you hear it.