You Think You Do But You Dont

You can like fiction, but don’t try to imagine yourself as any one of the fictional characters. Otherwise you will be disappointed by all the small details of their day to day lives.

Character Chu Liuxiang

I like how Chu lives in a small boat with three female soulmates.

But there are lots of problems with living on a boat.

1.How does he shower? It can also be very cold when he pees/poops? 2.In a boat, it is very cold during the winter and hot during the summer.

Living in the Imperial Palace

Because of a few popular TV shows featuring the lives of empresses in the Qing Dynasty, lots of people like to fantasize living in the Imperial palace.

But most of the buildings are very tall, and are made of wood. That means wind can blow inside in all directions.

Because assassins can hide in the trees, there aren’t many trees in the palace, mostly just walls and stones.

A place without trees is super hot in the summer; a wooden house with a high ceiling can’t keep you warm in the winter.

The imperial palace is actually a super uncomfortable place to live in.

Worst of all is the complex social hierarchy in the palace…

Chinese republic times

What about back to the Chinese republic (1920s to 1940s) to be a big figures’ trophy wife. If you are the concubine you have to fight for attention, if you are the first wife, you have to keep your husband away from all the concubines and potential concubines.

What about being one of the big figures with multiple wives and big real estate? It is actually too dangerous. What about just a landlord?

Like merchant Hu with 13 wives and many acres of land.

Think that you have to hire a bunch of servants and a servant manager to manage your real estate.

But then why does the servant manager have to help you? Because you pay him?

Your boss pays you as well, what do you put yourself into your boss’ shoes and think in terms of his interest, or you just want to get things over with?

If you are serious about your job, are you so serious for your boss’s sake, or for that promotion or salary boost?

The reality is, the landlord can’t rely on anyone else. Everyone has his own personal interest. Most of them are there to collect your paycheck.

You can’t always buy better service with more money. You have to reward, punish, and bargain to get what you want from your servants.

How do you make sure your cook doesn’t spit on your dinner because you always have all kinds of weird requirements?

If you want to eat a simmering duck, they could say ducks are not clean recently, but in fact they are just too lazy.

You think you can get through their laziness by tipping them money? If so, maybe next time they will try to “motivate” you to eat duck even if you don’t want to.

Marble vs Granite

Lots of construction companies suggest you use marble for your bathroom floor edge, claiming that it looks good and it is not slippery.

Really? It is because it makes them lots of money.

If marble can be in the water or a humid environment for long, why don’t outdoor gardens use marble instead of granite?

Marble soaks with water for long will eventually turn yellow. In a few years, the marble will fill with all kinds of dirty stuff that you can’t wash.

It would be another deal for the construction workers if you want to remake your bathroom floor.

If you are not a “real character” you may lose your money quickly.

Back to the landlord with 13 wives. Most people can’t even get a wife to dedicate herself to him. Then what about managing relationships with 13 wives?

Keep in mind that, after you pass away, your wealth will be redistributed among them and your children. How are you going to make sure all their children are actually your children as well?

If you want to understand this kind of lifestyle, just try being a high-level manager in a big corp.

You know everyone is lying to you and you have to pretend you’re following the lie to keep the conversation going.

Not everyone enjoys this kind of calculating lifestyle, most people choose it because there are benefits in those positions.

Thus, learning how to spend money, or use your resources, is very important in life.