“This is understandable.”

“Because ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’ is a movie, and ‘Struggle’ is a game, Mr. Pei meticulously crafted the details within them, so every viewer and player can obtain more or less the same information.”

“But in real life, everyone faces different situations, and everyone obtains vastly different information from ‘reality.'”

“Some people change their fate through their struggle, while others don’t; some people see the warm side of this world, while others see its cold side.”

“Therefore, their views on the real world are naturally as different as heaven and earth.”

“What I want to emphasize is that regarding the real world, Mr. Pei has already expressed his views, but most people haven’t realized it.”

“Why? Look at my title: Silent Expresser.”

“This expression is a silent expression, not clearly stated, but requiring you to understand it yourself.”

“Now, please click on the second link in the video description and carefully read the content expressed by Mr. Pei in his speech to scholarship students at his alma mater.”

“Three, two, one.”

“Good, I believe everyone has understood. Mr. Pei donated fifteen million to these scholarship students, and the purpose of this speech was to tell them how to make good use of this wealth.”

“However, Mr. Pei didn’t emphasize ‘frugality,’ but instead emphasized ‘attention.'”

“This is Mr. Pei’s perspective on wealth. Although he doesn’t agree with consumerism, he also doesn’t believe that being ‘stingy’ is good.”

“When facing the issue of wealth perspective, many people tend to go to two opposite extremes:”

“Some believe that immediate enjoyment is good, spending their salary as soon as they receive it, and even using credit cards for advanced consumption, purchasing things completely beyond their capacity.”

“While others believe that saving money at all costs is good, trying every possible way to grasp every tiny profit, having money but living like a beggar, instead of missing many opportunities.”

“Both these extreme ideas are wrong.”

“Mr. Pei’s speech tells us that for each person, our most precious possession is not money, but attention!”

“As long as we utilize our attention well, we can naturally earn more money; conversely, if we are too concerned with small profits and waste our attention, we lose the big for the small.”

“Some might ask, what does this speech have to do with this video and the game ‘Struggle’?”

“Of course there’s a connection.”

“The content of this speech, combined with all of Mr. Pei’s industries, is supplementing what’s missing in ‘Struggle,’ telling us what exactly ‘struggle’ is in real life.”

“When facing the question of ‘struggle,’ many people also tend to go to two opposite extremes.”

“Some believe that struggle is meaningless, that struggle can’t change anything, so it’s better to just get by, enjoy today without worrying about tomorrow.”

“While others believe that as long as they struggle hard enough, they can live the life they want, without ever questioning whether their methods of struggle are correct.”

“These two ideas are obviously both wrong.”

“Before answering this question, let me add one point: Master He An pointed out that one of the roots of the tragedy of the poor in the game ‘Struggle’ lies in ‘consumerism’ and ‘IQ tax.’ The poor work hard to climb to a false middle-class position, only to have their hard-earned wealth harvested by consumerism, ultimately falling back into the cycle of poverty.”

“In the game ‘Struggle,’ consumerism has already controlled the entire society, so the poor in the game have no choice; but in real life, consumerism hasn’t yet become the consensus of the entire society, so by resisting consumerism, we can avoid being harvested and complete the initial accumulation of wealth.”

“On this point, many people have questions, because Master He An didn’t elaborate on what exactly consumerism is.”

“According to a general definition, consumerism is the behavior of the majority of people in society, pursuing decent consumption, craving unlimited material enjoyment and entertainment, and treating these as the purpose of life and the value of human existence.”

“But I believe everyone has their views on the concepts of ‘consumerism’ and ‘IQ tax.'”

“Many times we find that the concepts of ‘consumerism’ and ‘IQ tax’ seem to vary from person to person.”

“A simple example: two packs of tissues, one costing five yuan, the other twenty yuan. Is the twenty-yuan tissue an IQ tax?”

“Many people think so. Since they’re both tissues, you just add a brand and increase the price fourfold, isn’t that insulting people’s intelligence?”

“But what if I tell you that the latter is softer, more delicate, has a more complex manufacturing process, and will provide you with a better user experience? Do you still think it’s an IQ tax?”

“Similarly, for an ordinary person, a designer bag costing tens of thousands might be an IQ tax, but for a billionaire, is a designer bag costing tens of thousands still an IQ tax?”

“I think many people haven’t deeply thought about this question.”

“So, some people detest consumerism, but others feel it’s not a big deal, believing that as long as their wealth can support them buying designer shoes or bags, then they can buy them.”

“Here, I won’t judge right or wrong, but just speculate on Mr. Pei’s views on this point.”

“The reason many people dislike the game ‘Struggle’ is that they believe it only raises problems, just shouting slogans without offering solutions.”

“On this point, I want to say: the wealth gap is an eternal problem in human society, and so far, there’s no correct solution. Expecting someone to provide an answer that satisfies everyone is impossible and unrealistic.”

“On this issue, everyone should think independently and give their own answers.”

“But Mr. Pei has indeed given a practical answer, just that people haven’t realized it.”

“Going back to the wealth perspective expressed by Mr. Pei in his speech: a person’s most precious wealth should be attention. And how to correctly use the money in hand?”

“It should be used to leverage one’s attention.”

“And Mr. Pei is indeed doing this.”

“Through Mr. Li’s interpretation in the interview program, and Mr. Pei’s photo, everyone should understand that Mr. Pei is a person who spends all his time thinking. He has indeed been practicing this point all along: even as a billionaire, his attention is still his most precious asset.”

“And what is Mr. Pei’s daily life like? We see that he lives in Sloth Apartments, eats Slackin’ Takeout, but also wears designer suits and expensive watches, though the value of the suits and watches is limited and, compared to his net worth, is still much less.”

“At this point, some might think Mr. Pei’s words are self-contradictory:”

“Emphasizing the need to utilize one’s attention well, yet developing games that distract players’ attention;”

“Emphasizing resistance to consumerism, yet wearing designer suits and high-end watches.”

“But think carefully, is this really a contradiction? Once you understand this question, everything will have an answer.”

…

Seeing this, He An was also stunned.

He hadn’t expected Qiao Laoshi to extend the topic this far!

In He An’s view, resisting consumerism was certainly not wrong, but who could be 100% unaffected by consumerism?

Just like He An himself, after making money, he also bought a large villa and luxury cars. Strictly speaking, this was also consumerism.

If completely resisting consumerism, He An should have taken his earned money to operate companies, to create greater value, or to do charity, to help more people.

But he obviously hadn’t done this, instead keeping a large sum for personal enjoyment.

Therefore, in his long Weibo post, He An hadn’t fully elaborated on the issue of “consumerism.”

In his subconscious, he felt that so-called consumerism actually depended on your income level.

If a poor person earning three thousand yuan a month insisted on saving to buy a sports car, that would be brainwashed by consumerism; but if a billionaire wanted to buy a luxury car, go ahead, it wouldn’t affect his life in any way.

But He An himself clearly knew that this argument was somewhat self-contradictory and couldn’t be self-consistent.

If the conclusion was “when you don’t have money, you can’t buy designer bags; when you have money, you can,” it would seem unconvincing and might make people feel it’s discriminatory against the poor, as if the poor don’t deserve to buy such things.

That would, in turn, fall into the trap of consumerism.

So, what Qiao Laoshi was saying now was actually very dangerous and had to be carefully argued. One small misstep could lead to disaster.

Since you’ve pointed out the fact that Mr. Pei also wears designer suits and watches, how would you persuade others to reject these things?

With some concerns, He An continued reading.

…

“Obviously, this is not contradictory.”

“I’ve been emphasizing all along that we shouldn’t fall into the trap of all-or-nothing thinking.”

“We do need to make good use of our attention, but can humans guarantee that at all times, they can control all of their attention without any deviation?”

“Of course not.”

“So we emphasize that we should have an eight-hour workday. Within those eight hours, we work and study seriously, and outside those eight hours, we also need rest and relaxation.”

“That is, to balance work and rest.”

“Games are actually helping us rest and relax. Whether games with outstanding gameplay or outstanding artistry; whether games that make us laugh heartily or games that make us think, they are all meaningful to us.”