“Therefore, games are a neutral thing. Are you using them to relax your mind and work better? Or are you indulging in them and escaping reality? This depends on your own choice.”
“Just like how Tenda Group never prohibits employees from playing games—is this encouraging employees to slack off? Obviously not. It’s encouraging employees to balance work and rest.”
“Rest is actually for better work.”
“When tired from work, playing games to relax, making subsequent work more efficient—isn’t that making better use of your attention?”
“In the end, it all comes back to the keyword ‘attention.'”
“That’s why Mr. Pei created the game ‘Struggle.’ His games aren’t meant to make you addicted or escape reality, but to help you better enter and accept reality.”
Similarly, Mr. Pei’s view on consumerism isn’t emphasizing that certain things absolutely can’t be bought, or that buying them is an IQ tax. Rather, he emphasizes the importance of understanding your true needs.”
“Mr. Pei believes that the most precious wealth is attention, and a reasonable perspective on wealth is using money to leverage attention, to do meaningful things, to create greater value.”
“The so-called ‘resist consumerism’ follows the same principle. It’s not saying that buying expensive things means you’ve paid an IQ tax or fallen for consumerism. The key is the purpose of your spending.”
“For Mr. Pei, as a boss, he needs a certain degree of decency when discussing business with others, so he purchases branded suits and watches.”
“But if everyone carefully observes those three world-famous paintings, they’ll discover that he has only two suits that he wears repeatedly, and only one watch, all maintained at the minimum level he needs.”
Similarly, Mr. Pei has the money to buy a mansion, but he doesn’t. Instead, he lives in Sloth Apartments, using this minimalist style to create an environment conducive to thinking.”
“Mr. Pei’s behavior is the best annotation of ‘resisting consumerism.’ Each of Mr. Pei’s expenditures is actually to leverage his attention to create maximum value.”
“So to summarize, what is an ‘IQ tax’?”
“Everyone’s money is limited. With the same amount of money, if you buy a designer bag, you can’t invest it or use it to learn knowledge.”
“Therefore, to determine whether an expenditure is an ‘IQ tax’ or brainwashed by consumerism, the key is what it can bring you.”
“If you’re going to negotiate business with someone but don’t even have a decent suit, you’re creating invisible obstacles for yourself. In this case, buying a designer suit isn’t an IQ tax.”
“But if you’re a delivery person, wearing a designer suit not only makes it inconvenient to move goods but also makes it easy to get dirty. Then buying a designer suit is an IQ tax.”
“So, by analyzing Mr. Pei, we can derive what he wants to express beyond ‘Struggle’:”
“To change your fate, first, you need wealth accumulation and resistance to consumerism; second, you need to work hard.”
“The core of resisting consumerism isn’t about spending less money, but about spending every penny on things that can improve yourself, create more value, and are truly useful to you.”
“The core of working hard isn’t about mindlessly doing repetitive labor, becoming a struggle-obsessed person who only impresses yourself, or stubbornly sticking to one path. It’s about intelligently using your attention, thinking independently, and finding the right direction.”
“If you spend money playing games or reading novels, as long as you’re not addicted, but using them to adjust your mood and work better, even gaining some inspiration, then it’s meaningful.”
“So, this is what Mr. Pei conveys to us through real life, beyond the game ‘Struggle.'”
“Understanding this point, everyone will discover that all of Mr. Pei’s industries are repeatedly expressing these two points to us.”
“Going back to the initial question.”
“Why do I say that Slackin’ Internet Café, Slackin’ Takeout, Sloth Apartments, Thrilling Lodge, Automatic Contrarian Machine, Tuoguan Fitness, and even earlier ventures like ROF PC Assembly, OTTO Phone, Headwind Logistics, etc., are all extensions of the concepts expressed in the game ‘Struggle’?”
“Because all these industries can be summarized into these two points.”
“These industries seem more expensive than competitors’ products, but they provide a better experience. You do spend more money, but what do you save?”
“You save attention!”
“Take Tuoguan Fitness, for example. Everyone knows it’s much more expensive than ordinary gyms, but in ordinary gyms, you need to supervise yourself, exercise daily, eat reasonably, and sometimes arrive at the gym to find it crowded, having to queue for equipment, wasting your time.”
“But Tuoguan Fitness arranges your training schedule and diet for you, and ensures you can start exercising immediately every time you go. This way, you can save your attention for where it’s more needed.”
“Slackin’ Takeout follows the same principle. It’s certainly more expensive than other takeout and cooking for yourself. But with other takeout, you have to check if the ingredients are fresh, if there’s too much oil and salt. If you cook yourself, you have to buy groceries, prepare them, wash them, learn recipes—making a meal takes at least half an hour from start to finish.”
“But by choosing Slackin’ Takeout, you can eat with peace of mind. The attention saved can be used where it’s more needed.”
“Including the Automatic Contrarian Machine and Sloth Apartments, they are also emphasizing to everyone the importance of focusing attention and thinking seriously.”
“As for Thrilling Lodge…”
“Actually, after completing the previous video, I’ve been wondering what was missing.”
“Now I understand. The previous video lacked the expression of Mr. Pei’s ideology, so it didn’t seem as convincing.”
“Now, Thrilling Lodge should be incorporated into the scope of ‘Tenda Life’ and reconsidered.”
“‘Tenda Life’ is the lifestyle advocated by Mr. Pei. For Mr. Pei: when still, minimalist philosophy and contrarian machine; when active, haunted houses, roller coasters, and giant swings.”
“It’s been reported that Mr. Pei is very fond of extreme sports, often inviting friends to enjoy giant swings, roller coasters, skydiving, and haunted houses.”
“Why does Mr. Pei like these? Is it just a personal preference? Now it seems, not entirely.”
“When thinking, he can stay in Slackin’ Internet Café, pondering over process charts of various departments until late at night.”
“But besides thinking, when resting, he relieves pressure and eliminates fatigue through these extreme stimulations.”
“So, this video should interpret not just Thrilling Lodge, not just the game ‘Struggle.'”
“But the various ideas Mr. Pei is trying to convey to us through games and various Tenda Life industries.”
“Some people say one thing and do another, telling others to do something while not doing it themselves.”
“But Mr. Pei has always been physically practicing this concept.”
“This is the biggest fourth wall break of the game ‘Struggle’! It’s also the puzzle of the reality part that Master He An didn’t solve!”
“So, when Mr. Pei told me not to use ‘Masterpiece’ to interpret ‘Struggle,’ I was somewhat confused.”
“But now I understand. ‘Struggle’ isn’t just a game; it’s a key, a key to help us better understand the real world.”
“Therefore, it shouldn’t be placed in the ‘Masterpiece’ series, but should be interpreted from a higher perspective.”
“This is precisely the significance of the ‘Silent Expresser’ series of videos!”
“That’s all for this video. Welcome, everyone, to like, comment, and subscribe. See you next time!”
…
After watching Qiao Laoshi’s video, He An fell into silence.
Some viewpoints in it, even for him, felt somewhat shocking.
When interpreting the game ‘Struggle’ before, He An didn’t deeply analyze certain content, such as “how to struggle” or “what exactly is the meaning of consumerism,” etc.
Perhaps he felt it couldn’t be explained clearly, or perhaps he felt it couldn’t be explicitly stated.
But now He An was surprised to find that Mr. Pei had also given answers to these contents!
That speech to scholarship students, Sloth Apartments, and the Automatic Contrarian Machine were actually supplements to the game ‘Struggle’ in the real world.
Tenda’s physical stores, including Slackin’ Internet Café, Slackin’ Takeout, Tuoguan Fitness, etc., were indeed expensive, but besides using better materials and being more reassuring, their greatest value was helping customers save attention.
Customers could mindlessly choose these brands without worrying about being deceived. The saved attention could then be used for more meaningful things.
He An originally looked down somewhat on these content creators who interpreted games, feeling they were just a bunch of amateurs. If a real game developer took action, they would surely crush them completely.
But now, He An put aside this contempt.
Professional knowledge in games had become He An’s stumbling block. He had only thoroughly analyzed ‘Struggle’ from a game perspective, inside and out, without realizing at all that ‘Struggle’ could be analyzed from a higher dimension!
In other words, the game ‘Struggle’ extended to various aspects of reality, and even He An hadn’t realized this.
Only when Qiao Laoshi pointed it out did He An suddenly understand.
Originally, He An thought Qiao Laoshi was at the first level, he was at the second level, and Mr. Pei was at the third level.
But now, Qiao Laoshi had climbed to the fourth level, only to discover that Mr. Pei was at the fifth level!
He An willingly accepted this, silently reposting this video on his Weibo with three thumbs-up emojis.
To make the game ‘Struggle’ to the extreme, Mr. Pei didn’t just use full motion capture, nor did he just meticulously craft every detail of the game.
He even used many real-world industries to complement this game, leaving numerous puzzles in reality!
Games and reality were closely connected, completely beyond He An’s imagination.
At this moment, He An had only four words in his mind.
I am convinced!
Tenda was indeed worthy of being the light of domestic games!
And Mr. Pei was indeed worthy of being a true thinker!