I am not Ximen Qing.

At least everyone wants to escape the fantasy and love-seeking narrative of *The Romance of the Western Chamber*. Radical approaches are impossible; at least Zhang Junrui's clever scheme to save the beauty still leads to his success in the imperial examinations and a triumphant return home. The affair, though an affair, is merely Yingying's springtime longing and spontaneous, tender feelings. A story of love and loyalty in *The Romance of the Western Chamber* is inevitable; otherwise, there would be no *The Romance of the Western Chamber*, and certainly no Yuan Zhen's *The Story of Yingying*, a pure expression of love between heaven and earth. The world of *Jin Ping Mei* is more realistic and more in line with the truth of human nature than the world of *Dream of the Red Chamber*. From the perspective of social progress, at least Ximen Qing is a more righteous and loyal man than Jia Baoyu. If a man lives like Zhang Junrui, it's inhuman; it's far more wonderful to be like Ximen Qing.

Think about it, Jane Eyre's choice was absolutely right. A beautiful woman like her, when she comes to earth, needs to be loved and pampered by a nobleman; that's true friendship. Think about Xia Jinshi's sudden entrepreneurial move—it was also impeccable. We've witnessed his skyscrapers rise from the ground, and everything is changing rapidly. Coming to Zhongguancun to start a business, he inadvertently stumbled into China's cultural sphere. Xia Jinshi must have felt something in Peking University, been stimulated; being able to live with professors—his ancestors must be emitting auspicious smoke!

I don't particularly like Zhongguancun as it is now, but whether I like it or not is beyond my control. Zhongguancun is a global city, and things are changing too fast here. It suddenly reminds me of David Solomon, a prominent figure in the bureau. It seems David Solomon has found love; a female teacher who graduated from a teachers' college, heartbroken from a failed relationship, fell into David's arms—a relationship with a man over thirty years her senior. Ironically, this saved the teacher's life. After David and the teacher married, he returned to England and even allowed her to continue her studies at Oxford. At least this is better than that young master in the bureau who demanded the teacher not be a virgin and still wanted to date her—that was deceiving his feelings. David is a good man. Think about Ximen Qing; although he had three wives and six concubines, he was still a traditional good man at heart, all for the sake of having a son to carry on the family line. The author was too cruel to Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, and the depiction of male thieves and female prostitutes was excessive. If Ximen Qing had come to Zhongguancun to start a business, he definitely wouldn't have been able to adapt to the pace here. The pace of Zhongguancun is so fast that everything feels out of place. The world of "The Romance of the Western Chamber" is still in the time and space of "The Romance of the Western Chamber," and the world of "Jin Ping Mei" is still in the time and space of "Jin Ping Mei." But the speed of Zhongguancun seems to have made it so that even Moore's Law no longer applies to all the changes here. Suddenly, I realized that this is the world of Einstein's theory of relativity, Schrödinger's quantum world, and Bohr's quantum theory.

Change brings both transformation and opportunity. Markets like the Keyuan Electronics Market, once a bustling market, are no longer suitable for the city's development, leading to a surge in young men and women seeking opportunities in Zhongguancun. What are the advantages of big cities? The vastness of space and time offers a wealth of opportunities. This area was once part of Haidian District, the Lotus Pond of the Qing Dynasty, and even more so, the Lotus Pool of the Ming Dynasty. Its past was marked by wealth and nobility; it was once Emperor Kangxi's favorite place. It also contains Tsinghua Garden and Changchun Garden. The historical site at the entrance of Peking University's Yan Garden is actually part of Changchun Garden.

Beijing wasn't short of water in the past, at least not in Haidian District. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, this area boasted the Wuying Hall and the private garden of Grand Secretary Mingzhu. Considering the romantic and amorous life of Nalan Xingde, even Emperor Qianlong discussed *The Story of the Stone* with Heshen. It's unclear whether Qianlong was feigning ignorance or had other intentions. Jia Baoyu really had to be humble in front of Zhen Baoyu. One might even suspect that the true connoisseur of *The Story of the Stone* was none other than Hongli. If he had been born in the State of Chu, the Bian River wouldn't have been ruined by a piece of jade. See, this is the cultural heritage of Zhongguancun in Beijing.

Beijing is a city with distinct layers. Take, for example, the Yuan Dynasty capital, Dadu. It serves as a mirror to the world. If it weren't for the Yuan Emperor's misfortune—a massive tsunami—the tiny Japanese would have been nothing to him long ago. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, and the supposed benevolence and righteousness of China, allowed these treacherous Japanese to triumph. Zhongguancun, however, isn't a resounding name. The Science Park has transformed into a towering new electronics building, with dozens of office buildings, and companies like Ke Mao, Ding Hao, and E-World springing up like mushrooms after rain. Even with Gome and Suning, plus e-commerce giants like JD.com and Alibaba's Taobao, the competition isn't as fierce as it used to be. Profits are no longer as low as a few hundred yuan for a mouse or tens of thousands for a computer. Capital investment has intensified cutthroat competition. Changes in sourcing channels mean that no matter what you choose, Gome and Suning's price wars are incredibly attractive. E-commerce websites have made price information more transparent; sometimes, buyers even understand the bottom line of prices better than sellers. More and more consumers are enthusiastic about JD.com's home delivery and the wider selection of brands and prices available on e-commerce websites.

China has ironically become a major market for American chip manufacturing and technological prowess. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Lou Gerstner are giants dancing with elephants, omnipresent in the world. It seems Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines have all become synonymous with advanced, high-tech manufacturing. Many people's lives and destinies are intertwined with their names. Representing IBM, HP, Sony, Canon, and companies like Hasee, Lenovo, and Aigo will lead to different development trajectories because their product DNA, underlying philosophies, and beliefs differ. What can change and influence the world is not simply entrepreneurial spirit and the concept of capitalist surplus value. In the process of development, businesses must rapidly develop opportunities and innovation; otherwise, they will be stifled by capital and become part of commercial profits.

The huge warehouse of the HP printer distributor at Peking University Resources is always piled high with the entire HP product line. However, Mr. Han Rende has a particular fondness for HP's entire product line, including office printers and consumables. Mr. Rende's name sounds nice too; the characters "Rende" (仁德) come from the Analects of Confucius. The Japanese supposedly summarized "governing the world with half of the Analects," though it seems the author wasn't Japanese, but rather Zhang Juzheng, the tutor of Emperor Wanli, whose contributions to the Ming Dynasty were immense. Rende's thinking was absolutely ahead of its time: "Hardware can only make money once, right?"

"But you can make money in the service industry for a lifetime, can't you?"

This is the slogan and philosophy that Mr. Rende instilled in his employees from time to time. Crucially, the timing of his introduction of this philosophy was remarkably ahead of its time; thus, success lies in seizing opportunities. In an era where scarcity drives value, only HP existed. Forget about choosing elsewhere; customers were always in this state, trembling with fear, as if they owed Mr. Rende a favor for buying something. Rules are rules, and HP's strength lay in its absolute refusal to allow credit. Of course, customers rarely purchased printers themselves; most were "second-hand." Because high-tech products are too complex to operate, to avoid even greater problems, they were usually purchased through computer dealers.

The spirit of camaraderie and mutual assistance found in Zhongguancun was fully embodied in Mr. Rende. What camaraderie and mutual assistance? Mr. Rende detested it. He was the first to realize that Zhongguancun's decline was due to the market being dominated by large capital and camaraderie. Therefore, Mr. Rende never worried about the payment issues that other agents worried about. Everyone was despicable and subservient to him, begging him to deliver the goods, otherwise they couldn't explain it to their customers.

"Don't worry, the money will arrive and you can pick up the goods."

"How could I not trust you? Absolutely trust you. With your reputation for benevolence and virtue, who would dare not trust you? There are absolutely no counterfeit goods here. Others have asked me to try your products, but I have refused because I know that being greedy for cheap things can lead to big losses. Buying counterfeit goods is a small loss that results in a big loss. Mr. Benevolent One, I will come to pick up the goods the day after tomorrow, how about it?"

"Thursday the day after tomorrow is fine, no problem at all." He couldn't even remember how many HP large-format printers he'd brought in from here. Mr. Rende simply opened many more chain stores in other electronics markets. Silicon Valley, Pacific, Dinghao, Hailong, Zhongguancun E-World, and Ke Mao Electronics City, even penetrating supermarkets and shopping malls in various forms. Mr. Rende is a representative of the Confucian businessman, always choosing to wait for the right opportunity. Perhaps only the business elites in Balzac's novels possess such business acumen. Zhongguancun has no shortage of millionaires, but it lacks cultured, retro-minded business elites with sustainable management capabilities. It seems their fate is so similar to the fate of the products they manage—extremely short lifespans. In terms of business philosophy, Mr. Rende is undoubtedly no less capable than Buffett, who knows how to make practical choices. Rende, just like his elegant name derived from the Analects, has a profound cultural foundation. He has a gentle and refined face, unhurried and composed. It seems he's like Lao Yu, a teacher who chose entrepreneurship from university. Lao Yu always exudes enthusiasm and the indomitable spirit of the grassroots. Benevolent and gentle, with large double eyelids, he never smokes or drinks—those poisons that lead to promiscuity and destroy conscience—and always thinks ahead of future trends.

He pondered the daily billing reports from each retail platform and decided he couldn't afford to earn the last penny. This was a lesson he'd learned from Mr. Li's business wisdom: large platforms have inertia, and the revolution now required breaking it down into smaller parts. He knew his long-time employees, who had fought alongside him for eight or nine years, long wanted to be bosses. Employees who didn't want to be bosses couldn't survive in Zhongguancun. He understood; the DNA here was inherently low—just small-time vendors. That was the DNA, and no one could change it. He was more clear-headed than anyone else. With that precise valuation discounted by 20%, the long-time employees understood the value. They were overjoyed and immediately pulled out real money to acquire the bosses of Hailong, Dinghao, Pacific, E-World, Zhonghai, Carrefour, Wumart—in short, all of Rende's retail stores were transferred overnight in this way. Rende acted like a philanthropist, and the long-time employees were grateful for his mentorship and spirit of mutual support.

Lenovo's QDI has faded into history. Lü Liangkai and Li Wei often jokingly undermine each other, saying things like, "Have you seen Wang the Math Master, Li Wei?"

"What? What do you want to see Wang the Mathematician for?"

"We got Lenovo shares, and with the old employees around, we're living the high life. You didn't listen to me back then, but now the two of us and Lao Wang are obediently staying at Lenovo, and we also have shares. Think about it, we were just leading a bunch of uneducated poor kids blindly, wasting our youth and squandering our time. Go and see the different markets, the former employees have all become small business owners, all eloquent and capable. Li Wei, where did we go wrong?"

Lenovo has been constantly changing its acquisition strategy, from IBM to Motorola, but it still doesn't understand what Microsoft, Apple, IBM, HP, Toshiba, Combi, or Dell represent. I've also visited Lenovo's Shangdi product R&D center, a multinational corporation that emerged from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Perhaps for some, Lenovo computers equate to great products. Cisco, Oracle, and many other names are unfamiliar. Mr. Rende is currently doing the right thing at the best time, focusing only on his core competencies, without incurring huge platform rental costs, yet suddenly has many new bosses responsible for his work. Therefore, Mr. Rende is one of the few business geniuses who secretly makes money; that's the only way to address him. However, Mr. Rende also makes mistakes; he gets a little complacent and confused, doesn't he? Because making money was so easy, he bought several luxury cars—truly extravagant. For Mr. Rende, owning cars was a status symbol within his social circle. He also invested in several massage parlors, which were thriving. Mr. Rende enjoyed relaxing in these parlors, a way to relieve stress and improve his mental and physical well-being. Don't think Mr. Rende was just being pretentious; the massage parlor industry was quite profitable, at least much more so than selling HP products. He always had a keen sense of opportunity, always catching the right trend. Even a pig can fly. His brilliance lay in his ability to choose the right time. He possessed an innate keen sense of opportunity and a disciplined lifestyle. Besides massage and wellness, he also played golf. Playing golf was also a way to network with business elites, getting them to sign up for his parlors and rent out his luxury cars. He didn't want to waste any of his resources. However, even the wisest can make mistakes. A comical situation occurred with Mr. Rende: "The cars he rented out were sold, but only for half the market price."

"What? Why would this happen?"