Reborn in 2005, starting with repairing mobile phones

Black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, gray sneakers.

She's very thin, much thinner than she appears in the photos.

The pancreatic cancer surgery he underwent at the beginning of the year left its mark on him; his cheeks are sunken, and he has more gray hair at his temples than before.

But he walked with a very steady pace.

Step by step, I walked to the center of the stage.

Some people stood up, and more people followed suit. The entire auditorium of over a thousand people stood and applauded.

The applause was so loud it almost lifted the roof off the entire auditorium.

Jobs stood on the stage, head slightly bowed, waiting.

Wait for the applause to slowly subside.

He raised his head.

"Thanks."

His voice wasn't loud, as if he were sitting across from you chatting.

Thank you everyone.

He paused again, his gaze sweeping across the audience.

"I want to tell three stories today," he said. "Nothing else, just three stories."

The audience fell silent.

Lin Dong sat in the third row, looking at that face.

That face he had only seen in photos and videos.

It was right in front of him, about twenty meters away.

The light shone on him, making the wrinkles on his face, the weariness around his eyes, and the glimmer of light in his eyes all clearly visible.

"The first story is about connecting the dots."

Jobs began, "I dropped out of Reed College after six months. But I didn't really leave until eighteen months later. Why did I stay so long?"

He paused.

"Because I like a particular subject. Calligraphy."

Someone in the audience chuckled softly.

Lin Dong was stunned for a moment.

calligraphy?

"Back then, Reed College was filled with posters and signs, and every single one of them was beautifully written."

Jobs continued, "I dropped out of school and didn't have to take those required courses anymore, so I took calligraphy classes instead."

His tone was casual, as if he were recalling a small matter.

"I learned about serif and sans-serif fonts, how to adjust the spacing of different letter combinations, and how to make the layout more beautiful."

He paused.

"These things, at the time, seemed completely useless. Utterly useless."

Some people in the audience laughed.

Lin Dong smiled too.

Calligraphy class.

Who would have thought that a tech person would take calligraphy classes?

But that's what Steve Jobs thought.

"But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh (Mac for short), all of these things came back."

Steve Jobs said, "We put beautiful fonts and elegant typography into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful fonts."

He paused.

"If I hadn't dropped out of school and hadn't taken that calligraphy class, the Mac probably wouldn't have so many fonts. And Windows? It just copied the Mac."

A burst of laughter and applause erupted from the audience.

Lin Dong smiled too.

It's just a copy of Mac.

He had heard that phrase before.

I've seen it countless times online in my past life.

But hearing it with your own ears feels completely different.

When Steve Jobs said this, there was no sarcasm or arrogance in his tone, only a calm statement of facts.

It's as if it's saying, "The weather is nice today."

After the laughter subsided, Jobs and the others continued.

"Of course, I couldn't connect these points when I was in college. But looking back ten years later, the line is crystal clear."

He looked down at the audience.

"Therefore, you cannot see the future from this point in time. You can only connect these points when you look back."

He paused.

"So you have to believe that these points will connect sooner or later. You have to believe in something—your gut, destiny, life, cause and effect—whatever. Because believing in these things will make a difference."

The audience fell silent.

Lin Dong leaned back in his chair, looking at the person on the stage.

Believe in something.

What did he believe in in his past life?

Believe that you can make money, believe that you can pay off your debts, believe that you can turn your life around.

But those are all about "believing in the result," not "believing in the process."

Steve Jobs was talking about something else entirely.

Believe things that seem useless at the time.

Believe things that others think are a waste of time.

Believe in things that only you know why they are important.

He suddenly understood why this person was able to change the world.

Jobs then proceeded to tell the second story.

"I was fired from Apple."

A low chuckle came from the audience, as if to say, "You can even talk about this?"

Steve Jobs himself laughed.

"When I was thirty, I was fired from the company I founded."

He said, "Imagine the company you've worked so hard to build, and then they kick you out. For those few months, I felt like a complete failure."

He paused.

"I even thought about leaving Silicon Valley."

The audience fell silent.

Lin Dong looked at him.

He was fired from the company he founded.

Of course he knew about this.

Steve Jobs mentioned this many times in the articles I read in my previous life.

But hearing it with my own ears still felt...unbelievable.

"But I soon realized that I still loved what I did. Even if I was fired, I still loved it."

Steve Jobs said, "So I started again. I founded NeXT, I founded Pixar."

He smiled.

"Later, Apple bought NeXT, and I came back. If it weren't for that experience of being fired, I wouldn't have met my wife, and none of what followed would have happened."

He looked down at the audience.

"Sometimes, life will hit you with bricks. Don't lose faith."

The audience remained silent for a long time.

Then applause erupted, a thunderous roar.

Lin Dong did not applaud.

He was just looking at the person on the stage.

Only those who have been hit with bricks know the weight of those words.

The third story.

Steve Jobs talked about death.

"When I was seventeen, I read a quote: 'If you live each day as if it were your last, one day you'll find that you were right.'"

He said, "That sentence had a great impact on me."

Some people in the audience laughed.

Steve Jobs laughed too.

"Every morning, I look in the mirror and ask myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I still want to do what I'm doing today?' If the answer is 'no' for many days in a row, I know it's time for a change."

He paused.

"Remembering that you will die soon is the best way I know to avoid the trap of being preoccupied with gains and losses."

The audience was silent.

Steve Jobs lowered his voice a little.

"A year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me it was likely incurable. I even had a biopsy—they put an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach, into my intestines, and stuck a needle into my pancreas..."

He paused.

"I thought at the time that this was the moment I had to say goodbye to everyone."

The audience was silent.

He has just escaped death and stands here, talking to everyone about death.

"Later I discovered that it was one that could be cured."

Jobs smiled. "I had surgery, and I'm doing well now."

Applause erupted.

Jobs raised his hand and waited for the applause to subside.

"Death may be life's best invention."

He said, "It clears out the old to make room for the new. You are young, but one day you will grow old and die."

He looked down at the audience.

So don't waste time living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma—which means living with other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others drown out your own inner voice.

He paused.

"Most importantly, you need the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They already know what kind of person you truly want to become."

The audience remained silent for a long time.

Then Steve Jobs said that.

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."