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Mr. Wang, Can You Play Xu Zhu?

2008/6/24 17:25:15

Obviously, this title is stupid and boring. If we also mention that today there's really nothing worth saying about the stock market, it becomes even more stupid and boring. So let's be stupid with dedication and boring with focus—today let's properly gossip about Mr. Wang.

To be honest, due to the generational gap, this ID has no direct firsthand understanding of Mr. Wang. And since Mr. Wang is someone accustomed to a single dragon-flash appearance followed by a prolonged "hidden dragon, do not act" phase, it's even harder to know his true nature. Within his inner circle, this ID only has some acquaintance with one old uncle who only drinks Erguotou—beyond that, no connections whatsoever. The reason this ID has always been interested in Mr. Wang traces solely to a single remark from a friend of the same age who had known Mr. Wang since childhood. This friend said his "path" diverged from Mr. Wang's. Note: this assessment of "paths" refers to matters from forty years ago, and a person's path—especially at the deep level—is probably unchangeable for life. Such an answer naturally piqued this ID's interest, for the friend this ID knows is no ordinary figure, and this ID knows that friend's path all too well. Meanwhile, this ID happened to have seen through Mr. Wang's formidable "hidden dragon" skills years ago. Thus, what Mr. Wang's path ultimately means for China has been something this ID has followed all along.

As this ID expected—and likely as Mr. Wang designed—the position capable of influencing China has been realized by Mr. Wang. Hence, Mr. Wang has become an object of even greater attention from this ID.

Of course, such expectations and designs often prove thoroughly unreliable. Ten years ago, flying from Shanghai to Beijing once with the Asia Regional President of a certain country's largest conglomerate, we chatted on the plane about which people could influence China's progress in the coming N years. He said they had done careful research and identified twenty people. Looking back now, most were unreliable—at the very least, Mr. Wang wasn't on their list.

As for the person this ID follows due to a friend's divergent path—the person might well turn out to be a complete dud. People here probably still wonder why this ID once cared about the "Confucius Man" business. The reason is simple: a certain distinguished professor at Peking University, not young either, also a cross-generational friend of this ID's, at the Nth wedding banquet of a mutual friend, happened to sit next to me. For some reason, he suddenly brought up "Confucius Man" and let loose with a torrent of curses. That outburst triggered this ID's curiosity, so upon returning, this ID went and poked around at "Confucius Man." Turns out the fellow was such poor goods. This ID truly felt sorry on that friend's behalf—with his scholarship and insight, ten thousand "Confucius Men" aren't worth a mention. Why bother so? Even a bodhisattva has the confusion of entering the womb; humans, no matter how great their learning or cultivation, probably have their moments of muddleheadedness.

Of course, billions of "Confucius Men" combined can't match one Mr. Wang. This ID is a person who rolls around in capital circles—it's only natural to pick gossip of value. So let's continue spending time on gossip about Mr. Wang.

Recently, the financial capital circles have been rippled by Mr. Wang's testing of the waters. This ID is currently an invalid, and has had little contact with Beijing and Luoyang circles lately. One shouldn't really be wagging one's tongue about such matters. But after things emerged, unable to suppress the gossiping urge, this ID called a few sensitive numbers—only to find them all switched off. These people shouldn't have any direct connection to those matters—perhaps they all sensed something off in the air and shut their phones to be done with it. At least they wouldn't be bothered by gossipy types like this ID. They know too well that once caught on the line by someone as gossip-driven as this ID, being interrogated at length for no small amount of phone time is inevitable. Getting N such calls a day would probably drive anyone mad.

This ID would be delighted to see Mr. Wang bring out the real weapons and discipline those reckless operators who don't know the rules. These people—besides self-interest, what else do they have? Peking University being disgraced is a small matter. Moreover, this kind of thing shouldn't only target Peking University's circles—otherwise Mr. Wang risks playing with fire. Those "this faction" and "that faction"—if the real weapons are coming out, might as well clean out all these local and foreign warlords at once. Of course, Mr. Wang knows what the local and foreign warlords have done and what they've fixed in the past. How to play the chess—that's probably another round of calculations.

But Mr. Wang—can you play Xu Zhu? A true dead-end game can probably only be solved by playing Xu Zhu, and in the real world, there are plenty of calculating people. Whether one can play Xu Zhu, paradoxically, becomes the key to success.

However, worldly affairs aren't novels. The most absurd outcome would probably be playing Xu Zhu only to become Qiao Feng—such an ending would certainly not be what Mr. Wang or those who back him would wish to see. If that were the case, one might as well let Duan Yu take the field—how much more pleasant that would be.

The above gossip is very stupid and very boring. If Mr. Wang doesn't read martial arts novels, then this topic becomes even more stupid and boring. Mr. Wang is Mr. Wang; whether he can ultimately color China with his own palette, Mr. Wang has probably already Wang'd his way through it. So let us also Wang it up—grab our little stools and spectate as Mr. Wang does his thing.