"Oh right, Mr. Ma called and invited us to dinner," Lin Le said, remembering the phone call.
"Well, why don't you tidy yourself up first? I'll wait for you," Hou Wenjie said, looking at Lin Le, whose hair was slightly disheveled as if he had just woken up.
"Um... I'll be right there." Lin Le blushed slightly. She felt a little embarrassed to have a man she didn't dislike see her looking less than perfect.
In the bathroom, she carefully combed her hair and then re-tied it with a hair tie.
Then she washed her face again, intending to put on some makeup, but suddenly remembered that her makeup bag was still in her rented room.
This wasn't because the production team was deliberately making things difficult for her; rather, the show itself was unfriendly to female photographers.
In the show, the contestants and the cameramen lived and ate together.
And this is a survival-themed show.
Therefore, the production team was initially not optimistic about her applying for the photographer position.
But Lin Le has an innate competitive spirit, and in her view, this month-long survival show is also a challenge to her life.
So, she came.
After drying her face, she walked out of the bathroom, put her phone in her pocket, picked up the filming phone from the production crew, and said, "Let's go!"
Hou Wenjie nodded.
Walking on the road.
Lin Le looked at Hou Wenjie and said, "You were so confident before, why did you suddenly think of me buying toiletries? You don't have confidence in the promotional video, do you?"
Hou Wenjie said earnestly, "Personal confidence is actually a very subjective thing."
What I consider good may not be seen that way by others.
Lin Le frowned, then looked at Hou Wenjie and said, "I believe you. Even if we stay in the park for a while, it's fine. I believe you can think of a better way."
Hou Wenjie laughed and said, "Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust a great task to someone, it will first test his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body, leave him destitute, and thwart his actions, so as to strengthen his resolve and increase his abilities."
Lin Le was a little confused when Hou Wenjie suddenly spoke in classical Chinese: "What are you saying?"
Looking at Lin Le's bewildered expression, Hou Wenjie suddenly realized that Mencius had never appeared in the history of this world.
So he began, “This passage was spoken by an ancient philosopher, and I read it in an old book.”
This means that if Heaven is about to bestow a heavy responsibility upon a person, it will first cause them inner suffering, physical exhaustion, and the torment of hunger.
His skin became emaciated, he suffered from poverty, and his already begun actions were disrupted.
The aim was to use these hardships to touch his heart, strengthen his character, and enhance his abilities that he didn't originally possess.
Lin Le listened to Hou Wenjie's earnest explanation, her eyes lighting up, and said, "Could you repeat those few lines of classical Chinese? I want to memorize them."
As he spoke, Lin Le took out his personal cell phone.
Hou Wenjie nodded and said, "Of course!"
Under Lin Le's expectant gaze, Hou Wenjie repeated those words again.
Lin Le also wrote it down word by word.
Her camera phone was pointed directly at the screen of her personal phone, and the text appeared one by one on the screen, being entered into her notebook.
As she finished typing, the live stream, which had been rather quiet due to the lack of activity between the two, suddenly became lively with comments.
"Holy crap, I thought Hou Wenjie was a hopeless illiterate, but I didn't expect him to be able to speak some classical Chinese!"
Most importantly, this passage of classical Chinese was something even I, a literature major, had never heard of before!
"I must say, this passage of classical Chinese is actually quite enjoyable to read aloud!"
Therefore, Heaven is about to entrust a great task to this person! This opening alone gives off the aura of a protagonist destined by Heaven!
This one sentence alone is enough to put many pretentious quotes to shame!
The subsequent line, "They must first be tested with hardship, toil, hunger, and deprivation, and their actions must be disrupted, so as to strengthen their resolve, patience, and increase their abilities," is even more inspiring!
A sense of triumph is welling up inside me! Guys, don't you feel it too?!
"So, is this a self-portrait of Hou Wenjie? He put himself into it, and now I understand his previous videos a little better!"
"Brothers, this is a big problem! I searched for this quote on Soso, but I can't find the source at all!"
"Then there's only one truth: Hou Wenjie saw a rare, ancient copy! I wonder who said that!"
"Just ask on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website), everyone there is a graduate student, and all sorts of experts are constantly emerging. Maybe one of them can post the original text!"
"Why go to such lengths when Hou Wenjie already knows?"
"After reading this passage of classical Chinese, my opinion of Hou Wenjie has changed somewhat!"
So all those previous videos weren't him giving up, but rather a form of self-cultivation!
"By subjecting them to hardship, toil, hunger, deprivation, and disruption of their endeavors, they will be motivated to endure and improve their abilities."
This is much better than those toxic motivational quotes on the internet!
I understand! The more difficult the situation, the more I must not give up!
Soon, on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website), the question about "[Heaven will entrust a great task to this person...and increase what he cannot do]" was pushed to the top 50 of Zhihu's daily Q&A list!
Among those answering the questions, some were just watching the live stream for fun, some were there to make jokes, and some were genuine professionals.
Thanks for the invitation. I'm currently at a construction site, just took off my graduation cap, and am still very hungry, but at least I've mastered the skill of moving bricks.
[I know this answer from the live stream; it originated from someone's mouth.]
[Never heard of it. Can't find any information about it online. Is it something modern people wrote in an antique style? It sounds quite impressive.]
[I came here after watching the live stream, and asked a friend who collects ancient books. He then asked his father, who studies classical Chinese, and said he'd never heard of that phrase before.]
I am currently a graduate student in the Department of Classical Chinese Literature, and I have never heard of this sentence before. I searched the school's online classical Chinese literature library, but I did not find this sentence.
I asked my teacher, who is the director of our Institute of Ancient Chinese Literature, and he said he had never heard of this passage.
Therefore, based on what the respondent said above, I understand the whole story and have two guesses.
The first possibility is that this passage comes from a book by an unknown ancient figure, and this book is also a unique copy.
The second possibility is that this passage was written by a modern person imitating ancient style.
Regardless of which one, this passage is truly brilliant!
Both in terms of thought and literary talent, it is of the highest caliber in classical Chinese literature.
…
With the explosive popularity on Zhihu, Hou Wenjie's live stream room was flooded with viewers!
The once relatively obscure show, "30 Days of City Survival," is now showing signs of becoming a hit!
Gugu is trending on social media.
Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon this person.
Urban Survival Hou Wenjie#
One was ranked 13th, and the other was ranked 17th.
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