Life-Lessons

Lightstone debuted today, and a former roommate from university has been working inside for many years, leading the hardware development of a particular product.

Regarding expertise, Lightstone’s core business is sports cameras, which is most closely related to his undergraduate major: Automation. Automation is a broad field; during his sophomore year, it was divided into smaller specializations. Regarding his former roommate, there were two groups – the first group were freshman roommates, and the second group were sophomore roommates, who were re-assigned when the majors were split up. Our specialization covers embedded systems, engineering automation control, and circuit design—basically a very diverse range.

If things had gone as the family planned, I would have stuck to studying power grids honestly and diligently, without venturing into coding. Had I erased the dust from my memory, it all stemmed from a chat with my roommate near the Spring Festival, which led to a review of my experiences over the years.

Chapter One

The results of the gaokao (national college entrance examination) couldn’t be described as good or bad; I got into a 211 university, and according to Dad’s original plan, I should have studied power grids and returned to work for the local electricity supply bureau. Earlier accounts had also mentioned how to gradually transition onto the IT path – something that hadn’t been fully articulated before: financial perspective and self-discipline.

It’s my seventh year in the job, and I’m not getting as much positive feedback on the code I write. Let me reflect on how I ended up on this coding path. People’s choices, especially when they’re younger, tend to follow positive reinforcement more closely – actively avoiding harm and seeking benefit.

Ordinary people are social animals, that’s right – you are an individual, and also a bipedal animal, with strong social attributes; you have feelings of inferiority and vanity, and society is constantly changing and eroding your everydayness. We don’t discuss those great figures, those who willingly burn themselves for society or the nation.

My Current Situation

Looking at average salaries or my hometown wages, my current income is significantly above the average – what’s there to be dissatisfied with?

Wang Yi-zi said: Human relationships, spanning a lifetime of mutual support and dependence, may be held within one’s embrace, understood in the confines of one room; or they may arise from entrusted messages, dissolving into the vastness beyond.

• In a lifetime, like a fleeting flower. Like grass and trees blossoming and withering, like the rising and setting of the sun and moon.
• Yet, in this life, desires are numerous.
• As a child, I lay under lotus plants and hemp in the stream, busy catching the east wind to fly kites, chasing yellow butterflies in haste,
• Also learned to grow gourds by the shade of mulberry trees, returning home with a full meal after dusk, not shedding my cloak to lie beneath the moonlight.
• As I grew older, I hoped to be inscribed on the gold list, to have a beautiful woman accompany me, to have endless wealth, to rise continuously, to have a full table of guests, to sing and play every night.
• When old, I wanted health and longevity, welcome childhood servants, young children waiting at the door, a chessboard, a confidant, a bottle of wine, a courtyard, enjoying family harmony.

• Often, at some stage of life, people find themselves in a state of confusion, not knowing what they truly want, and gradually losing their pursuit of the meaning of work amidst the mundane daily routines. Looking back to when I first graduated, my heart was full of fervent aspirations – then I would without hesitation say, “I yearn to write code, to create brilliant, eye-catching code.” However, working until today, I’ve had more exposure to business-level affairs, which is largely due to the benefits brought by industry development.