Old Man Sai loses his horse—a blessing in disguise.
Anyone who's gone through the Nine-Year Compulsory Education has learned this.
But how could Old Man Sai be someone who could predict the future?
How come I have no memory of that at all?
Could feudal superstition even make it into textbooks?
Forgetting all about my manners, I quickly pulled out my phone to look it up.
The STEM guy in me kicked in; I just had to verify if it was true or not!
My god, he really was "a master of divination"!
What's even funnier is that if you don't look up the original classical text, the modern vernacular version is just translated as "An old man on the frontier lost his horse."
I was completely stunned, suspecting there was something wrong with my eyes.
Of course, it was also possible my brain was the problem.
How could they even do that...
Lao Dao, however, just smiled faintly. "Well, that's life. Sometimes, you shouldn't take things too seriously.
You, you're just too much of a stickler."
I puffed out my chest and retorted righteously, "Chairman Mao said: The matter of knowledge is a scientific one, and it allows for not the slightest bit of dishonesty or arrogance."
Lao Dao straightened up, a Mona Lisa smile on his face. Looking profound and inscrutable, he dropped the subject.
Thankfully, with people hurrying back and forth in the airport corridor, no one noticed my awkward predicament.
Just then, two people started arguing in the waiting area up ahead.
They looked like a married couple.
From the snippets of their conversation, I could tell the argument started because their flight was about to start boarding.
The woman was anxious and wanted to get in line first to board the plane early.
The man, however, wanted to wait while sitting down and get on after everyone else had boarded. He felt there was no need to stand and wait, since they'd get on eventually anyway.
The woman called the man lazy, saying standing for a little while wouldn't kill him!
The man cursed the woman for being a glutton for punishment, insisting on standing when she could just sit!
One look at their arguing posture and you could tell they were both seasoned pros.
Neither was willing to back down.
Lao Dao withdrew his gaze and said leisurely, "One Yin and one Yang make the Dao."
After a pause, he continued, "In this world, most problems are caused by an imbalance of Yin and Yang."
(I would later learn that this was Lao Dao's humble, reserved way of putting it.)
"The reason two people, or two organizations, argue is because their viewpoints are inconsistent."
"It's their viewpoints that are inconsistent, not the facts," he repeated.
"Normal people don't argue over facts."
I listened quietly, trying my best to grasp the meaning he was trying to convey.
"Ahem..." I didn't expect Lao Dao to suddenly speak English and choked on my own saliva.
I cupped my hands, gesturing for Lao Dao to continue.
He gave me a speechless look and continued, "Water freezes at zero degrees. That's a viewpoint. Someone might have a different opinion. And with different viewpoints, arguments can arise."
At this point, a young girl next to us couldn't help but chime in.
"Master, water freezing at zero degrees is common knowledge, isn't it? How could anyone have a different opinion?"
She was fair-skinned and round-faced, like a freshly steamed, fluffy little bun. She looked so soft and bouncy.
Lao Dao patiently explained, "A viewpoint, to put it simply, is the point from which you view things.
Everyone's personal history and life experiences are different, so their perspectives on issues will also differ.
Take water, for example. In Lhasa, it won't freeze at zero degrees."
"Oh, oh, oh, I remember now!" Xiao Baozi chimed in, excitedly raising and waving her little hands. "It's because of the atmospheric pressure, right? In Lhasa, water's boiling point is lower, and its freezing point is different from normal too, right?"
"Correct. People argue because they are trapped by their own limited viewpoints.
They believe they are right, and the other person is an idiot.
Unfortunately, the other person thinks the exact same thing."
"Hahaha," neither Xiao Baozi nor I could hold it in, our shoulders shaking with laughter.
It seemed like Lao Dao was commenting on the arguing couple, but it also felt like he was replying to me.
The more I laughed, the more ashamed I felt.
I'm often on a quest to prove other people are idiots...
Proofreader: Peter Pan