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The Business on Top of Mount Tai

· 4 min read
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Can climbing Mount Tai these days really make you a fortune? Have you heard? A 26-year-old guy made over 300,000 yuan in a year by accompanying people climbing Mount Tai. This whole thing feels novel, and also a bit strange.

At first, I thought it was some newspaper making stuff up again, but when I looked closely, hey, it's actually true! This young man, he doesn't sell tea, he doesn't sell water, he just sells "companionship." He accompanies you on the climb, cheers you on, takes pictures for you, and in the end, he can even tell you about the history of Mount Tai, a living tour guide and nanny all in one.

This business, to put it bluntly, is selling effort, along with a bit of talk. But how can this effort, this talk, be worth so much money? My heart feels like a cat scratching, itchy and uncomfortable.

Thinking about it carefully, it's not hard to understand. In today's world, everyone is busy, busy making money, busy getting promoted, busy showing off their happiness on social media. But those who really have the free time to climb a mountain are either wealthy or extremely idle. Both types aren't short of money. What they want isn't a few yuan's worth of mineral water, nor a few perfunctory words of encouragement, they want a "companion."

This "companion" is not simple. He has to understand your thoughts, know when you want to hear a joke, when you want to hear history, and when you want to be alone. He has to be like an old friend, chat with you, relieve your boredom, accompany you in this concrete jungle, to find a bit of humanity.

But is this humanity really worth so much? My heart starts to feel uneasy again.

Come to think of it, what isn't worth money these days? Grain isn't worth money, vegetables aren't worth money, even a college student's diploma isn't worth money. But the true feelings between people are becoming more and more valuable.

This true feeling is not something that can be exchanged by you giving me an LV bag and I treating you to a seafood feast. It has to be a genuine heart for a genuine heart. You have to spend time, put in effort, to accompany a person, to understand a person, to build a relationship with a person that transcends money.

This young man, what he sells is this "true feeling." He uses his time, his physical strength, his words, to exchange for others' trust, others' dependence, others' gratitude. This "true feeling," in this indifferent society, appears particularly precious.

But how long can this "true feeling" last? My heart is filled with a question mark again.

This young man, he can accompany one guest to climb for a year, he can accompany ten guests to climb for a year, but can he accompany a hundred guests to climb for a year? Can he accompany a thousand guests to climb for a year? And how many guests can he accompany for a lifetime?

This "true feeling" is ultimately limited. It's like the spring water on Mount Tai, it looks clear, but as it flows, it also dries up.

This reminds me of those young people working in the city. They leave their homes and come to this strange city, for survival, for dreams, working hard, making money hard. But what do they get in return? The boss's scorn, the colleagues' exclusion, the landlord's rent demands, the city's indifference.

They also crave "true feeling", hoping someone can talk to them, chat with them, but this "true feeling" in this city is even thinner than the clouds on top of Mount Tai.

"Silence, oh, silence! If not erupt in silence, then perish in silence." I finally understand this sentence completely. This world is just like this, the more silent you are, the more you are bullied. You have to shout, to yell, to let others hear your voice, see your existence.

But what's the use of shouting, of yelling? This world is like a huge millstone, it won't stop turning because of your shouts, it will only grind you to pieces.

This young man, he may be lucky, he found a way to make money, but how long can this road last? How long can this Mount Tai be climbed?

My heart is a mess, like a tangled ball of yarn that can't be untangled.