Gong Xiaosi: More Role Model Than Zhang Ziyi

Writing this article is risky. Because the earth people all know Zhang Ziyi, and Gong Xiaosi almost no one knows.

In an era when entertainers dominate the dreams of young people, when Zeng Yike stood in the spotlight with her sick "sheep sound" to accept the cheers and abuse from the post-90s generation, I didn't know whether to rejoice or mourn.

Sartre said: that existence is reasonable. Even though it's absurd to have a majority.

Since my youth coincided with the flying ideals of the 1980s, the beliefs that sustained life tended to be very metaphysical. But fortunately, these ideas go beyond simple material desires and success.

A few days ago, I saw a program called "Young Entrepreneurs China is Strong" on TV, a 23-year-old girl from Chengdu left a deep impression on me.

Her name is Gong Xiaosi, a rich second generation. Her parents were the first college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination. In 1992, they came to Chengdu with less than 1,000 yuan to start their own business. They lived in a room of more than 20 square meters, making her childhood full of hardships.

Then, the hard work that accompanies parents does not start a business, with all the grassroots children that do not have background same, the Gong Xiaosi of natural ability is clever began the ego struggle of big Changjin type. She was introduced to chess at the age of eight. Because of her natural love and the hard work and tenacity that her parents gave her character, she soon came to the fore. At the age of 10, he became the runner-up of the National Youth Chess Competition and the champion of the Sichuan Provincial Adult Chess Competition. Later, he was selected to the National Youth Team and became the youngest master of the Chinese Chess Association at the age of 13.

In 2003, Gong Xiaosi was admitted to Columbia University with a full scholarship because of her excellent academic performance, outstanding performance in a chess competition, and leadership in student activities.

After entering university, Gong majored in economics and East Asian language and culture and studied in Tokyo for one year. After graduation, she came to Hong Kong and worked as a designer for a well-known fashion company. At the same time, my parents' business reached a turning point in its development. She resolutely gave up her well-paid job in Hong Kong to return to her hometown, entered the construction industry, and began to fully take over the family business.

She said: "From the colorful New York City, from the fashion world of champagne, supermodels, and celebrities, back to the cold concrete, back to the construction world of migrant workers, tower cranes, and construction elevators, I have undergone a great transformation in both my inner experience and self-perception. These two industries are very different from each other. The former left the footprints of my dream and the absurdity of my youth, while the latter is the imprint of my real dream and the beginning of my down-to-earth life."

Gong Xiaosi has been financially independent since she was 18. Back in the early days of the company, she had no money and would often hike for two hours to save $2 on the bus fare. On crowded buses, she was always shunned and annoyed by young girls, who saw her as a construction worker in a hard hat and covered in black motor oil.

A good friend who accompanied her on the construction site for a few days and later became a colleague in Hong Kong said, "Do you know what I admire most about you? Your friends who drive fancy cars and spend money in Cartier, Gucci, and D&G, and the guys who laugh loudly and drink in big bowls of concrete, may never get a chance to meet, but you can just walk around."

Gong Xiaosi's biggest worry is that the reality of the business world and the complexity of society will destroy her childlike innocence and the warm-blooded ideal that always exists beyond the real material. But in the deep forging and comprehension of reality, she acquired something that is generally lacking in this era: faith. "We have grown up in an age of materialism and money," she said. "Faith stands for a great moral principle -- the defense of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that all men are created equal. A person without faith is a body without soul and moral constraints, a small person.

A bestselling American business book called "Built to last" lays out the core secret of all century-old companies: the pursuit of something above profit arises from, and above, the individual. The reason why young Gong Xiaosi did not simply indulge in wealth, honor, and self-success was that she found a more worthwhile goal than these, called serving the country through the industry. Only then, she can pure transparent, unremitting struggle, never give up. This is a precious and relatively scarce quality in Chinese business and among the younger generation.

Through the long time tunnel, I came from the 1980s full of passion and dreams to the noisy 2009, unexpectedly from a young business rookie to feel the long-lost ambition to get rid of sensory desire. I think this is a valuable minority report.

From the parents once dote on, material abundance fell to the reality of injustice, power and money marriage, competition pressure unprecedented real dilemma, maybe once not favored after 80, 90 people have a collective great possibility.