Rishina's home was near the sea, and for generations, the villagers had made their living by fishing. From a young age, he accompanied his father on fishing trips, quickly becoming his father's trusted assistant. But recently, he had become obsessed with hunting, neglecting his duties to the point of being beyond reproach, and he frequently suffered his father's scolding because of it. Not far from the village stood a small mountain, rugged and rarely visited. The elders said wild boars often appeared there. How wonderful it would be to catch one! The thought of the wild boars on the mountain haunted him, and he resolved to try his luck.

Whenever someone gives me a bright, radiant smile, I feel happy. Because I understand that they are also giving that smile to themselves. Indeed, in our busy, real-world lives, why not set aside a little smile to give to ourselves? Giving a smile to yourself means washing away your wounds. In the journey of life, we must possess this kind of attitude: failure and setbacks are merely memories, experiences that only make us more mature. Smiling at yourself while carrying scars is another form of life's brilliance.

There was a little boy whose parents divorced when he was young, and he lived with his mother. Due to financial hardship, five family members squeezed into a drafty wooden shack, sleeping on bunk beds, and considered soy sauce mixed with rice as the finest delicacy in the world. From a young age, he was plain-looking, quiet, and introverted. His peers thought he was dirty and unattractive, and refused to play with him. After starting school, he faced even more ridicule and humiliation from classmates, being called a "fatherless wild child." At one time, he believed himself to be the most unfortunate person in the world. During his school years, he was extremely mischievous, restless, and playful, and his academic performance was consistently poor. As a result, his mother was inevitably summoned to every parent-teacher meeting.

In the seventh year of the Qingli era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jiangnan region was plagued by continuous rain, lasting from March to September. Crops in the fields failed completely, affecting 127 counties. Rice prices soared; by October, they had risen from the original 400 wen per dan to 1,500 wen, leaving the common people in utter misery. Officials in various prefectures of Jiangnan requested aid from the imperial court while simultaneously cracking down hard on price gouging and punishing profiteering merchants. Once someone was found inflating rice prices, they faced severe punishment: light offenses resulted in confiscation of property and conscription into military service, while serious offenses led to immediate execution. Through these thunderous measures, rice prices in Jiangnan finally stabilized, remaining around 500 wen per dan.

Jacques Chirac, former president of France, was undoubtedly a prominent figure on the world political stage. Like any president, during his time in office many people speculated about the extent of his personal wealth—especially foreign journalists. Some claimed Chirac must have at least ten million euros, but perhaps that was too low; maybe he had tens of millions, or even over a hundred million. Although these were merely speculations, they usually had some basis—after all, there's no smoke without fire. It wasn't until half a month before Chirac left office that the relevant French authorities, following standard procedure, publicly disclosed his complete personal assets. This included the bank deposits he shared with the First Lady, totaling 1.3 million euros.

In 1781, George Stephenson was born in a village called Wylam in northern England. His father was a coal miner and his mother a housewife; neither could read or write. Like his parents, Stephenson never attended school. At the age of eight, he began herding cattle for others. By ten, he was doing odd jobs at the coal mine, and at fourteen, he started working alongside his father underground. Due to his impoverished background and lowly origins, Stephenson's childhood was spent enduring ridicule, yet he never took the mockery to heart.

To others, he was arrogant, headstrong, and even violent and cruel. Yet he possessed a clear mind and unwavering will, realizing his dreams through superhuman calmness and perseverance. He was a true "Iron and Blood" hero. In modern German history, the mere mention of Otto von Bismarck (hereafter Bismarck) evokes a vivid image: a towering, arrogant, obstinate, domineering, haughty, coarse, and even violent and cruel figure. Like Peter the Great and Napoleon, Bismarck was a legendary figure widely celebrated during his lifetime. Using "iron and blood" tactics, he accomplished the unification of Germany, thrusting the nation onto the world stage as a great power.

Yao, Shun, and Yu are three famous emperors from China's remote antiquity. In reality, during that time they were more accurately leaders of tribal alliances. With no written language in ancient times, history was preserved solely through oral tradition. In folk legends and in the hearts of the people, Yao, Shun, and Yu are all regarded as wise and enlightened rulers. The grandfather of Yao was the Yellow Emperor. Yao ascended the throne at the age of 16. He was exceptionally skilled in governing the realm, ensuring peace and stability throughout the land and enabling the people to live and work in contentment. He ruled the nation for approximately 100 years and passed away at the age of over 110. Before his death, following recommendations from the people and after rigorous personal evaluation, he selected Shun—a man of humble origins but of great virtue and talent—as his successor, and even married his two daughters, Ehuang and Nüying, to Shun.

Long, long ago, the Mongols lived a nomadic life, "moving with water and grass." There, the sky was vast and blue, the wilderness endless, and the wind blowing low over the grass revealed herds of cattle and sheep. It was on this vast grassland that Genghis Khan, the "Genghis Khan" of a generation, was born. Genghis Khan's real name was Temujin. "Genghis Khan" was a title bestowed upon him later. "Genghis" means "ocean," and "Khan" is the emperor we commonly refer to; thus, Genghis Khan means "an emperor like the ocean."

Traditional Chinese literati usually avoided discussing money, regarding it as vulgar and tainted with the "stink of copper." As a result, many talented scholars and writers neither engaged in productive labor nor understood the principles of business and finance. However, there were exceptions—individuals who were not only intellectually brilliant and creatively gifted but also possessed exceptional economic acumen and financial wisdom. Kang Youwei stands out as a prime example. He had a keen eye for real estate investment, and with just a few ventures, he earned substantial profits. His precision in identifying opportunities and decisiveness in action would have made even today's seasoned real estate speculators feel inferior.