He fiercely criticized the Manchu scholar clique and the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

"Nanxi, do you know what true charity is?"

Zhao Shuyao slowed her pace, her hands still casually in her trench coat pockets, her gaze sweeping over the traffic ahead, as if asking her a question, or perhaps posing a contemporary question without a standard answer.

Gu Nanxi paused for a moment, her beautiful brows furrowing slightly as she quickly processed the seemingly simple yet extremely complex term in the current context. In her logical system, some concepts were constant and should not be corrupted by the hypocrisy of a few individuals.

"Isn't charity simply about reaching out to people who are struggling and facing hardship, offering them material or emotional assistance?" Gu Nanxi turned her head, her clear gaze fixed on Zhao Shuyao, her tone carrying the meticulousness typical of a science student. "Could there be other meanings behind this word?"

She looked at Zhao Shuyao, trying to find the answer in those eyes that always seemed so clear and insightful.

Zhao Shuyao stopped and turned to meet her inquisitive gaze. He stared at her for a full two seconds, and then a relaxed smile involuntarily spread across his lips.

He discovered that this Jiangnan girl, who could see through the intentions of capital brokers at a glance and remain unmoved at the negotiating table, still retained an extremely pure and innocent nature. She knew how to calculate, but she disdained to use calculation to dismantle goodwill.

"What are you laughing at?" Gu Nanxi was a little confused by his laughter, and her brows furrowed even more. "Did I misunderstand that word just now?"

"No, absolutely not." Zhao Shuyao immediately pulled his hands out of his pockets and waved them gently in front of him, his tone as calm as if he were reassuring a meticulous top student.

"You're right. What you understand is the simplest and most genuine kindness, which is also the kind of charity that the vast majority of ordinary people in our society are doing or are willing to do."

"Then why are you still laughing?" Gu Nanxi pressed.

Zhao Shuyao turned around and continued walking along the sidewalk: "I laughed because I found that you think about this a bit too detached from reality. The line you mentioned is the bottom line for ordinary people."

"But in the eyes of those insiders who were just sitting in Alphard vans and who always talk about 'social responsibility,' charity is no longer just a simple matter, but an extremely profound science of asset management."

Gu Nanxi quickly followed, and the two walked side by side in the early spring sunshine.

"Is there another kind?" Gu Nanxi's voice carried a hint of disbelief. "Or rather, in your perspective, Zhao the Great Blogger, what exactly is your definition of charity?"

Zhao Shuyao did not answer immediately. His gaze fell on the corner of the street, where a huge LED screen was playing a touching short film about a celebrity donating hundreds of schoolbags to a remote mountainous area.

In the video, a celebrity wearing a neat white shirt smiles as he hands a schoolbag to a ragged child, surrounded by bright flashes of light.

"My definition of charity actually overlaps with what you said, but the underlying logic is completely different." Zhao Shuyao withdrew his gaze, his voice calm and without a trace of emotion.

He stretched out a finger and gently traced it in the air: "First of all, you can call for donations, you can raise funds, that's fine, but there's an insurmountable prerequisite—you, as the initiator, must be the one carrying the heaviest bucket and walking at the very front of the line."

"For example, if your organization or you, as a celebrity, have tens or even hundreds of millions of yuan in net profit every year, and you want to do charity, that's fine. You can actually take 50% or even 30% of your own money and put it all into this cause. That shows your sincerity and gives you the confidence to call on others."

At this point, Zhao Shuyao paused slightly, his mind flashing back to those truly unknown entrepreneurs and ordinary people from his previous life who devoted their entire fortunes to building schools and roads.

They may not be good with words, and may even live in simple apartments in their later years, but what they offer is their true blood and soul.

"But what are these people doing now?" Zhao Shuyao let out a sarcastic sneer, which was particularly clear in the noisy street. "They earn tens of millions a year and millions for each event they attend, but when it comes to charity, they symbolically pluck a hair from their own leg and give out 100,000 or 200,000 to save face."

Turning her head, she looked at Gu Nanxi's face, which was gradually becoming serious, and continued to peel away that glamorous disguise.

"Then, they use their media matrix to stir up emotions across the internet, using the most noble words to squeeze every last penny out of ordinary people's pockets."

"Once the fund pool is full, they use the donations raised by the whole society to build schools and buy supplies. Finally, they bring several truckloads of media reporters and shed a couple of tears in front of the camera."

Zhao Shuyao spread his hands and made a very vivid "gathering" gesture: "In the end, the money comes from the people, but the golden archway of 'touching the times' and 'boundless love' is tightly attached to their own heads. With this archway, their commercial endorsements can double again."

"Using other people's money to build a good reputation for yourself, and even completing a very clever profit loop—Gu, can you call this kind of 'charity'—using ordinary people's kindness as financial leverage to manipulate personal fame and fortune?"

Gu Nanxi listened quietly to these words. She didn't reply immediately, but lowered her head slightly, looking at the receding paving stones beneath her feet. Two seconds later, she raised her head, the previous confusion in her eyes completely gone, replaced by a clear understanding.

"I understand." Gu Nanxi nodded. "That's why you used such a shameless way to refuse Li Zhengming in the coffee shop. It's not that you didn't want to help him, it's that you would never become a link in their closed loop of interests."

"That's only one aspect." Zhao Shuyao smiled, his tone suddenly becoming serious.

They stopped and stared at the endless main road in the city ahead. A truck loaded with goods roared past them, kicking up a light cloud of dust.

"Secondly, because in my heart, the truly greatest charity has never been at those glittering banquets." Zhao Shuyao's voice pierced through the noise of the street, carrying an extremely firm strength, "True charity belongs to the millions of poverty alleviation workers who are walking on muddy mountain roads."

Gu Nanxi was stunned; this answer was clearly beyond her original expectations.

"Poverty alleviation workers?" she repeated softly. In the early spring of 2016, the slogan "targeted poverty alleviation" had resounded throughout the land, but for students in the ivory tower, it was more like a grand news term, still far removed from their lives.

Zhao Shuyao gazed at the endless stream of cars ahead, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

"Yes, it's them." Zhao Shuyao took a deep breath, his tone revealing an undisguised respect. "Think about it carefully, most of these people have received higher education and hold diplomas that are no worse than yours or mine."

"They are perfectly capable of staying in a big city like this, sitting in a heated and air-conditioned office building, sipping coffee, and earning a decent salary every month."

"But they didn't. They packed their bags without hesitation and threw themselves into those remote mountains where there wasn't even a decent road and cell phone signal was intermittent."

Zhao Shuyao turned his head, looking at Gu Nanxi with intense focus: "Do you know how many people like this there are across the country? Millions. What's even more cruel is, do you know how many people like this die every year on the mountain roads while visiting impoverished households, due to mudslides, car accidents, or even from overwork?"

A series of interrogations made Gu Nanxi's breathing become slightly weaker.

"When they fell, no media outlets wrote lengthy articles about them, and many of their names don't even leave a single search record on the internet. They just passed away quietly, sacrificing their youth and even their lives for the development of a few villages in the mountains."

Zhao Shuyao patted the hem of his trench coat with the back of his hand, as if brushing away non-existent dust: "Compared to those celebrities who exchange a little pocket money for traffic, this kind of person, this kind of behavior of truly taking the suffering of others on their own shoulders, is what I consider true charity."

Gu Nanxi remained silent for a long time. The early spring breeze blew through the wisps of hair on her forehead, and a look of deep shock flashed in her eyes.

She had always known that Zhao Shuyao possessed strong logic and unyielding integrity, but only at this moment did she truly glimpse the compassionate heart beating within this young man's chest.

"According to what you said, that's true." Gu Nanxi nodded, but her meticulous nature as a science student still made her raise her own questions, "But, this is still slightly different from charity in the traditional sense, isn't it? After all, it's an assigned task, and from a certain perspective, it's their job."

"Work?" Upon hearing these two words, Zhao Shuyao not only didn't get angry, but instead showed an extremely tolerant smile.

Looking at Gu Nanxi, he took another step and walked towards the entrance of MixC shopping mall, which was now almost within reach.

"Yes, that's their job," Zhao Shuyao said as they walked, his tone extremely calm. "But if they only saw this job as a way to earn a few thousand yuan a month, do you think so many people would still have died on that land?"

He stopped in front of the mall's huge revolving door, turned around, and delivered his final, decisive blow.

"Gu, since it's just an ordinary job, wouldn't it be much more convenient and safer to find an excuse to laze around in the village committee office, drinking tea and filling out forms every day, than to brave the torrential rain to inspect dilapidated houses?"

Gu Nanxi was completely speechless.

Yes, if it were just to make a living, who would risk their life? What can make people willingly risk their lives is not just work, but a belief etched into their bones.

"Let's go." Zhao Shuyao didn't let the slightly heavy atmosphere last too long. He nodded his chin toward the mall and his tone regained its youthful lightness.

"If we don't go in soon, the opening credits of 'The Revenant' will be over. I want to see how Leonardo DiCaprio tries to reason with that bear on the frozen plains at sub-zero temperatures."

Gu Nanxi took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions she had just felt, and a smile returned to her lips: "He's unreasonable; he just bit me with his mouth."

The two passed through the revolving door and entered the brightly lit mall lobby, taking the escalator straight to the cinema on the top floor.