In China, why do older generations prefer to rely on connections for everything, even buying a refrigerator that costs 3,500 yuan on the market, but they are willing to pay 4,000 yuan to buy from someone they know, and invite them to dinner, and build personal relationships? Because they grew up in an era where material resources were relatively scarce, markets were underdeveloped, and rules were not transparent. In that era, many resources were not allocated through open markets but flowed through units, systems, organizations, and personal networks. Whether you could buy, get things done, or access better opportunities often depended on who you knew, rather than how much you paid. Over time, people developed a deeply ingrained belief: relationships are more important than price, and personal favors are more reliable than rules. Later, with the development of marketization, the supply of goods became increasingly abundant, information more transparent, and a large amount of resources began to flow freely through markets with open pricing. People no longer needed to buy refrigerators, TVs, plane tickets, or even job opportunities through relationships. The importance of connections decreased relatively, and rules and markets gradually replaced some functions of personal networks. But on a deeper level, people's reliance on relationships or markets is never a moral choice but a result of the institutional environment. When resource allocation becomes more transparent and rules more stable, people tend to trust the market more; when resources become concentrated again, liquidity decreases, and rule uncertainty increases, people will turn back to relationships for security. A society based on personal favors is not just a cultural tradition but often a survival strategy shaped by resource scarcity and the institutional environment.