# Unspoken Rules of Human Nature

1. If a single male doesn't have a girlfriend, he can try dating a female preschool teacher—plenty of surprises.

2. Buying a girl dinner for 200 yuan is not as effective as giving her 200 yuan worth of chocolate.

3. If you don't contact others and others don't contact you, this is called the silent breakup principle.

4. Don't always appear brave and wise in front of others; learn to show vulnerability appropriately, and your path will be wider.

5. Between adults, once you've offended someone, you've offended them—a simple apology or dinner can't easily make amends. Without shared interests binding you together, that rift lasts a lifetime.

6. In society, whoever has the boldest nerve has the most opportunities.

7. Socializing with people in worse financial situations is mostly useless networking—it sounds harsh but it's true.

8. When friendships fade, it's not because you contact each other less, but because your material and spiritual levels have diverged.

9. You don't need to be clever, but you must have a sense of boundaries. Everyone needs to find their place—claim only what's yours; don't even acknowledge things that aren't yours.

10. A man and woman should avoid business trips together; gossip is feared.

11. When you've decided to do something, don't announce it loudly to everyone. Few people want you to succeed, and many are waiting to see you fail.

12. Don't share your own earnings or accomplishments with anyone except your parents.

13. Never try to correct others; in the adult world, people can only be filtered, not educated.

14. The essence of broken relationships is usually this: the person who's always been taken advantage of decides they won't be anymore. There's no deeper complexity. This applies to family relationships, friendships, and romantic relationships alike.

15. People who are overly familiar are not trustworthy.

16. After helping someone, don't keep mentioning it; every time you do, the favor diminishes.

17. Most people just go with the flow; a truly excellent person always appears to stand apart.

18. When you age, don't get too close to your children; live your own lives separately to avoid many conflicts.

19. Few men use appearance as capital. If a woman's world is ruled by age and beauty as the cruelest factors, then in a man's world it's money.

20. Don't take pleasant words seriously; don't take harsh words to heart—taking things seriously means you've lost.

21. Don't flaunt wealth; get used to playing poor. If you seem less successful than others, they'll be happier, and conversations will be more enjoyable.

22. Those who kick you when you're down are your own people; those who laugh at your misfortune aren't outsiders; those who don't want you to succeed are people around you.

23. Without strength, temperament is a stumbling block; with strength, temperament is personality—society judges people and serves accordingly.

24. Even in good relationships, watch what you say; pay attention to subtext—those who understand subtext are masters.

25. Being good to everyone equals being good to no one. Only by giving genuine care to a few can you gain a group of people who truly cherish you.