Author: gchan7127

I just want to share all my knowledge, ideas, and experiences with the world. It makes me happy to know that I can inspire others.

3 helpful dating tips for men (and women!)

helpful-tips

Hello, my dear readers!

This post is based on my own experiences and is biased. Please understand there isn’t something that will work for every single woman/man. My intention is to help you. These tips are for the initial stage when you’re trying to get her/him interested.

1. Ask for her advice 

Oftentimes, guys may notice someone they find attractive but do not know how to approach them without seeming creepy or desperate.

Well, I have the perfect solution for you! Go up to your “target” and ask for her opinion.

Women love to share their thoughts and give advice. Use this to your advantage. For example, you can go up to her and ask, “Hey. I’m debating between this *show her the item* and this *show her the other item*. I would like to get a woman’s opinion. Which would you choose and why?”

Unless you come off as a creep, chances are, she will stop and give you her opinion.

Once you get her talking, it is much easier to carry on the conversation. Notice her body language though. If she looks uncomfortable and wants to leave, don’t push it and just thank her for her time.

(A woman can do this too. It might seem rather bold, but I’m sure most men wouldn’t mind.)  Continue reading “3 helpful dating tips for men (and women!)”

The Slight Edge

the-slight-edge-explained

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while now, you would know that I’m very into personal development. I constantly want to improve and become better. Not only that, I want to inspire others to grow as well. (That’s why my slogan is: Grow with me! 😉 )

This post is based on a book called, “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. This is one of the best personal development books I have read (Trust me, I have read a lot).

I’m only going to be sharing a bit of what really resonated with me. If this type of stuff motivates or inspires you, buy the book or listen to the audio book. It can change your life!!!

  • Your philosophy creates your attitude, which create your actions, which create your results, which create your life

Your philosophy is what you believe in; how you think and reason. Your thoughts will determine your attitude.

If you think terribly of yourself, you will have a bad attitude. A poor attitude will lead to little to no action because you do not think you’re capable of succeeding. With little to no action, obviously your results will be horrible. Ultimately, it will lead to an unhappy life.

You see? It’s a cycle. If you want to succeed, you must first change your philosophy.  Continue reading “The Slight Edge”

Modern Romance: Too many choices

modern-romance-cover

Today, my post is going to be based off the book, “Modern Romance”. It is a research-based book that is written by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg. It is extremely interesting and insightful, so I highly recommend!!

Due to the advancement in our technology, it has evolved how we date. Today, we can access hundreds of singles with only a few clicks or swipes. It is honestly too easy. In our parents’ generation, if a guy wanted to ask a girl out, he would either have to call through the landline or do it in person. If we go back to before the invention of the telephone, people had no choice but to do everything in person.

Now, we don’t even need to put in effort anymore. Within minutes, people could message or spam hundreds of potentials. There are so many choices and dating sites/apps allow us to customize and filter what we want. 

Only Asians? Ok. Only women between 18-25? Ok. You get the point.

My friend downloaded a dating app and within a day, she received over 640 messages from men. Can you believe it? If the guys had to call her and start a conversation, how many do you think would actually go through with it?

In addition, my generation is so drawn to our phones that asking people out and/or breaking up with people over text is actually no longer surprising. In fact, research shows that most of the younger generation is ok with it.

So, we have lowered the amount of efforts required for both men and women. Furthermore, we expect more and want more than the previous generations. In the past, people got married because they needed to produce children in order to sustain their farmland. They needed children to do the labour. It was for survival and duty.

But today, we’re not satisfied with just anyone. Our standards have gone up. We want someone who makes us feel complete. We want someone who shares similar interests as us. We want someone who we can’t live without.

Not only that, dating is more complicated because there are unwritten rules that we all follow now. For instance:

Modern romance #3.jpg

But some may say, but Grace, isn’t it better we have choices now? We are no longer forced to marry our neighbours! That is a good thing.  Continue reading “Modern Romance: Too many choices”

Thinking ahead

long or short term planning or thinking

This post is based on my own views and experiences. My mind has grown a lot in the past year or so.

Some of you may or may not know that I translate a Chinese novel into English. Due to my translations, I have managed to gain over 600k views on my blog. Compared to huge sites with millions of readers, 600k is actually a very small amount. However, I’m very proud of what I have built on my own. From translating, I’ve learnt that:

1. People are giving me views because I am giving them something they want

This is a crucial point. The only reason why 95% of my readers come to my site is because they want to read the novel but they cannot read Chinese. Therefore, they have to come to me in order to read the English version.

So, if I want to gain more views or make more ad revenue, I need to give the people what they want.

2. Translating is short term pain but long term gain

Honestly, translating a novel takes hundreds and hundreds of hours. It is extremely difficult, tedious, and requires tremendous amounts of concentration. In fact, it is so hard that most people quit after a couple of chapters. Continue reading “Thinking ahead”

How to tell if a shy girl likes you

Shy.jpg

Okay, this post is a somewhat continuation of my post from last week (The texting game). Honestly, there are only two things you really need to do in order to figure out whether a shy girl likes you or not.

1. Pay attention to the amount of effort she is putting in

This might sound like common sense, but hear me out.

Shy girls do not tend to be very direct. They’re most likely never going to tell you they like you or flirt (either they don’t know how or they prefer not to). Therefore, some people might be wondering, “Does she like me? Or does she only want to be my friend?”

Here are some things that could potentially mean she likes you:

-She goes out of her way to message you when it is not necessary.
-She is open to hanging out with you one on one.
-She tries to carry on the conversation.
-She makes an effort to look nice when she is meeting up with you.
-She likes to joke around with you.

However, even if the girl does all of the above, it doesn’t mean she likes you for sure. To find out, you need to do #2. Continue reading “How to tell if a shy girl likes you”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 88 (end)

To my dear readers,

I’m finally done! I hope you liked the story. If you have read the entire novel, thank you!!

Chapter 88

“She came to give me an invitation.” said Lian Feng.

“What invitation?”

“Ever since the former Martial Arts Leader Qin Hao Tian was killed twenty five years ago, the martial arts circle has been missing a leader. This time, Sword Spirit Hills is organizing a general convention to select a new and suitable leader to lead the heroes.”

Oh, I see. So he’s not looking for trouble. Lin Shan sighed a breath of relief. But very quickly, she realized something: “What did you say the former Martial Arts Leader’s name was?”

“Qin Hao Tian.”

Lin Shan was shocked and her mouth was wide opened like an O shape: “Qin Hao Tian? Qin Yu? Could they be….”

“You’re correct.” Lian Feng nodded, “Twenty five years ago, Ji Hong Lin used poison and killed off Qin Hao Tian’s family. She took Qin Hao Tian’s infant son and adopted him as her child. Three years ago, Qin Yu finally got his revenge for his parents.”

After hearing this, Lin Shan deeply sighed. She actually had no idea why Ji Bai Yu suddenly decided to switch sides when they were in the stone chamber. Now that she realized he had been suffering in silence for years, she couldn’t help but admire him.

“So, are you going to go to the convention?” Lin Shan asked. Based on martial arts abilities, Lian Feng was definitely not under Qin Yu.

Lian Feng shook his head: “Didn’t I already tell you? I have no more ties with the Imperial court and Jiang hu. All I want to do is….” When he got to this part, he paused and looked at Lin Shan.

Lin Shan’s face immediately turned bright red. Her heart felt like it was going to burst: It’s over! We’ve already been married for awhile, yet he only needs to look at me and I turn so fluster! Ah, how embarrassing! Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 88 (end)”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 87.

To my dear readers,

Happy New Year! I’m so sorry for being so slow. I wanted to finish this in 2016 but it’s already 2017 and I still have one more chapter. *sigh*. Anyhow, the author did a total switch so I hope you’re not too unhappy or unsatisfied with the chapter. At least, it’s not a tragedy?

I wanted to finish it but I don’t have enough willpower and brain power. I’ll attempt tomorrow night (no guarantee).

Chapter 87

Three years later

“Mother, child wants to practice wu wu*. Child wants to practice wu wu…”

“Practice martial arts? You can’t even talk properly. Go go go. Go play elsewhere! Don’t hinder your mother from making money!” Lin Shan impatiently waved her hand as she continued looking at the accounting book.

The little boy continued to pull on the corner of her outfit: “Mother, child wants to practice wu wu..practice wu wu…”

Finally, Lin Shan snapped: “Lian Yun Cheng! If you keep bothering me, I’m going to tell Boss Huang to bring Ru Hua over to play!” The little boy stared at her blankly as he turned and wobbled away.

“Miss!” Xiao Lu saw this and couldn’t help but comment, “Young Master is so small, why are you scaring him? It’s not like you don’t know Boss Huang’s daughter always kiss our Young Master whenever she sees him. Yesterday, Young Master even cried because of her!”

“WHAT?!” Lin Shan was shocked, “That Ru Hua dares to eat my son’s tofu?”

“Not only Ru Hua. Yesterday, the wet nurse took Young Master to watch a sideshow and he was ambushed by the Young ladies. Aside from Boss Huang’s, there were also Boss Qian’s, Boss Li’s, and Boss Yang’s daughters….”

“Are you kidding me?” Lin Shan exploded, “How dare they eat my son’s tofu? They don’t want to live anymore, huh!? That’s it. I’m going to go and hunt them down!” Lin Shan slammed down the accounting book and stormed out.

Xiao Lu rushed behind her as she yelled: “Miss, don’t go out. There’s a bunch….”

Lin Shan didn’t care. She lifted her sleeves and was about to reason with the mothers. But the moment she came out, she was surrounded by all the mothers. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 87.”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 86.

To my dear readers,

Sorry I have been so slow. I ended up sleeping the entire day because I wasn’t feeling well. This chapter is super short. I know you guys are probably freaking out by the end of it but don’t worry. Remember, it’s a comedy! There will be a happy ending.

Chapter 86

Uh… Lin Shan didn’t know what to say. She felt torn on the inside: True. Without the Ruler’s seal, they wouldn’t have anything to trade with Ji Hong Lin. How would she get rid of her poison then?

Just as the two of them were being indecisive, a voice interrupted the silence.

“No need to think. I am going to take the item and your poison will remain! You two will die here! Muahahahahaha….”

Lin Shan could recognize Ji Hong Lin’s monstrous voice right away. Ji Hong Lin appeared at the entrance where they came from. Her face was also ashy as she stood from above.

This proves that what they show on TV was fake. Regardless of how “boss” you are, when you’re going through a dirty hole, you’re still going to look like shit.

As for Ji Bai Yu, he was standing behind his mother as he shook off the soil. It looked like he didn’t care to get involved.

Lin Shan realized the old witch must have discovered their tracks early on and purposely used them to find the national treasure. Thinking of this, she quickly reacted as she tightly hugged the Ruler’s seal: “You old witch. If you dare to even touch a piece of our hair, I will shatter this seal!”

Ji Hong Lin’s expression instantly darkened when Lin Shan called her an old witch. She gritted her teeth and threatened: “Go ahead and shatter it. This seal is the lifeline of this dynasty. If you shatter it, you will be condemned in history.”

“Don’t try to scare me. I don’t believe in these stuff!” Lin Shan refuted as she lifted her arms.

Ji Hong Lin could tell Lin Shan was actually going to do it and panicked: “Yu-er!”

Ji Bai Yu immediately leaped into the air to steal the item. He was very fast. Before Lin Shan could react, Ji Bai Yu’s fan and sword was already flashing in her face. It looked like the item was about to be taken away when Lian Feng stepped in and blocked his moves. In a blink of an eye, the two of them were fighting in the stone chamber. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 86.”

The texting game

mind-games

In today’s world, technology has really changed how relationships work. People no longer have to make direct phone calls or go to the person’s house in order to make plans. Nowadays, the majority of the people text.

Therefore, if you suck at texting, you’re in trouble.

I’m going to share a real story with you guys. It was a conversation between me and my friend. She had recently downloaded a lot of dating apps and was trying them out. She matched with a few guys and immediately messaged them.

Me: You messaged him? You should probably have waited for him to initiate a conversation!

Friend: Why? If we matched, what’s the point if we don’t talk to each other?

Me: True…but it’s already so easy for the guys. They can swipe hundreds of people in a matter of minutes. Plus, it only takes a few seconds to start a conversation. If he doesn’t even need to start a conversation, he might not value you. What did you say?

Friend: I said, “Hi, Joseph.”

Me: SO FORMAL!?!?! Omg, if you’re going to say something. You should make a comment about his profile or picture or something. Or tell a joke. It would be more interesting!?!

Friend: Why do I have to purposely change myself?

Me: Okay okay. Do whatever you want. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Most of the time, people might be playing the texting game.

Friend: What’s the texting game? Why do we have to play games? I just want to get straight to the point. Don’t waste my time.  Continue reading “The texting game”

Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 85

To my dear readers,

Merry Christmas! I hope you guys are having a wonderful time with your loved ones. Unfortunately, there is only one chapter today. It takes too much brain juice from me so I’m too tired to think. Nonetheless, I hope you like this chapter.

Please support me if you enjoy my work!! ❤

Chapter 85

Lin Shan was stunned. She rubbed her eyes and closely examined the Heaven stone. After being soaked in the salty cabbages, the four words actually appeared like a map!

Could there be a secret chamber? The two of them exchanged glances. Lin Shan was the first to speak: “In order to prevent them from doing bad deeds, we should first go and check out the place before giving it to Ji Bai Yu. What do you think?”

Xiao Lu muttered on the side: “Miss. You clearly just want to find the treasures for yourself. What a hypocrite….”

Lin Shan: “…..”

Since Lin Shan was so stubborn, Lian Feng ultimately decided to check out the place first. It wasn’t that he was greedy, but since the map was the late Emperor’s remnant, it was most likely a very expensive or prized possession. If Ji Hong Lin was going to use it to do harm, both of them would feel terrible.

Therefore, the two of them followed the map and quickly arrived at the Eastern forest of the Imperial city.

Lin Shan was familiar with this forest. Last time, she was here during the Equestrian competition. This was where she fell into a hole with Du Hao and almost lost her life. She never expected to be back again. Although she looked the same, she was no longer the Song Luo from before. Lin Shan felt a bit moved as she stepped back into the forest.

The map she was holding was what she had copied down last night from the Heaven stone. Perhaps because it had already been decades, a lot of the area already looked nothing alike. It took the two of them a very long time before they were able to somewhat figure out where they were. By then, it was almost noon.

From her bundle, Lin Shan took out a snack to nibble on as she analyzed the landscape around them. At this moment, her elementary countryside emergency knowledge finally came to use. If the leaves and branches were dense, that was the south side. If the leaves and branches were sparse, that was the north side*.

She was mumbling north and south and didn’t realized Lian Feng had came up next to her.

“What are you looking at?” He asked.

I’m trying to figured out the direction.” said Lin Shan, “Look at the trees. The dense part facing the Sun is south. That means, east is that way. We can’t go wrong if we head east!”

“Let me see.” Lian Feng took the map from her and instantly his brows started to furrow. Continue reading “Your Highness, I know my wrongs. -Chapter 85”