Today is Monday, October 26, 2026.

In this deep autumn moment, I stumbled across a legendary post by Tianya's A11 boss, “From 2027 Onward, This Is How You Should Live.”

After reading it, I felt like I’d been struck by lightning, sitting blankly in front of the screen for a long time.

How to describe it? Like an unknown nobody stuck at a bottleneck in a martial arts novel, suddenly pointed at by a master, and instantly opening the two meridians.

Really damn impressive.

Every word in this post felt like a loud slap, slapping the cruelest truths and the clearest paths of this era right into my face.

Looking back over the past half a year, from mid-March 2026 when I left my last company with a severance package that counts as the ceiling for Beijing's internet circles, to crazily trying all kinds of self-media with my friends; from clawing my way to nearly 10,000 followers on Xiaohongshu, setting up a shop and taking orders, to holding 4 WeChat public accounts each with revenue over five figures; then joining the leading security company in mid-June as an FDE (AI Architect), and in July starting to move to the overseas X platform, and miraculously doubling my followers to 14,000+ in October.

My experience over this half year, in some inexplicable way, aligns perfectly with the four iron rules from the Tianya boss.

It’s been almost a year since I wrote “Year-end Summary - An Interesting 2025 for a Front-end Guy.”

Back then, I was still anxious about the 35-year-old crisis, lamenting the fatigue of the macro environment, secretly delighted at collecting the company’s second set of blind boxes, driving my newly picked-up Ledo L90 through the streets of Beijing, sighing that “no reward is easy to come by.”

Now looking back, it feels like a different world.

I want to combine my turbulent 2026 and my plans for 2027 to break down the boss’s legendary post.

This is both a reading note and a summary I write for myself.

English is the optical cable to the world

The Tianya boss hit the nail on the head in the first rule: after 2027, English must be practiced to the point of direct usability.

The “direct use” here is not for passing CET-4 or CET-6, but to read English information without barriers, communicate with foreigners, and freely use the English internet.

Seeing this, I nodded like crazy.

The boss said, the degree of freedom of information determines the height of cognition.

If a person can only see the Chinese internet for a long time, then the world they see is inevitably a world that has been filtered, sifted by others, or even processed by others. In this information cocoon, people are easily trapped by algorithms, pulled by extreme emotions, and pushed around by different positions.

Isn’t this my deepest pain point in doing domestic self-media this year?

After leaving my job in March, I tried almost every platform with a name in China. I applied for 4 WeChat public accounts, which once became my main force, each with revenue over five figures.

But the rules on domestic platforms are too changeable. Today you write a hot topic, tomorrow your account might be restricted.

The so-called viral content you see every day is often secondhand information, translated, or even deleted and revised versions with the strong stance and bias of the narrator.

You never see the full picture of things. You only see the version others want you to see.

English, as the common language of the world, is also the absolute common language of the internet. Mastering it means you can directly access first-hand information, communicate directly with the smartest people in the world, read first-hand materials and research reports, and truly understand the full picture of things.

Some might argue: I don’t go abroad, what’s the use of learning English?

The boss’s rebuttal is extremely brilliant: even without going abroad, you can still use English to browse news, read cutting-edge papers, learn new technologies, and understand what’s happening in another vast world.

This is also the core reason I made up my mind in July this year to deeply engage overseas and operate an X (Twitter) account (@leo_xiaolei).

I focus on posting hardcore technical content and industry thoughts about AI and Grok Bot. Without the murky traffic coercion, I directly read the latest AI papers and directly communicate with overseas developers.

In this era, if you don’t know English, your channel for receiving information will be completely different from others, and you directly lose a window to see the world.

Learning English doesn’t need excuses, and you don’t need to think it’s hard or impossible. As long as you persist for three to five years, you can always use it. Once you become proficient, your view of the world, your cognitive level, and the choices you face will be completely different.

My current state is, All In overseas.

Overseas-focused websites and overseas self-media platforms are absolutely my personal main direction for 2027.

I don’t want to waste my limited energy on domestic media anymore. There’s no positive feedback, and it doesn’t match my fate.

I want to splash around in the broader Pacific.

The awakening of the super individual

The second rule of the legendary post thoroughly explains the core of my transformation in the second half of 2026: use AI, and definitely use frontier paid models.

The boss emphasized that this is absolutely not just occasionally asking a robot a few questions when bored, but truly turning AI into your external brain, your dedicated workbench, your research assistant, and even your digital employee.

Those who can’t use AI will definitely be left far behind in future efficiency by those who can.

Because AI is not a rigid tool, a chatbot, or a fleeting fad; it is real productivity, a super amplifier of personal ability.

On this point, I can honestly say I am a zealous believer through personal practice.

In my years-long hobby, the aquarium circle, I deeply experienced this “dimensional reduction strike.”

I used to play with planted tanks and breed guppies, making “aquarium tour guide” illustrated content. Although I could make a monthly living because I understood genetics, fin classification, and aquascaping techniques, this stuff was too time-consuming.

Especially in the post-pandemic era, everyone’s consumption concept has changed, and entertainment leisure products have plummeted. I realized that sticking to the traditional breeding model was a dead end.

So, what did I do?

I directly combined AI and built a dedicated automated turnover system.

I configure Claude Code with the OpenAI API, and through AI, I monitor Xianyu and major aquarium forums at high frequency every day.

As soon as a low-priced product of my selected variety is found, AI immediately sends a message to contact the seller. As long as it reaches the payment step, the system directly notifies me.

After I buy it (asking the seller to play with it for two days before shipping), AI instantly lists the goods at a new price on my platform.

If it sells quickly, it fully automatically sends the new buyer’s address to the original seller, achieving drop-shipping; if it sells slowly, it ships back to my own place for temporary holding.

From the past “bitter breeding” to using AI for “high-frequency circulation,” this is what the boss said:

A person who knows how to use AI is a team, a company all by themselves. One person can completely do the work that used to take ten or even a hundred people.

In mid-June this year, I went out to work again and joined the top security company in China as an AI Architect (FDE).

I deeply know how important it is to master the core toolchain in the AI era.

I heavily review models like Claude Opus 5.5, Gemini, Grok, VoxCPM 2 on a daily basis; I develop with Rust, configure Agy CLI plugins, manage Claude Code’s idle compaction settings; I also maintain the open-source “Hand-drawn Talking-head Video.skill” automation workflow.

I even wrote a long article in October, “FDE is Dead! From FDE to FDU: Redefining AI Delivery,” deeply analyzing the future of enterprise AI.

The boss bluntly pointed out in the post: if you don’t use AI, your opponents, peers, people smarter than you, and even harder-working than you are all using it.

Their efficiency is higher, their output is more, and their growth speed is faster. The gap is inevitable, and those who can’t keep up with the times will naturally be eliminated.

Many people always complain that AI is not good at this or that. Most of the time, it’s not that AI is bad, but that they haven’t studied it thoroughly enough and haven’t found the right usage method.

Whenever a new tool appears, some people refuse to accept it. In the end, these people will be abandoned by the era.

This weekend, my friends and I are about to start our first offline training session on X and Grok Bot.

What I like most is “bragging,” no wait, outputting my cognition, and there are people willing to listen.

In 2027, I will continue to actively learn, actively use, and actively integrate AI deeply into my work and life, letting AI help me work, think, learn, and make money.

Because the more proficient you are, the higher your efficiency, the more output, and the faster your growth.

Build a personal IP and an irreplaceable network node

Seeing the third rule, I remembered that afternoon in March 2026 when I walked out of my last company’s gate with that generous severance package.

The Tianya boss said you must establish your own personal IP, have continuous output ability, build your own network nodes and automated workflows, and let the system work for you.

He mentioned that in today’s era, relying solely on one job for a living has too weak anti-risk capability.

There is absolutely no stable job, no iron rice bowl, and no lifelong guarantee.

Today you’re working steadily, tomorrow the organizational structure might be adjusted; today the company looks like it’s booming, tomorrow it might hit a ceiling; today the whole industry is thriving, tomorrow it might experience an overall ebb.

My experience over the years is a living textbook.

From graduating in 2016 and catching the tail-end dividend of online education, to leaving in 2021 due to the “double reduction” policy; from transitioning to pure front-end with a 700,000 annual salary to being laid off after a hard year without a single cent of performance bonus.

The internet dividend fades faster than turning a page.

The boss is right. Relying on just one job and one income is too fragile, too dangerous, and can go wrong at any time.

Once there’s a problem, because there’s no other income source, no retreat, no choice, people easily fall into panic and chaos.

So, you need your own IP, a side business, and a second income curve.

It doesn’t necessarily need to make a lot of money immediately, but this ability and this escape route must be kept.

With a personal IP, you have your own network nodes, traffic, audience, and influence.

I use the identity @leo_xiaolei on X to output crazily. In just the month of October 2026, my followers doubled, breaking the 13,000 milestone.

I’m also planning to write an article, “Why I Want to Build Something Called ‘AI Awakening Society (AI Zen Temple)’,” to make these nodes more concrete.

Even if my job disappears in the future, the company goes bust, or the industry reshuffles again, I don’t need to panic. Because I can still eat and make money with my own IP, and even live quite comfortably.

Start now by choosing one direction, keep outputting, accumulate followers, and build a personal brand.

Don’t rush, don’t be anxious. Persist for three to five years, and results will show.

Once your IP is truly established, you will deeply experience that the sense of security from having your own traffic and influence is much stronger than any so-called “stable” job.

Training and offline sharing are the main direction for my team’s work next.

I want to blow my “water buffalo skin” to the whole world.

Travel light, reshape global vision and migration ability

The fourth rule concerns assets and living state, and it’s the most precise scalpel for my current aquarium business pain points.

The boss proposed an extremely grand survival strategy: stay asset-light, debt-free, hold multiple country visas and stable USD cash flow, and continuously dollar-cost average into global assets.

He said, being able to leave at any time and start over in a new place is a person’s ultimate confidence in this turbulent world.

The world is changing too fast now, and there are too many uncertainties.

Something that looks fine today might go wrong tomorrow; a place that feels relatively stable today might be in turmoil tomorrow; the money you hold might look valuable today but depreciate sharply tomorrow.

If you sink all your money into a house, or bet it all on the same place or the same asset, the risk is ridiculously high.

If something really happens, you can’t even run. All your assets are trapped there, and you can only watch the money turn to waste paper and your quality of life slide.

I completely agree with this “asset-light” philosophy.

Thinking back to my aquarium business, what’s the most headache-inducing part that I most want to eliminate in 2027?

It’s the “temporary holding” link.

Once AI fails to flip the low-priced fish from Xianyu within 2 days, the batch gets shipped to my own place.

This instantly turns from light assets into “heavy assets”: I have to spend a huge amount of effort caring for them, maintaining water quality, controlling plant lights and oil film removers, packing and shipping myself, and constantly monitoring and managing the selling platform’s prices.

This not only consumes time, but also drains energy, and it goes completely against my pursuit of efficiency, automation, and lightness.

A friend suggested I use the “if not sold in two days, refund” trick with the original seller. That would be smashing my own brand, and I absolutely won’t do it.

But I have to find a way to completely optimize or eliminate this “temporary holding” link in 2027.

I want this system to become a pure flow of information and capital, never falling into the mire of physical assets.

The boss teaches us to have migration ability, never put all eggs in one basket, never put all hopes on the same place, and never tie your fate to one country, one city, or even one house.

We need a global vision, multiple visas, USD assets, and the ability to leave at any time.

That’s exactly why I shout “All In overseas.”

Earn dollars, be a global digital nomad.

If this place is good, I stay here; if it’s no longer suitable, I can casually pack up and leave, start a new life elsewhere, still make money, and still live freely.

True freedom, confidence, and security never come from a house made of steel and concrete, a car with four wheels, or a seemingly stable job. Those things are too virtual, they are temporary, and they can dissipate at any time.

Only the abilities in your brain, your understanding of the world, your global vision, and your migration ability are truly your own wealth, things others can never take away, and they are the biggest and most reliable guarantee you have in this life.

In 2026, I completed a turn from being a big-company developer to reconstructing the underlying business logic, and found back the pure joy of writing code and building products (even wearing the FDE hat).

In 2027, my theme is extremely clear: All In AI, All In overseas.

I don’t know what the next stage of the world will look like, just like when I wrote my 2025 year-end summary, I absolutely couldn’t have imagined that in 2026 I would go through quitting, becoming a traffic merchant, transitioning to an AI arbitrage trader, and becoming a blogger on X.

But as long as I hold these four iron rules, stay light, embrace AI, and look globally, I have nothing to fear.

I hope in 2027, I can, and I will, live as I want.

Let’s move forward and grow together!