The best time to plant a tree 种一棵树最好的时间 | Monthly Review

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Eventually, Year 2017 resolutely left us regardless of our intention to retain it. It met me by coincidence and left me quietly without any notice. After having dinner with my family and watching the favorite cartoons of my nephew's, I went home and fell asleep unconsciously in bed. When I re-opened my eyes, it was 2018.

Retrospecting the whole year of 2017, there were two thing unforgettable to me - firstly, I had my own family, and secondly , I got a promotion.

In 2017, my girlfriend changed the role to my wife, thus we made a new cell which is part of this society. It has been more than one year since I firstly dated my wife and fell in love with each other, there was no many complicated stories as show in some romance drama, we supported each other and compromised when we had different opinions, all the way to the hall of our marriage. Destiny is really magic to me. The night before I got married, I did not have any carnivals to farewell my single because I think the state of being single is not worth a farewell to celebrate and I do not miss my single life. What I look forward to is a life we mutually take care and support each other.

Our wedding was very simple, there was no sensational commitment, however, it was full of sweetness and warmth. At the moment when I picked up my wife's hand, my heart was filled with joy as if I was in a blossom of flowers in the Spring. It was the longest wait I had ever experienced from one end of the red carpet to the other. My wife is a sentimental person and she was so happy that she could not help crying. I said to her, "Don't cry, you have to laugh now since tough life is still waiting for us."

From that day on, I have a warm breakfast every morning and a luxury dinner in the evening. My wife has the "tough life" as I told her at the wedding.

In 2017, I got the chance to get promoted by coincidence.

One day when I was busy writing the second quarter analysis report, the secretary suddenly came to me, saying that the manager would like to talk with me. I was freaked out and I thought I must do something wrong. Before that I only worked in the business department which had little interaction with the manager. I was very nervous since he wanted to see me all of at once. It turned out that I was wrong, he wanted to chat with me not because I was not doing well, on the contrary, because I showed that I had been actively working hard ( I think so ) and got appreciated by the manager. The manager promoted me to lead an important business group. The reason why I say this is "promotion" is because I will be the only person who will take charge of this business and directly report to the parent company's relevant leader. Although it is just a medium position, people all over the company take it as a 'powerful' role.

I took over the position soon after the conversation with the manager, the guy who was originally in charge left after the handover job. Later I learned that he was laid off due to his "mistakes", not as I thought he was promoted to a superior position. But I took this opportunity to be promoted in time of danger. This felt just like the Pengpeng Zhang in the Internet drama "Prince's wife got a promotion", who suddenly passed through from modern society to olden days and became the wife of a prince . Anyway, my promotion is affirmative. I was working hard and I must work harder in the future.

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Usually, I liked to buy a lottery at the end of a year, I had no preference for specific numbers and would like to randomly pick up ones. I was hoping I can win five millions dollars, which I took as a miracle. Unfortunately, so many years have passed, the miracle seems to occur on the wrong person, that is, it did not happen on me. I did not buy a lottery in 2017 not because I did not believe in a miracle, but I returned to the cryptocurrency market to be 'pumped and dumped'. And I believe that Bitcoin is the biggest miracle in 2017.

Actually, I began to know Bitcoin in 2013. At that time, Bitcoin was bullish and many Chinese Da Ma were crazy for it. However, the Chinese central bank's ban order triggered the global Bitcoin price to plummet. 'Plummet' cannot describe the tragedy of the market, prices of many cryptocurrencies almost dropped by 90%. Many people not only lost their money but also were chased by their creditors. They were forced to sell out the Bitcoin on hand. However when I retrospect the Bitcoin price at that time, I feel so regretful. This time I secretly bought in a few BitShares. As long as my wife do not kill me if she knows this, I will not easily let it go. I wish BitShares could rise to 1600 USD so that I am able to achieve the real financial freedom!

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Time is really a fantastic existence. When you were in it, you felt that everything you expected went slowly and whilst you are standing back at the end of the year, you feel as if time was fleeting. I would like to share a piece of words which I am impressed from the bottom of my heart:

The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, now is a better time.

Year 2018 is the best time to 'plant trees' at present.

Original post written by @chaofanjun: 种一棵树最好的时间 | 月旦评
Translator: @chenlocus

终于，2017年还是拒绝了所有人的挽留，毅然决然地离开了。我跟它的相遇猝不及防，它的离开对我来说悄无声息。我陪着家人吃过晚饭，看完了外甥最喜欢的动画片，回到家躺在床上不知不觉睡着了。等我再睁开眼，时间已经显示了2018。

回首整个2017年，两件事最让我难忘——一是组建了家庭，二是升职。

2017年，女朋友转正成了媳妇，构成社会的又一个细胞就此诞生了。跟媳妇从相识到恋爱加起来一年多，中间也没有言情剧里的那么多曲折，一路上两个人彼此相互关心、相互迁就，一步步走进了婚姻的殿堂。缘，真的妙不可言。结婚的前一晚，也没有告别单身的狂欢，因为我觉得没有什么值得告别的，我并不留恋单身生活，我更加憧憬的是两个人相依相伴的生活。

我们的婚礼很简单，没有煽情的告白，充满了甜蜜和温馨。我牵起媳妇手的那一刻，内心仿佛春暖花开般的喜悦，从红毯的一头走到另一头，那是我经历过的最漫长的等待。媳妇是感性的人，高兴得忍不住落泪。我跟她说，别哭啊，你得笑，苦日子还在后头呢。

从那天以后，我就过上了每天早晨起来有热乎的早餐，晚上回家有丰盛晚餐的幸福生活，而我媳妇就过上了我当时跟她说的“苦日子”。

2017年，因为机缘巧合我得到了升职的机会。

那天我正在埋头写二季度的分析报告，经理秘书突然来找我，说经理要跟我谈话。我当时心想完了，肯定是我哪里又撞枪口了。之前我只在业务部门工作，跟经理很少接触，这种“突然袭击”让我多少有些打怵。后来事实证明我想多了，并不是因为我表现得不好要处分我，相反是因为我表现一直积极努力勤奋刻苦（我自认为的）得到了领导的赏识，经理要把公司的某块重要业务交给我让我负责。之所以我说这是“升职”，因为以前这业务只有一个人管理，而且直接跟上级公司的相关部门对接，职务说大不大，说小也不小，公司上下对这个职位的评价就是“有权”。

当天谈完话立马交接，原本负责的同事交接完物品以后就走了。后来我才知道，他是因为犯了“错误”才被免掉了职务，并不是我以为的提拔到了上级公司，而我则是“临危受命”，机缘巧合升了职。这种感觉就跟网剧《太子妃升职记》里的张芃芃突然穿越成了太子妃似的。不管怎样，升职了是肯定的，之前努力工作，以后必须更加努力。

往年到了年尾的时候我会买一张彩票，不刻意选号，只要机选。万一中了五百万就说明这一年是一个奇迹。可惜这么多年过去了，奇迹好像一直都找错了人，就是没找到我。2017年我没买彩票，不是不相信奇迹了，而是我重回crypto市场做回“韭菜”了。而我相信，bitcoin就是2017最大的奇迹。

其实我从2013年就开始接触Bitcoin，那时候恰好是Bitcoin被中国大妈炒得火热，可是央行一纸限令让全球的bitcoin价格暴跌，“腰斩”根本不足以形容市场之惨烈，简直是从脚脖子往上全给砍掉了。辛苦挣来的血汗钱打了水漂，不断被“债主”追债，不得已卖掉了手里的bitcoin。现在看着bitcoin的市价，心里禁不住悔恨。这回我偷偷买了几手BitShares，只要我媳妇不打死我，我是不会轻易放手的。等BitShares涨到每个一万块，我也就实现了真正的财务自由！

时间真的是很奇妙的存在。当你身处其中的时候，觉得想要的每一件事都来得很慢；当你站在一年的终点去回忆的时候，却又觉得仿佛白驹过隙。偶然读到一句话，直击内心深处：

种一棵树最好的时间是十年前，其次是现在。

2018年便是当下最好的“种树时间”。