In China, the essence of social rules is to maintain order, not to guarantee absolute fairness or justice. Laws draw the bottom line and prevent harm; morality sustains dignity and the basic ways of getting along. They can protect a person’s lower limit, but it is difficult for them to determine a person’s upper limit. In real human relationships, it is often the surface that emphasizes feelings and character, while at the underlying level it is still a trade of values and interests. When someone possesses scarce value, resources and relationships naturally gravitate toward them. The so-called “unspoken rules” and social know-how fundamentally serve to regulate human nature and conflicts, allowing social order to run more smoothly. For ordinary people, the real constraints are often not just ability, but the long-term internalization of a single, rigid way of thinking about rules. If you only follow rules passively without understanding them, you are likely to be constrained. But seeing the purpose of rules is not about becoming utilitarian or hurting others—it is about making a clearer choice: hold the bottom line, while enhancing your own value; stand within the rules, and look for room at the boundaries of those rules.