Among all the stories of going up and down the mountain, Liu Zhiyu's is particularly attention-grabbing. The gold medalist of the International Mathematics Olympiad with a perfect score, the gold medal winner of the IMO International Mathematical Olympiad with a perfect score, who was sent to the Department of Mathematics of Peking University, and later gave up the full scholarship of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the genius of mathematics at Peking University, announced his return to the world two years ago after 11 years of ordination. In fact, Liu Zhiyu's enthusiasm for Chinese studies and Buddhism is not a whim. The math genius who seems arrogant to outsiders has always had a side full of emotion and emotion. As early as his school days, this genius boy became interested in traditional culture. The romanticism of Chu Di and Qu Yuan aroused his imagination and creative desire for poetry and poetry. After entering Peking University, Liu Zhiyu joined the Zen Society, during which he developed a strong interest in Buddhism. In 2010, Liu Zhiyu gave up all this and became a monk at Longquan Temple. In 2022, he decided to return to the world, also fall in love, get married, and return to the life of an ordinary person as a practitioner in the psychological industry. Liu Zhiyu's 35 years of life, there have been "gains", but also chose to "give up", from the outsider's point of view, Liu Zhiyu's life experience is shocking, but in his own logic, these choices are quite self-consistent. 
Every Step of Life Counts is Yoo Ji-woo's first work, and it is also his biographical work so far, which writes about his current state of life relatively completely, as well as some of his thoughts on mathematics, traditional culture, psychology and life. Every step of life is a choice, for our society with a very high cost of choice, to make up our minds, for everyone, is not an easy task, we specially selected Liu Zhiyu's self-statement at the critical moment when he decided to go up the mountain, his ideas are also inspired by every ordinary person who is hesitating and tangled. The red dust is rolling, and we can't get rid of the torrent of the times. But as Yu Minhong said in the preface, "Every step in life must of course count." Sometimes, looking at the current dilemma of life from a broader perspective can make people more detached and make better choices. The following is an excerpt from "Every Step of Life Counts", by Yoo Ji-woo. 
Author: Liu Zhiyu Publisher: Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House Producer: Boji TianjuanAbandon MIT and go to the mountains to become a monkOne night in July 21, after dinner at home, my parents took me to Wuchang Railway Station. A few days ago, they told me a lot about studying abroad, and I said goodbye to my parents and stepped on the train to Beijing. Looking at my parents' reassuring eyes, my heart was extremely complicated and apprehensive. I still remember the events of the past six months. During the winter break of my senior year, I received acceptance letters from The Ohio State University (OSU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), both of which offered full scholarships. At the end of April, I received another acceptance letter and a full scholarship from MIT. The parents were very satisfied and happy. They wanted me to go to MIT to continue my education. In the process, I felt happy and recognized, but I didn't know how to tell my parents what I really thought. Because, I have already chosen another path. When I applied to a university in the United States, I wanted to tell them that I had been studying hard for four years in college; The second is to make parents have fewer regrets. The train ran all night and arrived in Beijing at six o'clock the next morning. I reported to my parents that I was safe and went to visit a relative near the West Station. During my college years, he took a lot of care of me, and I came to thank him. He, like my parents, only asked me when I was going to study at MIT, asked me when the plane was going to take off, asked me if I was nervous, and what I needed help with. In order not to make him suspicious, I could only answer him vaguely. The flight to the United States was in the afternoon, and instead of boarding the plane as expected, I chose a different path: to go up the mountain and become a monk. The car drove through the bustling and noisy city and gradually drove towards the mountains, and along the way I had both expectations and worries in my heart. I felt guilty in my heart, and my parents must have been so disappointed in me that I didn't even want to think about how my parents would react......Before lunch, I arrived at the monastery. In the afternoon, I emailed the professor in charge of admissions at MIT and told her of my decision. The professor quickly replied to me like this:Dear Yoo Ji-woo:
I am very touched by your letter, and although I regret that you could not come to MIT, I am very happy for you. From the tone of the letter, it is clear that now that you have found your way, you look very happy. This is the most important moment in one's life: recognize your path!
I would love to find a time to visit your temple with my family. I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful experience, so please get in touch and let me know how your studies are going.
Good luck in your new future and thank you again for letting us know your decision.
Best regards.
Then, I emailed my parents, and they finally knew my decision. As I thought, they reacted violently and immediately came to Beijing from Wuhan to persuade me to give up. The next day, my parents appeared in front of me, and at first they were quite calm, thinking that I was just affected by a momentary emotion. But after seeing that I was resolute, they began to get really anxious and persuaded me bitterly. I tried to listen and understand my parents' feelings, and through communication, they understood that my renunciation did not mean abandoning them, that I still loved them, that this was a life experience that I was willing to try, and that I would take responsibility for my life choices. After spending a few days in the mountains, they chose to return to Wuhan. When I was leaving, I sent them to the gate of the mountain, and looking at their departing backs, I felt the deep loss and regret ...... their heartsIn the days that followed, I received letters from my mother every week, and I knew that she was very bitter inside, and writing letters was a channel for her to vent. And I, too, am slowly adapting to life in the mountains, and every time I think of my parents, a shadow passes over my heart. One of my classmates from Peking University, who also went to MIT, didn't see me on campus when she arrived in the United States, so she asked the professor. After that, she wrote on Renren that a classmate had become a monk. Somehow, this news received great attention from **, and began to hype up the matter of "Peking University's mathematical genius escaped into the empty door". At the time, I thought that going to MIT was just someone else's hope, not a worthwhile life in my eyes. I want to harvest the whole forest more than I pick a single leaf. I aspire to pursue a more integrated, grand truth of life, to connect with the wider population. **The hype has doubled the pressure on my parents. The Internet was overwhelming, so that everyone around me knew the news, my high school teachers, my relatives, my parents' colleagues all came to contact them, ask why, give advice to parents, ** also want to interview them. They were overwhelmed and stressed, so they came to the mountains again to look for me, persuaded me to go back, and gave an explanation to my family and teachers. When I returned to Wuhan with them, my uncle, aunt and other relatives took turns to persuade me. At that time, I didn't dare to stay at home for a long time, for fear of being bumped into by familiar neighbors, and I remember staying at my aunt's house for a few days. One day, she finally talked to me about the topic she was most concerned about: "Do you have to become a monk?" ”I talked to her for a long time, and I felt her anxiety, and I just stated my reasons and introduced my life after going up the mountain, trying to reassure her as much as possible. In the end, she seemed to understand that it was impossible to change my choice, and her face was full of regret and her expression was very low. My cousin was listening from the side, but then she turned around and walked away silently. Later, my uncle also came, and I was under the impression that he talked with me for more than an hour, and finally left disappointed. At that time, my grandmother, grandfather, and grandfather had all passed away, and only my grandmother was the only old person in the family. My grandmother was also very worried about me, so she asked me to go to her house and persuaded me bitterly. But when she saw that I had made up my mind, she asked me how my life was on the mountain, whether I had good food and housing, whether there was a library on the mountain, whether I continued to study, and whether I had time to read. Although she was helpless, she was more concerned about how I was doing in my new environment. 
I stayed in Wuhan for a week, and in addition to meeting my relatives, my parents also took me to meet a professor from Wuhan University (Wuhan University), who was said to have been introduced by the principal and teachers of my high school, because this professor knew something about traditional culture, and they hoped that he would persuade me. My parents brought me to the professor's house, and I talked to him for a long time. "We've discussed your affairs many times in private," he said. I think your high school years were the most brilliant and your college years were not bad, but now that you are on the wrong path, we feel sorry for you. ”His point of view also represents the point of view of many netizens, but this is just me from the outside, and they don't know my mental journey. They didn't know that the highlight moment that everyone thought was the most eye-catching—when I won the gold medal in the International Olympiad in my third year of high school, I was actually suffering from physical pain and inner confusion and loneliness. They also couldn't understand that when I was in college, I embarked on a path of growth and healing, and gradually found my way through the trough of difficulty. Give up the good future and be accompanied by the ancient Buddha of the green lantern. I was also a little flustered by the public's incomprehension and various voices, but I still moved forward steadfastly. Looking back now, for myself at that time, it was still a path to take, a necessary exploration in life, and I have no regrets. Past successes didn't stop me, because I understood that external achievements are not enough to represent life itself. Perhaps you, me, and others all have places in the course of life that need to be turned. If you pay too much attention to what you have already obtained and what others care about, those so-called achievements can become a heavy burden. The most important thing is to recognize what you really want: what kind of life do you want to live? What kind of person to be? Life needs to learn to let go of the past and start anew. 
Text editedHanhaha
Provision of InformationBoji Tianjuan