Elders in the old society placed great emphasis on environmental factors when educating their children, focusing primarily on preventing them from making poor friendships.

Chao Gai from Water Margin.

Chao Gai was a lot like Zhang Fei in that he came from money. He was a significant local landlord, well-off, and served as the head of the village constabulary in Dong Village, which gave him a certain amount of authority. When Liu Tang first approached him to suggest robbing the birthday gifts, he refused.

That refusal was correct. It was the wise thing to do.

From any angle you look at it, you can’t make sense of why someone in his position would want to rob the birthday gifts. Even with more money, he wouldn’t know what to do with it, and if caught, he’d be forced into exile for life.

The real question is: where did Chao Gai’s enjoyment of life come from? It came from the flattery and admiration of his gang. The Ruan brothers pumped him up, and Wu Yong did too. That was his greatest source of joy. Chao Gai was content with his own life, but the Ruan brothers weren’t. They felt their crew was far better than Wang Lun’s lot at Liangshan but was struggling to make ends meet. Wu Yong, a failed schoolteacher, wasn’t satisfied either—he felt his considerable talents had no stage to shine on. All of them were pressuring Chao Gai: if you won’t take the plunge, you’re not a good brother, and we’ll lose respect for you.

Chao Gai wasn’t driven by loyalty; rather, the admiration of his followers was the source of his life’s pleasure and the foundation of his self-worth. To maintain that, he felt compelled to act “loyally” and make all sorts of irrational decisions. A once-respectable village constable of Dong Village ended up becoming a bandit at Liangshan.

Even as the top boss, Chao Gai lacked rationality because he was living day to day, immersed in interpersonal relationships.

Your friends’ fates determine your own.

If Chao Gai had only associated with people of his own social standing, none of this would have happened. But once he chose to hang out with the water demons the Rian brothers and the down-and-out scholar Wu Yong, his path was sealed.