One-Eyed A-Chang’s Adventure

 Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

(Chinese)

As the saying goes, “A great fool lives his whole life without awakening.”

I knew from a young age the words of Jesus recorded in "Matthew 12:50," yet only now — having reached what Confucius called the "sixth stage" of life — have I begun to loosen my long-standing "self-deceptions." After making adjustments, I suppose perhaps I can at best be considered a “medium-level fool.”

Television programs have become increasingly YouTube-like. We can now watch two episodes of the same variety show from ten years apart at the same time. Essentially, guests who appeared ten years ago are still the same guests ten years later. A decade seems hardly enough for anyone to produce meaningful achievements.

Yet in several spans of such decades, I created one accomplishment after another out of nothing—though at a tremendous cost.

The greatest cost has undoubtedly been my "stiff neck," which gradually ruined my eyesight. I remembered witnessing an ophthalmologist’s “Simen Chuixue sword technique” a few years back—his incredible skill—so I rushed to see him. After three rounds of pupil-dilating drops, Dr. Chen donned his ophthalmoscope as the nurse dimmed the lights. He picked up a magnifying lens, examined both my eyes closely, then said:“I surrender. Your eyes can’t be saved.”

My heart instantly sank into a freezer. What I had hoped would be a solution to my vision problems became the delivery of a grim verdict.

He added another strike: “You never served in the military, right? People with eyes like yours —lazy eye —aren’t even eligible!”

But at 18, my physical exam classified me as "Category A," and I was even drafted into the "First Special Forces" for a three-year term.

Dr. Chen shook his head. “Impossible. With eyes like yours, you were never qualified for service.” He explained: “Lazy eye is what people call a one-eyed dragon like 'Cyclops.' You look like you have two eyes, but only one actually functions. The other merely follows along — it’s not an independently operating eye. A ‘lazy eye’ is just an attached organ, moving with the dominant eye but only capable of half of its function.”

In short, I was a "one-eyed dragon" from childhood, relying on a single eye to carry out all kinds of heavy daily tasks.

Hearing this shocked me. My dilated vision was blurry, so I left quickly without asking further questions.

In recent years, with conversational AI available, I finally learned that an "ophthalmoscope" is a device used to see through the retina and inspect internal eye conditions — checking for retinal detachment, macular degeneration, optic neuritis, glaucoma, and other diseases. Ophthalmoscopy can also reflect systemic health issues such as hypertension, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and even brain problems like intracranial pressure abnormalities.

So, it turns out "I was born disabled."

And yet, I still risked my life building “Taiwan’s Precision Industry" —products that the entire civilized world would come to rely on. After more than fifty years of work, I only then discovered that my vision had been impaired all along. In the past decades, not only was I unaware of the rights I should have had, but I also paid countless wages and taxes throughout my life.

As a child, I suffered from malnutrition and was physically weak. My eyes were often swollen and red to the point of blindness—what modern people simply called “allergies.” Every time it happened, I heard the chilling cries: “Beat you to death! Beat you to death!”

Blows from sticks rained down, each time making me feel certain I would not survive — yet somehow, I always did, and my eyes would open once more to see the world.

But around fourth grade, something inexplicable happened — I seemed to become a different person. Though still thin and small, I became able to “fly through the sky and burrow into the earth.” No tower was too tall, no drainage ditch too deep for my adventures.

Especially after we moved to Kaohsiung in November 1965—the adults disappeared without a trace. I had to find ways to feed my two younger brothers, and also earn money to fill a “small jar” for Ah-Kun and Ah-Jin to use.

Behind No. 16 Chong Hsing Street, I built a tiny workshop out of sugarcane boards. The World Ballroom once asked me to repair their door. The hinge I made for them would last a hundred years. Because the receivable amounted to several thousand NT dollars, the owner asked me, “What’s the name of your factory?”

Without thinking, I replied, “Cheng-Kuang Metal Works.”

That factory name became the cradle of Taiwan’s precision industry. Strangely, I grew stronger and stronger. As long as I slept two or three hours a day, I could work more than twenty.

Fig 1: One-Eyed A-Chang at work (AI reconstruction)

No one around me could keep up. Even though I worked from night into late night—day after day, week after week, year after year—I never felt tired. I never demanded others match my pace, yet not a single assistant could endure even half of my working hours. But I loved every moment of it.

Between 1967 and 1968, I made so much money that those who took it completely lost themselves — earning the nickname “the modern heart-blind Couple.”

The Story of the Heart-Blind Couple Who Tried to Kill Shun

One day, my elementary homeroom teacher, Mr. Chiu Sen-Ran, suddenly began telling the story of “the heart-blind couple and their Shang, who delighted in attempting to kill Shun.” He then asked me which of the four characters I would choose.

I answered, “Of course, Shun!” Learning from Shun's principle of repaying evil with virtue clearly failed to move anyone.

More than sixty years later, I suddenly understood his intention. After discovering I couldn’t even afford tutoring fees and had been placed in the “cattle-herding class,” he visited my home and told this story specifically for me.

At that time, land along Park Road cost only 300 NT dollars per ping. Yet the people who took the huge sums of money I earned went and bought a worthless plot deep inside Park Road Lane 451, Alley 99, No. 82 — a piece of swampy (low-lying land), foul-smelling land beside a drainage ditch, not only at the end of a dead-end alley but belonging to a charity foundation.

Since no one knew how to use money properly, I settled for building the first home our family had after 32 years of displacement. I moved "Cheng Kuang Metal Works" there, hanging the “Cheng Kuang” sign over the second-floor east hall door — thus starting the engine of Taiwan’s precision-industry train.

Fig 2: “Cheng Kuang” hanging on the second-floor door

The key point was that my brothers no longer had to huddle together on a single wooden sleeping platform. Each had his own desk, with stairs to run up and down, and a courtyard to play in — far better living conditions than our old home on Chong An Street.

But in 1969, right after we moved in, the "vacuum tube was phased out." Our clients had no business, so we had no orders. Meanwhile, the “lost” couple continued their life of indulgence. Fortunately, a fearless Japanese man— Mr. Chikuta — opened a company called Kyowa Electric in KEPZ and came to me for new product development.

Fig 3: Creating a better living environment for my brothers

Soon after I developed sample products for him, I received "NTD 1.2 million" in payment. I rushed to Yong Kang to buy several pieces of land — most costing only a few dozen NT dollars per ping — preparing to make a grand start after returning from military service. I had just turned eighteen then; my conscription exam classified me “Category A.”

Looking back, if my “lazy eye” could see 1.0, then theoretically my dominant eye could see 2.0. No wonder I was able to produce extremely fine components relying solely on my hands and eyesight.

To make small parts, one must first build precision continuous molds to be installed in automated machines.

In November 1966, Mr. Lane of American Transworld Electronics (Avnet Inc.) came to buy my precision eyelets. The key to defeating competitors from the U.S., Japan, and Germany was that I could drill through a “1-inch-thick block of tool steel” using a “0.8-millimeter drill bit,” creating ten consecutive processing steps in just ten centimeters of mold length. Inside the mold were perfectly matched "male-female die pairs" — so exquisite that only Swiss watchmaking could compare. However, the boy in the photo now looks like a "child" — it's peculiar that a child would be carrying such a heavy burden!

Fig 4: Li-Chang Kuo’s Eyelets (1966–1972)

To create such artist-level deep-drawing progressive dies, one must first possess exceptionally sharp eyesight. If my vision measured "2.0/1.0" during the military physical exam at age eighteen, then my dominant eye at age thirteen—when I made those precision molds — must have been at least "2.5." At that time, I owned only a single, imprecise machine — a simple drill press. I had to rely on holding my breath, unwavering focus, extraordinary eyesight, and deft hands to drill hundred of holes without a single mistake — for breaking even one drill bit would have ruined all previous effort.

Later, when I visited peers in the United States, I realized the reason I surpassed them was “precisely my eyesight.” The frequent bouts of eye swelling and redness I suffered before the age of nine felt as if they belonged to a previous lifetime.

In 1969, as global technological shifts caused a recession, many electrical machinery factories in Tainan went bankrupt. Yet I still had enough capability and generosity to help Mr. Chen Yung-Tien of Yong Fu Electric develop one product after another "free of charge," until he finally secured a large U.S. order for "Portable Transistor Tape Recorders."

Repaying Kindness a Thousandfold

In July 1966, I abandoned everything I had built in Kaohsiung and moved back to No. 45, Chong An Street in Tainan. Overnight, I became someone with no income yet responsible for supporting a family of nine. One day, when I went to Yong Fu Electric to “ask for orders,” a group of employees was teasing me. Then Mr. Chen Yung-Tien appeared and said, “A child this small already doing business on his own, while his father is still in prison — buy something from him!” He signaled his staff to stop mocking me. Because of Mr. Chen’s act of kindness in my darkest hour, I later developed new products for him entirely "free of charge" — the quantity I gifted him far exceeded what Mr. Chikuta had paid for.

The crucial point is this: after several failed attempts at developing new products, Mr. Chen’s last hope — a sample "electric fan" he sent to the United States — arrived shattered. The Jewish buyer demanded he travel to New York to resolve the problem. He came to me for help. How could I help? In addition to money, I told the idle-at-home A-Kun to accompany him on the flight. They returned with a "Portable Transistor Tape Recorder."

The Jewish buyer boasted, “If you can make this, we’ll buy as many as you can produce!”

As a result, the “Portable Transistor Tape Recorder” became the key to Mr. Chen’s comeback. After the Republic of China was expelled from the United Nations, it also became a model of Taiwan’s industrial transformation. Soon after, Mr. Chen built a massive factory near the Yong Kang interchange — giving the newly appointed Premier Chiang Ching-Kuo significant political prestige.

Mr. Lane from Transworld Electronics was not far behind. He came to me seeking help with OEM consumer electronic products for the American brand "YORX," and that too succeeded. Each month, I was able to clear several hundred thousand NT dollars in profit.

Recently on the Rust Belt Forum, scholars discussed how wealthy households in the past often fell into “moral decay” — commit adultry. The old saying goes, “When one’s stomach is full, desire arises.” It is absolutely true — A-Jin had long since brought an adulterer home, taking over the room I originally reserved for my grandmother, and A-Kun behaved even more outrageously. Yet I had to hide everything, so the Guo family would not again become a laughingstock in Tainan after the “Kuo Biao Incident.”

Because A-Jin never studied and learned, she was illiterate and couldn't even ride a bicycle. But she was very clever and her intention to find someone to replace me was quite obvious. Moreover, she found a retired nurse named "Ah-E" to give me a nutritional injection. If I weren't a pure yang body and had divine protection, I would have died long ago.

At the celebratory banquet for Mr. Chen’s new factory, he had a few drinks and said to Akun, “Old Kuo, how do you have such a talented son? Why don’t I?” Because of this remark, A-Kun raged at me for several months. Eventually, because the “Factory Owner” position I had registered under his name was usurped by A-Jin, he shouted at me, “Your father wants to be the chairman! Your father doesn’t want to be looked down on anymore! You must help your father become somebody!”

So I took a 2,300-ping (approx. 7,600 m²) plot of land at No. 8, Lane 360, Chong Sheng South Road, Yongkang, and founded "Baisheng Metal Industry Co., Ltd.," making him the chairman. To spite me, he deliberately brought in a group of unscrupulous people from the “Kuo Min Market” to serve as board directors and supervisors. By the time I had built Baisheng into a profitable company, none of them had shown me a penny.

Fig 5: Baisheng Metal Industrial Co., Ltd.

A-Kun then declared with authority, “Your father will handle everything. You don’t need to worry about Baisheng any more.”

Note: My chronic “shoulder and neck pain” began in February 1966. After A-Kun was imprisoned, I had to work desperately to support our family of nine. I built a “water-injection pump” for Chen Yan-Ting of the Kuo Min Market duck stall. Every morning at 2 a.m., I helped him beautify duck carcasses. Then I returned to my workshop to continue the work of the Cheng Kuang factory. The cost of such overexertion was severe shoulder and neck pain. Chen before swindled the 30,000 NT dollars borrowed by A-Jin, thus entangling us with a fortune-teller surnamed Kuo from Madou.

Seeing that A-Kun was determined to make something of himself at Baisheng, I even bought a four-story townhouse across from "Ideal Brand Shirts" and decorated it exactly the way he liked, wishing him the best.

Unexpectedly, he continued to idle his days away at Cheng Kuang in Lane 451 of Park Road. He never lived in the townhouse — not even for a single day — and never once sat in the chairman’s seat at Baisheng. Later, while I was busy cleaning up the mess A-Jin had left behind, he allowed himself to be tricked in a “stuffed bun for dumplings” exchange — giving away the entire Baisheng company for free to that group of petty people from the Kuo Min Market.

After seeing me build Baisheng for A-Kun, A-Jin went and recruited a group from Xiecuoliao, insisting she too wanted a factory of equal scale. Naturally, I had to comply. Thus I founded "Kuo Kuang Electronic Wire" for her. But after she arranged a marriage between her adulterer and her niece, she used my hard-earned money to buy them a pair of townhouses on Lane 974, Park Road. She even decreed that anything her adulterer wanted could be taken freely. Overnight, the Cheng Kuang Metal Works looked as if it had been completely ransacked.

On June 20, 1973, A-Jin’s uncle and her elder brother and sister-in-law suddenly barged into Cheng Kuang with more than a dozen people. They pinned A-Jin to the ground and beat her brutally, as if this were some kind of repayment. I was working in the back when I heard "strange cries for help." I rushed out and saw A-Kun standing there in shock. I immediately drove the mob away and rescued A-Jin.

While tending to her wounds, she finally revealed the painful childhood she had never dared revisit. Maternal grandfather had died when she was only two, and grandmother had been driven out of the house by the younger uncles. A-Jin became an orphan. She said, “When I was only six or seven, I had to carry my third brother’s baby on my back. I couldn’t go to school, so I never learned to read…” (No wonder she often cursed my grandmother using vulgarities about women’s organs.)

There were far worse things — stories too bitter to recount — hundreds of times more tragic than Chen Fen-lan’s song "The Orphan Girl’s Wish." So I decided in my heart: “Whatever A-Jin has done, she is forgiven.” She even demanded, “I don’t want to be looked down on. I want to live in the biggest house among all my relatives!” And so, I built a large residence for her by the main road near Taiping Bridge, and upgraded "Cheng Kuang Metal Works" into "Cheng Kuang Precision Industrial Co., Ltd." The key point is: not a single person ever gave me even one penny.

To handle the wave of incoming orders, and to build Baisheng and Kuokuang factories, constantly rushing back and forth. Once on Provincial Highway No. 1, I crashed my motorcycle and was almost run over by a heavy truck.

One day, a professor from National Cheng Kung University who taught “Mold Engineering” came to Cheng Kuang, saying he wanted to see my automated machines and progressive dies. A-Jin drove him out on the spot. The consequence was that, from that evening onwards, the school's “military instructors” called me into their office for tea and listened to their idle and meaningless chatter. After class, I still had to sacrifice sleep to review my books so I could retain first place. I survived by resting lightly in my chair before launching into another day of intense work.

Eventually, I realized that I had begun to lose my “accuracy.” Alarmed, I sought out Uncle Jinsheng, who was a physician, and he referred me to his classmate from Japan — a senior ophthalmologist. The doctor exclaimed, “Young man, what have you done to yourself? Your eyesight is only 0.2 to 0.3!” He fitted me with my first pair of glasses and repeatedly warned me, “You must rest more. Do not overstrain your eyes, or you’ll go blind!”

Thus began my life with glasses.

Do you know what it takes to produce high-precision molds without any machine tools? You must fix your gaze on the "grinder," concentrate completely, and patiently bring the workpiece closer and closer, shaping it with utmost care until the "male–female fit" of the deep-draw die becomes perfect and the fine eyelets can be made. So I earned piles of money for A-Jin to squander, yet I couldn’t bring myself to buy even a simple pair of safety goggles.

Without goggles, “carborundum grit” from the grinding wheel would frequently fly into my eyes. When I couldn’t pick them out with a toothpick, I used a "sewing needle." Tears streaming, I still couldn’t rest, because A-Jin would be behind me whipping the air and shouting, “Four-leg! Make money — more money — earn even more money!”

Only when I was nearly blind did I finally indulge in a pair of glasses for myself.

Later, I took those glasses with me through the military service period of “reserved officer” (Class 26), to the United States to develop "satellite receivers," to complete the program of "MBA" at New York University, to rescue "Barbie Dolls," to APEC where I helped facilitate "e-commerce legislation" and urged economies to implement their infrastructure, and to Shanghai APEC where I explained how "The Daughter of the Defense Employee" could help China become a superpower. Only when I could no longer see the TV clearly did those glasses retire from duty.

Fig 6: A Book “The Daughter of the Defense Employee”

Reflecting on the doctor’s warning, I recalled Confucius’s teaching of the Four Restraints—“Do not look at what is improper; do not listen to what is improper; do not speak what is improper; do not act improperly.” By disciplining the senses, one could restore one’s vision.

In 1966, a scholar from Mainland China once told me that Confucius’s Four Restraints could actually restore our internal organs:

“If the eyes do not look excessively, the soul resides in the liver; If the ears do not listen excessively, the essence remains in the kidneys; If the nose does not smell excessively, the spirit dwells in the lungs; If the mouth does not speak excessively, the mind stays in the heart; If the body does not move excessively, intention rests in the spleen.”

I began to quiet myself, abandoned intense karate training, and turned to meditation and visualization. Surprisingly, during the re-examination for military service, I once again qualified as "Category A."

The scholar also said: “Excessive speech leads to exhaustion; it is better to ‘keep to the Center’ (Concentration). When the Five Spirits stay centered, the Five Qi (vital energy) naturally return to their source; Qi transforms into Spirit, Spirit returns to Emptiness, and Essence transforms into Qi.” By practicing this key — keeping to the Center — I could sleep only two or three hours a day, eat very little food, yet absorb the essence of sun and moon and remain energetic for years, building a prosperous life for my family. With only a brief meditation, I could roam beyond the visible world and see the future.

Naturally, I could always read the minds of A-Kun and A-Jin, who had learned nothing all their lives.

In November 1998, while working in a laboratory in Germany, I suddenly remembered A-Kun’s birthday and flew home to celebrate it with him. When I was about to return to Taipei, he stood before the Baroque columns of what was once "Cheng Kuang Precision Industrial Co., Ltd." — now a completely unrecognizable ruin-like — and grasped my hand to say, “Could you take Cheng Kuang back? I’ve been very unhappy all these years while you were gone.”

Fig 7: The newly built Cheng Kuang Precision Factory in 1974

But I still had important work to do. Former Kansas City Mayor Charles Wheeler was discussing with me the proposal for a “10,000-hectare” precision manufacturing park, and Merrill Lynch continued helping us enter the international capital market. Later, the “e-commerce legislation” I advanced at APEC — based on the "TES system" —indeed enabled "USD 36 trillion in annual cashless transactions" during the COVID period, helping 1.5 billion people earn income from home. How could I possibly turn back to a Cheng Kuang that had been demolished until only “five hundred ping” remained?

Unexpectedly, on December 31, 1998, A-Kun called to say he wanted to meet me on the sixth day of 1999 to discuss “returning” matters. Yet on January 2, 1999, he was already in the ICU at Chi-Mei Hospital and passed away on the fourth day of 1999. I mourned him with deep regret — for twenty-six years.

During the 2022 Lunar New Year, a message suddenly came from abroad: “My Condolences.” After inquiry, I learned that A-Jin had died suddenly, and the funeral would be held on February 7. At dawn the next morning, I rushed to the front of "Cheng Kuang Precision" — the place I had once built piece by piece against wind and storm. Outside, it looked completely unlike the lively household A-Jin used to keep. I knocked for hours before the youngest brother slowly opened the door.

Beside her coffin, I recited the "Heart Sutra" and dedicated its merit to her. Unexpectedly, there was a response: “It hurts… it’s cold…” I immediately asked someone to go to the City God Temple on Chenggong Road Lane 238 to burn offerings for her and pray for the City God and the Generals of the Five Camps to protect her. That night, I wrote an article titled "My Mother," filled with well-intentioned embellishments, and made a concerted effort to lie in order to beautify her image.

Recall in 1977, after Su Nan-Cheng was elected Mayor of Tainan, he consulted me about planning Chong Hua Road around “East–West–South–North.” Though the economy was small then and our turnover modest, we could still save enough each month to buy one hectare of land. I thought: “I left so much property for them. After A-Kun died, A-Jin inherited everything. Now that she has passed away, the estate tax must be considerable…”

But when I obtained the documents from the Economic Development Bureau, I couldn’t help sighing:

“Even with all my cultivation, I still overestimated their virtue.”

A Chain Plot to Hunt Down the Cyclops

After compiling the documents I obtained from the Economic Development Bureau, the story my teacher told about “the killing of Emperor Shun” kept surging in my mind.

In 1978, after negotiating terms with an American client, I received an advance payment. I immediately raised Cheng Kuang Precision’s capital "from NTD one million to NTD six million." Because most of the money I earned in 1974 had been spent building houses, so the registered capital had remained small. Once I had cash in hand, I increased the capital as fast as I could, handed all the money to A-Jin, and flew to the United States — which had just cut diplomatic ties with the Republic of China — to work myself to the bone.

While I was in America completing the development of the satellite receiver and finishing the program of MBA, my American friends urged me to stay. They said that during this economic downturn, I should "pursue a doctorate" and use my resources to build a foundation for future development in this fertile land.

At that moment, A-Jin shouted over the phone: “I, your father order you to hurry and come back!”

I sat down to meditate, and immediately saw “the scene” after she had been beaten by her relatives. She had then turned to a sorcerer in Madou — Master Kuo — and treated him like her father. The money Kuo used to buy land and build temples was all earned from my sweat and blood.

Kuo told A-Jin: “If A-Chang returns from the U.S. after finishing his studies, you will lose ‘control of the purse.’”

Alarmed, she asked, “Then… then what should I do?”

Kuo instructed her to take my clothing —“the younger the age, the better” —along with my hair.

He said, “Once I perform the ritual, he will be completely under our control. I will also draw talismans. Take them home and burn them. When he returns, make him drink the ashes. Then everything will be secured.”

After careful “research and development,” they devised a tailor-made chain plot, a “linked stratagem.” Kuo said, “Once it succeeds, frame him and his father-in-law for conspiracy to murder for money.”

The voices and images were vividly clear.

When I rushed back to Tainan from the U.S., a girl I had never seen before came to apply for a job.

A-Jin pointed at my nose with authority and ordered: “You have three months to marry that girl!”

I fulfilled her command in eighty days.

Sure enough, seventy-two days after the wedding, they launched the “Assassination in the Dark Night.” A-Jin instigated my youngest brother — the child I had raised since he was weaned — to stab me with a three-foot blade. A-Kun even agreed to it.

Before the incident, I was working in my R&D room on a new product when suddenly “a vision of blood splashed across the desk.” Their voices and movements appeared vividly. I quietly walked to the back residence — which had originally been my office — and their conversation replayed exactly as I had seen in the vision.

I silently returned to my R&D room.

A-Jin calculated: “If we can kill him in one strike, perfect! If the youngest one gets killed instead, we’ll have the police officers arrest the murderer on the spot!”

I was caught in torment while predicted the scene.

At that moment my wife — an innocent, naïve young girl — returned and told me, “The prenatal check just confirmed I’m pregnant.”

I told her, “Don’t leave my side for now. Someone will come to kill me soon.”

She shocked and asked, “How can that be? Don’t frighten me!”

Before she finished, someone knocked on the glass window. I reached out to open it. A long blade shattered the glass and thrust inside. Some unknown force pulled me out of its deadly path. The cold steel knife flashed before my eyes.

I dodged the fatal strike — but the girl’s left hand was slashed by the flying shards, bleeding profusely.

A-Jin burst in with a group of female workers, shouting:

“Kill him! Kill him!”

The youngest brother indeed swung the blade toward me. At that moment, A-Kun suddenly awoke as if from a dream and grabbed him from behind, yelling, “No! Don’t!”

The police officers arrived. Seeing the shattered glass everywhere, they asked what had happened. A-Kun lowered his head in silence. The youngest had fled. A-Jin proclaimed loudly, “What else? This unfilial brat and his wife are fighting over the inheritance!”

The police officers patted me helplessly and said,

“Sigh… even an honest official can hardly judge family affairs.” Then he left.

I told them, “Take all the property — there’s no need for this.”

I rode away on the Vespa motorcycle—my wife’s dowry gift—now deeply gashed by the blade, and left Cheng-Kuang Precision behind.

May 4, 1980—nicknamed by my friends as the “New Xuanwu Gate Coup” — became the day when the plan I had designed to create more wealth for my parents and brothers was transformed into a lifelong mission to serve society.

On November 22, 1998, A-Kun held my hand beneath Cheng-Kuang’s pillars and confessed everything described above. He finished with,

“Alas… I and everyone drank too much of that sorcerer’s talisman water.”

But the truth, according to the Economic Development Bureau’s records, was that on August 13, 1980, they had already "committed forgery and embezzled my shares" in first move.

When I left Tainan, I was still worried they would starve and be unable to pay tuition, so I gave A-Kun "a substantial sum of money." Who would have expected that by November, A-Kun would bring my cousin to the pregnant girl — the survivor of the assassination attempt — and ask her to persuade me to “return to save Cheng Kuang,” because they were broke and starving?

I asked the girl, still naïve and heavily pregnant,

“If that blade on the night of May 4 had struck you, it would have been two lives lost. Why are you still speaking on their behalf?”

She replied with wide, innocent eyes, “Filial piety is the first of virtues. They are our parents. You should go back.”

To save them, I abandoned the new team Heaven had granted me. By June 1982, when operations were finally back on track, all my resources had again become Cheng-Kuang’s. Then A-Kun and A-Jin launched another surprise “coup,” mobilizing their “Shangs” (younger brothers).

This time, the naïve girl did not have the good fortune she once had. Aside from being "stripped clean" as if by con artists, we also "lost a child." It left me utterly devastated.

Every Decade’s Achievements

However, to sum up the years from 1966 to 1976: I helped "Apollo 4" soar into space and laid the foundation for "Taiwan’s Precision Industry." From 1978 to 1988, I revived the "Barbie Doll," enabling her to become top1 in the world, and I also introduced the "Satellite Receiver," revitalizing Taiwan’s economy. In 1986, I saved "Cheng Kuang Precision" once again, I received A-Jin's return, she pointed her finger at me and mocked, “Ha! You dumb brute! You’re not getting away from me — not from ‘green-eyed ox’ (a illiterate). Now I’ll watch how you die!”

In 1990, Akun told me that Cheng Kuang was on the brink of collapse and demanded "NTD 30 million." I placed the money in front of him, yet he still chose to run the new Chonghua Road straight through Cheng Kuang’s factory site, instead of routing it along the dry riverbed of the Yanshui River. He tore down the factory, and even bragged to me that he’d pocketed “an extra forty million NT dollars.”

From 1989 to 1999, the new techl-economic system (TES) invented by my wife and me grew from nothing into the APEC 1998 “E-Commerce Bill” in Malaysia. In New Zealand APEC 1999, I further pushed the assembly to adopt a resolution “strongly urging all economies to implement electronic commerce.”

Fig 8: We achieved the “E-Commerce Bill” at APEC 1998

In 2000, we advocated for “ICT” at Brunei APEC, which became the official resolution at Shanghai APEC the following year. ICT then grew into the industry that positioned Taiwan at the forefront of global technology in the 21st century. In 2003, at APEC, our proposal “Global Channel–TES” was recognized as the best practice policy, credited with guiding “240 million people” toward entrepreneurship and fundamentally transforming 21st-century human life — ending tragedies such as taxi drivers being robbed.

Fig 9: “Global Channel–TES” –APEC 2003 Best Practice Proposal

From 2006 to 2016, I secured "satellite support" at APEC summit in Hanoi, and contributed insights into "Rebuilding the Global Economy" at the Singapore APEC summit — mitigating the damage of the financial crisis and leading the world from a contact-based to a "contactless" model. I also contributed the intellectual property of "The Development of Taiwan's Third Sector and Information Society."

Fig 10: Contributing to "Rebuilding the Global Economy"

Over the ten years after 2016, through our persistent advocacy, vending machines around the world shifted toward the "VAM System" we invented, and people almost completely forgot the devastation caused by the "2008 financial crisis." However, when COVID-19 swept across the globe, our invention— "Contactless Induction Technology" —became the most effective tool for pandemic prevention. After 2020, annual transactions made through "cashless systems reached USD 36 trillion," ushering the world into the era of intellectual industries.

Unfortunately, starting in March 2004, A-Jin colluded with the corruption syndicate and launched simultaneous lawsuits against me. Shi-Jiao (my older brother – one of Shangs) used various excuses to obtain my personal data, forged documents on August 11, and once again deprived my property — even the money I deposited with the court was withdrawn clean by him. They sold my personal information and deliberately created obstacles to block my path forward.

A-Jin and the corruption mastermind — the “King of Moab”—jointly threatened: “We won’t let you live past 2004!”

The simple-minded girl who had repeatedly urged me to return and save Cheng Kuang was indeed besieged until she collapsed — almost barely surviving that year.

Even after compiling the Economic Development Bureau’s documents, seeing how the younger brother I raised since he was weaned spent thirty years gnawing on the mulberry tree I planted — I still tried to cover up their lies, because I believe that "Love can cover a multitude of sins."

Until my neck stiffness worsened, causing severe eye pain, and on August 18, a small "red washer" from 1986 suddenly fell into my bathtub as if it had traveled through time. It was as though something struck my head and woke me up, shifting me from great folly to "middle folly." I began revisiting everything — including the strange illness on Friday, September 7, 1984, when I was hospitalized at Taipei Medical University. Dr. Jiang Hansheng kept insisting I had "TB" (tuberculosis). The only way to contract a custom-made poison like that would have been through someone who studied medicine — such as the younger brother — or descendants of the treacherous maidservant. That I survived could only be attributed to God’s mercy.

From focusing on my health to reviewing the behavior of the “heart-blind couple” and their “Shangs,” I recalled what Teacher Chiu told me after a home visit:

“In this world, some parents are simply ‘not parents’.”

How did it take me sixty years to understand this?

Since the fourth grade, I began sensing my grandmother’s "suffering." Heaven granted me a strong body so I could steer a battered ship through raging storms, not only reaching safe harbors but also vindicating the wronged and restoring dignity to the discriminated. Even Premier Chiang Ching-Kuo himself came to "learn about Cheng Kuang," and through Youth Council Secretary-General Mei Ke-Wang, I formed a precious cross-generational friendship that enabled me to create Taiwan’s precision industry and the "Contactless TranSmart Chip" that benefits people worldwide.

Since 1967, Mr. Lane of Transworld Electronics called me “Dr. Blacksmith,” a title that spread from inside to outside the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone (KEPZ). Looking back now, “Dr. Blacksmith” turned out to be a one-eyed dragon. Was this Heaven’s joke upon the world—or God’s special provision, allowing "One-Eyed A-Chang’s Fantastical Journey" to safeguard the descendants of Kuo Biao, the Righteousness-man?

The greatest key is this:

The Lord Almighty who loves me granted me extraordinary vision — the ability to see through electronic wires only "0.035 mm" thick —ushering in the global trend of lightweight, compact electronic components. In a barren wilderness, I built an oasis.

Yet, I misused this gift, letting those who never labored enjoy the glory and creating great calamities for myself.

The most absurd part is that A-Kun knew very well that the people who forced him to move out of Hemei Mansion in his fifth grade — the man was born of his grandmother’s maid’s immoral affair, and the woman of his mother’s maid — yet he used the resources I gave him to declare that woman “Grand-Auntie,” misleading the descendants of Kuo Biao.

In 1969, when we were about to move to Lane 451, Park Road, A-Jin said to me:

“That dying old woman won’t live long anyway — just leave her in Chong-An Street.”

A-Kun showed no reaction and instead chose to indulge himself with her adulterer. It was inconceivable.

Meanwhile, I remained faithfully bound to Confucian ethics and virtues. Looking back, it all seems even stranger.

The Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) once said: “Time is a great author; it writes the perfect ending for everyone.”

Through the shifting sands of time, no amount of scheming will escape eventual burial under dust. The real issue is this: "The eyes of the wise are full of light; the foolish walk in darkness."

“Wisdom” comes from Heaven — including the integrity and fundamental, and only by following heavenly principles can it be rightly applied — lest it become a great disaster. That is the true path.

The Gospel of Matthew records:

Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, wanting to speak to you.” (Matt. 12:47)

He replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” (Matt. 12:48)

Pointing to His disciples, Jesus said,

“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. 12:49–50)

This passage emphasizes that only those who obey the Father’s will—those who walk in heavenly principles — are pleasing to God and can be counted as Jesus’ family.

After three months of daily morning devotions, I finally understood that the fantastical journey of One-Eyed A-Chang carries a profound spiritual meaning.

A voice said: “Repent! Stop covering up for those who sin. Only by laying bare the truth will you receive blessing.”

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.

【Copyrights reserved by Li-Chang Kuo & K-Horn Science Inc.】

External Links:

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https://patents.google.com/patent/US20030197061 (Shopping System)

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20030107468 (Entry Security Device)

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040054595A1 (ETC)

https://ldinventions.blogspot.com/2022/01/127.html  (A Universal Cashless System)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2023/10/1011.html (K-Horn Science Inc.)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2023/11/1110.html (K-Horn & APEC)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2023/12/1208.html (K-Horn’s SRI)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2024/01/105.html (K-Horn’s PCM)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2024/03/326.html (Tree's Whiskers)

https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2024/05/515.html (The Best Practice)

https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2024/06/609.html (Edison’s Inspiration)

https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2024/07/704.html (Apollo)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2024/07/721.html (Paving the Way for AI)

https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2024/08/818.html (Disney Intelligent System)

https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2024/10/1028.html (SRI & Global Channel-TES)

https://plckai.blogspot.com/2024/11/1103.html (On Ethics & Morality of the AI Era)

https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2024/11/1112.html (Peru APEC)

https://pkproposal.blogspot.com/2024/11/1127.html (A Proposal to President Trump)

https://pkproposal.blogspot.com/2024/12/1208.html (2ND Proposal “IIA-TES”)

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https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2024/12/1231.html (Kuo’s Journey for 6 Decades)

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https://pkproposal.blogspot.com/2025/04/409.html (A Letter to President Trump)

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https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/04/416.html (Singapore’s Strategy in a Changing World)

https://pkproclaims.blogspot.com/2025/04/422.html (How the American Elite Think)

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https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/05/502.html (Theological Practice in Precision Industry)

https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2025/05/514.html (Li-Chang Kuo’s Caring Technology)

https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2025/05/519.html (520 Presidential Inauguration Day)

https://tesoperation.blogspot.com/2025/05/522.html (Investing in America’s Health)

https://tesoperation.blogspot.com/2025/05/527.html (Lind Din’s Rice Dumpling in TES)

https://tesoperation.blogspot.com/2025/06/605.html (Greatest Business Opportunity)

https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/06/612.html (Grand Maritime Initiative)

https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2025/06/618.html (TES & APEC)

https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2025/06/622.html (Crystal Soap & Precision Manufacturing)

https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2025/06/624.html (Qualities of A Supreme Leader)

https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2025/07/704.html (Investing in America’s Heart)

https://pkproposal.blogspot.com/2025/07/709.html (Wheeler’s New City Vision)

https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/07/716.html (Brain Mine Lasts Forever)

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https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2025/07/728.html (The Yarlung Tsangpo Legend)

https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2025/08/801.html (Managing A Great Taiwan)

https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2025/08/0.html (Tiny Energy Site)

https://pktesrtn.blogspot.com/2025/08/812.html (TSCM Information System)

https://pktesrtn.blogspot.com/2025/08/815.html (TES-eStore in the U.S.)

https://ldljourney.blogspot.com/2025/08/818.html (Revelation of the Red Washer)

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