The incident happened while I was having breakfast this morning. I bought a potato and egg pancake, a bag of Tujia spicy sauce pancakes, and a Ma Yuan (a local Nanchang snack, a fried ball-shaped treat). I heated them in an air fryer at 150°C for 3 minutes. When I took them out to eat, I found that the Tujia spicy sauce pancake was heated unevenly—one part cold, the other hot—while the Ma Yuan was heated evenly throughout. Later, I used AI to analyze the differences between the two foods and discovered:

The spicy sauce pancake is a flat, multilayered thin pancake with a dry, hard, porous texture. When laid flat in the fryer basket, its bottom is pressed against the metal mesh, making it difficult for hot air to reach. It relies on metal conduction, and combined with the wrinkles and multilayer structure creating "hot air dead zones," as well as its dry, hard texture that conducts heat slowly, resulting in uneven heating. In contrast, the Ma Yuan is a smooth, sealed spherical shape. Its firm glutinous rice texture allows heat to transfer more evenly. The fried shell also prevents localized overheating, and the high-speed circulating hot air can wrap around it 360°, ensuring even heating.

Seeing these small details in life, I suddenly remembered a question that has always puzzled me: what is the true purpose of reading? Some say it's for a diploma; others say it's to cope with family expectations. There seem to be many answers, but at that moment, I suddenly understood:

Reading is for understanding principles.

Of course, understanding principles is never something you fully grasp just by finishing a book. The truths in books need to be tested in life: encountering different viewpoints prevents stubbornness; going through experiences helps us see which principles truly stand firm. Reading is “learning principles,” practice is “proving principles,” and only by combining the two can we truly understand the books and grasp the truths.

Ultimately, the purpose of reading is to ensure that in this complex world, we always hold a standard for judgment and the confidence for action—living with clarity and avoiding many confusing paths.