Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1 Prologue

For nearly twenty years, I have been alone in a foreign land, wandering from place to place, forgetting what my hometown looks like, speaking a language that doesn't sound like anywhere else, surrounded by strangers, and in unfamiliar cities, air, and wind.

I've always had a dream: to take responsibility for living and one day return to my beloved hometown in glory. But the older I get, the harder it seems to live. Food, clothing, rent, utilities—after paying for this and that, the money in my hand seems to be getting tighter and tighter, and I feel further and further away from my dream.

Some people have said that money isn't something you save up; the more you spend, the more you have. If you ever hear someone say that, remember to slap them across the face and then spit in their face—don't hold back.

Not everyone can earn more than they spend; most people always have to face ever-increasing expenses.

Chinese people are generally reserved and hesitant to openly discuss money. They often speak in evasive and hesitant manner, but deep down they're very interested, their eyes gleaming and fists clenching at the sight of an armored truck. If you analyze it carefully, those who say they have plenty of money are definitely more important to them than their lives, while those who say money is useless are likely large bank clients. Ordinary people, on the other hand, save for forty years to buy a house, living on meager rations, swallowing hard when they see their neighbor buying a piece of meat. They lack nothing except money.

In today's materialistic society, being without money is no longer just a matter of being unable to move an inch; it's a matter of being unable to live or die. From food and drink to clothing, transportation, shelter, and even death, the cost of an urn can be several thousand or tens of thousands. Burial costs nearly as much as a house, and not burying someone? Keeping them at a funeral home is more expensive than buying a house. This is reality.

People often ask, "Why do people live?" I've heard all sorts of answers: to make life meaningful, to contribute to the country, to achieve human peace. Nobody says it's to make money. But actually, people live to make money. Thinking about anything else is useless. A person who can't even support themselves is a burden on the country. What kind of contribution are you talking about?

In reality, a person lives their entire life within a circle of emotions: the love for parents, the love for siblings, the love for spouses, the love for family, the love for friends, the love for colleagues, the love for neighbors, and so on. What sustains these emotions? Money.

Some people say I'm being extreme, saying that true friendship doesn't depend on money. But buddy, if you have a friend who's like a brother or sister, and they always ask you for money, otherwise they'd starve to death, wouldn't you avoid them? With money, you can be filial to your parents, support your wife and children, and help your relatives and friends. Only with money can you have all of these things. That's true happiness in life.

Over the years, I've traveled all over China and met tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people. I haven't met a single one who doesn't care about money. People flock from Heilongjiang to eastern Guangdong, from the Northwest to Chongqing and Shanghai. You say you're not doing it for money? The whole world would despise you for that.

Everyone longs to achieve something, which means making enough money, but very few people really know how to earn their first pot of silver. This is the harsh reality. Starting a business is not something you can do by just getting some money, renting an office, and getting a license; that's like making a movie.

There are so many college students now, like ants, yet they still have ambitions that reach the sky. There are even more who didn't go to college, like grains of sand. They don't have high ambitions, but they can't sleep because they're thinking about money and don't know where to get it.

To walk, you need to take the first step; to eat, you need raw rice; to drink, you need to find water; to start a business, you need initial capital.

Half of my life has passed, and I guess that's about it. But fortunately, I've traveled and encountered a lot, and I've broadened my horizons. I want to take advantage of the remaining energy to write down what I've seen and know. I hope that through my rambling nonsense, I can help those who want to make money, those who yearn to start a business, and those who are willing to work hard. At the very least, I hope to give them a general direction. If, by any chance, someone becomes rich through this book of rambling words, please remember my kindness and send me some money so I can pay off last month's electricity bill and save myself from having to borrow light from other people's houses every night.

Actually, I hate pure theorists the most. They're all so poor they can't stand it, so they spout a bunch of clichés and empty talk, trying to swindle some money from others to eat. But they can't help it, they're starving. So they just treat me as an industrialist, remember that.

Although I'm telling a story, I'm talking about entrepreneurship. Some of the data may vary depending on the region, so please don't argue with me.

Everyone mentioned in the article is a true grassroots individual. They lack formal education, technical skills, and any distinguished family background. Going back eight generations, no one has ever reached the level of deputy section chief; going through eight floors, no one has ever accumulated more than 100,000 yuan in savings. They are all genuinely ordinary people. The chronological order of the stories is based on my personal age and experience, without any particular meaning; it's purely a matter of thought. The approximate starting point is the late 1980s. Therefore, due to the era and social development, some data may differ slightly from reality. I have tried my best to avoid this, but please verify the information yourself. Starting a business is a high-risk endeavor; the more thorough the preparation beforehand, the higher the chance of success.

Another point is to control and manage your mindset. This kind of control is not something that can be achieved in a day or two, but a lifelong matter. Many people have succeeded in starting a business, but ultimately failed because of their mindset. A typical example of this is myself. I left home at the age of seventeen to make my own way in the world, had some assets by the age of twenty-nine, but ended up losing everything at the age of thirty-one and have been struggling to make ends meet ever since.

Never be young and arrogant, thinking you're someone important, and then start showing off and indulging in luxury, shifting your focus to playing around, only to find yourself penniless within a year. Building a house takes one or two years, but demolishing it only takes ten minutes—this is an eternal truth that you must always remember, write on your wall, and constantly remind yourself of.

Mindset also includes one's attitude towards oneself, others, and society. I've seen too many successful people who want the whole world to know about their success, even though it might be nothing to others. As a result, they disregard family, neighbors, and friends. They may have some money, but they've lost all goodwill—this is the most counterproductive behavior.

Another thing is getting cocky once you have a little money, thinking you're someone important and looking down on everyone else. This is definitely a hallmark of a bad mentality that will lead to big losses. There's an old Chinese saying: "Don't deceive yourself when you're down, and don't deceive others when you're successful; nobody knows what the future holds." Among the people I know, at least two have hundreds of millions in assets but smoke cigarettes that cost 2.5 yuan a pack, and at least two wear work clothes and ride bicycles. One makes shoes, and the other sells them—not from the same brand, and they have no connection whatsoever. Back then, I even laughed at them behind their backs. We were all about the same wealth then, and I thought they were so unsophisticated. Now they're worth hundreds of millions, and I have nothing. They're still riding bicycles, oh, and one of them drives a Chery QQ. Looking back, it's precisely this mentality that has allowed them to remain successful. I want to learn from them, but it's too late.

In entrepreneurship, one's attitude towards failure is also very important.

Failure is like a utility bill; no matter how much you resist it, it still comes every month, requiring you to pay because of your actions—your water and electricity consumption. Instead of paying the bill and cursing, it's better to think about how to be more frugal next month. Take myself as an example: after failing in Shanghai, I spent almost five years in a state of self-abandonment. As a result, I couldn't do well at work, couldn't manage my family, let alone make a comeback.

Failure is experience, not a burden.

In entrepreneurship, connections are crucial, sometimes even more important than capital and preliminary research. Today's society is incredibly pragmatic; most people operate on a "use it or lose it" principle—if drinking doesn't work, offer money; if money doesn't work, offer a woman. This is a form of networking, but the most basic. Don't look down on anyone, respect everyone, and treat everyone with sincerity. The connections you build little by little are your true wealth. When Shi Baijin collapsed with the Giant Building, if it weren't for Liu Lian and a few others lending him money, he wouldn't be where he is today.

Finally, let me say this: When you're at the bottom, others may look down on you, but you must consider yourself someone important; when you're at the top, others may flatter you, but you must never think of yourself as someone important.

In this world, there's a shortage of everything, but there are the most amazing people.