I am not Ximen Qing.

Zhang Sheng still admired the scholarly air of Beijing, even though he knew it echoed Lin Yutang's masterpiece, *Moment in Peking*. After all, there was a great scholar in the Han Dynasty named Jing Fang, who was apparently a disciple of Confucius, a true inheritor of the *I Ching*, similar to the Sixth Patriarch of the Platform Sutra, and one of the patriarchs of the Bodhidharma Zen lineage. As for how many generations it could be passed down, that depended on fate. Some ancient teachings were eventually lost for various reasons. The *I Ching* of today, Confucius's teachings, have long been lost. The *I Ching* was passed down to Fu Xi, further developed by King Wen of Zhou, and Confucius compiled a comprehensive summary in the *Appended Remarks* (Part I and II), *Explanation of the Trigrams*, and *Miscellaneous Trigrams*. In Zhongguancun, it's a culture where cultured graduate students choose to start their own businesses, originating from Silicon Valley in the US—the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of Silicon Valley academia, a spirit that changes the world. Zhongguancun is a gathering place for prestigious universities; it was the backyard of princes and nobles during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The spirit of cultural innovation and progress in Haidian District is the true historical foundation of this area, both past and present. Not far away are the renowned Three Hills and Five Gardens of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns. Haidian is not just Beijing's Haidian, but also the Haidian of all of China, and even the Haidian of the world. The spirit of constant renewal and innovation found in universities, especially in Haidian's Zhongguancun, provides a grand stage for ordinary Chinese people to reach out to the world, explore the world, and realize their self-worth. It embodies a true spirit of openness; embracing diversity is the best manifestation of this spirit of openness and inclusiveness. If you want to make money, you need to humble yourself and experience the commercial culture of Zhongguancun's large marketplaces. If you want to make money, don't act like a philosopher spouting a bunch of theories.

Getting rich in Zhongguancun is incredibly easy; just buy and sell goods in shops. However, all these goods are high-tech products manufactured abroad. This is evident from the high salaries and benefits of white-collar workers in major American, Japanese, and European companies. The huge gap and divide between domestic and international companies in the computer industry is stark. In the computer field, whether it's hardware or software, China often relies on labor-intensive assembly because Chinese labor is cheap. Therefore, multinational IT giants, out of compassion, allow some Taiwanese companies to do OEM manufacturing. Many domestic companies also engage in OEM services, meaning they produce products designed by high-tech giants at the lowest possible price. Being able to manufacture for large foreign companies is considered a significant industrial upgrade, a thorough labor-intensive assembly process. Domestic companies can only accumulate technological upgrades through a gradual, slow-burning market approach. In short, it's all about low-end, outdated supply chains that large foreign companies don't bother with – a great innovation for China!

In its early days, Zhongguancun was dilapidated; the former beauty and glory of its former "Three Hills and Five Gardens" were nowhere to be seen. It was incredibly backward. But after just a few years of industrial upgrading, Zhongguancun has transformed completely, displaying a different kind of grandeur and atmosphere. Perhaps the essence of its past lies in the nakedly commercial stench of money, the sales culture of its large marketplaces. Salespeople are driven by a feverish enthusiasm for attracting customers, because the value of money and profit is eternal. Business is about making money; it's about profiting from customers who come to the marketplace. Only making money is considered truly respectable; money is a panacea for health and well-being. The sales summaries here every night are no less humble than those of insurance agents who have sold a lot of insurance. No one likes subtlety when it comes to making money; humility is not part of Zhongguancun's culture. Money is glorious. Every salesperson who has slain a dragon or caught a big fish will boast and brag about the essence of making money, having grasped the power of money.

Zhongguancun is a goldmine, a hub of money, and permeated with the scent of wealth. Like Shenzhen, which embraced reform and opening up, Zhongguancun is a place where money from all over the world flows. This is a true understanding of the flow of money. Therefore, starting a business or seeking opportunities in Zhongguancun is a wise move. Finding the right direction to make money is key, and Zhongguancun is the epitome of this money-driven world. Everything carries risk, but the risk is crucial. In Zhongguancun, there is virtually no risk; only profit. Capital has the keenest sense of smell. Even a 20% profit margin is enough for capital to take the biggest risks. Observe the attitude of capital towards money; it is money that capital fears. Now I understand: Zhongguancun is a money empire, a paradise for capital, a hunting ground for capital. Capital hasn't been bloodthirsty in a long time. As long as there's profit to be made—of course, a profit exceeding double the value of the goods is too much, even a 1% discount is too much—20% is quite generous. Capital isn't greedy at all; it knows what monetary profit means to it: the best ginseng to nourish its spirit! The money in *The Story of the Stone* is still relevant. If Ximen Qing traveled from *The Plum in the Golden Vase* to Zhongguancun, he'd be like those simple HP dealers at Peking University Resources, just dealing in HP products, HP printers, and toner cartridges. There's no risk, it's a money-making business, money just falls into your lap. Customers will hand over checks and say thank you as they leave. But as long as you can earn more than 20% of the profit, capital will go berserk, becoming like the pauper in Ibsen's story, or the money in Zola's story. Here, there's no tragedy, just a pure gold rush, a paradise with honey and milk.

This entrepreneurial base for wealth inheritance allows you to easily deliver products from any brand like Lenovo, Dell, HP, or IBM. The rest of the time, you can play mahjong and enjoy a carefree, modern lifestyle of making money. Drinking from morning till night, and when that gets boring, going clubbing—it's good exercise too! Chatting and drinking with girls at bars—Sanlitun is the most vibrant nightlife area. Domestic and international girls sip on cocktails and tequilas in the various clubs around the Workers' Stadium. Besides, there's no risk here; no need to take any risks for a 20% profit. I dare say that Zhongguancun truly embodies the magical transformation of money, a commercial phenomenon where salespeople possess superpowers because every product they sell is related to AI (artificial intelligence). The salespeople in Zhongguancun were actually the earliest market promoters of artificial intelligence products. They were all like the magical, transformative superhuman figures favored by professors, scholars, and PhDs, fluently explaining the performance and shortcomings of these innovative products from leading international companies, using all sorts of technical jargon and boasting with an air of audacity, like a Great Leap Forward. In that final, decisive move, they sold the product at an exorbitant price, realizing a month's or even a year's profit in that instant. This dramatic turnaround in life is the wonderful and enjoyable aspect of buying and selling, and also the true essence of achieving financial freedom.

Anyway, graduate students have already been fooled by these low-level cultural salespeople. Wisdom has lost its value and purpose here because wisdom is always long-term, while here it's all about passionate consumerism. Besides, there are too many computer brands, too many products, too many chips. You only know one side of the story, not the other. The room for manipulation is endless. Cheap products don't mean low profits, and expensive products don't mean high profits. To make money, you need the spirit of the Great Voyage. The world is a vast ocean. Find and explore the land of wealth. Going out there offers more opportunities than sitting on the ground sighing.

In Changbai Mountain, people harvest radishes and cabbages every year, piling them up in their yards and cellars. These radishes and cabbages are commodities in the big markets, just like the dazzling array of products from leading Silicon Valley high-tech companies in Zhongguancun's electronics markets. Essentially, these commodities are no different, at least not according to the definition of commodities in Capital. The difference is that those selling high-tech computer products can eat the most authentic Beijing roast duck at Tian Shang Tian Roast Duck Restaurant every day, enjoying juicy sliced ​​duck, spicy blood curd, poached chicken, Russian pickles, fried yellow croaker, sweet and sour pork, and Dongpo pork knuckle every day. They can also go to the Sanlitun Workers' Stadium Club every night for cocktails, clubbing, dancing, and all sorts of good food and drinks. Think about what's behind these great products. It's Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Google, Samsung, Sony, Canon, HP, Cisco, Huawei—these are all giant companies. Behind them lies corporate culture, technological innovation, foresight, and strategic planning for future technological development. This can be considered the feng shui of business. Sometimes, a person's choices truly outweigh their efforts. Sometimes, a businessman can't compete with a doctor who works a stable job in a hospital his whole life; sometimes, a businessman can't compete with an ordinary employee who works a stable job in a bank his whole life. Don't ask why; there's no why. It's just like that. Like Othello, who had to kill the beautiful Desdemona because he was insane.

What's the biggest difference between Zhang Sheng and the graduate student? One makes money by buying and selling domestic and international IT products in large supermarkets, which has a speculative feel to it. However, these high-tech products can generate profits of tens of thousands, with no upper limit. A 1394 card costing 100 yuan, if sold as a non-linear editing card, can serve the same purpose as Pinnacle and Cannopus products costing tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan. The only difference is that they use pirated software, which is somewhat irregular. But many salespeople exploit loopholes and flaws in these irregularities. Why can Pinnacle and Cannopus products sell for tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan? What's the difference? That's the power of product brand and technology. Apple computers are more expensive than HP, Dell, and IBM because of Apple's closed ecosystem. Apple is God's favorite, isn't it? Apple is the most beautiful buttocks of a goddess, isn't it? Apple is the forbidden fruit of Adam and Eve's Garden of Eden, isn't it? Apple is Newton's goddess of wisdom, isn't it? Apple will always be a great product, without a doubt, representing innovation and creation, changing the original spirit of Silicon Valley, and embodying the essence of the "borrowing" approach.

The Self-Strengthening Movement was actually the right thing to do. At that time, China didn't have the "dog-beating stick" (a metaphor for a powerful weapon), atomic bombs, or rockets. Japan relied on acquiring technology from the US and Germany, specifically American and German automotive technology, to create Honda and Toyota, thus embarking on a path of self-innovation. This is a testament to the Japanese people's long-standing reliance on shamelessness and a thick-skinned, ruthless spirit. There's nothing shameful about adopting such practices; the most important thing is to create your own products. Many products in Zhongguancun are from Europe, America, and Japan. Even the chips are almost all laser-engraved with "Made in Taiwan, Japan, the US, and even the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand"—a significant number are also from these countries.

Few computer products are domestically made. Opening up the market allows giants to enjoy the thrill of dumping, using the market to win over product technology, breaking down technological barriers—there's nothing to fear. Openness fosters innovation across the entire product chain. The culture in large retail stores is one of international exchange; the desire for profit and money is naked and honest. The ultimate principle of buying and selling is making money, maximizing profits—there's nothing shameful about it; it's true entrepreneurial spirit. It doesn't matter if you're not good at speaking or lecturing, as long as you're bold. You'll be immersed in the atmosphere, reeking of money, and bombarded with sales pitches, relentlessly promoting this "great" product to customers, using the most exaggerated language to describe its benefits and performance. Language is about repetition; keep repeating until the customer's mind breaks down, they abandon their own ideas. Then, you'll inevitably increase profits, highlighting the product's excellence and superior quality.

Only by understanding what Zhang Yi said to King Zhaoxiang of Qin—that even if the King of Chu would rather lose territory than lose Zhang Yi's life—could one truly grasp the power of Zhang Yi's words. The King of Chu even appointed Zhang Yi as the Prime Minister of Chu. Zhang Yi's eloquence was undoubtedly the most remarkable in history. The art of language is represented by every word, especially crucial for navigating the complexities of Zhongguancun. One must be like Zhang Yi, daring to boast, speak boldly, be quick-witted, and ultimately, have great courage. Do customers really understand? They understand nothing. The more quotes are presented, the more exorbitant the profits for the customer. They're busy making things difficult, and the more nonsensical and rambling the sales pitch, the more comforted the customer feels, and the more readily they spend money. There are far too many misunderstandings about product sales in large stores. They're simply driven by a passionate desire for a better future. Customers are actually quite soft-hearted and easily moved to tears by the salespeople in large stores.

The sales culture in Zhongguancun is no different from the underlying passion for hard work among penny stock salespeople on Wall Street. However, selling electronics has a moral high ground; they're selling products and earning money from their high performance, while Wall Street stock traders make real money through illicit means. But the expressions and body language in these large stores are strikingly similar. The uncontrolled enthusiasm for customers, the pulling and tugging, is obvious – it's not just one vulture, but a pack, a pack of hungry wolves and tigers, all working up a frenzy of adrenaline. The most vivid Zen phrase of these great salespeople is "Open for business!" Perhaps even the top salespeople in large stores love the stir-fried pork kidneys at Tianwaitian (a famous Chinese restaurant chain); eating stir-fried pork kidneys and shouting "Open for business!" gives them energy, all to motivate themselves to achieve better sales results that day. The bustling customers in the supermarket didn't understand the wildebeest's fate, thinking that their galloping across the African savanna would intimidate lions and other carnivores. What distinguishes humans from animals is their insatiable desire; humans can be passionately and eagerly in love anytime, anywhere. Animals are merely satisfied with being full; humans fill their refrigerators and storage cabinets, preparing for years and decades of necessities. For salespeople, the opening day is just an appetizer, a taste of the real feast, the beginning of a relentless pursuit of selling one, two, three, a hundred, ten thousand computers. When sales are in a good state, they must remember the wisdom in the Bible; Matthew's Gospel is so true: the more you have, the more you will have. Similarly, the more you sell, the better you will sell. God encourages ambition in this way. Salespeople in large supermarkets with a fighting spirit, innovative spirit, and enterprising spirit are seizing the opportunity to close a few big deals. Some have already reached a turnover of 100,000 and are aiming for 1 million. They are never afraid of competition, which fuels their fighting spirit; their desire for money is insatiable. However, to get rich in sales, you need to be a highly capable individual. Not everyone has the opportunity to thrive and succeed in this industry.