I must admit — I, Master Chi, am truly a fortunate man. Even at my lowest, when my family had fallen to absolute ruin and I myself was penniless, I still carried an invisible wealth of immense value: the worldly wisdom passed down to me in my youth by the first-generation wealthy uncles who surrounded me.
One of those uncles, who had built his fortune starting from Huanghe Road, once said to me: “Don’t be scared. As long as your mind stays sharp and doesn’t get clogged up with nonsense, no matter how many times you fall, you can always get back up.”
Not the most refined thing ever said — but loaded with gold.
I, Master Chi, bled and fell hard in my younger years. And in the end, I climbed back up on my own. So tonight, I want to pass along some of that worldly wisdom to you.
Especially in times like these, you need someone to speak plainly:
1 — Even in the worst of times, this land is still full of wealth and opportunity.
Yes, I know this seems to contradict what I said yesterday. But whether you can access any of it depends entirely on whether you’re running with the right crew. If you’ve hitched yourself to the right mountain, then even when it’s freezing outside, you and a few loyal brothers and sisters can still be sitting inside eating until your lips are slick with oil.
2 — Never forget: no one in this society has ever truly risen by going it alone. Even those who appear to have — that was just a small flip, and any wealth grabbed that way won’t last.
If you truly want to make something of yourself, the prerequisite is aligning with the right mountain, paying respects at the right dock. Put more bluntly: follow the right people.
Only then can you be trusted and relied upon by those above, while also effectively deploying the foot soldiers and resources below. That’s when the chess board truly comes alive.
3 — As times change, some people foolishly forget the land they stand on and the deep-rooted cultural structures here.
They start to believe that having ability, talent, and skill is enough to break through on their own. It’s almost laughably naive.
Let me put it plainly: everything I just listed — all of it — amounts to nothing but thin, flavorless garnish in front of the main course, which is knowing how to conduct yourself among people.
4 — The greatest skill of a sharp person isn’t cleverness of hand or mind — it’s the willingness to sit quietly and watch.
When necessary, watch for weeks. Even months.
Watch the landscape. Watch which way the wind is blowing. Watch the situation. Watch as one player exits the stage and another enters. Keep watching, without stopping, until you see the opening.
Then, at exactly the right moment, make the most considered decision possible.
The foolish person, meanwhile, never looks at anything — they just plunge straight in and start hustling. And everything they hustle at misses the point entirely, or worse, pulls them in the wrong direction.
5 — The path to wealth hasn’t changed in thousands of years:
First, accomplish small things. Then, build a modest reputation. Next, move in quality circles. Finally, attract noble benefactors (Gui Ren).
More plainly: start by doing a few things that make people see you as reliable and grounded. Repeat that success. Draw more and more people to trust you. Keep upgrading the circles you move in. Then begin clearing obstacles for people of a higher tier. And finally, bind yourself deeply to the largest mountain you can reach — and get involved in bigger things.
But many people in their thirties and forties, who have never had anyone point the way, try to skip steps one through three and jump straight to step four. It’s enough to make you laugh and cry at the same time.
6 — In the world of people, confidence is essential.
True confidence means being able to absorb criticism, insults, slander, and mockery — and openly admit, without flinching, that you were an idiot.
Then, late at night when it’s quiet, sit with it honestly: why did I receive that negative response? Was I too weak? Was the other person malicious? Was there a misunderstanding? Is there a way to turn an enemy into an ally?
If a little criticism sends you reaching for a tissue, eyes already welling up — then I’m sorry, but that’s someone who will never amount to anything.
7 — Let me share something important — a piece of hidden worldly knowledge — that also explains why wealthy people seem to have gone invisible these days.
For more than forty years, China’s high-speed economic growth was an era where every faction, big and small, competed to carve out their share of an ever-expanding pie. Each found their corner, their angle, their domain.
But now, as the broader environment has shifted, the pie has stopped growing in the same way. New slices are very hard to cut out. So to avoid attracting trouble, every faction — large and small — has naturally gone quiet.
The result: many ambitious young newcomers suddenly find themselves without any circle worth joining. The momentum of wealth, for now, has gone dormant.
8 — Tonight, I’m leaving you with homework. Think carefully:
On this land, how many people have truly opened up their business landscape and built their wealth pathways entirely on their own?
How many people dare to say they needed no one — no help, no cooperation, no one to catch them?
So have you considered when, and with whom, you should be aligning yourself?
Have you thought about where you stand in the sequence — accomplish small things, build modest reputation, move in quality circles, attract noble benefactors — and how far along that path you actually are?
Some things are worth lying awake all night under your covers, thinking through to the very bottom.