N-M Chapter 11: There are only 3 ways to make money in this world.
Chapter 11: There are only 3 ways to make money in this world.
The snack street behind the No. 1 Middle School is lined with food stalls and restaurants.
Hand-pulled pancakes, vegetable pancakes, mutton soup, dumplings—you name it, they have it.
Inside the liangpi (cold skin noodles) shop, Lin Qi and his two companions sat together, with liangpi, roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), fried chicken strips, pork tenderloin patties, takoyaki (octopus balls), and other snacks piled up on the table in front of them.
"Dalin, teach me how to play billiards!"
Zhang Haozhe was still immersed in excitement, his eyes shining as he looked at Lin Qi.
"I can't teach you anything."
Lynch skewered a chicken strip with a bamboo stick and put it in his mouth.
He remembers craving these chicken strips every time he passed by this place during high school.
But when you actually eat it, it just tastes like ordinary street fried chicken strips, nothing special.
An Xin sat down next to him, opened the takoyaki box, and placed it in front of Lin Qi where it was easy for him to reach.
"Which point?"
Zhang Haozhe doesn't understand the jokes from later generations.
"I just can't teach it, and I don't want to teach it."
Lin Qi asked the boss for three more bottles of mineral water.
"Why?"
Zhang Haozhe got impatient: "Teach me! You're my brother, okay?"
He was truly amazed by Lynch's performance today.
Even the arrogant Hai Ge was beaten into submission by Lin Qi.
If he had that skill level, he could dominate all the billiard halls in the city.
Lin Qi glanced at him and asked, "Why do you want to learn billiards?"
"I just want to learn. What's wrong with that?"
Zhang Haozhe was confused.
"I'm asking, do you want to learn billiards to improve your skills, or do you want to make money playing billiards?"
Lin Qi took out the wad of winnings from his pocket.
On the way here, An Xin had already counted it for him; it totaled 2768.5 yuan.
After buying food, there was less than 2700 left.
Looking at the wad of banknotes in Lin Qi's hand, Zhang Haozhe couldn't hide the envy in his eyes.
This amount of money is equivalent to two months' salary for an average person.
"Hmm... I think so!"
He hesitated for a moment before answering tentatively, "If I were half as good as you, I wouldn't have been scammed so badly by them."
"You still didn't understand what I meant."
Lin Qi shook his head and decided to be direct: "Have you been obsessed with playing billiards lately because you don't want to go to school anymore?"
"..."
This question left Zhang Haozhe speechless.
Lin Qi wasn't in a hurry; he ate his food while waiting for him.
After a long pause, Zhang Haozhe sighed, "With my grades, I'd be lucky to even get into a university. I might as well learn a trade sooner..."
"So, you want to learn how to play billiards?"
Lin Qi looked at him calmly: "Are you cut out for this? Do you have the talent to become a professional player?"
"..."
Feeling embarrassed and humiliated in front of An Xin, Zhang Haozhe slammed his hand on the table in a fit of anger: "Damn it! If you don't want to teach, just say so! Did you have to belittle me like that?"
"I'm not trying to belittle you; I'm only helping you analyze this because I consider you a brother."
Looking at Zhang Haozhe's face, what came to Lin Qi's mind was the transfer interface of Zhang Haozhe secretly lending him the money he had saved to buy a house when he first suffered a margin call in his previous life.
"Think carefully, what exactly do you want?"
Lin Qi stopped asking questions and started eating his meal.
Zhang Haozhe fell silent once again, and this time, he remained silent for a long time.
Only after Lin Qi finished his bowl of cold noodles did he look up and answer earnestly, "I want to be rich!"
After he finished speaking, he paused, and repeated as if to confirm: "That's right, I just want to be rich!"
I want to earn my own money so I don't have to ask my family for money or have to put up with my dad's attitude anymore!
"I've earned money, I can eat whatever I want!"
As he spoke, he grabbed the pork tenderloin pie on the table, which had long since gone cold, and took a big bite.
"In that case, I'm even less likely to teach you how to play billiards."
Lynch leaned back in his chair and took a sip of water.
Why?
"Because playing billiards doesn't make money."
"How could that be?"
Zhang Haozhe retorted, unconvinced: "Let's not even talk about the prize money from professional matches. Even Hai Ge can earn seven or eight thousand a month just by playing basketball, and if he's lucky, he can earn more than ten thousand!"
"Is earning over 10,000 yuan a month considered wealthy?"
Lin Qi asked calmly, "So, do you think Hai Ge earns more money, or the owner of the Elite Billiards Club?"
"..."
Zhang Haozhe's voice softened considerably: "That's different, he's the boss..."
Lin Qi pressed on, "So, do you think professional players earn more, or do the sponsors of professional competitions earn more?"
"..."
Zhang Haozhe fell silent.
After comparing the two cases, he also noticed the problem.
After a moment's thought, he hesitated before asking, "So what do you mean? You think I should become the boss?"
Seeing that he had finally started to think, Lin Qi sat up straight and explained, "What I mean is, if you want to make money, then you should do things that make money."
Playing billiards isn't about making money. Even if you're a professional player, you're not earning money; you're selling your labor time.
"..."
Zhang Haozhe was dumbfounded: "What do you mean by 'making money'? Professional players don't make money? The prize money for a single professional tournament can be millions!"
"Professional athletes, like restaurant owners, earn money by selling their skills and time."
Lin Qi patiently explained to him: "Professional players have top-notch skills, so they can help the competition organizers attract attention."
The organizers can sell tickets on-site and collect sponsorship fees to make money.
But professional players earn their money through billiards skills; essentially, it's still labor.
"Where did you hear that?"
Zhang Haozhe still didn't understand: "It's all about making money, what's the difference?"
"Of course there's a difference."
Lin Qi tried to explain to him in a simple way: "Anyone who earns money by working, selling their skills and time, is a working person."
However, making money is a process of capital accumulation, which is accomplished by taking away the surplus value of workers' labor.
"Are you giving me a political lecture?"
Zhang Haozhe was exasperated: "If I could concentrate in class, would I even need to think about learning technical skills?"
"……well!"
Lin Qi shook his head.
If Zhang Haozhe weren't his childhood friend, he wouldn't want to waste his time talking to him about these things.
But there's nothing he can do now; he can only rely on the people he trusts.
Let me put it this way.
Lin Qi carefully considered his words: "In this world, there are only three ways to make money, which can be divided into three strategies: superior, middle, and inferior."
The worst strategy is to exploit information asymmetry, which you can think of as buying and selling on the side.
From selling vegetables at the market to commodity futures, this is the business model.
The middle strategy is monopoly, meaning that only I can do this industry, and I build a moat by relying on cost, technology, and law.
The best strategy is to innovate and rely on technological breakthroughs to expand the market and create wealth.
If you want to make money, you have to focus on these three areas...
Although Zhang Haozhe was still confused, he also felt a sense of awe and wonder.
"So, you're saying it was the right thing for me to drop out of school and learn a technical skill?"
He stroked his chin: "You can't learn these things in school."
"Who said that?"
Lin Qi said seriously, "What is taught in school is the foundation of the best strategy."