Chapter 100 A Party That I Can't Understand

Head east to the provincial capital.

Normally, my master wouldn't tell me what to do. In our line of work, we rely on enlightenment. Only through repeated enlightenment can we progress.

The journey to the provincial capital took over two hours, and along the way we chatted to relieve the boredom. Before I knew it, I was discussing my own creative idea: the "groundbreaking ceremony."

I omitted the detail about my own 20% commission and just said that I was looking for something for my brother-in-law Gao Xu to do. Since it required two people to operate it, my brother-in-law invited Brother Shi to join.

The master laughed heartily upon hearing this. He shook his head and said, "It takes too much time. Today Zhang San calls you, tomorrow Li Si calls you. You're constantly busy with this one thing, and you can't do anything else."

My heart sank. I never thought that the idea I had painstakingly come up with would be rejected by my master with just one sentence. He explained, "They are relatively idle, so they will earn as much as they can."

The master sneered: "You can change it."

It turned out that he didn't completely deny my idea. I asked, "How do I change it?"

The master looked thoughtfully ahead and said:

"Change the groundbreaking ceremony to a move-in ceremony. Regardless of when the residents of your building moved in, hold the move-in ceremony on a unified day. Those who are willing can participate, and those who are unwilling will not be forced."

I slapped the steering wheel: "That's a good idea."

The master stared at me and said, "Drive carefully."

I realized I'd lost my composure a bit. My face flushed. After a moment, I said, "That's a great idea. Each building has a different occupancy schedule, so we can split it up into several batches. That way, we can finish it in a few days."

The master said, "Of course, that's not the goal. For example, if each household pays 300 yuan, then for 40 households, that's 12,000 yuan. People will think you're making too much."

I thought, "Right, why didn't I think of that?" So, Master's method isn't the best choice either. While it saves time, it doesn't make any more money than before.

At this moment, Master seemed to see through my thoughts and said:

“Among the 40 households, there are always some who are unconventional and have relatively higher incomes, and they make money from these people.

If they don't want to follow the crowd and want a separate move-in ceremony, you can customize a more detailed service plan for them, making it longer, more grand, and charging a higher fee.

For example, for a group ceremony, each household is charged only 300 yuan, while customized services are 2,000 yuan. Everyone is competitive, thinking, "A proper ceremony only costs 2,000 yuan. Why should I save so little money?"

So, some people followed suit, and as more and more people followed suit, they went back to the old model, basically working alone again. If prices go up, won't your income increase?

I was holding the steering wheel with my right hand, and wanted to hit the steering wheel with my left hand, but I stopped immediately.

I sighed, "Master is Master after all."

My master taught me, "This is called the spiral method of making money. First, let everyone participate. The price is relatively low. There must be people with special needs among them, so set a price that is neither too high nor too low."

Then, everyone thought that this price was actually acceptable to them, and gradually, customized services became a common phenomenon.

I raised my eyebrows and said, "You always have the better of the two."

The master was not moved by my praise at all. After a long pause, he said, "Don't participate in these activities. Even if you are short of money, don't participate."

I was secretly shocked, but fortunately it was just a ceremony for my own house.

The master said, "You should set your goals higher. It's better to tell fortunes for a hundred or two hundred yuan than to think about the quick buck of a thousand or two thousand yuan."

I still couldn't help but ask, "Why is that?"

The master picked up the water cup he carried with him, took a few sips, and said, "Although you sit in Youranju, fortune-telling every day, and your income is not much, but through learning, practice, summarizing, and improving, you will make progress day by day. In the future, you can give advice to people like Mr. He and Mr. Lan and make a lot of money from them.

And that ritualistic thing, it's like this today, it's like this tomorrow, it's still the same, a fixed pattern, and you'll never gain any experience, let alone progress."

I am very grateful to my master. He always reminds me and guides me at critical moments. He said, "This is how I understand it. Do you think it is correct?"

The master said "hmm".

I said, "To give you an analogy, a doctor sees ordinary people every day. Through continuous practice, his medical skills improve greatly. Then he can treat difficult and complicated diseases. However, a Chinese medicine practitioner in a pharmacy dispenses medicine every day but will never be able to cure a disease."

The master smiled and said, "Almost."

We chatted all the way to the provincial capital. The car pulled up to the Lihua Hotel, where Shi Ting had also arrived. We met at the parking lot outside the hotel, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then walked together to the hotel entrance.

At the hotel entrance, a middle-aged man came up to us. He looked to be in his forties, with a burly build, a flat head, a square face, sharp eyebrows, bulging eyes, a lion's nose, a wide mouth, and no beard.

You can tell at a glance that he is either rich or noble.

Shi Ting introduced Yishu to his master: "Yishu, a friend of mine. A businessman."

Yishu smiled widely and held his master's hands with both hands: "I've heard of your great name for a long time. It's like thunder in my ears. My name is Yishu, you can just call me Xiaoyi."

The master laughed out loud and said, "Hello, Mr. Yi."

Shi Ting then introduced Wan Shanhong to Yishu: "Wan Shanhong, Master's apprentice."

Yishu still stretched out his hands, held mine, and said, "Wanshanhongbian, that's a good name."

Yishu led the way and we entered the elevator. It was crowded and no one spoke. When we reached the 27th floor and got out of the elevator, a young waiter was already standing at the door with a smile on his face: "Welcome, distinguished guests. Please follow me."

She was wearing a pair of flat shoes and looked quite tall. She walked slowly in front of us and led us into a business suite.

The left is big and the right is small. I moved my master's bag to the master bedroom on the left and found that the master bedroom also had a mahjong room.

When they came out, they were already seated in the living room in the middle, with fruit, cigarettes, and tea laid out on the small round table.

I didn't know whether to go sit there or go into my room, but there were only three chairs there, so I went into my bedroom and closed the door.

As soon as I sat down, I noticed the table was also covered with fruit cigarettes. I took out a cigarette and analyzed it carefully: when Yishu shook hands with Master, he said his name was "Yishu", but there is no surname "Yishu" in the Hundred Family Surnames.

Not mentioning the last name indicates that the other party is not comfortable revealing their last name. This is a science.

In social situations, some people emphasize a person's last name, implying a relationship with someone in power. Some introductions deliberately omit the last name, avoiding the association of a relationship with a prominent figure.

For example, some people vie to be on the Forbes Rich List, while others prefer to remain invisible and wealthy. So, if someone doesn't want to share their last name, don't ask.

I can confirm that Yishu's identity is very special. This time, it's not because of any business with Shi Ting, but because of Yishu's business. Shi Ting is just an intermediary.

At the elevator door, there was a hotel waiter waiting to greet us, which meant that this hotel was also owned by Yishu.

After analyzing it, I knew what to do next. I said what I should say, and kept silent about what I shouldn't say.

At first, I thought they would be done in half an hour, but they ended up talking for an hour and still going on. I simply lay down on the bed and chatted with my brother-in-law on WeChat, relaying Master's advice to him.

At the end of the conversation, my brother-in-law said on WeChat: "A master is a master. There are always heights that we cannot reach."

After a while, Shi Ting knocked on the door: "Shanhong, it's time for lunch."

We all went to a private room on the second floor. Master was invited to the main guest seat, with Shi Ting on the left and Yi Shu on the right. I sat with my back to the door. Yi Zong said, "Master, let's have a light meal."

The master nodded, took the hot towel handed to him by the waiter and wiped his hands.

Yizong gave the waiter a few words of instruction. The waiter nodded and left. After a while, the cold dishes arrived. The waiter announced: "Flowers and Full Moon, Fortune Lobster, Mushroom-flavored Beef, and Herb-flavored Cod." Then, they opened the Great Wall Red Wine, one glass per person.

Then came the main courses: Longjing shrimp, mandarin fish with pine nuts, Dongpo steak, and green rapeseed.

During the meal, the main topic was food. Yizong talked about snacks, pastries, Chinese cuisine, and foreign cuisines, just like a TV food show hosted by Hong Kong gourmet Cai Lan.

Everyone clinked glasses occasionally, but without the usual fervor of the gangsters. Everyone was polite and courteous.

I could guess that Yishu came from a wealthy family, not on the same level as Mr. Deng, who was a hero among the grassroots. Yishu had the aristocratic air of having been a coffee drinker since childhood.

Yi Zong would occasionally pick up food for the master, but he would never mention what kind of famous dish it was. The master would sit there, always smiling as he listened to Yi Zong talk about food, but he would never say it was delicious.

Finally, snacks, coffee and tea were served.

After the meal, Yi Zong said to the master, "You and Shanhong should rest first. You have nothing to do in the afternoon, so try a different dinner."

Back in the room, the master asked, "What did you eat for lunch today?"