Chapter 5 Business Road 4 Face is not worth money, making money is the last word

Essence of Business: In China, face is a big issue. People often say that people need face, and trees need bark.But in Wenshang's view, face is worthless, and making money is the last word. Chinese people have always been very face-saving. "When a gentleman dies, the crown is unavoidable", "People fight for breath, Buddhas fight for incense", etc. There are hundreds of aphorisms about face. Mr. Lu Xun once said, "Face is the spiritual program of the Chinese people. As long as you grasp this, it is like grasping the braid 24 years ago, and your whole body will follow." Lin Yutang also made a brilliant exposition: "The Chinese nation's One of its characteristics is emphasizing human feelings and face.” In this regard, the German sinologist Professor Mattes made the most thorough discussion: “Chinese people’s face is a kind of role expectation... Chinese people exist as roles, and It does not exist as a human being..." To be able to meet the expectations of one's role in a certain way is to have face.The first chapter of the book "Chinese Temperament" written by American Smith is called "Face".He expressed his opinion: "In China, the word face is actually a complex collective noun, which contains more meanings than we can describe or comprehend. The problem of face is what opens the Chinese people. The key to the built-in lock of many of its most important properties."

Face is so important in China that some people often associate face with self-esteem and dignity, which imperceptibly restricts some normal thinking and actions of people. Because the concept of face is deeply ingrained in the minds of Chinese people, Chinese people have fallen into some misunderstandings when they are employed, such as fear of being dirty and tired, blind comparisons, lofty conceits, high ambitions, and so on. When Mr. Fei Xiaotong visited the Xihaigu area of ​​Ningxia, he found that all the local shoe repairers came from Wenzhou.He was very emotional: In such a poor place, the money was still earned by Wenzhou people.

Wenzhou merchants also have face thinking, but relatively speaking, they broke through the psychological barrier of "face" thinking very early.As early as the early 1980s, those Wenzhou merchants who shouldered the burden walked through the streets and alleys of cities across the country, yelling in a voice that the locals were not used to, repairing pots, repairing shoes, and flicking cotton. Many people looked down on them , I feel that it is worthless to make a few cents for repairing a pair of shoes, and even the farmers think that what they do is a very lowly job.But they didn't take it seriously, and silently endured the world's vision and made money steadily.By the time those who ridiculed them woke up, Wenshang had already completed its original capital accumulation, and now it has made great strides on a higher platform.Today, they have not only made a fortune themselves, but also created a large number of giant ship companies such as Kangnai, Chint, Red Dragonfly, and SAINT ANGELO, sailing to the whole country and even the world with great momentum.What a shame!

However, Wen Shang, who has become rich, has not lost the spirit of bearing hardships, which has become a habit of Wen Shang.Talking about Wenzhou merchants who endure hardships, Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Youdi has a moving memory: "Many years ago, in a small county at the foot of the snow-capped mountains in the Altay region of Xinjiang, I met a Wenzhou shoemaker who could be regarded as half a fellow. He carried a load with a complete set of cobbler tools at one end, mirrors, toothpaste and other small grocery items at the other end. I tried it, and it was heavy. He told me that since the beginning of spring, he has been carrying this load, stepping on the first day of the new year. The melting snow chased the Kazakh tribes who kept migrating on horseback all the way. The riding boots worn by the herdsmen are made of cowhide, which are easy to wear out when they touch the snow on the ground, so this is a good way to make money. Timing. But a man with two legs must catch up with a horse with four legs, okay? The fellow took off his shoes and socks, looked at the blood blisters on his feet and said sadly: We are earning hard-earned money and hard-earned money. He is almost I haven’t been home for three years, so I asked if I could deliver a letter to his family when I returned to Beijing, and I agreed. The next day I went to see him, but he was already empty, and went chasing after the nomad tribe.”

In China, agriculture has been prioritized over business since ancient times.Among the four major industries in ancient times, the so-called "scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, the four people have jobs", and commerce was ranked last.Sima Qian's "Historical Records" will rank the "Huo Zhi Lie Biography" of merchants at the end of the book. In Sima Qian's thinking, the status of merchants is inferior to those who are engaged in fortune-telling and fortune-telling.Even after the founding of New China, the industry ranking was "workers, peasants, soldiers and businessmen", and "business" was still at the bottom.

Therefore, when some people start a business, because they are ashamed to be associated with a "businessman", they cover up and say that they do business to create a career.But Wen Shang is seeking truth from facts, without concealing his purpose, and confidently said that it is to make money!When Xu Yongshui, the owner of Power Lighter Co., Ltd., faced the question of "what is the driving force for your entrepreneurial success", his answer was: "It is to make money and live a good life." It is precisely because Wenshang's "thick skin" can endure hardships that he can earn money that others cannot.Wen merchants believe that there is no distinction between high and low occupations, and their courage to be the first in the world determines that they dare to venture around, occupy those fields that outsiders look down on, and quietly become rich.Once upon a time, small groups of Wenzhou merchants came to remote places with a backward commodity economy to sell daily necessities such as quilt covers and clothes.

They talked and laughed, and sold them door to door.In fact, there are countless hardships hidden behind those smiling faces: they store the goods in the county town, carry the burden to the countryside, and don't return to the county town until the goods are almost sold out, which usually takes a few days.In the past few days, they often couldn't even find a hotel, and they walked dozens of miles with heavy burdens during the day, and then went to farmers' houses to rest at night.Some farmers do not want to take in these wandering outsiders, even if they give money.In this case, they had no choice but to find a leeward place to sleep.It's okay in summer, but it's even more difficult in winter.Especially in the northeast forest area, when winter comes, they dare not go far and return on the same day.But even so, the cold weather in the Northeast made these Wenzhou merchants unbearable, and they stomped their feet in the cold all the way, so they had to jog to keep out the cold.Along the way, he ate dry food, drank cold water, wore stars and moons, and traveled through wind and rain.When recalling those Wenzhou peddlers who traveled around in those years, the people who came over still sighed repeatedly, saying: "I really don't know what their flesh and blood are made of."

In fact, this is the secret to making a fortune in Wenzhou businessmen. First, they don’t care about face, and second, they can endure great hardships.Counting the many wealthy people in Wenzhou, many of them have experienced a period of hardship and bitterness. Zheng Xiukang, chairman of Kangnai Group, started his business from a small shoe-making workshop. He worked in the workshop during the day, and at night, he and a few partners set up wooden boards in it as a bedroom.Moreover, he borrowed 1,500 yuan from others to run this small workshop.It's not easy! Power Lighter Co., Ltd. now also has assets of hundreds of millions of yuan, but the boss Xu Yongshui was doing business outside, eating cold steamed buns every day, and sleeping at stations and docks.When I was in the business of scrap aluminum sheets in the Northeast, I loaded and escorted them by myself, and my hands and feet were covered with blood blisters. The clothes had never been dried, and the smell of sweat could be smelled from afar.

There is also Zhou Dahu, the founder of Tiger lighters. In order to start a business, his family lived in a small attic without toilets, kitchens, windows, and air conditioners for five years. In Wenshang's view, face is not worth a few dollars, but only when you can make a lot of money. This is Wenshang's unique "concept of face". There was once a college student from Wenzhou in a certain university who had very good grades in school, and everyone had high expectations for him, thinking that he would have great achievements. He has made achievements, but not in government agencies or in large companies, but in selling Wenzhou fish ball snacks.

It turned out that shortly after graduation, he learned that there was a stall in a night market near his hometown for sale. Before he could find a job, he "borrowed money" from his family and bought it.Because he was very interested in catering, he became his own boss, selling fish balls from his hometown.His status as a college student has attracted a lot of disapproving eyes, but it has also attracted a lot of business for him.He himself has never had any doubts about what he has learned and what he has learned is not useful. Now, he is still selling fish balls, but he is also engaged in investment, earning many times more money than ordinary people.

"Let go of your identity and don't be swayed by face." This is the catchphrase and motto of the Wenzhou student: "Let go of your identity, and the road will get wider and wider." In the view of Wenshang, if you want to find a way out in the society, you have to let go of your identity and face and let yourself return to an "ordinary person".At the same time, don't care about other people's eyes and criticisms, do what you think is worth doing, and walk the path you think is worth taking. Abandoning face has several advantages in competition than those who can't: A person who loses face has a high degree of flexibility in his thinking, will not have rigid concepts, but can absorb all kinds of information and form a huge and diverse information base, which will be his capital. A person who loses face can catch good opportunities one step earlier than others, and can also catch more opportunities than others, because he has no concerns about face. As the saying goes: Poor people must have something to hate. Wen Shang looks down on those who would rather eat subsistence allowances and save face than work hard to earn money. You will say, wasn’t Wenshang also impoverished back then?But they can lose face and work hard to make money under pressure. "Those who save themselves will be saved by heaven." It is reasonable for Wenzhou merchants to make money and make money.