After my divorce at thirty, I developed an intelligence network.

Gong Yuelong had spent over a decade working on construction sites; he wasn't some clueless naive young man who had never seen money or couldn't distinguish right from wrong.

He leaned back in the driver's seat of the beat-up pickup truck and carefully counted the wad of banknotes in his hand again.

Fifty-two bills, no more, no less, totaling five thousand two hundred yuan.

The transaction went more smoothly than I expected.

At 10 PM, the truck is weighed, loaded, counted, and money is paid.

Clean and efficient, as if nothing had happened except for the five thousand two hundred yuan in cash.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

This amount of money is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars he used to spend on construction projects.

"It was worth the whole day of anxious calculations and system simulations that went downhill until the system was practically smoking."

His mind was in turmoil, and he was even a little dazed.

Back then, he started from scratch, relying on his boldness and willingness to work hard. He drank until his stomach bled and smiled so much that his face became stiff. He built the company brick by brick.

Later, as the business grew and money came in faster, people became more frivolous, always feeling that relationships were more important than contracts and appearances were more important than accounts.

And what happened? The developer ran away, and all the so-called relationships and pretense burst like bubbles in the sunlight, leaving him with a mountain of debt.

"The wealth I've accumulated over the years is nothing compared to the five thousand two I picked up in one night by taking advantage of information asymmetry."

Gong Yuelong felt a mix of emotions.

"I once heard a CEO who made his fortune in manufacturing say that when it comes to making money, 100,000 is a hurdle, 1 million is a hurdle, and 5 million is another hurdle."

Money in this world is never spread evenly on flat ground, but rather like a series of steep steps.

The 100,000 yuan threshold represents the transition from earning money through skills to earning money through resources.

It relies on personal strength, skills, or a bit of cleverness and information asymmetry.

Just like when he was assembling furniture and cleaning up scrap wood, he worked himself to the bone, but the unit price was clear, and the ceiling was clear too.

The vast majority of people spend their entire lives stuck in this hurdle, trading time for money, with no work and no pay.

The million-dollar threshold represents the transition from money used for getting things done to money used for following regulations.

At this point, what you're selling is no longer simply labor or goods, but solutions, the ability to streamline a process, and the ability to create value by utilizing or even slightly distorting the rules.

Just like this operation involving ten tons of steel bars, he provided a comprehensive solution including information, key person contact, and compliance process design, earning money from resource misallocation and process optimization.

This hurdle requires vision, courage, and a deep understanding of the operating logic within a specific system.

The threshold of five million or more... that's the threshold between money for doing things and money for setting up schemes.

It already involves capital leverage, trend prediction, and even affects the local rules themselves.

That was the height he vaguely touched before his bankruptcy, but ultimately fell to.

Gong Yuelong's emotions were churning, and he was even somewhat dazed.

For the past six months, he has taken on any job he could to pay off his debts and make a living.

I go to the wholesale market at three or four in the morning to help people unload vegetables; I get thirty yuan per truckload.

Squatting in the labor market, competing with a group of young people for day-paid painting jobs, being picked and chosen by the foreman, working a full ten hours a day, earning 120 yuan;

Driving this beat-up pickup truck around looking for odd jobs, I could barely keep track of the gas costs. The luckiest time was when I worked as an assistant on a plumbing and electrical renovation project for three days in a row and earned a thousand yuan. It felt like winning the lottery.

Even after working so hard and being so frugal, after deducting the most basic living expenses and gas money, the maximum amount of money that can be netted in a month to pay off debts is only four or five thousand yuan.

Even so, one still needs to be blessed by God to have work every day and not break down physically.

"Six months of struggle is no match for one night of operation."

Gong Yuelong murmured silently to himself:

"No wonder that old boss always said, 'Those who earn money through hard work are like oxen and horses, those who earn money through information are like market makers, and those who earn money through trends are like gods.' I used to think it was just a grumble, but now I see how true those words really are!"

Outside the car window, the hustle and bustle of the night market could be faintly heard.

He stubbed out his cigarette, suppressing his distant fantasies about the million-dollar or five-million-dollar threshold.

One must walk the road step by step, and overcome the obstacles one by one.

Now, he finally had some decent ammunition and could aim at the next target, which was a little higher.

He started the car. His plan was to find a place to have breakfast first, then go back to his rented room, take a nice nap, and then find Jiang Yan to give her the share.

Why not just send a WeChat message? Why miss an opportunity to meet your partner, especially a beautiful one?

I parked the car on the side of the road and arrived at a roasted meat shop.

I ordered a bowl of steaming hot rice noodles; the aroma was sour and fragrant.

I ordered two freshly baked meat buns, which cost three yuan each, five mao more than the vegetarian ones I usually eat.

Unlike usual, he didn't gulp down the noodles in twos and threes. First, he slowly slurped up a mouthful of the piping hot oil noodles, the sour and fragrant flavor soothingly traveling down his esophagus.

After a comfortable breakfast, I walked back and bumped into Lao Niu, who was rushing to the labor market, at the entrance of the shared apartment.

"Hey, Gong, so early today? Finished work? I thought you were having breakfast at the construction site."

Gong Yuelong smiled and said, "No, I'm not going today. I'll take a day off."

"Rest...rest?" Old Niu seemed to have heard something unusual.

In his memory, Gong Yuelong was the kind of person who would brave any weather and even if he was sick, he would just push through. Rest? That word was completely foreign to him.

"What's wrong? Not feeling well? Or..." Old Niu looked him up and down, then suddenly lowered his voice, "...made a fortune?"

"What fortune?" Gong Yuelong shook his head with a smile. "I'm just tired, taking a break."

Old Niu gave a skeptical "oh," glanced at him a couple more times, scratched his head, and hurriedly left with a belly full of grumbling.

For someone like him who goes to the labor market every day, taking a break is a luxury.

Back in his little hut, Gong Yuelong bolted the door.

I took a thorough shower. I lathered myself with soap twice, dried myself off, and went back to bed.

When I woke up naturally after that sleep, I felt completely relaxed, even the smallest part of my body felt so relaxed.

After getting up, I changed into a blue T-shirt that I used to wear when I was General Manager Gong.

He picked up his car keys, went out of the house, and prepared to clean the car.

The alluring widow Qin saw Gong Yuelong come out of his house.

I thought to myself, "Oh ho!"

Old Gong... he's really different today.

Once people tidy up, they really do look... strangely energetic and strangely neat.

Compared to the other men in the compound, he stood out conspicuously.

Her curiosity was immediately piqued.

Gong Yuelong always looks like he's so overwhelmed by debt that his spine is about to break. Is the sun rising in the west today?

I watched as he walked over, opened the car door, and began clearing the clutter from inside the car.

Widow Qin finally couldn't resist and went over.

"Brother Gong, you're all dressed so neatly, I almost didn't recognize you. What...is there some happy occasion?"

She half-jokingly said, "Could it be... that you went on a blind date? You should have started arranging it a long time ago; it's not good to be alone."