The 1980S: I Took Advice and Became the Richest Man in the Village

Zhou Liang was infamous as a layabout in Erdaogang Village in the 1980s. He stole chickens, pilfered dogs, and never did an honest day’s work. Even his beautiful, kind-hearted barefoot doctor wife had given up on him completely and was preparing to divorce him and take their daughter. Zhou Liang unexpectedly comes to his senses and binds himself to a [Advice-Listening System]. His mind can connect to Chinese internet forums from forty years in the future. He tries posting on a forum: “Guys, I’m a good-for-nothing in 1983. My wife wants a divorce, and we’re so poor we can barely afford to eat. What do I do?” Helpful Netizen A: “OP, first go dig up that wild ginseng under the crooked tree on the back hill. Sell it, then hurry and buy your wife a sewing machine. Apologize sincerely!” Helpful Netizen B: “Don’t just buy a sewing machine. Private businesses have only just been allowed, so hurry and lease the abandoned brick kiln in town. In a couple of years, everyone will be building houses. It’ll make you a fortune!” Zhou Liang follows their advice, only half-believing it. Sure enough, selling the ginseng earns him his first fortune, and the brick kiln makes him enormously wealthy. By the time his wife and the villagers realize what’s happened, the layabout everyone used to despise has become the richest man in the provincial capital, with a fortune worth hundreds of millions and a car of his own.