Round Table Social

A small round table, around which five well-dressed men are engrossed in playing cards.

Gambling is always an effective way to quickly build relationships. When Lin Qi, who had officially moved into the community, first expressed his desire to hold a small friendship card game at a community event, he quickly attracted the attention of some people.

Thanks to Lin Qi's recent frequent appearances in the newspapers, and even his defeat of the head of the Sabine City Tax Bureau Investigation Team Leader, some people may subconsciously avoid overly close contact with him, while others are willing to get close to him.

The Revenue Service is the enemy of every high-income person. For those who rack their brains every month to avoid taxes, it is definitely a happy thing to be able to make the Revenue Service stumble.

Moreover, being able to move into this community means that Lin Qi at least has the ability to have an equal dialogue with them on an economic level, and they don't mind expanding their network of contacts.

In this environment and atmosphere, the first get-together, which was a chance to make friends through playing cards, was successfully held.

This is a game unlike any other game Lin Qi knew in the other world. It is played by five people, each with ten cards. The rules are simple, and the core is exchanging cards. After the exchange is over, the cards are compared.

Before the game starts, each person must declare a winning hand. Once the final hand is formed, it must meet the requirements of the hand they declared. Then, points are awarded and points are deducted based on the size of each person's hand.

In addition to the "cards" used for exchanging cards, the points used for the competition were also used for exchanging cards. Before the competition, everyone took out two hundred yuan, of which one hundred yuan became their base score of one hundred points.

The remaining 100 points become common points in the points pool, which is the remaining 500 points.

After the game ends, everyone receives the same amount of money as their score.

This is a very popular way to play, which has swept the world. Many people believe that it has the most core foundation of commercial trade. Every game is a fierce trade war, and each person represents a company, a chamber of commerce, or even a group. The points pool represents a bank.

Victory is not simply about winning as many times as possible, because point trading often occurs during the card exchange process. It is a real game of strategy. Sometimes the person who keeps winning ends up losing money, while the person who keeps losing may still win some.

This gameplay is called "Pi Ai Wa," a word with many meanings. It can be seen as the "payment" at the core of the game, or as the "reward" after victory. Its charm is irresistible and it has swept the world.

Not far from these gentlemen, several ladies sat in wicker chairs near the French windows, sipping fine Flower Tea and vying for attention.

Of course, their conversations always revolve around trendy topics, from fashion shows to the latest jewelry design exhibitions, to newly released movies and the activities of celebrities and politicians.

Sometimes men find it hard to realize that their wives are so knowledgeable and talented, seemingly knowing a little about everything, completely different from the foolish and ignorant women they are when they are alone with them.

Just as women's vanity grows and they start to compete with each other when they sit together, men also talk about things when they sit together, not just things on the card table, but also things outside the card table.

"The economic development index for the first half of the year dropped by eleven percentage points compared to last year, and the economic recession is already very obvious. How long do you think this will last?"

The speaker was a gentleman sitting opposite Lin Qi. He was wearing a shirt with silver trim, and at that moment he rather unceremoniously rolled up his sleeves, revealing thick body hair on his arms, which gave people a strange feeling.

It's like... a gorilla disguised itself as a human and mingled among us.

He is a factory owner. The low labor costs and various expenses in second-tier cities have made them the most popular gathering places for factory owners. Opening a factory in a second-tier city can save a considerable amount of various expenses compared to opening a factory in a first-tier city.

Land use fees and warehouse rental and management fees constitute the largest expense, along with labor costs.

Another gentleman shook his head. "We all feel that the market is shrinking rapidly. Goods are not selling and profit margins are declining, but the Financial Market is still very prosperous. It is said that the Byler Industrial Index has reached a new high!"

The other gentlemen, including Lin Qi, couldn't help but laugh, their laughter filled with sarcasm. Perhaps they didn't quite understand why they felt this way or why they were laughing.

They just felt that these things were abnormal based on their own feelings. The stagnation or even regression of economic development not only did not affect the performance of the Financial Market, but also frequently created miracles. There is something wrong with this.

In fact, long before Lin Qi arrived, some economists had already expressed their opinions, believing that the Federal economy would soon be severely damaged, but most people ignored these views in a kind of brainwashed frenzy.

The worldwide ceasefire brought long-awaited peace to the world. Most people believed that the war was over, and people began to develop the economy, which would only get better and better, not worse.

Some economists timely proposed the unprecedented concept of "peak and rebound," which successfully became the only perception in the public's eyes. They believed that the current short-term downturn was just the whole society digesting the economic gains, and that the economy would soon usher in another round of rapid development.

People are willing to believe what is in their favor, even if they know deep down that it may be wrong. They force themselves to believe that it is true.

The man sitting to Lin Qi's left casually picked up a card and placed it on the table. Now it was his turn to call. "One point, I need an IX◆..." He picked up the solid color card that was on the Ashtray, took a puff, and slowly exhaled. "If the Financial Market continues to maintain this upward momentum, it may continue for a long time."

After he finished speaking, another man took out the nine of diamonds and threw it to him, then took the cards he had exchanged and a chip representing one point from his hand.

The game is still going on, and everyone is well aware that the unexpected boom in the Financial Market means that many people are benefiting. The gains in the Financial Market have made up for their current losses, and there is even a large surplus. Therefore, more money is starting to flow from the real economy into the Financial Market.

The digital gaming market has actually become more prosperous due to the rapid influx of hot money. Many business owners are scaling back their physical businesses and investing their money in the Financial Market to make money, which is much simpler and easier than waiting for unsold goods to generate cash.

The gentlemen in this room almost all had their own stock and futures accounts. Besides socializing, they spent their days listening to Stock Broker or futures brokers tell them how much money they had made that day.

Although they have been making money, they are still worried that this is a phenomenon that goes against common sense. However, they do not know what to do and can only silently go with the flow of the times, being swept along by the tide of the times towards the unknown future.

"By the way, Lin Qi, may I call you that?" After receiving confirmation from Lin Qi, the man continued, "What kind of business do you run?"

Lin Qi reached an agreement with another gentleman to make an exchange. While tidying up the sorting in his hands, he replied, "I have a service company and an Auction House. If you have any good business opportunities to offer me, feel free to contact me anytime."

People are always curious about things they don't understand. "Auction House? Is it easy to make money in that industry?"

Lin Qi shook his head. "No bank is easy, gentlemen. We only earn our money through hard work."

People asked a few more questions, such as the name of Lin Qi's Auction House, but lost interest when they learned that Lin Qi's Auction House did not cater to the Upper Class class.

Of course, the game continues...