Seeing how mysteriously Wang Yue spoke, Xin Jiangyue grew curious and asked, "What did the old ancestor say? How come I don't know?"
Wang Yue didn't answer her question. Instead, he smiled and said, "Before I tell you what the old ancestor said, let me share an internet joke!
"Someone asked what would happen if you traveled back to ancient times with an unlimited supply of plain rice porridge and pickled vegetables.
"Some people said it wouldn't be much use, while others said it'd be the most powerful weapon. Do you know why?"
Xin Jiangyue ventured, "With unlimited pickles and rice, you could recruit an endless number of people?"
Wang Yue nodded with a smile. "You have to understand that in ancient times, people struggled just to get enough to eat, and salt was even harder to come by.
"If you could give people rice porridge every day, along with salt, it'd be just like raising a private army!"
Xin Jiangyue was clever enough to have become Mr. Sima's assistant. She immediately understood and said, "Manager Wang, you mean Pei Qian thinks that since it isn't his own money, he can pay his staff extremely high salaries. It's just like giving them unlimited rice porridge and pickles!
"So, just like Mencius said: 'If a ruler treats his ministers like his own hands and feet, they will treat him like the core of their hearts.' Without even realizing it, Pei Qian has raised a whole lot of loyal followers!
"So when the company is losing money, his employees are more anxious than he is, and they'll find ways to keep him from losing money!"
"Correct, but there's no prize!"
Wang Yue snapped his fingers, confirming Xin Jiangyue's answer, then continued with a smile, "That's why I think it'll be hard for