Chapter 5: Sani Felt Somewhat Surprised

"Today, besides distributing food, the church relief center also provided some blankets. After all, it's already October, and the autumn chill is gradually setting in. The shepherds are deeply concerned about the lost sheep, fearing that the homeless won't withstand the cold nights."

"Cheng Daqi left after receiving the food. Although the blankets were good, he had just established a top-tier Roman connection and needed to maintain his image of 'examining the entrepreneurial environment in the United States.' In fact, such aimless networking with top-tier connections is often difficult to translate into personal assistance. On the one hand, there are too few interactions to build familiarity and trust. Just chatting a bit at a street relief station, and you want to become buddies?"

"Secondly, it's hard for you to demonstrate your scarcity to top-tier clients. Since top-tier high-net-worth individuals have plenty of resources, their needs are easily met. Anything they need, they can easily find relevant services. Under the power of money, nothing is impossible."

"Lastly, and most directly, they're afraid of being bothered by you! Rich people earn a lot of money, but there are plenty of people buzzing around them. This kind of 'hunting' makes wealthy people inherently cautious, wary of being approached. Of course, those easily fooled are exceptions; lacking the survival skills in this hunting ground, they can't maintain the wealth brought by luck. Market self-regulation redistributes wealth. Cheng Daqi has his own logic for dealing with such people."

"Now he just needs to leave the relief station as soon as possible. The first impression has been made, which is enough. He still maintains the image of a homeless person, not even knowing how long it's been since he washed his hair. His clothes are starting to smell, and his shoes are a pair of cheap knockoffs. This image is completely incompatible with Zhao Hongjin's social circle. It's best to leave now."

"Whether it works, whether he can maintain the first impression, is something Cheng Daqi can't control. Doing good deeds, regardless of whether they succeed or not."

"Cheng Daqi stuffed a burger into his mouth while manipulating Feixin with his other hand. Changing the profile picture, setting it visible for three days, and changing the signature. The original owner's profile picture was a side view of a landscape, but he changed it to a Möbius strip. The Möbius strip has many different interpretations, but on Cheng Daqi, this ambiguity can be transformed into mystery."

"Making friends visible on Moments also needed changing. His previous Moments were unremarkable, with the last one being posted over twenty days ago when he arrived in Los Angeles. The content was a piece of inspirational writing. Underneath were comments from the original owner's classmates, with various attitudes."

"The personal signature is crucial. A signature conveys a person's value logic. The original owner's personal signature was Zhang Zai's Four Sentences of the Hengqu, but it was too distant from reality and lacked ingenuity. The most important issue was that it was too straightforward and lacked subtlety. An excellent signature must have three points: ingenuity, conveying value logic, and rarity."

"Cheng Daqi changed the profile picture and set Moments to visible for three days. Looking at the signature column, his eyes narrowed slightly. Soon, he typed a line with one hand."

"'When the sea ice still covers the North Sea, go see the blooming plum blossoms. Those who understand, understand.' (This is really inconvenient to explain in the book, check the comments for details.)"

"After completing all this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hoped it would work and maintain Zhao Hongjin's impression of him. Surname Zhao, Red Flag, studying at PPD. Individually, they might be unremarkable, but combined, it's quite explosive."

"Sani sat beside him, attentively eating. Although they were in the midst of a street littered with garbage, the warm autumn sun in Los Angeles was perfect. There were no police to drive them away, no robbers to worry about; they were eating. For homeless people, this was already a good day. After being full, they would find a place to lie down and comfortably rest until hunger struck again."

"Most homeless people have lost the most valuable quality of a person—hope for life. This loss of hope is not immediate; they are caught in an abnormal social environment, buffeted by unstoppable waves from all directions—culture, economy, demographics, betrayal."

"These waves are like a hammer wielded by an unknown giant, pounding these people, shattering health, shattering marriages, shattering jobs, shattering debt repayment capability. Finally, the wind rises, not bringing up a spring pool, but carrying a few straws, crushing their dignity, taking away their hope."

"Of course, a group's image is never monolithic. Just as humans generally like the opposite sex, a few like the same sex, and some even like lizards. Among the homeless, there are also those who don't give up hope. Like Cheng Daqi. He now plans to address his personal image issue."

"'Sani, how do you usually bathe?'" According to his observation, Sani looked much cleaner than him. She probably knew some bathing methods for black girls.

"Sani was drinking carbonated drinks and replied upon hearing Cheng Daqi's question."