Before my grandfather passed away, he told my father one sentence: "A person cannot earn countable money."
According to my father, my grandfather was a landlord by origin, and our ancestors in Shandong were quite wealthy back then. After New China was established, the family scattered, properties and farmland were all lost, but my grandfather's words stuck with my father.
Later, my father passed this sentence down to me.
So when I started investing in stocks, futures, and gold back then, my father not only didn't stop me, but strongly supported me.
Because he understood: earning countable money only allows you to live a countable life.
1. What is "countable money"?
Let me explain this sentence first.
My grandfather's "countable money" refers to money earned by selling time.
For example, working a job.
You earn 10,000 yuan a month, 120,000 yuan a year, work for 40 years until retirement, total earnings of 4.8 million yuan.
This number can be calculated.
You take a day off, you earn one day's worth less.
When you can't work anymore, you have no income.
This is called linear income, also called active income.
Its essence is: your time and life are explicitly priced.
There's nothing wrong with this; most people live this way. But if you want financial freedom—this model basically makes it impossible.
Because you only have two hands, and there are only 24 hours in a day.
The ceiling on earning money with time is fixed.
2. So what is "uncountable" money?
My grandfather didn't specify, but what I understand is: money that comes in without directly selling time.
That is, investment.
Let me give you an example and you'll understand.
Back then, I made one transaction, holding for less than 3 months, and earned money equivalent to 3 years of my salary at the time at my job.
During those 3 months, I ate when I should, slept when I should, and felt anxious when losses occurred, but in the moment when the profit was credited, I suddenly remembered my grandfather's words: "A person cannot earn countable money."
If I had only been working at my job, those 3 years of salary would require me to actually sit at my desk for 3 years, 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, come rain or shine, to earn.
But that one transaction, 3 months, with no more than 2 hours per day spent on reviewing charts and analysis, the remaining time was the market working for me.
This isn't a matter of luck; it's a difference in models:
Work is addition: work one day, earn one day's money. Stop, and the money stops.
Investment is multiplication: money itself generates money. As long as your direction is right, compound interest helps you roll the snowball.
The ceiling of work is the starting line of investment.
3. But investment is not gambling
At this point, I must clarify one thing.
Many people think investment is gambling—chasing gains, cutting losses, following tips, herd mentality. That's earning risky money, not "uncountable" money.
True investment earns the money of knowledge. Though my grandfather was from a landlord background, according to my father, their family's wealth wasn't simply from collecting rent. He understood grain market prices, understood good and bad harvests, understood when to stockpile and when to sell.
Isn't that the "futures" of that era?
So "a person cannot earn countable money" doesn't mean go gamble, but means establish an ability to earn money without constantly selling your time.
This ability requires:
Knowledge accumulation: understand economic cycles, understand industry trends. Disciplined execution: hold what you should hold, cut what you should cut—this is the hardest part. Patient waiting: opportunities come every day, but good opportunities need patience.
My father supports me doing investment not because he supports me gambling, but because he supports me developing this ability.
4. Work vs. Investment: not an either-or
Finally, let me say something that might offend some people. I'm not advising you to quit your job and day trade.
The meaning of work isn't just that salary. It gives you cash flow, social connections, and a reason to get out of bed every day. For most people, work is the foundation, investment is the amplifier.
Work is responsible for keeping you alive. Investment is responsible for helping you live well.
The best path is: use work's cash flow to nurture investment's seed; use investment's returns to give life more confidence.
In my early years of investing, I've lost money, blown accounts, and stared at charts at midnight with heart palpitations. But because I had a job, I could endure it, slowly learn, and wait for those correct trades that came later.
My grandfather's words were passed to my father, to me, and I think I'll pass them down eventually.
Not so the next generation goes gambling, but so they remember: in a lifetime, don't let yourself become just a paycheck.
My grandfather passed away before I was born, so unfortunately I never met him, never had the chance to hear him personally tell the family stories of those years. But his one sentence has been passed down three generations and still influences my choices today.
This is probably what is meant by family teaching.
《What is Family Teaching》
Before my grandfather passed away, he told my father one sentence:
"A person cannot earn countable money."
According to my father, my grandfather was a landlord by origin, and our ancestors in Shandong were quite wealthy back then. After New China was established, the family scattered, properties and farmland were all lost, but my grandfather's words stuck with my father.
Later, my father passed this sentence down to me.
So when I started investing in stocks, futures, and gold back then, my father not only didn't stop me, but strongly supported me.
Because he understood: earning countable money only allows you to live a countable life.
1. What is "countable money"?
Let me explain this sentence first.
My grandfather's "countable money" refers to money earned by selling time.
For example, working a job.
You earn 10,000 yuan a month, 120,000 yuan a year, work for 40 years until retirement, total earnings of 4.8 million yuan.
This number can be calculated.
You take a day off, you earn one day's worth less.
When you can't work anymore, you have no income.
This is called linear income, also called active income.
Its essence is: your time and life are explicitly priced.
There's nothing wrong with this; most people live this way. But if you want financial freedom—this model basically makes it impossible.
Because you only have two hands, and there are only 24 hours in a day.
The ceiling on earning money with time is fixed.
2. So what is "uncountable" money?
My grandfather didn't specify, but what I understand is: money that comes in without directly selling time.
That is, investment.
Let me give you an example and you'll understand.
Back then, I made one transaction, holding for less than 3 months, and earned money equivalent to 3 years of my salary at the time at my job.
During those 3 months, I ate when I should, slept when I should, and felt anxious when losses occurred, but in the moment when the profit was credited, I suddenly remembered my grandfather's words: "A person cannot earn countable money."
If I had only been working at my job, those 3 years of salary would require me to actually sit at my desk for 3 years, 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, come rain or shine, to earn.
But that one transaction, 3 months, with no more than 2 hours per day spent on reviewing charts and analysis, the remaining time was the market working for me.
This isn't a matter of luck; it's a difference in models:
Work is addition: work one day, earn one day's money. Stop, and the money stops.
Investment is multiplication: money itself generates money. As long as your direction is right, compound interest helps you roll the snowball.
The ceiling of work is the starting line of investment.
3. But investment is not gambling
At this point, I must clarify one thing.
Many people think investment is gambling—chasing gains, cutting losses, following tips, herd mentality. That's earning risky money, not "uncountable" money.
True investment earns the money of knowledge. Though my grandfather was from a landlord background, according to my father, their family's wealth wasn't simply from collecting rent. He understood grain market prices, understood good and bad harvests, understood when to stockpile and when to sell.
Isn't that the "futures" of that era?
So "a person cannot earn countable money" doesn't mean go gamble, but means establish an ability to earn money without constantly selling your time.
This ability requires:
Knowledge accumulation: understand economic cycles, understand industry trends.
Disciplined execution: hold what you should hold, cut what you should cut—this is the hardest part.
Patient waiting: opportunities come every day, but good opportunities need patience.
My father supports me doing investment not because he supports me gambling, but because he supports me developing this ability.
4. Work vs. Investment: not an either-or
Finally, let me say something that might offend some people. I'm not advising you to quit your job and day trade.
The meaning of work isn't just that salary. It gives you cash flow, social connections, and a reason to get out of bed every day. For most people, work is the foundation, investment is the amplifier.
Work is responsible for keeping you alive.
Investment is responsible for helping you live well.
The best path is: use work's cash flow to nurture investment's seed; use investment's returns to give life more confidence.
In my early years of investing, I've lost money, blown accounts, and stared at charts at midnight with heart palpitations. But because I had a job, I could endure it, slowly learn, and wait for those correct trades that came later.
My grandfather's words were passed to my father, to me, and I think I'll pass them down eventually.
Not so the next generation goes gambling, but so they remember: in a lifetime, don't let yourself become just a paycheck.
My grandfather passed away before I was born, so unfortunately I never met him, never had the chance to hear him personally tell the family stories of those years. But his one sentence has been passed down three generations and still influences my choices today.
This is probably what is meant by family teaching.