A Story Of Late Developing Success: How Qiu And Xiu Prospered Through Bitcoin

A Story Of Late Developing Success: How Qiu And Xiu Prospered Through Bitcoin

Qiu was a down-and-out 50 year old panhandler who had nobody in the world but himself. He had worked as a barista in a cheap café for 31 years but his weight increasing rapidly as he aged, his legs couldn't keep him moving fast enough to serve the impatient customers, prompting his employer to fire him. That fateful event had happened a year before. From then on Qiu had tried unsuccessfully to aquire another job.

At first he thought maybe he could start a café himself and employ a younger man as the barista. That seemed, on its face, a pretty reasonable proposition. However, after some consideration, Qiu gave up on that idea because he realized soon that he didn't have enough capital to fund this venture. He sent his curriculum vitae to various prospective employers but without success. Apparently nobody wanted to hire a 50 year old man whose only working experience was being a barista for 31 straight years. To his horror, Qiu had found that the small amount of money that he had put by was dwindling rapidly. He worked as a peddler for a few days but he soon found out that that respectable occupation was not as easy as he had thought it would be. Too often he would not be able to sell everything that he had bought, resulting in huge losses. When the last coin from his long-standing savings was spent on a loaf of stale bread Qiu found himself face to face with the harsh reality that he had to panhandle to survive.

Although a necessity, panhandling was repulsive to the diffident middle-aged man. Often, instead of choosing frequented areas of town for his temporary position, he preferred to sit in a part of town where he knew very few people were likely to pass through and see him. He knew very well that the current state of affairs was anything but a congenial situation for his self-sufficient nature. But he also knew that in order to survive he had no other choice but to continue the distasteful occupation.

He had lost most of his excess weight after a few months of living as a beggar, which made him think of going back to his former employer and ask him to give him back his job. When he went to his former workplace he found that the café was no longer there. He learned that the owner had sold the business to an inexperienced young man who had bankrupted it and had to sell it to a famous real state magnate who had turned it into a grocery store. Sad and hopeless, Qiu went back to the secluded nook in the middle of a green hill that he had found earlier, and used to call home, and went to sleep.

When he woke up he felt extremely hungry so he went to beg for some money so that he could buy something to eat. A portly old gentleman dressed smartly in a frock coat was walking by. Qui approached him and asked him meekly for some change. When the old man saw Qiu's face he seemed to become dumbstruck for a moment. He kept staring into Qiu's eyes with an astonished look on his face. After a few seconds he seemed to remember something and started speaking.

"I remember you," he said, "you are the barista from the old café that I used to patronize in my younger years. I remember that your name was Qiu. Am I right?" The speech by the old gentleman seemed to have a profound effect on Qiu. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to him so personally. He remembered the old customer of the café and his visits vividly, even remembering his name, which was Xiu. Qiu said to the old man that he remembered him and asked him how he had become so rich because in the old days he had been quite indigent. "I set up an online shop and accepted crypto currency as payment" said Xiu, "my business grew exponentially when I decided to accept Bitcoin", he continued. Qiu wished him well and was on the point of parting with him, quite forgetting his original plan of asking for money, when Xiu addressed him again. "I can't bear to see an old acquaintance of mine so miserable. I have a big mansion downtown with lots of spare rooms. Be my guest for a time until you can find a place for yourself. Meanwhile I will help you find a respectable occupation so that you can live with dignity."

"Thank you very much" replied Qiu, "I accept this offer but I don't know what kind of job I can get considering my inexperience in anything but being a barista."