novellhall Chapter 21 Weighing the Turtle
Chapter 21 Weighing the Turtle
We had arranged to have dinner together, and I arrived in the afternoon.
Chen Guanjiang combed his hair into an adult style, put on a handsome suit, ordered the famous "Eighteen Cuts" from Ningbo, and sat in his seat looking eagerly, emphasizing a proper attitude.
Upon seeing Fang Yihua helping an elderly woman out of the car, Chen Guanjiang hurried to the door and respectfully greeted, "Sixth Uncle, Sixth Madam, hello! I am Chen Guanjiang!"
Shao Yifu nodded, and after leading the way to a seat, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah Jiang, you are really smart. When I was your age, I was still foolishly burying myself in hard work."
Chen Guanjiang chuckled and said, "I was just being clever. Everyone in Hong Kong knows that you ventured to Southeast Asia alone and built the huge Shaw Brothers empire. In terms of real ability, I still have to learn from you!"
"Cough cough..."
Knowing that family members know their own affairs, Shao Yifu didn't want to talk about this topic. He coughed twice and continued, "I'm old now. It's your turn, young people."
"Oh, not at all! I was just lucky..."
"Luck is also important, but the key is whether you have the guts, Ah Jiang..."
“…………”
In the midst of mutual flattery and compliments, Chen Guanjiang was a little taken aback. He was thinking that he would flatter his older brother tonight in exchange for a reward, but how did the one who flattered become the one who was flattered?
Chen Guanjiang licked his lips and grinned wickedly, "Where would you get the guts? I'm terrified! Zou Wenhuai wants to take me to find the water ghost, Li Xiaolong sent me nunchucks through someone, and Zhou Daheng still doesn't know what he's up to..."
"The Hang Seng Index has been soaring lately, and I've leveraged my money to buy stocks. I want to hire a bodyguard for self-defense, but I don't have a single penny to spare. I don't know who to borrow money from in this emergency. It's so miserable!"
"Ah Jiang, you're being too radical..."
Shao Yifu shook his head and sighed, "You dare to expose Sir Zhou's secrets? You think three incense sticks are burning too slowly?"
This old glass maker is clueless!
Guanjiang is about to be drowned, and now he's spouting nonsense and lecturing? Is he being too subtle? Or is he just pretending not to understand?
"Sixth Uncle, how could I possibly have the same imposing presence you had when you single-handedly ventured into Southeast Asia? I'm just trying to make a living."
Chen Guanjiang had no interest in playing games with Lao Deng, so he cut to the chase: "Hey! It's too late to regret and apologize now. I don't even dare to go out without money to hire bodyguards."
"But I'm broke right now. My fellow villagers are thinking of asking Mr. Zhao if he could lend me some money to get through this difficult time. Otherwise, I'm really afraid I'll end up dead in the street one day..."
as predicted!
On the day Dillon and Jiang Dawei were secretly photographed, Zhao Shiguang and He Lili were also secretly photographed. The other three reports used "suspected" to describe it, but this confirmed news was concealed.
Now, to say such things to gain sympathy, even a fool can tell that this mangy dog is trying to extort them.
"You're eating your last meal. It'll be easier for the Zhou family to kill you than to borrow a fire!" Fang Yihua gritted her teeth as she listened from the side.
Shao Yifu laughed heartily and said, "Young Master Zhao's father has plenty of money; you might as well give it a try."
Zhao Shiguang's father was Zhao Congyan, one of the four shipping magnates in Hong Kong. Offending Zhou Xinian, who was in decline, still gave him a chance to survive, but if he angered Zhao Congyan, who was at the height of his power, things would be very different.
After all, Zhou Xinian was in a terrible predicament because of what happened six years ago, and Zhao Congyan controlled more than 40 cargo ships and oil tankers, and was always a guest of honor wherever he went.
"I can't trouble myself with two clients! It seems I'll have to find someone else..."
After saying that, Chen Guanjiang handed over a photograph.
Fang Yihua glanced at the photo and his eyes widened in fury. Even Shao Yifu, who prided himself on his composure, was provoked by the photo and burst into a tirade: "You mad dog, have you gone insane?"
"There's no other way; we have to survive!"
Chen Guanjiang sighed deeply in resignation and called over a waiter to add a dish of stewed turtle with rock sugar.
The photo shows a woman behaving intimately with a man. Bystanders do not know who the man is, but how could Shao Yifu, as the middleman, not know?
Shao Yifu felt his blood pressure rise a little, and squinted, saying, "You look only fourteen or fifteen years old. In Hong Kong, you need to be 21 to register a company. How come the newspaper is in your name?"
"You changed your ID card..." Chen Guanjiang chuckled.
Before the 50s, only Englishmen or "higher" Chinese had identity documents, while "ordinary" Chinese were neither entitled to nor required to apply for them.
After the 50s, a large influx of immigrants into Hong Kong required effective management, and ordinary people began to have paper ID cards, but there was no formal population registration system.
The first-generation rubber ID card has been in use since the 60s. Anyone who is 11 years old or older can apply for it. There is no strict population census registration, which means that the Hong Kong government does not have statistical data.
There is currently no pension system. The only thing that exists is the "Public Assistance Scheme" established after MacLehose took office last year, which provides cash assistance to poor elderly people. However, the situation is such that they often go hungry or not, and there is little guarantee of security.
Without needing to apply for early retirement, many families who cannot afford to send their children to school will falsify the age to 21 to get them into the workforce early, and the relevant departments will turn a blind eye.
After all, although England passed a law in 1833 banning child labor for children under the age of nine, it did not explicitly prohibit the employment of children under the age of fourteen until 1933.
The reason is that as industrialization accelerates, workers need to have higher knowledge and skills to complete their work more effectively, rather than humanistic care.
This is true in England as well, and Hong Kong is even more unrestrained. Coupled with the practices of the Hong Kong Police Force over the past two decades, it is possible to alter documents for as little as HK$100.
Registering a company was a bit of a hassle. The difference between my actual age and the registered age was too large, and it cost me nearly HK$1000 to get it done, while the company registration itself only cost HK$500.
Before Shao Yifu could speak, Chen Guanjiang proactively reminded him, "If you're thinking of using the guardianship law for minors, you should forget it. Yin Xun Media's registered office has been moved to Switzerland, and it's no longer under the jurisdiction of the British Commonwealth..."
boom! !
"You're crazy! You think you can rip me off just because you have a picture?"
Shao Yifu slammed his palm heavily on the table, channeling ten years of self-cultivation, and said, "Back in my day, I was living on the edge, what kind of battles hadn't I seen when I ventured alone into Southeast Asia?"
"Sixth Uncle, you've misunderstood..."
Chen Guanjiang waved his hands repeatedly in fright, saying, "Who do you think I am? How dare I threaten you? But some things can't be controlled by my own words, you know... right?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Yihua was the first to lose his composure, pointing at Chen Guanjiang's nose and shouting, "You bastard, what did you say?"
"Sixth Uncle knows exactly what I'm saying."
"Please keep your voices down, three of you. If you continue arguing, I will send someone to ask you to leave..."
The argument drew the attention of bystanders, forcing the lobby manager to intervene, even though their words carried little weight.
Shao Yifu waved for the lobby manager to leave, then after a moment's thought, he took out a checkbook, wrote down the amount, and handed it over, saying, "I'm just afraid you'll earn it but not live to spend it."
Chen Guanjiang took the check and said, "It's alright, I'm very lucky! If I write it on chives, I can use it as a sickle; if I write it on a check, I can use it to cut down trees on a mountain."