Today is the day before New Year's Eve. Lin Zhichao took Tang Caiyun shopping in Central, followed by two light bulbs - Tang Caiying and Lin Xiner.
Fortunately, these two light bulbs are relatively sensible and will hardly disturb Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiyun's date.
At this time, many refugees can still be seen on the streets of Hong Kong, even in Central. And everyone is used to it and will not drive them away.
If you observe carefully, you will find that in Hong Kong society at this time, hawkers were free to sell on the streets, and shop owners would not maliciously drive away refugees at the door. Hong Kong as a whole was relatively tolerant.
Rich people will not be deterred by the presence of refugees at the door of a store. They are accustomed to walking in to make purchases.
The spontaneous market on Queen's Road is packed with people. There are girls selling dried fish, grannies selling newspapers (probably a woman, but they look older), and there are also many Royal Marines doing purchases, and some carrying guns.
British soldiers on patrol are commonplace among citizens.
At first glance, most of them are poor, poor people who are just trying to survive.
"Those refugees are so pitiful! The weather is so cold, they can only sleep under the eaves at night." Tang Caiyun was full of kindness and said to Lin Zhichao.
Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "No need to worry, they can have enough to eat, and they don't need to worry about war. The difficulty will be short-lived. Those who arrive in Hong Kong soon will live in wooden houses."
Hong Kong's population has skyrocketed, and there is indeed a shortage of housing.
An old three-storey wooden tenement building in Wan Chai is home to 90 people, many of whom sleep on six-storey "bunk beds." This is considered a good situation, as a large number of Hong Kong residents were forced to move
(The landlord increased the rent to evict the people, so as to charge sky-high rent), and the new refugees were forced to build a large number of shacks, wooden houses, and even "paper houses" on the rooftops of tenement buildings, beside the streets, and around the city, forming a
There are many densely populated wooden house areas.
These wooden houses were built one after another, from the street to the end of the street, forming the spectacular "Rooftop Wooden House Street". Since building a wooden house at that time required tens of dollars to buy wood and iron sheets, some poor people simply went to the streets.
Collect paper boxes and build a "paper house". These paper houses usually use several strips of wood as roof trusses, use "asphalt paper" to cover the roof, and nail paper around them to form another wonder of the wooden house area - paper skin.
Room.
Due to the complex population and historical background at this time, these wooden house areas, rooftop wooden house areas, and paper houses often become areas where evil forces commit crimes and harbor dirt and evil, and social problems abound.
Therefore, social darkness is often found in slums, and the upper classes are out of sight and out of mind.
Originally, during this period, real estate developers in Hong Kong were operating on a small scale. They usually built 2 to 4 houses for sale. The industry generally called this method "speculating on the four hot topics".
There is an unwritten rule among this group of people that the house cannot be built more than 5 stories, otherwise it will require approval from the Governor of Hong Kong in conjunction with the Executive Council.
Lin Zhichao developed "stratified sales" and "instalment sales" in advance, which made a great contribution to the residential real estate market. Of course, this does not mean that the situation of housing shortage in Hong Kong has been changed in one fell swoop, but it has been relatively alleviated.
After all, even in another ten years, it is estimated that the proportion of private housing in Hong Kong will not exceed 35%.
If we want more people to be able to afford houses, we must first industrialize Hong Kong and reach a certain level of prosperity, thus generating a lot of purchasing power. Otherwise, even if capital goes into real estate, it will be in vain if the houses are not easy to sell.
Tang Caiyun suggested: "Brother Zhichao, should we purchase some things to distribute to these refugees?"
Lin Zhichao immediately shook his head and said: "It's not safe! When the things are distributed and someone doesn't receive them, it will offend others. Caiyun, it's not that I am stingy with the money, but I think this is not a good idea. You want
Knowing that there are more than 100 workers in my factory, I am more willing to distribute materials to them to benefit their families. It just so happens that in the afternoon, Yangtze River Industry will distribute rice to workers, I will take you to experience it."
When Tang Caiyun heard this, she was not pretentious at all, and said happily: "Well, I think what Brother Zhichao said makes sense. You are supporting so many workers now, and there are many family members behind these workers, and you distribute supplies to them.
It’s really more meaningful than handing out stuff on the streets.”
Lin Zhichao looked at Tang Caiyun in surprise. He did not expect that this woman was not pretentious at all.
Tang Caiyun stuck out her tongue and said cutely: "Brother Zhichao, you don't think I'm being pretentious, do you?" She cleverly realized that Lin Zhichao's eyes conveyed a message.
In fact, she just wanted to do something with Lin Zhichao, and even if Lin Zhichao refused without reason, she would not be really angry. Now, she found that Lin Zhichao was very good to the workers, and she understood the true meaning of "charity" even more.
Of course, Lin Zhichao does not think that charity is superfluous, but that his current strength is limited and he can only take care of his workers first. If he has greater strength in the future, he will naturally be willing to spend more funds and do more extensive work.
charitable.
In the afternoon, Lin Zhichao took Tang Caiyun to the Changjiang Industrial factory.
When a group of workers saw Lin Zhichao leading a beautiful girl, they all shouted: "Boss, Mrs. Lin"
Tang Caiyun was both happy and shy, so Lin Zhichao did not correct the workers. He just introduced Tang Caiyun to several managers and asked everyone to call them "Miss Tang".
"How are the production arrangements for the Spring Festival? Do you have any opinions?" Lin Zhichao asked.
Wang Liang immediately said: "We have already negotiated with everyone, and everyone has no objections. After all, the boss is giving everyone double grains and New Year's goods. Everyone knows that the factory's production tasks are heavy, and they agree to obey the arrangements."
On New Year's Eve and Spring Festival, Cheung Kong Industries will still not stop work, but half of the workers will get off work at 5 o'clock on New Year's Eve, and the other half will get off work at 5 o'clock on the first day of the Lunar New Year. This is equivalent to giving each worker time to have dinner with his family.
The entire Yangtze River Industrial Group still operates for 18 hours (workers generally work 14 to 16 hours).
Factories in Hong Kong are like this. Workers almost always have to work for 16 hours or even longer. After all, there are too many people out there without jobs. Many factories even only pay novice workers 30 Hong Kong dollars or 25 Hong Kong dollars (depending on their education and skills).
These bosses calculated that it would be difficult for these workers to find a salaried job when they first arrived in Hong Kong, so they squeezed them hard.
Fortunately, Cheung Kong Holdings has a salary of 40 Hong Kong dollars per month for newbies, and as long as they get started, it is almost 60 to 100 Hong Kong dollars, depending on the work proficiency. Not to mention, at the end of this year, Lin Zhichao gave everyone a double salary.
New Year's goods are also distributed.
Next, Lin Zhichao distributed rice, oil and supplies to each worker, encouraging everyone to keep up their efforts and work hard in the new year (so that the boss can live in a luxury house and drive a luxury car as soon as possible).
All the workers beamed with joy and expressed their gratitude quickly.
"Boss, you are such a good boss. You are the best boss in Hong Kong."
"The boss has given us double grains and rice oil. I haven't even worked for half a year yet. What a good boss!"
"Boss, congratulations on getting rich. May you and your wife have a baby soon!"
The simple words of the workers soon filled the Changjiang Industrial factory, which moved Lin Zhichao. He had a goal in mind, which was to only engage in high value-added manufacturing and get rid of sweatshops. The welfare of his workers should belong to the entire manufacturing industry.
Top student.
His zipper industry is of course an industry with high added value, at least higher than that of Hong Kong's textiles and garments.
After the benefits were distributed, Lin Zhichao gave instructions to the management, then took the initiative to hold Tang Caiyun's hand and prepared to go home.
Tang Caiyun's heart was beating wildly, but she did not break free from Lin Zhichao's hand.
Back in the car, Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "The workers' words are all plain and simple. Don't think it's crude!"
Thinking of words like having a baby early, Tang Caiyun immediately lowered her head and said coquettishly: "Brother Zhichao!" Her tone was full of coquettishness.
Lin Zhichao even touched other people's little hands and couldn't put them down, saying: "Where are you thinking!"
Knowing that Lin Zhichao was teasing her, Tang Caiyun became even more shy and said, "I'm not thinking wildly! It's you who is thinking wildly!"
Lin Zhichao laughed, causing Tang Caiyun to fight with her fists. It was the first time that the two of them were so close.
He is about to turn 20, and Tang Caiyun has also turned 19. However, Lin Zhichao does not want to get married too early, and will probably not consider it until next year (1949).
Fortunately, the relationship between the two has been approved by both parents, and it is considered a certainty. Even if Lin Zhichao takes advantage, it will be fine.
The main reason is that Lin Zhichao's career is very important, plus he can't afford a new house now, so it's obviously not possible.
During this Spring Festival, the families of Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiyun had a meal together and once again confirmed the relationship between Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiyun. When the time is right, the two will get married.
Lin Zhichao also visited two elders who had helped him - Jian Dongpu and He Dong. They were very happy that Lin Zhichao came to visit. After all, Lin Zhichao's achievements were already extraordinary. Supporting such a junior is equivalent to giving himself a gift.