An old man wearing a green gown sat in a rocking chair, the sun shining down on his lean face.
He crossed his legs leisurely, took out a cigarette from his arms, lit it with a match as usual, then shook out the match and threw it to the ground.
Not far away, a group of young people in short-fighting uniforms were practicing Wing Chun. Some were practicing hand wrapping, and some were hitting wooden dummies. The entire balcony martial arts hall was bustling with activity.
"Master Ye, you promised me that you will never smoke again!" A voice came to the old man's ear. His mind was slightly startled. A tall and beautiful woman seemed to appear in front of him. She was his wife, who always urged him.
He tried to quit smoking, but he just couldn't quit.
He woke up and remembered that his wife had died of illness many years ago, and standing in front of him was his new female apprentice Zhou Mulian.
The old man smiled and said to Zhou Mulian: "I didn't smoke, I just lit it."
The old man hurriedly crushed the newly lit cigarette with his fingertips, but did not throw it away. Instead, he took out the cigarette box and put the crushed cigarette back again.
Nowadays, the economy is difficult and prices have risen sharply. A box of Lucky cigarettes has increased from 7 yuan to 10 yuan, and a box of cheap Double Happiness cigarettes has also increased from 2 yuan to 5 yuan! Five yuan can buy a pound.
Half pork, fifteen pounds of rice, and half a month's tuition for a child can be paid. For many old smokers, it is simply forcing them to quit smoking.
Zhou Mulian is fifteen years old this year. She has short hair, dark skin, and a patched school uniform. She is full of youth and vitality.
She is a student at a nearby girls' school. That school is not a public school, nor is it a high-end private school, but like this martial arts gym, it is also a balcony school!
In this era, many people send their children to such schools because their families are poor and cannot afford education.
The rent of this kind of balcony school is cheap. The large balcony serves as both a playground and a classroom. Children can study and play on the balcony.
As for the teachers who teach, most of them are old academics who are proficient in literature, or they are teachers from civilian backgrounds. They cannot enter those public and private schools, so they can only use their spare energy in such simple balcony schools and earn a meal!
Zhou Mulian put down the schoolbag she was carrying, went to the side to pick up the teapot, poured herself a glass of water, raised her neck and drank a few sips.
Master Ye asked her: "Why did school end so early today?"
Zhou Mulian wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and said, "School is suspended."
"Why are classes closed?"
"Can't pay the rent."
Master Ye was stunned for a moment, "The rent has been raised again?"
Starting from January, rents in Hong Kong, which had just entered the 1970s, began to skyrocket, and had tripled in just half a month.
There are many balcony schools in Hong Kong organized by the poor. They have also closed down because they cannot afford the rental fees for the balconies.
Not to mention those restaurants, factories and shops that rented large venues, many of which have closed down due to the increase in rental fees!
In this regard, people are complaining, complaining that the rich landlords are vampire capitalists, making it difficult for the poor to live!
"Not only that, the rent in the tenement building where we live has also increased. The landlord of Zhang Sanwang's house next door to me was kicked out because he couldn't pay the rent, and he is now sleeping on the street! Also, many toilets in bridges and parks are now occupied by homeless people. Even if you
Even if you want to live on the streets, you can’t find a place to stay!”
Zhou Mulian is not old, but she likes to care about people's livelihood. This has something to do with her teacher. Her teacher is from the mainland and is upright. She is most disdainful of the capitalist system in Hong Kong where there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.
Master Ye stopped talking. At this moment, Zhou Mulian seemed to suddenly remember something and took out a letter from her schoolbag and handed it to him: "By the way, Master Ye, I just happened to meet the postman downstairs. This letter is for you."
Yes! It seems to have been mailed from the United States - do you still have apprentices in the United States?"
After Zhou Mulian finished speaking, she hurriedly covered her mouth. She just accidentally glanced at the envelope. The signature on it was Master Yip's apprentice. She remembered that Master Yip was not an ordinary person. He was a famous Wing Chun master before coming to Hong Kong from the mainland!
Especially in Hong Kong, there are many disciples. There are all kinds of disciples. It’s not surprising that there are one or two in the United States!
Master Ye smiled and looked at the envelope which said: "Yours sincerely, my mentor, Ip Man, and my apprentice, Bruce Lee!"
"It turns out to be Aaron's letter." Master Ye muttered and opened the envelope.
Zhou Mulian looked curious and stretched her neck to take a look.
The content of this letter is not very long. Bruce Lee told his master Ip Man in the letter that he was doing well in the United States. He opened several martial arts gyms and taught foreigners how to learn boxing. He also made movies and became an actor.
.
If nothing else happens, he plans to return to Hong Kong in April and will bring his wife and children to visit Master Yip.
"Aaron is considerate." Master Ye was about to fold the letter and put it back into the envelope when he found that there was something else in the envelope. When he took it out, he saw that it was three hundred dollars.
"Wow, U.S. dollars!" After Zhou Mulian finished speaking, she quickly covered her mouth.
Master Ye's expression changed slightly. He has always been stubborn in character. He doesn't like other people's help or relief, even if the other person is his apprentice.
Seeing Master Ye's strange expression, Zhou Mulian said: "Master Ye, take it, this is also his kindness! I guess I brought too many things when I returned to Hong Kong and didn't plan to buy gifts, so I sent you the money first! Three hundred US dollars.
, not much!”
Three hundred US dollars is almost 1,600 Hong Kong dollars, how can it not be more?!
Master Ye was just about to stuff the money back, and when he found time to go back, he said in a broken voice: "Is Master Ye here?"
A fat woman came in from the balcony door holding a fan. She wore heavy makeup, had a very popular swallowtail curly hair, and had large nostrils with exposed nose hairs.
"I'm sorry, Master Ye, are you teaching boxing?"
"Yes, landlady, what are you doing here?" Master Ye stood up from the rocking chair, put his hands behind his back and asked the other party with a smile.
"Oh, that's it!" The landlady waved the fan, "As you know, Master Ye, the rent has been rising recently. Although you and I are old friends, I also need to eat, so -"
Master Ye hurriedly said: "I know this! You haven't increased the rent for half a year. To me, you are a good person!"
The landlady covered her mouth with a fan and said with a smile: "Master Ye, you are really good at talking! But good people don't make money. If I rent such a big balcony to others, I can make at least twice as much in a month!"
"Yes! Yes! My disciples and I are so grateful to you!"
"No need to be grateful! I can't survive without increasing the rent!" said the landlady.
"Then how much are you going to add?"
"Not much, an extra 100 yuan a month! This year it will be 1,200 yuan! Master Ye, do you still want to rent?" The landlady's eyes rolled darkly, but she actually wanted to take advantage of Master Ye and others.
Drive away. Now that the rents in Hong Kong have skyrocketed, she plans to tidy up the balcony and rent it out to make a lot of money!
"Landlady, are you being too deceptive?" Before Master Ye could answer, Zhou Mulian couldn't help but say.
"When your husband encountered a robber on the street, it was my master who came to the rescue! Otherwise, he would have died! Also, when my master rented this balcony, you made an agreement that there would be no rent increase for three years. Now,
It’s just been a year and you want to add a thousand yuan, are you still being unreasonable?”
The landlady was choked and blushed. She became angry and pointed a fan at Zhou Mulian's nose: "Little girl, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Do you believe me or not? I will tear your mouth apart?"
"Come on, give it a try!" Zhou Mulian put on a Wing Chun air and challenged the landlady.
"Stop!" Master Ye shouted in time.
Zhou Mulian snorted, wiped the tip of her nose in dissatisfaction, and stared at the landlady fiercely.
The landlady was actually a little scared.
Master Ye sighed, took out the three hundred dollars from his apprentice Bruce Lee from the envelope, handed it to the landlady and said: "Sorry, I happen to have some money here. Please accept it first!"
The landlady hurriedly took it and saw that it was U.S. dollars. She took a photo of it in the sun and then said with a bright smile: "I told you, Master Ye, that you are kind and easy to talk to! Our boss is still embarrassed to speak! Let me record it for you.
Come on, extend it to one year!”
The landlady happily walked downstairs with money in her pocket. Zhou Mulian spat in her back rudely, "You evil spirit! Your conscience has been eaten by a dog!"
Master Ye was not in a good mood. He looked at the huge Wing On Street with his hands behind his back. The rent in Hong Kong had risen so sharply. If he couldn't cope with it, how would he let the poor people live? Seeing that the Chinese New Year was about to come, how many people would be homeless?
Return?!
…
Hong Kong, Yau Ma Tei Grand Theatre.
The Yau Ma Tei Theater is the only remaining pre-war theater in Kowloon and the oldest existing cinema in Hong Kong. It was built in 1925 and has a history of more than 40 years. It is located at the junction of Shanghai Street and Waterloo Road.
In the early days of the theater's opening, it was the main entertainment venue for dock workers and coachmen nearby. As one of the five major theaters in Hong Kong, in addition to showing movies, the Yau Ma Tei Theater also performed Cantonese operas and was often full.
Nowadays, with the gradual increase of new theaters, Yau Ma Tei Theater has gradually declined, and the once glorious Cantonese opera performances with full houses are rare.
But today, as the Chinese New Year is approaching, the entire theater has been booked, and the theater troupe is performing the most famous excerpt of "A Dream in the Garden."
As one of the four major shipping kings in Hong Kong and the godfather of Hong Kong real estate developers, Mr. Huo Yingdong is holding a tea cup and listening to the opera calmly and attentively.
At the table next to him, three of Hong Kong's three real estate tycoons, Li Zhaoji, Guo Desheng, and Feng Jingqi, like Mr. Huo, were also holding tea cups and listening to the opera, but from the corner of their eyes, they glanced at Mr. Huo from time to time, looking lustful.
The words and the appearance stop.
As we all know, when Mr. Huo started playing real estate, people like Li Zhaoji were still running gold shops and doing other businesses.
Mr. Huo has made great achievements in real estate development. Not only has he built low-cost civilian buildings, he has also been pushing the British Hong Kong government to promote the construction of public housing. In addition, he has also designed the marketing method of "selling off-the-plan properties" for the sake of the people, so that
Poor people who don't have money to buy a house can pay off their loans slowly.
It's a pity that this method was later misrepresented by many capitalists and turned into a means of exploiting the people.
In short, in the real estate industry, Mr. Huo is the first person to eat crabs.
It's just a pity that because Mr. Huo is relatively close to the mainland, the British Hong Kong government issued a ban on him, especially in the real estate field, restricting the development of Huo's real estate industry.
Even so, Mr. Huo is still the president of the Hong Kong Real Estate Development Association and has a strong say in influencing the development of Hong Kong's real estate industry.
Recently, there has been chaos in the real estate industry in Hong Kong. In order to make quick money, many real estate developers are crazy about raising rents regardless of morality. In just half a month, rents in Hong Kong have tripled! It has reached a crazy level!
Mr. Huo saw this and was anxious in his heart. He was also born in poverty and knew very well what a house meant to the people. The traditional Chinese thinking of family and country makes people yearn for a home all their lives, so that they can own an inch of land and a tile. Shelter!
Especially those poor people who cannot afford to buy a house can only live in rented houses, regardless of whether they are good or bad, such as tin houses, low-cost houses, public village houses, etc.!
Now that rents have skyrocketed, they can't afford the rent and have to sleep on the streets during the New Year. This is what Mr. Huo doesn't want to see, and it's also what many conscientious businessmen don't want to see!
Today, Mr. Huo invited Li Zhaoji and other real estate tycoons to gather here to listen to the show. In fact, it was to discuss rent reduction together.
In addition to Li Zhaoji and others, there were more than a dozen other major real estate developers in Hong Kong outside the VIP room of the theater.
Mr. Huo has been doing business for so many years, and he deeply understands the truth: shoot the man first, shoot the horse first, and capture the thief first, capture the king!
Although it is inappropriate to use "capture thieves" to describe Li Zhaoji and others, Boss Huo can only do this now.
On the other hand, for Li Zhaoji and others, of course they understood what Mr. Huo meant when he invited them to watch the show together today.
However, in real estate business, they do not have the final say alone, especially for things like rent, which cannot be reduced by just saying reduction.
Large real estate developers like them own one-fifth of the rental houses in Hong Kong. Even if each house is rented for ten yuan less, it will be a loss of tens of millions!
So today they cannot be intimidated by Mr. Huo and agree to reduce the rent!
"President Huo! We all know what you mean by inviting us here today. Everyone knows about the rent reduction! But you don't do much real estate now, so you don't quite understand how difficult it is to do this industry now! Building materials are skyrocketing. , wages have skyrocketed! Why did Lee Construction go on strike not long ago? Isn’t it because Lee Zhaotian can’t pay wages? So we are also suffering! In order to buy materials and pay wages, we all tightened our belts!"
Just when Li Zhaoji and others were thinking about how to speak first, a thirty-year-old real estate developer walked over impatiently and spoke to Mr. Huo.
Mr. Huo took a look at this real estate developer and seemed to have some impression. His name was Zhuang Jiajun. He was the brother-in-law of Li Jiacheng, the boss of Yangtze River Industry. He was responsible for the development of Yangtze River Real Estate in Yangtze River Industry and was highly regarded by Li Jiacheng.
Recently, Li Ka-shing swallowed up Lee Siu-tin's power project in Tsuen Wan and devoted himself wholeheartedly to becoming Hong Kong's "hydropower king". Therefore, he did not come to such an important private gathering today and asked Zhuang Jiajun to take his place.
Zhuang Jiajun has always wanted to perform well in front of his brother-in-law. Since taking charge of Yangtze Real Estate, he has developed real estate projects such as "Emerald Garden", "Yangtze Garden", and "Longting Scenery", which can be regarded as one of the top names in the real estate industry. Newly emerging young talents.
After Zhuang Jiajun finished speaking, he felt a sudden silence all around him. He turned around and saw that those old foxes were all leisurely, drinking tea when they should, listening to music when they should, and the actors on the stage were also singing babblingly.
Only Li Zhaoji raised his head and couldn't help but cast a glimmer of approval at him, which was regarded as encouragement and made Zhuang Jiajun feel at ease, thinking that he should not be "a standout".
Who is Mr. Huo?
Doing business is all about scheming!
When he saw Zhuang Jiajun stupidly standing up and firing a machine gun, he didn't directly refute his face. He put down the tea cup, took out his handkerchief and dipped the corner of his mouth, then looked at Zhuang Jiajun and showed a kind smile.
"Really Jiajun? Since you asked, I will answer you! Why will building materials rise? Why will labor prices rise? Because rents have risen sharply, and people see that real estate is so profitable, they think we are very profitable.
, they also want to make money, so they raise the price of raw materials and raise the labor force! This is a very bad cycle! If it is not eliminated, the people will not be able to pay the rent and live a good life! As a result, Hong Kong will
There are many empty houses and vacant houses, while bridges and parks are crowded with people! People are bumping into each other, crowded and sleeping on the streets!”
Zhuang Jiajun smiled, "President Huo, you and I are both doing business, not charity! Admittedly, I don't want to see the scene you just described, but increasing rents is the general trend, and we have no need to follow the trend.
Going against it, isn’t it? Every businessman who goes against the trend will eventually either go bankrupt or perish!”
"Mr. Zhuang, having said that, President Huo also has good intentions!" Li Zhaoji finally spoke. Since someone was offering advice, he stopped hiding it and prepared for a showdown with Mr. Huo.
"Everyone knows that Chairman Huo once said at a meeting of the Hong Kong Real Estate Development Association that thousands of buildings can be built, and all poor people in the world will be happy! This is his ideal and the direction he pursues! We have no reason,
I have no right to criticize him!"
"Of course!" Li Zhaoji changed the topic, "Times have changed, and many things are not eternal! Especially in the recent years of Hong Kong's real estate development, many business models have undergone tremendous changes, and Chairman Huo is not among them.
, it’s inevitable that he won’t be able to feel it! We must understand him!”
What Li Zhaoji said made Mr. Huo's face darken, and he couldn't help but look at Li Zhaoji and others a few more times.
These real estate tycoons also have eye contact with Mr. Huo and are not afraid at all!
Get the most money!
No one can stand in their way of making money!
Just when the atmosphere was a little awkward, a voice said: "Having said that, you still need to have some conscience when doing business, especially real estate business!"
While they were talking, Shi Zhijian came in from the door with a smile on his face, holding a cup of tea, and said with a smile: "This VIP room is better. You can watch the show clearly and listen comfortably!"
At this time, on the stage, the actress was singing loudly and loudly: "I lowered my head and secretly borrowed the mirror in the pool, and peeked at the person in front of me several times. He was so graceful and handsome, such a suave and beautiful young man."
