Restarting life in Siheyuan

"Sister Na, you..." It was Xia Yuhong's first time to take a flight in China and her first time to use Hong Kong's identity. She was excited but also a little nervous.

Their tickets were different from Zhu Xuefeng's, so they couldn't see the man. They felt a little uneasy, so they thought of asking Lin Na in a low voice whether she had seen the man.

As a result, she was stopped by Lin Na's eyes as soon as she opened her mouth. Xia Yuhong also realized in time that they were both overseas Chinese now. She looked around quickly. Fortunately, the plane was accelerating and preparing to take off. The huge roar covered up her question and did not attract any questions from others.

Following the man's suggestion, the two of them changed into clothes that were more in line with the temperament of overseas Chinese. Since they had no place to style their hair, it was the man who suggested that they tie their hair up.

They found two ladies' hats from the warehouse in the compound, put on some frog-eye glasses, and sprayed some perfume. They looked like two elegant young women exuding a charming aura.

Xia Yuhong looked around at the passengers who were dressed neatly and had serious expressions, stuck out her tongue, and could only imitate Lin Na's pretending to take a nap. The plane flying to Yangcheng was an IL-14M narrow-body aircraft commonly used on domestic routes. There were only more than seats in the entire cabin, and even so, it was not full, and there were not many people around the two of them.

The two pretended to sleep with a nervous mood. Fortunately, they arrived in Yangcheng safely. After leaving the airport, Xia Yuhong subconsciously wanted to find the man.

"Don't look at it anymore. Don't forget what he reminded you. Let's go." Xia Yuhong was unwilling to give up and had to be led by Lin Na. At the exit, she met the driver of the villa who took the opportunity to go there.

"Ladies, please follow me." The driver said very little and quickly took the two of them into a luxurious Silver Cloud car.

April in Guangzhou is very different from that in Beijing. The two took off their coats and sat in the back seat, looking at the hustle and bustle outside the window. Because of the Canton Fair, and perhaps because it was Sunday, the city's floating population increased dramatically and the roads were not easy to travel on. Looking at the bustling crowd outside, Xia Yuhong felt a little anxious.

"Sister Na, has that bastard gotten in the car? I can't see him." After being hurriedly taken to the car by Lin Na, she didn't even see the man leave the airport.

"You are worrying too much. He is running around alone. What can be difficult for him? I think he will go change his clothes before coming out. Only we are stupid enough to change clothes after getting in the car. It is really hot here."

The temperature in Guangzhou at this time was about 28 or 29 degrees, which was actually quite comfortable. However, the two had just come from Beijing, where the temperature was only 12 or 13 degrees, so they were still wearing too much. The temperature on the plane was not high either, unlike taking a train where they had to take off their clothes all the way. As soon as they landed, they felt the warmth of the South.

Even so, the two of them still looked around on the road at the same time, "Master Chen, what car did the master take?"

"Madam, I don't know about this either. It was all arranged by Mrs. Wu herself. I didn't see our company's driver in the parking lot."

"What's the trick?" Xia Yuhong muttered, not understanding why the man arranged it this way. Was it so that they would not be exposed if they were dispersed?
"Why worry about him? Didn't he agree to go our separate ways before we set off? Don't worry about him." Seeing that Xia Yuhong was uneasy, Lin Na whispered to comfort him. The two of them were trembling all the way on the plane. This trip was indeed a bit exciting.

After leaving the city, the crowds on the road seemed to disappear out of thin air. The driver sped up. Yinyun was very comfortable. They got up early and rode for several hours before they fell asleep in each other's arms.

"Ladies, we are about to go through customs. Please prepare your documents." The driver, Master Chen's reminder made the two of them wake up. They went through customs smoothly and drove non-stop all the way to Repulse Bay. It was less than nine o'clock.

"It's still this fast. If we take the train, it will take at least four days for such a trip." Xia Yuhong was very excited as she watched the big iron gate of the villa slowly open.

"Yes, otherwise it would take at least eight days to go back and forth, which is too time-consuming. He couldn't help but set up an airline just for this reason."

At the gate of the villa, Wu Qianqian heard the noise and brought people to greet them at the gate. The housekeeper stepped forward to open the car door, and the two of them filed out.

"My two sisters, I am so happy. I didn't expect you could take the time to come over. I haven't seen you for a few months. You two sisters have become more beautiful. I am really jealous."

Wu Qianqian walked forward and greeted them with a smile. She was really happy. She had been extremely busy these days. In a few days she would have to find time to go to the Canton Fair to collect tea for her husband. She insisted on going to such things by herself. Her husband had given her a lot, but he himself seemed to have no material desires. He just seemed to have a special liking for the good domestic tea. Therefore, no matter how busy Wu Qianqian was, she had to buy all these good teas herself.

"Look at your sweet mouth. No one can catch up with you no matter how beautiful you are. You have worked hard these days, Qianqian. The master hasn't arrived yet, has he?"

"No, we picked him up in an ordinary car, so we had to go slower. That was his request." Worried that the two would misunderstanding, Wu Qianqian hurriedly explained, but Lin Na held Wu Qianqian's hand.

"Don't be so formal. We are sisters. We know that I came here in a hurry and didn't bring you any gifts. Don't mind."

"Big sister, you are joking. I am very happy that you two sisters are here. Dinner is almost ready. I guess you didn't eat on the plane. Why don't you two sisters go wash up first, and we will have dinner when the master arrives."

"How could we dare to eat it? We pretended to be asleep all the way here. The waiter looked at us back and forth many times. We were scared to death." Xia Yuhong interrupted.

"That's right. If we open our mouths, we'll be exposed. There's no Hong Kong person who speaks in a pure Beijing accent."

Wu Qianqian seemed to want to say something, but in the end she just smiled and went up the stairs. Xia Yuhong suddenly had an epiphany.

"Sister Na, if we talk to the flight attendants in English, won't we have no accent?"

Wu Qianqian nodded slightly. She thought so too, but she didn’t expect Lin Na to smile and shake her head.

"There are a few people who can speak English and work as flight attendants on domestic flights. That's too much. Let's take some time to learn Cantonese from Qianqian. We don't need to master it, but just learn Mandarin with a Cantonese accent."

I imitated two sentences as I spoke. I learned these two sentences because I was exposed to them more often during the Spring Festival here.

Lin Na's accent made the three of them laugh. They sat down together in the living room on the first floor, not in a hurry to wash up, and started chatting intimately. After a while, Lin Na looked around and asked in confusion.

"Where are the three girls? You didn't tell them that the master was coming."

"Oh, they are in the kitchen. They said they were worried that you might not be used to the food, so they insisted on making some northern flavors themselves. It should be ready by now."

"I remember there was a chef who could cook northern dishes last time?" Lin Na had just untied her hair and tied it into a ponytail again, and was helping Xia Yuhong to do the same. They thought Zhu Xuefeng's car should be here, so they prepared to go wash up and turned around to ask.

"The three maids didn't let him do anything, they just asked him to help, and the cook was not happy about it. You don't know, the eldest maid said that the master likes what they cook, and I dare not stop him."

As she was talking, there was a sound of a car outside the courtyard, and Wu Qianqian stood up quickly. "It should be the master coming, two sisters..."

Seeing Wu Qianqian's inquiring eyes, he said, "You go and answer it. We'll go wash up first."

"That's right, three of them answered it at the same time. He has such a big nerve." Xia Yuhong muttered and went to wash up, but still couldn't help looking back.

"You can't bear to leave him after just a while. Why don't you go pick him up too?"

"No, let's go wash first." Xia Yuhong seemed a little embarrassed after being exposed. She lowered her head and pushed Lin Na's waist and they went into the bathroom. A scream and a few chuckles were heard.

Zhu Xuefeng got on the car, an ordinary Ford, outside the airport. He bought the ticket using a small notebook, so he couldn't go with the two of them. He had used the small notebook to take this route several times, so he was more cautious.

His arrival seemed to bring life to the villa, and the lights were on, as if welcoming the return of the owner.

"This is what we learned from Uncle Zhang. Master, please try it." After washing up, the dining table was already fully laid out, and Erya introduced it happily.

"Mm, not bad, it looks appetizing. It seems you have learned about 80% of Mr. Zhang's cooking skills. You will have a good time when you come here in the future."

"Master, please enjoy your meal. We will go downstairs first." Zhu Xuefeng called the three giggling girls and pointed to the dining table. "Let's eat together. Why are you running?"

"Master, not today. Who would wait for you on an empty stomach? We have already eaten. It's just that my wife has been refusing to eat and insisted on waiting for you. Haha."

After Erya came over, she became much more lively. It seemed that without Master Jin's supervision, the girl's nature was liberated a lot.

"Then you guys go and take a rest. I have to taste your cooking skills."

Looking at the three girls running away happily, he said, "Let's eat. You two didn't eat on the plane, so you must be starving."

"You ate? You were looking at us?" Xia Yuhong asked unwillingly.

"Of course. I don't want to go hungry. I'm just a few rows behind you. I see you two are sleeping. Stop staring and let's get started. I didn't expect to be able to eat authentic Jinhai cuisine here. These three girls really put a lot of effort into it."

In the study on the third floor, several people were gathered together, listening to Wu Qianqian's report item by item. Everything was going smoothly and the project was progressing well.

"The two docks can start construction in May. The Taikoo and Whampoa docks should be completed before the end of the year. The Tsuen Wan docks may have to wait until the first half of next year. As for the equipment and machinery you requested, some can be purchased, and some can only be produced by our own factories."

"Well, I've brought the drawings of the loading and unloading equipment. You can arrange it yourself. Do what you can do yourself. For what you can't do, ask the country to assist you and have them come. It should be in time."

Some equipment and machinery were designed for the dock, all of which were commonplace in later generations, and there was no intention to keep them secret. People could guess the working principles of these things by just taking a glance at them, and could imitate them by taking one apart, so there was no point in keeping them secret.

"How are the three girls now?" Zhu Xuefeng asked casually after learning about the progress of the company here.

"Dongting is very savvy. I am personally teaching her now. She picked up the skills quickly and is very hardworking. She studies every day. Qianyun and Qianyu make clothes in the shop during the day, and sometimes they go to the garment factory with Lao Li to learn management. They are also very dedicated. I wanted to ask them to stop what they are doing, but they seem reluctant to do so. They say it is a pity to lose the reputation they have worked so hard to build."

Zhu Xuefeng just smiled. Many of his clothes were made by these two little girls. Seeing him happy, the two little girls must have found a sense of existence and were reluctant to give up. He had to find time to persuade them. The skills did not have to be lost, but the main focus had to be diverted. Zhu Xuefeng did not lack two tailors. The two girls were both very smart and should learn things quickly and could play a greater role.

"Oh, it's Miss Li and her classmates here to help with the lessons."

"Well, Miss Li and the others are all studying on the main island. It's more convenient for them to come here than to the small building. We arrange a car to pick them up every day. Now the three of them study together every night and are making rapid progress."

He was quite satisfied with the status of the three girls, "No one is harassing you now."

"Thank you for your concern, Master. It's gone now. Zheng Dayong went to get the ink pad last month as Master instructed. He has sent back a message saying that Zheng Xun has made all the arrangements and thinks highly of him."

"That's good. Even without Dayong, these three girls are quite skilled. If anything goes wrong, they can help."

Wu Qianqian actually has a special security team now, including a driver. They are only good at one-wheeled combat and not necessarily very strong, but their emergency handling capabilities are pretty good.

Seeing that the man seemed to be in a good mood, Wu Qianqian complained softly.

"There are just too many cocktail parties, most of which are for Chinese businessmen. Foreign companies and the Governor's Office also often have them. I've been there a few times, and I've been to the Chinese business community twice. I always hear people muttering about worshipping foreigners and only attending cocktail parties for foreigners, but ignoring those of my compatriots. It's a headache. I really don't have that much energy."

The scale of Dongsheng Company was suddenly exposed to the eyes of Chinese businessmen because of the Tsuen Wan Industrial Zone, two shipyards and Eastern Airlines. Everyone then realized that a behemoth had emerged in Hong Kong without them noticing. Wu Qianqian, who was already busy with social engagements with Eastern Airlines, was now caught in a dilemma. She received so many invitations that she was afraid of leaving a bad reputation if she didn't go.

Zhu Xuefeng knew that with Dongsheng Company's current size, it would definitely surpass Swire Group this year and leave far behind a group of Chinese businessmen who were still struggling to accumulate capital, so it was inevitable that they would come to him.

"Don't worry about the gossip. In the future, you can ask the heads of various industries to attend various social events. You don't have to show up unless you have to. The foreign company can just let Assistant Chen show up. Give them some impressive titles, such as president, vice president, first vice president, chief executive officer, executive president, chief spokesperson, general manager, regional manager, etc., just to scare people. For people like Hu Yuhang, just make him a director and executive president of Dongsheng Electronics, and you can be free."

Xia Yuhong held her chin and looked at the man. She always felt that the man's brain had endless ideas. He could even come up with such an idea. It was such a strange position, but it sounded really impressive. It was much more high-end than her father's position as the director of a vehicle factory.

"I say, you should write it down for Qianqian. It's confusing to me. There will be a lot of intimidating titles. Who has the final say in the company? Don't let the employees get confused."

Zhu Xuefeng gladly accepted Xia Yuhong's suggestion.

"It will be done in the next few days, but I have something else to arrange."

"The autonomous region will launch a jade gambling plan this summer. You need to recruit a few experts who know jade, and we should cooperate with them to create a good atmosphere. You can ask Zheng Xun to help with the planning.

He is very good at this. This was planned long ago. After several years of controlled trading, jade resources on the market are now in short supply. Compared with the year before last, the price has more than doubled. The price is far higher than other types of jade, and to a certain extent, it has also led to an increase in the prices of other jades.

Now North Korea is preparing to dump some jade, which will put some pressure on the market. It is estimated that the price will not be able to increase significantly in the short term due to the reduction of supply. In addition, the autonomous region now needs funds for large-scale development and construction, so Zhu Xuefeng also requires the sale of part of the supply. Of course, in order to ensure profits, gambling on stones can maximize profits and continue to effectively increase prices.

"Well, I asked Chen Dong to contact him. Master, the Yakawa sisters sent a message from there that our beverages are very popular in Fuso, and several large companies have taken the initiative to contact us, wanting to acquire or invest in them. The beverage factory has informed them of the situation and asked for their help according to your instructions."

"One of them is a local gang in Kyoto, and they are very tough. It is said that they are very powerful and have been entrenched in Kyoto for many years. They have connections in all aspects, and they are worried that they can't deal with them."

It seems that the Yakawa sisters are really in trouble. The business of the two sisters is developing rapidly, but after all, they are a third-rate foreign force with far less foundation than the local gangs. They can only protect the Yakawa family's industry, but they are unable to help guard the beverage factory, which is a big money-making enterprise.

"I'll think about this again. Also, send a telegram to the autonomous region and ask Yan Zi and Senior Brother Bai to come over. I think we'll need them."

After thinking for a while, "Let Sister Yakawa find out the situation and report back. It's not appropriate to rush over rashly when the situation is unclear."

Everything was discussed and looking at the time, it was already midnight. Xia Yuhong and Lin Na had been running around all day. Although they looked fine, they must be tired. Although they had taken medicinal pills, they were ultimately just ordinary people who lacked exercise.

"It's getting late, you all go get some rest. Tomorrow you can discuss a time and find an auspicious day for us to register."

"Master." Wu Qianqian covered her mouth in surprise, as if she couldn't believe it. You know, the current marriage system in Hong Kong is very chaotic.

Because according to the Elliot Proclamation, Hong Kong was actually governed according to two sets of laws. The white people implemented their native laws, while the Chinese applied mainland customary law.

Moreover, marriages at that time were not registered. They just had a wedding and a witness. It was not until 1960 that marriage registration began, but more people chose the traditional wedding ceremony, which was also legally effective.

Zhu Xuefeng's identity is special. Wu Qianqian thinks it is impossible to hold a traditional wedding banquet or register for the wedding. She didn't expect the man to make this decision.

"Master, you have a special identity. It's better not to show up for this kind of thing. You know, many people in Hong Kong want to meet the boss behind the Dongsheng Company. If we show up like this, we will become the focus of everyone's attention. It's possible that as soon as we go in to register, before we come out, there will be reporters everywhere. Then, the newspapers of all sizes in Hong Kong will dig up your identity and story one after another, which will be a big deal."

Wu Qianqian's words were very vague. You have to know that as the hidden richest Chinese, Zhu Xuefeng would definitely become a topic of conversation for many people after dinner as soon as the news leaked, and would face a lot of criticism.

(End of this chapter)