money player

Liang Saizhu saw Xian Yaowen and walked over.

"Mr. Xian."

"You can remove the character '冼'."

"gentlemen."

Xian Yaowen gestured towards the lawn with his chin, "Whose performance was the most outstanding?"

"Wang Dingding".

"Tell me more about it."

"She studied at university in Tangshan for two years. She is very smart and has a great interest in politics and economics. She learns much faster than others. She has a sweet voice and a high aptitude for singing and musical instruments. She can learn to read music in three days and play the guqin in five days. The same goes for dancing. She is already proficient in tango, ballroom dancing, waltz, foxtrot, Charleston, quickstep, and slow waltz."

Sin Yiu-man nodded. "Her current salary?"

"550 yuan last month."

Sin Yiu-man picked out Wang Dingding from among the women, looked at her intently, and said, "Her stage name will be Wang Peiheng. Starting this month, her salary will be increased to 1000 yuan. Since she has good learning abilities, we will increase the intensity of her studies so that she can learn more deeply and broadly than others."

"What to study?"

"For example, she can study political systems in depth, understand the characteristics of various systems, and once her studies show initial results, she can consider which system is suitable for Singapore. Another example is to study financial models in depth, specifically how to operate stocks and futures. Furthermore, her studies in tea and wine tasting can be started earlier, and her assessment standards should be higher than those of others."

"Sir, I'm not sure what kind of teacher I should find to teach her about politics and finance."

"I will have a professional connect you with someone, and you can have them find any kind of teacher you want in the future."

"clear."

Xian Yaowen withdrew his gaze from Wang Dingding and placed it on Liang Saizhu's face. "Be prepared. If Wang Peiheng performs exceptionally well, I may take her away and let her use her talents in other fields."

Liang Saizhu said coquettishly, "I worked so hard to grow these peaches, and you just pick them off with a single word, sir. Isn't that too cruel to me?"

Xian Yaowen put his arm around Liang Saizhu's waist and said, "I will not mistreat a talented horse, nor will I mistreat a discerning eye. Wherever your disciple serves, the credit will be attributed to you."

Before the year-end party this year, I will evaluate your contributions, and some of the promises I made to you will be fulfilled ahead of schedule.

Liang Saizhu chuckled and said, "The pancakes you made, sir, smell delicious."

"Since it smells so good, you should eat more."

"I'll eat as much as there is."

Xian Yaowen patted Liang Saizhu's little belly, "I'm not afraid of your big appetite. I'll feed you as much as you want to eat, as long as you can eat it all."

Liang Saizhu smiled and said, "I will eat until Mr. Ma feels heartbroken."

"Don't worry about whether my heart will hurt. If you're not full, you can eat as much as you want, but please don't waste any food. Don't force yourself to swallow when you're full."

“Sir, I went hungry when I was young, so I know how precious food is and I will not waste it.”

Sin Yiu-man withdrew his hand from Liang Sai-chu's waist and instead patted her shoulder gently. "Some Taiwanese businessmen have fallen on hard times and it's difficult for them to support their daughters' continued university education. Contact your sister and ask her to find some promising candidates."

"it is good."

Liang Saizhu was a little puzzled. Why didn't her husband personally instruct her sister when he was in Taipei? Instead, he had to go through a roundabout way and issue the instructions through her. Having her make the contact would not only waste time but also increase costs.

Finding promising talents in Taiwan was not a spur-of-the-moment decision by Sin Yiu-man, but rather an idea he came up with after understanding the actual situation. His decision to avoid personally handling matters and improve efficiency served two purposes: firstly, to subtly emphasize Leung Sai-chu's leadership position, and secondly, to promote institutionalization.

As companies grow larger, they develop the problems associated with large corporations: rigid processes and systems, low efficiency, and high costs. Optimizing these processes is a complex and systematic project that cannot be achieved with just one or two measures.

However, the problems of large companies are chronic, not terminal, and will not kill a company in a short time. The most likely scenario is that the company will operate with these problems, and the quality will decline, but it can still manage to stay ailing.

Instead, by pursuing efficiency and flexibility at all costs, resorting to special measures when faced with urgent situations, disregarding corporate systems and treating rules and regulations as mere decorations, companies can effectively avoid developing the problems of large corporations, because they simply cannot grow large.

Sin Yiu-man then discussed the next steps of the training with Leung Sai-chu before leaving around the time.

Chinatown, Maggie Street in Telok Ayer.

This is where the shophouse, built in 1906, is located. The Chinese usually call this place "Company Tail," meaning "the end of the Chinese company," indicating that beyond this street are the mosque and Malay village.

The Chinese name of Ma Ji Street is clearly a transliteration of the English word "Market," which refers to the open-air market in front of the street.

At that time, Singapore did not have a large vegetable wholesale center. Vegetables were distributed through several open-air markets centered around Chinatown. Among them, the market on Maggie Street was the main distribution center, and it was more diverse than other markets, serving multiple ethnic groups.

Before Chinatown was designated as a Chinese prefecture, Maggie Street and the adjacent Java Street area were Javanese communities. When Maggie Street was developed into a shophouse area, the Javanese were forced to relocate to Java Street. As the shophouses continued to develop, the Chinese and Javanese areas became connected.

Spreading outwards from Jalan Magee, it connects the Chinese, Javanese, Malay, and Indian communities, making it close to everyone.

At the end of Jalan Magee near Jalan Java, there are two three-story shophouses that belong to Itman and are also where Itman's office is located.

Sin Yiu-man got out of the car downstairs, looked up and looked around the shops. When his gaze swept over the second-floor window of the shop at the far end of the street, he saw a man standing sideways in front of the window smoking. His gaze lingered on the man's left cheek for a moment before he walked into the shop further inside.

Go up to the third floor, enter Li Yueru's office, sit down opposite her, and quietly watch her feed her daughter Li Chunfan with a baby bottle.

Li Yueru glanced at him, then her gaze instantly returned to Li Chunfan. "Breastfeeding doesn't affect talking."

"what did the doctor say?"

“With penicillin, the infectivity has decreased significantly.” Li Yueru looked up at Xian Yaowen. “Would you like to hug your daughter?”

Xian Yaowen waved his hand, "I don't want to get too close to Chunfan before she turns two."

Li Yueru rolled her eyes. "You're not afraid of getting venereal diseases from messing around everywhere, but you're terrified of hugging Wenwen."

Sin Yiu-man ignored Li Yue-ru's comment and instead said, "Public and private matters should be kept separate. Don't bring your child to the office anymore; it's inappropriate."

“The nanny has taken leave. If I don’t take care of Wenwen, who will?” Li Yueru said matter-of-factly.

"Hire another wet nurse."

Li Yueru rolled her eyes again. "Good wet nurses aren't like water spinach; they're available in every market. But finding a smart wet nurse isn't that easy."

"Hmm?" Sin Yiu-man asked in surprise, "Your criteria for finding a wet nurse is intelligence?"

“A smart nanny produces smart milk, and Wenwen will be even smarter after drinking smart milk.” Li Yueru smiled kindly at Li Chunfan. “Wenwen, be good, drink more smart milk.”

"You're so smart. There are smart and not smart milk. I'll remember you. In two years, when you're old, I'll definitely sell you fake health supplements."

Li Yueru glared at Xian Yaowen and said, "What do you know? Wenwen grew up on smart milk. If I keep praising her for being smart, she will become smarter and smarter."

"Oh, I see." Sin Yiu-man suddenly realized. "I said you don't seem like a fool."

"You're the idiot."

"Yes, yes, I'm an idiot."

Li Yueru chuckled and said, "I've moved. Come over to my place for dinner tonight and get acquainted with the place."

Sin Yiu-man smiled faintly and asked, "Where did you move to?"

Li Yueru said with a half-smile, "You wouldn't know?"

“I really don’t know.” Xian Yaowen shook his head. “Jingwen is only responsible for protecting you, not for monitoring you. If I wanted to monitor you, I wouldn’t do it openly.”

“That’s true.” Li Yueru said noncommittally, “I bought a detached house in Dongling. It’s quite big, covering two acres.”

"Oh, how much did it cost?"

"6 is not expensive."

"Good."

Tanglin is Singapore's premier residential area, primarily consisting of government residences where colonial government officials mostly lived. Next are detached bungalows where European merchants lived, followed by non-detached bungalows where wealthy Eurasian residents lived, and a few self-built villas by upper-class Chinese.

Tanglin holds a similar status in Singapore as Mid-Levels does in Hong Kong, but it is slightly less difficult for Chinese people to move in there. Nevertheless, Li Yueru was able to move into a detached house without making a fuss, which shows that she did not use his resources and that she had built up a certain network of upper-class connections in Singapore herself.

"that's it?"

"Want me to praise you a few more times?"

“It’s boring.” Li Yueru put the baby bottle away and placed it on the table, adjusting her holding position. “The license for Yueru Rice Shop has been approved. HK Consulting has found two managers. Su Hongze, 35 years old, from Quanzhou, was poached from Yihe Rice Bureau. He rose from a laborer carrying bags to the manager and is highly valued by Chen Liushi.”

"How could someone highly regarded by Chen Liushi be poached?"

Li Yueru chuckled and said, "No matter how much he values ​​him, Chen Liushi will not give his subordinates shares. He will only give them bonuses as appropriate. He is quite generous to his relatives and senior managers of the rubber company, and will form a new rubber company with them."

"Okay, continue."

“Anthony Hay, formerly the manager of Sime Darby’s rice import and repackaging business, is 32 years old, from Birmingham, a high-achieving graduate of Oxford University, and very familiar with the grain import channels of Siam, Vietnam and Malaya.”

"It's a pity that a 32-year-old high-achieving student is only serving as the manager of Yue Ru Rice Shop. Let's observe for a while and then consider including him in the list of candidates for General Manager Itman."

Where is Su Hongze?

"Let's wait and see for two years before making a decision."

"Just because Su Hongze isn't a top student, he's treated worse than Anthony Hay?"

Sin Yiu-man nodded. “Education is one aspect, race is another. Most Chinese elites will choose to go it alone when the time is right. The cost of winning them over and maintaining stability is relatively high. Given the choice, the higher-ups will try not to use Chinese people.”

“That’s true.” Li Yueru nodded. “The truly capable people will leave sooner or later, but if we don’t use Chinese, what kind of people should we use? We can’t just use British people all the time, can we?”

"It's not that we don't use them, it's that we try to use them as little as possible. When we need to use them, we still have to. The company needs to diversify its workforce. At first, in order to save on communication costs, we mainly hired Chinese people. Then we gradually increased the proportion of employees from other ethnic groups, such as Indians, Javanese, and Malays. No matter where they are from, we only hire based on the company's needs and their abilities. The same applies to promotions."

"Is the step of getting promoted to general manager a hurdle for Chinese people?"

"Is what I'm saying so hard to understand?" Sin Yiu-man frowned. "A Chinese person and an Indian person, both with comparable professional skills and overall qualifications, are both capable of serving as general manager. Choose the Indian person. Do you understand?"

Li Yueru shook her head. "I still don't quite understand."

"What don't you understand?" Xian Yaowen asked, somewhat displeased. He had already made himself perfectly clear.

Li Yueru said calmly, "I don't understand what I did wrong by saying that the Chinese were wrong."

Xian Yaowen suppressed his displeasure and patiently said, "When considering candidates for promotion, the first point is to compare their abilities, and the second point is to compare their ages. If the age difference is five years or more, the younger candidate will receive extra points."

The third point is to compare family background. Those whose families have a very high status in Singapore and Malaysia need no further explanation. They can be promoted even if they are not capable. If there are no special circumstances, compare the stability of family relationships.

The main capabilities a general manager needs are strategic insight and decision-making, and systematic resource integration. The important foundation supporting these two capabilities is resilience and communication. This includes strategic resilience in the face of capital markets, policies, and industry cycles, as well as strong communication skills with the board of directors, investors, journalists, family members, and everyone else.

It's inevitable that the general manager will have affairs outside the marriage. Over time, his wife will definitely notice. Lipstick marks, perfume scents, long hairs on his clothes, etc., are all highly suggestive clues.

Maintaining a stable family relationship even when the wife is aware of the situation demonstrates a person's resilience, non-linear thinking, communication, and execution abilities.

Sin Yiu-man paused for a moment, then continued, "Ability, age, and family background are the three screening criteria for promotion from general manager down. There is no fourth criterion."

At the general manager level, when faced with two equally matched candidates, coupled with racial criteria, it's like a marathon where the order is unclear; in such a dispute, an additional race is held, rather than subjectively deciding who is unsuitable from the outset.

Sin Yiu-man pointed to Lee Yuet-yu, "To put it more vividly, imagine you and another person are competing for the Miss Hong Kong crown. You both get the same number of votes, but the organizers don't like the person with the surname Lee, so you miss out on the crown."

"I understand now that you put it that way."

Xian Yaowen chuckled and said, "It's really not easy to make you understand."

Li Yueru said coquettishly, "It's because you didn't explain it clearly."

"Okay, I'll admit I was wrong. Tell me about Yue Ru Rice Shop's plans for the future."

"I only have 5 yuan in my account. What can I do? Open a rice shop and buy rice from Siam to sell."

"Don't get so emotional. Let me tell you some information that you may not have seriously looked into." Xian Yaowen chuckled. "This year, the main rice export destinations are Siam, Myanmar, South Vietnam, India, Pakistan, and the United States."

During the war, Siam implemented the Rice Control Law, which monopolized the purchase and export of rice. In 1947, private merchants were allowed to participate in the purchase, but they needed licenses and export quotas. Last June, Siam and the United States signed the Rice Sales Agreement, under which the government continued to unify exports under the name of the Thai Rice Department, but relaxed the restrictions on the proportion of private merchants.

The main private rice merchants in Siam were Siam Rice Industry of the Chen Shouming family and Ant Rice Shop of the Yi Guangyan family. These two companies basically consumed all of the export quotas of private rice merchants in Siam.

Since the outbreak of the Korean War, South Korea and Japan have been urgently purchasing military rations. In October, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army joined the war, and more than 1 million tons of grain were urgently requisitioned in Northeast China. Patriotic grain-selling movements emerged in North and Central China. Last December, the Ta Kung Pao reported that the price of rice on the Tianjin black market had increased by 50%.

In July of the year before last, Siam recognized the new China, and previous trade continued; in December of last year, the United States led the start of negotiations on a strategic embargo against China, and Siam remained on the sidelines; in May of this year, the embargo officially began, and Siam subsequently officially stopped issuing export licenses for rice to China.

Having lost its largest single buyer, the Siamese government initiated the "Southeast Asian Rice Swap," selling rice at discounted prices to Indonesia and Malaya.

Sin Yiu Man took a bottle of mineral water from his briefcase, opened the cap, took a sip, placed the bottle on the table, and then said, "Rice exports bring a lot of foreign exchange to Siam, but the additional purchases brought about by the Korean War are less than the Siamese government expected. This can be inferred from the amount of grain purchased by the Siamese government from the private sector this year. The Siamese government still has a lot of rice in stock."

The planting of jasmine rice in Siam has recently ended, and the harvest season will be in three months. The Siamese government's rice reserves will increase further. What should be done with so much rice stuck in its hands?
Increasing domestic supply is impossible, as it would depress rice prices, which would hurt farmers. The only solution is to look abroad, namely, to increase rice exports.

What can the Siamese government do?

If new orders cannot be secured, the only option is to reduce rice export taxes, for example, by cutting the current export tax of $15/ton in half and reducing it to $8/ton. This would increase the profit margin for private traders and significantly boost their enthusiasm for exporting.

However, all rice-grain swaps in Southeast Asia are priced in pounds sterling or in kind, avoiding the US dollar. As a result, countries that follow the US lead will not import Siamese rice. With these countries excluded, there are no new demand markets for private businesses to develop.

As I mentioned earlier, the main private merchants in Siam were Siam Rice Industry and Ant's Rice Company. They almost exhausted the export quota, but their rice was mainly sold to the five major trading companies, which were mainly British-owned. Only a small portion was directly supplied to rice shops in various places. The five major trading companies had the power to set the price of rice.

The Siamese government reduced taxes, which the five major trading companies could use as a reason to demand that private merchants lower their supply prices. The demands wouldn't be too harsh; they would only require a little more than $7, such as 50 cents.

With costs reduced, profits also decreased, which private merchants naturally resented. They were supposed to earn an extra $7, but instead they were earning 50 cents less. This was unacceptable. They couldn't afford to offend the red-haired devils, but they couldn't afford to bully the foreigners either.
If the red-haired devils lower their prices, we'll lower our prices too. We not only want to get back the 50 cents we lost, but also the 7 dollars in profit we're owed.

What can Siamese farmers do in the face of price suppression?
The answer is that there's nothing that can be done. The rice seedlings have already been planted, and there's no way to switch to other crops in the short term. They can only passively accept the price reduction.

If growing rice isn't profitable, farmers' enthusiasm for rice cultivation will wane next year, and the area under rice cultivation will definitely decrease.

Xian Yaowen opened his briefcase, pulled out a document, and handed it to Li Yueru. "The meteorological data I just received shows that the sea surface temperature in the eastern equatorial Pacific has exceeded a positive anomaly of ≥0.5 degrees Celsius for three consecutive months, which meets the definition of an early El Niño..."

His words were interrupted by a knock on the door. After Li Yueru said "Come in," a man walked in, glanced at Xian Yaowen, and then said to Li Yueru, "Sorry, Li Daban, I didn't know you had a guest."

Li Yueru chuckled and said, "He's not a guest, he's my boss, and also Manager Su's boss."

Upon hearing this, the man calmly bowed slightly to Xian Yaowen, "Boss, I am Su Hongze from Yue Ru Rice Shop."

Xian Yaowen's gaze fell on Su Hongze's face, recognizing it as the same face that had been smoking on the second floor. It was possible that Su Hongze's visit to Li Yueru at this time was a coincidence, or that Su Hongze had been glancing at him out of the corner of his eye when he looked at him earlier, or that Su Hongze had noticed him after he looked away.

If it's the latter two possibilities, combined with what Li Yueru just said, it basically means that she once went through the narcissus and introduced him to Su Hongze. She would naturally not forget to introduce the characteristics of "half-Tang and half-Fan". Thus, it can be basically determined that Su Hongze came for him. This person is very good at scheming.

He gave Su Hongze a warm smile and said, "Manager Su, you've come at the right time. Chaoqiong and I are just talking about Yue Ru Rice Shop's business. Please sit down and listen in."

Su Hongze chuckled and said, "Boss, is this inconvenient?"

“There’s nothing inconvenient about it.” Xian Yaowen pointed to the chair next to him. “You don’t need me to pull out the chair for you, do you?”

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Su Hongze chuckled awkwardly, pulled out a chair so that he, Xian Yaowen, and Li Yueru sat in a roughly triangular formation, and then sat down lightly, sitting upright with only half of his buttocks on the chair. If this scene were to be described in a Chinese idiom, it would definitely be "sitting upright and dignified."

Xian Yaowen pointed to the document that Li Yueru had placed on the table, "I know you don't understand this, so I'll just give you the conclusion. Based on the data above, there is a high probability that Siam will experience a severe drought next year, the worst in decades."

Since last month, drought has been occurring in northeastern Siam, with reservoir levels falling to less than 60% of normal levels. This increases the accuracy of forecasts and indicates that rice paddies in the northeast will face severe irrigation shortages next year.

Although Su Hongze joined midway and was unaware of the previous conversation, this one passage alone had already deeply shocked him. Siam was going to suffer a severe drought next year, which meant that rice prices would skyrocket.

"Prolonged high temperatures and dryness will greatly increase the incidence of rice planthoppers. During the rice grain filling stage, rice planthoppers first weaken the plants, and then locusts migrate in to further eat the rice leaves that have already been infested, causing a second blow."

Sin Yiu Man held up one finger, “With the combination of four problems—replanting, water shortage, rice planthoppers, and locusts—Siam’s rice production next year will most likely be significantly reduced.”

In addition, as far as I know, Hong Kong rice traders secured supplies in Bangkok, Saigon, and Yangon in the previous quarter by pre-selling forward contracts, paying 30% to 60% of the deposit in advance, and signed forward contracts for approximately 530,000 tons.

Half of the contracts will be fulfilled by mid-December this year, after the current rice harvest.

He looked at Su Hongze and said, "Manager Su, if what I just said comes true, what do you think Yue Ru Rice Shop should do now?"

Su Hongze said decisively, "Find a good warehouse where we can store rice and stockpile a large quantity of it."

Sin Yiu-man said calmly, "I'd like to invite Manager Su to afternoon tea at the Raffles Hotel at 2 p.m. the day after tomorrow. I'd like to hear Manager Su explain a specific plan, the more detailed the better."

Suppressing the excitement rising in his stomach, Su Hongze said calmly, "Boss, I will prepare well."

“Okay.” Xian Yaowen nodded. “Manager Su, you can go ahead and get busy. Chaoqiong and I need to talk about some personal matters.”

Su Hongze stood up. "Boss, Manager Li, I'll go back to my office first."

After Su Hongze left, Li Yueru said softly, "Aren't you afraid that Manager Su will betray us by hearing such confidential information now?"

"You must be suspicious of those you employ, and you must employ those you suspect. If Su Hongze is a traitor who has betrayed us, our loss is nothing more than a potential opportunity to make a fortune." Xian Yaowen pointed to his temple. "Opportunities can be waited for or created. Missing one is no big deal. There's plenty of time and opportunities to come."

Besides, the mainland is engaged in a patriotic rice-producing competition, so there will be a surplus of rice in the next two years. If things change, we can order a batch of rice from the mainland; even if we can't get the meat, we can at least get some soup.

Li Yueru chuckled and said, "So you've thought everything through."

Sin Yiu-man nodded slightly. "I've already thought about how to remedy the situation and how to clean up the mess. I'll tell you about it later."

Yue Ru Rice Shop's main business is buying and selling rice, earning a reasonable price difference. Hoarding and speculation can only be done occasionally, and any profits should be considered a pleasant surprise, not a regular source of income. It's best to have some, but there's no need to be disappointed if you don't.

"I'm not disappointed at all. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have even thought that rice could be stored away." Li Yueru put the sleeping Li Chunfan into the cradle, then said, "Didn't you want to talk about personal matters? What are you talking about?"

“That’s just an excuse. We can talk about personal matters tonight, and we won’t talk about business either. You should digest your rice first, and we can talk about vegetables tomorrow morning.” Xian Yaowen pointed to his watch. “There’s still time to talk to other people. You can start cooking at six o’clock, and I’ll be there around six-thirty.”

Li Yueru nodded. "Do you want me to prepare your toiletries?"

Sin Yiu-man asked in surprise, "You didn't prepare in advance?"

Li Yueru laughed and said, "Who knows when you'll come to my place? Preparing in advance is useless."

“We’ll talk about it later. There’s a spare one in the car, just to tide us over for now.” Xian Yaowen lifted his shirt, stood up, stared at Li Yueru’s face and said, “I’m a very domineering person. I can cheat on you, but you can’t, especially since you want a child. Think about it carefully, whether you really want to move in that direction.”

Li Yueru said with a firm gaze, "I've already made up my mind. Give me a child, and I'll stay here and take care of the child and you."

Xian Yaowen gestured towards Li Chunfan with his lip, "Doesn't Chunfan count?"

Li Yueru glanced at the cradle, "A child who isn't your own is always a little less desirable, besides..."

"understood."

It was almost five o'clock when Sin Yiu-man appeared at the Fairy Tale Stage in New World Amusement Park.

The afternoon guests had already left, and it wasn't yet time for the evening guests to arrive. The lobby of the stage wasn't noisy; only the staff were tidying up, Yang Peiyun was resting in a chair, and a singer on the stage was humming a song. He would sing a verse, pause, correct himself, and then sing another verse—it was clear he was practicing.

The song he was humming was a Hokkien song called "Jia Hou". He had introduced it from decades later, but it wasn't a "creation". He could roughly understand the melody, but since he didn't understand Hokkien, he only remembered a few lines of lyrics, so he didn't show them. He just explained the meaning of the song and asked someone who understood Hokkien to write the lyrics.

Listen to the effect now; the lyrics are basically unrelated to the original. The only connection is that he still can't understand it. (End of Chapter)