money player

Sitting down next to Yang Peiyun, Xian Yaowen gestured towards the stage with his lip, "New here?"

"Xu Yuxia was poached from a luxury nightclub. She mainly sings in Xiamen dialect, but she can also sing folk songs in Chaozhou and Qiongzhou dialects."

"Your pronunciation is a bit soft, and your accent sounds more like Xiamen dialect than Quanzhou dialect, or even Tong'an dialect. Are you from Tong'an?"

Yang Peiyun asked in surprise, "You could tell?"

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "I don't understand it, but I've heard it quite a lot in Taipei. I'm actually quite sensitive to the accent."

"You don't understand it, yet you want me to recommend singers who sing Hokkien?"

"Among the Tangshan people in Singapore, 43% speak Hokkien, which is called catering to the preferences of guests."

Yang Peiyun said with a hint of resentment, "The guests at the singing stage are mostly from Chaozhou and Guangdong; there are very few from Fujian."

Xian Yaowen glanced at Yang Peiyun and said, "In a couple of days, the stage will promote Yue Opera and Pingtan, attracting more than 10,000 people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. You'll be rich, making money from morning till night."

Yang Peiyun understood what Xian Yaowen meant, but deliberately disagreed, saying, "Okay, I'll invite a singer from Shanghai tomorrow."

Sin Yiu-man did not respond. He took out a notebook from his briefcase and sketched the sheet music for "Only by Fighting Will You Win" on the coffee table.

Probably for the sake of dissemination, the melody of "You'll Win If You Fight Hard" is very simple, with a four-beat rhythm and a narrow vocal range. It follows the "meow meow meow" style, and you can hum along after listening to it once. Transcription is also easy. In the blink of an eye, Yang Peiyun had already drawn most of it.

Yang Peiyun stood next to Xian Yaowen for a while, then asked, "You can write songs too?"

“I like playing musical instruments, and the more I play, the more I can write.” Xian Yaowen looked up and glanced at Yang Peiyun. “Who’s on stage here now?”

“Ge Lan just left a few days ago, and the new person hasn’t arrived yet.” Yang Peiyun hesitated slightly and said, “Could we ask Gu Wei to come over? Her records sell very well here, and several regular customers have asked me when Gu Wei will come back.”

"Now that Gu Mei has become famous, her schedule is no longer up to me."

"If it's not up to you, then who has the final say?"

"The market decides."

“I won’t shortchange you. I’ve been talking to the radio station about the broadcast these days. If Gu Wei comes over, we can double the payment.”

According to the rules of the getai industry, when a singer from outside the industry goes on stage, the appearance fee, or "baoyin," is agreed upon before the performance. Once the agreement is reached, the baoyin for that day is paid immediately. Even if it is agreed that the singer will perform for several consecutive days, the baoyin is still paid before each performance, and the settlement is made on a daily basis.

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "I know the going rate for radio broadcasts. The radio station is only willing to pay twenty or thirty dollars at most. How much are you planning to give?"

Yang Peiyun held up one finger, "One hundred."

Sin Yiu-man shook his head. "Too little, the company won't pay any attention to you."

"One hundred is still too few. Any more and we'll have worked for nothing."

“Gu Mei now has an agent and an assistant, which requires three plane tickets. She can’t perform in the same place for several days in a row, so she has to pay for it herself. In a few days, she will be filming a movie soon, and when she comes to promote it, she will perform for free.”

"How long will it take?"

"It should be soon." Xian Yaowen finished drawing the score in one go, put away his pen, looked at Yang Peiyun and said, "Friendship Film Company will soon set up a formal branch here and establish a performance business manager position to be responsible for the company's artists' stage performances. I have high hopes for you, you might as well consider it."

"What for? To help singers connect with stage performances?"

Sin Yiu-man nodded slightly, "That's pretty much what you mean, but it's not about contacting stage performance venues, but rather high-end hotels and nightclubs, and it's not limited to Singapore, you'll be in charge of the entire Southeast Asia business."

Upon hearing this, Yang Peiyun's expression changed, and she lowered her voice, saying, "Can I refuse you?"

Sin Yiu-man asked calmly, "Why?"

"If you're going to be a good manager, what's the difference between you and a housekeeper?"

Xian Yaowen chuckled, "Looks like you've got the point right away."

Yang Peiyun said calmly, "A few years ago, I formed a theater troupe with a few people and went to Malaya to tour the country. We originally planned to visit several major places, but I left the troupe halfway through and came back first."

At first, I could resist the temptation of money, but later when I was threatened, I didn't know what to do. I was scared, so I had to come back first.

"I'm just an unknown person, not particularly attractive, and I still encounter a lot of trouble. Your company's artists are famous and all beautiful, so they'll encounter even more trouble, and the people causing trouble will be even harder to deal with. If I don't become a 'madam,' my artists might not come back alive."

“You’re right. When you go to an unfamiliar place, it’s inevitable to encounter coercion and enticement. Enticement is easy to deal with; whether the artist takes the bait or not is up to them. Coercion is difficult to deal with. I can’t go to great lengths for every artist. Most of the time, I’d prefer the artist to suffer a loss and let things go.”

Therefore, I need a business manager who is familiar with touring, capable of securing business, and also willing to take the blame for me.

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand, "I'm rather slow-witted, I couldn't have figured out the ins and outs of the tour, and even the idea for the tour came from the business manager."

Yang Peiyun glared at Xian Yaowen and said, "You're ruthless."

"There's no such thing as being ruthless or not. For the company's future development, this tour is a necessary step. So the problems we have to face are there. I have limited ability and can't avoid the problems. I also care about my reputation, so I can't be the bad guy myself. I have to ask someone I trust to do it."

Sin Yiu-man picked up the Pepsi on the table, took a sip, and flicked the bottle with his index finger. "I don't want to lie to you, so I'll be frank with you. The business manager is just a title. In practice, we register a separate performance service company, and the business manager owns 30% of the company's shares. That means the business manager can take 30% of the performance revenue."

The better you do, the more you get.

This is the income that can be openly discussed. But there's another income that's harder to talk about. Whether it's through bribery or coercion, some benefits always have to be offered beforehand or afterward, and the business manager gets a share.

Of course, the company won't get involved; how much they're entitled to and how much they're allowed to receive is a matter between the business manager and the artist.

Sin Yiu-man put down the Coke bottle. "Alright, that's the situation. The conditions are what I just said. Think it over carefully and give me an answer before I leave Singapore."

After a moment of silence, Yang Peiyun said, "If something goes wrong, what will happen to the business manager?"

Xian Yaowen smiled faintly: "What you're worried about is impossible. At most, the company will distance itself from the business, criticize the business manager in the newspaper, and then the business manager will go into hiding, register a new company, and things will remain the same as before."

There's only one situation where a business manager might do something bad: they take the money, but then try to shirk responsibility, saying things they shouldn't and shouldn't. Would you call that a sudden change of heart, or just being too clever for their own good?

Yang Peiyun chuckled, "I suppose you're just too clever for your own good."

Sin Yiu-man pointed to the sheet music, "I'll sing it for you."

As he spoke, he got up and walked to the stage, asked Xu Yuxia for a microphone, and leaned in front of the microphone to say with a humorous smile: "To the homeowners below the stage, to the homeowners who are about to make a living, Xiao Wenruan is new to this place and will sing a song of 'Love is the key to success' to give you good luck."

Before he finished speaking, he raised an eyebrow at Yang Peiyun, which made her giggle.

……

Li Yueru did not start cooking at six o'clock. At 6:35, Xian Yaowen sat at the dining table, holding a spoon and drinking dried vegetable and pork bone soup.

After taking a couple of sips of the soup, he said, "The cooking time was a little off, but the dried tangerine peel is good."

“I got back late, so I stewed it for two hours.” Li Yueru held her chopsticks and served Xian Yaowen some soy sauce fried noodles. “The tangerine peel is Qiaohui brand, the best Xinhui tangerine peel exported from Tangshan. If you eat noodles cold, they won’t have the wok hei (wok aroma).”

Xian Yaowen took the bowl from Li Yueru and pointed to the dishes on the table. "You made these dishes, but you're eating them with noodles. It doesn't really go well with them."

Li Yueru chuckled and said, "Soy sauce fried noodles are my specialty, and so are these dishes."

"I've done everything I'm best at today, what should I do next?"

"How many futures are there? You might only come here a few times a year, maybe even once a quarter. By the time I close my eyes, you might not even be tired of my cooking."

Sin Yiu-man chuckled, "You see the problem very clearly."

"I'm with you because I want to have a child. Once we have a child, you'll come more often, won't you?"

Sin Yiu-man laughed out loud, "Where did you get the idea that I like children?"

"You've been having affairs everywhere, but I've never heard of you having any illegitimate children. Are you impotent?"

"Ruoyun is about to give birth."

“That’s right.” Li Yueru said matter-of-factly, “You’re capable, but you don’t have any illegitimate children, which means you’re very careful about having children. Not just anyone can have a child for you.”

“You understand me quite well. My principle is not to have children easily, and once a child is born, I will raise it well. Not for you, but for the child, I will come often. I don’t want my child to lack a father’s love.”

"I guessed right, didn't I? Having a child will keep you tied down."

Xian Yaowen nodded slightly. "Why didn't you use this method to keep Li Caifa in check back then?"

“You can’t keep him from having children.” Li Yueru shook her head.

"Oh."

"You buried him?"

"Ah."

"A night of marriage brings a hundred days of kindness; I'd like to pay my respects sometime."

"it is good."

"You have no objections?" Li Yueru asked in surprise.

"Why would you have a problem with that? Li Caifa didn't do anything wrong to you. It's perfectly normal for you to go and pay your respects."

"Ah."

The topic was not suitable for further discussion, so Li Yueru did not continue the conversation and instead served food to Xian Yaowen.

After the meal, the two went for a walk, walking from Dongling Road to Nasim Road. Li Yueru pointed to the desolate and dilapidated Gambier Garden by the roadside, "The orchards and rubber plantations here are mostly freehold, and there are very few 999-year leaseholds. They are being subdivided and sold to the public, for 7 to 10 per acre."

How many years are left on your land lease?

“There are still over nine hundred years left.” Li Yueru pointed to Ganmiyuan again. “I can afford two acres. Do you think it’s worth buying?”

"What are you going to do with it? Build another villa?"

"Leave it and wait for it to appreciate in value."

Sin Yiu-man said unhurriedly, "10 yuan per acre is equivalent to 2.3 yuan per square foot, which is several times cheaper than Raffles Place and Gleneagles Quay, and slightly cheaper than North Bridge Road and South Bridge Road. It is comparable to the land prices of Da Po Second Road and Xiao Po Seletar Road."

However, rubber plantation farmland in Bukit Timah costs only $0.15, and reclaimed land in Kallang costs only $0.08. However, the colonial government stipulated that housing construction must be completed within three years.

It's difficult for land prices here to double, but in Bukit Timah and Kallang, they can easily increase a hundredfold.

Take out 20 yuan, use half of it to buy farmland in Bukit Timah, don't plant rubber trees, plant fruit trees, just sour starfruit. It will mature and bear fruit in three years. The fruit can be processed into candied fruit and jam. If it can't be sold or the land needs to be sold in three or four years, you can also sell the rootstock. Sour starfruit is the most suitable rootstock for grafting other fruit seedlings.

"I'll buy half the land in Kallang, then lease it to you to build warehouses, and I'll pay you rent every year."

Li Yueru smiled gently, "Sending me money?"

Sin Yiu-man shook his head slightly. “In the next few years, I will devote a lot of energy to partnering with others to start companies. Others will provide all or most of the investment, while I will provide management and sales channels. Warehouses will be rented to such companies.”

"Are you deliberately holding back on the partnership?"

“No, it’s a difference in mindset.” Xian Yaowen put his arm around Li Yueru’s waist and whispered, “For example, if you take out 10 yuan to open a rice shop with me, and I use 6 yuan to buy land, 3 yuan to buy a shop, and only 1 yuan to buy rice, and after two or three years, the rice shop business doesn’t improve much, but the price of the land and shop has increased several times. At that time, will you be grateful to me or will you curse me to death?”

Li Yueru laughed and said, "Of course I'm scolding you. We were partners in a rice shop business, and the business failed. Who else should I scold if not you? The appreciation of the land and shop is my good fortune, God's compensation to me."

"That's right. What do I need to worry about when we go into business together? If I don't make money from my regular income, I won't benefit from any windfall. If a business needs to use a warehouse, the most reasonable way is to spend less money and spend it later, and to tie up less of our limited working capital. I rent your warehouse, you give me a discount, and you allow me to delay the rent payment. I prove my value, and you get a good deal. Isn't that great?"

Li Yueru nodded. "What you said makes a lot of sense, but there's one thing I don't understand. With so many businesses of your own, how do you find the energy to help others get rich?"

"Helping others get rich is one of my main businesses in the future, and I should devote a lot of energy to it. Moreover, I am just a front to bring the business back, straighten out the beginning, and then naturally hand it over to others."

In a few days, I will hire a large number of secretaries, at least thirty or forty in the first batch, and each secretary will be accompanied by two or three assistants.

"Secretary?"

"No, it's predominantly male."

"Oh." Li Yueru suddenly realized, "You want to set up an attendant's office."

"It's called the Southern Office, or Southern Office for short. Functionally, it's more like a cabinet. The power I hold will gradually be transferred to the Southern Office until it's practically sidelined. Whether I'm there or not, all businesses will continue to operate as usual."

“I don’t understand you.” Li Yueru shook her head. “I have never seen another man willing to hand over the power in his hands to someone else, unless he is too old to hand it over to his son. How old are you? You can work for another forty years without any problem.”

"Everything in the world needs checks and balances. Even someone as wise as Zhuge Liang couldn't have all the decisions in Shu. We should be especially wary of people who always make the right choices, as they are prone to becoming arrogant and domineering. Once they do, they are not far from becoming incompetent and will make the mistake of erasing all their previous achievements."

Sin Yiu-man smoothed his wind-blown hair. "I need to put a tight rein on myself. Every time I make a decision, I need someone to check for omissions and fill in the gaps, and I also need someone to pour cold water on my ideas and refute them with reason and evidence."

The Southern Office was established partly to share my workload, and the other part was to find a group of smart people to constantly slap me in the face, lest I get too cocky.

Li Yueru chuckled and said, "How can someone your age have such wisdom and decisiveness?"

"This kind of wisdom is only found in young people. After fifty, according to Buddhist teachings, people become greedy, angry, and ignorant. It is harder than climbing to heaven to let go of the power one already possesses. It is not surprising that one would do things that shake the foundation in order to maintain power. Once one loses one's power, it has nothing to do with oneself. What does it matter if one no longer possesses it or if it is destroyed?"

"So, you're saying you'll hand over the family business to your son when you're fifty?"

"My idea is to help them get on their feet at forty-five and then give them a push. By fifty, I won't take the initiative to ask about them anymore. I should still be in good health by then. I'll make a few new lovers and catch up with my old ones. If they have daughters, I'll make sure our friendship lasts forever."

Li Yueru spat, "Looking for your old lover's daughter? How could you even think of that?"

"Hahaha."

As Sin Yiu-man's laughter subsided, Lee Yuet-ru suddenly asked, "Have you thought about how to choose a successor?"

Sin Yiu-man shook his head. "I haven't thought about it. It's too early to think about this now. But I'll probably lean towards judging people solely on their talents, regardless of anything else."

"Yes, it's a bit too early, no need to rush."

Li Yueru tightened her grip on Xian Yaowen's arm, her thoughts returning to the present moment, to their walk.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, with the arrival of two Bell 47 civilian helicopters, the aviation operations team codenamed "Coachman" was established at the "In The Sky" Flying Club Airport, a subsidiary of Golden Seasons Logistics.

The Carriage Drivers are an air force designed specifically for special operations. Their core mission is singular: to silently deliver squads, led by Armadillo Six, to any location in the world, in any weather, at any time, especially at night, and bring them home.

In Xiaoyazhou, a boat combat team codenamed "Big Circle Leopard" was established, with personnel drawn from the Rainy Night Piano Commando Team as its core.

The Big Circle Leopard is a boat squadron designed specifically for special operations. Its core mission is singular: to provide high-speed, stealthy, and precise boat maneuverability in any sea or river environment around the world to enable small teams, led by Armadillo Six, to provide insertion, withdrawal, fire support, and intelligence surveillance, ensuring the absolute success of maritime special operations.

From another perspective, both the coachman and the big circle leopard belong to the logistics support team of Armadillo Team Six. The number of Armadillo Team Six will always remain below 30, but the number of people providing them with direct and indirect support will not be less than 500.

In Dubai, Cen Peipei is heading deep into the desert to a secret hideout for falcons and camels.

She rode a camel, the afternoon sun shining brightly on her Arab headscarf. Camilla nestled in her arms, a small bunch of grapes in her hand, which she picked and popped into her mouth. (End of Chapter)