money player

Xian Yaowen put down his spoon and turned to the side, saying, "No need. A power-for-sex deal is only icing on the cake, not a good stepping stone. Besides, Chen Xianzhou shouldn't be a lecherous man."

"I found out that Chen Xianzhou has a lover."

“A lover is not necessarily a lecher, and lechers cannot be generalized.” Xian Yaowen put his hand on Jiang Yiying’s waist and whispered in her ear, “Before coming to Taiwan, Chen Xianzhou had several lovers, and almost every lover brought him benefits. Even if he is a lecher, he would not give up his interests for a woman.”

We only discuss interests with him. Unless he asks, women don't need to offer themselves up, but..."

Sin Yiu-man hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"But what?"

Xian Yaowen patted Jiang Yiying's waist and said, "Let's eat first, and we'll talk later."

"Ah."

At the same time, at the Xian Family Restaurant, Fei Baoshu was entertaining an important guest, her fourth daughter, Sun Shuquan.

The restaurant occupies an area of ​​3500 square feet, but has only one round dining table that can be nested depending on the number of guests, ranging from a small table for four people to a large table for a hundred people. At this moment, the table is large enough to seat eight people.

Fei Baoshu and Sun Shuquan sat side by side, watching the chefs place the dishes on the table.

As the chef arranged the dishes, he introduced them, "Fourth Miss, I am Mo Youcai, a chef specializing in Huaiyang cuisine. I have prepared crab meat lion's head meatballs and braised whole pig's head for you."

Sun Shuquan nodded slightly, "Master Mo, you've worked hard, thank you."

After Mo Youcai left, Cantonese chef Xiao Liangchu walked to the table and said, "Fourth Miss, I have prepared for you Eight Treasures Salt-Baked Chicken, Fragrant Dew Stewed Round Fish, and Crystal Shrimp Balls."

Sun Shuquan nodded again, "Master Xiao, you've worked hard, thank you."

Following Xiao Liangchu was Sichuan cuisine chef Lin Wanyun, who served camphor tea duck, shredded pork with garlic sauce, and boiled beef. Then came vegetarian chef Yao Zhixing, who served vegetarian ham, vegetarian chicken, and vegetarian dishes.

Chef Yu Yingxiang served braised turtle with rock sugar, yellow croaker with seaweed, and yellow croaker soup with pickled mustard greens.

Pastry chef Chen Shilin served eyebrow-shaped pastries, jujube paste rice cakes, and swan-shaped cream puffs.

Liaoning cuisine chef Wang Futing served braised three whites, stir-fried double crispy, embroidered ball swallow dish, and casserole shark fin.

Zhao Zhanshan, a chef from Northeast China who specializes in cooking wild game, served up a mixed stew, a combination of meat and vegetables. Common ingredients included tiger ribs, sika deer meat, bear paws, grouse wings, roe deer saddle, hazel mushrooms, black fungus, green beans, potatoes, corn, and eggplant.

Sun Shuquan stared at the dazzling array of dishes on the table, speechless. "Mom, do you usually eat like this?"

"Of course not." Fei Baoshu chuckled and tucked a bit of the hem of Sun Shuquan's skirt. "This is a place in the house that is specially used to entertain guests. It has just been put into use. You are lucky to have come here for a food tasting. Eat more. Who knows when you will be able to eat here again."

Upon hearing this, Sun Shuquan asked cautiously, "Mom, is it...is it that you can't come here?"

Fei Baoshu patted Sun Shuquan's head. "Silly girl, you're mistaken. He's very good to me. But even if we're rich, we can't be extravagant. We can't usually cook so many dishes at home. The standard is four dishes and one soup for no more than six people. If there's one more person, we add one more dish."

Sun Shuquan nodded, "It's much better than home."

Has the food at home been getting worse and worse these past two years?

"Yes, many vegetables are unavailable, and pork is not available every day. We can only eat meat twice a week at home."

Fei Baoshu said with heartache, "It won't happen again. Eat whatever you want. Eat more."

"Ah."

Sun Shuquan picked up his chopsticks, took some food, and ate it in small bites.

Fei Baoshu used serving chopsticks to keep putting food on Sun Shuquan's plate. When they had almost finished eating, she asked, "Shuquan, how did you get here?"

Sun Shuquan asked in surprise, "Mom didn't know?"

"I don't know." Fei Baoshu shook his head. "I only found out yesterday that you were coming to Hong Kong."

Sun Shuquan was instantly lost in memories.

Two weeks ago, she met Tang Ying's younger sister, Tang Weihong, at the gate of the Chung-West Girls' School. Tang Weihong gave her a letter, saying it was from her stepfather. She wasn't allowed to open the letter immediately, but instead relayed some of his words:

"Because of your father's status, your future path will be very difficult if you stay here. Originally, your stepfather prepared RMB, USD, and gold bars worth 5000 million each for you, your brother, and your sister, in case of emergencies. This was also to give your mother some closure."

However, because of your excellent academic performance, he has changed his mind and plans to bring you to Hong Kong to complete your secondary school studies, and then send you to study abroad.

She asked, "I haven't heard from my mother in a long time. How is she doing?"

“Your mother is doing very well. She used to need to work, but now she's retired. Her daily routine consists of practicing Tai Chi, playing cards, and shopping at department stores. She has a lot of savings and owns properties in Hong Kong and Paris.”

She then asked, "Where are my eldest and third sisters?"

"Your eldest sister lives in Paris and runs a café and a flower shop. She owns property in Paris and also manages your mother's property."

Your third sister is the general manager of a company. She's very busy and travels all over the world. She owns a country villa in Normandy, which was originally owned by the great writer Guy de Maupassant.

Because she was so busy, your third sister didn't have time to complete her studies at a prestigious university; she was just an auditor at Columbia University. However, the company she manages primarily deals with technology patents, and her staff are all highly educated, with even the least qualified employees being graduates from top universities.

“Mom, he asked me to come to Hong Kong and said he would support my studies. In return, I have to do things for him. Also, he will decide who I marry in the future.”

Fei Baoshu smiled and said, "You don't need to take his words to heart. He said the same thing to your eldest and third sisters. It's nothing. He just hopes that you will marry into families of equal social standing, so that you can bring some help to the family, rather than making you sacrifice yourselves for the family."

"Is it like this?"

"Yes." Fei Baoshu patted Sun Shuquan's head again. "It's a pity that Shujue didn't come with you this time, otherwise our family would have been reunited."

"Mom, and brother too."

Fei Baoshu's face showed worry. "I dare not think about your brother. The Sun family will not release him. I will go back to Shanghai to see him when I have the chance."

To divert Fei Baoshu's attention, Sun Shuquan deliberately said, "Mom, when I left, I divided the 5000 million he had prepared into two parts and left them for my brother and sister."

"They just gave them to them?"

"It was given to Aunt Tang."

"Oh." Fei Baoshu nodded. "Nannan, let me ask you a question. Do you want to go to school quickly, or do you want to play for a while longer?"

Sun Shuquan thought for a moment and said, "Mom, I want to go to class earlier."

"Okay, Mom will take you to see the schools the day after tomorrow. You can study at whichever school you like."

"Ah."

Building No. 1.

After finishing her meal, Sin Kin-chi was surrounded by a mountain of pomelos. She sat amidst several baskets of pomelos, peeling them with a special tool.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and in some places, it is customary to eat pomelos. Later, the Sin family will go to Shek Kip Mei to distribute meat and mooncakes. While the crowd gathers, she will sell pomelos, not by the piece, but by the segment.

Peeling a pomelo is very strenuous, and even with tools, it doesn't save much effort. After peeling just a few, Sin Kin-chi's fingers reached the point of transitioning between soreness and pain.

She peeled another pomelo, shook her hand, and looked at Liu Wanqing, who was sitting to the side eating sunflower seeds. "Mom, my hand hurts so much. Can you help me peel it?"

“No.” Liu Wanqing refused directly. “Do your own thing. If you don’t want to peel it, you can hire someone to peel it.”

Sin Kin-chi pursed her lips, "I run a small business, where would I get the money to hire people?"

Liu Wanqing chuckled and said, "You don't have money to hire someone? Then you can peel them yourself."

"Hmph." Sin Kin-chi tilted her head and said, "Bad mother, if you want to peel it yourself, then peel it yourself."

Liu Wanqing smiled and shook her head, then continued eating sunflower seeds.

She wouldn't help Sin Kin-chi with chores, but would only offer appropriate hints and guidance. It's important to know that Sin Kin-chi's hawker practice class was an assignment given by Sin Yiu-man, with the aim of developing the little girl's comprehensive abilities.

Vendors need to call out their wares, speak to people in a tactful manner, and bargain. They also need to quickly understand various dialects such as Cantonese, Shanghainese, and Teochew, otherwise they won't be able to sell their goods. This requires them to master oral expression and communication skills.

Street vendors need to be quick at accounting, control costs, and manage change, which requires them to have skills in digital calculation and resource management.

Vendors need to identify dangers, secure stalls, and deal with emergencies, which requires them to have the ability to observe the environment and avoid risks.

Street vendors need to withstand rejection, self-regulate, and share responsibility for the different uses of their earnings, which requires resilience and a sense of responsibility.

During her time as a street vendor, she gained exposure to social stratification and learned early on that people are divided into different classes and face different fates. This made Sin Kin-chi understand that being a "superior person" is hard-won and she was determined to defend it to the death. It also made her realize that "everyone has their own difficulties," teaching her to empathize, have compassion, and adhere to ethical principles in her actions.

There are many other benefits. Basically, the fact that a nine-year-old girl like Sin Kin-chi can understand the business of a street vendor shows that she has a social awareness that surpasses that of most ordinary people in their forties, laying a solid foundation for her to become a member of the upper class.

After peeling another pomelo, Sin Kin-chi's fingertips were already aching, but she didn't give up. She pinched her fingertips for a few seconds, feeling sorry for them, and then continued, humming a little tune.

"La la la! La la la! I'm an expert at selling pomelos. I set up my stall before dawn, walking around and shouting, 'Today's pomelos are really fragrant, you can buy a segment for just three cents!'"

After lunch, Sin Yiu-man led Kong Yi-ying to the pavilion, where the two continued their previous conversation.

“Our partners are divided into long-term and short-term. People who would give up their interests for a woman are not suitable as long-term partners. We must be extremely careful with such people and not get too deeply involved. We should focus on immediate benefits and never give them shares.”

"Because it could collapse at any time?"

“That’s right.” Sin Yiu-man picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said slowly, “Based on the information we have, Chen Xian-zhou is not in danger of stepping down in the short term. Even if he loses his position in the Security Department due to departmental restructuring, he won’t lose his position as Commissioner of Police so easily.”

Given the current situation in Taiwan, it's impossible to do business well within the legal framework. One will inevitably have to operate in a gray area to some extent. Is murder illegal?

Sin Yiu-man shook his head. "Whether something is illegal or not can only be determined by the court's verdict. Ordinary criminal cases in Taiwan follow a three-level, three-trial system, which requires 5 to 7 departments and 8 to 12 steps. The process is quite complicated, but no matter how complicated the process is, it has a starting point, which is the police department's preliminary investigation, evidence collection, arrest of suspects, and transfer of cases."

The first three of these four steps have the potential to prevent the act from becoming illegal, keeping it within the realm of reckless behavior, lawlessness, and divine intervention.

Of course, it's best to avoid crossing the line at all, that is, to stay within the bounds of the law.

Jiang Yiying was dumbfounded. So this is how breaking the law can be explained?
Xian Yaowen glanced at Jiang Yiying's face and said, "Everything in this world has a cost. Sometimes the cost of solving a problem is too high, while the cost of dealing with the person who raised the problem is relatively low. If you had to choose, would you choose to solve the problem or deal with the person?"

Jiang Yiying hesitated for a moment, then said, "People."

"From the day it was born, the duty of the police has not been to uphold justice or uphold the law, but to maintain the rule. In the final analysis, whatever the police do is for the purpose of maintaining stability."

What does a police commissioner need, what does he care about, and what does he fear? You need to think carefully and understand these three questions yourself. Only by summarizing your insights can you maintain this long-term partner.

Also, you must first clearly understand what a long-term partner is.
Win-win.

What is a short-term partner?

Immediate exchange of benefits.

Whether it's the long term or the short term, there's one key point: you're mute. (End of Chapter)