money player

Yu Fengzhi's gaunt face, still recovering from a serious illness, was tinged with sarcasm. Her sharp gaze pierced into Xian Yaowen's eyes. "Mr. Xian, I suppose my situation is self-evident. Is it really that difficult for an old woman stranded in a foreign land to beg for food?"

"There are rules everywhere under the sun. For example, when Marshal Zhang Zongchang cursed 'Damn it,' Zhang Yuting was so scared that he didn't dare to breathe."

Upon hearing this, Yu Fengzhi angrily retorted, "Does Mr. Xian think he's just a street thug who only knows how to talk big?"

Xian Yaowen smiled faintly and said, "Madam Zhang, please calm down. I didn't mean any disrespect to Commander Zhang. I'm just giving you an example that's easy for you to understand. Thanks to everyone's kindness, only Jinji Trading Company is doing large-scale pharmaceutical business. It's unreasonable for Madam Zhang to come and steal our business without even a word."

"I've never heard anyone say that only Jinji Trading Company can do the pharmaceutical business."

Xian Yaowen put down his teacup, picked up a melon seed from the dried fruit plate, and said, "Mrs. Zhang, there's no point in pretending to be ignorant. I spent some time in Los Angeles not long ago, managing my business there and catching up with new and old friends. Italians, Jews, Irish, English, Italian, I spoke all sorts of languages, and I talked until I was hoarse."

Fortunately, the results were quite good. Two new pharmaceutical suppliers were found in Los Angeles. The information that Mrs. Zhang was in the pharmaceutical business came from the suppliers.

To be honest, Madam Zhang, we didn't originally need to meet, because we're not direct competitors. On the contrary, your suppliers are your sworn enemies. If I hadn't intervened, Madam Zhang might have been fine, but those around you might have already passed their seventh-day memorial service.

Yu Fengzhi said with a half-smile, "Is Mr. Xian threatening me?"

“No, I’m stating the objective facts.” Xian Yaowen waved his hand. “I just respect Madam Zhang and don’t want to make things too ugly. Otherwise, given the supplier’s way of doing things, Madam Zhang will find a human head lying on her pillow one morning when she opens her eyes.”

Yu Fengzhi said casually, "Is the supplier Mr. Xian is referring to the Italian Mafia?"

Xian Yaowen shelled a melon seed and placed it on the table, then picked up another melon seed in his hand. "Perhaps so, but it's nothing special. He's just an ordinary person, not as prestigious as Ada Mussolini."

"Mr. Xian, please stop with your sarcastic remarks and explain your reasoning."

Xian Yaowen nodded slightly. "Madam Zhang, I am a legitimate businessman and I don't like fighting and killing. I heard that a new intelligence agency has been established in Taiwan, led by the CIA and assisted by Taiwan."

Smuggling is rampant in Hong Kong, yet the CIA has accomplished nothing. If they could identify a few individuals with special connections, promotions and titles wouldn't be out of the question. Moreover, they could likely seize and freeze some assets in the United States, gaining benefits both publicly and privately.

Yu Fengzhi's expression remained unchanged, but she was seething inside. Xian Yaowen had her Achilles' heel: first, her assets in the United States could not be lost; second, the issue being brought to the forefront would inevitably affect Zhang Xueliang, and perhaps the day of his escape would be far off.

"What does Mr. Xian want?"

Xian Yaowen took a check out of his pocket and placed it on the table. "This is the money for Mrs. Zhang's last batch of goods. I deducted some to pay the staff overtime."

Yu Fengzhi glanced at the check; the amount on it was a little more than the "normal" amount.

"Mrs. Zhang, let's stop dealing in pharmaceuticals. There are many products that are more profitable than pharmaceuticals, and there are businesses that are more profitable than pharmaceutical smuggling. Perhaps we can cooperate on other business ventures."

Yu Fengzhi asked suspiciously, "Cooperation?"

“Yes, cooperation.” Sin Yiu-man nodded. “Mrs. Cheung, I’m very good at making money work for me.”

How to make money from money?

Sin Yiu-man stood up and buttoned his suit jacket. “Since Mrs. Cheung is interested, I will visit her in Los Angeles next time I go to Las Vegas on business. Macau is not a place for Mrs. Cheung to stay for long. Have a safe trip.”

After saying that, Sin Yiu-man left the cabin and went to the outer deck. He stood in front of Wong Ho and watched her mend the fishing net.

"You still fish?"

Wang Hao kept spinning the shuttle, muttering to himself, "And there's the railing; we don't have customers every day."

The Tanka people borrowed a large sum of money from the fish market owner to build boats, on the condition that all their fish catch must be sold to the fish market and not to others privately. Every time they sold fish, the fish market would deduct a portion of the money as repayment until the loan was fully repaid; this was known as "hanging in the fish market."

Do you have a father who gambles, or a mother who is sick?

Wang Hao shook his head. "My father has passed away."

"Without you, will anyone in your family still be in charge of the fishing boat?"

"Have."

"The number of berths is easy to say. I'll cover the rest for you." Xian Yaowen licked his right index finger, held it up to feel the sea breeze, and asked, "Can we go now?"

Wang Hao looked up at the small flag fluttering in the wind on the mast, "It can go."

"Let's go."

Upon docking at the pier at Ponte 16, Sin Yiu-man walked away in the opposite direction from where Yu Fung-chi had come from. The two did not meet again, nor did they exchange any words.

Along the way, there was a fishy, ​​damp sea breeze and sand and gravel, but no beautiful scenery. When Sin Yiu-man walked to a section of the beach, he saw a half-Tang and half-Tibetan woman smoking in the sea breeze.

The woman was around thirty years old, with features that combined the gentleness of Chinese women with the poise of Westerners. She had a kind face and looked remarkably like Stanley Lai's wife.

Sin Yiu-man stopped in front of the woman, met her questioning gaze, and asked in Cantonese, "Alone?"

Upon hearing this, a sly glint flashed in the woman's eyes, and she uttered a nonsensical remark.

Sin Yiu-man deciphered Portuguese, Malay, Cantonese, and Creole from the woman's words. When he heard a language containing these four elements in Macau, his first reaction was naturally the Macau dialect.

It's a kind of "secret language" that only circulates among Macanese people. Its scope is extremely narrow, and not every Macanese person can speak it. It's very likely that all those who speak it know each other. If a woman speaks Macanese, she's most likely teasing him.

Sin Yiu-man shrugged. "Sister, I'm Sin Yiu-man. You're my type. If you want to have an affair, come to me."

The woman choked on her smoke, then burst into laughter, happy and unrestrained, tears welling up in her eyes.

After a long while, the woman stopped laughing, stared into Sin Yiu-man's eyes, and said in Cantonese, "Mr. Sin, your way of pursuing women is very special and bold."

“I’ve never met you before, but I have a face in my memory that looks very similar to yours, so I can roughly guess who you are. The way I spoke just now was tailor-made for you.”

The woman's interest was piqued. "You know me?"

"Your maiden name should be Li Deng."

“You guessed right.” The woman threw away her cigarette, put her hands in front of her, and looked Xian Yaowen up and down. “I am Mary.”

“Oh, Mary, you are the…maybe the 197th Mary I’ve ever met, I can’t remember.”

"Does Mr. Sin know many women?"

Call me Adam.

"Oh, Adam."

Sin Yiu-man leaned forward, his right arm around Mary Riden's waist, his face downcast, his eyes gleaming with desire. "My lover and I have arranged to have dinner at 6:30. We still have some time. Want to sneak a bite?"

Mary's gaze met Xian Yaowen's, and a smile played on her lips. "What should we eat? You?"

"Yes, eat me."

The temperature in Mary's eyes rose at first, hovered and struggled at the critical point for a few seconds, and then slowly dropped. She tilted her head to the left and whispered, "Too fast."

Sin Yiu-man helped Mary to her feet, then withdrew his right hand from her lower back and stood at a polite distance, smiling faintly at her: "Would you like me to accompany you for a walk?"

"Thank you."

Mary was slightly disappointed; if Sin Yiu-man had kissed her forcefully, she probably would have responded passionately.

She took two steps forward, took out cigarettes and a lighter from her bag, her hands trembling with excitement. She tried several times to light the lighter, took a drag of her cigarette, and barely managed to control her excitement.

With his left hand in his suit pocket and his right hand tucked behind his waist, Sin Yiu-man walked hand in hand with Mary.

"Do you have feelings for your husband?"

"We've been together for eight years, how could we not have feelings for each other?"

"I saw heartbreak on your face just now, was it because of your husband or your lover?"

Mary paused. "Why would you think I have a lover?"

"Since you asked, then there must be one."

Mary gazed at Sin Yiu-man's face for a moment, "Yes."

"Your husband has a new lover?"

"Yes."

"Is this affair different from others, or is the timing unusual, happening after you two agreed to be faithful to each other?"

"His first love."

"Is it jealousy, or a sense of crisis?"

"More jealousy than anything else."

Today is your lucky day.

Mary paused again, staring intently at Sin Yiu-man's face. "Met you?"

"Hmm, I'm good-looking, young and capable, I rarely come to Macau, I have many women and don't want to add any more, those are all advantages, aren't they?"

Mary smiled gently. "You are very confident."

"Thank you, you are beautiful."

“Thank you.” Mary’s face changed from that of a manor house to an affordable housing unit, her smile strained and troubled. “Your lover, your lover in Macau, is he Chinese?”

"Portuguese."

"Can we talk about her?"

"Her identity is a bit special, so it's not convenient."

“Okay.” Mary took Sin Yiu-man’s arm. “Let’s talk about what you’re doing in Macau.”

"I'm a businessman, so I'm here in Macau to do business."

What kind of business do you do?

"Open a restaurant."

Mary asked in surprise, "Are you a Hong Kong smuggling tycoon who opened a restaurant in Macau?"

"I am a legitimate businessman, and I only do legitimate business," Sin Yiu-man said righteously.

Mary laughed loudly, "You're a legitimate businessman?"

"have a question?"

“No.” Mary’s lips curled into a smile. “What kind of restaurant are you planning to open? Chinese or Portuguese?”

"Portuguese cuisine is difficult to cook."

"why?"

"Portuguese cuisine requires a certain social circle; it's difficult for outsiders to break in, and the market is limited."

"I'm in that circle."

Sin Yiu-man glanced at Mary. "So, us?"

Mary stared at Xian Yaowen's face. "Don't you want to cooperate with me?"

Sin Yiu-man said calmly, "Our relationship doesn't seem to be familiar enough for us to do business together."

"We can reach a cooperation agreement first, and then get to know each other better."

"You want to own a restaurant?"

Mary nodded earnestly, "Yes, I want to own my own restaurant."

"I'm going back to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon, and I'll have time to have lunch with you at noon."

"I'll be attending a party tonight, and you can come too."

"Tonight, my lover and I will have some alone time."

"Okay, tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., at Sullivan Restaurant on the main road."

"Why not meet at Bellavista?"

"Too many acquaintances."

"uh-huh."

The two strolled along the beach for half an hour, then kissed goodbye amidst the floating salted fish in front of the salted fish drying yard.

Sin Yiu-man then went to Largo do Senado, carefully selected a bouquet of roses, and returned to Alice's manor before six o'clock. (End of Chapter)