money player

Xian Yaowen entered the kitchen and hugged Alice from behind. "What are you making?"

Alice turned to the side, revealing the fryer pan. "I'm frying cod balls."

"for you."

Sin Yiu-man held the flowers right under Alice's nose and nose. Alice sniffed them and said, "The flowers are very fresh."

"It was airlifted from Hong Kong."

"Airlifted?" Alice asked in surprise. "For me?"

Sin Yiu-man took off Alice's apron. "The flowers are picked around 3 p.m. and immediately loaded onto a plane to be transported to Macau. They are priced three times higher than ordinary flowers."

"Your business?"

"Hmm." Sin Yiu-man put on an apron. "I plan to monopolize the flower supply in Hong Kong and Macau."

Alice fiddled with the petals with her fingers. "The demand for flowers doesn't seem to be very high."

"It's not very big; the daily profit is very limited." Xian Yaowen picked up the tongs and turned the bacalhau balls in the oil. "How many times have you changed the water for the bacalhau?"

"Twice, I like it saltier. It's not easy to monopolize the flower supply, is it?"

"It's very difficult; in fact, it's impossible to achieve a true monopoly."

"It's difficult, and the profits are limited. Why are you doing it?" Alice put the flowers aside and hugged Xian Yaowen from behind.

"My real goal is the ingredients; the flowers are just an appetizer, or you could say a rehearsal. We start small, gradually build team cohesion, slowly identify problems, and research solutions. Because it's small, even if we fail, the losses won't be too great."

“Okay.” Alice nodded. “I’ve prepared minced beef rice for the main course, but we’re still missing a sunny-side-up egg.”

Seeing that the bacalhau balls were golden brown, Sin Yiu-man turned down the heat. "I don't want sunny-side up eggs, how many do you want?"

"One."

Alice pursed her lips, stood on tiptoe, and planted a hickey on the back of Sin Yiu-man's neck.

Sin Yiu-man removed the bacalhau balls from the oil to drain, turned off the heat, placed the oil pan far away, and then turned around to respond enthusiastically to Alice.

Amidst their passionate kiss, Alice's desire was aroused. She tried to carry Sin Yiu-man in a princess carry, but found she couldn't manage it, so she switched to lifting him onto her back and carried him towards the bedroom.

She threw Sin Yiu-man onto the bed, straddled him, and tore at his shirt buttons with her lips...

Two hours were stolen from our time, and by the time we ate, it was already 9:15. The dishes on the table were cold and past their best eating period, and the staple food was freshly cooked instant noodles.

Alice was wearing a white shirt with missing buttons, swirling a glass of red wine in her hand, her gaze fixed on the bluish liquid inside.

"Adam, can you come to Macau often?"

"It's hard."

"Once a quarter?"

"It's hard."

Alice pouted, "You don't love me?"

Sin Yiu-man picked up his wine glass and clinked it with Alice's. He took a sip of the green wine and said, "Slightly sour and refreshing, it's a perfect match for bacalhau. It's a pity the bacalhau is already cold."

He put down his glass, lightly touched Alice's lips to wipe away the spilled lipstick, and said, "Alice, love is a feeling that arises from something happening or something changing. It's not very distinct and is easily confused with other feelings. We just did it once, and you may have been quite satisfied, which is why you mistake physical and sexual satisfaction for love."

I don't think there's any difference between the two.

“Actually, you know there’s a big difference between the two. I already made my position clear this afternoon. Now I’m officially authorizing you to find other men, and I’m skipping the notification step.”

Alice's face fell. "I hate your generosity."

“Fine.” Sin Yiu-man shrugged. “When you have another man, I’ll come over, hang you up, and beat you up. That might make you happier.”

Alice smiled and said, "I want to see you jealous."

“I will satisfy you.” Xian Yaowen picked up his glass, took another sip of wine, and then put it down. He said slowly, “It’s very chaotic here. The agents and unions on both sides are fighting each other, and smuggling gangs, triad forces, and Tai Hing Company’s picket line occasionally clash. Is that right?”

Alice nodded. "Yes."

What are the influence and power of these triads?

“The most powerful in the past was Wo On Lok, now there’s 14K, as well as Yu Lok, Li Yuen, and the Big Circle from the Pearl River Delta.”

“I don’t like clubs, but there are some things that are only convenient to do in a club. You need to become the big water pipe of a certain club.”

"Which one?"

"Let's rule out 14K first, they're Taiwanese thugs. I need information on the others." Sin Yiu-man looked at Lung Chun-pong, who was standing not far away. "I brought two teams with me this time. They're specifically responsible for doing some covert things. I'll leave one team for you. If you need anything from them, tell Butler Lung and have him give you the orders. Don't meet with them yourself."

Alice pouted. "You don't believe me?"

“This is not a matter of trust, but a matter of professional knowledge.” Sin Yiu Man pointed to the bacalhau balls on the table. “For example, with this dish, because you know how to make it, when you instruct the chef, you can make detailed requests, such as how many times to change the water for the bacalhau, how much mashed potatoes to add, how much to sauté the onions, and so on.”

If you don't know how to make it, and you don't know what ingredients are needed for bacalhau balls, you can only tell them to be a little salty or a little bland, and to fry them a little crispier.

The team I've left for you is an elite combat squad. To use them effectively, you need a certain understanding of special operations, which you clearly lack.

Sin Yiu-man shrugged. “Use them a few times first. Once you have a better understanding of them, it’s not too late to meet them again.”

"Okay, I accept your explanation."

Sin Yiu-man said seriously, "Their existence must absolutely not be told to anyone."

Alice nodded solemnly.

"A few people who are specifically in charge of intelligence are coming over. Ouyang Xue will be in charge of making contacts. You can let Ouyang Xue handle any inquiries you may make in the future, including information about the investigation team this time."

These are intelligence agents operating in the shadows. You can also recruit a group of people openly, with expenses covered by public funds. How you use them is up to you; I won't interfere.

Sin Yiu-man meticulously explained and taught Alice every detail and skill involved in doing things, covering every aspect and no detail, much like trying to help seedlings grow by pulling them up.

The next day.

Sin Yiu-man had breakfast at a Portuguese-style restaurant in Senado Square, ordering coconut buns and egg tarts, along with black coffee and mashed potato porridge.

The egg tarts are quite special. The owner of the small restaurant is a very honest person and calls them "Shanjin Egg Tarts," indicating the origin of the production process. Unlike some unscrupulous owners who only call them "Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts," the origin of Shanjin Restaurant's founder is intentionally concealed.

Sin Yiu-man left his mark on this world. In the most crucial step of improvement, in the formation of the "Portuguese egg tart" symbol, Shan Jin Lou took the lead and imposed the "Shan Jin Egg Tart" symbol.

A single egg tart could sustain Shan Jinlou's livelihood for decades, giving Cen Peipei's Cen family a decent family business to pass down through generations.

After having breakfast, Sin Yiu-man would stroll around the streets, looking at the buildings, shop signs, and people. When he passed a restaurant, he would go around to the back alley to look at a garbage bin and analyze the restaurant's business by looking at the residue in the bin.

He went to Fai Chi Kei and visited a soup kitchen set up by a Chinese charity. He bought a bowl of white porridge from a refugee. It was made with brown rice, and there were hardly any rice grains. It was far from being able to hold a chopstick upright in it.

After asking around, I learned that the porridge distribution point occasionally serves sweet potato porridge or mixed grain porridge, which is also very thin. On some special days, there will be chopped green vegetables in the porridge, which can be considered as a side dish.

The Catholic Church's relief center distributes coarse grains such as brown rice, dried sweet potatoes, cassava flour, and cornmeal. Occasionally, they also distribute small amounts of salted dried radish and fermented black beans. If you're lucky, you might find crumbs of Portuguese hard bread and salty biscuits.

As lunchtime approached, he went to a food street near the dock to sample the cheap snacks offered by the refugees: glutinous rice flour and sweet potato mash, glutinous rice balls that were deep-fried; fried dough scraps made from the scraps of fried dough sticks, fried sweet potato chips made from thinly sliced ​​and deep-fried substandard sweet potatoes; and reheated scraps of pastries and snacks discarded by teahouses and vendors, and so on.

As he was passing by the main road, he happened to see a woman who had been struggling with her thoughts for a long time, holding up a sign that read, "I am Wang, a famous general in the War of Resistance Against Japan..." Before she could finish reading it, he rushed forward, snatched the sign from her hand, and covered it up.

He gave the woman some money to settle her down first, and promised to pass the message to Chiang Kai-shek. If no one from Taiwan came to settle her down within half a month, she could go out on the street to beg and slap Chiang Kai-shek in the face.

At 11:15, he sat down at a table in Sullivan's restaurant and took out his notebook to organize the restaurant's layout map.

He had just finished drawing a simple street map when Mary was already standing in front of him, her gaze deliberately avoiding the contents of her notebook. "What are you doing?"

Sin Yiu-man picked up his notebook and showed it to Mary, saying, "I wandered around the streets this morning to find out what restaurants are in Macau."

Mary walked to the other side of the table and sat down. "I know the restaurants in Macau very well. You can ask me anything you want to know."

Sin Yiu-man smiled faintly and said, "Do you often eat Chinese food?"

"My mother is from Shunde, and I have been eating Shunde cuisine since I was a child."

“I see.” Sin Yiu-man nodded slightly. “How much investment do you think it would take to open a luxury Chinese restaurant on Rua Nova? I hate paying people a transfer fee, and I prefer to buy the space.”

"To buy a building on Rua Nova da Praia Grande for a luxury restaurant, you need 15 yuan. The renovation will cost around 10 yuan. The budget for poaching and hiring top chefs will be 2 to 5 yuan. The budget for stocking expensive dried goods such as bird's nest, shark fin, and abalone will be 3 to 5 yuan. The total budget is 35 yuan."

How long do you think it will take to break even?

“Macau has smuggling tycoons, exiled Kuomintang officials and wealthy businessmen, and high-rollers from Hong Kong who come for vacation. There is a sufficient source of customers, and you can break even in just one year.”

"Shall we make a bet?" Sin Yiu-man chuckled.

"How to bet?"

“I’ll give you HK$35 for a two-year period. If you make a profit of MOP 40, I’ll give you 40% of the shares. If you make a profit of MOP 50, I’ll give you 50% of the shares. For every additional MOP 2, I’ll give you an extra 1% of the shares. There’s no upper limit.”

Mary smiled and said, "I don't need to pay?"

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand, "All you need to do is provide manpower."

"I understand the reward, but what about the punishment?"

"No penalty, no salary, I'll sign a notarized performance-based agreement with you."

Mary's eyes sparkled with affection. "Yesterday you said we weren't close enough to go into business together."

Sin Yiu-man shrugged. "The property I bought is in my personal name and doesn't belong to the restaurant's assets. I think it's worth spending HK$20 to get to know you."

Mary picked up her glass and said, "Adam, I won't let you lose the bet."

Sin Yiu-man raised his water glass in return, "What do you plan to name our restaurant?"

“I’ve wanted to open a Chinese restaurant for a long time. I’ve thought of several names, but I like the name Lai Ho Heen the most.”

“Lai Ho Heen…” Sin Yiu Man pondered for a moment, “It’s not outstanding, but it’s fitting and has a classical allusion. Let’s use this name. My lawyer will come to you in a couple of days to sign the contract. I won’t interfere in anything related to Lai Ho Heen unless you ask for it.”

"Thanks for your trust."

"You are Welcome."

Without any investigation, Sin Yiu-man could deduce the general situation of Mary's family and her maternal family. Both families were within the power system in Macau, had extensive social networks and connections, were not short of small sums of money but not large sums, appeared glamorous on the surface but were actually very frugal behind the scenes, and had a strong interest in developing new sources of income. They were basically not likely to "make money through fraud."

Spending 20 to break into the social circles of Macanese people is quite a good deal.

After finalizing the cooperation agreement, it was time for flirting. They talked about perfumes and jewelry, mahjong and casinos, parties and gossip, and the outside world.

Mary was just a wealthy woman trapped in Macau. Although she was Portuguese, she had never been to Portugal and her information from the outside world mainly came from hearsay. She was easily led astray by Sin Yiu-man.

Half an hour later, she rested her chin on her hand, her eyes fixed on Sin Yiu-man. (End of Chapter)