money player

Lafayette.

In the open space behind the gate, Wang Chaoyun and Lucas Charlotte sat on bamboo chairs, the former holding a bowl of tangtun and the latter holding a glass of whiskey souvenir.

Wang Chaoyun raised his hand and pointed to the left, "The bakery will be located over there, and the building can be completed in ten days."

Lucas followed the direction of the finger and asked, "What do you plan to name the bakery?"

“La Vie En Rose.”

"That song by Edith Piaf?"

"Yes."

"Adam's opinion?"

"uh-huh."

"Is it called 'La Vie en Rose' in Chinese?"

Wang Chaoyun nodded, took out a piece of paper and handed it to Lucas, "The store logo designed was also Yaowen's idea."

Lucas took it and examined it closely. "Adam's idea is probably not bad. He has an advertising company in New York. It hasn't been open for long, but he has already designed logos for several large companies."

Wang Chaoyun didn't understand why Lucas brought up the advertising company, but she felt it was necessary to report this to Takano-kun.

She composed herself and said, "If you have no objections, I'll have it custom-made."

“No objection.” Lucas shrugged. “You’ll be in charge of everything for La Vie en Rose. Come to my office tomorrow or the day after, and we’ll sign a formal supply agreement. Once the agreement is signed, you can get the first installment immediately.”

"I don't have time tomorrow, I'll go the day after tomorrow."

“OK.” Lucas swirled his glass. “I have a suggestion. You should open another bar called ‘The Silver Star.’ I’ve heard that naval officers will be landing in Taipei on official flights in the coming year, usually staying for 3 to 7 days, and their activities will be restricted.”

Wang Chaoyun's eyes lit up. "Can Lafayette and Silver Star Bar become designated reception points?"

Lucas chuckled, “Of course, the designated reception points will be decided by the advisory group.”

He had reservations about Wang Chaoyun. The title of "naval officer" was just a figurehead; in reality, the officers were mostly high-ranking intelligence personnel. Their stay in Taipei was both a way to lure Taiwanese intelligence agencies and a way to protect themselves from leaking information that "shouldn't" be disclosed.

That's why entrusting more designated reception locations to Wang Chaoyun can ensure safety and also give an explanation to the Taiwanese side—Taiwan, you can't be unaware that the majority of Wang Chaoyun's income is controlled by the advisory group, can you?

Wang Chaoyun didn't ask for details, but simply asked, "How many guests does Silver Star Bar need to accommodate?"

Lucas thought for a moment and said, "I think 150 people is enough. We should put more effort into the drinks. We need to have Jim Beam, Old Grand-Dad, and Old Fitzgerald whiskies. The brand of gin doesn't matter, but we must have quinine water. Gintonin will be very popular."

Beer should include Budweiser and Blue Ribbon; the brand of rum doesn't matter... Hmm, some vodka is a good idea, as vodka tonic water and vodka orange juice are becoming increasingly popular these days.

"Could I have a drinks menu?"

"of course."

"Just drinking?"

Lucas chuckled. "I'll talk to Adam."

Wang Chaoyun nodded.

Hong Kong.

At the Tongfa Company's shooting range, Qi Weiwen, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a simple cheongsam, held a .38 pistol in her hand. She aimed at the chest of a human-shaped target and fired a shot, then aimed at a piece of pork and a live target and fired them respectively.

After shooting, she immediately walked over to the live target and asked, "How did it feel?"

The live target replied, "It hurts a lot, but not enough to render me unable to resist."

Qi Weiwen nodded, removed a bullet from the .38 rifle, and examined the bullet closely.

Tongfa has secured a subcontracted order for rubber bullets from American Bullet Company. Although the order is small, it is a long-term contract. Despite squeezing profits to the point of negligible margin in order to secure the order, it is an opportunity to enter the non-lethal weapons market. Tongfa has already secured baton orders from several states in the United States and is working on orders for handcuffs and police stun guns.

After examining the bullet, Qi Weiwen handed it to the side, and Victor Thorne, the manager of Alloy Slug Company, took it. "Miss Qi, do you think we need to increase the hardness of the rubber or increase the amount of gunpowder?"

“Manager Thorne, I think we can try both options. I’ve already tested them, and the recoil is minimal, with plenty of room for further expansion.”

"OK, I'll try both options."

"That's all for now."

Qi Weiwen waved for Victor Thorne to leave, then returned to her firing position, reloaded the .38 caliber bullets with regular ammunition, and began firing rapidly at the human-shaped target.

After changing bullets three times, Elias Voss, the manager of Shenhuo Company, accompanied Zhong Shiyuan, the chief engineer who had been recently recruited, as they walked over.

"Miss. Qi."

“Manager Worth.” Qi Weiwen put down his .38 rifle, nodded to Worth, and then looked at Zhong Shiyuan, “Dr. Zhong, welcome to join us as an assistant and to Shenhuo.”

Zhong Shiyuan nodded slightly and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Ms. Qi, it is my honor to join Shenhuo."

Qi Weiwen took a step forward and stood at a social distance in front of Zhong Shiyuan. "Dr. Zhong, Shenhuo currently needs to tackle two technologies. First, design a high-intensity blinding flashlight with a brightness of over 1000 lumens that can instantly blind people for 3 to 5 seconds."

Second, improve the performance of existing police stun guns in all aspects, including shortening their length, reducing their diameter, enhancing their discharge performance, increasing their discharge time, and improving their safety.

After a moment's consideration, Zhong Shiyuan said, "Ms. Qi, the first one is not difficult. With a little improvement to the existing technology, we can produce qualified products. The second one... there is not much room for improvement in the existing high-voltage generating module. Unless there is a major technological breakthrough in vacuum tubes or selenium rectifiers in the near future, which can achieve miniaturization, we can only improve dry cell batteries or lead-acid batteries. This is very difficult, really very difficult."

What makes it difficult?

Zhong Shiyuan succinctly replied, "Money."

"Appreciate further details."

"Technological breakthroughs require countless experiments, and each experiment requires a considerable investment of funds, ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan per experiment. A thousand experiments would amount to tens of millions of yuan. No one can guarantee how many experiments will be successful, or rather, no one can guarantee success. Perhaps tens of millions of yuan of investment will not bring any output."

After saying that, Zhong Shiyuan stared intently at Qi Weiwen's face, hoping in his heart that the woman in front of him was a clueless fool who would throw money around blindly.

Qi Weiwen took out a pack of cigarettes from her hidden pocket, flicked one out, and fiddled with it between her fingers. After a moment, she suddenly said, "I am willing to invest in the technology, but it must be within the limits of Shenhuo's capacity. The high-intensity blinding flashlight needs to rush to participate in the US military tender. Please come up with a product design plan as soon as possible. After we win the US military order, we can discuss the investment in detail."

Zhong Shiyuan nodded. "Okay."

After Elias Voss and Zhong Shiyuan left, Qi Weiwen met with Li Cangye, the manager of Thunder Company, and the two discussed the production of batons and handcuffs.

Xian Yaowen directly presented a handcuff design from later generations: "rocking bow + double lock." His technology was ahead of its time, and he formed a patent matrix. In a country that values ​​reputation, he had no shortage of business opportunities.

Qi Weiwen had just had a moment to herself when a hand holding a walkie-talkie was extended in front of her. "Dong Yao wants to make a call."

Qi Weiwen took the walkie-talkie, walked to a secluded spot, and pressed the call button. "Dongguai is online."

A moment later, Cen Peipei's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "Dongwu needs help."

"Received, I'll wait for your reply."

"Dongyao is offline."

“Copy.”

On the other side, at Shanjin Tea House.

Cen Peipei descended the stairs from the second floor, humming a Peking Opera tune: "Understanding astronomy and military strategy is as easy as turning one's hand; setting up an altar and borrowing the east wind to help Zhou Yu."

As she entered the tea room, Meng Xiaodong, who had been humming, slowly looked up. "Brother Lianliang is already making preparations to return to the mainland. Tonight's performance at Jinling Restaurant may be his last. Do you want to go?"

Cen Peipei stopped humming and sat down next to Meng Xiaodong. "Sister Hui, are you going?"

Meng Xiaodong gently shook her head, "I just met with Brother Lian Liang a few days ago, so I won't go."

Cen Peipei picked up her teacup and said seemingly casually, "Mr. Ma hasn't given up on persuading Sister Hui to return to the mainland?"

Meng Xiaodong gave a soft "hmm" and said, "When the master was still alive, I had someone do a divination. He said that if he lived in the south, he would die peacefully in his sleep, but if he went against the current and went north, he would die suddenly in the year of Bingwu. I haven't lived enough yet."

Cen Peipei smiled and said, "Just by looking at Sister Hui's face, I can tell she'll live to be a hundred. A batch of old stuff just arrived, I'll weigh out a few pounds for Sister Hui to take back and stir-fry, to help her live to be a hundred."

Meng Xiaodong smiled faintly, "Old-fashioned ginseng is already a very precious ginseng. Others would not be able to get even one, but you dare to say it's just stir-fried."

“In the past, they might have been rare and precious, but this year they definitely won’t be. Mainland local product companies have picked up a lot of old products that are over 30 years old for export. I’ve also collected a lot at home, stockpiling those that are over 50 years old, and selling the 30-year-old ones to Taiwan and Southeast Asia.”

Will it fetch a good price?

“It’s alright.” Cen Peipei took a sip of tea and said slowly, “The export price in the mainland is five or six yuan, but it rises to thirty or forty yuan in Hong Kong, and to ninety yuan in Taiwan. The price is even better in Singapore, reaching around one hundred and ten yuan.”

Meng Xiaodong picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said casually, "The price is quite good."

Cen Peipei put down her teacup. "The price is quite good, but the quantity is small, so we can't sell many."

"That's true. A good ginseng root weighs only one and a half qian (approximately 3.5 grams), which is not enough to make many doses of medicine. And how many people can afford it?"

Cen Peipei gently placed her hand on Meng Xiaodong's forearm. "Sister Hui, you only ate a little bit for breakfast today. Let's have lunch early."

"it is good."

Meng Xiaodong was led by Cen Peipei towards Shanjin Tower without any resistance or discomfort.

Her friendship with Cen Peipei, despite their age difference, stemmed from Xian Yaowen's visit to the Du family. The master had said that Mr. Xian was a remarkable person who, though driven by self-interest, had principles and integrity. He advised that if she encountered difficulties after he left, she could seek his help, but he was not a man of great personal connections and should be used with caution.

Not long after the master passed away, this younger sister Peipei took the initiative to find her and invited her to co-manage the affairs of the Cantonese Opera House. She also invited her to invest in Shanjin Tea House, giving her a stable income. Although there was some calculation involved, it was mostly sincere. This younger sister really treated her like an older sister.

She wasn't disgusted by the scheming hidden in her younger sister's heart, but she felt a slight apprehension towards Mr. Xian. It wasn't the potential for exploitation, but rather a apprehension about matters between men and women, Fei Baoshu, and the rumors coming from Taipei about Tang Yiying and Wang Youjia. It seemed that Mr. Xian had a particular fondness for older, well-known women.

She had imagined that she might have become Mr. Xian's prey, but he didn't seem to have done anything special to her, and they hadn't even met many times.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a pang of disappointment.

It wasn't that I had any particular feelings for Mr. Xian, but rather a funny competitive spirit in my heart.

However, it's better not to have it.

Meng Xiaodong's apprehension had also been on Cen Peipei's mind. She roughly knew what kind of temperament her husband had. Her husband only had a lower limit for a woman's age, but no upper limit, and he didn't have a virginity complex. If given the opportunity, her husband probably wouldn't miss Hui Jie.

But such an opportunity is unlikely to come. The master has no intention of having any woman. Even if he has feelings for Sister Hui, he won't spend his precious time on her because there's nothing of value in her. It can only be a series of coincidences that make him "incidentally" pursue her.

The two entered Shanjinlou, and Pan Xiaozui immediately came to greet them. Without needing to communicate, Pan Xiaozui led them to a private room, poured some plum wine for stomach health, and then left the room.

After acquiring Zhonghua Soda, Cen Peipei bought a winery and expanded its scale by increasing investment, transforming it into a new wine company called "Ganlu Zui," which specializes in brewing fruit wines. Currently, it has four types of wines: plum stomach-nourishing wine, tangerine peel spleen-strengthening wine, hawthorn digestive wine, and rose liqueur.

Despite not running a large-scale advertising campaign, but simply having actresses from Friendship Film Studio help promote the business, and having Zhou Ruoyun and Zhong Jieling bring them to the cocktail party, it has now gained a certain degree of recognition in high society circles, with many wealthy women becoming loyal customers.

In 1951, if a young, beautiful, capable, outspoken, and independent businesswoman were to appear in Hong Kong's high society, the impact would not be small, but rather sensational.

The moment she appears, the social circle of wealthy women breaks down. She shatters the unwritten rule that women can only rely on men. The rules of high society are that women who show their faces in public to do business are considered unchaste, disrespectful, and immoral. But she doesn't rely on her husband, her family background, or a man to support her. She earns her own money and makes her own decisions. In the eyes of these wealthy women, this is like slapping everyone in the face.

She usurped the social power of the wealthy women, whose power came from three things: their husbands' status, their family background, and their ability to get along with others, cultivate relationships, and spread messages.

She has her own business, knows influential figures in the military, government, and business world, and can make her own decisions regarding cooperation, orders, and connections.

The result is that the situation where the wealthy woman used to have the final say is now one where everyone has to listen to her. The wealthy woman hates the most when power is taken away by an "outsider".

The more respectable she was, the more panicked the wealthy women became. Their view was that a respectable woman was someone who stayed at home and never went out, while someone who showed her face in public was a socialite, disreputable, an actress, or someone of dubious origin.

She's beautiful, elegant, articulate, well-dressed, knows how to socialize, and is neither servile nor arrogant. The wealthy woman's mind races with wild speculation—did she get to where she is through sex? Does she have powerful connections? Is she trying to seduce our husbands?

The more outstanding someone is, the dirtier the rumors they spread.

She threatened the wealthy women's wallets and prestige. Hong Kong's high-end businesses—ginseng, medicinal herbs, jewelry, silk, import and export, and trade with Southeast Asia—were all dominated by men and wealthy wives. When she barged in, she tried to steal customers, channels, reputation, and status. The wealthy women would unite to isolate her, smear her, block her business, and spread rumors.

Because what you're touching isn't business, it's their family's interests and reputation.

And the most devastating impact was that she suddenly made all the socialites seem to have no value in life—marrying well, dressing well, socializing well, and maintaining a respectable image; she could earn money, negotiate, handle things, stand on her own, and live a dazzling life without relying on men.

In contrast, the wealthy woman is like a pretty decoration who only knows how to spend money; this inferiority complex turns into hatred, which is the most vicious.

If there is only one "she", she is very likely to wither under siege, but when "she" is followed by "them", a world of difference occurs.

There are many women in the Xian family, and they are all the same. This is not an isolated case. This proves that some paths are viable. Women can show their faces in public and can do things that only men can do.

When chance becomes mere chance, even if wealthy women don't have the courage to try it themselves, it doesn't stop them from admiring and recognizing those who dare to do so. This is reflected in the sales of jewelry in Sri Lanka, where jewelry in price ranges that wealthy women can decide to buy sells particularly quickly.

In the eyes of the wealthy women, Zhou Ruoyun was practically living the life of a leading lady. Born into a wealthy family, she married a handsome husband, held the most sensational wedding in Hong Kong, became pregnant without any setbacks, hosted a jewelry store while heavily pregnant, and controlled capital worth tens of millions of dollars while heavily pregnant. Foreigners were subservient to her.

With her promoting the products, especially those targeted at wealthy women, how could sales be anything but good?

Cen Peipei stroked the rose petal-shaped glass goblet, her gaze falling on the glass bottle of the same shape as the dew bottle. She muttered to herself that the priorities were reversed—the cost of the bottle was five times that of the liquid, and it couldn't be compressed or recycled like a beer bottle, which was somewhat absurd.

Fortunately, fruit wine isn't cheap, with a factory price starting at eight yuan and a retail price that can double. There are good gross margins at every stage, and the company guarantees more than 100% net profit, so the business is quite good.

The only thing that frustrated her was that the idea wasn't her own, but rather a concept given to her by her husband.

"I'm reading the same books as the master, so why am I still so far behind?"

Cen Peipei considered herself not stupid; she learned quickly and could apply what she learned to other situations, otherwise her master would not have entrusted her with such an important task. However, the gap between the two was still like a chasm.

Shaking her head to dismiss the unanswerable thought, Cen Peipei raised her glass to Meng Xiaodong and said, "Sister Hui, bottoms up."

Meng Xiaodong chuckled and raised her glass in return, "This wine is really good; my stomach chill symptoms have lessened considerably."

"A recipe that blends tradition and science, and uses top-quality ingredients, is naturally bound to be excellent." Cen Peipei took a sip of wine, put down her glass, and continued, "Hong Kong is still too small, and the amount that can be sold is limited. The next step is to go overseas to Southeast Asia and Japan."

"Nanyang is easy to deal with; we have connections in wealthy circles. What do you plan to do about Japan?"

Cen Peipei chuckled lightly, "Master has a confidante in Japan, and he's very resourceful."

Hearing Cen Peipei say this, Meng Xiaodong, who was originally just trying to be a straight man, naturally didn't press the matter further. She pursed her lips and gently twirled the prayer beads in her hand.

Tang Residence.

Tang Shunjun withdrew her gaze from Tang Yiying's back and fixed it on Xian Yaowen. She was filled with curiosity about her brother-in-law, her eyes brimming with inquiry.

After sharpening his cleaver, Xian Yaowen went to the bucket, scooped out a snakehead fish, and slammed it to the ground to stun it. He then scaled the fish directly on the ground.

Tang Shunjun's gaze followed Xian Yaowen's knife-wielding hand, and a ripple of emotion stirred within him.

She and her sister disliked each other and avoided seeing each other whenever possible. Her sister would never ask her for anything. The person who invited her to meet today was most likely her brother-in-law.

Xian Yaowen deftly removed the fish's scales and gills, but did not gut it. He put the fish back in the bucket, casually washed his hands, and sat down on the stone bench opposite Tang Shunjun.

"Ms. Tang." (End of Chapter)