The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 242 Hong Kong Taxi
After the finance department brought people to get the money, Jiang Cheng took Ali back to his residence.

Now Ali feels more at ease working with Jiang Cheng. It is relatively easy to get a driver's license in Hong Kong these days. It doesn't really require you to know how to repair things, as long as you know how to drive.

The test in China is conducted using Jiefang cars, which are more difficult to operate, while the test in Hong Kong is conducted using ordinary cars.

In addition, at the factory, Ali was only responsible for the transportation, not moving it himself. Sometimes after arranging the manpower, he could go to learn how to drive.

So Ali got his driver's license, but he was still a little unfamiliar with driving. It didn't matter. In the New Territories, although there were many cars on the road, it wasn't too crowded. He could just get a pickup truck and drive slowly.

Jiang Cheng promised Ali that he would continue to be in charge of transportation after he learned how to drive. He would pay him 2,000 yuan a month, which was considered a white-collar salary in Hong Kong.

With 2,000 yuan a month, Ali could buy a house as long as he worked with Jiang Cheng for one or two years. Moreover, he could eat and drink for free in the factory, and he could still live in the same place as before. He didn't need to give up the house, and it could be used as a staff dormitory.

Ali recruited a few honest and hard-working people at the dock and some other places to work with him. They lived together and listened to his instructions. This made Ali feel quite fulfilled.

A few days ago, A Guang came to see him. He was wearing very fashionable clothes and came to see Ali mainly to reminisce about the past.

Ah Guang regretted following Zhang Hao and joining the gang. It seemed very glorious. He dressed well, ate well, and went to places where rich people lived.

But it's just a superficial glitz. You spend your days eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and you can't save any money. You can't keep the money without spending it. You have to spend money to maintain your image and appearance. You're like a country bumpkin. No one will follow you.

But it must be said that A Guang also admitted that he lived a carefree life. He also followed Jiang Cheng's example and found a little girl and hooked up with a student girl.

Of course, he couldn't compare to Shen Li, at least Shen Li looked like a girl who knew how to live. Ah Guang hooked up with a student girl who didn't want to study and liked to hang out outside.

She followed A Guang around every day, eating and drinking for free, smoking, and asking A Guang to give her money to spend. But she was not greedy, and she would get by with just a few dozen yuan.

In fact, Ali was also influenced by Jiang Cheng and found a girl, but he just wanted to get along with her. He now works in a food factory. He met her when he first helped Jiang Cheng recruit workers.

The other party was only 16 years old. At the beginning, Jiang Cheng had not yet set up a factory, and when he was running a small workshop, he needed to recruit temporary workers. Ali specifically recruited her to work as a temporary worker, and they got to know each other after a few visits.

She felt that Ali was quite honest and earned a lot, even though he was ten years older than her. But in Hong Kong, mainland girls from the mainland might even marry old men, so being ten years older was nothing.

So the girl agreed to stay together temporarily, but her parents asked Ali to buy a house in Hong Kong before they would let their daughter marry him. The requirement was not high, at least a 300-foot house.

Jiang Cheng asked Ali to learn how to drive and he learned how to deliver goods for the company. The vehicle would also be given to Ali for safekeeping. Ali's girlfriend was very happy to hear about this and asked him to learn seriously. If he could drive, she could take her for a ride in the future.

"Brother Cheng, I asked several real estate agencies this morning, but I couldn't find any factories for rent. But there is a furniture factory that is for sale, and it requires a lot of transfer fees."

"The furniture factory is being sold. It's located near us."

“The location is a bit remote, but the rent and area are quite large.”

In the living room, Shen Li reported to Jiang Cheng about the situation of looking for a factory in the morning. It is not easy to find a factory in Hong Kong, especially in the past two years. These two years are the stage of Hong Kong's manufacturing industry taking off. Many investors are looking for suitable factories. Those with strong financial strength directly buy land to build factories.

Although Jiang Cheng made a lot of money from making meatballs, people didn't care about that little money. It was just food processing, just fish balls and the like. The refrigeration industry was not well developed, so Jiang Cheng only had the Hong Kong market.

Many investors in Hong Kong have set their sights on the international market, such as textiles, clothing and toys. These can be sold all over the world, and the market is worth hundreds of millions. Jiang Cheng is engaged in meatballs. Even if he occupies the entire Hong Kong market, what will happen? The current total population is only four million. It is impossible for everyone to eat meatballs every day. Excluding some people from the mainland who cannot afford meatballs, the scale of the meatball wholesale market in Hong Kong cannot be large.

In addition, due to the particularity of Hong Kong, many traditional industries will disappear.

For example, flour mills. Hong Kong used to have flour mills, but now they import flour directly without processing. There are also furniture factories. Hong Kong doesn’t have many trees that you can cut down at will, so even wood has to be imported, which is very costly.

Many traditional furniture factories in Hong Kong closed down and changed their business in the 1970s. Even in the 21st century, there were only a few dozen furniture factories in Hong Kong. At that time, transportation was well developed and materials were diversified.

"It's a bit remote. You can't rent a car in a place that's not remote. Let's go eat first. We'll go look at cars in the afternoon. If we find a suitable one, we'll buy a small truck and then drive to see the factory." Jiang Cheng responded.

"Brother Cheng, you don't want to buy a car?" Shen Li asked.

"I'll buy a car too, but I plan to buy it in installments with a loan, so it might not be that convenient and I won't be able to get the car right away." Jiang Cheng said. He also brought a newspaper with him. The advertisement in the newspaper had the address and contact number of the car seller.

Shen Li didn't know much about loan installments. She just knew that Jiang Cheng would buy it anyway, and she also wanted Jiang Cheng to drive her to other places in Hong Kong.

The schedule for the afternoon was also planned, and the three of them immediately went out to have lunch. In order to save time, they simply found a small restaurant and had a portion of barbecued pork rice.

After dinner, the three of them stood at the intersection, ready to take a taxi to Prince Edward Road in Kowloon. The address of the car sale advertisement was written in Kowloon.

There were many taxis in Hong Kong at that time. According to statistics from the Hong Kong Transport Department, there were more than 4,000 taxis. On average, there were several hundred taxis in each district. Even if this number was placed in a county town in the future, it would be enough.

"Taxi driver, this way~." Shen Li saw a taxi passing by and immediately waved to it.

Hearing the call, the taxi driver also kept his eyes and ears open. As long as there were no passengers in the car, there was no way he would not notice it.

"Sir, Madam, get in." The taxi driver parked the car and greeted them warmly.

Jiang Cheng asked Ali to sit in the front, and he and Shen Li got on the back seat. Then he handed the newspaper to the taxi driver and said, "Go to Prince Edward Road in Kowloon."

"To Kowloon. It's quite far. It costs fifty dollars." The taxi driver took the newspaper and said.

In this era, taking a taxi is mainly about bargaining. It is not charged by the meter, and generally it costs more than one yuan per kilometer. Especially now is the New Year, the price is a little higher than usual.

Another thing is that Hong Kong now charges operating fees just like in China, and it is not just operating fees, but also car rental fees. A car in Hong Kong is not expensive, but taxi companies only rent cars and do not sell them.

It is not easy to drive a taxi in Hong Kong, so in this era, two people who can drive will rent a taxi together and drive it. They take turns driving during the day and night, 24 hours a day.

In the 1980s and 1990s, some Hong Kong ghost movies had midnight taxis and so on. At that time, many people would naively think that since there are ghosts at night, why not drive a taxi during the day instead of at night?

In Hong Kong, there are many taxis and various fees. If you drive alone, you won't make much money. If two people drive together and share the expenses, you can still make an average of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan a month. It's hard work, but the income is at least average.

Fifty dollars is fifty dollars. Jiang Cheng did not bargain, but sighed inwardly. He drove a Didi in the 21st century. After deducting the platform's commission, he might not even get fifty dollars for a thirty-kilometer journey. He did not expect that in Hong Kong in the 1970s, it would be so much.

(End of this chapter)