Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"65 US dollars, I own 8%, and after converting it to RMB, it should be around 128 million..."

Qin Jingru let out a "hiccup"—she was so startled that she hiccuped!

Mu Wanqing and He Yushui were also stunned. A million-level sum?!

A million in 1960!

They were all too scared to speak. Zhang Dabiao was very satisfied with their reaction, which was similar to how much money his company made this year.

What is the equivalent of a million-dollar sum in 1960 in 2025?

There are quite a lot!

This left the three women speechless. Just six months ago, they were struggling to make ends meet, barely able to get enough to eat. After meeting Zhang Dabiao, they thought they had met a benefactor, the right person, and were still dreaming of a happy life together, working hard to earn money and make their family better and better.

If we work hard these past few years and pool our money, we can build the house as soon as possible.

But now?

Zhang Dabiao made hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan in the blink of an eye. Then think about everyone's wages, especially Sha Zhu who always brags about his monthly salary of 27.5 yuan...

He immediately understood why Zhang Dabiao didn't want to go to work.

Why bother going to work?

You couldn't earn this much money working your whole life.

I understand Zhang Dabiao, but I can't become Zhang Dabiao. However, becoming Zhang Dabiao's wife is still a possibility.

He Yushui now understood Qin Jingru and Mu Wanqing's previous attitude. Zhang Dabiao was no ordinary man. So what if he had a few more wives?

Since ancient times, the greater one's ability, the more wives one has...

------------

That evening, the people in the courtyard heard about the sign, but they didn't pay too much attention to it. Zhang Dabiao already had 20 yuan and was already working for the ministry, so hanging up a sign wasn't anything special.

However, the fact that he had three top university graduates under his command, all of whom were cadres, was rather intriguing. Liu Guangqi did come over to inquire about the nail clippers. Zhang Dabiao briefly told him that the three of them would be working in the office prepared for him at the factory, giving them an advantage, and that he could go and talk to them himself.

However, it's hard to say whether the factory can actually get the nail clipper set.

Zhang Dabiao only provides the ideas; he doesn't care which factories will cooperate in production, how to price it, where to sell it, or what the sales strategy is. It's none of his business.

Moreover, Hung Hsing Daily Necessities Factory is currently merging with an export-oriented small commodities manufacturing plant, so there's a lot going on. At this time, it would be good enough if they could just manage to digest their current product line.

Too much to chew.

Liu Guangqi nodded and didn't say anything more.

------------

The next day, Zhang Dabiao went to Xiangjiang Village House at 4 o'clock, and even delivered cakes and bread the night before.

Ah Xiang came over in the morning; he needed to set up his stall a little earlier and make milk tea. Upon seeing that Zhang Dabiao had brought a lot of cakes, he went back to get his carrying pole and bamboo basket without saying a word.

The two carried four baskets of things to the tea stall. Everything that needed to be done had been prepared. They pushed the cart over from the landlord's place, laid out the things, and "Zhang's Milk Tea Shop" was ready to open!

Zhang Dabiao had less than 60 Hong Kong dollars left. Looking at the daily profits these past few days, if things went well, he would start a chain.

If it doesn't work out, then we have to find another way.

The taste of milk tea – the tea and milk used here are basically the same, with little difference. Each shop has its own "secret recipe", such as adding a little bit of condensed milk, or a little bit of coffee, honey, or sugar, or changing the type of black tea.

Overall, they're pretty much the same.

The bread is mainly pineapple buns, which are very popular these days. However, everyone gets their bread from "Guangxing Bakery" on the main street, which delivers it twice a day, at 6 a.m. and 3 p.m., making it fresh and hot. But then a problem arises.

Everyone's tastes are too similar, so Zhang Dabiao decided not to innovate the milk tea for now, since everyone's tastes are basically the same. He also decided to have Qin Jingru make all the bread and pastries, and try something different.

Once the brand gains popularity, the milk tea recipe will be gradually changed to create a tea stall that is slightly different from the locals'.

Once they made money, they started turning into ice cream parlors, and then opened a chain.

At 5 a.m., Zhang Dabiao had already started brewing milk tea. One large aluminum kettle could brew 50 cups, and he would use two aluminum kettles in rotation, brewing about 6 kettles and 300 cups a day.

Zhang Dabiao tasted it himself and found it to be similar to the milk tea from other shops, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

The key is bread and pastries. Just heat them up a little in the small charcoal oven used for baking pineapple buns, and the aroma spreads out—it's incredibly delicious!

Around 6 o'clock, miners, fishermen, and factory workers had already gone out, and some people came looking for the aroma.

"Boss, what kind of bread is this? How much is it?"

At that moment, Zhang Dabiao was writing prices on a small wooden board.

「奶茶3毫/杯；菠萝包、牛角包、奶油小蛋糕2毫/个；巧克力甜甜圈3毫/个、鸡蛋仔3毫/份、蜂蜜小麵包1毫/个（个头不大）、蝴蝶酥1毫两个」

"Package 1: Spend any amount under 5 cents and receive a free butterfly pastry."

"Package 2: Spend any amount under 6 cents and receive a complimentary honey mini bread."

The man was a little surprised when he saw the prices Zhang Dabiao had written down: "Wow, boss, you even have chocolate, cream, and honey?"

"You're fed up with life, huh? Fine, give me Set Meal Number 2!"

"A cup of milk tea, a chocolate donut, and a honey mini bread on the side, right, boss?"

Zhang Dabiao accepted the money with a grin, and while pouring milk tea for the customer, he said, "That's right, since you're the first customer today, I'll give you a small cream cake as a gift."

"You got the 6-cent set meal with cream, chocolate, and honey—bro, you really hit the jackpot!"

"The boss knows how to do business! Judging from your accent, you're from mainland China?"

"My hometown is in mainland China, so my Cantonese isn't very good. Please bear with me."

"Hey, what's the big deal? Many of us come from inland China. My hometown is Yingshan, Hubei."

"Hey, fellow countryman! My hometown is Guangji!"

"Oh my, oh my, it really is someone from our hometown..."

After chatting with the guest for a while, the clever Ah Xiang scratched his head again: "Yaoyang, didn't you say your hometown is Beijing?"

Zhang Dabiao: "..."

How do you remember it so clearly?

"My grandfather was from Beijing, my grandmother from Hubei, and my parents from San Francisco's Chinatown. I have two ancestral homes in mainland China. Is there a conflict?"

Ah Xiang scratched his head: "Oh..."

"That seems to make sense."

Zhang Dabiao was exhausted. This guy is so clever... I'm not going to say anything more, he's just ruining things!

Zhang's Milk Tea Shop's milk tea wasn't anything special, but its bread and pastries became an instant hit. This wasn't just because Zhang Dabiao gave Qin Jingru the recipes; while Qin Jingru was certainly skilled, the key ingredient was cream, chocolate, and honey. These weren't rare items in Hong Kong, but they were more expensive than ordinary pineapple buns, resulting in a better taste.

In Shau Kei Wan, a place where most people are stone miners and fishermen, this thing is a luxury item, but Zhang Dabiao didn't buy it for much.

So even though it had just opened, business was exceptionally good!