The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

The next day.

Chen Pingsheng is going to attend the opening ceremony of Teng Hui Department Store in Hong Kong.

With four large supermarkets opening at the same time, it would be a lie to say it wasn't bustling.

This is also their family's first physical business in Hong Kong.

The total investment was around 500 million yuan, and the four storefronts were purchased for over 3 billion yuan. It's quite a lively place.

Many veteran celebrities have taken the initiative to endorse him and promote his brand.

As for Chen An'an, the little rascal, after she finished washing up, she was still thinking about going to play with Shen Youwei, her chubby aunt.

My dad has so many businesses, it's always opening one here or another every day. If she goes to join in all the fun, she won't have enough holidays.

With only three days left of the seven-day National Day holiday, Chen An'an still took her little girl to visit Shen Youwei and her chubby aunt.

My chubby aunt doesn't start work until 10 a.m. and doesn't go home to sleep until midnight.

It's fair to say that they were very tired.

Chen An'an came over, wanting to go with her to meet the ordinary people living in pigeon coops.

I also want to learn more about their lives. Aunt Pang thought her idea was quite strange.

Most wealthy families would look down on them, but she still took the initiative to approach them.

Also no one.

There are many pigeon coops in Hong Kong, and they are very densely packed.

Most pigeon coops house four or five people in a few square meters, while some are simply beds enclosed with wire mesh, with one person living in each one.

It's roughly like a bird trapped in a cage.

Chen An'an found it hard to imagine how they could survive in such living conditions.

This can no longer be called living; it's just being alive.

That's right, he's still alive.

This type of room also has another name: coffin room. Lying in it means you're only alive with a few thoughts still lingering inside.

If it weren't for the high wages, who would want to live in this kind of environment?

The overwhelming sense of suffocation was almost unbearable to look at.

The chubby aunt is quite popular here; people who know her will greet her.

She responded with a smile to each of them, saying that the group not only consisted of working people, but also included some young people.

He fantasizes about building a Ferrari future with the knife in his hand, just like Brother Nan from Causeway Bay.

Many young people have this idea: their job is to park cars for people at nightclubs every day, or to work as bouncers at entertainment venues.

Or, to make something even more ruthless, one could find a girlfriend and put her in a brothel, using her to make money.

There are so many kinds, countless.

The biggest dream of everyone living here every morning is to move away.

There is another type of person who has lost hope; for them, living is merely existing.

It has already lost its soul.

The plump aunt introduced everyone to Shen Youwei and the others, and when she saw an old man, she even greeted him with a smile.

"The old man's son came to Hong Kong a few years ago and was quite famous for two years. I heard that he followed a good big brother and always looked very imposing when he went out. A few years ago, I heard that he was hacked to death on the street and his body was never found."

Some things are just so helpless; young people shouldn't try to survive in society, because they never know when they'll die.

After he died, that kind older brother didn't even come to see the old man once.

That's pretty cold-blooded.

My aunt still has a deep impression of that old man's son, mainly because he was a very positive and motivated person.

And politeness.

He often says, "I have this worthless life, if I don't give it my all, how can I take care of my dad and live in a big house?"

And then, the elderly bury their children.

Almost everyone living here knows that there are deep barriers between social classes.

Trying to get through would mean risking serious injury or even death.

It's like joining a gang; if you live in a cramped, isolated place, you have to risk your life to get ahead.

If you come from a well-off family, you'll start as a small leader.

Tell me, isn't that ironic?

Chen An'an wandered around the entire floor, and the little girl was almost in tears.

She didn't like this place at all; everything was a mess.

It's still very crowded.

The living conditions were already suffocating, and the food wasn't much better either.

Many people just casually put a pot inside, and the dining table is even placed on top of the squat toilet in the bathroom.

Even though she was mentally prepared, Chen An'an still couldn't help but feel nauseous.

I don't know how this family can eat that.

Doesn't it make you feel nauseous to eat in the bathroom?
Perhaps this is the helplessness of adulthood!

"Auntie Fatty, how can they eat like this?"

"It's just a matter of getting used to it gradually. Land in Hong Kong is incredibly valuable, and eating out is so expensive, so we have to make the most of every inch of space."

"I...I'm going to find my dad."

Chen An'an couldn't bear to watch any longer. How could they live like this?

This is no longer a matter of decency; it's a matter of having no soul at all.

Too suffocating.

She genuinely couldn't imagine that anyone would eat in the toilet.

Moreover, this toilet is unlike the one in her house.

Even a random bathroom in her house is two or three times larger than the entire house where the family lives.

There are at least several thousand people in that pigeon coop.

Everyone was crammed together, living without any dignity.

There were still two top-of-the-line Phantoms parked downstairs, with four bodyguards/drivers standing beside them.

After Chen An'an got on the bus, she also called for her aunt to come along.

She still wanted to do something; deep down, she was still a kind-hearted girl. It would be a lie to say that the plump aunt wasn't nervous riding in a Rolls-Royce with the Angel emblem for the first time.

I plopped down inside and didn't dare move at all.

Even a simple umbrella that comes with this kind of car is priced at 100,000 yuan.

That's not a place for someone like her to sit in. The phantom left and headed towards the top of Mount Baijiadao.

The environment there is spacious and the scenery is excellent; all you can see when you look up is the setting sun.

Looking down, I saw Victoria Harbour and the boundless blue sea.

When the wind blows, there won't be a smell of cooking oil or that messy, sweaty feeling.

Instead, it's refreshing and natural.

The people living inside are naturally the top figures in this society.

The chubby aunt became increasingly nervous, as it was her first time visiting the legendary mountaintop villa.

She didn't know why the girl insisted on calling her over; she only knew that this kind of place wasn't for someone like her.

Chen Pingsheng attended the opening ceremony of Tenghui Department Store in the morning and had lunch with a few bigwigs at noon.

Among them were Guo Ziyi, the third-generation direct descendant of the Guo family, and Xiang Wu, the boss of the Xiang family.

The Xiang family is eager to collaborate with him on Tencent Entertainment, aiming to jointly enter the mainland entertainment market.

To be honest, the Xiang family was only doing well in the 1990s.

They gained a certain market share in the film market by leveraging their gang's influence.

After Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, many of the old triad societies in Hong Kong began to fade away.

The Xiang family, naturally, is not as prosperous as before.

It's no exaggeration to say that Xiang Wu was just a junior in front of him; the Xiang family had absolutely no connection with the terms "wealthy family."

Compared to the Guo family, one of the four great families, they are insignificant.

Guo Ziyi didn't even acknowledge him.

It's even less likely that Chen Pingsheng would have any cooperation with him.

Ah Li has always wanted to invest in Tencent Entertainment, but he won't give them any shares, let alone the Xiang family.

Chen An'an went home and parked her car in her garage. Her family has two heated swimming pools, one indoors and one outdoors.

The garden lawn is large enough that you can run around freely.

The sight of this environment left the plump aunt speechless.

"Old Bean."

Chen An'an came running over excitedly, pulling on the fat aunt and saying, "This is the fat aunt I told you about yesterday. I went to see her again today."

"Dad, you have no idea, those people actually eat sitting on the squat toilet. I almost threw up just looking at it."

Chen An'an's description is not an exaggeration at all.

Chen Pingsheng greeted the plump aunt with a smile, but the plump aunt had no idea how to respond to him.

He just stood there with a stiff face and an awkward smile.

"Dad, I want to help them?"

"How do you want to help?"

Chen An'an scratched her head, unable to come up with a solution. She was still young; her intentions might be good, but she just couldn't think of a concrete way to do it.

"Dad, I want them all to have a nice environment where they can have a good meal."

"That's it."

This is quite simple for most people, but for those living in birdcages, it's a real luxury.

Chen Pingsheng looked at her seriously and said, "Have you ever thought that there are at least tens of thousands of people living over there? If you want them to have a good dining environment, you would have to build a large restaurant of several thousand square meters."

"To open a restaurant like this in Hong Kong, the initial investment would be no less than 50 million. Given the frugal habits of those people, they wouldn't eat a meal that costs more than 20 yuan per person."

"And 20 is already far below the market price. If you want them to eat there long-term, the price cannot exceed 15."

"At this price of fifteen, you've been catering to the food needs of tens of thousands of people. Do you know how much that costs in a year?"

Chen An'an shook her head.

She's so bad at math, how could she possibly figure out such a complicated account?

Chen Pingsheng said, "Putting aside the investment costs, a super restaurant like this requires an investment of at least 50 million yuan every year. Do you still expect them to have a decent dining environment?"

Chen An'an thought about it seriously for a moment, then nodded, "Dad, am I a big spender?"

"No, I'm quite relieved."

Chen Pingsheng patted her head and said, "Dad can grant you this kind wish, but you must understand that Dad will grow old one day. When I grow old, many things in the family may fall on your shoulders. If you want to continue doing good deeds, then you have to work hard to ensure that our family business is not eliminated by the market."

Chen Pingsheng called his secretary, Xu Jing, to inform her that 100 million yuan had been allocated.

Outside the birdcage-like houses of Hong Kong, build a super restaurant for outsiders.

We are both strangers in a foreign land.

Perhaps this is the real reason why her daughter wanted to help them.

One can only say that kindness towards a person is a kind heart.

Being kind to a group of people is like burning money.

Chen An'an's idea is good, but it would be impossible to achieve without money.

The plump aunt standing to the side was already dumbfounded. She never expected that a nine-year-old girl would just go over and visit.

She was able to get her father to allocate 100 million to improve everyone's dining environment.

They opened a super restaurant outside a birdcage and priced it at 15 yuan per meal.

Restaurants like this are basically losing a lot of money.

After all, in Hong Kong, even a meal at a dirty and chaotic fast food restaurant will cost no less than thirty-five dollars.

Forget about opening a super restaurant, the price is only fifteen.

This isn't doing business; it's clearly charity.

Chen Pingsheng owns the listed catering company Fei Yang Yang.

For him, opening a super restaurant would be easy.

The goal is simply to keep the annual losses below 50 million.

Ultimately, it was the father who paid the price for the big kid's kind act.

(End of this chapter)