The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Hong Kong, a super restaurant for outsiders.

In this densely populated city, pigeon lofts mean that a 90-square-meter apartment can be divided into 18 units.

The average household size is less than ten square meters, and that's not even the most outrageous part.

The most outrageous type of subdivided flat is where a bed is separated by an iron cage.

This is a room where one person lives.

Despite the extravagant living conditions, the people living here earn at least ten or twenty thousand yuan a month.

Whether it's a dishwasher or a security guard, the starting monthly salary is over ten thousand yuan.

Most of the people living in this environment are from out of town, so the super restaurant located here is also called "Out-of-Town Restaurant".

The Out-of-Town Super Restaurant, which has been open for more than a year, is extremely popular, and it has hired no fewer than ten dishwashers.

As for the waiters who greet guests and clear tables, there are more than thirty of them.

This doesn't even include the chefs and such.

The Out-of-Town Super Restaurant has two floors, each with an area of ​​about 500 square meters.

It can accommodate several hundred people to eat at the same time.

Since it opened here, the media has spontaneously reported on it two or three times.

The main reason is that the price is too cheap.

A buffet costing 15 yuan per person is acceptable in mainland China, but it's practically an anomaly in Hong Kong.

The menu is also exceptionally extensive.

It's fair to say that from the day it opened, you have to queue up if you want to eat here.

If it happens to be mealtime, it will take at least seven or eight minutes before you can go in to get your food.

Some journalists have done the math for it. First of all, the housing prices in Hong Kong are, needless to say, extremely high.

Even if such a large two-story storefront isn't located on the most bustling streets of Hong Kong, it's still impressive.

If you want to open a shop under a pigeon loft like this, you can forget about renting it for less than 30 million a year.

As for its price, it would be quite good if it could guarantee that employees' monthly income wouldn't result in a loss.

With tens of millions in rent every year, it's certain that the company will lose money, and that's exactly what happened.

The restaurant catering to outsiders, priced at 15 yuan per person, simply cannot recoup its investment costs.

What can be recovered is the reputation among outsiders.

Chen An'an stayed here quietly for a day or two, compared to the villa on the mountaintop.

People here eat simply to fill their stomachs and make a living.

After eating, you can either rest for a while or immediately get back to work.

In short, you can hardly see any enjoyment of life on their faces.

This is the stark contrast between the mountaintop villas and the lives of ordinary people.

She adapted quite well; Erpiya only stayed for two days before wanting to go home.

Chen Pingsheng ignored her and then left her there to exercise.

Shen Youwei and Zhao Yingying also accompanied the two young ladies.

As for the plump auntie, she has been working here for over a year and many people know her.

We used to be neighbors, and now we greet each other even more often.

According to her, even though there are many middle-aged people here and they seem quite stingy, they are extremely reluctant to spend money on themselves.

But once he enters the casino, he's like a completely different person.

The plump woman pointed to two middle-aged men with messy hair and dirty faces and said, "Those two are construction workers who carry steel bars and cement. They eat a lot and don't like to talk. They go to the casino three or four times a month. According to them, they've been poor all their lives. If they don't rely on gambling, how else can they turn their lives around?"

"Did they turn things around?" Chen An'an asked curiously. The plump aunt whispered back.

"How can they turn things around? Of course, they win less and lose more. In that kind of place, once you win, you can't stop, and once you lose, you'll only sink deeper. These two have been working on construction sites for almost twenty years, and they can't even find a wife. It's clear they've been sending their money to that kind of place."

Poor people are actually more likely to gamble than rich people.

It's mainly because of the thrill; when life lacks excitement, many people like to seek comfort in that.

These two aren't the only ones who like to gamble; many people who come here do.

On payday, most people team up to play a couple of games. Some are homeless and single, so they just accept losing the money.

Most of them are not actually married; they are already married and have children in mainland China and come here simply to make money.

These people are often able to control themselves to some extent.

If you can't control it, the only outcome is divorce.

The saying "nine out of ten gamblers lose" is no joke.

The plump woman couldn't understand why the big boss would send his daughter to work as a waitress in such a place.

Perhaps it's not just about watching the spectacle, but more about seeing the real lives of these people struggling at the bottom of society.

In fact, the lives of poor people are often more oppressive, and they lack a sense of accomplishment in their lives.

This means they lack channels to release their emotions.

Gambling has naturally become a hobby for many people.

Some people can win tens of thousands in one night, while most people can lose a month's salary in just a few hours.

The Out-of-Town Restaurant not only brings together these people, but also some former street bosses.

Like that old man with half-gray hair, what he likes to talk about most is Causeway Bay back in the day.

Brother Hao Nan is not a legend; the real-life figure behind him was slapped for interfering in Anita Mui's nightclub incident.

He was hacked to death in the street.

When people talk about Hong Kong in the 1990s, they always feel that there was still a place for gangsters in Hong Kong back then.

But the truly formidable fighters are often the ruthless individuals who smuggle themselves over from the mainland.

Some people have indeed made their way up through the underworld, and now they can still hold their glasses and offer Chen Pingsheng a toast with dignity.

It's just that they can't get a seat at the head table.

It would be a great honor to receive a business card from him, and these people had already changed into suits and black ties.

Most people are eliminated by the world of martial arts.

Just like this white-haired old man, he was considered lucky; the elder brother he swore allegiance to was indeed loyal.

However, it was also because of his loyalty that he was put into a sack and thrown into the sea.

The reason was that the younger brother offended a second-generation rich kid, and this older brother went over and slapped him without even asking any questions.

It was like standing up for his younger brother.

It sank into the sea the next day.

As for his underling, he had long since fled abroad and never dared to return to Hong Kong until his death.

In Hong Kong during the 1980s and 90s, such incidents were countless.

After the 1997 handover, the chaotic Hong Kong was finally cut off from the underworld.

And these former江湖人 (jianghu people), including that one, can only reminisce about their past glory.

What Chen An'an could feel here was a sense of oppression, an extreme sense of oppression.

Perhaps everyone, in their youth, longs to fight against fate for a chance to change their destiny.

Some people risk their lives, and then they lose their lives.

Some people work hard, only to end up as laborers their whole lives.

There are also people who honestly and diligently stick to their posts. They may not be happy, but their wives and children back home are their greatest motivation.

These people are thus able to control their inner desires, and when they get old, they can return to the rural areas of the interior and live in a big house.

More than anything, he enjoys gambling, or perhaps it's not because he enjoys gambling.

It's simply because they can't find hope in life.

And these are often the ones who suffer the most.

They scrimped and saved, yet used all their savings to gamble and take a chance.

The price of hoping to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle is losing your old, broken bicycle.

(End of this chapter)