Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 112: Planning to rent out a property

No one knew what Ma Qing meant by "what a pity". He just stood on the street outside Zhao's Jewelry Store, waving at Elizabeth as she walked away, saying goodbye, thinking in his heart that you and I didn't even have each other's addresses, so how could we say goodbye.

Liang Haowen stood aside, expressing great amazement at Ma Qing's behavior of clinging to others at any time and abandoning them at any time.

"You're just going to let this foreign girl go like this?"

"What else? Should I invite her to dinner?" Ma Qing felt very strange.

"The lady helped you, you won't deny it, right?" Liang Haowen said.

Ma Qing said, "It's just taking advantage of her situation. If you want to say that she really helped me, no. Of course, if I say that this foreign girl didn't help, then I'm lacking conscience, but that's it. I don't even have an address now, and this foreign girl didn't give me her address herself. That's enough."

Ma Qing looked at Liang Haowen and said curiously, "Come to think of it, Brother Liang, do you think something should happen between us? I think you have read too many storybooks. Could it be that Brother Liang and sister-in-law are like this..."

"Stop, stop, I've said too much. What are you going to do with the money now?" Liang Haowen patted his briefcase, which was filled with 100-yuan bills. He nervously looked at the people coming and going on the street, feeling that there were unruly people everywhere who wanted to harm him.

Ma Qing pointed to the HSBC Bank across the street and said, "It's right there. Keep it there first. You can't keep walking around with so much money."

Liang Haowen slapped his head and said, "Sorry, I got too excited. Let's go, let's deposit the money before the bank closes."

HSBC is a British commercial bank established in Hong Kong in 1864. It started operations in 1865. Its founder is Thomas Sutherland.

From 1865 to 1942, HSBC's main businesses included international exchange, issuing banknotes, deposit and loan business, handling and raising foreign debts to the Chinese government, managing China's tariffs and salt tax business, etc. In 1959, it acquired the British Middle East Bank, a pioneer in the Gulf countries; in the same year, it acquired the Commodity Bank of India, accelerating its transformation to global business. In 1965, it acquired 51% of the shares of Hang Seng Bank and obtained controlling rights.

Especially in 1965, many problems arose in the Chinese banks in Hong Kong. Although it was only the end of 1963, Ma Qing still did not dare to deposit his money in the Chinese banks. Who knew when the crisis started?

So even though Ma Qing doesn't have a good impression of HSBC, it is the best choice now.

Under the watchful eyes of the Indian security guards, Ma Qing and Liang Haowen walked through the revolving glass door. The cold air of air conditioning rushed towards them, instantly isolating them from the slightly warm October air from the outside world. Yes, there was air conditioning in the Hong Kong Bank at this time.

Overhead, the chandelier made of crystal and metal frames emitted a soft light, reflecting the spacious floor paved with black marble tiles underfoot. There were not many people in the bank hall. The few people who did hold passbooks or checks had expectations and anxiety on their faces.

Uniformed clerks were busy behind the counter, sometimes typing on typewriters, sometimes talking with customers. Their voices echoed in the hall, forming a symphony of modern life.

Liang Haowen probably still thought that Ma Qing was a country bumpkin who was completely unfamiliar with the bank's reception procedures, so he said, "Why don't you sit here first? I'll go get the number paper and see if I can find someone to receive you. After all, you're a big client." Then he handed the briefcase to Ma Qing.

Ma Qing didn't know what Liang Haowen was thinking, but if someone was willing to help, why not? Ma Qing took the briefcase, took out a stack of money from it, counted out 4000 Hong Kong dollars and put it in his pocket. Not long after, Liang Haowen came over with a middle-aged man who looked like a lobby manager. After introducing each other, Ma Qing was taken into a small reception room. Ma Qing deposited 296000 Hong Kong dollars into HSBC Bank and exchanged it for a personal passbook issued by HSBC Bank.

"Mr. Ma, are you sure you don't need a fixed amount of savings? The interest rate difference will be huge and you will lose a lot of money." Manager Datong advised without giving up, making a final effort for his own performance.

"No, I will spend the money right away. I want to buy a house." Ma Qing's insecurity reached its peak at this time, and he decided to exchange the money for real estate first.

Ever since Ma Qing saw Brother Zhang kidnapping the eldest son of the Li family on TV in his previous life, Ma Qing always felt that Hong Kong was extremely dangerous at this time, and not having cash on hand was also a way of hedging.

Hearing Ma Qing say this, the lobby manager finally shut up. Nowadays, everyone is buying houses. He is so envious, but what should he do? He cannot complete this month's sales performance.

Ma Qing took the passbook back to the bank lobby, took out 4000 yuan from his pocket, counted out 2000 yuan and handed it to Liang Haowen.

"What are you doing..." Liang Haowen looked at the banknotes that Ma Qing handed over and didn't react for a moment.

"Brother Liang, this is the payment for the legal services you provided. You deserve it. Without your reputation as a lawyer, Zhao's Jewelry Store would not give in so easily. I know this very well." Ma Qing felt that he was acting like the party A at this moment.

Liang Haowen was silent for a moment, took the money, and said seriously: "In this case, you should stop calling me Brother Liang and call me Liang Lu from now on. I will not call you Qingzi from now on. I will call you Mr. Ma. After all, you are my boss now."

"Haha, Brother Liang, I don't care what you call me, but I will still call you Brother Liang, and that's none of your business." After saying that, both of them laughed.

The two men walked out of the bank. Ma Qing waved to Huang Hongtu, who had been following him for a while. The rickshaw immediately followed and stopped beside Ma Qing.

Before getting in the car, Ma Qing said to Liang Haowen, "Brother Liang, I plan to buy a tenement building and exchange this cash for real estate. Then I will need you to provide me with legal services again."

"The real estate market is really good recently. Ma Qing, you have a good vision. I'll help you take a look. If there are suitable resources, I'll notify you." Liang Haowen expressed great approval of Ma Qing's choice.

Ma Qing got in the car and said, "I will go to the law firm to find you when I have time. If you want to find me, please come to the Peninsula Hotel. I am going to change hotels. With my current wealth, I must find a more comfortable and safer hotel."

"Old Huang, Peninsula Hotel, let's go." Ma Qing said in high spirits while sitting in the car.

"Okay, you sit down and we'll set off immediately." Huang Hongtu responded cheerfully. Old Huang had indeed had a few comfortable days these days.

"What a bold and cautious guy!" Liang Haowen said as he watched Ma Qing walking away.

(End of this chapter)