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

Zhang Dabiao immediately pulled A Xiang along and ran over.

It turned out to be a tea stall or ice cream parlor on the street. There are many such places at the village entrance and Shau Kei Wan pier. Zhang Dabiao didn't pay much attention yesterday because he was in a hurry to buy food and thought that the street stalls were all dessert shops or herbal tea shops. He only realized it after going there today.

A street-side tea stall built under a bamboo shed, serving milk tea and fried dough sticks;

The ice room has a storefront and sells milk tea, coffee, and pineapple buns. You can take photos with the snacks. There are many shops on Shau Kei Wan Main Street.

The milk tea is also cheaper by HK$0.2 (2 cents) per cup.

Milk tea + pineapple bun set meal: HK$0.3 (3 mao).

Moreover, Zhang Dabiao noticed that there were more tea stalls and ice cream parlors than congee stalls, because milk tea was served quickly, making it convenient for fishermen to have a cup before heading out to sea, along with a few pineapple buns.

I asked around and found that the raw materials are easy to obtain. You can buy black tea and imported evaporated milk at the general stores in Shau Kei Wan, without having to go to Central to source them.

Zhang Dabiao's mind started racing. He didn't know anything else, but he had worked part-time at a bubble tea shop for a summer during his university years.

This thing is indeed profitable, and the cost of opening a store is low!

You can do it by setting up a bamboo shed on the side of the street!

Zhang Dabiao took A Xiang to try milk tea at several shops, and they all tasted pretty much the same. They also looked at the dessert shops. Some sold mung bean soup, some sold sesame paste, sweet potato soup, and the more expensive ones sold lotus seed and lily bulb soup, almond paste, etc. However, there were very few such high-end shops because there were many fishermen, miners and workers in this area.

This thing can definitely be made!

Mixue Ice Cream, Hui Lau Shan, Meet Fresh, Gu Ming, Cha Bai Dao, Shanghai Auntie, Shu Yi Herbal Jelly, Heytea, Nayuki, Cha Yan Yue Se...

I can get rich no matter what I do!

It's done!

Zhang Dabiao and A Xiang went to the pawnshop owner again. Fishermen don't deduct the purity of old gold bars, and the pawnshop only gives them 6-7% of the market price, which includes deductions for fire loss and risk fees. Regular customers can get a slightly higher price.

Gold shops in Sai Wan and Central could offer higher prices, around HK$1320, but the risks were also greater—it was far away and there was a risk of being targeted by gangsters. So in the end, Zhang Dabiao exchanged it at a pawn shop, since it was an acquaintance of Old Man Chen, and he figured there would be future transactions.

Zhang Dabiao wasn't good at bargaining, but A Xiang was a local expert and a stickler for rules. He said, "You pay others a certain price for gold bars, so you should pay Dabiao the same price. He's from our village," said Uncle Chen.

The shopkeeper couldn't persuade him otherwise. Originally, the price for outsiders would have been reduced to HK$824, and for fishermen to pay HK$990 by default. However, after Ah Xiang argued his case, the price was reduced to HK$1050.

This was all of Zhang Dabiao's start-up capital.

Step 1: Site + Shed (Largest price, HK$465)

Monthly rent for vacant street space: HK$120;

Actual payment: Two months' deposit and one month's rent in advance = HK$360. Ah Xiang negotiated this down payment with the landlady, talking to her about neighborhood business. This is a 200-square-foot vacant lot on the edge of Shau Kei Wan Main Street, near the pier. It's not within the boundaries of Ah Kung Ngan Village. The landlords on Main Street are all "foreigners' godsons" (influenced by the British government), and they only accept "three months' deposit and one month's rent in advance," so the rent can't be lowered. However, through Ah Xiang's bargaining, a two-month deposit and one-month rent in advance agreement was reached.

Bamboo shed construction (including simple curtain): HK$80 (cost of carpentry work by the village carpenter + cost of bamboo, just enough to keep out the rain);

Simple stone stove (for brewing tea and baking pineapple buns): HK$25 (built by a stonemason at the village entrance using salvaged old stone slabs);

Subtotal: 360 + 80 + 25 = HKD 465.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Step Two: Buy all secondhand kitchenware (key to saving money, HK$180) from the Shau Kei Wan flea market.

Large aluminum kettle (for brewing tea): HKD 30;

Earthenware bowls and plates (50 sets): HKD 40;

Wooden table and benches (4 sets, for fishermen to rest): HKD 60;

Pineapple bun grill with mini charcoal stove and iron rack: HKD 30;

Bamboo sieve (for filtering tea leaves) + wooden spoon: HKD 20;

小计：30+40+60+30+20=180港元，街边店，张大彪没準备用小窝里的现代装备，不匹配。

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Step 3: Raw material distribution (HKD 16.2). Shau Kei Wan general stores support credit payments (payment upon completion of sales).

Black tea leaves (coarse tea, can be brewed many times): 2 catties x HK$1.2 = HK$2.4 (cash payment)

Imported evaporated milk (3 cans): 3 x HKD 1 = HKD 3 (cash payment)

White sugar: There's still some in the little nest, HKD 0;

Flour (for baked pineapple buns): I still have some in my little nest, HKD 0;

Yeast + Lard (small amount): There's still some in my little nest, HKD 0;

小计：2.4+3=5.4，不过需要备足3天货，实际付16.2港元（够卖300杯/天×3天）

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Step 4: Processing fees + miscellaneous fees (essential, HKD 60) —

Temporary license for street food: HK$30 (collected by the municipal council in the 60s, valid for six months, saving more than HK$200 compared to a cafe license).

Landlord's tea fee: HK$10 (customary, must be given).

Old newspapers (folded into packing bags, no need to buy, Ah Xiang took him to collect them from dock merchants): 0 Hong Kong dollars... Zhang Dabiao was a little speechless, but let's leave it at that for now, everyone is like this, damn it, you're packing A4 printing paper or kraft paper in a bamboo shed on the street?

Are you crazy?

Signboard making (wooden sign reading "Zhang Ji Milk Tea Shop"): HK$20 (hand-carved by a village carpenter), but Da Biao is prepared to do it himself - does he really think I learned my profession for nothing?

Subtotal: 30 + 10 + = 40 Hong Kong dollars

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Step 5: Opening reserve fund (emergency funds, working capital, change + temporary replenishment of raw materials): HKD 200

I bought a wooden trolley to make it easier to pack things; it cost 30 Hong Kong dollars.

最终合计：465+180+16.2+40+200+30=931.2 港元，除去今天试喝奶茶与吃饭的钱，结余110港元。

In addition, we don't use tap water/electricity: we use charcoal to boil tea (we collect tree branches to save on charcoal costs), and we use well water from the landlord's yard to brew tea, which completely saves on water and electricity bills.

No need to hire: Zhang Dabiao did it all himself. He would pack up his things and put them in the landlord's yard, then go back to his village house, saving on labor costs (in the 60s, all small tea stalls were run by couples or single people).

Simply put, Zhang Dabiao is out of money. If this business fails, he'll have to resort to using the big yellow croaker.

After everything was finished, it was almost afternoon. It would take two days to set up the shed and build the stove, so the business could only open the day after tomorrow morning. So Zhang Dabiao took A Xiang back to the village.

They ate some noodles together in Zhang Dabiao's courtyard, and then A Xiang prepared to go back: "Dabiao, I have to look for a job tomorrow, so I won't be able to keep you company."

"If anything happens, contact me when you get back tonight."

But Zhang Dabiao stopped him.

"Ah Xiang, how much can you earn in a month doing odd jobs?"

Ah Xiang scratched his head: "It's usually 30 yuan, but if things go well, it'll be 40 yuan."

He didn't understand what Zhang Dabiao meant by saying that.

Zhang Dabiao thought about it. After two days of getting to know him, he realized that Ah Xiang was sometimes very clever and sometimes a bit simple-minded.

But this person is honest, stubborn, and a local expert.

If you leave Zhang Dabiao to open a shop on his own, he won't know anything about it, and he'll get ripped off when buying things from people because his Cantonese isn't good.

So he said to Ah Xiang, "Why don't you come work at my tea stall?"

"How about I pay you 50 yuan a month?"