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

Lou Yufan didn't care about all that and prepared to leave. Anyway, he had already delivered all his plastic cups, and he had tried to promote them to other ice cream parlors and tea stalls, but no one paid any attention to him.

We have glass and ceramic cups, so why do we need to buy these disposable plastic cups?

Isn't that just throwing money away?

Therefore, Lou Yufan didn't think much about the plastic cup product and continued to look for other factories or bosses to see if he could get some orders.

He didn't make any money from the plastic cup orders, but if he didn't make any more money, all the factory workers would leave.

Although the foreign debt has been cleared, if there are no orders to sustain the business and all the workers leave, he will not be able to recover even if he gets orders in the future.

It's all tears when I think about it. I need to find some work quickly, at least until Lou Bancheng comes to Hong Kong—and he'll be bringing most of the Lou family's assets with him.

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

Zhang Dabiao has been looking miserable these past few days. Don't ask why; the answer is that he can't get any grain (the sales of Mixue Ice Cream are getting worse every day).

However, everyone can understand this situation, including the Youth Mutual Aid Association, as they don't have much grain stored at Zhang Dabiao's stable anymore.

Wild vegetables and fish are gone; we can't get any.

Even exchanging refined grains for whole grains is no longer feasible; everyone is currently experiencing a food shortage.

Now, in the vegetable garden of the small courtyard, there is only a harvest of some winter vegetables. In the cellar of the stable, there are probably about 1000 catties of grain left. That grain, which we dare not touch, is our last lifeline.

Everyone assumed that Zhang Dabiao had bought it back with his overseas remittance certificates and kept it as a treasure. Moreover, the Youth Mutual Aid Association originally had 13 members, but with the addition of Yu Li and Qin Mancang, there were 15 members. Not to mention how many families followed.

There is a standard amount of grain that each person can exchange each month. In special circumstances, the president Liu Guangqi, vice president Xu Damao, and Zhang Dabiao must discuss it together.

In addition, the food processing shop in Nanluoguxiang is also doing very poor business now, with almost no customers.

To support the business, Zhang Dabiao even sent over the grains, wild vegetables, nuts, and other things that everyone had collected, so that they could be made into dried wild vegetable biscuits for easy storage. This way, the food processing company could have some business and store some grain.

Zhang Dabiao also saved time; he and Qin Jingru no longer needed to spend every day in the kitchen dealing with such trivial matters.

They barely managed to stay afloat, but in other streets and alleys, food was becoming increasingly difficult to buy.

Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi started asking Zhang Dabiao to buy meat for them more and more often.

In short, it's difficult.

Life is getting harder and harder.

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

In Hong Kong, on January 4th, Cheung Yiu-yeung (Cheung Tai-piu, but referred to as Cheung Yiu-yeung in Hong Kong, switching identities) couldn't hold on any longer. Yesterday's sales were only 600 cups of milk tea, equivalent to the foot traffic of two tea stalls, but his shop is at least the size of two ice cream parlors.

They have no choice but to lower the price.

Zhang Yaoyang glanced at the old almanac—

Suitable for: offering sacrifices, bathing, setting up a bed, receiving wealth, hunting, and capturing.

Taboo: Opening a business, breaking ground.

I'm already open for business, so there's no reason for me to close down, right?

Is the 21st-century milk tea shop model really unsuitable for this era?

Zhang Yaoyang hesitated for a long time—

So they closed the old almanac; people shouldn't be too superstitious!

Don't believe it without thinking!

Closing the store is out of the question. As a second-best option, let's lower the prices and promote sales. We'll try to recoup some of our costs. If all else fails, we'll go for "free purchases"!

I had just walked into the store, ready to change the sign, when suddenly a whole bunch of police officers appeared? There was even a foreign police superintendent at the front?

Cheung Yiu-yeung was stunned. The police had already discussed the bribes, and the business had only been open for three days. Why would they want to close down now?

Besides, even if they were going to collect them, why would they need dozens?

I just opened a bubble tea shop, I didn't break any laws.

Did I commit murder and arson or something...?

and many more!

Lou Yufan also arrived, looking excited!

Could it be that my killing of two of his men has been exposed?

Is this kid playing me?!

Zhang Yaoyang wanted to run away! He was incredibly panicked!

Suddenly, the patrolman, Ah Long, pointed—

"It's him! It's Roy Cheung!"

【It’s over! 】

Roy Cheung exerted force with his legs, preparing to run to the backyard, and "appeared" in any corner he could find.

But the foreign police superintendent, looking delighted, asked, "Are you Mr. Cheung Yiu Yeung then?"

"Was it you who came up with the snow-top coffee?"

He speaks with a perfect London accent.

Zhang Yaoyang paused for a moment, then unconsciously replied, "I'm Zhang Yaoyang, not Cheung Yiu Yeung. I developed the snow-top coffee—so what? Is there a problem with it?"

The foreign police superintendent was about to ask someone to translate, but Cheung Yiu-yeung answered directly, and what was that accent?

Are you from where Big Beauty is?

So, to everyone's astonishment, the two began to chat happily.

"American?"

"I'm American—grew up Chinese American in SF's Chinatown. Just got to HK to make a go of it here, that's all."

Looks like they're not here to arrest me?

So the two sat down in the shop and started chatting. (The following text is in Chinese)

It took me a long time to figure out what was going on.

In recent days, there have been many cases of gastroenteritis in Shau Kei Wan. Preliminary investigations suggest that the cause is related to the sharing of glass cups, inadequate disinfection, unclean water sources, improper storage temperatures, and poor hygiene during hand handling.

Quite a few people in the police station get sick; this happens every year, and nobody really takes it seriously.

But this time it caused quite a stir, and many people in the police station were also affected.

Meanwhile, patrol officer Ah Long bought milk tea and bread from Zhang Dabiao's shop for three consecutive days because it was free. Later, when everyone reviewed the incident, they found that no one had any problems with the milk tea and bread from the shop.

At this time, Superintendent Hale (Ronald Percival Hale, referred to as "Superintendent Hale" by his colleagues/subordinates, and called Ron by his first name by senior Hong Kong government officials) was applying to his superiors for this year's meal budget, and that's why he came to us.

Most of the budget would end up in his pocket. Mixue Ice Cream's food is delicious, varied, expensive, and hygienic, so why not ask for a high budget?

So everyone who was drooling followed and ran over.

We need to conduct an on-site assessment of the hygiene issues at Mixue Ice Cream.

As for referring to Roy Cheung as "Cheung Yiu Yeung," it's simply because of the common way Hong Kong names are translated in London.

What can you do if he calls you that?

Upon learning that Roy Cheung was an American of Chinese descent, Superintendent Hale became even more friendly, and the two chatted amiably, much to the astonishment of Ah Long and his men.

I initially thought he was just a country bumpkin from the mainland, but looking at him now, he doesn't seem like one at all.

Furthermore, Roy Cheung also stated that he grew up in Chinatown and his English is not very fluent because he was surrounded by Chinese people.

However, some of his spoken English was very American, and he also had some gestures and little habits, plus his dignified yet respectful demeanor when talking to Superintendent Hale...

Anyway, everyone believed it.