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

Jin Youlai quickly grabbed a pen and wrote down what Zhang Yaoyang (Zhang Dabiao) said in his notebook.

Zhang Dabiao turned to look at A Xiang.

"Have Superintendent Hale and the triads followed all the rules?"

Ah Xiang nodded, a hint of resentment on his face.

"Brother Yaoyang, I deliver the envelopes to Superintendent Hale every month without fail. His appetite is getting bigger and bigger."

"I've paid plenty of protection money to the gangs too."

"But these gangsters are too arrogant. They just take the money and do nothing. A few days ago, there was a fight in front of our ice cream parlor, and they didn't even show their faces."

Zhang Dabiao tapped on the table.

"Hong Kong is in a state of chaos right now, with various forces intertwined."

"We are new here and our foundation is not yet solid."

"The gangsters are after big factories, nightclubs, and big hotels; they want to sell their goods in bulk. They don't even look at our few ice cream parlors, where we only make a few cents or dollars a cup."

"Paying protection money is just to buy peace and quiet. Don't get yourself into trouble just to save a little money."

"Paying money to avoid disaster, we just need to steadily earn cash flow."

Ah Xiang lowered his head and responded.

After the meeting, Zhang Dabiao led a few people to inspect Mixue Ice Cream City.

Mixue Ice Cream currently has 8 branches in Hong Kong, all located in bustling areas with extremely high foot traffic.

When I arrived at one of the branches in Tsim Sha Tsui, the queue stretched all the way to the street corner.

The store's employees were extremely busy.

Pineapple buns, Hong Kong-style milk tea, and all sorts of new drinks are selling like hotcakes.

Qin Mancang held the account book and was happily calculating the figures beside him.

"Brother Yao, this isn't just an ice room, it's a money printing machine!"

"The combined daily revenue of our eight stores is equivalent to that of a medium-sized factory."

Jin Youwu rolled his eyes.

Have you ever seen a money-printing machine selling cups of cash?

"That's called hard-earned money."

Qin Mancang retorted defiantly.

"What's wrong with hard-earned money? Cash flow is the most reliable thing."

Zhang Dabiao felt very relaxed watching the two bickering.

He was mentally calculating his base of operations in Hong Kong.

"Yaoyang Investment Company" is responsible for real estate, stock market, and financial investments.

Mixue Ice Cream's eight stores are responsible for providing a continuous flow of cash flow and brand effect.

Mixue Ice Cream Catering Supplies Company is responsible for sales and supply chain.

"Yu Fan Plastics Factory" is responsible for manufacturing physical products, and Zhang Yaoyang owns 25% of the shares in it.

Two other publishing houses are also responsible for publishing, and they are also following the cash flow route, but so far the returns can only be described as decent.

These five sectors worked together, and in this turbulent period, they were enough to allow him to accumulate astonishing wealth.

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

In the afternoon, Zhang Yaoyang returned to Agongyan Village alone.

His original village house, along with the three houses he bought later, were connected together in one area.

The exterior walls are painted with ordinary cement gray. It is a two-story building in the style of a Chinese village, and there is nothing particularly eye-catching about it from the outside.

This was bought by Zhang Dabiao at a high price, demolished, and rebuilt.

The villagers only knew that this Mr. Zhang was very rich and that he had recruited many young people from the village to work at Mixue Ice Cream.

The villagers, who had received high salaries, spontaneously became the protectors of this house.

Normally, if anyone dares to stalk around near the No. 4 village house, the entire village, young and old, can beat them out with a carrying pole.

Zhang Dabiao took out his key and opened the heavy iron gate.

I went inside, drew the curtains, and opened the hidden door leading to the basement.

The basement was dug very deep, with two full floors.

Zhang Dabiao walked down the stairs. The security, fire prevention, and moisture-proof systems here were all imported by him at great expense.

Open the last door, and the lights come on.

In the spacious basement, rows of custom-made display shelves are neatly arranged.

This place contains all the antiques and cultural relics he collected through various channels in Beijing.

There are imperial porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties, calligraphy and paintings by famous artists throughout history, and boxes of top-quality Tianhuang stone and sandalwood.

Those mass-produced, worthless artifacts, costing only a few yuan each, were still sitting in warehouses in Beijing after being appraised by Old Jin. But these are the valuable, collectible items. After 00, each one here could easily earn tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan, and those rare treasures could potentially be worth hundreds of millions!

These things are worthless in Beijing today, and are even considered as trash in the "Destroy the Four Olds" movement.

But decades later, any item from here could fetch an astronomical price at auction.

This is an invaluable treasure he left for the future.

After spending half an hour in the basement, Zhang Dabiao checked that all the equipment was working properly before locking the door and leaving.

He didn't plan to interfere much in Hong Kong, leaving it to Jin Youlai and Jin Youwu to practice on their own. Qin Mancang and A Xiang would be responsible for running errands and managing things, so they would have the opportunity to hone their skills.

As long as this core business can provide him with a continuous cash flow, that's about all he needs.

What will I do if I run out of money in the future?

Sell ​​antiques, sell buildings, sell houses.

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

It's early November.

The wind in Beijing was already carrying a biting chill.

Zhang Dabiao was painting in his studio near the stable when Qin Jingru came in carrying a basket of freshly steamed white flour and meat buns and placed them on the table.

"Big Brother Biao, eat it while it's hot."

Zhang Dabiao picked up a steamed bun, took a bite, and his mouth was full of oil.

He reached out and turned on the Red Star brand radio on the table.

The radio broadcaster's somber and serious tone came through.

"Our delegation has concluded its visit to the Russian bear."

"The talks between the Chinese and Soviet parties ended without result..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dabiao stopped chewing his steamed bun mid-air.

He threw the remaining half of the bun onto the plate.

It's completely over.

From this day forward, that behemoth to the north is no longer the big brother, but a huge threat hanging overhead.

The slogan of preparing for war and famine is about to be transformed into concrete actions.

Zhang Dabiao leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

"Whatever, it's none of my business."

"If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up; I can't control it even if I wanted to."

He picked up a rag, wiped his hands, and continued to live his peaceful life.

The days passed by.

In late December, Beijing experienced its first heavy snowfall of the winter.

The entire courtyard was covered in snow.

Zhang Dabiao, He Yushui, Qin Jingru, and others were in the house checking the welfare payments to be distributed to the mutual aid association this year.

Suddenly, the radio crackled with the powerful, penetrating sound of Number Two.

"To build our country into a powerful socialist nation with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology!"

Zhang Dabiao suddenly sat up straight.

The Four Modernizations.

This is the nation's grand goal for the future, and it is also the source of his confidence in striving in this era.

As long as this general direction is maintained, all the twists and turns will eventually be brought back on track.

Qin Jingru put down her pen and looked at Zhang Dabiao.

"Da Biao, the Four Modernizations, that sounds really inspiring."

Zhang Dabiao nodded.

"It's inspiring; the future looks brighter."

But he knew very well that a strong wind that would soon sweep across the country was about to hit.

Logically speaking, he is currently just a writer at a publishing house, and his background is clean, so the storm shouldn't affect him.

But a couple of days ago, when he went to the Ministry of Foreign Trade to handle some business, he heard some shocking news.

Director Zhao was involved in the "Four Cleanups" movement and has been suspended from his duties pending investigation.