Reborn in Hong Kong, my cousin is Crippled Ho

Chapter 119 Playing to His Tastes (Beng Kouhua)

In this world, it has always been difficult to offer help in times of need, but easy to add to someone's existing success.

When Li Jianqing was trapped in the martial arts school, apart from his apprentice and disciple Bian Danwei, only Su Zhenhai had any contact with him.

Now he has left the martial arts school and followed Lin Zhaoyuan, this big fishmonger," and there are also high-ranking members of Cai Li Fo who have offered him protection.

Former friends from the dockworkers' days all rushed out to offer their concern and care.

In the past few days, Li Jianqing has been constantly invited to drink and have fun, but he has refused most of them.

There are also some people he owes favors to, and he simply can't be cold and ignore them completely.

For example, the eleventh member of the Tung Yee Wo triad, Beng Kou Hua, was the leader of the Kowloon Eighteen Tigers.

After listening to what Li Jianqing said, Lin Zhaoyuan handed him a cigarette: "They asked you to help their henchmen find legitimate jobs, not to help them fight!"

If you don't want to help, just make up an excuse.

There's no need to overreact or connect it to me, right?

"No, boss." Han Jinqing lowered his head to light a cigarette and explained with a frown, "Although Dong Yihe is a small gang under the Dongguan gang system, their sphere of influence is all in the To Kwa Wan area."

Awei has already announced to the public that you are supporting his gang.

According to the rules of the underworld, other gangs want to come to your factory to ask for a few jobs.

You must contact Ah Wei beforehand, or even go to Hong Shun's guild to complain and make a fuss.

We can only come to talk to you once we get one of their nods.

Otherwise, this move would be considered as poaching a major investor.

At best, the two sides will agree to a duel to the death; at worst, they'll simply start fighting on horseback.

Tapping his cigarette ash, Han Jinqing continued, "Given the relationship between Awei and me, if he receives the news, he will definitely inform me immediately."

But neither of us has received any news yet.

It's easy to imagine that Bengkou Hua, that bastard, deliberately broke the rules and crossed the line!

"They're taking advantage of my retirement. They'll come and talk to you, their employer, instead of going to Ah Wei or complaining to Qiang."

Lin Zhaoyuan clapped his hands lightly and gave Qing a thumbs up: "Brother Qing, I think that in the past twelve years, besides practicing boxing, you've probably spent a lot of time studying military strategy, right?"

"Sigh, I was so naive back then. I thought that just because I was good at fighting, I could make a name for myself. In reality, I was just a reckless brute!"

Later, I was trapped in the martial arts school and didn't read any military books. But I spent my days staring blankly at the sky, and after a while, I figured out a few things." Han Jinqing stubbed out his cigarette and looked at Lin Zhaoyuan seriously: "Since Beng Kouhua has made a move, he certainly won't let it go like this."

"Boss, are you planning to meet with him, or will you leave it to Awei to handle?"

"I'm a businessman, and I believe in making money through harmony."

"If we let Ah Wei handle it, wouldn't that just prove what you said about Hong Shun and Dong Yi He going to fight each other?" Lin Zhaoyuan tapped the table with his fingers and said with a smile, "I'm like a tap. If a real fight breaks out, wouldn't I have to turn on the floodgates? There's no life-or-death feud. Only an idiot would waste money like that."

Han Jinqing nodded vigorously, pressed his hand on the table and stood up: "Understood! Then I'll contact Hua Kun and choose a place suitable for your status to meet."

"Okay, Qing-ge, you can arrange it." Lin Zhaoyuan waved his hand and turned to talk to Xu Neng about the glue flower formula.

Li Jianqing quickly contacted Bengkouhua, just as he and Lin Zhaoyuan had predicted.

Upon hearing that Lin Zhaoyuan had invited him to meet, Beng Kouhua thanked him and suggested a place that Li Jianqing was very satisfied with—Fulong Tea House.

(Selected images from "A Century of Hong Kong's Chinese and Foreign Industries: Food and Entertainment")

Three days later, at eight o'clock in the evening.

At the entrance of Fulong Tea House, Tie Tou pulled a rickshaw and jogged over with steady steps.

Li Jianqing, who had arrived a step ahead, quickly stepped forward and cleverly positioned himself in front of Beng Kouhua, who had just been speaking with him.

Tie Tou pressed the handlebars, and Lin Zhaoyuan got off the bike with a smile. He nodded to Hua Kun, who was wearing a black Tang suit, and said, "Mr. Hua, I'm sorry, there was traffic on the way. I've kept you waiting."

"Mr. Lin, you flatter me. I just arrived myself." Beng Kouhua spoke in a brash and tactless tone: "Why don't you ask A Qing? We haven't even lit our cigarettes yet."

Lin Zhaoyuan already knew this guy was no ordinary person. He laughed heartily, opened a box of 555 cigarettes, and distributed them around: "Come on, everyone, have a smoke."

After exchanging pleasantries, the group escorted Lin Zhaoyuan through the door.

During this period, some teahouses not only offered daytime tea services, but also had evening sessions starting at 7 pm.

Specializing in evening entertainment, like the Fulong restaurant that Huakun chose, upon entering the second floor, the tea tables from the daytime have been removed and replaced with rattan sofas, with a simple wooden stage in the middle.

On one side of the stage was a Filipino trio, playing the piano, violin, and drums; on the other side was a Chaozhou string ensemble of four, playing the erhu, coconut fiddle, yangqin, and clapper.

In front of each of the two groups of people, there was a screen.

When a female singer takes the stage to perform, she can choose which side to play on and have the screen closed on the other side, allowing for a seamless transition between Chinese and Western styles without disturbing each other.

Lin Zhaoyuan and his group entered, and the event had already been going on for an hour.

On the stage stood a young singer wearing a plain bamboo-patterned cheongsam and with lightly powdered face.

Standing a dozen meters away from the stairwell, Lin Zhaoyuan couldn't see the other person's face clearly, but he could hear them singing "The Wandering Songstress."

The audience was about 70% seated, with some cheering and others presenting floral tributes, creating a lively atmosphere.

"Mr. Lin, this way please." Hua Kun gestured and walked ahead.

Lin Zhaoyuan nodded and followed with Li Jianqing and Tietou to the front of the left side of the stage.

There were seven or eight burly men standing here.

Some of them leaned against pillars listening to music, while others crossed their arms and looked around warily. They all had a fierce demeanor and were naturally Dong Yihe's men.

Lin Zhaoyuan was invited in by Hua Kun. After they sat down, they did not go straight to business. Instead, the latter talked at length about the culture of singers in Hong Kong.

This was the first time Lin Zhaoyuan had gone out for leisure since he came to Hong Kong.

Naturally, he was happy not to interrupt Hua Kun, and he enjoyed the unique nightlife of this era while drinking.

"The singers here only earn 80 yuan a month, which is settled by the manager of Fulong. They work all year round without a break. It's very hard work."

"However, they don't live off a base salary; they mainly earn their living through a share of the songs requested by customers each night. It's 5 yuan per song, and the singer gets 2% of that."

piece.

The majority of the money comes from on-site tips; cash and red envelopes go entirely to the singers, without any sharing with others.

Of course, they can't compare to singers at concerts, nightclubs, bars, and dance halls.

They have a whole group of uncles and nephews chasing after them, and even a single flower basket can be exchanged for 1 yuan.

Hua Kun spoke while glancing at Lin Zhaoyuan.

He discovered that Lin Zhaoyuan simply nodded politely, his expression calm, as if he had no interest at all.

Decisively changing tactics, Hua Kun gritted his teeth and unleashed his trump card: "Mr. Lin, teahouse singers are forbidden from staying out overnight according to industry rules, but this virgin Wen Chuqiao owes our branch a sum of money—"