Chapter 352: Wang Bai

"He's so small, and his skin is all wrinkled."

In Dongtou Village, inside Wang Yan's bare, four-walled home, Miss Bai touched the tiny life with her slender, fair fingers before turning back to share her feelings with the others.

After Wang Yan left, he had handed this house over to Lei Luo to look after. He himself had money, and with so many men under his command, it was even more extraordinary after he married Bai Yuechang, the daughter of a "fishing tycoon." Lei Luo knew deep down that his big brother would likely never return, so when he had spoken to him on the phone earlier, he hadn't stood on ceremony and directly stated he wanted to move in with A-Xia.

Lei Luo had a family of four, and the house wasn't big; life had indeed been inconvenient since marrying A-Xia. With a child on the way, it was even more so. This could be considered his way of planning ahead.

Wang Yan certainly wouldn't refuse. Lei Luo was right; he really wouldn't be going back, so it didn't matter if Lei Luo lived there. In fact, if Lei Luo had asked to borrow money to buy a small Western-style house, he wouldn't have refused either. Now that Lei Luo was a plainclothes officer in Sham Shui Po, his income was incomparable to when he was a uniformed officer in Tsz Wan Shan; it was an explosive increase.

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A uniformed officer in Tsz Wan Shan only made a little over two hundred, maybe three hundred. Once in Sham Shui Po, because of his relationship with Chen Tong's care, and Lei Luo's own progress and a bit of "WeChat" (connections), his share was even larger. In bad months, he made over five hundred; in good months, he could reach over six hundred. Moreover, he had previously told Lei Luo to send the money to Zhu Youzai, to be put on the payroll at his company, and he had given him a bit more each month. It was definitely a high salary, and the family's life was very good.

Bai Fanyu gave an awkward, sheepish laugh, like a child caught doing something wrong: "A-Yan, are you sure I can still have a son? Don't lie to me. I've seen many doctors over these years and spent a lot of money, but you've seen the results—let alone a son, I don't even have a daughter."

"Would I lie to you? I told you last time, you're only forty-three this year, and Yuechang is your own flesh and blood, which proves you have no problem. It's just that you haven't been restrained for so many years, and you've depleted yourself too much. After some conditioning and rest for a period of time, whether it's a boy or a girl is hard to say, but having a child is definitely no problem. You drank a few doses of medicine, felt your fire rising, and regained your vigor, right?"

"This isn't an aphrodisiac; it's to nourish your body. You were just holding on with that one breath of Yang energy, and now you've fallen short of success. I'll write you a new prescription, but this time you must control yourself. No alcohol or sex for half a year. Don't blame me for not telling you clearly in advance; if you can't control yourself this time, you'll have to hold back for even longer next time."

"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to everything you say." Hearing is believing, but seeing is reality, and personal experience is best. In the past, Bai Fanyu didn't really trust this son-in-law, but having regained his feeling in recent days, he finally took it to heart.

Wang Yan took his father-in-law's pulse and wrote a prescription, saying, "Actually, it's quite suitable for you to do real estate. You have money, connections, and so many workers under you; you could completely build your own buildings and shopping malls. It just so happens that land prices are cheap now, so you can definitely get started and make a lot of money."

Bai Fanyu looked at the prescription in his hand and set it aside: "I remember you bought a lot of land in Yuen Long and the North District, right? I know you have your own ideas, but can you really make money in those godforsaken places?"

"Of course you can, otherwise why would I spend so much money buying it? Through the Walled City, you should be able to feel how many people are sneaking over every year. How big is Hong Kong and Kowloon? Counting the outsiders and the locals having children, there will definitely be more and more people in the future, and they will inevitably move north step by step. I'm playing the long game. If you want to do it, you can look around the island, or if that doesn't work, Tsim Sha Tsui or Yau Ma Tei would be fine. Anyway, as long as you get a piece of land, whether you build residential or office buildings, it will definitely make money."

"Rich people are selling off land and properties in large quantities now, running away before it's too late, and we're jumping into the pit ourselves?"

"The fighting won't go on forever, and I'm optimistic about the mainland in this war." Wang Yan shook his head: "If you want to get rich, you have to dare to take risks. Your family foundation is solid; losing would at most be a minor injury. If you win, your assets will double. It just depends on how you choose."

Bai Fanyu shook his head: "I'll take another look. Don't try to fool me; let me understand it well before I decide."

This was failing to recognize a good heart, but his words were indeed unconvincing. Although he had bought a lot of land, his wealth was far less than Bai Fanyu's, so he wasn't taken seriously, and he hadn't gone all-in to the point of bankruptcy, making it hard for people to believe him.

The key to the matter lay in the war in the north and the situation in the Taiwan Strait, which was a grasp of the future situation. The mainland, having just been founded not long ago, was taking on the Western coalition led by the current number one power alone; no matter how you looked at it, there was no hope, so it was normal for many people to hold pessimistic views.

Of course, he was just saying it; whether his cheap father-in-law wanted to do it or not was up to him. If he did it, he would benefit a little; if not, it didn't matter.

After seeing his father-in-law and writing the prescription, Wang Yan and Miss Bai didn't bother him anymore. After staying for a while, the two of them drove their small car slowly back to Sha Tau Kok...

When Wang Yan said he would keep a low profile, he meant it. Nothing happened in Sha Tau Kok, and he didn't need to worry about the trivial matters of the nearby villagers. He was happy to be idle, peacefully accompanying Miss Bai, whose belly was growing bigger by the day, slowly managing his business, expanding production scale, and horizontally developing other industries.

The Hong Kong market was limited. Previously, herbal tea bags were basically handmade, and only later were mechanical devices added bit by bit for mass production. It was only after the factory was built that large-scale production began.

The impact of canned herbal tea on the existing herbal tea stalls was there, but it was definitely not significant; those who wanted to drink it hot from the stalls would still go and buy it. As for his tea bags, they were made according to the big pot; no matter how much was sold, it was that one bag per pot, so the original tea bag business wasn't affected much.

After the factory was built, he also opened a production line for tea bags. Although it was far from reaching the level of later years, the increase in production capacity was definitely a leap, and the cost was reduced accordingly, enough to supply the Hong Kong market. After all, he wasn't the only one in the Hong Kong market; there were other companies competing with him, the ones that had engaged in price wars before. After their mutual fighting, several had already gone out of business. Relatively speaking, the herbal tea bag market was saturated, definitely a case of supply exceeding demand.

However, Long Teng Tea Drinks had been controlling production, so there was no risk of overstocking. Although the market share could only be described as upper-middle, because the price had never been lowered, it still made the most money. Moreover, because of the passage of time, people discovered that the medicinal effect of Long Teng Herbal Tea was stronger than other brands, and the market was expanding day by day.

As for the canned herbal tea side, because the price was too high and not very accessible, the Hong Kong market was limited. After expanding several production lines, it satisfied the entire Hong Kong market. But it was impossible to only make herbal tea; the many people he supported who specialized in beverage research would stir up new flavors from time to time. In the canned beverage market, Long Teng had no rivals; it was the absolute king.

Canned beer was also produced, but because Long Teng wasn't a traditional beer company, although it had a certain sales volume by borrowing the good reputation of Long Teng Tea Drinks and the novelty of the cans, it was still far inferior to traditional glass-bottled beer and was simply not worth looking at. But it was better than nothing; it didn't matter if it couldn't compete now, he could just acquire one later. Diversified development, touching a bit of everything.

Although the Hong Kong market wasn't saturated yet, he had already started to expand outward. He had established branches in nearby Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Of course, calling them branches was actually just offices, the kind where four or five people opened up the market. Although it had just begun, people knew about the popularity in Hong Kong, so cargo ships were going out ship by ship.

Borrowing this, Wang Yan also started doing international trade. Since the ships were already going out, they couldn't come back empty-handed; this was also a profitable business.

Not only that, he also opened an instant noodle factory. Including research and manufacturing production equipment, it took more than half a year. Historically, the first bag of instant noodles was sold by a Japanese-Chinese in 1958, and subsequently, various packaging and messy flavors were developed.

He did the same, launching them into the market one by one. Sales were good, and he supported more people.

"Taking too big a step makes it easy to tear your balls" is a truth. Although he wasn't at the point of "tearing" yet, if he had to describe it, it was indeed a little tight. For the sake of development, his debt was very high. Because they were all innovative, high-quality industries that occupied the majority of the market, banks were happy to lend. He was a high-quality client of HSBC, and Lin Hanbin, who had been responsible for receiving him, had even been promoted to a manager...

If he was in this situation, then those detectives who relied on providing jobs to collect loyalty were certainly not having an easy time either. Although their steps weren't as big as his, their plates were also small. The most critical thing was that the police academy produced several batches a year...

Wang Yan's rule was that as long as it was a Chinese police officer, he would arrange work for their immediate family members. Nowadays, Hong Kong people were also very capable of having children; basically, it wasn't just one child. With siblings, parents, and then counting the grandparents who were still physically capable, how many people was that? Even if not everyone had grandparents still alive, and even if they were alive, they might not be able to work, but counting parents and siblings, three or four at most, two or three at least—was that a joke?

If the detectives didn't want them, it didn't matter; they could just find Brother Yan. There was no need to fear being squeezed out. Their parents' work was arranged, and the police officers were under other detectives—could they not feel disgusted seeing that? Besides, would they lose face if it got out? And how would shaking the morale of the army be calculated? So they could only accept it and help arrange work for their immediate family members. Perhaps it wasn't visible now, but in the long run, they definitely wouldn't be able to bear it, and this wasn't even counting business failures. One by one, they would all be ruined.

Wang Sir wasn't afraid of that; he would take as many as they had. In the North District, Tsz Wan Shan, and Sham Shui Po, whether they were fresh out of the police academy or transferred normally from other places, as long as they were new, he provided work for all of them.

Relying solely on the families of police officers certainly couldn't support the operation of his factory, so he set his sights elsewhere.

Many of Hong Kong's other major disciplined services hadn't been established yet. There were only the Correctional Services Department, the Fire Services Department, the Immigration Department (which later became the Customs and Excise Department), and the Police Force where he was. If you counted strictly, there was also the Auxiliary Medical Service, which was only established in 1950.

Of course, it was impossible to swallow all these people, but it might not be impossible to arrange them in the future. Anyway, no matter what the work was, it was definitely the highest salary and the best treatment; as long as they could be arranged, it was fine. His stall was spread out, with millions or tens of millions of people upstream and downstream of the industry—couldn't he support the families of these disciplined services in Hong Kong?

So he reached out to the Marine Police... What he said were things to be infiltrated in the future; he hadn't even settled the Police Force yet, so being overly ambitious wouldn't work.

The Marine Police also had "oil and water" (perks); the smuggling ships they caught and the tribute from the snakeheads who did human smuggling were also quite generous. But to say they didn't envy the land police would be impossible. On one hand, there was a gap in the perks, and on the other hand, it was the treatment of police families raised by Wang Mouren himself, which made them all jealous and hateful.

So, with just a little contact, he gained the loyalty of a portion of the Marine Police and told the remaining ones who hadn't been arranged not to worry; they could come in batches, and everyone would be arranged.

Miss Bai was a carefree "hands-off" boss. Her Chang'e Milk Tea was doing well; after all, there was only one such shop in all of Hong Kong and Kowloon, with no other branches, and business was good. However, because her belly was getting bigger by the day, it wasn't very convenient, so she basically didn't manage much. It was only when she was truly bored that she would let Wang Mouren take her to see how it was doing. As for the rest, like opening branches, she said she would handle it personally after giving birth and finishing her confinement.

As for his cheap father-in-law, Bai Fanyu, although he said with his mouth that there was no use for more money, this old guy couldn't resist the temptation of wealth doubling. After some research, with the help of a feng shui master, he finally bought a piece of land in North Point on the island and hired professionals to plan and design it, intending to build high-rise residential buildings. Of course, he didn't forget to ask his precious son-in-law for advice. Real estate was a heavy-asset industry that tied up a lot of money, and he hoped his son-in-law, who had a quick mind, could give him some ideas.

Wang Yan was a professional at this stuff. He told his father-in-law about sand table pre-sales and other marketing methods. Now they were laying the foundation. Since the war was still going on, he still had to let his father-in-law hold the fort; no matter what, he had to wait until after the war, when land prices recovered, before starting.

1951 was the year of a great turning point in Lei Luo's destiny. In April, Chen Tong celebrated his fiftieth birthday, and it was a grand, glorious affair. Wang Yan certainly went, and Lei Luo, Lin Mingyuan, and others on their unified front naturally all came, and they had a happy meal. There was no scene of Yan Tong coming over to show off; that would really be looking for trouble.

Perhaps Chen Tong was indeed not as good as him, but Wang Yan was still there, and he didn't want to send himself to be slapped in the face.

Wang Yan was also very concerned about the situation in Dongtou Village, because originally, it was on this very day of Chen Tong's birthday that the fire in Dongtou Village occurred. There were wooden houses built privately everywhere, and once one burned, a whole area would go; it was hard to extinguish, and they could only watch helplessly. It burned A-Xia's parents to death, causing thousands of people to suffer and become displaced.

Fortunately, there was no fire on this day. It seemed that his previous constant exhortations to the people there to pay attention to fire prevention had taken effect.

However, his relief didn't last long. On a night at the end of June, when Wang Yan was accompanying Miss Bai in the hospital waiting for labor, the fire in Dongtou Village came after all. The reason didn't matter; it was either a naughty child or an adult's negligence, and the result was that Dongtou Village was burned clean. Fortunately, the place where the fire started was some distance away from Lei Luo and his home, and that day, A-Xia's parents happened to be at the Lei house eating and drinking, so they were all together. Hearing the shouting outside, they all ran out.

As his own home here, and knowing many of the people who had suffered, he certainly didn't have the ability to manage it all, so he could only have his men donate some supplies overnight to help them get through the difficulties.

However, he certainly couldn't ignore Lei Luo's side. He had Zhu Youzai send a sum of money, telling him to look for two houses to live in. One for Lei Luo's father and his younger siblings, and one for Lei Luo, A-Xia, and the child.

A-Xia's parents also suffered. Under these circumstances, A-Xia certainly couldn't be happy, but she didn't say anything; she was sensible and had a sense of proportion. After all, Liu Youcai and his wife were A-Xia's biological parents, and it hadn't been easy for them to raise A-Xia so big. Lei Luo couldn't just watch his father-in-law and mother-in-law sleep on the street, so he borrowed money from Wang Yan again to buy a small house for A-Xia's parents. With one fire, Lei Luo was burdened with debt...

On the second day after the fire at Dongtou Village, Bai Yuechang endured over ten hours of labor and gave birth to a chubby baby boy weighing over seven jin. Wang Yan, however, didn't feel much, as he was already used to it. Bai Fanyu, the new grandfather, was overjoyed; he only let Wang Yan hold the baby once the entire time, then just stared at the child and giggled foolishly...

Wang Yan named his eldest son Wang Bai. There was no other meaning; his surname was Wang, hers was Bai, and that was all.

Now he had absolutely no desire to name children; he was truly exhausted... ===== CHAPTER 353 =====