Chapter 178: Who Dares Say That Chen Jiajun Is Not a Conscientious Entrepreneur?

A conscience?

Hongxing Dragon Head Dalao Jun?

Of course!

In the Hong Kong of today, who would dare say that Chen Jiajun is not a conscientious entrepreneur?

The scale of Guojun School ranks in the top five across all of Hong Kong, with teaching buildings of great aesthetic design, clean synthetic tracks, brand-new sports fields... the gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, laboratory building, and faculty dormitories are situated on the gentle slopes of Qingshan.

Primary school division, middle school division, high school division, adult education division—everything is available.

Inside the teaching buildings, marble is everywhere, fitted together without a single gap!

Oil paintings and Chinese landscape art are seen everywhere, integrated seamlessly with the decor.

The genuine leather sofas that one could previously only see in a principal's office now appear in every corridor of the school.

The economical and practical style of ordinary schools?

It simply does not exist.

The motto of Guojun School is: "Let the budget burn even more fiercely."

When the decor of this school appeared on TVB and Asia Television, media figures commented sourly: "In such a glitzy environment, can the children even focus on their studies?"

Chen Jiajun answered like this: "Glitzy? This is warmth and art!

The beauty in art can inspire the noblest qualities in people's hearts. Living in such a warm atmosphere, the children can be happy every day; you are all just sour grapes!"

Sour as they may be!

Their bodies are very honest.

Isn't it true that quite a few Gweilo high-level officials have already privately sent word to Chen Jiajun, wanting to send their children in to enroll?

The entire school is nestled against the mountains and by the water, with a beautiful environment.

All facilities are of an ultra-high standard.

How high?

Three or four levels... no, it is even higher than the standard of Hong Kong University!

The land area is even larger than Hong Kong University.

Just such a school of ultra-high specifications was paid for entirely out of Chen Jiajun's own pocket.

The key is that such a school is also tuition-free.

Who would dare say that he, Chen Jiajun, is not a conscientious entrepreneur?

After Chen Jiajun finished his speech, the party officially began.

The banquet hall was set up in the conference room of Guojun School, and inside the banquet hall were two long dining tables, upon which were placed various wines, fruits, desserts, and more.

"Mr. Chen, your name has already appeared on this year's commendation list. Congratulations on becoming a Justice of the Peace, and thank you for your selfless investment in Hong Kong's public environment and educational cause."

England's Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Youde, raised a stemmed glass to offer his congratulations to Chen Jiajun.

This also represents Chen Jiajun becoming the first gangster to receive the title of Justice of the Peace in the 140 years since the opening of Hong Kong as a port.

"Thank you."

Chen Jiajun took a sip of red wine to moisten his lips.

Justice of the Peace is an official honor bestowed by the Hong Kong Government upon socialites and those with important status in capitalist society; it can be understood as a non-hereditary, low-level title.

Justice of the Peace is a Chinese term, concocted out of thin air by the clerk responsible for the translation at the time; its formal name is "Justice of the Peace Committee Member of the Hong Kong Colonial Government."

Article 1 of the Peace Committee's organizational charter states that a Peace Committee member has the power and obligation to work with the Hong Kong Colonial Government Police and the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong to maintain social order in Hong Kong.

Article 4 states that when a situation disturbing social order occurs in Hong Kong, a Peace Committee member has the power and obligation to organize and command Hong Kong residents present or nearby to work together to maintain order and stop the continuation of the behavior disturbing social order. If those disturbing social order do not obey the Peace Committee member's restraint or admonition, they will be arrested, and after being arrested, they will be sentenced to a minimum of three months in prison.

In other words, when members of a triad society disturb social order in Hong Kong, a Justice of the Peace has the power to step forward and stop them.

And not only do they have the power, but they can also treat Hongxing people as legal Hong Kong residents who are present or have arrived nearby, commanding them to subdue those triad members. Furthermore, after these triad members are arrested, they cannot be released even if they produce bail money, because they defied a Justice of the Peace.

"How about it, are you interested in receiving a medal?" Youde asked with a smile again.

Above the Justice of the Peace are medals.

The British Empire Medal has five levels: Knight Grand Cross—GBE, Knight Commander—KBE, Commander—CBE, Officer—OBE, and Member—MBE.

OBE and MBE can be obtained as long as one does charity work in England and possesses a certain social status.

As for the requirements for CBE, they are higher; people like Bao Jueshi and Shao Yifu are both CBE medalists, and both have donated money to England.

Those who obtain the KBE title are all leaders in their respective fields, such as the first Commissioner of the ICAC, Ji Da, or the great director Hitchcock.

And the famous titan of the comedy world, Chaplin, was said to be set to be knighted with a KBE back then, but due to various reasons, he did not succeed in receiving the knighthood.

Don't look at CBE and KBE as only one level apart; this represents a world of difference. KBE is a knighthood status officially recognized by England, equivalent to the status of a Baron among the "Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron" ranks!

As for the higher-level GBE, the vast majority of those who receive it are members of the royal family or those who have made significant contributions to England.

The Governor of Hong Kong, Mai Lihao, holds the GBE medal.

Chen Jiajun knew that if he wanted to get a medal, the person before him, the next Governor, would definitely point him toward a clear path, but Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "Everything will take its natural course."

Regarding medals, Chen Jiajun believed he did not need them, because to put it bluntly, getting a medal means having to make contributions to England.

As a dignified Chinese man, what contribution should he make to England?

"Mr. Chen, thank you for your selfless dedication to Hong Kong's educational cause."

Just after having a sip of red wine with Youde, the Director of Education, Xu Yu, walked over. Although he had a Chinese name, he was an out-and-out Gweilo, and at the same time, he also served as an Official Member of the Legislative Council, also belonging to the solid Gweilo high-level echelon.

The main administrative officials of Hong Kong are the Chief Secretary, the Department of Justice, the Financial Secretary, the Secretary for Home Affairs, the Official Member of the Executive Council, and the Non-official Member. These officials are all appointed directly by the British monarch; the Governor cannot remove them, only lead them, and their influence on the Governor is significant.

"Mr. Xu, this is what Ahong Konger should do." Chen Jiajun took a sip of red wine.

After chatting with Xu Yu for a few sentences, Lu Huangfa and Lu Hantao brought over several Legislators to introduce them to Chen Jiajun.

Throughout the entire cocktail party, Chen Jiajun kept clinking glasses and mingling with the socialites of Hong Kong.

The next day, news about the completion and upcoming opening of Guojun School made the front-page headlines of almost every newspaper on Hong Kong Island.

Oriental Daily News, which had a good relationship with Chen Jiajun, wanted to get a scoop and requested an exclusive interview with Justice of the Peace Chen Jiajun, but Chen Jiajun turned them down.

Chen Jiajun was very clear that he had to act high-profile and keep a low profile in his personal life now, and it would be best to slowly fade Hung Hing into the background.

Putting all his efforts into charity, gaining social status, gilding himself, getting a protective talisman, and then slowly cleaning up his image—this was his goal.

Noon.

Hongxing Headquarters held its monthly meeting.

At the long table in Zhongyi Hall, the Zha FIT Ren of Hung Hing sat in two rows, all in suits and leather shoes, their faces brimming with confidence.

A month ago, Jiang Tianyang had poached two of Hung Hing's branches, and Jing Ma and Feilao Li had withdrawn from Hung Hing; overnight, Hung Hing lost ten thousand people and was in a precarious position.

One month later, Hung Hing had not only reclaimed the Kwun Tong and Tsim Sha Tsui branches, but its strength and numbers had also increased significantly.

Especially the battle against the Yuenanzai; they beat those North Vietnamese so badly that they were crying and begging to leave Hong Kong as soon as possible, not even daring to step one foot out of the refugee center.

Hung Hing had swept away its decline and stood at the pinnacle of Hong Kong.

In Zhongyi Hall, everyone was smoking and chatting, and the person surrounded in the middle was none other than Ji Ge, who had been lying in the hospital for a month or so and was recovering well.

Ji Ge exercised his talent for embellishment, describing the previous scene vividly:

"Damn it, a North Vietnamese bastard suddenly rushed out from the crowd! Holding a Type 54 Handgun!"

"As an old hand in the underworld, I'm no pushover. Without a word, I pushed Dumu away, and as a result, I got shot myself."

"Damn it!"

The situation at the time was actually like this: in fact, that bullet wouldn't have hit anyone... Ji Ge couldn't push Dumu at all, but when he fell to the ground, he had somehow bumped into the muzzle of the gun...

However, Dumu had to accept this favor. He patted Ji Ge on the shoulder and said in a muffled voice, "Yes, if it weren't for Ji Ge, I might have been a goner."

Just then, the crowd behind them suddenly went quiet, and they greeted someone one after another:

"Ada!"

Chen Jiajun had arrived. He patted Ji Ge on the shoulder: "Ji Ge, you're recovering well!"

"It's more than just recovering well; he even went to Central last night to sleep with two foreign women!" Jing Kun said with a smile.

Chen Jiajun smiled and nodded, sat down in the Dragon Head's main seat, looked around, and took a puff of his Cigar: "Xing Shu, report this month's protection fees."

"This month, Macau handed over one, two, three, four..."

Xing Shu picked up the ledger and started counting the zeros.

"Xing Shu, stop keeping us in suspense."

"Yeah."

Nowadays, Hung Hing's accounts were managed by Guizai Tian, a top student.

The accounts were kept clearly.

But Xing Shu's education level was not high; it wasn't that Xing Shu was keeping them in suspense.

"Damn it! 160 million! A full 160 million!" Xing Shu shouted, his face glowing with excitement.

The entire Zhongyi Hall exploded. 160 million?

In Hong Kong, which triad, which branch could collect 160 million in protection fees in a month?

They still remembered that at the last meeting, the Macau branch had handed over 80 million; they hadn't expected it to double this month!

"Quiet! Quiet!"

Xing Shu cleared his throat and tapped the table: "Wanchai Hall, 60 million!"

"Causeway Bay Branch, 40 million."

"Central Branch, 20 million."

"Yuen Long Hall, 5 million."

"..."

"The total protection fees collected by our Hung Hing this month is 300 million!"

Although Hung Hing had lost four branches last month, their income had increased instead of decreasing!

After a pause, Xing Shu's voice continued: "This month, the net income from our Hung Hing-owned amusement arcades, after deducting rent and electricity, is 100 million!"

"In addition, after deducting the dividends for the Hung Hing Big Dipper from Tongcai Street and Garden Street, this month's income is 3 million!"

"..."

"Ada, report finished."

(End of chapter)