Chapter 673: Gao Jin Returns to Hong Kong, A Letter to Mr. Gao from Five Young People

Hong Kong Island, Causeway Bay.

Sunlight shone into the bedroom of Gao Jin's home.

"Ah Mei..."

"Mmm-huh~~~"

"I feel like you've become much prettier than before~~~"

On the bed, Gao Jin held Sister Ruan Mei in his arms.

Gao Jin's hands caressed her alluring, flushed back and her snow-white, smooth skin.

Sister Ruan Mei had lived a hard life before, so her skin hadn't been this good, and her figure had been quite thin.

After using skincare products for the past three or four years and living a life of ease, combined with the newfound temperament of a young married woman, she had become increasingly bright and charming, possessing a plump, sexy beauty.

Gao Jin couldn't keep his hands off her.

Soon, Sister Ruan Mei's face flushed again; feeling the revival of life, she panicked slightly and hurriedly said, "No, no, you should go find Ah Zhen."

Gao Jin had returned from the United States yesterday, and he was bursting with pent-up energy.

Fang Ting was having her time of the month, so...

Sister Ruan Mei: I really have taken on too much!

In the afternoon,

Gao Jin took a shower and went out.

The decadent monarch is going to hold court!

The Five Star Group welcomed back its king!

Another afternoon of office work, signing documents, and the various projects of the Five Star Group advanced steadily.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines opened more domestic routes and also launched new routes to Japan, South Korea, the United States, Singapore, and Malaysia.

For the low-cost housing project, another residential complex was launched, grabbing the top trending headlines for three days.

The deposit scale of Five Star Bank reached 900 billion Hong Kong dollars; the banknote printing business went smoothly, and loans, finance, insurance, and other businesses progressed successfully, expanding in scale and further squeezing the market share of HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank.

Near the end of the workday,

Wu Wu Lianqian walked in holding a letter.

"Brother Zu, there is a rather special letter here..."

"It was sent over by Five Star Property Management."

Gao Jin took the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

It was a printed sheet of paper, half in English and half in Chinese, mixed together.

"A Letter to Mr. Gao"

Gao Jin began to read it carefully.

The content contained some messy sentences, carrying a sense of frustrated venting.

"Mr. Gao!"

"This world! We really can't take it anymore!"

"Do you know how hard it is for us young people to live in Hong Kong? If we eat at a food stall in Wong Tai Sin, we get scolded by the waiter, 'You bastards, get lost after you eat.' What's wrong with us sitting for ten more minutes?! The bunk bed at home has long been wobbly; the bottom bunk is the dining table, and there's a rumbling washing machine next to it. I eat and sleep in this hellhole every day, and I even bump my head against the brother on the bottom bunk when I turn over! My parents fight every day, and the sound of bowls and pots smashing is more piercing than the washing machine. Is this a home? It's a living hell!"

"What is wrong with this broken city? I want to sit and rest after a meal, but I get chased out... I want to go to the park to chat with my brothers, and an officer chases us away with a single sentence: 'This place is prioritized for those under 18.' I want to find a corner on the street to smoke a cigarette, and passersby think we're in the way. I want to drink milk tea, but I don't have enough money. Five Star Supermarket is bright and the service is great, but there are too many people, and it feels shameful to go in without buying anything."

"This city is full of people, yet there is no place for us!"

"But Mr. Gao, you are truly awesome to the point of reaching the heavens!"

"The Five Star Group building shines like an alien structure, and you sign off on deals worth hundreds of millions! When we squat on the side of the road gnawing on bread, we still fantasize about whether you are puffing on a cigar!"

"We also want to climb up with all our might! I got a high score on the college entrance exam, but so what if I went to university? I still end up working like a dog at the bottom, with a pitifully low salary, barely able to afford cigarettes. Ah Ming's dad owes gambling debts, and the whole family is chased by debt collectors, unable to even sleep peacefully! It's not that we haven't tried, but every time we want to catch our breath, reality slaps us back to where we started! Want to vent? There isn't even a place to vent! We can only wander aimlessly on the street, kicking soda cans, and still get cursed at by passersby!"

"We don't want to go home, but there is no place for us outside; we are like lonely ghosts."

"Mr. Gao, you are a great benefactor. Can you help us? Please, we want to find a safe haven, a place between work and home where we can relax."

"Of course, if you think we are just clowns, then just treat this as a joke!"

"From: A few young people who are about to be driven crazy!"

"Sincerely"

There was a handwritten note at the back:

"The printer jammed four times while printing this letter! Even this broken machine is mocking us! Mr. Gao, please save the children!"

After Gao Jin finished reading,

This letter was filled with dissatisfaction and resentment toward society between the lines.

It also expressed two demands:

Demand 1: They want to turn their lives around but can't; they crave opportunities to break through upward.

Demand 2: They want a safe haven between work and home.

Regarding the first demand,

Hong Kong Island has many opportunities, and now is a great time for rapid development; if they can't find them, it shows there is a problem with their ability.

Regarding the second demand, this is relatively simple for Gao Jin: build more 24-hour libraries, or sports centers, parks, and so on. Libraries are the fastest; just renovate old buildings and put in books. Sports centers and parks are slower and will take at least a few years.

Gao Jin looked at Wu Wu Lianqian: "Where did this letter come from? Can we find these young people?"

Wu Wu Lianqian: "We can find them; Five Star Property Management registered the information of one of them at the time."

Gao Jin: "Good, I want to meet them; make the arrangements."

Wu Wu Lianqian: "Understood."

……

……

(Excerpted from "Cantonese Charm: 'Where to go next?'")

Harbour City seawall,

Cicadas screeched in the sultry air, and the streetlights pinned four crooked shadows onto the asphalt road.

They were the four young people who had written the letter to Gao Jin.

Ah Ming suddenly kicked a plastic bottle at his feet, and the bottle hit a utility pole with a hollow sound.

Boring!

Don't want to go home!

"Hey, shall we go get a massage?"

"Massage my ass, do you have money?"

"Can I sell myself instead~~"

"Damn~~"

Ah Superintendent Superintendent Situ Superintendent Situ Situ Situ Situ Situ Jie crushed his cigarette butt: "All that talk about the Five Star Group loving charity is all bullshit!"

"It's been half a month, and there's been no reaction at all..."

Ah Qiang squatted in the corner scratching his leg, mosquitoes biting a circle of red bumps around his ankles: "I told you writing that letter was stupid! How would a big boss have time to read the crap written by trash like us?"

He slapped a mosquito to death, dark red blood staining his palm,

"Damn it, even mosquitoes are bullying me!"

"Of course they bully you? Because you're easy to bully~~"

Ah Ming saw a cigarette butt not far away that hadn't been finished, hurriedly picked it up, lit it, and smoked it with satisfaction:

"My mom scolded me at the dinner table today for being useless, saying I might as well go to Wan Chai to be a gigolo!"

"Screw it, being a gigolo is better than being treated like this here!"

"Stop dreaming, you have to be handsome to be a gigolo."

"Mr. Gao? Heh, not a single person in all of Hong Kong looks at us straight!"

The streetlights flickered with a buzz, and the swarming mosquitoes became even denser.

"Let's go, let's go. Feeding mosquitoes here is worse than going back to that dog kennel; at least the washing machine sounds like white noise when it's running!"

The four of them stood up shakily, their shadows dragging long on the ground like four soulless zombies.

Half an hour later,

Ah Qiang returned home.

When he pushed open the door, the smell of mold mixed with the burnt stench of cheap cigarettes rushed at him.

His father kicked over a plastic stool: "Where the hell have you been? Not coming home in the middle of the night, learning to be a gangster?"

"Eating late-night snacks with friends." Ah Qiang threw his keys on the coffee table.

His mother started yelling instantly: "Late-night snacks? Eat your mother's late-night snacks! We can't even pay the utility bills and you're out fooling around!"

Ah Qiang went to take a shower with an expressionless face.

The water from the showerhead was alternately hot and cold; Ah Qiang wiped the water droplets from his face and heard his father's yelling from outside:

"Using so much water for a shower! Are you paying the water bill?"

Ah Qiang retorted angrily: "If you think it's expensive, you shouldn't have had a son!"

Then there was a burst of cursing from outside.

After showering, he lay on the bed. After his parents finished showering, they started doing laundry.

The washing machine began to roar tirelessly.

Ah Qiang lay on the bottom bunk, the clanking of the washing machine next to him fueling the restlessness churning in his heart.

Not long after,

A knock suddenly came from outside the door.

"Hello, is this Ah Qiang's home?"

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Ah Wei, the building manager from Five-Star Property."

"Oh, Ah Wei, why have you come?"

His parents' voices suddenly became very polite.

Building Manager Ah Wei: "It's like this. Half a month ago, our Five-Star Property received a letter addressed to our boss, Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan. There were several people who wrote the letter, and now we need to find them; it seems Ah Qiang should be one of them."

"What? What kind of trouble is Ah Qiang causing!"

"Did this little bastard write something he shouldn't have?"

"Did he cause some kind of disaster?"

In his parents' eyes, their son was just unfilial and ignorant; now that it had escalated to Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan coming to find them, he must have caused a disaster.

"Manager Wei, please calm your anger. He hasn't been right in the head since he was a child; last year he even wrote a job application like a threatening letter!"

"Did he offend Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan? We will go over immediately to apologize!"

The washing machine let out a harsh, ill-timed buzzing, and his father, anxious, grabbed a stool, ready to smash it:

"Stop making that noise, damn it!"

He was frantic.

Although they were always scolding and hitting their son, they didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"Don't misunderstand!" Ah Wei said quickly, "It's not about causing any disaster. I don't know the specifics either; it's just that Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan read the letter and wants to see the young people who wrote it. We found the others, and only after hearing from them did we come to your door."

"He really didn't cause any trouble?"

"No, no."

"You scared me to death."

"Wait, Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan wants to see my son in person?" His mother had a feeling of 'my son has finally made it big'?

"Yes, Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan wants to see him," said Building Manager Ah Wei. "Is tomorrow convenient for Ah Qiang? We'll go over in the morning. At 8 o'clock, I'll drive over to the building and take Ah Qiang there."

Mother: "It will be convenient even if it isn't."

Father took a long time to squeeze out: "We will definitely scrub Ah Qiang clean and send him over..."

Ah Wei, Ah Qiang, and Mother: "???"

A new day.

Early in the morning, Ah Qiang was woken up by his father amidst the swaying and crumbling.

"Wake up quickly!"

"Still sleeping? Hurry up and take a bath; you have to go see Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan later."

His parents dragged Ah Qiang up.

He took a bath, brushed his teeth, and then put on his newest shirt and dress pants.

However, his eyes still had dark circles.

Why the dark circles?

Because he was so excited and nervous last night that he didn't fall asleep until three or four in the morning.

He was excited that Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan had finally replied to their letter.

He was nervous because he actually had to meet him.

No, please~~~

Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan, just reading the letter is enough, don't meet me!

What is this experience like? It's like a low-level office clerk bragging about a brilliant work idea in an elevator or cafeteria, only for the CEO standing nearby to hear it and remember it, then asking him to find time to report to the CEO. It's enough to kill a man; I was just bragging!

After finishing breakfast, he brushed his teeth again under his mother's instructions, so as not to stink Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan out.

Ah Qiang noticed that today his mother and father had many more smiles on their faces; usually, they wore fierce expressions, as if everyone owed them money.

This made him feel very happy.

Downstairs,

Building Manager Ah Wei had already driven over and parked by the side of the road.

"Have you eaten breakfast?"

"I have."

"Good, get in the car, we're going now~~~"

The car left Sir Sir Huang Daxian and picked up the other four partners.

"Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan really saw our letter."

"Long live Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan!"

"What will Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan ask later?"

"Manager Wei, will Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan..."

"Can I choose not to go?"

"I need to pee~~"

The four young people chattered away, their hearts in a mess; the whole car was like a wet market.

At 8:20,

They arrived at the Central Plaza and looked up.

Then they took the elevator, going up, up, up... 79 floors; they felt dizzy just looking at the floor numbers.

They waited in a high-end conference room for over 40 minutes, not even daring to drink tea for fear of needing to pee later.

By 9:30,

Secretary Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Liang Liang Xiaorou finally notified them: "The boss is free now, I'll take you over."

Then they followed Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Liang Liang Xiaorou to Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu's office.

They pushed the door open and entered.

The four young people finally saw the most handsome, wealthiest, and most respected man in all of Hong Kong—Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu.

He was in a suit, carrying an air of natural authority.

"You're here, sit, sit~~~"

Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu walked over with a smile; his smile was sunny and his charisma was incredibly strong.

Ah, so dazzling~~~

At this moment, an Asia Television cameraman also walked over.

"This is from Asia Television. Our conversation this time might be put on television, is that okay?"

"Ah?"

The four young people looked at the camera lens and almost cried.

Meeting Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan had already made them terrified and anxious, and now they had to be on TV?

Wouldn't this be losing face in front of all of Hong Kong?

Social death~~~

But they didn't dare to contradict Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu.

"Okay, okay~~"

"No problem~~~"

They said with bitter faces.

Next was a cordial face-to-face conversation.

"I am very sorry, I was not in Hong Kong during this time, so I only saw your letter yesterday."

As soon as Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu said this,

A warm current surged in the hearts of the four young people.

Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan is so gentle; he even apologized to us.

The four of them stumbled through a series of "No, no," "We were just writing nonsense," "Thank you, Mr. Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan"...

Next,

Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu asked in detail about the aspects of their lives that were unsatisfactory.

At first, they were reserved, but Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu's charm was too strong, and in the end, they said everything.

Complaining about this, complaining about that; they complained about every trivial, petty thing.

Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Uncle Liang Uncle Uncle Liang Liang Xiaorou took notes on the side.

Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu smiled, listening while asking a few questions from time to time.

One hour later,

The interview ended.

The four young people shook hands with Director Director Director Director Director Director Guan Zu one by one and let out a sigh of relief.

Five-Star Group dungeon, successfully cleared!

(End of chapter)