"Of course, how capable do you think Gu Zhong and them can be? Guarding such a hot pot restaurant and making it prosperous is already remarkable. My opinion on this matter is very clear: if you want to make your business bigger and stronger, you must first use a large number of talents. Only when more and a wider range of talents join in, can our business do better in the future. ”

Lu Li said with a smile: "...... Did you know? If you have more money than one share, it's really about the same as paper. Think about it, how much money can a person spend in his life? In the future, if you have a mansion, a car, a yacht, or even an airplane like Ou Pei Linying, you can buy whatever you want, eat whatever you want, and your pursuit of material things will be about the same, right? But on a spiritual level, it's completely different – it's almost endless! ”

Liang Xin suddenly nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I heard our teacher tell me that there are five levels of pursuit in life, and the lowest is of course the pursuit of survival, that is, to be well fed and clothed; The second is the quest for security: the quest for emotion and belonging; The pursuit of respect and the pursuit of self-realization. ”

Cao Xun was confused, blinked indiscriminately, and looked at Lu Li, "Xiaoxiao, what kind of mess is this?" ”

"Actually, it's not messy, you can use your brains to think about it and understand." Liang Xin explained: "We are now well fed and warmly dressed, and the family has a warm and comfortable home, which is considered to have completed the steps of the first two layers; Like my little brother, the matter with my sister, after getting married, has a family of his own, it can be said that he has completed the pursuit of emotion and belonging. As for the last two,...... Brother, will you tell me? ”

Luli nodded with satisfaction, "Stinky boy." College is not in vain! In fact, it is very simple, the pursuit of being respected is a mental state of a person living in society, and it is the inevitable pursuit after the problem of food and clothing is solved-you have heard of the two sentences of being full of warmth and lust, hunger and cold, and stealing the heart, right? When you are cold and hungry, and your family has no food or clothing, you will even take risks and commit illegal acts - just to meet the physiological requirements; Wait until you're full and well-fed. There will be no such thoughts in my heart, but some more spiritual and physical pursuits will arise, so I will take Xu Yunjian as an example......"

As soon as this sentence was said, everyone understood a little, but Xu Yunjian glared at him, "Why do you say me again?" ”

"When I was in Shanglin, the incident between him and Xiao Fan also happened when my belly was barely filled. You can imagine. During the three years of natural disasters, when everyone from the national leaders to the general public was hungry, did they still think about these things all day long? ”

"Well, I agree." Cao Xun nodded and said, "Then, what about the latter two?" ”

The latter two are the same in principle. The demand for respect and the need for self-realization are both a gradual development model, let's say Cao Xun. Back then, you were in Leizhuang, and I was in Shanglin. We are all ordinary educated youths, although for different reasons, we have been valued and promoted by the village party secretary and the master of the blasting team, but that doesn't mean anything, fundamentally speaking, we are still struggling for survival - in the era and situation at that time. Can you imagine that we will come to Hong Kong in a few years and have such a good small business, Gu Zhong, Ah Mao, Xiao Guo, Xiao Guo and others call us 'Brother Li' and 'Brother Cao'? This is what I personally consider to be an example of the need to be respected. ”

Cao Xun nodded one after another, but Liang Xin asked, "Little brother." I don't agree with the kind of ...... you said, someone is behind you to meet you and hold you, is this considered a reality? Isn't that a bit narrow-minded? ”

"Yes, it's a little narrow, and it's not just a little, it's still a lot." Lu Li nodded solemnly and said, "However, this is the only explanation I can think of, and I can't say anything deeper." Let's get back to that. ”

"So, what about the last one?"

"The last one can be said to be the highest level of pursuit, and in my personal understanding, it is...... As a Chinese, while we can live comfortably and happily, one of the things I hope for most is that the country is getting better and better, and the people are getting richer and richer. Don't laugh ......."

"Fuck it!" Xu Yunjian scolded with a smile, "I really don't know, you still have such a patriotic heart?" ”

Lu Li couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Xu Yunjian, don't scold the street, in fact, you also have a patriotic heart." But you may not even notice it yourself. He said: "What I mean by this is that with our current business situation, after a few years, we have accumulated enough capital, and then return to China, whether it is investment in construction or other industries, we have a step ahead of the vast majority of the grasp - when the time comes, we will live comfortably, and at the same time we can help more people with our own hands, pursue a value of life, and show our patriotism, what's wrong with this?" ”

Liang Xin and Li Tiehan applauded like thunder! "Okay, Xiaoxiao (little brother) is right, we are living well, no one can stop it, and at the same time, we can help others, and even our motherland, which is really worthy of the man's life! I agree, I absolutely agree! ”

*******************************

The arrival of his aunt and sister and other family members gave Lu Li a taste of long-lost family harmony, but the days were not long, and Cao Xun brought back a message that interrupted this peaceful pleasure, "Shan Ji and Cai Ji brought two people to the store yesterday, and they said that they wanted to invite you to dinner together, well, to Macau." ”

"To ...... Macau to go? Lu Li was picking up the dishes and chopsticks to eat, and glanced back at him, "Do you know what is going on?" ”

"They didn't say the specifics, but I could hear that it seemed that because the vegetable business was going well, and a few of them made a lot of money from it, they wanted to invite you to go there for a few days."

Lu Li bared his teeth, shook his head and said, "I'm not interested, hey, why don't you go?" ”

"No, Shan Ji said, I specially invited you to go, and I also want to discuss with you about continuing to do business."

"Really?" Lu Li's hand holding the chopsticks paused, "Are you like this, or are you acting on my behalf, does he know that my aunt is coming?" ”

"Yes. They seemed to want to meet Auntie, but I persuaded him that Auntie couldn't understand Cantonese, and she had to prepare a translator for him, and it was inconvenient for each other, so I persuaded him to go back. ”

Luley laughed. "Yes, just talk to him in this way." He finally put down the dishes and chopsticks, stood up temporarily, and walked to the side with Cao Xun, "Old Cao, this time you go, and use my aunt as a shield." When you get there, you can greet you whatever the other party asks you to do. You've done a lot of this kind of treating. But there's one thing, don't tell them anything you want to say. ”

"I understand, think more, listen more, and make less decisions."

Luli patted him on the shoulder, smiled and nodded, "This time to Macau, well...... so be it." Let Gu Zhong and them follow along, but don't come with you. It's time for everyone to take a trip over there. All the expenses will be written down in the future, and I will reimburse them one by one. As for you, I don't care; Anyway, Song Hu invited you over to enjoy it. ”

Cao Xun shook his head embarrassedly and said, "Small." I...... A little scared. ”

"Nonsense, it's just playing, what are you afraid of? Don't limit yourself to the store, and turn around and make people stupid. Oh, and there's one more. Xu Yunjian, you have to show me, don't let him stab Lou Zi again. ”

"Okay." Cao Xun nodded sharply, and suddenly asked, "Everyone is gone, what about the business in the store?" ”

"It's okay to rest for a day or two."

"Don't, now the hot pot restaurant is very popular because of the launch of this Sichuan-style hot pot, it's the time to make money, how can you ......?"

"Don't worry, because of the shortage of materials in Sichuan-style hot pot, there will not be too many people in Hong Kong for a period of time; It's not a big deal to make customers wait a few days and whet their appetite. Lu Li laughed and said, "Go ahead, I'll go back to the store and have a look." ”

"Okay, then."

After sending Cao Xun away, Lu Li picked up the dishes and chopsticks again, "Xiaoxiao, Cao Xun came to you for something?" Is it your business? If so, you're busy, I'm fine. ”

"Don't worry, aunt, it's all arranged. I haven't done anything these days, just accompanying your old man. Come, let's eat. ”

********************************************

Shanji didn't expect Lu Li to lose face, this time he and Caiji came forward to invite him to Macau to play, nominally to be the owner himself, but in fact, it was the idea of the eighth master of the Ping An Society.

The so-called eighth master's surname Fang is the elder of the Bamboo Union Gang, the largest gang on the island of Taiwan, and the younger brother of Zhang Anle, who is known as the white wolf. Founded in 1956, the head of the hall and the spiritual leader is called Chen Qili, and his nickname is landlubbers; There are many generals such as Zhao Ning, Yang Jianping (nicknamed Yang Stationmaster), Zhang Anle, Chen Zhiyi (nicknamed Yellow Bird) and so on.

The Bamboo Union Gang flourished in the mid-to-late 70s, and as a large number of farmers on the island flocked to the city, it added a lot of fresh blood to the Bamboo Union Gang, and quickly developed into a large-scale community organization with more than 10,000 members, and because of the support of Taiwan's intelligence authorities, its tentacles penetrated deep into the United States, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and other countries, and in addition to the Chinese, there were even whites, blacks, Mexicans, and even Filipinos. There are 24 super gangs with loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, love, faith, harmony, peace, heaven, earth, supreme, respect, ten thousand, ancient, long, green, east, west, south, north, wind, forest, fire, mountain, metal, wood, water, earth, etc., and the strength is so great that it is eye-catching.

The power of the Bamboo Union Gang covers almost all Southeast Asia except Chinese mainland, and Hong Kong is naturally no exception, and the Ping An Society led by Fang Ba is only a branch of the Pingzi Hall in its 24 branches, which also shows the strength of the Bamboo Union Gang.

In the mid-70s, Ping An Society developed at its most rapid. These people have always been sharp-headed, and when they see an opportunity to make money, how can they let go? As for the way to make money, there are two main ways, the first is to buy and sell vegetables and rice.

In addition to locally produced vegetables, rice and other daily necessities that can be seen in the Hong Kong market, a large part of them come from Taiwan. Taiwan's rice production has been tribute rice since the Qing Dynasty, and it is famous for its high yield and good quality; In addition to supplying the island's needs, the Qing court would also regularly transport rice domestically to settle the price of rice in the mainland.

The quality of rice produced in Taiwan is also far superior to that of the inland Jiangnan provinces, and during the Qing Dynasty, Japan's dignitaries and nobles were always proud to be able to eat Taiwanese rice. Even in modern times, Japan is one of the main producers of Taiwanese rice – a situation that lasted until China's formal and comprehensive reform and opening-up policy led to the emergence of better quality Heisheng rice. Only then did they steadily press down Taiwan's rice.

As the leader of the Bamboo Union Gang in Hong Kong, Fang Ba had such a convenient factor, so he created natural conditions for him to operate the rat barn, and the specific method was very simple, transporting the vegetables and rice arriving at the port to Hong Kong, Kowloon, the New Territories and other places, and selling them to middlemen at different prices. In addition to some of the profits earned, which are used as official funds and some are reserved for the common use of the association, the rest goes into their own pockets.

Later, Fang Ba found that this practice lost some income for no reason, so why not hand it over directly to the vegetable sellers, so as to save some of the middlemen's fees? After discussing with Song Hu, the other party also thought so, so the two of them each demarcated a part of the area. Get started. This approach was just as Fang Ba had expected, bringing him a steady stream of banknotes.

In addition to this part of the regular income, there are also some gray areas that are not so visible. Erotic industries such as concert halls, wine curtains, saunas, baths, striptease, body sketching, tour guide companies, beautiful women's shoeshine, beautiful flower arrangement, women's beauty salons, and live performances have mostly died down and collapsed under this strong crackdown.

In this case, most of the many associations, including Heian Society, are not having a good time. For example, although the daily consumption of senior cadres such as Fang Ba and Song Hu was not yet constrained, he also began to gradually reduce various expenditures.

It's just the people on the side. Fang Ba soon discovered that Song Hu, who served as his deputy, had been spending money very generously recently, according to the people below, in order to celebrate the birthday of his fourth aunt, he gave him a diamond necklace, which cost no less than 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars! This was almost unimaginable in the past! Who in the Ping An Society doesn't know that Song Hu is a famous iron rooster? The daily expenses for the two daughters are only 50 Hong Kong dollars. Now what's going on, has it turned dead?

He knew that Song Hu had 100 vegetable market stalls in Wan Chai District, but what did he get by selling them? Can he be allowed to spend so much money? Song Hu was immediately found, and the two were named the chief and deputy leaders of the Ping An Society, and the days they usually met were not as many as imagined. It's a bit of a king who doesn't see the king, and looks at the shadows every day to avoid it, unless there is something to negotiate in the community, and there are few contacts.

When he saw Song Hu, Fang Ba felt even more unusual, Song Hu was born with a big fat face, always with a simple smile like a blessing from heaven, which was easy to make people feel good, but this time they met, his smile was a little less honest, but more proud and flying charm, "Brother Song...... Fang Ba himself is Taiwanese, and he said a Chinese with a Taiwanese accent, so he called Song Hu, "Recently, his face has been flying gold, but is there anything good?" If you have a way to make a fortune, don't you forget the brothers in the community? ”

"It's not a good thing." The other party speaks Chinese, Song Hu speaks Cantonese, although it is a little strange, but both of them can understand each other, so there is no need to force it, "But Xinjin met a friend and did a little business." ”

"Small business? I'm afraid it's not likely, right? I heard that Brother Song gave a diamond necklace to his aunt's birthday a few days ago? ”

Song Hu was secretly angry in his heart, you old mother! Actually looking for someone to check me? If you hadn't been so kind to me back then, who would have been a fool of you! He looked up to the sky and snorted, but did not speak.

Fang Ba naturally saw that he didn't think so, and his face was also gloomy, you are an ancestor! Forget how our Bamboo Union Gang helped you settle the chase on Hong Kong and Kowloon Road back then? If it weren't for us, even if the police didn't look for you, I was afraid that the 50,000 yuan bonus that He Yongyi would have picked your scoop a long time ago! However, this kind of slander had to be scolded in my heart, and his face was not revealed at all - although the Bamboo Union Gang is rich and powerful, it is also on the island of Taiwan after all, and Hong Kong still has to pursue the strategy of using razing to defeat raze and reuse Hong Kong's local talents.

Fang Ba deliberately made a look of embarrassment, sighed and said: "Now, the prestige of our Ping An Society is not as good as day by day, think about the 67th year of the Republic of China (1979), 23 associations in Hong Kong picked up the green, and our Ping An Club took the lead, spending 680,000 yuan, hey, the prestige of the past is no longer there." ”

Song Hu said a few perfunctory words, seeing that he had nothing more to say, he got up and left.

Fang Ba was angry, and sent someone to investigate, and soon found out some clues, at the beginning. They didn't find any clues like Lu Li, but they found that something was wrong: Song Hu, like Fang Ba, was a master of making rat barns, and every day the cargo ships sailed from Taiwan, a share of more than 100 tons belonged to him, but in the past half a month. This usual share was greatly reduced, and by the twelfth of July, it was less than thirty tons! Not even the usual number of Trinity!

When the news came back, Fang Ba was even more curious: he also had a vegetable market stall of about the same number in private, and he knew how much the demand for vegetables was every day, why did Song Hu suddenly take so much? So he immediately knew that this deputy of his had found another purchase channel!

He knew that it would be in vain to ask Song Hu here, so he simply sent someone to find Enji, and Enji talked about him - he and Song Hu had a friendship by marriage after all. vaguely said that such a thing should be asked to Shanji. So Fang Ba sent someone to invite Shan Ji again, this time, Shan Ji didn't hide it, and he said it all in 1510.

Fang Ba politely sent Shan Ji away, sat alone and meditated, he quickly realized what this transportation channel from the mainland to Hong Kong meant, from the perspective of the Bamboo Union Gang. This, of course, cannot be allowed, after all. Commodities from the mainland have an incomparable advantage in price, not only the price of origin, but also the decline in transportation costs. Again, this transportation in the future. It is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the vegetable transportation and sales industry on the island! But as a person, he knows even more that this is a big way to make a fortune! If you can get a piece of the pie, you can get far more benefits than now.

The more he thought about it, the happier he felt. His expression gradually became excited, and his mind began to be smart: the original things were still transported in, but they were sold to other associations, and they kept telling themselves that they wanted to increase the share of vegetables arriving in Hong Kong? It's all for you now, I don't want it! I'll sell vegetables from the mainland in the future! But this line can't be known to others, otherwise, it will have to return to the current situation of more monks and less porridge!

Because of this, Fang Ba asked Shanji and Caiji to discuss at home several times, and the two of them asked themselves if they couldn't afford to provoke him, and said them one by one, "Eighth Master, it's not that we want to eat alone and get fat, but you also know that the supply is not much, this ...... Brother Tiger took most of it, the two of us, plus Brother Li of Enji and Xiangyunju, can be safe, and it is only less than ten tons, you still want us to divide some more, Eighth Master, even if we don't want it, we will give it all to you, how much can we have? ”

"Then, what is Mr. Lu's side, there is no more?"

"Of course not, if there is, can he not earn it with money?"

Fang Ba pondered for a while, and quickly made a decision, "Shanji, you go and find this Mr. Lu, and I will talk to him face to face." ”

Shan Ji and Cai Ji are relatively speechless, looking at him like Uncle Yang with grace, as if he is counted in his chest, do you really think that he is a horse boy in your Ping An Society? "That, Eighth Master, with your old man's face on the road, Mr. Lu was able to meet you, of course, Jiashan is lucky. However, he is from the mainland and doesn't understand the rules on our side, so I'm afraid that the time will come...... The words are incoherent, which makes your old man angry. ”

"Huh?"

"Well, why don't I come forward and invite them to Macau to have a round of fun - originally, our business here is doing very well, and we are also discussing inviting them to cross the sea to play, you know, these people are all rural buns, have never seen much of the world, back then, he had a man surnamed Xu, and a few brothers went to Macao for the first time, so people played a good book! It's a joke. ”

Fang Ba was a few years older, and he liked to listen to this kind of anecdotes about the rivers and lakes the most, and after repeated questioning, Shan Ji and Cai Ji told the stories they had heard, "...... Zhuang Xicai? Haven't heard of it. ”

"How can such a small role get into the eyes of the eighth master? But you must know that he is the golden finger. ”

"Xu Zhenhua?"

"Yes."

Fang Ba nodded, each other was a channel of rivers and lakes, so naturally they knew each other's names, "Is it him?" Why, there is a lot of discord between them? ”

"The main thing is that these people are not deeply involved in the world, and they have played tricks on others, and they are on other people's land, what can they say?" Cai Ji said: "Eighth Master, then, why don't I invite Mr. Lu to Macao once, and then your old man will take time to meet him?" ”

"Okay, you two can arrange it." Fang Ba nodded, and suddenly added, "You don't have to let outsiders know about this matter." ”

The so-called outsiders naturally refer to Song Hu, and the two of them all understood deeply, nodded busily, and left. (To be continued......)