Chapter 009

Chapter 009

Impressive courage!

It doesn’t match his refined and jade-like demeanor at all.

He’s also very good at seizing opportunities; he must be a competent businessman.

Lu Mingzhu admired Xie Junyao.

She looked at Xie Junyao the same way Lu Pingan looked at her.

Her big, bright eyes were clear and innocent.

The cold severity between Xie Junyao’s brows dissipated. Seeing that Wang Bohui was pondering in silence, he slowly spoke, attempting to persuade him: "Mr. Wang should seriously consider my suggestion. In Hong Kong, the sales model proposed by Miss Mingzhu is unprecedented. What she can think of, others might also think of. We must seize the opportunity first."

"Yes, Brother, I’m willing to cooperate," Lu Mingzhu didn’t want to miss this great opportunity.

She wasn’t good at doing business, but she could be an investor.

Dividends are sweet!

It was unexpected that her first day in Hong Kong would involve co-founding a company with others.

She really had only herself to blame for talking too much.

She hadn’t realized this world was different from the one she had lived in before, even though the history and place names were the same.

Looking at Xie Junyao and then at Lu Mingzhu, the steady-minded Wang Bohui still didn’t give an immediate yes, but smiled and said, "Let me think about it. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow."

Xie Junyao understood.

At this moment, Liao Wanru walked over and smiled, "Stop talking business. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat. Uncle Li brought a bunch of stuff from Shanghai. After dinner, you can take some back, Junyao. I played mahjong with your mom a few days ago, and she mentioned she has a bit of a cough and wants some authentic Shanghai licorice candy. We couldn’t find any, but we have plenty now."

Xie Junyao didn’t decline and politely said, "Thank you for your concern."

Only then did Lu Mingzhu realize that Xie Junyao had been speaking in authentic Shanghainese all along.

Could he also be a fellow countryman?

Lu Mingzhu didn’t ask out loud but handed over the four gifts to Liao Wanru, saying, "This is just a small token, nothing much. Sis, among these, the tea is this year’s new harvest, pre-Qingming tea. Two cans are the Lion Peak Longjing that you and Brother like, and the other two are the Biluochun that our godmother loves."

According to the original body’s memory, she had specially chosen them.

Father Lu loved drinking tea throughout his life. The Lu family would purchase a lot of famous teas every year, the best of the best, but since it was inconvenient to carry too much on the road, it ultimately benefited Lu Mingzhu.

Her thoughtfulness made Liao Wanru very happy. "You didn’t have to go to so much trouble!"

"It’s nothing, not extravagant at all," Lu Mingzhu smiled, revealing two deep dimples, "Until we get our own place, Pingan and I will be staying with you and Brother for a while!"

Liao Wanru immediately said, "Just live at home. Why move out?"

"We should have our own house." Lu Mingzhu didn’t like depending on others. She knew Pingan would feel the same way. As for what kind of house to buy, she would discuss it with Lu Pingan later.

Mrs. Wang and Uncle Li came out of the living room after finishing their chat. Mrs. Wang said, "Mingzhu, can’t you stay and keep me company? I miss having a daughter around."

She had no daughters of her own, so she doted on this goddaughter.

She was a real beauty, easy on the eyes.

"Even if we move out, I can come and keep you company every day! I can go shopping, play cards, and mahjong with you. I'm up for anything." Lu Mingzhu wrapped her arm around Mrs. Wang's arm, tilted her head, and smiled brightly, looking both beautiful and sweet, with a warmth that was hard to resist.

Mrs. Wang patted the back of her hand and went to sit at the dining table.

As an elder and the host, she sat at the head of the table.

Wang Bohui and Liao Wanru regarded Lu Mingzhu and Lu Pingan as family, arranging for them to sit below the couple, while Xie Junyao sat at the upper guest seat.

A table of Shanghainese dishes delighted Lu Mingzhu and Lu Pingan.

Even the servants spoke Shanghainese, making them feel right at home.

After the meal, Xie Junyao politely took his leave. Liao Wanru hurriedly brought the prepared Shanghainese specialties for him to take away. After seeing him off with Wang Bohui, they returned to find Lu Mingzhu and her nephew, Lu Pingan, chatting enthusiastically with Mrs. Wang.

Mrs. Wang said to her eldest son and daughter-in-law, "Bohui, Wanru, you must take good care of Mingzhu and Pingan. I just learned the reason why they came to Hong Kong. No wonder Father Wang had Old Li personally escort them. Master Lu took his entire family abroad, even trusted subordinates, leaving this poor niece and nephew behind. How detestable."

Wang Bohui and Liao Wanru were puzzled. "Why?"

Lu Mingzhu shrugged. "I don't know either. They just left without a word. Fortunately, the old man wasn't completely heartless and left me some gold and silver. I exchanged them for foreign currency to bring out. So, Brother, please help me and Pingan obtain our IDs as soon as possible so I can invest in your business. We can't just sit around and drain our savings."

Liao Wanru nodded repeatedly. "IDs are very important. I'll have your brother take you to register tomorrow."

Wang Bohui agreed.

The next day, after breakfast, Wang Bohui took Lu Mingzhu and Lu Pingan to the police station.

Clearly, he was familiar with the staff inside.

After greeting them, an officer took photos of Lu Mingzhu and Lu Pingan. Perhaps due to good luck, the film roll was just finished, and they quickly developed the black-and-white photos, affixing them to two light blue hard papers.

These two hard papers were the IDs, entirely in English.

They also printed 'ID' in traditional Chinese characters, with hand-filled personal information in Chinese characters, mainly names, ages, birthdates, and home addresses, all very simple.

Lu Mingzhu noticed someone receiving a pink ID and asked Wang Bohui in a low voice.

Wang Bohui explained, "ID papers come in three colors, corresponding to three groups. Yellow is for civil servants, pink is for employees, and light blue is for ordinary civilians."

Even IDs are color-coded based on social status?

Lu Mingzhu was neither a civil servant nor employed, so she could only receive the ordinary civilian ID.

As she walked out of the police station, she squinted her eyes.

The bright sunlight shone on her face, a bit dazzling.

But the sky was clear, with not a single cloud.

After dropping them off at home, Wang Bohui headed to the office to attend to his work.

Before leaving, Lu Mingzhu reminded him once more, "Brother, please give serious thought to the partnership to start a business together. If you want to make a fortune, timing is everything."

Since there was no tiered sales for now, they should seize this opportunity before it's too late. When others thought of it later, there would be no chance to make money.

Wang Bohui smiled. "How much money do you have?"

Lu Mingzhu didn't answer but asked, "How much would 33,000 pounds and 80,000 US dollars convert to in Hong Kong dollars?"

The exchange rate for pounds is 1:16, and for US dollars, it's 1:8.

Wang Xingcai didn’t specify, so she wasn’t sure.

Wang Bohui immediately said, "1 pound equals 16 Hong Kong dollars, so 33,000 pounds is 528,000. The exchange rate for US dollars to Hong Kong dollars is around 1:5.7, so 80,000 US dollars would convert to roughly 456,000 Hong Kong dollars, depending on the daily rate."

Lu Mingzhu calculated, "So, I’ll put in 1 million Hong Kong dollars."

The sum of the two foreign currency amounts is 984,000, which is short of 1 million, but she still had 40,000 Hong Kong dollars to make up the difference.

Wang Bohui was genuinely surprised. "Wow, Mingzhu, you’ve got quite a stash!"

It was beyond his imagination.

When the four brothers split the family estate, each got 1 million in cash and a large house. Besides Lu Changsheng and Lu Mingzhu, Lu Father’s concubines had another sixteen children. Although some had passed away, on average, each person received far less than the four brothers. Given that Lu Mingzhu was never favored, it seemed unlikely that Lu Father would have given her 1 million.

It seemed impossible no matter how he thought about it. After all, Lu Mingzhu had always been the least favored among the siblings, and it was hard to imagine her father giving her such a large sum.

Lu Mingzhu grinned. "Turns out, I found some buried treasure from one of our ancestors. Keep it on the down-low, okay?"

Wang Bohui understood.

In wealthy families, it’s not uncommon to stash away some extra cash or gold as a safety net.

After thinking for a moment, he said to Lu Mingzhu, "If you’re serious about this, why don’t you invest this money into my company and take a 45% stake? We can use the company to partner with Xie Junyao, which will save you from any headaches if you invest personally."

Lu Pingan chimed in, "Auntie could put in 1.2 million and take a 50% stake."

Lu Mingzhu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded slowly. Lu Pingan continued, "I’ve got some US dollars and a bit of gold saved up, which should cover 200,000 Hong Kong dollars."