"How was it? Not bad, huh?" After browsing around a shop on the street, Song Tianyao asked Angie Perlis, who was carefully holding a silver Rococo-style inkwell that was identified as being from the Georgian period of Britain.
Angie Perlis carefully placed the ink bottle into her handbag. "This is a huge treasure trove. Back then, only nobles owned such silver ink bottles, and the India owner of this shop only charged me four hundred Hong Kong dollars. Although it is indeed a bit damaged, it's perfectly fine for collecting."
"Four hundred Hong Kong dollars can be exchanged for a lot of silver, Miss. Britain officials have no interest in flea markets run by India and China person; they prefer Sincere Department Store, which you mentioned. But seeing your expression now, I think they might like the gifts here," Song Tianyao said.
After arriving at Lascar Street with Angie Perlis, he and Angie Perlis showed no interest in the China person- owned shops and went straight into the India- owned secondhand shops. Since the Britain East India Company entered India, Britain had been colonizing the India subcontinent for over two hundred years. Over two hundred years of Britain colonial rule allowed these India to collect a lot of silverware or other antiques from the reigns of Queen Anne, King George, and the Victorian era in their Britain.
Upon entering the first shop, Angie Perlis selected a well-sealed box of Dunning Earl Grey tea from London. She hadn't smelled authentic London tea in a long time. Although she now ate and stayed in English hotels and didn't lack for English afternoon tea, Dunning Earl Grey tea, which only had one shop in London and whose majority of its collection was reserved for royalty and nobility, was far from something that could be easily bought in a Far Eastern city like Hong Kong.
When she visited the third store, she bought the so-called Georgian-era sterling silver ink bottle that was in her handbag at the time.
Judging from Angie Perlis's appearance, it seemed she wouldn't be able to leave this street until she had spent all the money Song Tianyao had given her. Indeed, even the most ladylike woman is a fanatic when it comes to shopping.
At an India secondhand shop, Song Tianyao picked out a mahogany humidor inlaid with silver romantic motifs and with the Fox Lewis logo engraved on the base. After wiping away the dust, he opened the lid and found that in addition to the heavy and exquisite wooden box, there was a hygrometer inside to measure the humidity inside the box.
He didn't know how much this cigar humidor would cost in London in 1951, but in his previous life, when he went shopping in London, he saw a similar cigar humidor at Fox Lewis Cigar Shop, which claimed to be two hundred years old, and it was priced at two thousand pounds.
It's somewhat impolite to give a Britain man a cigar on your first meeting if you don't know his taste. However, giving him a humidor from an old cigar brand is a decent and practical gift for a first meeting.
And the India shopkeeper across from him was holding up ten fingers, repeatedly saying in broken Cantonese, "One hundred, one hundred Hong Kong dollars, those patterns are made of silver."
This gave Song Tianyao a very good impression of the Indian shop owner. He originally intended to buy the items and leave, but now he stopped because of the shop owner's cheap sales. He walked a few more steps into the curry-scented shop to continue examining the old items, and selected a set of old-fashioned Britain flower arranging tools as a gift for Mrs. Shek.
Finally, amidst the Indian shopkeeper's smile, Song Tianyao dragged the reluctant Angie Perlis out of Lascar Street: "Foreign Girl, you're a lady lawyer, not a human dragon that'll snatch any treasure it sees."
Chu Xiaozhong and his secretary walked out of the Sincere Department Store. The driver, who had been waiting in the parking lot, got out of the car, ran over to take the gift that Chu Xiaozhong had already wrapped, and then hurried back to open the back door for Chu Xiaozhong.
Once Chu Xiaozhong and his capable female secretary were settled in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce, the driver asked through the rearview mirror, "Mr. Chu, where to?"
"Go to the Peak Restaurant and drop me and Wing Yan off on Queen's Road. You wait in the car," Chu Xiaozhong instructed the driver.
As the car slowly started moving, the female secretary, whom Chu Xiaozhong referred to as Wing Yan, finally spoke, "Tonight, Deputy Director Shek Chi-yik of the Peak Restaurant has arranged to meet with five people. Besides you, Mr. Chu, there's Liu Guanchun's fifth son, Liu Fu Zhao. He just obtained his MBA from Wharton School in Pennsylvania, United States, six months ago. After returning to Hong Kong, he didn't join the family business to compete with his four older brothers for a position. He's already met Deputy Director Shek Chi-yik once at the Yacht Club. In addition to him, there's Mr. Ji Dongpu's third son, Ji Yueyang; the taxi tycoon Gu Zhong's fourth son, Gu Dexiang; and lastly, your younger brother, Chu Xiaoxin Young Master Shun."
"Ah Sin?" Chu Xiaozhong was taken aback.
During this period, Shek Chi-yik met with many businessmen while waiting for dinner each day. In the first few nights, he met with older people, those in their thirties and forties, who were in their prime. In the last two days, he met with the next generation of various large Chinese business families. If Chu Xiaozhong had only wanted to maintain the status quo and inherit his father's business, there would have been no need for him to meet with this newly appointed deputy director. However, he clearly did not want to rely solely on his father's legacy. His warehouse and blow molding businesses, which he co-owned with a friend, were at a point where they needed to deal with the Industrial and Commercial Administration Office. Therefore, Chu Xiaozhong wanted to get acquainted with this deputy director first, even if he didn't want to leave a deep impression, it would be convenient for future interactions.
Tonight's guests, whether it's Liu Fu Zhao, the fifth son of the Liu family (one of Hong Kong's four major families in the eyes of the Britain), Ji Yueyang, the third son of the Ji Family of the Bank of East Asia, or even Gu Dexiang Gu Zhong Chu Xiaozhong, are not surprising. These three, to varying degrees, have somewhat unstable positions within their families. To put it bluntly, they are unlikely to be the future heirs of their families. However, they possess some ability, so the families can provide them with financial support to help them expand their own empires. This is precisely the kind of person Shi Shek Chi-yik is most eager to be. They want to accumulate wealth as quickly as possible, to demonstrate their abilities and efforts to their parents, and to regain some initiative in the future struggle for family succession.
The strangest one was his half-brother, Chu Xiaoxin.