Zhang Yuliang straightened his tie and stepped into the coffee shop. As soon as he appeared, all the men and women who had been there looked over and greeted him.
"A-Liang, you've found some free time today to have tea here?"
With a smile on his face, Zhang Yuliang walked from table to table, chatting with each table for several tens of seconds:
"Brother Hing, I have an appointment to discuss business on the third floor. I'll come over and say hello later."
"Sister Yan Yin, you've become even more beautiful since I last saw you. If I were your husband, I'd keep a close eye on you and tie you two together with a rope, lest someone snatch you away."
"Ah Yang, let's have a couple of drinks tonight. My older brother had some red wine shipped back to Hong Kong from Australia. You're an expert in this area, so you can help me with the tasting."
Even when the small band playing "Stardust" in the corner was playing, Zhang Yuliang stopped and listened for a minute. Then he took out Hong Kong dollars 205 from his wallet, turned around and handed it to the waiter in the coffee shop with both hands, saying gently, "Five dollars is your tip."
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang." The waiter, flattered, accepted the money and bowed to Zhang Yuliang as he turned to go upstairs.
When he first started working at the club, he always addressed this regular customer as Young Master Liang. But perhaps because he had been working there for a while, his eyesight had improved, and he never saw Mr. Zhang show any dissatisfaction. However, he could vaguely sense that this customer did not like being called Young Master Liang and preferred to be called Mr. Zhang.
The third floor of the clubhouse is in the style of a standard Britain tea room. A small sign for Brighton Blackbird Tea Room hangs at the entrance. Inside, there are no longer ordinary Chinese waiters, but only blonde, blue-eyed White Russian women dressed in British clothing. A waitress standing at the entrance of the tea room saw that it was Zhang Yuliang and smiled as she pushed open the wooden door of the tea room for him.
"Thank you, Gina." Zhang Yuliang deliberately teased the waitress in his slightly odd-accented Russian.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jin, I'm a little late. My eldest and second eldest brothers recently flew to Australia, and my third brother has some trivial matters to handle at the Sze Yap Chamber of Commerce, so I attended today's monthly meeting of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Executive Committee on their behalf." Zhang Yuliang casually took off his suit jacket and handed it to the waitress behind him, while explaining in fluent English to the two Britain white men sitting in front of him.
The two Britain, a man and a woman, were a man in his forties and slightly balding. The man, named Alberta Fink, had adopted a China name, Jin Weikang, following the example of other Britain in Hong Kong. He was the head of the Hong Kong office of Smith & Nephew Pharmaceutical Company Britain. European Coast Company was around thirty years old and slightly plump. The woman, dressed conservatively, was the financial officer of Smith & Nephew Pharmaceutical Company's Hong Kong office, Beryl Mayne.
"It's alright, Mr. Zhang, we're old friends. But we ordered Earl Grey tea in advance, we hope it suits your taste," Jin Weikang said to Zhang Yuliang after he sat down.
Beryl Mayne, standing nearby, glanced coldly at Zhang Yuliang before turning her head away.
"The taste and type of tea are important, but for us, there are things more important than drinking tea, aren't there, Mr. Jin? The two million Hong Kong dollars payment has been deposited into Smith & Nephew Pharmaceutical Company's account at HSBC, but the Penicillin ordered by European Coast Company hasn't even arrived at the Zhang Family's warehouse yet." Zhang Yuliang politely picked up a pastry, put it in his mouth, and tasted it, then said to Jin Weikang with a warm smile.
This time, Jin Weikang remained silent. Berejikwan, standing beside him, stared directly at Zhang Yuliang across from her and said in an unfriendly tone:
"We investigated the whereabouts of the drugs previously purchased by European Coast Company, Mr. Zhang. Your company resold these drugs to Zhuxing Trading Company, which then added a 10% Zhuxing Trading Company and sold them to other pharmaceutical companies or trading companies. One-third of the drugs were then sold by Zhuxing Trading Company to Mainland China at a higher price."
"Mrs Mayne, medicine is also a commodity. What we should be concerned about is that I paid for your goods but didn't receive them, not what I'm going to do with them, right? I represent European Coast Company, not Zhuxing Trading Company." Zhang Yuliang wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and smiled at Beryl Mayne.
Beryl Mayne, however, gave him a cold shoulder and went straight to the point. "But Zhuxing Trading Company is also owned by the Zhang Family. You're keeping all the secondary wholesale profits for yourselves. As a pharmaceutical company, Smith & Nephew will reconsider our Hong Kong distributorship. What we need are partners to expand the market, not illegal merchants profiting from the war. The price of Penicillin in Hong Kong has reached an alarming level; ordinary citizens simply cannot afford such an effective antibiotic."
"Mrs Mayne may have some misunderstandings about me, Mr. Jin. Is this also your attitude?" Zhang Yuliang asked, looking at Jin Weikang, who was drinking tea beside him.
Jin Weikang put down his teacup at the opportune moment. "No, no, no, I think we should resolve this issue. If European Coast Company is willing to accept the new Penicillin offer, perhaps I can persuade Mrs Mayne. As the company's financial specialist sent to Hong Kong, she is very familiar with the sales situation of pharmaceuticals in Hong Kong."
"It seems that if I don't accept, I'll have to say goodbye to the agency rights with European Coast Company." Zhang Yuliang looked at Jin Weikang with an unchanged expression. "The contract we signed stipulated that if either party terminates the agency rights agreement early, they will have to pay a hefty penalty."
"The contract also states that we have the right to terminate the contract if the agent engages in illegal transactions," Beryl Mayne told Zhang Yuliang. "Stockpiling Penicillin at high prices and then violating the Embargo Order smuggle it to Mainland China at high prices is clearly illegal trading."
"Considering the excellent reputation of European Coast Company over the past two years, a 10% increase on top of the original price will allow me to explain to head office and also make Mrs Mayne overlook the earlier question. You know, Mrs Mayne is a Hong Kong expert; she spends six months of the year Hong Kong. The only reason to silence her is for the company and her to receive their due profits. Once the 10% profit is deposited into the office's bank account, that batch of drugs should be in European Coast Company's warehouse."