Working as a teahouse waiter in the forties and fifties was nothing like the simple job it would become in the nineties, when all one needed to know was how to greet customers, serve dishes, and pour tea and water. A waiter from the forties or fifties would have been more than qualified to manage a large company in later years.
First, a waiter needed a sharp eye. After seeing a customer just once, he had to be able to remember that person's face for at least six months. That was the kind of eye a waiter at a grand teahouse like Luk Yu Tea House was expected to have, and it was only the most basic skill.
Second, the waiters at such teahouses, men and women alike, had networks of contacts vast enough to leave the business managers of later years gaping.
Third, they had to be quick-witted and sociable. When a dispute arose in the teahouse, the waiters were expected to settle everything without the proprietor having to step in.
What was more, waiters at these grand teahouses did not support their families on their monthly wages of fifty or sixty dollars. Every month, they took home at least a hundred and fifty.
"Your first time here, and you've only just arrived in Hong Kong? Where's your hometown, sir?" Hearing Song Tianyao say he was new to Hong Kong, the waiter looked him up and down and asked politely.
Song Tianyao said, "I'm one of the Chao Feng people."
Chapter 4: Finding a Job
"I'm Chao Feng too, so we're fellow townsmen. If there's anything you need help with, just say the word. First, let me find you a seat inside. What kind of tea do you like? It's on me." Hearing Song Tianyao's answer, the waiter immediately switched to the Chaozhou-Fengshun dialect and spoke warmly.
As he spoke, he led Song Tianyao to a quiet spot and brought him a pot of ordinary black tea. Only then did he sit down opposite him.
"Brother, I'm sure you didn't come just for tea. Tell me what's troubling you. My name's Wu Jinliang. I've worked at this teahouse for seven years; I was a waiter here before the Japanese devils invaded. I know Hong Kong well. Just say the word, and I'm sure I can help."
That was why Song Tianyao had come to Luk Yu Tea House. He had long ago heard people in the Squatter Area say that a waiter at Luk Yu Tea House was a Chao Feng man named Wu Jinliang. He was loyal and liked nothing better than helping fellow townsmen solve their troubles. He never accepted a favor in advance, insisting on getting everything properly settled before accepting a thank-you gift, and he never took too much.
But even when people from the Squatter Area came to the teahouse to seek Wu Jinliang's help, it was usually only to find work, find a place to live, or locate relatives they had lost touch with. The thank-you gifts they gave afterward came to no more than a dollar or two. For a poor person, a gift of five dollars was already an enormous sum.
The people who really made Wu Jinliang money were those like Song Tianyao. At least on the surface, he did not look like a poor man from the Squatter Area or a refugee. His refined appearance showed at a glance that he was well educated. In Wu Jinliang's mind, whatever such a person wanted his help with, whether he succeeded or not, he was sure to receive a handsome thank-you gift.
"I've heard of your great reputation too, Brother Leung. Back in Chaozhou-Fengshun, all our fellow townsmen regard you as an all-powerful Tathagata Buddha. Many Chao Feng people who came to Hong Kong have received your help," Song Tianyao said to Wu Jinliang.
When he finished, he waved to a cigarette girl walking among the tables on the ground floor. "A pack of State Express 555s, please."
The cigarette girl came over, holding up a wooden box filled with cigarettes. Song Tianyao put a five-dollar note in the box, took out a pack of State Express 555 cigarettes himself, then added fifty cents in change and smiled at the girl.
"That's a tip."
"Thank you, sir." The cigarette girl dipped in a small curtsy, thanked him obediently, and walked away.
At five dollars a pack, imported State Express 555 cigarettes were definitely considered high-end cigarettes in 1950s Hong Kong. Many people worked themselves to the bone for a whole month without earning enough to buy ten packs. Even at a relatively upscale teahouse like Luk Yu Tea House, most customers smoked Ho Choi cigarettes, which cost two dollars and fifty cents.
Song Tianyao opened the pack, offered Wu Jinliang a cigarette, and struck a match. He lit both their cigarettes and shook out the match before speaking to Wu Jinliang.
"My name is Song Tianyao, and I'm eighteen. To be honest with you, Brother Leung, I did come to the teahouse today to ask for your help with something. I know English and mathematics, and I can keep accounts. I worked at a foreign trading company in Macau for six months. This time, I want to find a job in Hong Kong. I don't intend to work for foreigners anymore; I want to work for a Chinese trading firm."
Wu Jinliang nodded, a cigarette between his fingers. "No problem. It's just a job; I can arrange that for you anytime. You want to work for a trading firm, right? What kind of business did your old foreign company do, brother? Kerosene, cotton textiles, lumber, steel, or something else?"
"The most profitable kind," Song Tianyao said to Wu Jinliang as he smoked. "I think you know what I mean, Brother Leung."
Wu Jinliang nodded slightly and murmured assent.
The so-called most profitable kind was, in fact, smuggling. Whether in Hong Kong or Macau, any trading firm with the right connections engaged in smuggling. After the Korean War broke out in 1950, the United States and other countries used the United Nations General Assembly to pass an embargo resolution against China and North Korea in 1951, imposing a blockade and embargo on both countries.
The stricter the ban, the greater the profits from smuggling: medicines, medical supplies, gasoline, hardware, bananas, steel, cotton...
Besides Chinese trading firms, American and British trading companies had also joined the smuggling feast. The Hong Kong Colonial Government, too, paid lip service to the United Nations' "embargo" rules while defying them in secret. On the surface, it kept issuing decrees and cooperated with the United Nations in expanding the embargo, but as soon as the pressure eased even slightly, it immediately began secretly approving exports of specified goods by trading firms. That was because British economic interests suffered the greatest losses from Hong Kong's implementation of the embargo, which was also why Hong Kong's embargo controls alternated between tight and loose.
In such an environment, smuggling had practically become a legitimate business tacitly accepted by the British Hong Kong Government.
"I worked at a dockside warehouse before, dealing with inspections by the Marine Police and the Commerce and Industry Department. This time, I'm still looking for similar work." As he spoke, Song Tianyao took fifty dollars from his wallet and placed it in front of Wu Jinliang. "A little token of thanks for your trouble, Brother Leung. There'll be more once it's done."
With waiters who acted as brokers like this, Song Tianyao never thought one could be too stingy. If the thank-you gift was small, these fellows would not put enough effort into the job; only when the gift was generous would they show an equivalent degree of sincerity.