Golden Harvest Properties

"LS, what the hell are you doing? Sending all those boys out to harass landlords with places for rent?"

A few days later, Officer Wei summoned Gu Sheng to the rooftop.

Gu Sheng leaned over the parapet and studied the drop, wondering whether Officer Wei would still be in one piece if the wind blew him off.

"How am I harassing them? Look at all those ads they stick everywhere, on utility poles and street corners. Doesn't that spoil the cityscape? I'm just doing my duty as a good citizen," Gu Sheng said lazily.

"Gu Sheng, don't play games with me. Don't forget who you really are," Officer Wei snapped.

Gu Sheng turned around with a cigarette between his lips. "Sir, if you don't want people becoming gangsters and turning to crime, you've got to give them a way to make a living, right?

If they could support their families honestly, how many would want to be gangsters? They end up that way because they've got no education and no jobs, don't they?

I'm opening a property company, an agency for renting, buying, and selling homes. I'll turn all my boys into office workers. They'll earn more than the white-collar staff in the Central Office Towers.

Once they've got money, who'd still want to live with no guarantee of seeing tomorrow, with one foot in the grave?"

"And of course, I want to make some money myself."

Officer Wei considered it, then nodded approvingly. "That's not a bad idea. But can it really work?"

"We'll give it a try. If it works, I'll have developed an industry, created jobs, and met a public need.

There's definitely demand. What are people supposed to do when they want to rent or buy a place? Search every street and alley? They could come to me, spend a little money, and get it sorted. Everybody wins."

"I never knew you had brains like that." Officer Wei gave him a couple of pats and smiled.

He had been worried that Gu Sheng would run wild after becoming a boss, sinking deeper into the gangster life until he could no longer turn back.

After all, Gu Sheng had been completely unrestrained lately, acting more like a gangster than the actual gangsters.

Now it seemed Gu Sheng did have some ideas.

"I was one of the Police Academy's finest, after all!"

"Oh, right. You moved recently, and I haven't congratulated you yet. Here's a red packet." Officer Wei handed him an envelope.

Gu Sheng took it and looked inside. Two hundred dollars.

He had never received this kind of treatment before. Nobody had even remembered his birthday.

Now that he had earned a rank in Hongxing, his standing with Officer Wei had risen too.

"Tell your boys to rein it in. Getting them into legitimate work is a good thing, but they can't harass ordinary people."

"We're just starting out. Things aren't properly organized yet. Every industry starts like this. It'll get better." Gu Sheng waved a hand, utterly unconcerned.

Three days later, a burst of firecrackers marked the opening of a storefront in the center of Yuen Long New Town.

The sign above it read: Golden Harvest Properties-Property Sales and Rentals, Yuen Long Flagship Branch.

He had sent his boys to handle the paperwork for setting up the company.

The shop was fairly spacious, around a hundred square meters. Most importantly, it had a wide frontage with floor-to-ceiling display windows, giving it an impressive look. The monthly rent should have been at least sixty thousand, but Big-Eyed Hua had secured it for forty thousand, with payment deferred.

The landlord had signed the rental agreement with a face full of joy.

"Congratulations, Sheng. Wishing you luck and prosperity." Big B had his men place flower baskets on either side of the entrance.

"Your girl's so pretty. I'm jealous."

"Say hello to Brother B!" Gu Sheng told Kong Sang beside him.

Kong Sang wore a yellow dress that made her fair skin stand out even more. With her long legs, she was an eye-catching presence beside Gu Sheng.

"Brother B!" Kong Sang greeted him with a sweet smile.

"All right, get on with your work. Don't worry about me. I've got something to do in a bit," Big B said.

Chan Ho-nam, Four-Eyed Kid, and Chui Gai had also shown him some respect this time, each sending men over with flower baskets.

After the ribbon-cutting, Big B left, and Gu Sheng had signs set up on either side of the entrance. They displayed the better properties selected over the past few days, complete with floor plans and photographs.

The floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides were covered with property listings organized by area, making it easy to find what one wanted.

In an era when real estate agencies had yet to take off and most people still put up rental ads, this utterly outclassed the competition.

To launch the Golden Harvest Properties name with a bang, Gu Sheng had also chased plenty of his boys out onto the streets to hand out flyers over the previous three days.

Three of the shop's employees were his own men.

They were the sort who had only joined a gang to avoid being bullied and wanted legitimate work. Now, dressed in suits and ties, they looked quite respectable.

Gu Sheng had a dozen or so men like that under him, just enough to distribute among the five shops.

There were also five ordinary employees hired from outside.

Gu Sheng made a round of the premises, inside and out. It looked much like the agencies he had seen in later years, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"All right, you stay here. I'm going out for a look around."

"You're leaving already?" Kong Sang caught his arm.

"What else would I stay here for?" Gu Sheng pointed at his boys outside.

"I'm a little worried. I don't know how to do any of this. I'm afraid I'll mess it up," Kong Sang said quietly.

"Just keep an eye on them and make the records. You could tether a dog here and it still couldn't go wrong."

"Bastard!" Kong Sang stamped on Gu Sheng's foot, gritting her teeth in fury. This guy was a bastard, a complete asshole. Nothing decent ever came out of his mouth!

She was already worried, and instead of offering a single word of comfort, the bastard had said, "You could tether a dog here and it still couldn't go wrong."

"All right, call me if anything comes up, or send one of the boys to get someone." Gu Sheng had brought Kong Sang into the property company so she would stop pestering him at home all day.

Besides, he really did need someone trustworthy to handle the accounts.

Not long after Gu Sheng left, quite a few curious onlookers gathered outside the display windows to browse the property listings.

Though they had never seen this kind of property agency before, anyone passing outside could tell at a glance what the place did.

The details and prices of each property were clearly displayed, making it far more convenient than searching everywhere themselves.

Besides, someone had torn down all the rental ads on the streets over the past few days, leaving many people who happened to need a place with no other option.

Before long, someone came in to ask questions.

"This rental agency of yours is something new. What do you charge?"

"Sir, our fee is half the first month's rent. No matter how long you rent for, we only charge it once."

They charged both sides, collecting half a month's rent each from the tenant and the landlord.

Kong Sang and the employees had worried there would be no customers. Instead, more than a dozen groups arrived before noon, and several went straight out to view properties.

By the afternoon, they almost didn't have enough staff to go around.

The curious onlookers had dispersed, but passersby frequently stopped for a moment. More people were standing outside reading the listings than there had been that morning.

Yuen Long New Town was a newly developed urban area, and Yuen Long as a whole had a population of several hundred thousand. The rental market was certainly substantial.

Gu Sheng spent half the day sitting in a little shop across the street with a bottle of soda. After watching several groups of customers go in, he knew things were fine.

"Has Mad Dog been discharged yet?" Gu Sheng asked one of his boys.

"I think he only got out yesterday. His injuries haven't healed yet, though. He's recovering at home."

"Let me know when he's healed up," Gu Sheng said, lighting a cigarette.

"Brother Sheng, do you need him for something?" the man beside him asked cautiously.

"We're in the same gang, aren't we? Can't I invite him fishing? Oh, and find out where he lives and how many people are in his family. I'll take a fruit basket over to see him sometime."

Although the property rental company seemed to be doing well, there were far too many things he needed money for right now.

Spinning the Wheel cost money.

A mobile phone alone cost tens of thousands.

He also needed to buy a car.