Chapter 19

Although Gu Sheng had swallowed up Mad Dog's turf, his mind wasn't on it at all.

In the days after opening, foot traffic at the flagship store remained strong. They closed twenty or thirty deals a day, bringing in twenty or thirty thousand in daily revenue-six or seven hundred thousand a month.

Even after rent and staffing costs, that still meant a net profit of four or five hundred thousand a month.

Gu Sheng immediately had his men borrow a few vans and send them over.

Customers sometimes found machetes and the like in the vans on their way to view properties, but those were minor issues.

The other branches opened in quick succession. Within days, Golden Harvest Properties had made a name for itself throughout Yuen Long. Everyone knew about this new kind of property agency.

Of course, as the other branches opened, business at the flagship gradually declined, settling at an average of somewhere between a dozen and twenty deals a day.

Each of the other stores closed around ten deals a day as well.

Combined, that meant sixty or seventy deals and fifty or sixty thousand in revenue a day. Over a month, revenue would reach 1.6 or 1.7 million, with profits exceeding 1.2 million.

"How much money does the company have right now?" Gu Sheng asked Kong Sang as he flipped through the reports.

"Four hundred forty-six thousand seven hundred," Kong Sang answered without even thinking.

"Withdraw four hundred thousand. I'm going to buy some vehicles," Gu Sheng said after a moment's thought.

"Okay!"

Gu Sheng called Big-Eyed Hua over. "Where do I go to buy vehicles?"

"For smuggled cars, go to Shui Dong. For stolen ones, go to Big Fool. They're both in Sai Kung," Big-Eyed Hua answered immediately.

Big-Eyed Hua wasn't particularly brave or bright, but he had one useful quality: he knew his way around the underworld.

Especially after they took out Mad Dog. Over the past couple of days, Gu Sheng had put him in charge of a street near Long Ping Estate, and Big-Eyed Hua had grown even more loyal.

"Get a few guys. We're going to see Shui Dong."

"Quick-Blade Sheng? Who's that?" Shui Dong rolled his eyes when he heard his underling's report, his face fierce.

"Hongxing's latest rising star. From Yuen Long."

"Let him in."

A moment later, Gu Sheng entered the warehouse with his men.

"Well, if it isn't Sheng, Hongxing's golden boy! What brings you here today? Got some business for your brother?" Shui Dong greeted him warmly, though he remained seated on a crate, picking his nose.

"Got any small vans?"

"You came all this way just for that? How many?"

"Eleven," Gu Sheng said after doing the math. Two for each of the four branches and three for the flagship.

As for the borrowed wrecks, there was no point keeping them around to embarrass him.

In business, you had to make the customer feel like God.

If he didn't feel that way, you could send him to meet God and see the resemblance for himself.

"Now that's a proper order. The Toyota H50-the hottest new model right now. Brand-new, market price thirty-eight thousand. For eleven, let's call it three hundred ten thousand. I'll throw in the registration and plates." Shui Dong's interest picked up. His main businesses were people smuggling and contraband. An order worth over three hundred thousand didn't make Gu Sheng a major customer, but it wasn't pocket change either.

Besides, this was only their first deal.

"What sedans have you got?" Gu Sheng thought the price was decent-roughly a third below market.

"Come on, show Sheng the cars." Shui Dong immediately called over an underling to take Gu Sheng farther inside.

"Sheng, the Ferrari 928S. Same car the big star Ding Dang drives. Market price, three hundred thirty-eight thousand."

"The Toyota MR. Market price, one hundred thirty thousand..."

Chan Ho-nam had one of those.

After looking around, Gu Sheng picked a white Toyota MS110 for just seventy thousand. He would drive it for a few days, then hand it over to Kong Sang.

Once he made some more money, he would get a big-bodied Mercedes. Over a million-that was what you called imposing.

"Get the paperwork done and deliver them to Yuen Long within two days." Gu Sheng handed over the money on the spot. He wasn't worried about Shui Dong playing tricks and cheating him out of it.

If that really happened... Could I get that lucky?

"Don't worry. Leave it to me. If anything goes wrong, come find me!" Seeing how readily Gu Sheng paid, Shui Dong grew even friendlier. "Next time you've got business, make sure you send it your brother's way."

It didn't even take two days. Shui Dong had the vehicles delivered after just one.

That left Gu Sheng just a little disappointed.

He picked another dozen or so men to work as full-time drivers, then had Golden Harvest Properties' name and contact details sprayed onto every vehicle before sending them straight to the stores.

Those eleven vans drove customers all over Yuen Long every day, which would generate plenty of advertising exposure too.

At the very least, it looked much more legitimate, and it showed off the company's financial strength.

"When you've got some free time, go learn to drive," Gu Sheng told Kong Sang.

"Whatever you say!" Kong Sang wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, beaming.

Gu Sheng stayed a little longer, then left. He couldn't sit around the office for long anyway.

Something had been on his mind for days.

A little later, Gu Sheng drove onto a street and parked outside a bathhouse.

"Sheng!" The underling downstairs hurried to his feet when he saw Gu Sheng, casually slapping the dazed-looking guy beside him. "Don't just stand there like an idiot. Greet him!"

"Boss," the other underling said hurriedly.

This place had originally been Mad Dog's turf. Now Gu Sheng had swallowed it up.

"Sheng!"

"Sheng!"

Everyone Gu Sheng passed stepped aside and greeted him.

Gu Sheng went upstairs for a bath, then summoned the manager. "Find me a room, then send in two new girls. I'll give their service a trial run."

"Don't worry, Sheng. I'll find you the two freshest girls we've got," the manager said immediately.

"It's a service trial!" Gu Sheng corrected him.

The process might have been the same, but the purpose was completely different.

Gu Sheng was here to inspect the quality of service. After all, he got a share of the establishment's income.

This was a gang-owned business. Supposedly, most of the girls here were delinquent types who supported thug boyfriends on the outside.

Gu Sheng had been meaning to come test the service all along, but he had been busy with other things over the past few days. Today, he finally had time.

Before long, two pretty girls entered the room and greeted him in sweet, coy voices. "Sheng."

More than two hours later, Gu Sheng had a cigarette dangling from his lips.

These things were actually pretty boring.

If he hadn't been conducting a spot check on the gang's businesses, he wouldn't even have wanted to bother.

Actually, the effort wasn't so bad. The real problem was the strain on his lower back.

After taking Liuwei Dihuang Pills and carrying a thermos around for so long, he had just gone to take a piss-and it had come out like a showerhead again.

When Gu Sheng saw the manager, he asked, "Do the girls get regular medical checkups?"

"Don't worry, Sheng. Guaranteed clean! What did you think?"

"There's nothing distinctive about it. Where can't you find women? They're everywhere. What's supposed to bring customers here? Just the delinquent girls?"

"What matters is all those other services, understand? They need to be sweet and attentive, give customers the royal treatment. Later, have all the girls brainstorm together. Starting from choosing a girl, come up with eighteen moves, thirty-six moves-everyone should follow the same service procedure. We need standardized operations, professional service, proper training, and quality-system certification..."

"Huh?" The manager had only asked casually. He never expected Gu Sheng to actually launch into all this.

"What do you mean, 'huh'? Competition's fierce these days. That old slapdash management of yours won't cut it anymore. You need to be more professional and have enough core selling points to stand out from the other places!"

"Once that's all sorted, we can get a few minibuses and pick up customers in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Yau Ma Tei, places like that. Free rides both ways! If you're not professional and your service isn't good, how are you going to get customers to come?"

"Get everyone under you together to brainstorm. Come up with thirty-six moves first and let me look them over. Once I approve, start with those, then gradually add more services!"