“He didn’t come – we want to give Uncle a surprise.”
Xia Xiaolan’s words brought a slight smile to Li Fengmei’s face. Since Liu Yong liked surprises, she’d give him one too.
Having given up the cigarette business, the building materials store wasn’t generating quick returns yet, so Kang Wei didn’t dare spend money recklessly. He bought a Jeep 212 for himself, which cost only 40,000 yuan including taxes. He had considered buying smuggled cars at customs auctions – they were cheaper, but the models weren’t suitable. A Jeep had a more masculine feel, and Kang Wei could drive freely around Shenzhen without anyone calling him too flashy!
Kang Wei jumped out of the car and took their modest luggage.
He had a Leica camera hanging around his neck.
He’d been playing with all sorts of new gadgets lately. Xia Xiaolan wasn’t familiar with these old-style cameras, so Kang Wei became the photographer, taking pictures of Li Fengmei and the others with small planes on the tarmac as background – commemorating their first flight. Photography was a hobby only wealthy people could afford then, with expensive cameras and film.
Leica was certainly the aristocrat among cameras – young people would be proud just to own a domestic Seagull camera.
Kang Wei had completely transferred the cigarette business to others and had a large sum of money, though perhaps not as wealthy as Zhou Cheng who’d started earlier, but richer than Xia Xiaolan. How could young people with money resist spending it? Zhou Cheng liked buying watches, while Kang Wei had waited until now to buy a car and camera – he was being quite modest.
The modest Kang Wei drove Xia Xiaolan’s group straight from Guangzhou to Shenzhen.
When asked where they wanted to go first, Li Fengmei immediately said, “To where Xiaolan’s uncle lives.”
When Xia Xiaolan arrived at the airport earlier, she had already asked Kang Wei. While he couldn’t tell if her uncle had any relationship with the hostess, he knew for certain they weren’t living together, so he dared to take them directly to Liu Yong’s residence in Shenzhen.
Where did Liu Yong live in Shenzhen?
He wouldn’t even stay in a guesthouse, instead renting local housing.
He had rented three single-story rooms from a resident. Liu Yong occupied one room, Li Dongliang and Ge Jian another, and the third had previously been Gong Yang’s. The house was extremely basic. Two rooms were locked, but one was open, where a worker was sound asleep on a wooden bed – sick and unable to work that day.
The renovation workers under Liu Yong also lived in collectively rented single-story houses.
Looking through the window, Li Fengmei saw that while not particularly messy, the conditions were terrible. The floor wasn’t even cemented, let alone decorated.
Li Fengmei hadn’t lived in such conditions for a year.
Even the old Liu family house in Qijing Village seemed better than this.
“This is where Xiaolan’s uncle lives?”
Kang Wei nodded, “Uncle Liu has always lived here. I suggested he stay at a guesthouse, but he said why bother with something fancy when he just needs a bed to sleep in at night.”
Liu Yong hadn’t changed locations.
When Xia Xiaolan was in Shenzhen, he stayed at a guesthouse, but after she left, Liu Yong became quite frugal with himself.
It was remarkable that Li Dongliang and Ge Jian were willing to follow such a spartan boss – even henchmen would look down on such accommodations.
Learning that Liu Yong lived in such conditions, Li Fengmei felt a twinge of sadness.
She wasn’t the only one being thrifty in Shangdu – Liu Yong was saving wherever possible while doing business here.
The family had managed to leave the countryside, but the pressure of establishing themselves in the city fell entirely on Liu Yong. Li Fengmei could somewhat understand his impulse to buy the Beijing courtyard house – probably excited to find a suitable house when he had enough money, acting on impulse to buy it before considering other matters.
“Your uncle’s house in Beijing must be better than this?”
Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Although the original courtyard was altered, the main house’s structure remains unchanged, built with old gray bricks and stone-ground tile flooring. It’s an old courtyard house that once housed officials. If the owner hadn’t urgently needed money to go abroad, they wouldn’t have sold it!”
Even in 1984, Nanluogu Alley was a prime location.
If not occupied, the courtyard could generate monthly rent from several families.
For personal use, the courtyard house was spacious, and well-located, with various food shops just outside the hutong – very convenient for daily life.
Liu Yong had wanted to explain all this to Li Fengmei, but she was too angry to listen.
Now hearing it from Xia Xiaolan, Li Fengmei listened carefully. Xia Xiaolan never made losing deals – all their family’s profitable ventures were founded by her. Would she strongly encourage Liu Yong to buy a bad house?
Li Fengmei’s anger had mostly dissipated.
Not finding Liu Yong at his residence, Kang Wei drove them to the building materials store.
Liu Fen had been to the store, but Li Fengmei hadn’t.
The small commodities market wasn’t in great condition, with various vendors claiming territory, making “Anjia Building Materials” look quite upscale in comparison.
Though the abundance of small vendors created chaos, it also brought prosperity.
Bai Zhenzhu hadn’t abandoned her stall, though she’d hired two helpers. Seeing Xia Xiaolan’s group, she was delighted: “Xiaolan, we haven’t seen each other for two or three months. I saw you on TV during National Day!”
Bai Zhenzhu led Li Fengmei to tour the building materials store.
Whatever business Liu Yong was doing outside, the building materials store served as a showcase.
After Bai Zhenzhu took Li Fengmei’s group upstairs, Xia Xiaolan asked Kang Wei, “Tell me, where’s my uncle?”
“Sister-in-law, you should meet Brother Pan San first.”
“Brother Pan San is here?”
Kang Wei nodded.
Pan San’s arrival meant Liu Tianquan’s background had been thoroughly investigated. Xia Xiaolan knew the key issue wasn’t the hostess but Liu Tianquan.
Led aside by Kang Wei, she saw Pan San squatting on stone steps, smoking.
“Third Brother, sorry to trouble you again!”
Pan San flicked away his cigarette butt and stood up, dusting his hands: “Liu Tianquan has reinvented himself as a Hong Kong merchant in Shenzhen, but he’s a triad member in Hong Kong. His sister married Du Chengrong, chairman of Hong Kong’s Chengrong Group, as a concubine. Du Chengrong has one primary wife and three concubines, all fighting like roosters. Each wife wants a bigger share of Du Chengrong’s assets. Liu Tianquan, this convenient brother-in-law, has built quite a business, mostly helping his sister gather wealth outside. Tiancheng’s success relies on the Du family’s resources.”
So this Liu Tianquan, despite his large business, was actually just a henchman for Hong Kong’s Du family?
The Du family was far removed from Xia Xiaolan’s world.
Yet even just a Du family henchman had her uncle running in circles.
Hearing about Liu Tianquan’s triad background, Xia Xiaolan became more vigilant. This wasn’t like a school club – Hong Kong referred to criminal organizations as “triads.” Later, the Young and Dangerous film series about Hong Kong gang warfare would become hugely popular, negatively influencing many young people’s values by glorifying gang life. Xia Xiaolan had always kept her distance from such people.
As for Tang Hongen, did he cold-shoulder this “Hong Kong merchant” who had good relations with the Shenzhen government after taking office because he knew Liu Tianquan’s background?