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Volume 1: Living in Troubled Times Chapter 9: Chinese New Year

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    Business success is not just the accumulation of funds, but also the extension of contacts and the recruitment of talents.  Meng Youtian knew this, so he had to calm down, put aside his eagerness to get rich overnight, and take his time step by step.

    Fortunately, the clothing factory is profitable, the grocery store is profitable, and the sand dredging company is also operating smoothly. If measured according to the living standards at that time, Meng Youtian is already considered a middle class.

    What makes him even more relieved is that his family has basically adapted to the new life. They don't have to work in the fields under the stars and the moon, sweating profusely. They can't hear the crowing of chickens or the barking of dogs at night. There is no smell and dimness of oil lamps. What they can see is the brightness of electric lamps  ¡­Even Arita¡¯s complaints are slowly decreasing, even though she is still an old woman who can¡¯t rest.

    "Xiaoya, Erya, stinker." As soon as Zijuan entered the room, she called the three children's names continuously, shaking the toys in her hands, smiling happily, "Come and see, let's see what Erniang has given you.  What did you buy back?"

    "Dolls, rag dolls." Xiaoya rushed up first, snatched two rag dolls, and dismissed the sheathed wooden knife.

    "Me, mine." Erya came over with a flat mouth and looked at her sister pitifully.

    "This doll is beautiful, it's for you." Xiaoya quickly chose the one she liked and gave the other doll to Erya. Erya's IQ was obviously not as high as her sister's. When she heard that this doll looked good, she immediately burst into tears and laughed.  , held in his arms and became curious.

    Stinky Dan'er is also not interested in girls' toys. After moving to Hong Kong, he still misses the two big dogs at home. The sheathed wooden knife is very attractive to boys, so he plays with it non-stop.

    "Was spending money again!" Mrs. Arita saw her grandchildren laughing and having fun, and she felt happy in her heart. However, as an older generation, she still had to teach her a lesson, "I can make that rag doll if it looks good and buy cloth, but it requires wood.  Knife. Just ask Lao Yuan to find a piece of wood and cut it!"

    "Mom, how can I let you do it!" Zijuan has become accustomed to this, and said with a smile: "It doesn't cost a lot of money. The clothing factory took a big order two years ago, and I settled the bill today, and I made a lot of money.  Woolen cloth!"

    ¡°If you make money, save it carefully. Who knows when someone will come up with a horse with high legs and short legs.¡± Mrs. Arita said again.  Then he waved his hand and said: "Go, Arita is teaching Axiu how to cook in the kitchen. If you are not tired, you can also learn from it. Alas, I eat stir-fried vegetables every day. I used to have steamed buns that I could use for cooking!"

    The Rhododendron was in no hurry to leave.  After giving the old lady a squeeze on her shoulders, she said hello, turned around and walked out.

    When you arrive in a new place, you have to adapt to your eating habits again. Hong Kong people mostly eat rice as their staple food, but they are not without white flour.  But the dishes are very different from the place where she originally lived, which didn't bother Axiu when she first came here.  Although Meng Youtian is not a chef by training.  But in his previous life, he had eaten delicacies from all over the world. He had never eaten pork, and he had never seen a pig run away. Besides, he could follow the recipes and follow the instructions.  In the past few months, Axiu has been able to make daily meals, but today, Meng Youtian needs to get started.

    "Boiled shrimp, this is easy." Meng Youtian had just steamed the crabs.  After looking through the recipes for a long time, I found the easiest method, "Well, it says here, put water in the pot, add ginger slices, chives, and cooking wine and bring to a boil, then put the shrimp in and cook for a minute or two and take them out.  . Just prepare the offerings."

    Axiu started to operate after listening to it. In fact, no one is stupid, it¡¯s just that they have limited knowledge and lack of education.  It makes people look dazed.  After following Meng Youtian, Axiu also knew her own weaknesses. Over the past few years, she had secretly learned a lot of words, and when it came to housework, she mastered it faster than others.

    While the pot is being cooked here, Meng Youtian has already started to mix the ingredients according to the recipe, minced ginger, chives, cooked oil, light soy sauce It's not like it's in a restaurant, so just make it more or less the same.

    "Third brother, fourth brother and your family are not coming over tonight, are they?" Axiu asked while busy.

    "The transportation is inconvenient, and we have to stay at our house at night. I'm afraid the third brother and the fourth brother also feel bad." Meng Youtian said uncertainly: "I told them, but I think they probably won't come."

    From barge transportation to sea sand excavation, the Xiao brothers left Meng Youtian's family to live independently after they had a little savings. Meng Youtian lent them some money and chose a house in Chai Wan for them.  At that time, Chai Wan was still a remote place, but it had a small population, better sanitary conditions than Shau Kei Wan where refugees gathered, and it was convenient for boats to dock.  The Xiao brothers are not dissatisfied with this. Having their own residence and home can be regarded as a relief.

    It was already February 1946. This was the first Spring Festival after Meng Youtian¡¯s family arrived in Hong Kong. After half a year of busy life, Meng Youtian wanted to have a good New Year with his family.  Gaining a foothold in a strange place is something worth celebrating.

    When the lanterns came on, two dining tables were put together.Dishes are constantly being placed on the table, and the children play around the table with new toys. From time to time, they secretly grab a piece of food and quickly stuff it into their mouths.  Liu Wushuang, Xiao Guanghe, and Blind Laoyuan sat together, chatting, and laughing heartily from time to time.

    Liu Feng and Xiaoman surrounded Ms. Youtian in the other corner of the room, listening to the radio program, talking and laughing in low voices, and occasionally raising their heads to scold the three naughty boys.

    At that time, there were two radio stations broadcasting in Hong Kong, Chinese and English, and listeners had to pay a radio license fee of HK$4 per year.  In 1938, more than 8,000 radio licenses were issued, which was reduced during the war. After broadcasting was resumed after the war, the number of radio licenses exceeded 10,000 in 1946.  Based on the population of Hong Kong at that time, less than 100 people had a radio, and the penetration rate was far higher than that in mainland China.

    Meng Youtian is not a lavish person, but no one pays more attention to information collection. Radio and newspapers are currently his main ways to obtain business information. He will not save this money under any circumstances.

    "It's time to eat!" Meng Youtian walked in with two bottles of wine and asked the old man to take a seat first, and then the juniors sat down one after another.

    "To celebrate the New Year today, we don't have so many rules. We just want to be happy." Liu Wushuang did not change his bold nature and said with a glass of wine: "Speaking of which, Mr. Meng is a capable person and can do anything.  It's been a lot of hard work in the past six months."

    "Yes, it's possible to make it like this -" Xiao Guanghe pointed at the table and said in appreciation: "It's not easy!"

    Blind Old Yuan didn¡¯t say anything, but the smile on his face and the look in his eyes said everything.

    "You guys are just fooling around. Stop praising me. We'll see what happens later." Meng Youtian laughed and raised his glasses to each other. "It's the New Year. I wish you good health and a long life."

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please read it.)
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