diskusbooks Chapter 18: Buying Magazines to Learn About the He Family, a Wealthy Family
Chapter 18: Buying Magazines to Learn About the He Family, a Wealthy Family
Shen Mei is a year younger than Shen Yao, but the third branch of the Shen family used to have good food, so Shen Mei's physical development was normal. She was even a little taller than the malnourished Shen Yao. Shen Wancheng gave Shen Mei a set of her clothes to wear.
After Shen Mei finished tidying up and returned to the living room, Shen Wancheng spoke to Shen Mei again.
“Yaoyao and I just arrived in Hong Kong Island and rented this place to stay. You know our situation. It might cost HK$2000 for Guo Tao to help us get our ID cards and residence permits. Yaoyao and I can’t just give it to you for free; we’re just helping you pay for it.”
Shen Mei bit her lip, lowered her eyes, and responded to Shen Wancheng in a low voice.
“I know, cousin. I’ll find a job as soon as I get my ID card, and I’ll pay you back when I get my salary. Um... please let me live with you. Please pay the rent and daily expenses in advance, and I’ll pay you back later.”
"Okay, no problem."
Shen Wancheng was very satisfied with Shen Mei's tact; she was indeed different from the Shen family members and did not always think about taking advantage of others.
Even close brothers should keep clear accounts.
Shen Wancheng is a pragmatic person. She has already made an exception for Shen Yao, so it is impossible for her to help Shen Mei unconditionally again.
Guo Tao arrived in less than an hour.
As Shen Wancheng expected, Guo Tao raised his price.
Yesterday, Shen Wancheng and Shen Yao got their marriage certificate, and Guo Tao only charged them HK$2000. Today, Shen Mei alone also needs HK$2000.
Because she might need to trouble Guo Tao later, Shen Wancheng didn't negotiate the price with him and directly agreed on a price of HKD 2000.
Guo Tao originally said he would just take Shen Mei to get her ID card, but Shen Mei had just escaped and was instinctively afraid of Guo Tao, a human trafficker, so Shen Wancheng asked Shen Yao to go with her.
Shen Wancheng didn't follow them. After going downstairs with them, she went to the newsstand to read the newspaper.
She still knows too little about Hong Kong now, not even how different it is from the Hong Kong she knew in her previous life.
If the situation in Hong Kong now is similar to that in the previous life, then Hong Kong should also have a rich variety of print media and magazines.
Those paparazzi not only report on the entertainment industry, but also on all sorts of gossip about Hong Kong's wealthy families.
Shen Wancheng wanted to find out if Xu Pingtao had married into the He family.
The newsstand indeed had a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, including newspapers such as the Oriental Daily News and the Hong Kong Island Daily, as well as gossip magazines such as the Star Weekly and Oriental World.
Some of these magazines were ones Shen Wancheng had heard of in her previous life, while others were ones she had never heard of.
Shen Wancheng flipped through a gossip magazine, but she had never heard of any of the celebrities mentioned in it.
Shen Wancheng remembers that in 1980, in her previous life, Jackie Chan was already a well-known kung fu star in Hong Kong. His movie "Young Master" released in September 1980 not only won the annual box office champion in Hong Kong, but also became the first Hong Kong film to break the record of HK$9 million in box office.
Shen Wancheng flipped through two magazines but didn't see Jackie Chan's name.
Furthermore, the names of Hong Kong stars who had already become famous in 1980, such as Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Brigitte Lin, Flora Yeung, Teresa Teng, and Sammo Hung, were not seen in these magazines.
It seems that the people in this parallel world are indeed different from those in Shen Wancheng's original world.
However, the trends in social development are remarkably similar.
For example, in this world's entertainment industry, the media industry is still thriving. Although I haven't heard of the name Shen Wancheng mentioned in these magazines, I can tell they are very famous. The Hong Kong entertainment circle in this world has its own superstars.
Of course, Shen Wancheng was just using the entertainment industry as an example to roughly compare the differences between Hong Kong in the 80s in her previous life and Hong Kong in the 80s in the world she was in now; she had no intention of developing a career in the entertainment industry.
In her past life, she loved reading gossip and was well aware of the darkness of the Hong Kong entertainment industry in that era. The entire Hong Kong entertainment industry was controlled by triads. If a female star wasn't beautiful, no one would support her; if she was beautiful, she would be a plaything for triad bosses or wealthy families.
Shen Wancheng wouldn't willingly push herself into a fire pit.
Shen Wancheng only glanced at the gossip about celebrities in the entertainment industry before focusing on the gossip about Hong Kong's wealthy families.
The Hong Kong tycoons in this world do not share the same surnames as those in the previous era, but the industries these wealthy individuals are involved in are quite different, coming from: real estate, hotels, manufacturing, jewelry, shipping, film and television, and the gaming industry in Macau.
Shen Wancheng's maternal grandfather, Xu Pingtao, married into the He family, a manufacturing tycoon family.
Shen Wancheng casually flipped through two magazines and found the information she wanted to know.
The news about the He family was still on the cover of a magazine last month.
The once-powerful He family line has died out, and Xu Pingtao has seized absolute power. When another son is born, it will be time for the He family to change its surname.
When Shen Wancheng saw the magazine title, she almost couldn't help but burst out laughing.
As expected of a well-known Hong Kong media outlet, they dare to come up with such a bold name.
Shen Wancheng remembered that in her previous life, a certain female star married into a wealthy family. The Hong Kong media headline on the day of her wedding was: "A bus to a wealthy family drives into a wealthy family."
Showing no mercy to a certain female celebrity, the satire is palpable.
Shen Wancheng bought three magazines reporting gossip about the He family, two periodicals about current political events, and finally a magazine called "Divine Steed," which was about horse racing.
Shen Wancheng spent HK$18 on 6 magazines, with "Shenju" magazine being the most expensive at HK$10, but she had no choice but to buy it because she was in a hurry to make money.
After buying the magazine, Shen Wancheng returned to her residence.
Guo Tao and the others won't be back so soon, so Shen Wancheng is at home alone reading magazines.
The first thing she looked at was gossip about the He family.
On the 7th of last month, a direct descendant of the He family, the future head of the family, and his family of three attended a banquet. On their way home, they were involved in a serious car accident, and none of them survived.
The He family has always had few descendants; the previous generation even had only one daughter, He Lin, which is why they chose Xu Pingtao as their son-in-law.
Of course, it was only because He Lin was the only one that the He family would dote on her so much that Xu Pingtao, a poor lackey, got a windfall.
As a son-in-law who married into the family, Xu Pingtao had been cautious in his words and deeds for decades. Even before 71, when Hong Kong practiced polygamy, Xu Pingtao did not marry multiple wives and there were no scandals about him.
Therefore, Xu Pingtao was deeply trusted by the previous generation of the He family's leaders. He Lin didn't like running the business, so after He Lin successfully gave birth to her son, Xu Pingtao naturally took over all of the He family's businesses.
After all, Xu Pingtao's only son is surnamed He, and the He family's assets will eventually return to the He family.
But who could have imagined that He Lin's only son and grandson would die at the same time?
He Lin is now diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, commonly known as senile dementia.
The future of the He family rests entirely on Xu Pingtao's decision.
According to Shen Wancheng's original book, Xu Pingtao did not immediately change the name of the He family's businesses. Instead, he actively tried to have children in the following years, hoping that he could still be as vigorous as he was in his sixties or seventies.
Unfortunately, it was just a wish. After several farcical scandals, Xu Pingtao finally had the idea of finding his daughter who lived inland.
If she and Shen Yao appeared in front of Xu Pingtao now, would it be a timely help?
Having just lost a blood relative, two granddaughters suddenly fell from the sky.
Hmm... what should I do if this feels a bit like a conspiracy?
Shen Wancheng hesitated whether to go and acknowledge her relatives now.