Chen Canaan had a lot of flaws, but also a lot of strengths, and his mobility was really nothing to write home about. Having made up his mind to learn English well, he really started to study seriously.
He actively drags Jovan around every day to teach him words and sentences, and has the bad habit of many beginners of popping out loud one word at a time as hard as he can.
In the morning, when he saw Joe Man, he shouted out "Gudmuning", and in the evening, before he went to bed, he would say "Gudnet", which often made Joe Man jump a lot. And he was so bold and thick-skinned when it came to learning, that whenever he bumped into a gweilo on the street, he would suddenly run over to him and speak his newly-learned English aloud.
A few foreign policemen patrolling near their homes were simply overwhelmed after being blocked by him for three days in a row, and thereafter took a detour when they saw him.
The week passed quickly and it was time to go to the track to go to the races.
Hong Kong people love to gamble on horses, and the racecourse on race days is packed with spectators. But although the rich and the ordinary people are watching the same horse race, they are treated very differently.
For example, Chow Chiu Ching has an exclusive box in the viewing area of the racecourse.
When Qiao Wen and Chen Canaan were led to the box by his men, this Boss Zhou was already drinking tea, and there was a big beauty sitting beside him, not the Mrs. Zhou from the last cocktail party, but Qiao Wen had seen it before - in the pictorials, it was the Hong Kong City's famous movie star Su Zhizhi.
The rich and the famous, this is the norm in Hong Kong City's high society, and it is also the common people's favorite topic to talk about after tea.
"Uncle Nine!" Qiao Wen greeted with a smile.
Zhou Chaozheng smiled and nodded at the person, "Here you are, sit down!" He didn't introduce the beauties either, and only had someone pour tea for the two.
This big star is a bit of tea level, pouring tea like a show, pouring tea, and smilingly said, "Two gentlemen slowly use."
Zhou Chaozheng sipped his tea and seemed to ask casually, "Have you two bought any good horses?"
Qiaowen said, "Nan and I don't know anything about horses, so we just picked the number two horse."
"Such a coincidence?" Zhou Chaozheng raised his eyebrows and laughed aloud, "The number two horse happens to be my humble servant's favorite horse, Thunder."
"Yeah?" Jovian feigned surprise, "Looks like we could win today."
Zhou Chaozheng smiled and shook his head, "That estimate will have to let you guys disappointed, I this horse Thunder was originally a sick horse, others do not want, I see it poor, then bought him, properly raised for more than a year, the body is well, but when the racehorse is still not quite qualified, do not run the bottom of the first has already been very much to my face."
"Everything has a spirit, and with Ninth Uncle treating a sick horse so well, I'm sure your favorite colt will fight for you. Maybe it will run a good race today."
Zhou Chaozheng said, "If that's really the case, then it's probably because of the luck brought by the two young friends."
Qiao Wen smiled and took a sip of tea, the tea was good Biluochun, it was fresh and sweet in his mouth, but he didn't have the heart to feel the sweetness of the tea after it flowed over his tongue, instead he frowned suspiciously.
There was a world of difference between them and Zhou Chaozheng in terms of both status and wealth, and the other party really had no need to deliberately befriend them. If it was just for the sake of getting that piece of barren land, wouldn't it be a bit too much to extend such courtesy to two commoner brats?
He always felt something was wrong, but couldn't see what exactly.
"It's about to start, let's see how lucky you are today."
Qiaowen's musings were interrupted by Zhou Chaozheng, who followed the man to his feet and plopped down on the balcony, looking down at the horse race that was about to begin.
Once the signal sounded, a dozen jockeys wearing armor rode a dozen fat racehorses, galloping out of the gate, in the green field, pulling the feet to fly. On the crowded viewing platform, the sound of cheering and applauding was deafening.
Originally, Zhou Chaozheng's number two horse had been running in the countdown, but suddenly accelerated in the last two hundred meters.
"Punch punch punch!" Zhou Chaozheng clenched his fists and shouted excitedly.
Not only him, even Qiao Wen and Chen Canaan couldn't help but cheer out the moment Thunder was the first to reach the finish line.
"Little Qiao, win!" Chen Canaan excitedly hugged Qiao Wen.
Qiao Wen let him hold himself and also felt that this horse race, although the race was short, was also exciting to watch.
Zhou Chaozheng clapped his hands and turned around, laughing aloud, "It seems that the two little friends are really my lucky stars, come come come, let's have a cup of tea to celebrate."
Several people returned to the table and clinked glasses with tea instead of wine.
This Boss Zhou was really out of his element, just as Qiao Wen and Chen Canaan were still immersed in the excitement of the horse race they had just had, he suddenly took out a check and slid it across the table to hand it to the two of them, "Two little friends, here's five million dollars."
Qiao Wen put down his cup, his eyes fell on the check on the table, his heart was clear, but he feigned confusion and looked at him, "Ninth Uncle, what are you ......"
Zhou Chaozheng laughed, "Truth be told, I invited the two young friends to the Happy Valley today, not only to watch the horse running, but incidentally, I also have something to discuss with you two."
"Uncle Nine is straightforward."
Zhou Chaozheng said nonchalantly, "I know that the two of you have opened a real estate company and have collected a lot of land. I'm sure you two also know that my company also has a real estate development business. Over the years, the good land has been scraped and divided by a few big families, and the land in my hands has basically been developed, and now I am in urgent need of new land. I also accidentally learned that you two have collected a piece of barren land near Clearwater Bay, halfway up the hill by the sea. This is five million dollars, which is four times the amount of land you acquired last year, and far higher than today's market price. I wonder if the two of you would be able to part with that piece of land to me?"
Sure enough or for that piece of land, Qiao Wen laughed: "Ninth Uncle, this is really not coincidental, we have a dozen pieces of land in our hands, large and small, if Ninth Uncle is interested in the other land, we have no problem, but only this piece of land has already been done the planning, there is really no way."
Zhou Chaozheng raised his eyebrows and said, "So are the two of you building a house as well?"
Jovian nodded, "That is the intention."
Zhou Chao is holding the fingers of the tea cup, in the rim of the cup gently rubbing, silent for a moment, said: "If you build your own building, this piece of land seems to be too big a point, if it is the development of buildings, with your current capital, I'm afraid it is a little difficult. Not to mention the cost of building a building, is to get through the various departments, also have to have a background. To put it bluntly, not everyone can make money by building buildings." He paused slightly and hooked up the corner of his mouth, "Actually, as long as there are no vices, five million is enough for most people to be clothed and fed for the rest of their lives, and if it were anyone else, they should not hesitate to accept this check."
Qiao Wen said with a smile, "Ninth Uncle is right, but we're young, we can still afford to toss and turn, so we want to try it out ourselves."
Zhou Chaozheng put the check away, smiled and leaned towards the back of his chair, looked at him with a puzzled expression and nodded, "It seems that the two of you are people with big ideals. Although I come from a rich family, I have always appreciated young people who start from nothing and have ambition. Since the two of you are unwilling to part with your love, I can't force myself. In any case, I've made friends with the two young friends." After saying that, he raised his teacup, "Ninth Uncle wishes you two a prosperous future."
Qiao Wen said, "Taking Uncle Nine's advice, it's also an honor to know him."
After having tea, Zhou Chaozheng took the two of them to see his favorite horse again. It was already evening when they left from the Happy Valley.
After getting into the cab, Chen Canaan saw Qiao Wen's preoccupied appearance and asked strangely, "Xiao Qiao, what's wrong?"
Qiaowen shook his head, "It's just that I think this Boss Zhou is a bit strange."
"How strange?"
Qiao Wen looked up at him, "Don't you think it's strange for him, a big boss from a prestigious family, to take the initiative to befriend us two poor boys? At first I thought he was after that piece of land, but after I rejected him, he seemed completely unconcerned, much less as snobbish as I thought he was."
Of course, this is not surprising, that land theoretically has a chance to make 20 to 30 million dollars, but this is also the most ideal state, in fact, after deducting all kinds of unpredictable costs, it is already considered to be very good to make more than 10 million dollars.
Ten million dollars was of course a huge amount, but for a top tycoon in the city like Zhou Chaozheng, ten million dollars was obviously not too much. So it seemed reasonable that he didn't necessarily want to take this piece of land.
But what makes Qiao Wen strange is that, after determining that they do not let this piece of land, Zhou Chaozheng is still very warm to the two men, this warm is by no means the surface of the snake, and even take the two men to join his club, introduced to all kinds of friends. Looked like it is really sincere to promote young people.
Qiaowen never believed in inexplicable kindness, let alone between people of completely unequal status. When one person was nice to another for no reason, it was inevitably because they wanted something from the other.
It was only that he couldn't think of anything on him and Chen Canaan that was worthy of Zhou Chaozheng's interest other than that piece of land right now.
Chen Canaan was unimpressed with his words, "Who cares, anyway, a rich man like him wouldn't be out to cheat us out of our money."
Jovian was amused by his train of thought, but after a quick thought, it seemed to make some sense, and as long as it wasn't a scam, there was nothing to worry about.
He didn't move to look at him, in fact, there were times when a person was kind to a person without expecting anything in return, at least Chen Canaan was to Qiao Wen.
He let out a despondent, silent sigh, but wasn't quite sure what he was sighing about.
At ten o'clock in the evening, after taking a shower, Chen Canaan, wearing an undershirt and pants, came to report to Qiao's house on time, straightened himself up, and greeted him loudly in broken English, "My dear brother, good evening!"
Qiao Wen shook his head in amusement, "Granny just fell asleep, keep your voice down, don't disturb the old man."
Chen Canaan spat out his tongue and followed Qiao Wen as he burrowed into his room, lightly jumping onto the bed and sitting cross-legged, "Quickly, quickly, teach me the new sentences I'm going to learn today."
Jovian was still quite pleased that he was such a good learner these days, and took the book and the study cards made especially for him, and got into bed to sit opposite him.
In fact, Chen Canaan's memory and learning ability is quite good, once upon a time learning was too poor nothing more than not learning, now he wants to learn, and there is Qiao Wen, a good teacher, naturally twice the effort with half the result. A few days down the line, once more than once smooth.
Tonight it had even taken only half an hour to learn an hour's worth of plans, and even Jovian couldn't help but be impressed.
"Nan, not bad! At this rate, it's okay for you to get into a university." Qiao Wen put down his books and joked.
Chen Canaan fell on his big bed rolled happily, said: "That is, I used to not love to learn, if love to learn, what the Hong Kong City University that I can not see, I am afraid that early has entered the Cambridge Oxford."
Seeing that he was giving some color, Qiaowen laid down and kicked him gently, "Wait until you can read the newspaper in English, then you can come back to this big talk."
Chen Canaan laughed heatedly and rolled over, stretching out his two long sturdy legs to wrap around his legs rubbing them for fun.
Qiao Wen said, "Nan you have too much leg hair, it's itchy!"
"More leg hair indicates strength." Chen Canaan half sat up and placed his legs side by side with his, one white and one black were distinct, he eeped, "I just realized that your leg hair turned out to be so little, just like a girl, white and tender."
He said and grinned wickedly, reaching for his pants, "Let's see if you have very little here too?"
Jovian opened his Locke's paw, "Stop it!"
Chen Canaan smiled and took his hand back, grunting, "It's not like he hasn't seen it before."
The reason Jovian was a bit shy about showing his body since he became this Jovian was because it really wasn't quite manly enough, but of course the parts and everything were complete and configured within normal limits, it was just too white and tender all over.
He tried to get a tan and had to stop because he was too weak to withstand the sun.
At this moment by Chen Canaan joke, can not help but towards the side of this guy up and down glanced. Wheat-colored skin, sturdy body, up and down, left and right, inside and out, all show the health and vitality, full of teenage hormones.
He thought for a moment and said, "Nan, it's your birthday at the end of the month, what do you want to do for it?"
Chen Canaan said uncaringly, "I've grown up so much, and every time I have a birthday, only my aunt cooks me a bowl of noodles, and poor children don't pay attention to this."
Jovian laughed, "Aren't we not poor now? Turning twenty is kinda meaningful, you should have a good time."
Chen Canaan thought about it and said, "Then it's just the two of us, let's go find a place to play for a day?"
Qiao Wen nodded, "Yes, there's still time, take your time to think about it, there are quite a lot of places you can play in Hong Kong City, in the past I wasn't in good health and I didn't go there much."
Chen Canaan smiled and said, "Then I have to seriously find a fun place."
Hanging out with Jovan's lone male is kind of something to look forward to when you think about it.
Qiao Wen didn't know what Chen Canaan was expecting because the next day he started working on the preparation of the land development.
In the past, in addition to going to work at Mengzhen Clothing, he also had to find time to collect all kinds of information about the real estate industry, because Chen Canaan didn't like to read, and couldn't count on him to help, these messages alone had often made him burnt out.
However, now with Tang Xingwei, the other party really lived up to his expectations, a very diligent and progressive young man, only a few days into the job, he freed Qiao Wen from the cumbersome information, and collected more and more information and information, and after organizing it was also clear at a glance.
The first step in developing a site is to prepare materials for approval.
They prepared the information is very full, also invited a few supervisors to dinner, stuffed a few big red packets one by one, but the documents have never been approved.
Although Qiaowen had expected it, the successive bumps into the wall still made him anxious.
He sort of realized what Zhou Chaozheng said, how difficult it was for people without background to do real estate in this era - of course, he had every reason to suspect that the difficulty was also fueled by Zhou Chaozheng, a big shot.
He decided not to die with those people at the court house.
Since it's because you don't have a background, find one yourself.
"Joey, what are you doing in the shantytown on a hot Saturday when you're not at home drinking sodas and blowing fans?"
Hong Kong City in early September was indeed still hot, and Qiao Wen, wearing a sun hat, was still sweating from the autumn tiger. He said, "Came to find Mr. Ouyang."
"Just that big-name architect you were talking about?"
Jovian nodded.
"He's a big architect living here?"
Jovian laughed, "No, I was inquiring to say that he's been helping to repair the burned out squatter area over here at his own expense lately."
After the development procedures didn't go down smoothly, he changed his mindset and had to find a big shot who could endorse them. That's why Ouyang Yuan came to mind.
Ouyang Yuan, as a world-class architect, is a big man who stomps his feet and causes earthquakes in the architectural world, if he can be invited to be the designer of this project, I am afraid that all levels of blocking tigers will automatically retreat when they see his big name.
Of course, so far he only thought about it, after all, Ouyang Yuan's status is too high, and semi-retired for many years, the last time he designed the music hall of Hong Kong City University was five years ago. Over the years, he has basically been volunteering and giving speeches, and even the top tycoons can't afford to hire him.
It does seem a bit of a fool's errand to get such a person to come out and design a house for them.
But you have to try everything, or at least make contact first to see what kind of personality it is.
Know your enemy and know yourself.
"Hey, Arwen and Nan, why are you guys here? Is there something you want to see me about?"
The two of them were walking through the Quarry House area when a familiar figure, Tang Xingwei, who lived in the Quarry House area, walked up to them. He was carrying two loads of stones on his shoulders, sweating profusely in the sweltering heat, and his T-shirt was clinging to his body because of the sweat.
Without answering, Jovian asked, "What are you doing?"
Tang Xingwei said, "Didn't we have a big fire here at the beginning of the year? Half of it burned down, and now some kind people are helping to rebuild it. I'll take advantage of my free time to contribute."
Jovian nodded, oh-so-quietly, "I also heard about how many people were homeless and were hitching their lives to shacks, so I thought I'd see if I could help out a bit as well."
Chen Canaan looked at him in confusion.
Tang Xingwei: "Ah Wen and Ah Nan, you two are wonderful."
Qiaowen rubbed his nose somewhat sheepishly, "Come on, I'll go with you to see how the repairs are going."
"Okay, then you guys follow me."
Although Chen Canaan didn't figure out what kind of medicine Qiao Wen was selling in his gourd, when he saw Tang Xingwei picking his stretcher and panting before taking a few steps, he immediately tsked twice in disgust and forcefully snatched the stretcher over, "I'll I'll I'll."
When Tang Xingwei saw him picking up the stretcher as if it were flying, he wiped his sweat a bit embarrassedly and exclaimed, "Ah Nan is so strong."
Jovian looked at the guy in front of him with an easy stride and shook his head with a smile, "Can he not be big when he has no place to put his energy all day?"
The three of them walked and talked, all the way to a house under repair, Tang Xingwei raised his hand and waved, "Uncle Ouyang, the stone you wanted is here."