Chapter 262 The fame is growing!
Ah Liu’s heart skipped a beat, and he suppressed his anger and asked, “What about you? Has anyone come to see you?”

Uncle Wonton smiled and said, “I did look for it. He threw me a business card and asked me to consider it. How could I dare to leave? Xiwan is popular here. But if they really poached almost all the people, will Xiwan still be lively?”

Ah Liu was speechless. He nodded and pretended to comfort her, but he felt like a cat was scratching his heart. He rode his bike around and found that the stall owners were indeed a little absent-minded. Some even quietly packed up some things, as if they were preparing to leave at any time.

On the other side, Xiaolong was standing on the second floor of the boxing gym, with a panoramic view of the street outside the window. He held an unlit cigarette in his hand, with a sneer on his face. He saw Ah Liu riding his bike over, and went downstairs to greet him: “How is it? Who else did you find who is restless?”

Ah Liu threw the newspaper on the table and said through gritted teeth, “Dongwan’s move is bigger than we thought. They want to dig up the roots of the entire night market. Several old stall owners have already wavered. If they really let them continue, Xiwan will be finished sooner or later.”

Xiaolong picked up the newspaper and read it for a few seconds, then snorted coldly, “Young Master Jin is really putting a rope around his own neck. The more he digs, the faster he will lose money. How long can he last with this money-burning style of play?”

Ah Liu rolled his eyes. “The problem is, if he really survives these few days, we won’t even have a chance to turn the tables. Even if Young Master Jin is finished, Xiwan will be implicated as well.”

Xiaolong nodded, his eyes dark, “What should we do? We can’t just sit there and do nothing.”

Ah Liu smacked his lips and suddenly laughed: “We can’t control whether the stall owners stay or leave, but we can control the customers’ minds. If Dongwan wants to poach people, we have to keep them. It’s up to the stall owners to go wherever they want, but we have to ensure that there is always a flow of customers in Xiwan. Even if people leave, we have to make them regret it.”

Xiaolong slammed the table and said, “That makes sense! I’ll contact a few photographers and ask them to come here every day to take photos and check in. I’ll also find someone to organize a few small events to attract tourists back.”

Meanwhile, at the construction site in Dongwan, Young Master Jin was standing next to a small truck, his face full of impatience. In front of him stood several workers in work clothes, one of whom was holding a construction schedule and said hesitantly, “Master, the supplier has recently blocked several batches of materials, so our project may have to be delayed.”

Young Master Jin narrowed his eyes, lit a cigar, and took a deep puff. “Delay? Tell me, delay until when? The opening time of East Bay has been set a long time ago, and you are telling me to delay it now?”

The workers were speechless under his pressure, staring at their toes and pretending to be deaf and dumb. Young Master Jin sneered, “If the supplier is holding up the materials, go and urge them. If you can’t find anyone to urge them, go and block the door. Tell everyone that if they are delayed for another day, the construction site will directly change the supplier.”

Zhang Hai, who was standing nearby, reminded him quietly, “Master, changing suppliers is a bad idea. Our current contracts are all approved by Master Qi, and changing people is very risky.”

Young Master Jin glared at him and said, “Risk? If Dongwan can’t open, that’s the real risk. I don’t care what method you use, the materials must arrive tomorrow.”

Zhang Hai sighed and said nothing more, but frowned secretly. He had followed Young Master Jin for so many years, and had never seen him work so hard, even a little out of control. He knew that Young Master Jin’s funds had reached their limit, and if Dongwan had problems again this time, the consequences would be unthinkable.

At this time, in a high-end teahouse in Central, Xia Yan was leaning on the sofa by the window, holding a cup of iced lemon tea in her hand. Opposite her was Lin Qiming, the man who was best at capital games in Central, who was slowly peeling an orange.

“Ms. Xia, I heard that Dongwan has been making a lot of moves recently. What do you think?” Lin Qiming asked with a smile, his tone sounding teasing.

Xia Yan took a sip of tea and said calmly, “Dongwan is making big moves, but it’s only going to be busy these few days. Young Master Jin is too impatient and is burning through money quickly. He won’t last long.”

Lin Qiming smiled and said, “You are right, Dongwan is a short-term project. But Young Master Jin doesn’t rely on endurance, he relies on gambling. If he makes the right bet, Xiwan will be in trouble.”

Xia Yan lowered her head and smiled: “Mr. Lin, what you said is quite interesting. Since you think Dongwan is a short-term investment, why did you invest money? Aren’t you afraid of losing money?”

Lin Qiming shrugged: “It’s just a gamble. It’s a game of capital. Winning or losing doesn’t matter. Besides, I didn’t put all my chips on Young Master Jin. I also have investments in Xiwan.”

Xia Yan raised her eyebrows slightly, as if she was not surprised by his answer. She turned her head and looked out the window, with a meaningful look in her eyes: “In this fight between Xiwan and Dongwan, it doesn’t really matter who wins or loses in the end. What matters is who has the last laugh.”

At the other end of Xiwan Night Market, Xiaolong was directing a group of photographers to set up check-in spots. He invited several well-known local street photography bloggers and several street performers to help with the fun, trying every possible way to attract tourists’ attention.

A photographer raised his camera and took a lot of photos of a young couple: “This place is great! The light is perfect! Stand closer, come on, smile, it’s so beautiful!”

Tourists passing by stopped to watch, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

Xiaolong stood aside and grinned. He knew that although this trick was simple, as long as it could bring back the popularity of Xiwan, the stall owner would not leave easily even if he was shaken.

At the same time, Ah Liu was busy handing out flyers at the other end of the night market. He shouted “Free check-in to win a big prize” while stuffing flyers into the hands of every tourist passing by. He was sweating profusely, but he knew in his heart that he had to win this battle, otherwise the future of Xiwan might really be ruined.

On the construction site in Dongwan, Jin Shao watched the tower crane slowly moving in the distance, with a trace of fatigue in his eyes. He knew that the gamble in Dongwan had reached the most critical moment, but he dared not stop, and could not stop. He could only bite the bullet and rush forward, even if there was an abyss ahead, he had to take this gamble.

The wind was blowing gently, and the water was shimmering with golden lights. The streets were still bustling, but something was wrong.

Although the crowds at the night market in Xiwan have not decreased, the restlessness in the hearts of the vendors is gradually spreading. The stall owners are busy, but their eyes occasionally glance at a corner of the street, where a few unfamiliar faces are standing leisurely smoking and writing something in a small notebook in their hands.

The fat lady poked her head out from behind the durian sticky rice stall, glared at the people, and shouted at the top of her voice: “Hey, where’s Ah Liu? Ask him to come over and see what these strangers are doing!” As she spoke, she handed a box of freshly packed sticky rice to the customer, muttering, “These days, people are so blatant about stealing business!”

Ah Liu was chatting with the owner of the candied haws at the end of the street. When he heard the shouting, he frowned and ran over. He glanced at the strangers, pretended to be calm and walked behind them, and whispered to the gangster next to him: “Monkey, you haven’t seen these faces in the past few days, right?”

Monkey nodded, his eyes rolling around: “I haven’t seen them, but I heard that people from Dongwan have been running around lately, saying that they are trying to get stall owners to open new places.” Ah Liu snorted and patted Monkey on the shoulder: “Go tell Xiaolong to bring two people over to keep an eye on them and don’t let them mess around.”

The monkey nodded and ran away. Ah Liu squeezed into the back of the durian stall and comforted the fat aunt while helping her pack the durian rice: “Auntie, don’t worry. I have someone watching these ignorant people and will drive them away!”

The fat aunt rolled her eyes and said, “You young people talk better than you sing all day long. If my business really fails, I wonder how you will explain it to Boss Su!”

Ah Liu smiled and put a box of durian rice into the bag: “What do you want to tell me? Auntie, I can let you open ten more stalls!”

On the other side, Xiaolong was squatting at the door of a shabby tea restaurant, gnawing on a newly bought barbecued pork bun. Sitting opposite him was Shouhou, who looked a little pale today, and looked like he had just been through a tough battle.

“Brother Long, the action over at Dongwan is getting bigger and bigger.” Shouhou said in a low voice, a cigarette still hanging from his lips. “They not only recruit our stall owners, but also advertise among tourists, saying things like ‘Dongwan is about to open, experience a brand new night market’. I saw it with my own eyes today, and some tourists actually went there.”

Xiaolong paused while chewing his bun, and looked up at Shouhou: “Did the tourists really go? Did they come back?”

“I did come back, but they took a lot of photos there and said that Dongwan looked quite upscale.” Shouhou’s voice became lower and lower, and he was obviously feeling guilty. “Brother Long, what should we do if Dongwan really opens?”

Xiaolong stuffed the remaining barbecued pork bun into his mouth, chewing it until his mouth was full of fragrance, but a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: “They want to open a place, right? Then let them know that it doesn’t matter if the place is not too big. If tourists don’t want to go back after one visit, we will be in trouble. Monkey, find a few people to go to the Dongwan construction site tomorrow to see if there is any trick in their water, electricity, security, and stall arrangements.”

The skinny monkey nodded, and just as he was about to stand up, he suddenly sat back down: “Brother Long, there is one more thing… I heard that Young Master Jin has recently contacted several investors in Central and is planning to hold an opening ceremony and spend money to invite celebrities to attend.”

Xiaolong’s expression finally became a little serious. He threw the tissue in his hand onto the table and said, “This guy is really crazy. Go and keep an eye on him. Tell me if you have any news.”

At the same time, Young Master Jin was sitting in a high-end western restaurant in East Bay, sitting opposite two middle-aged men in suits. There was still most of the red wine left on the table, but the atmosphere was already a little subtle.

“Mr. Jin, the amount of money you want this time is indeed not small.” One of the men said slowly, with a tentative tone in his voice, “Although the Dongwan project looks good, you have to ensure that you can make money immediately after the opening, otherwise it will be difficult for us.”

Young Master Jin narrowed his eyes, slowly picked up the wine glass and took a sip, then smiled slightly: “Don’t worry, my plan is very clear. On the opening day, the booth rental and tourist consumption alone can recover part of the cost. In addition, several brands in Central have also agreed to open branches here. There is no need to doubt the future of East Bay.”

The other man nodded: “I heard that Xiwan has been doing a lot recently. They invited a lot of internet celebrities to check in. Will this affect you?”

Young Master Jin snorted coldly, a look of disdain appeared on his face: “Xiwan’s foundation is just like that, they rely on the stall owners to support them, and the stall owners are my biggest bargaining chips. As long as the conditions in Dongwan are good enough, the stall owners will come. Without the stall owners, what will be left in Xiwan?”

The two middle-aged men looked at each other, understood each other, and nodded: “Okay, then we will wait for good news from Master Jin.”

In a private club in Central, Lin Qiming was leaning on the sofa, leisurely flipping through a book about the urban development of Hong Kong Island. Next to him sat Xia Yan, who had changed her usual cold and elegant look today and wore a light yellow dress, looking fresh and elegant.

“Mr. Lin, what do you think about Mr. Jin’s funding chain problem?” Xia Yan asked softly, with a hint of nonchalance in her tone.

Lin Qiming closed the book and smiled. “Mr. Jin has the genes of a gambling king, but not the wisdom of a gambling king. He has already put all his chips on Dongwan. If the capital chain is slightly broken, the whole thing will collapse.”

Xia Yan raised her eyebrows: “Then why did you invest in his project?”

“Investment is for making money. Even if it’s a bad project, as long as you cash out before it collapses, you can still make money.” Lin Qiming said lightly, “As for Mr. Jin’s success or failure, that’s not my concern.”

Xia Yan picked up the teacup beside her, lowered her head and smiled: “Mr. Lin is indeed smart. However, I’m afraid that this drama in Dongwan will not end so soon.”

Lin Qiming looked up at her, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes: “What does Miss Xia mean?”

Xia Yan didn’t answer, but just took a sip of tea, her eyes full of meaning: “In a play, there always has to be someone to close the show, right?”

At the night market in Xiwan, Ah Liu was gathered with several stall owners, excitedly discussing the new tourists. He patted the shoulder of a young man selling stinky tofu, grinning from ear to ear: “See? There are quite a few foreign tourists today, which shows that Xiwan is becoming more and more famous!”

The young man scratched his head and said a little embarrassedly: “Yes, there are a lot, but Brother Liu, I heard that Dongwan has also started activities. Can we hold on?”

Ah Liu waved his hand carelessly: “What are you afraid of? As long as our place is popular, it won’t matter what Dongwan does! Remember, tourists like excitement, not fancy things.”

After hearing this, the stall owners nodded one after another, but the uneasiness in their hearts did not completely disappear.

The clouds were penetrated by the sunlight, and golden light sprinkled on the sea.

The high-rise buildings in Central and the shanty towns in Sai Wan are facing each other from afar. The two worlds are so close to each other, one shining with the light of capital, and the other is full of the hustle and bustle of the city.

(End of this chapter)