Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Repulse Bay, Hong Kong.

The morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the villa's dining room, illuminating the long dining table covered with a white linen tablecloth. Silver cutlery gleamed in the sunlight, and the steaming English morning tea in bone china cups emitted a delicate aroma. Shi Fangren sat at the head of the table, sipping his white fungus soup while flipping through today's Ming Pao newspaper.

Before long, Shi Fangren put down his newspaper, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and couldn't help but exclaim with admiration, "This young Qin is truly a talent."

"Luckily, I heard about the board's resolution from Xiaona and followed up by buying some properties at low prices, otherwise I would have missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Mrs. Shi smiled and chimed in, "Yes, Xiao Qin certainly has a good eye for business. When you decided to cooperate with him, I was worried it was too risky, but now it seems you were right."

At the other end of the table, Shi Xiaojun looked rather grim. He was cutting his steak a little too hard, the knife and fork scraping against the plate with a harsh sound. Fu Heming, sitting next to him, gently nudged his arm, signaling him to watch his manners.

Shi Xiaojun's expression was rather grim. The eldest branch of the family no longer posed any threat to him. On the contrary, he was now facing internal competition. His eldest brother had been taken to Hong Kong by his grandfather since childhood and was not close to his father, so he posed no threat to him...

As for his younger sister Shi Xiaona, Shi Xiaojun didn't take her seriously. After all, she was a woman who would eventually get married, and his father couldn't possibly hand over the vast Shi Group business to someone else. However, there was one thing he couldn't ignore: if Qin Hao took a fancy to the Shi Group's business and married into the family, he would be in danger.

“There’s no use being envious. His surname is Qin, not Shi. Even if Xiaona marries him, she won’t be on our side,” Shi Xiaojun bluntly stated.

Shi Xiaona blushed and said angrily, "Second brother, why are you dragging me into this?"

Shi Fangren's face darkened. He put down his teacup, the porcelain clinking softly. He looked at his second son, his eyes filled with disappointment and anger: "Look at what you're saying! Don't you have any sense of being an elder brother?"

"I'm just telling the truth." Shi Xiaojun stood up and wiped his hands with a napkin. "Fine, if you don't like it, just pretend I didn't say anything. I'm going back to the company; I have a meeting today."

“I’ll go with you.” Fu Heming stood up as well. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong, she was assigned to the Shi Group as Shi Xiaojun’s assistant. Shi Fangren’s intention in making this arrangement was clear—he hoped that this smart and capable girl could become a good wife to his son. Although the two had not yet registered their marriage, in the eyes of the Shi family, Fu Heming was already their prospective daughter-in-law.

Shi Xiaojun glanced at her, said nothing, and turned to walk towards the door. Fu Heming bowed slightly to Shi Fangren and his mother, and quickly followed.

Shi Xiaona couldn't eat anymore and said, "Mom and Dad, I'm full. I'm going back to my room."

Shi Fangren frowned, staring thoughtfully at the now-cold breakfast in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Shi noticed her husband's strange expression: "You didn't actually take Xiaojun's words to heart, did you?"

Shi Fangren snapped out of his reverie, shook his head, then nodded, his tone somewhat complicated: "Xiao Jun's words, though harsh, are not entirely without merit."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Shi was taken aback.

“I’m thinking…” Shi Fangren carefully considered his words: “Is there any possibility of turning Xiao Qin into one of our own?”

Shi's mother blurted out, "What nonsense are you spouting? You can't possibly have had an affair with Li Yuxiang, can you? Qin Hao is your long-lost son?"

"What are you saying!" Shi Fangren was both amused and exasperated, glaring at his wife. "What I mean is... is there any possibility that Xiao Qin could marry into our family?"

Even he himself found it hard to believe when he said that.

Sure enough, Mrs. Shi laughed and scolded, "Isn't this still wishful thinking? With Xiao Qin's abilities, vision, and current wealth, becoming our son-in-law? Do you think you're Li Ka-shing?"

Shi Fangren sighed, admitting that his wife was right: "That's true. Xiao Qin is too capable and too ambitious. A man like that is not suitable for marrying into the family. Xiao Na... I'm afraid she can't handle him."

……

Outside the villa, a red Porsche 928 sports car roared out of the gate and sped along the coastal highway.

Fu Heming sat in the passenger seat, gripping the handrail above the door tightly. The car was picking up speed, the scenery outside the window rushing past, the sea shimmering blindingly in the sunlight. She glanced at the speedometer—it was already over 120 kilometers per hour.

"Xiaojun, slow down!" she couldn't help but remind him, her voice barely audible in the wind noise.

Instead of slowing down, Shi Xiaojun floored the accelerator. The engine roared like a beast, and the car shot forward like an arrow. Fu Heming felt his back being pressed heavily against the seat, and his heart suddenly raced.

"Scared?" Shi Xiaojun glanced at her, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Fu Heming gritted her teeth and remained silent. She knew that Shi Xiaojun was venting his frustrations—his dissatisfaction with his father's favoritism towards his younger sister, his jealousy of Qin Hao, an "outsider," being valued, and his anxiety about his unstable position in the family.

The car nearly drifted at a sharp bend on the coastal highway, the tires screeching as they rubbed against the pavement. Fu Heming closed his eyes and gripped the seatbelt tightly.

After speeding like this for five or six minutes, Shi Xiaojun gradually released the accelerator, and the car slowed down. He parked the car next to a viewing platform, turned off the engine, opened the door, got out, and lit a cigarette.

Fu Heming took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and got out of the car. The sea breeze tousled her long hair, which she tidied with her hand, her movements still elegant and composed—a refinement cultivated from childhood, etched into her very being.

"What?" Shi Xiaojun exhaled a puff of smoke, glancing at her sideways. "Are you going to stand up for your best friend too?"

Fu Heming walked to his side, looked at the ships coming and going on the distant sea, and said calmly, "I am very clear about my position."

"That's good." Shi Xiaojun threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. "You'd better be smart. No matter how much my parents dote on Xiaona, they'll never hand over the Shi family to someone with an outsider. Sooner or later, I'll be the one calling the shots in the Shi family!"

He said this through gritted teeth, as if he were making a vow or encouraging himself.

Fu Heming turned his head and looked at him seriously: "The more things are like this, the more mature and composed you should be. What you said at the dinner table today was too hasty and too childish. Do you think your father couldn't hear the jealousy in your words?"

Shi Xiaojun's face stiffened.

“I won’t tell your dad about what happened today,” Fu Heming continued. “But I don’t want it to happen again. If you’re going to compete, you have to compete with your abilities and prove with your achievements that you’re better than Qin Hao and your sister. Don’t say sarcastic things at the dinner table; that will only make your dad look down on you even more.”

These words were harsh, but also true. Shi Xiaojun stared at Fu Heming for a while, then suddenly smiled, a hint of relief in his smile: "You're right."

He reached out and grasped Fu Heming's hand: "I promise you, it won't happen again."

Fu Heming let him hold her hand, a faint smile on her face. She knew she had chosen a difficult path—Shi Xiaojun was ambitious, but his abilities didn't match his ambition; he had a temper, but his wisdom couldn't control it. What she had to do was become the one to help him stabilize the situation.

As for Qin Hao… Fu Heming knew in her heart that the man was no match for Shi Xiaojun. But she couldn’t say that, at least not now.

"Let's go back." Shi Xiaojun opened the car door. "I have a meeting at the company."

This time, he drove very steadily.

……

At the same time, at the Shatoujiao Border Inspection Station in Shenzhen.

A black Mercedes-Benz was parked on the side of the road. Zhao Yajing sat in the driver's seat, her fingers lightly tapping the steering wheel, glancing at her watch every now and then, then looking towards the border checkpoint exit. The radio was playing the morning news, with the host reporting in fluent Mandarin on the Hong Kong society's reaction after the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

"...Stimulated by positive news, Hong Kong's property market continued to rise over the past week, with some areas seeing increases of over 30%. Analysts point out that this round of increases may only be the beginning..."

Zhao Yajing turned off the radio, turned to Qin Hao in the passenger seat, her face full of excitement: "Old Qin, you're amazing! In such a short time, the housing market has risen by 30%. I'm so glad I listened to you and used all my savings to buy a few units, otherwise I would have missed this opportunity to make a fortune."

The "units" she referred to were small apartments in Hong Kong. On Qin Hao's advice, she bought several small apartments in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, spending a total of less than two million Hong Kong dollars. Now, in just one month, her paper profit exceeds six hundred thousand.

Qin Hao leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes to rest, and just smiled without saying a word.

Seeing that he didn't seem to care, Zhao Yajing asked again, "With housing prices rising so much all of a sudden, are they nearing their peak? Should we hurry up and make a move to secure our profits?"

Upon hearing this question, Qin Hao opened his eyes, glanced at her sideways, and said with a hint of amusement in his eyes, "The top? This is just the beginning."

He chuckled inwardly. This upward cycle, which began in late 1984, would continue until the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Over the next thirteen years, Hong Kong's property market would see an overall increase of more than tenfold, with some core areas even reaching twentyfold. This rate of increase far exceeded the returns of any real economy sector.

To put it bluntly, if all you wanted to do was make money, between 1984 and 1997 you could have just bought properties in Hong Kong like crazy and done nothing else.

Upon hearing Qin Hao's reply, Zhao Yajing's eyes lit up. Ignoring the fact that the car was still parked on the side of the road, she leaned over and kissed Qin Hao hard on the cheek, leaving a bright red lip print: "Darling, I love you to death!"

"Don't give me that." Qin Hao wiped the lipstick off his face impatiently. "But I still suggest that you sell these residential properties in a couple of years and buy office buildings in Central or Admiralty. In the long run, the appreciation potential of residential properties is not as good as that of office buildings in the core area."

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say." Zhao Yajing readily agreed, sat up straight again, and looked towards the exit of the border inspection station: "By the way, why hasn't Yaping come out yet? Could something have happened to him? Didn't Yang Shumao say he would personally see him onto the cross-border bus?"

Her voice was filled with worry. Today was the day her younger brother, Zhao Yaping, was to arrive in Hong Kong. Qin Hao's initial plan was to bring Zhao Yaping to Hong Kong for "re-education" during the summer vacation, but he was busy with the Burger King IPO at that time and couldn't find the time, so the plan had to be postponed to the winter vacation. Because of this, Zhao Yaping had argued with his sister several times on the phone.

Qin Hao patted her shoulder and comforted her, "Don't worry, Yang Shumo is reliable. It's probably just that there are a lot of people crossing the border and the queue is causing the delay. Just wait a little longer, it should be out soon."

Just then, a commotion arose at the border checkpoint exit. A familiar figure emerged, dragging a suitcase and looking around – it was Zhao Yaping.

Half a year had passed, and the boy had grown taller, probably around 1.7 meters. He was wearing the most fashionable denim jacket and bell-bottoms in Beijing at the time, his hair slicked back, looking every bit the young master of the city. When he saw the Mercedes, his eyes lit up, and he dragged his suitcase over.

"Sister! Brother-in-law! I've missed you so much!" Zhao Yaping shoved the suitcase into the trunk, opened the back door, and jumped in quickly.

Zhao Yajing turned around and looked at her younger brother: "Was the journey smooth? Did you get carsick?"

"Successfully, successfully!" Zhao Yaping rubbed his hands excitedly, his eyes constantly scanning the interior of the car. "Sis, your car is really impressive! Why don't you buy one in Beijing too? It would be so prestigious to drive it around like that!"

Zhao Yajing started the car and drove away from the border checkpoint, saying irritably, "I only spend a few days a year in Beijing, what am I going to do with this car just let it gather dust?"

"If you can't drive it, can you let me drive it?" Zhao Yaping said with a grin.

"Go to hell! Do you even have a driver's license?"

"I'll be eighteen in a few years, I can just take the exam then," Zhao Yaping said dismissively, and began to fantasize about her "wonderful life" in Hong Kong: "Sis, I heard Hong Kong is really lively at night, isn't there a lot of bars in Lan Kwai Fong? And also, discos..."

He chattered on and on, completely oblivious to the meaningful glance his sister and brother-in-law exchanged.

The car drove past Man Kam To and into the New Territories of Hong Kong. Zhao Yaping leaned against the car window, watching the increasingly bustling street scene outside—skyscrapers, neon signs, and heavy traffic… All of this was full of novelty and allure for him, who had grown up in the hutongs of Beijing.

"Brother-in-law, where should we go for dinner tonight? I heard the seafood in Hong Kong is especially fresh, with abalone and lobster..."

Qin Hao glanced at him in the rearview mirror and said casually, "Let's have lunch first."

"Great! Great!" Zhao Yaping had no idea that he was about to experience the most unforgettable month of his life.

……

Lunch was at a high-end seafood restaurant. Zhao Yaping ordered a table full of dishes: abalone, lobster, grouper… He ate with gusto, his mouth greasy, and kept saying, “Hong Kong food is just so much better than Beijing food…”

Qin Hao and Zhao Yajing barely touched their chopsticks, just watching him eat. When Zhao Yaping was full and burping with a satisfied pat on his round belly, Zhao Yajing excused herself, saying she had urgent business to attend to at the company, and handed her younger brother over to Qin Hao.

"Sister, you go ahead and do your thing. Brother-in-law is fine with me!" Zhao Yaping waved her hand dismissively, completely oblivious to the complex emotions in her sister's eyes.

After Zhao Yajing left, Qin Hao drove Zhao Yaping around the city, showing her Victoria Harbour, Victoria Peak, and even taking a stroll in Central. Zhao Yaping was as excited as a bird just released from its cage, finding everything new and exciting.

Around 3 p.m., Qin Hao parked his car in front of a Burger King store.

Zhao Yaping stared at the familiar red and yellow sign and paused for a moment: "Brother-in-law, didn't we just have a seafood feast? Why did you bring me to a fast food restaurant? I can't eat anymore."

Qin Hao didn't answer, but simply opened the car door and said, "Get out."

Zhao Yaping was puzzled, but she still got out of the car. The two entered the shop; it was afternoon tea time, and there weren't many customers. A short, stocky, dark-skinned middle-aged man came to greet them.

"President Qin." The man's voice was rough, with a heavy Cantonese accent.

Qin Hao nodded and pushed Zhao Yaping forward: "Old Lu, this kid is in your hands now. As long as he doesn't have any health problems, you can train him however you like. I only care about the results."

Old Lu grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow by smoking. He was only about 1.7 meters tall, but with broad shoulders and thick arms, he stood there like an iron tower. He looked Zhao Yaping up and down, and the look in his eyes made Zhao Yaping very uncomfortable—like a butcher looking at a lamb to the slaughter.

"Don't worry, Mr. Qin." Old Lu patted his chest and said in a loud voice, "This little brat, I guarantee he'll be completely transformed in less than a month."

Zhao Yaping finally realized something was wrong, took a step back, and asked in a trembling voice, "Brother-in-law, what... what do you mean by this?"

Qin Hao turned his head and looked at him expressionlessly: "It means that from today onwards, you will work at this store. I will come to pick you up in a month."

"What?!" Zhao Yaping's eyes widened, her voice suddenly rising: "Qin Hao! How dare you treat me like this! My sister will never let you get away with this!"

Faced with his threat, Qin Hao simply shrugged and said, "Do you think I would have brought you here if your sister hadn't agreed?"

Zhao Yaping was struck dumb, his face turning deathly pale. His lips trembled, and he tried to make a final stand: "Even if... even if my sister finds out, I'm my mother's only son! If she knew you were abusing me, she would absolutely never let my sister marry you!"

Qin Hao laughed: "Isn't that perfect? ​​If we don't get married, I can have fun openly. Would you give up a whole forest for one tree?"

These words completely shattered Zhao Yaping's mental defenses. His mind went blank, and he instinctively turned and ran outside.

Old Lu reacted swiftly, grabbing him by the back of the collar and lifting him back like a chick. Zhao Yaping struggled desperately, but Old Lu's hand was like an iron clamp, refusing to budge.

"Let me go! This is illegal detention! I'm calling the police!" Zhao Yaping shouted hysterically.

Qin Hao walked up to him and said calmly, "Work hard here. I've already taken your ID card. If you run away, you'll be arrested as an undocumented immigrant. There's still more than a month until the New Year, enough time to correct all your bad habits."

After saying that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

"Qin Hao! Come back! You bastard—" Zhao Yaping's shouts were cut off by the closed glass door.

Old Lu dragged him toward the back door. Zhao Yaping was still struggling when Old Lu twisted his wrist. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, and he winced in pain, no longer daring to move.

“Once you’re here, you have to follow my rules,” Old Lu said as he walked, his voice not loud, but every word struck Zhao Yaping’s heart like a hammer blow: “Get up at six o’clock every day for morning exercises, shifts change at eight, one-hour break at noon, and you get off work at ten o’clock at night. Two days off a week…”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yaping angrily interrupted, "No way! I'd rather die than go! I'm here to have fun, not to be a slave!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he received a solid kick to the backside. The kick was quite forceful; Zhao Yaping stumbled forward a few steps, nearly falling. He turned back, glaring at Old Lu with an incredulous expression: "You dare hit me?"

"That's what I'm going to do." Old Lu said expressionlessly, "This is to teach you some manners—you're not allowed to interrupt before someone has finished speaking! If you interrupt again, I'll kick you. You can try me if you don't believe me!"

Zhao Yaping was extremely resentful, but after looking at the other person's arms, which were thicker than his own thighs, and those sharp, eagle-like eyes, he finally decided to... endure it for the time being.

"When I get back, I will never let you get away with this... Just you wait." He silently vowed to himself.

……

first day.

At six o'clock in the morning, Zhao Yaping was still fast asleep when Lao Lu lifted him out of bed like a sack of potatoes.

"Get up! Time for morning exercises!"

Zhao Yaping was still half asleep, her eyes barely open: "What time is it... let me sleep a little longer..."

"Sleep what?!" Old Lu splashed a bucket of cold water on his face.

The biting cold instantly snapped Zhao Yaping to his senses. He jumped up with a scream, about to curse, when he saw Old Lu already changed into his sportswear and standing at the door, coldly looking at him: "I'll give you three minutes to get dressed and come out. If you're even one second late, you're not getting breakfast today."

Zhao Yaping gritted her teeth and hurriedly put on her clothes.

Three minutes later, he arrived at the dormitory building, panting. Old Lu glanced at his watch, said nothing, and turned to start jogging. Zhao Yaping had no choice but to follow.

The streets of Hong Kong were already bustling in the early morning. Old Lu wasn't running fast, but his pace was steady. Zhao Yaping started panting heavily after less than ten minutes, and after twenty minutes, his legs felt like lead.

"I...I can't run anymore..." He leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

Old Lu turned back, and without saying a word, kicked him in the butt again: "Keep running! You can't even handle such a short distance? Are you even a man?"

Zhao Yaping grimaced in pain, but could only grit his teeth and continue. By the time the morning exercises ended at 6:30, he was soaked to the bone, as if he had been pulled out of the water, and collapsed on the ground, not wanting to move at all.

"Get up!" Old Lu kicked him. "Go back to wash up, change into your work clothes, have breakfast at 7:30, and take over the shift at 8:00."

"Let me...let me lie down for a while..." Zhao Yaping said weakly.

Old Lu grabbed him and dragged him back to the dormitory. In the bathroom, Zhao Yaping looked at his reflection in the mirror—his face covered in sweat, his hair disheveled, and him looking utterly wretched—and suddenly felt like crying.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Zhao Yaping was taken to the kitchen. Old Lu assigned him the simplest job.

"Look carefully, double-fry at 180 degrees Celsius..." Old Lu demonstrated.

Zhao Yaping scoffed, thinking it was nothing difficult. He was serious at first, but after about ten minutes he started to get impatient and his movements became increasingly perfunctory.

Old Lu watched silently the whole time. After Zhao Yaping finished frying a pot of chicken legs, Old Lu picked one up, broke it open to look at it, and then dumped the whole pot of chicken legs into the trash can.

"What are you doing?!" Zhao Yaping exclaimed, "I'm the one who blew it up!"

"What kind of rubbish did you fry?" Old Lu glared at him. "It's not even cooked through! How can you sell this to customers? Fry it again!"

"I..." Zhao Yaping wanted to explain, but Lao Lu had already turned around to do other things.

He had to start over. This time he learned his lesson, carefully watching the oil thermometer and strictly following the prescribed time. After the second batch of chicken legs came out of the pan, Old Lu inspected them and finally nodded: "That's more like it."

At lunchtime, Zhao Yaping's hands were trembling with exhaustion. He had never done such strenuous work before—not physically, but the intense mental pressure of being highly focused and not allowed to make mistakes, which left him physically and mentally exhausted.

The afternoon's work was even more tedious: frying chicken, making French fries, and cleaning. Zhao Yaping wanted to slack off several times, but the thought of Lao Lu's merciless kick kept her from doing so.

When Zhao Yaping finished get off work at eight o'clock in the evening, his back was so sore he could barely straighten up. He dragged his exhausted body back to his dormitory, didn't even take a shower, and went straight to sleep.

The same thing happened on the second day, the third day, and so on.

Zhao Yaping went from initial resistance and defiance to eventual numbness and compliance. He discovered that in this place, all his pampering, willfulness, and laziness were useless. Old Lu was like a precise machine, strictly enforcing every rule and allowing no mistakes.

A week later, Zhao Yaping was able to keep up with the pace, albeit barely. Although she was still tired, at least she wasn't as disheveled as she had been on the first day.

That evening after get off work, Lao Lu, unusually, didn't go straight back to his room. Instead, he took two boxed lunches, tossed one to Zhao Yaping, and said, "Sit down and eat."

Zhao Yaping paused for a moment, took the lunchbox, and sat down opposite Lao Lu. Neither of them spoke, focusing on their food. Halfway through the meal, Lao Lu suddenly spoke up: "Kid, you're already complaining about being tired? Back in the day, our company fought those Vietnamese devils in the Lang Son campaign—that was truly brutal..."

Zhao Yaping was startled and looked up at Lao Lu: "You participated in the Sino-Vietnamese War?"

Old Lu didn't answer. He put down his chopsticks, lifted his shirt, and turned around to show him his back.

Zhao Yaping gasped.

Old Lu's back was crisscrossed with seven or eight scars. Some were round, like gunshot wounds; some were long and narrow, like knife wounds; and some were irregular, possibly left by shrapnel.

"The round wounds were all left from that time." Old Lu put down his clothes, sat down to eat again, and spoke in a calm tone as if he were talking about someone else's business.

"Then... what about the long, narrow wound?" Zhao Yaping asked cautiously.

"That was left over from when I was a gangster."

"Young and Dangerous?"

"Oh, so you're what we call thugs." Old Lu took a bite of rice. "After smuggling themselves into Hong Kong, they have no identity and can't find a proper job, so they can only hang out in gangs. They kill people, and they get killed too."

Zhao Yaping was greatly shocked. This burly, short man in front of him had such a legendary background—he had been a soldier, fought in wars, smuggled himself to Hong Kong, and even been involved in the underworld.

"Then why didn't you continue being a gangster?" he couldn't help but ask. "Why did you come and work at a fried chicken shop?"

Old Lu glanced at him and sneered, "You think being a gangster is so easy? You either end up in jail or get hacked to death in the street. I've seen too many brothers who were drinking together yesterday and are now lying in the morgue."

He put down his lunchbox and lit a cigarette: "At least the fried chicken shop is a decent job. I earn my living with my own hands, and I feel at ease. Every month when I get paid, I can send money back to my parents in my hometown and save money to get married. Although it's tiring, I can sleep soundly at night without worrying about enemies coming to my door."

Zhao Yaping fell silent. He had never thought about these things before. In his previous world, the money came from his sister, and the things were bought by his mother; he only needed to enjoy them.

"Someone like you..." he hesitated for a moment, "...how much money can you earn in a month?"

"2500 Hong Kong dollars." Old Lu exhaled a puff of smoke: "Meals and lodging included."

"So little?" Zhao Yaping blurted out, "Isn't it said that Hong Kong is full of gold? You can pick up money just by bending down?"

Old Lu looked at him like he was an idiot: "Silly boy, you believe everything people say? People like us without education or skills are lucky if we can just make ends meet. This is the store manager's salary. A regular store clerk only makes about 1500 a month."

"Isn't this exploitation?" Zhao Yaping said indignantly.

Old Lu laughed, his laughter rough: "You've got a whole repertoire of little words. Let me tell you, no matter where you are, if you want to make a fortune, either you're born into a wealthy family, or you're capable and willing to work hard. Otherwise, you'll just be struggling to make ends meet your whole life."

He paused, looking at Zhao Yaping: "You're lucky to have a sister like President Zhao. As long as you get rid of all your bad habits and learn some skills, you'll be much better off than the rest of us in the future."

These words are very honest; there is no jealousy or resentment, only a statement of facts.

Zhao Yaping lowered his head, looking at the lunchbox in his hand, and suddenly felt that the white rice he was eating had a different taste.

……

For Zhao Yaping, a month felt like a year.

Strangely, in the latter half of the month, he began to adapt. Getting up at six o'clock every day was no longer painful, and he could keep up with Lao Lu's pace during morning exercises; he became more and more skilled at his work in the kitchen, frying chicken legs until they were golden and crispy, and when cleaning, he would wipe every corner clean because Lao Lu would actually touch them with his hands when inspecting.

He even began to enjoy this routine life—knowing what he should do, feeling a sense of accomplishment when he did it well, and being corrected when he did it poorly.

After New Year's Day, there were still two weeks until the Spring Festival. That evening after get off work, Lao Lu called Zhao Yaping into his office and handed him an envelope.

"Here you go, this is your salary for this month."

Zhao Yaping took the envelope, squeezed it; it was very thin. He opened it and saw three five-hundred-yuan bills inside.

Zhao Yaping clutched the 1,500 yuan, his heart filled with mixed emotions. This was the first time in his life he had earned money on his own. Although it wasn't much, every penny was earned through his hard work.

"The New Year is almost here," Old Lu said again. "Take some things back for your mother. She raised you all by herself, it wasn't easy for her. When you get back, be good to her and stop fooling around."

He paused, a rare smile appearing on his face: "Don't think that just because you're hiding in Beijing, I can't kick you out. If you act recklessly again, I'll take the train to Beijing and kick you out."

Zhao Yaping's nose tingled, and tears almost welled up in his eyes. He blinked hard to hold back the tears, and then did something that Lao Lu hadn't expected—he stepped forward and gave Lao Lu a bear hug.

“Uncle Lu…” His voice choked with emotion, “Thank you. I’ve learned a lot this past month.”

Old Lu stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and patted him on the back: "Kid, remember how you felt this past month. Whatever you do in the future, make sure you live up to the sweat you shed."

"I will." Zhao Yaping released him, wiped her face, and said with a determined look in her eyes, "When I become successful, I will definitely come to Hong Kong to see you! I'll buy you a Rolex!"

Old Lu laughed heartily: "Good! Kid, a man's word is his bond. I'm waiting for your Rolex!"

The next day, Qin Hao and Zhao Yajing came to pick up Zhao Yaping.

When Zhao Yajing saw her younger brother, she could hardly believe her eyes. The slick-haired, pampered boy from a month ago was gone; standing before her was a young man with slightly tanned skin, bright eyes, and an upright posture. Although it was still the same face, his demeanor was completely different.

When Zhao Yaping saw his sister, he grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "Sister."

Zhao Yajing's eyes welled up with tears. She stepped forward and hugged her younger brother, then unconsciously took Qin Hao's arm and whispered, "This kid... he's finally starting to act like a man."

Qin Hao looked at Zhao Yaping and nodded: "Boys need to be taught by men." (End of Chapter)