Chapter 10: The Lunar New Year Fair at Victoria Park (Please Support with Favorites, Monthly Votes, and Recommendations)

Page 1/3

Pointing at the newspaper, Uncle Fu showed the headline boldly printed at the top: "Cheung Kong Holdings Scores Another Victory, Acquires New Territories Land for HKD 120 Million."

In the accompanying photo, a young Li Ka-shing, not yet wearing his signature black-rimmed glasses, stood confidently before a construction site.

Upon seeing this news, Chen Bingwen’s mind momentarily blurred, memories of Li Ka-shing flashing like a revolving lantern in his thoughts.

This period marked the critical turning point in Li Ka-shing’s rise as a real estate tycoon.

Starting from a plastic flower factory, he bought up properties in the early 1970s and was now entering the HSBC radar through the redevelopment of the Chinese Bank Building.

The thrilling Kowloon Wharf acquisition battle next year would finally cement his status as the “HSBC proxy.”

In his previous life, Chen Bingwen had always regarded Li Ka-shing’s rags-to-riches story as mere legend; now, living through it, he suddenly grasped its essence.

In the British-ruled Hong Kong Island, whoever became the commercial representative of the colonial government secured access to monopolistic resources.

On a deeper level, whoever could simultaneously earn the favor of British capital and mainland support would dominate the future of Victoria Harbour.

Plastic flowers were no different from his own sweet soup business—they were merely stepping stones to climb the pyramid’s summit.

The only difference lay in scale and timing.

“Ah Wen? What are you daydreaming about?” Uncle Fu’s voice pulled him back to reality.

Chen Bingwen blinked, refocusing on the newspaper before him.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he temporarily stifled the swirling thoughts in his mind.

Right now, he was but a minor pawn in this grand game of chess; only by crossing the river as a rented pawn could he unlock endless possibilities.

“Uncle Fu, get me a copy of the Industrial and Commercial Daily as well,” Chen Bingwen said, pointing to several other financial newspapers at the newsstand.

“That’ll be three dollars and twenty cents,” Uncle Fu said briskly, handing over the papers.

Back at the shop, Chen Bingwen leafed through each newspaper, correlating the news with the information stored in his memory.

He was both searching for potential business opportunities and anchoring his past-life knowledge in this world.

Suddenly, a small advertisement on an inner page caught his eye.

“The 1978 Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall applications will open on January 20.”

Page 2/3

Chen Bingwen’s eyes lit up. The Lunar New Year Fair on Hong Kong Island was similar to the mainland’s New Year goods market.

Every spring festival, Hong Kong people would come out to stroll the streets—they called it “walking the Lunar New Year Fair,” a local tradition on the island.

Unlike mainland temple fairs or New Year markets, the Hong Kong Island fair mainly sold flowers and festive decorations.

There were fairs in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, but Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island hosted the largest and most bustling fair.

When shoppers grew tired, thirst and hunger naturally followed, creating opportunities for food vendors.

The Lunar New Year cooked food stalls emerged precisely to meet this demand.

The fair ran annually from the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month until New Year’s Eve.

Especially on New Year’s Eve, the fair stayed open all night, closing only at 6 a.m. on the first day of the lunar year.

This generated unprecedented foot traffic.

In his previous life, a friend in the Hong Kong Island catering business shared insider tips before emigrating, describing Victoria Park’s cooked food stalls as a “quietly lucrative business.”

The profits were so good they described it as “earning half a year’s income in seven days.” With huge crowds, strong consumer demand, and the festive atmosphere, it was basically a cash machine for the food industry.

After hearing his friend’s account, if he hadn’t already joined investment banking at the time, he might have seriously considered bidding for a stall at the Victoria Park fair.

In just a few days, one could net hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars—a rare and golden opportunity.

Setting aside inflation and price rises, at current sweet soup prices and estimated foot traffic, securing a prime location could easily yield tens of thousands in seven days.

That was equivalent to one to two months’ profit at his current dessert shop.

Moreover, the sweet soups and dim sum snacks Chen’s shop sold were perfectly suited for fair sales.

Chen Bingwen’s finger lightly tapped the advertisement as he rapidly calculated various possibilities in his mind.

This then relatively obscure 1978 Victoria Park fair opportunity appeared to him like an untapped gold mine.

“Earn half a year’s income in seven days.”

That figure echoed repeatedly in his thoughts.

Currently, Chen’s dessert shop earned over HKD 30,000 a month—a respectable sum.

But if he could secure a stall at Victoria Park, seven days could bring in tens of thousands, perhaps more.

Besides, the consumer atmosphere at the fair was wholly different from regular street business; during the Spring Festival, Hong Kong people were willing to spend, especially when “walking the fair” with family, making food and drink purchases almost essential.

Chen Bingwen folded the newspaper, his gaze resolute.

Page 3/3

“This stall must be ours!”

That evening, Chen Bingwen gathered his parents and explained the business opportunity at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair in detail.

“Dad, Mom, if we can secure a stall at Victoria Park, the money we make in seven days could exceed our current monthly profit.”

Chen Guofu and Wang Qiaozhen exchanged a glance, hesitating.

“Ah Wen, the foot traffic at the fair is certainly large, but how much does the stall bidding cost? Also, our dessert business has just stabilized; jumping into the fair suddenly—couldn’t that be too risky?”

Though they had come to respect Chen Bingwen’s business acumen, Chen Guofu and Wang Qiaozhen remained cautious.

After all, the dessert shop had just recovered from near failure; investing a large sum in a stall bid could worsen their situation if they failed.

Chen Bingwen perceived their concerns and explained earnestly:

“Dad, Mom, the fair opens on February 1, twenty days from now.

My plan is to try for all four cooked food stalls, but at least secure one.

Given our current situation, we only need to prepare stall decorations, warming equipment, and temporary labor wages.

I preliminarily calculated the bidding cost to be between five thousand to ten thousand Hong Kong dollars, plus an additional five thousand for each stall’s setup.

With the foot traffic at Victoria Park, a single stall’s seven-day turnover should reach at least fifty thousand HKD, and after costs, net profit would exceed thirty thousand.”

“Wow! … That really is more profitable than our current business.”

Still, Wang Qiaozhen voiced her worry: “But we only have a little over five thousand on hand. The bid alone might cost ten thousand, plus equipment and labor… we don’t have enough money.”

Chen Bingwen smiled slightly. “Mom, I’ve already thought about the money.”

He produced a newspaper and pointed to an advertisement: “Wing Lung Bank offers financial support for small and medium enterprises in Hong Kong Island, with low-interest loans and approval as fast as three days.”

“We can apply for a loan using the dessert shop’s credentials and recent turnover. With current cash flow, fifty thousand Hong Kong dollars should be achievable.”

Chen’s dessert shop now generated over two thousand HKD daily.

Chen Guofu and Wang Qiaozhen exchanged another glance before Chen Guofu made the decision: “Since Ah Wen is confident, let’s give it a shot!”