NOVPUBThe organizer of this charity dinner was none other than Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, the oldest and most influential charitable institution in Xiangjiang. Many, including Suming, often mistakenly called it ’Huadong Hospital’...
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals was established in the 1870s and has been committed to providing diversified services to the general public ever since, including medical, educational, and community services. The so-called "Group of Hospitals" originally referred to Kwong Wah Hospital, Tung Wah Hospital, and Tung Wah Eastern Hospital. Starting from a small Chinese medicine clinic, it now boasts over two hundred clinics and medical units scattered throughout Hong Kong.
In terms of social status and influence, the reputation of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals even surpasses that of the Horse Club. After all, though both are involved in charity, the Horse Club is ultimately a gambling profit organization, while Tung Wah is a medical institution that saves lives and aids the injured. Horse Club extracts money from the pockets of the vast Xiangjiang citizens, while Tung Wah actually provides services, many of which are free. The two cannot be mentioned in the same breath.
"Both started from barefoot doctors and old army medics, so why is there such a big gap?" Suming grumbled, tilting his head back.
"Why do you talk such nonsense? Don’t move, don’t move, your tie’s crooked again. Such a grown man and you can’t even tie a tie properly..."
Suming was dressed in a sleek dark suit, while Nangong wore an elegant light blue evening dress adorned with a brooch set with a sapphire, leaning in to help him straighten his tie. For an event like a charity dinner, obviously, they couldn’t show up in jeans and a jumper, so after leaving the hotel, the two went shopping on Queen’s Road.
With forty million in his pocket, Suming had stopped worrying about ’little expenses’ like buying clothes; he didn’t even look at the price tags. Armani suits, Gucci, plus a few seemingly simple but elegant accessories for Nangong – when they checked out, the bill was close to a seven-digit figure.
Then, under the ghostly stares of the shop attendants, the two, dressed in clothes worth over a million, walked hand in hand to the curb and hailed a battered taxi.
All the way, the taxi driver kept glancing at the couple through the rearview mirror, so much so that Suming got a bit annoyed and glared, asking, "What are you looking at? Haven’t seen tourists from the mainland before?"
The driver was in a good mood and with a not-so-standard Mandarin chuckled, "Wearing such expensive brands and riding in my old cab, be careful of being found out."
"Found out? Found out what?" Suming was stunned at first, then realized the driver thought they were wearing knockoffs. Indeed, who could afford million-dollar brands and still take a taxi?
No matter whether it’s the mainland or Xiangjiang, or even the Western world abroad, it seems all taxi drivers love to talk. Suming shrugged helplessly, "No choice, my helicopter hasn’t been delivered yet, otherwise I’d take that."
"Take a helicopter, shoot, might as well say take a Gundam," The taxi driver’s mouth twitched twice, thinking when mainland tourists also became such braggarts.
The taxi weaved through the traffic on Xiangjiang’s narrow streets, especially in the busy city center, where it’s rare to find four-lane roads in parallel; most are single-lane with few two or three lanes. Drivers are required to strictly follow traffic rules, with cars proceeding in an orderly manner, so even though the roads were narrow, the taxi sped along and quickly reached the Peninsula Xiangjiang, where the dinner was held.
The Peninsula Hotel opened in 1928 and is Xiangjiang’s oldest hotel, as well as one of the most luxurious and famous hotels in Hong Kong and worldwide, nicknamed "the Gabrielle". During the golden era of the entertainment industry in Xiangjiang during the ’80s and ’90s, this was a gathering place for famous movie stars and entertainers. Many celebrities even rented rooms here for long periods, hence it was also known as the "Entertainers’ Lounge".
From a distance, The Peninsula Hotel looks like a castle in inverted ’U’ shape, with a towering main building in the middle and two annexes extending like walls to repel enemies. In fact, in its nearly a hundred-year history, the hotel has indeed been used multiple times as a military command center, a bastion in times of war.
The taxi driver deftly turned the steering wheel, making a turn and heading toward the hotel entrance through the ring road, nestled amongst a row of luxury cars approaching the hotel’s gate, the beat-up taxi looked especially shabby.
"Wow, lucky day, another chance to see a big star!" The taxi driver suddenly pointed at a Lincoln with the number 9 at the end.
"Which star?" Suming stretched his neck curiously to look forward, but the back window of the Lincoln was tinted so dark that it was impossible to see who was inside.
"Mr. Xiang, you know, Long Wu from ’God of Gamblers’, do you know him?!" The taxi driver seemed excited.
Suming and Nangong exchanged glances, thinking it would be some big star, but it was just Long Wu, whom they had seen just a couple of days ago, nothing to fuss about. So, Suming replied somewhat absently, "Oh, I thought it was ’God of Gamblers’ himself."
The driver, sensing their slight disappointment, turned back, excitedly saying, "What’s the ’God of Gamblers’? You mainlanders don’t get it. With just one word from Mr. Xiang, god, saint, and knight of gamblers would all turn into obedient children. This is a real Xiangjiang tycoon, no award statuette needed for this star!" As he said this, he rolled up his sleeve to show Suming the tattoo on his arm, "Back when I was in the underworld years ago, he was my idol..."
"Whoa, could you focus on driving, please? Watch the road ahead, an accident might get you chopped by his goons. It’s just Long Wu, I know, he was Xinji’s former ringleader, just the other night we were betting on horses together," Suming interjected quickly. Find exclusive stories on freewebnovel.com
"Betting with you?" The driver rolled his eyes dramatically, his expression darkening with the ruthlessness of a once-underworld figure, he said sternly, "Kid, I don’t care about your bluffing, but don’t you disrespect my idol!"
"I really did gamble on horses with him, and he lost a horse to me!" Suming protested. How had it turned into insult? I, a proud member of the Party, gambled on horses with a former gang leader, and I didn’t feel insulted, so how did it become an insult to him? Don’t these Xiangjiang folks have any sense of right and wrong anymore?"
Hearing Suming’s words, the driver’s expression grew even more disdainful, and he let out an exaggerated laugh, "Lost a horse? Wow, pretty boy, you think horse betting is about wagering actual horses? That winning means getting the horse?" He realized that this young mainland tourist didn’t have a clue, was pretending to understand, and had just been bragging all the way.
"There’s no explaining it to you. How about I get him to sign an autograph for you to offset the cab fare?"
This time, the driver didn’t even bother to turn his head, dismissively waving his hand, "Alright, alright, I believe you. You have a helicopter, you’ve gambled with Mr. Xiang, you’ve played ball with ******, and you’ve even played games with aliens, okay?"
Suming was about to say something when Nangong tugged at him and whispered, "Are you really that bored, arguing with him about this stuff?"
"Right, I’m bored anyway, what does it matter where I shoot the breeze?" Suming said with a grin.
As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of the hotel. The Lincoln in front had stopped, and the taxi came to a stop as well. A bellboy ran over, his face sporting an enthusiastic but not servile smile, and opened the door of Lincoln number one. Following that, a foot clad in shiny leather shoes stepped out from inside.
"He’s coming out! I’m finally going to meet my idol!" The cabbie was so excited that he forgot to stop the meter, which kept ticking up in small increments. Nangong handed over a large denomination bill, and the driver, without looking back, waved it off, "No time to make change, I won’t take your money. Get out, don’t make me miss seeing my idol!"
In front, Long Wu stepped out of the car, wearing a dark suit, accompanied by a middle-aged woman decked out in jewels. The driver was taken aback; Long Wu’s outfit today was the same as Suming’s.
"Wow, the same outfit, but my idol wears it a thousand times better than you!"
As the driver spoke, Suming and Nangong had already gotten out of the cab, and, arm in arm with Nangong, Suming called out ’Mr. Xiang’ from behind.
Long Wu, who was about to head into the hotel, turned around when he heard someone calling him. At first, he was a bit startled, then he smiled and voluntarily stopped to wait for Suming at the hotel entrance.
"What? He really knows him?" The driver was stunned, a bit disheveled, and couldn’t bear to leave, so much so that he didn’t hear the cars honking behind him urging him to move.
After a brief exchange at the hotel entrance, Suming took out a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Long Wu, muttered a few words, and Long Wu subsequently showed a rather odd expression as he wrote something on the paper.
Suming ran back to the taxi, knocking on the driver’s side window.
The cabbie quickly rolled down the window and, gripping Suming’s hand in excitement, said in disbelief, "Wow, pretty boy, you really are friends with my idol! Just ignore what I said earlier, don’t take it to heart, alright?"
"We’re all just joking, what’s there to fuss about? Hurry up and drive, don’t block traffic." Suming casually handed the small piece of paper he had just gotten back to the driver, "Oh, I almost forgot, your idol’s autograph, consider it the cab fare, I won’t take advantage of you."
Having said that, he quickly turned and ran back to the hotel entrance.
The driver took a look at the ’paper’, which turned out to be an Armani receipt. The long string of digits made his eyelids twitch, and at the bottom of the receipt, a somewhat sloppy line of writing was still recognizable, "Love the country, abide by the laws. Mr. Xiang."
"Mr. Xiang, I will remember!" The cabbie nodded earnestly at the receipt, quickly covered his arm to hide the tattoos, and carefully tucked the Armani receipt into his wallet.
Outside the hotel, Long Wu looked somewhat helplessly at Suming running back.
Although he hadn’t been a gang leader for many years, as a former top-level gang boss who had once commanded the winds and the clouds, writing something like "abide by the laws" felt strangely embarrassing to think about.
"Mr. Xiang, I think you really have the potential to be a Party member. If you want to join the Party, I’ll ask someone to write an application for you when I get back!" Suming came running back, shot the breeze again, and then formally nodded and smiled at the woman next to Long Wu, "Mrs. Xiang, hello!"
