PNB 122. Too busy to handle everything.
122. Too busy to handle everything.
"Teacher, how are you? What happened? Why did you take so long?"
Seeing that Hiramaki's eyes were glazed over and his body was limp, Kondo thought he had been tortured up there and hurriedly asked.
“Kondo-kun... I experienced an extremely wonderful journey of life up there. I have never experienced or even heard of such a project before. I feel as if I have been reborn... That sleep I just had was the sweetest and most restful sleep I have had in the last ten years... Kondo-kun, help me back to rest. I believe I will have a beautiful dream tonight.”
Kondo was dumbfounded. What was wrong with his teacher? How could his demeanor be so different before and after going up? What exactly was this "ice and fire" service? He was starting to get curious and wanted to experience it for himself.
With his signature smile on his face, Zhou Hongyi bowed slightly and personally escorted the distinguished member home to rest.
Only after seeing Pingzhen's car drive away did Zhou Hongyi turn around, exchange a few seconds of eye contact with Manyu, and then burst into laughter.
"How about that? What did I tell you? As soon as that old lecher went up there, I made sure he wouldn't have the energy to think about anything else. Did they think that the premium member experience was as vulgar as those brothels outside? They're wrong. Our services are all green and healthy, and they absolutely do not involve pornography, gambling, or drugs."
Manyu laughed so hard she almost cried, and looked at Zhou Hongyi with admiration, shaking her head and saying, "Boss, I'm really impressed. Before, I didn't quite understand why you wanted to decorate those two rooms like that, but now I finally understand what they were for. How could you come up with such a way to prank people, and yet they still paid a lot of money for it, so even if they felt uncomfortable, they were too embarrassed to say anything? Manyu is truly impressed."
After seeing Hiramasa and Kondo off, most of the guests either had had their fill and were heading back, or were so drunk they had fallen asleep in the private rooms or booths. Zhou Hongyi checked his watch; it was already four in the morning, time to close up shop and end the first day of business.
After everyone had cleaned up the hall and left, the sky was already beginning to lighten. The noise subsided, and the Paramount Ballroom felt somewhat empty and desolate.
Manyu was typing away on the abacus with a loud clattering sound. Although she hadn't slept all night, she was still very energetic.
"Young Master Zhou, Boss Zhou, guess how much money we made on our first night of business?"
Zhou Hongyi took a bottle of wine from the bar, poured some, took a sip, and said, "How much? Tell me quickly."
Although he said that, Zhou Hongyi's true thoughts were that he didn't care about the amount of money involved. What he wanted was this place, a place that could serve as cover, a place for transactions, and a place for conspiracies.
Indeed, Zhou Hongyi not only wanted to turn the New Paramount into the ultimate money-making den, but it also wanted to serve as a place for plotting murders, eavesdropping on secret meetings, and, importantly, money laundering.
Zhou Hongyi wanted to thoroughly clean up and remove suspicion from all the stolen, smuggled, and irregularly sourced goods and money at the New Paramount before he could use them. His methods may not seem extraordinary in hindsight, but they were quite advanced for his time.
Looking at the ledger, Manyu said excitedly, "Today we issued a total of twenty membership cards and three VIP membership cards. The card issuance and top-up alone brought in 1.28 million silver dollars. Although these customers' future consumption will be deducted from their membership cards, this is only the first day! All consumption in the lobby is free on the first day. Once the free period is over, with the income from tickets and drinks, I really can't imagine how much money the New Paramount can make in a month."
Looking at Manyu's money-grubbing expression, Zhou Hongyi chuckled and said, "Alright, my manager Manyu, I'll leave these little things to you. I'm going back to get some sleep now. We can't keep doing themed events like tonight. If we do too many, everyone will get tired of it, and the staff won't be able to handle it. You should go back and rest too. Just leave this to the day shift staff and clean up. I reckon tonight will be even more exciting than last night."
Zhou Hongyi's guess was correct. Although a large portion of those who came on the first day were friends and acquaintances he had invited to show their support, the performances and business model of the New Paramount were quite novel to everyone. However, how could they possibly have enough fun in just one night? They inevitably invited their friends and acquaintances to come back again on the second day.
Zhou Hongyi judged that the popularity of New Paramount would last for at least a week. After the free period ended, the hype would gradually dissipate. However, the so-called dissipation of hype would only mean a decrease in the number of people, while the quality would only improve. After all, he still wanted to make money from the rich. The carnival for the common people would only last for three days.
Back home, Zhou Hongyi ignored everything and went to sleep. When he woke up again, it was Zhou Pan'er who knocked on the door and woke him up.
"Zhongliang, someone called you. They sounded quite anxious."
Zhou Hongyi rubbed his sleepy eyes, walked to the living room, and answered the phone. He said "Hello," and it was Chen Gong calling from the other end.
"Brother Chen, what happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"
He knew that Chen Gong wouldn't be in such a hurry to disturb his sleep unless it was something extremely important; he could have waited until he went to the police station that afternoon. At that moment, he heard the bearded man on the other end of the phone, breathing heavily, deliberately lower his voice and say:
"Brother, something's happened. I just got word that the commander of the Kuomintang's 106th Division is doing business with the Japanese behind the President's back. His troops can easily enter the Japanese-occupied territory and take advantage of this to fleece the Kuomintang, selling foreign aid to the Japanese!"
Zhou Hongyi scratched his head, feeling that he had more and more things on his mind. He still had several tasks to complete, and now there was more trouble, and it was a big one at that. Being a multi-faceted spy was indeed not an easy task.
"Okay, I understand. I'll figure something out."
Zhou Hongyi hung up the phone and pondered how to get his small team to help him share the burden.
Although Xiao Bei no longer has to perform at the Paramount Ballroom every night, he still has to show up from time to time. During the day, he spends most of his time with Zhou Pan'er dealing with the matter of building a school on the ruins.
The blind man and his mother run the shop during the day and help out at the New Paramount Ballroom at night. This kid is very clever and learns things quickly, so we can give him more responsibilities.
Ah Gui spends most of his time at the police station, helping to look after Expert Wang in the archives. In his spare time, he also practices driving, marksmanship, and knife skills. Although he can't be the best, Zhou Hongyi thinks he's already much better than the average policeman, so he can be given some tasks.
As for Fusheng... this kid always makes people feel both at ease and worried. They are at ease because they are not afraid of him causing trouble, but they are worried because they don't know when he will act recklessly again, like last time when he took out a grenade from a bun. So it's better to keep him around and keep an eye on him because of the unpredictable factors.
As for Qingxia, she had to manage the shop and take care of the child, so Zhou Hongyi couldn't bear to assign her any more tasks. After all, the last mission he had her complete to meet with Expert Wang almost went wrong. Speaking of the meeting mission, Zhou Hongyi remembered that Qingxia had specifically told him when she returned that the neighbors in the alley where Expert Wang was hiding had helped them a lot. Since they had been so kind, they couldn't leave it unreturned; it was a matter of principle.
Zhou Hongyi thought for a moment and decided to gather his small team together for a small meeting to give everyone more responsibilities and assign tasks.