books44 Chapter 26 Victoria Harbour in the 1920s
Chapter 26 Victoria Harbour in the 1920s
After dealing with the annoying guy, Shen Wancheng and Shen Yao turned back onto the main road and hailed a taxi to go home.
Shen Mei and Guo Tao were waiting for them at home.
Since Shen Wancheng and Shen Yao won HK$10 in horse racing betting, they definitely have to treat everyone to a meal.
When Shen Wancheng and Shen Yao returned, it was already 6:30 in the afternoon. It was completely dark, and a light drizzle was falling.
September in Hong Kong Island is usually quite humid, but a light rain brings just the right amount of coolness.
Because Guo Tao was present, Shen Wancheng suggested going to the night market.
Shen Wancheng thought that Shen Yao, who came from ancient times, and Shen Mei, who came from a rural area in mainland China, would be amazed by the night view of Hong Kong Island.
Guo Tao was still driving, heading straight to the Sheung Wan Night Market.
Because the rain wasn't too heavy, the vendors at the night market didn't pack up their stalls.
Each stall had strings of incandescent lights hanging in front of it, casting a hazy glow in the rainy night, creating a strangely warm atmosphere.
Before transmigrating, Shen Yao came from a general's family and was used to eating lavish meals every day. Even though Shen Wancheng had tried to improve the food after arriving here, it still couldn't compare to what Shen Yao used to eat.
Upon arriving at the Sheung Wan Night Market, Shen Yao saw rows of meat displayed or hanging in front of the stalls, and her eyes gleamed with a hungry wolf-like light.
Shen Yao missed the feeling of eating meat to her heart's content.
Shen Wancheng was not much better off than Shen Yao. In the mainland, during that era, resources were scarce and food was limited. After coming to Hong Kong, she was afraid that she could not afford the high cost of living there because she only had so much money. Therefore, she had to be frugal.
Shen Wancheng was also extremely craving it.
The exciting thing is, they have money today!
Shen Wancheng and her friends started buying from the first stall and continued buying from there.
In order to try more food, they only bought one serving of each type and shared it among the four of them.
Shen Wancheng was also trying Hong Kong snacks for the first time. Even foods that are common on the mainland are prepared and eaten differently in Hong Kong.
For example, Hong Kong Island doesn't have savory tofu pudding, only sweet kind. It's made by adding ginger juice and brown sugar to the tofu pudding. Although it has a hint of ginger spiciness, it's completely different from the savory tofu pudding with chili oil on the mainland.
The roast meats on Hong Kong Island are quite similar to those in Guangdong; they taste delicious in small bites, but can become a bit greasy if you eat too much.
They then ate rice noodle rolls, fish siu mai, shrimp dumplings, and other common snacks in Hong Kong and Guangdong.
They would eat until they were about 60% full and then focus on dessert.
French toast, pineapple buns, sandwiches, and egg waffles—desserts that Shen Wancheng considered quite ordinary—were all excessively exquisite in the eyes of Shen Yao and Shen Mei.
Shen Mei loves sweets. The sweet and smooth taste fills her mouth, and Shen Mei wants to make money more than ever before.
Only with money can one taste all the delicacies of the world, and be sought after like those people in the VIP area today; only then can one walk home with their back straight, trampling their grandparents who wanted to marry her off to a fool and Shen Chao into the mud, making them kneel down and beg for her forgiveness.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Shen Wancheng asked Guo Tao to take them to Victoria Harbour.
Shen Wancheng and her friends lived in an old district of Hong Kong Island. The buildings were over ten or twenty years old, and the shop signs were very old. So, although Shen Yao and Shen Mei usually saw that the city was more prosperous than the mainland Guangdong city, they did not really feel the qualitative difference.
But at this moment, I was deeply shocked.
Guo Tao's car hadn't even reached Victoria Harbour yet; they had only just entered the area when the dazzling city lights outside the car window stunned Shen Yao and Shen Mei.
Rows of tall buildings stand side by side, appearing and disappearing in the rainy night, seemingly soaring straight into the clouds.
They parked their car in the underground parking lot and went to the coast to enjoy the night view.
Cruise ships slowly sailed on the sea.
A huge passenger ship has just arrived at the port. Hundreds of windows in the cabins are filled with neatly arranged square blocks of light. Passengers are queuing to disembark, and the long queues reveal the ship's enormous passenger capacity.
Shen Yao stared blankly at all of this, and couldn't help but mutter to herself.
Was all of this built by manpower?
Shen Yao felt that all of this was far more prosperous and unimaginable than the divine kingdom she had previously fantasized about.
Shen Wancheng was also amazed by the night view of Victoria Harbour in that era.
The prosperity here is almost indistinguishable from that of cities twenty or thirty years from now; in fact, some first-tier cities in China are not as bustling and beautiful as Victoria Harbour is now.
Upon seeing such a modern scene, Shen Wancheng's sense of superiority from the 21st century vanished completely.
Although Shen Wancheng hadn't shown it much in the past, she always had a sense of superiority from the future.
I feel that I have seen and know more than anyone else in this era, so it shouldn't be difficult for me to do anything I want.
But seeing the skyscrapers that looked just like those in the 21st century, and the dazzling night view, Shen Wancheng couldn't help but ask herself, do the people who own such buildings and stand on top overlooking the entire Victoria Harbour really know the same things she does? Are they things she could have accessed when she was in the 21st century?
But Shen Wancheng was only shocked, not discouraged.
In any case, she knows the future development trajectory of many industries and things that most people in the world still don't know.
If we consider this life as a mountain climb, others start at the foot of the mountain, while she is halfway up.
At this moment, Shen Wancheng's desire to conquer this city reached its peak.
Shen Wancheng quickly realized that if Hong Kong Island was as prosperous as the world in later years, it would be even better, proving that as long as she had money, she could have any life she wanted.
To give an example, if Hong Kong Island had just begun its reform and opening up like mainland cities, and its economic and material wealth was limited, even if she became the richest person, she wouldn't be able to enjoy the same convenient life as in later generations.
A trip to Victoria Harbour completely shattered Shen Wancheng's joy at winning HK$10.
This amount of money is nothing in Hong Kong.
But this trip also solidified Shen Wancheng's determination to make money.
HK$10 is just the beginning; she will have countless HK$10s in the future.
Shen Yao and Shen Mei also had mixed feelings on their way back to their residence.
Excitement and admiration, yet inexplicably heavy and desolate.
Seeing things beyond one's imagination makes one feel incredibly small.
Shen Wancheng and the other two thanked Guo Tao downstairs. Before leaving, Guo Tao made an appointment to have Hong Kong-style dim sum together the next day.
When they went upstairs and opened the door, Shen Yao and Shen Mei, without discussing it, shouted out the same sentence in unison.
I need to make money!
Both of them were taken aback when they heard what the other person said, and then burst into laughter.
Shen Wancheng's lips curled into a deep smile.
At this moment, the three sisters were more united and happier than ever before.