If I drink this big bowl of soup, I would be about 1.8 meters tall when standing and 1.8 meters tall when lying down, right?
Do you want to dig at the keyhole?
…
Alan suppressed his discomfort and took a sip. Unexpectedly, the taste was quite good, with a sweet aftertaste and no fishy smell.
In this way, he had less resistance at last. Although in his current physical condition, he didn't need this kind of food supplement at all, but... men, once they heard about the effects such as aphrodisiac and delayed ejaculation, usually they would be unable to walk and would want to try it for no reason. Even those who were a little shameless would say that their friend seemed to need it and asked if they could take it away and bring it back to their friend to try.
After drinking the soup...it looks like there will be another fierce battle in the evening.
…
July 5th.
Hong Kong Centre, Happy Valley Racecourse, on the grandstand corridor.
The official time for horse racing is from September to June of the following year. In the remaining July and August, theoretically there are basically no races. These two months are used to maintain the lawn and repair various facilities of the racecourse. In addition... it will also be used for other purposes for a short period of time, such as serving as a venue for large-scale events.
Wei Dewei accompanied Allen. Both of them were dressed in short-sleeved casual clothes. While explaining, they watched several riders who were warming up off the field.
The racehorses and riders here were all raised by several wealthy local businessmen, and were specially brought out today at Wei Dewei's invitation to compete.
Theoretically, the scene today was reserved by Wei Dewei. The entire venue was not open to the public. Only he brought Alan to visit and play. Alan had been to Hong Kong several times, and as the Governor of Hong Kong, he always entertained people in a hurry, as if he had never fulfilled the hospitality of a good host.
This time Alan can stay here for a few more days, and Wei Dewei did his best to ask his secretary to arrange the itinerary.
Today, I am bringing Alan to experience the horse racing atmosphere in Hong Kong.
…
"Sir, at this time last year, a charity concert was held here. Some local celebrities and singers gave a concert, which was quite successful. We raised some money and gave it to them."
Wei Dewei pointed to the field in the distance and introduced to Allen other uses of the racecourse during the offseason.
"oh?"
Alan became interested when he heard this. When he talked about donations, he thought of Americans, and when he thought of Americans, he thought of their stinginess.
Don't even mention comparing with others. Just look at Hong Kong, such a small place. Those stars in the early years, no matter what their character was, they had very high ideological awareness. When their compatriots were in trouble, no matter whether they did it to show off or not, they donated money or performed charity shows to raise funds, without any ambiguity.
Compared with the domestic entertainment industry in the future...
Forget it...those are no longer stars. They would give up their reputation for a little traffic. Not to mention donating money, if they could just pay taxes honestly, they would be considered ideologically aware.
Alan looked at the field in the distance and narrowed his eyes.
…
"Haha, sir, let's go over there. The contestants are ready. Would you like to have a gamble? Should we play too?"
Wei Dewei just mentioned this casually and didn't care about it anymore. What he cared about most now was that there was a horse off the field, and it was his!
Horse racing is something that most people cannot afford. Even wealthy businessmen with a little bit of assets can hardly afford it.
You don't have to be very rich to play, except for the low-end ones.
In the past, Wei Dewei definitely couldn't afford to play, but over the years, he was fattened up by Allen and received a lot of benefits. He had some spare money and couldn't help but raise two horses. He also had a few very strong riders recruited from Britain.
But normally he wouldn't let his horse compete in the race, mainly because he was afraid that these people would flatter him and deliberately let him win.
Now that Alan is here, everyone plays for a while in private, and Wei Dewei starts to encourage Alan.
"Heh... I won't gamble anymore. It's boring."
…
Alan walked and looked at the horses being prepared for the race in the distance.
He usually doesn't touch gambling.
As the old saying goes, nine out of ten people lose in gambling. Why do they lose?
Many gamblers may think that they lose because of poor skills, bad luck, cheating by their opponents, etc.
But...what is the core of the problem?
Yes... no matter it is horse racing, card betting, or football betting, these things are all controllable by humans!
It is unwise to gamble with your own money when faced with things that are controllable by humans.
This is not a matter of luck at all!
…
Although the gambling industry is very developed in Britain, those things are aimed at ordinary people. Even if the upper class people play, they just do it for fun. How can they expect to make a fortune from this kind of thing?
Alan remembered that he had read a flop novel written by a flop author before. The protagonist traveled through time and became a British aristocrat, even becoming a duke, but he had to rely on winnings from football gambling to pay inheritance tax.
this……
He is the Duke, not just any random person.
How many ducal families are there in the whole of Great Britain?
More than twenty!
They all have names and surnames. Aren't you ashamed to do such things?
Even a poor man like the Duke of Angus never thought of making money through gambling to pay inheritance tax.
Of course...the inheritance he inherited from his father was not much, so he didn't have to worry about paying any inheritance tax.
…
It’s mainly this method that makes people feel powerless to complain.
Whether it is the British gambling organization or the European gambling organization, behind these organizations, there are more or less some wealthy businessmen, aristocrats, and financial groups involved in the background.
A nobleman, a duke at that, actually has to make money by gambling on football, and earn tens of millions of pounds in bonuses.
this……
What’s the difference between this and robbery?
To put it bluntly, even if the servants at home were to rob a bank, it would be better than betting on football to win the prize.
If a bank robbery is discovered, at most the offender will be an official, with servants taking the blame. The noble who instigated the robbery will at most be punished by the queen, and then the stolen money will be recovered.
But when it comes to gambling, especially at the level of top aristocrats, everyone is involved in it. How can you, a nobleman of status, rashly rely on your foresight and other clever tricks to take away tens of millions of bonuses from others?
Those who run gambling operations are not doing charity.
No matter how covertly it is done, it won’t work!
…
Anyone who wants to make money in this way has never thought about whether the banker behind the scenes is a fool?
The dealer has to count all the purchase data! Why would the dealer willingly give out money when he knows that someone is betting on a game with extremely high odds?
Is it that he has a lot of luck, or that he has a lot of money and gives it away for charity?
Whenever the bookmaker finds a purchase record with extremely small probability but extremely high odds, the first thing he will do is to check the purchaser. Even if he can't find the person, he will still intervene in the game. Who can resist money?
…
As for those “lucky” winners in the media and news, heh…
The dealer may not care about making a little money, but for the rest, just watch. After the leeks have been cut for a long time, they have to give some huge encouragement, right?
As for gambling, especially in Britain, the higher the status of a person, the less he should expect to make money with it. Just have fun with it. If anyone thinks of making money from it, he must be out of his mind, or he is drinking fake alcohol. It's not enough to just drink fake alcohol. You have to drink industrial alcohol, several kilograms of it.
If you make a lot of money from gambling by relying on a little cleverness, you will make enemies with the dealer behind them. No matter how much you earn, they will make you pay it back many times over.
All nobles with a decent social status know the ins and outs of this. Allen also knows it, so...
Knowing that it was all just for fun, he lost interest.
Allen hated the feeling of seeming to be at the mercy of fate or being played by others.
…
Seeing that Alan didn't want to play, Wei Dewei was a little disappointed, but he didn't complain. He led Alan and the two of them sat down in the area with the best viewing area. Wei Dewei waved his hand, signaling his men around him to stay away.
"Sir, I talked to Chris Patten last night. He said that I should stay for a while to help him stabilize the situation. When we encounter a situation that neither of us can handle, I will ask you to come out. In the next few days, I will send someone to take you out for a good tour. What do you think?"
Alan sat down and stretched his legs, then relaxed on the sofa and thought about it.
Is this old guy Patten trying to trick Wei Dewei into staying for a while longer?
What on earth is going on?
…
"I didn't ask him what he was going to do before I came here."
Alan pretended to be casual and followed Wei Dewei's words.
After all... the nobles don't interfere in politics now. Although Alan is a noble member of the House of Lords, he tries to avoid asking these questions when he is away, for fear that some ill-intentioned people will find fault with him and use such things to criticize him.
But when facing Wei Dewei, given their friendship, there's no need to be too subtle. Just a few polite words will be enough.
…
"Him? Humph..."
Wei Dewei snorted with great disdain. He felt extremely unhappy when he thought about the plans that Patten had talked about with him last night.
Although both of them are governors of Hong Kong, they have different backgrounds, experiences and factions. In fact, just as Allen thought, there are natural contradictions between them, which are irreconcilable.
Wei Dewei is a moderate. He was appointed to the post in times of crisis and came here to stabilize the situation.
Later, he was dragged into the pirate ship by Allen, and his desire was aroused.
But during the years he was in office, he did try his best to maintain stability and did not propose any risky plans, but Hong Kong's overall economic situation actually continued to rise steadily.
Later, Wei Dewei became a little ambitious and wanted to pull Allen together to do something big.
We were planning to renovate the airport, but because the project involved a huge amount of money, it was shelved.
Later... the situation worsened a little, and Wei Dewei was a little overwhelmed. He even invited Boss Cha to Hong Kong, and only then did he completely intimidate those people with ulterior motives.
…
Now... a successor comes along who is going to take advantage of him, or to say, is going to disrupt all the results of his work over the past few years. How can he not be angry?
When he met Patten at the airport, he didn't give him a good look.
Last night... the first plan Patten proposed was to restart the airport renovation plan. He wanted to make a big profit!
Moreover, the plan is based on the old airport renovation plan that Wei Dewei originally planned himself.
Wei Dewei can only watch and not share in the benefits.
This made Wei Dewei even more unable to bear it.
I've been suffering here, but this fat guy comes and messes up everything, and even takes advantage of me!
…
Wei Dewei, with strong personal emotions, told Allen all these things bit by bit, and complained about Chris Patten at the same time.
“…”
Chris Patten has quite a big ambition!
This was Allen's first thought after hearing what Wei Dewei said.
but……
Seeing that Wei Dewei had deep resentment towards Patten, Allen had a clue in his mind. Now...
It will be more convenient for you to mix it up.
…
"Wei Dewei, this is too miserable for you. You have worked so hard for the empire to manage the Far East colonies, but in the end, this is what happened? What arrangements will London make for you after you return to China to report on your work?"
Allen followed Wei Dewei's words and acted like a green tea, first standing on his side, recognizing his contribution, and then...
Start talking about the pain points!
Alan likes to use this trick and it always works.
He had just used it some time ago, and now he was using it again to deal with Wei Dewei.
"Hey... Your Excellency, don't mention it."
When Wei Dewei heard Allen's question, he sighed even more when he thought about the arrangements after returning to China to report on his work.
…
Although he has done a good job in Hong Kong in recent years, overall, his original purpose in coming here was to maintain stability.
What is stability maintenance?
No accidents, no major changes, keeping the status quo, smooth transition, and no mistakes are success!
but……
In just a few years, the situation has changed. Thatcher has stepped down, the people in power have been replaced, and the policies have also changed.
Now Wei Dewei has done nothing wrong, but has also done nothing meritorious!
In order to maintain stability, he didn't have much credit. Because he didn't have much credit, he was considered incompetent. When he returned to report on his work, what awaited him was...
It's basically just working in an idle department for a while, and then it's basically retirement.
From being the Governor of Hong Kong...to being marginalized directly!
…
“…”
Listening to Wei Dewei's complaints again, Alan was very happy in his heart, but there was a bit of sympathy on his face.
"Hey...how about...you come to my place after you go back? I can find you a job to support you in your old age?"
"!!!"
If it were a different time or place, Wei Dewei might be very sad to hear these words, but now... in this situation, when Alan said such words, Wei Dewei subconsciously thought that Alan was pitying him.
At least he still has some dignity!
"Sir... Thank you for your kindness. I..."
Wei Dewei couldn't get angry either, so he could only suppress the humiliation and turn his hatred towards Chris Patten.
…
"Hey... since you don't want to go to my place, then you have to think of a way in the future. You only have a few days left before you leave office. If you return to your home country, you will have no chance."
Allen deliberately created a sense of urgency to further instigate Wei Dewei.
"?"
Wei Dewei looked at Allen's sincere expression, and for a moment...it seemed that he had grasped something, but also seemed that he had grasped nothing.
Turning his head and looking around, seeing that his men were far away from him, Wei Dewei moved towards Allen without leaving a trace and whispered, "Sir...what do you...think?"
He felt that what Alan had just said was not simple... but he couldn't figure it out, so he decided to ask for advice. What if this gentleman knew something about the inside story and was willing to help him out based on their many years of friendship?