The vegetable markets, locally known as "street markets", originated from the fact that they were originally set up directly on the streets for business.
In Cantonese, "street market" can refer to an open-air vegetable market, or it can be used to describe an enclosed space, such as a building.
Since the 1960s, Hong Kong's municipal authorities have promoted a series of social transformation projects, which have enabled the commercialization and financialization of street markets, public services and urban space to go hand in hand.
Today, walking in different communities in Hong Kong, one can see the changes in street market forms that were born in different eras and under different backgrounds.
Walking through it, Zhao Zitong can not only see the warmth and coldness of human nature and the vicissitudes of life, but also read about the many problems and contradictions accumulated in Hong Kong's public services over the years.
In Hong Kong, it is almost impossible to find public market buildings that existed before World War II.
Because since the establishment of the colony, the British Hong Kong government has invented a complete land finance model that makes money by selling land.
Under this model, the land in Hong Kong is actually owned by the government, and businesses have to bid to lease land use rights from the government for a certain period of time.
Therefore, whenever the buildings are older, the government will consider whether to demolish them and free up the land to replace them with higher-density real estate development projects.
Zhao Zitong shuttled through the narrow paths of the vegetable market.
The green small iron houses lined up in a row attracted a large flow of people.
The uncles and housewives were moving forward carrying vegetables and pushing carts.
Causeway Bay's open-air street market is here.
Here, vegetable vendors, butcher shops, spice shops, and small restaurants are crowded together.
In addition, there are many small shops selling flowers, dried goods, seafood and even Southeast Asian and South Asian food.
Walking in it, Zhao Zitong can not only hear Cantonese, Fujianese, and Mandarin,
You will also see vegetable vendors handing out Hong Kong dollars and bargaining with Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese housewives in Urdu, "Yeh wala kitne ka? Panch dollar!"
(Urdu, roughly meaning "How much is this? Five Hong Kong dollars.")
Zhao Zitong bought an old hen to make soup.
I bought another turbot and prepared to steam it.
I also bought more than a pound of shrimps and prepared to cook them.
There is a saying in Guangdong: "No chicken, no feast; no fish, no feast."
So chicken and fish are a must.
Because Ma Dandan likes to eat meat, she went to the roast meat stall and bought half a case of roast goose.
My mother likes braised pork, so I also bought some pork belly.
Finally, I bought a bunch of Chinese cabbage and prepared to stir-fry it with garlic.
The most indispensable things on the Cantonese table are soup and vegetables.
This time, the green vegetables specifically refer to vegetables with leaves.
If you have ever eaten with Cantonese people, this is the last step in their ordering process.
You must ask the waiter: "What vegetables do you have?"
At this time, the waiter will say the classic line:
"Kailan, choy sum, sweet potato leaves, lettuce, spinach... do you want to stir-fry with garlic?"
Zhao Zitong came back carrying a large bag of ingredients and immediately went into the kitchen to get busy.
The kitchen, this thing...
It’s actually quite luxurious in Hong Kong.
Zhao Zitong has been looking for a house recently and has gained a lot of experience.
In Hong Kong, where every inch of land is valuable, it is not easy to find a cheap house with a separate kitchen and bathroom.
Now most two-bedroom and one-living room apartments cost over 3,000.
In the early 1990s, the average monthly income in Hong Kong was between 3,000 and 6,000 yuan.
The current exchange rate of Hong Kong dollar to RMB is about 1:1.2.
At that time, the rent for an ordinary residential building (one bedroom and one living room) in Central, Hong Kong's CBD area was around 5,000.
Zhao Zitong’s basic salary now is 3,000 yuan per month.
But I haven't signed the contract yet, so I can only get the basic salary.
Sun Shaofen said that she worked in Ma Dandan’s family’s tea restaurant and earned 5,000 yuan a month.
A real estate agent who only gets basic salary is worse than a dishwasher.
It's normal.
Because the agents never get paid a basic salary, they always work on commissions.
For those elite lawyers in Central, if they do a good job, earning several million a year is nothing.
This is the difference between the educated and the uneducated.
While I was washing the vegetables, Ma Dandan and Yu Wenyin came up with a dozen bottles of pineapple beers.
"Aunt Fen is not here today?" Yu Wenyin asked.
"Don't you know? Aunt Fenn is helping my parents now. She's officially at work today."
Ma Dandan put the pineapple beer into the old refrigerator to freeze:
"Wow... It smells so good. I noticed Xiaoxiaotong has been really different lately. She even wants to cook for the two of us..."
"Stop talking nonsense and come and help."
Zhao Zitong usually holds a spatula and directs her two best friends.
"Wen Quyin, please help me wash the cabbage..."
"Dandan, help me remove the shrimp thread from the shrimp..."
Yu Wenyin and Ma Dandan entered the kitchen and started helping out.
"Zitong, your father... No, Zhao Wenqiang is really dead?"
Ma Dandan asked Zhao Zitong while picking out the shrimp thread.
This news surprised both Yu Wenyin and Ma Dandan.
Especially Madandan. Normally, she would feel sympathy even if she saw a cat wandering on the street.
But as for the bastard Zhao Wenqiang, she wished that this man would die sooner.
She had never seen such a jerk of a father.
She remembered the first time she saw Zhao Zitong appear in front of her with scars all over his body.
She couldn't believe that there actually were such men.
Ma Dandan is simple, but Yu Wenyin is obviously much smarter.
Otherwise, how could he be admitted to the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong
Yu Wenyin has a different view on this matter.
She thought the whole thing was not that simple.
How could a good person commit suicide out of fear of punishment just a few hours after being detained in a detention center
This reason is really a bit unreasonable.
And based on her understanding of Zhao Wenqiang.
This is definitely a typical example of saying that it is better to live a miserable life than to die.
"Zi Tong, did the police station ask you to sign anything?"
"Why would you sign? It's best if this bastard dies. It's best if no one claims him and he's thrown into the wild to be eaten by wild dogs."
Ma Dandan was filled with righteous indignation and wished she could treat the shrimp thread in her hand as Zhao Wenqiang's hair and tear it apart.
"I don't know the details, but Lawyer Zhuo has already helped me with everything."
Zhao Zitong shook her head. She also knew that this matter was not simple.
But no matter what, the result is always in your favor.
"You also know that I paid Zhuo Zhenfeng a huge amount of legal fees."
Don’t think about it, don’t mention it. Zhao Zitong felt depressed when she thought about the 100,000 yuan lawyer’s fee.
"You think one hundred thousand yuan is a lot? I went to Lawyer Zhuo's law firm today."
"Their office is on the top floor, and they can see the sea view of Hong Kong."
Ma Dandan now has a mindless admiration for Zhuo Zhenfeng.
It has a first-line sea view of Hong Kong and is located on the top floor of an office building.
Without him,
It is a symbol of identity and status.
Of course, that means expensive.
Since the rent is high, the fees will naturally be expensive as well.
"You understand it so quickly?" Zhao Zitong teased.