Chapter 18 – The Start of a Business
A warehouse, though fairly spacious, didn't take long to check—just walking along the walls to retrieve the previously placed bamboo traps.
It was the travel time that took up the most of their day. They left in the morning and by the time they got back, it was already noon.
But the good thing was—Brian actually provided lunch for Yang Wendong and the others, which helped them save a considerable amount of money.
On the third day of their new job, as soon as Yang Wendong returned to the shanty, the first thing he did was check in on the still-sick Su Yiyi.
"Yiyi, how are you feeling?"
"I'm alright now. The medicine you bought really worked. I'm not dizzy anymore—just a little weak," Su Yiyi replied with a faint smile.
"I brought you something to eat," Yang Wendong said. "Eat more so you can recover faster."
"Wow!" Su Yiyi lit up with delight. But as soon as she saw the food Yang Wendong laid out, she asked in surprise, "So much meat? You bought a lunch box?"
Yang Wendong shook his head. "No, Brian lets us eat at the warehouse's staff cafeteria. We get four meal spots, and since you weren't there, I brought yours back."
"That's so nice. And we even get meat?" Su Yiyi's eyes sparkled with envy.
They hadn't eaten meat more than a few times a year in the past. Even when they did, they were too frugal to buy much. Maybe during the New Year, they'd splurge a little and get something good to eat. That's why, as children, they always looked forward to the holidays.
Yang Wendong placed the food into the bowls at home and said with a grin, "Makes sense. That's a warehouse under one of the big foreign firms. Right now, the most profitable businesses in Hong Kong are docks and warehouses."
Looking at Hong Kong's development history, since the British came in 1840, it had been all about entrepôt trade. Hong Kong was a bridge between domestic and international markets, one of Asia's major shipping hubs.
At present, even though industries and real estate were beginning to take shape, they were still in their infancy—nowhere near as lucrative as international trade.
Most of the big companies in Hong Kong were deeply connected to docks and warehouses.
"Mmm, this braised pork soup over rice is delicious. Want some?" Su Yiyi offered.
"I already ate. So did Liming and Haoyu," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "You go ahead. We've got work to do this afternoon."
"What kind of work? Going back to the street stall? Or building traps?" she asked.
"Neither," Yang Wendong shook his head. "I'm going to start systematically teaching you all a few things—especially the basics: recognizing characters, counting, and writing."
"Oh, okay! But Brother Dong, how do you know how to read?" Su Yiyi asked curiously.
"I spent time studying when I wasn't working," he replied casually.
It was a weak excuse, but it was all he could say. Thankfully, his previous work had been irregular and mostly manual labor, so it didn't raise too many doubts.
"I still can't even write my own name properly…" Su Yiyi said, a little embarrassed.
"No worries. I'm not that much better myself," Yang Wendong chuckled. "We'll learn together.
"First, we'll focus on recognizing characters and writing numbers. The rest can wait."
Even in modern mainland China, it took kids several years to learn basic literacy. Hong Kong used traditional characters, which were even harder.
Right now, all Yang Wendong needed was for those around him to be able to recognize a few hundred characters and do basic math—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Anything more could wait.
Also, by watching how they learned, he could get a sense of each person's intelligence and potential—which was even more important. In many countries, part of the purpose of public education was to identify talent, even if most of what was taught wasn't "useful" later in life.
"But doesn't that mean no more street vending? We've been making several bucks a day from that," Su Yiyi asked, a bit regretful.
Yang Wendong shook his head. "It's not worth it anymore. And competition is only going to get worse. We've only got so much time and energy—it's better spent elsewhere."
Rat cages might have potential to scale up—maybe even lead to a small factory someday. But bamboo tube traps? Impossible. Their bulky size made them hard to transport, and they could only be sold to vendors and shops within a couple kilometers.
They had served their purpose: helping him escape extreme poverty. But Yang Wendong knew he had to keep looking forward. What he wanted to grab hold of wasn't a single product—it was the entire rat control industry.
Su Yiyi nodded. "Alright."
…
Over the next week, the routine was simple: every morning, Yang Wendong and his team went to the Jordan warehouse to collect the caught rats, clean the traps, and reset them.
In the afternoons, he taught the group basic knowledge on a small sandy patch not far from the shanty.
As for evenings? They had no electricity. Even if they could afford lamps, they were useless.
Kerosene lanterns were bad for the eyes, so Yang Wendong simply made everyone go to bed early.
The only reason they could afford to do so was because they weren't desperate for money anymore. They had a plan for the future.
Meanwhile, in the other shacks, the nights were filled with activity—people staying up half the night weaving cloth, sewing, or doing other odd jobs, just to earn enough to stay alive.
…
One week later, back at the Jordan warehouse:
Yang Wendong called for Brian to come take a look at their progress.
"Oh my God… you caught this many rats?" Brian stared at the pile of rat corpses, visibly shocked.
Yang Wendong grinned. "Technically, this is only half of what we caught. We had to dispose of the earlier ones quickly to avoid rot."
Whether a job was done well or not, you needed proof—and nothing spoke louder than physical evidence.
Brian nodded. "Incredible. The rat cages we used before never came close to this. Your bamboo traps are amazing."
"Actually," Yang Wendong said proudly, "what matters most is understanding rat behavior. It's not just about the traps—we've also been using a few bucket traps, and they're even more effective in some cases."
All of his rat-catching techniques came from the internet in his previous life. He had once dealt with rats at home and spent a good while browsing rat extermination videos on TikTok.
That brief period of research, plus his own experience, had given him a knowledge base far ahead of most people in this era—especially when it came to clever and unconventional traps.
"Impressive," Brian said again. He turned to the Chinese warehouse assistant beside him. "What do you think?"
"I asked the night shift guys," the assistant replied. "They say there are definitely fewer rats now—but still some remaining."
Brian nodded and looked back at Yang Wendong.
"Mr. Yang," he said, "I think it's time we discuss a long-term payment plan."
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