Back to 1958: Creating a Century-Long Family Empire

Chapter 77: Cultivating Habits

Kowloon Wharf, Ocean Terminal — the headquarters of Hong Kong's largest warehousing group: Wharf Holdings.

Every morning, shuttle buses picked up Wharf employees from all parts of the city and brought them to the company. In 1950s Hong Kong, such treatment was rare and could only be found at a handful of elite British-run enterprises.

Wang Qiying, a mid-level supervisor in Wharf's administrative department, was in charge of recruitment and HR management.

On the morning of November 22nd, as she arrived at the office like any other day, her assistant had already placed a box of envelopes beside her desk.

"Supervisor Wang, your stack of job applications is getting thicker and thicker," joked a colleague, who clearly had a good relationship with her, even before sitting down.

Wang Qiying chuckled. "Yeah, property prices are going up again, and the economy seems to be recovering. The higher-ups released a lot of new job postings. We're practically swamped in HR."

"That's great! I'm hoping my apartment gains some more value," her colleague, Ah Xue, laughed.

Wang teased, "A few months ago, before you bought the place, weren't you cursing how expensive property was? And now you want it to go up?"

"Well, that was then! Now it's different!" Ah Xue instantly ran out of words, knowing her hypocrisy was showing — a classic case of hating high prices before buying, then hoping prices soar afterward.

Working in a top British company like Wharf, Wang Qiying had seen plenty of human behavior. The joke was just workplace banter between friends.

Sitting down, she casually flipped through the envelopes in the box. There were so many — every time Wharf opened a hiring round, the flood of resumes was overwhelming.

"Huh?" Her hand paused. She'd touched an envelope that felt... different. Thicker.

"What is it?" Ah Xue turned her head, sensing something unusual.

"This one's much thicker. Doesn't feel like a resume," Wang said, then carefully tore it open.

"Don't tell me someone stuffed it with cash," Ah Xue joked.

Wang didn't respond. When she opened the envelope, a stack of small, square, yellow pieces of paper slid out.

"What are those?" Ah Xue leaned over, puzzled.

"I don't know. Never seen anything like it," Wang replied. But she soon noticed a card with tiny printed text:

Sticky Note: When you need to make sure you won't forget something later, write it down on this note and stick it to your desk — or on related documents — so that when you see it again, you'll remember.

The adhesive used leaves no residue and won't damage paper or surfaces.

Just peel from the top to use.

Above the text, an arrow pointed at the top of the square.

"The writing's not bad. Feels a bit odd though," said Ah Xue, skimming the note.

Wang didn't comment on the wording. Instead, she followed the arrow, peeled the first sheet, and stuck it to a piece of used scrap paper. It stuck instantly — lightly but firmly.

She lifted the paper. The sticky note didn't fall off.

Then she peeled it off again — it came off easily, and left no trace.

"Ah Ying, this is pretty good!" Ah Xue tried one on her desk. "Look — it doesn't leave any sticky marks! You know how tape always leaves that nasty residue? This doesn't."

Wang nodded, eyes glancing at her desk. "Yeah, this is really useful. Helps us keep track of things without messing up our workspace."

"I'm taking this one," Ah Xue grinned, pocketing her sample.

"Go ahead." Wang looked back into the envelope and found a business card from Changxing Industries.

She muttered, "Looks like this company sent us these samples to try out for free. Once we've used them, and others see us using them, people will naturally want more."

"That makes sense," Ah Xue replied, fiddling with her note. "But honestly, if it's useful, we'll buy it. It helps us work better — it's not like we're buying it for ourselves."

"Right. Let's try it out for now. If it works well, I'll put in a request to order more."

"Sounds good." Ah Xue nodded.

The sticky notes were just a tiny moment in their workday, but after that, they began using them instinctively.

In high-pressure administrative roles, forgetting things could have serious consequences. With sticky notes, they could now label their desks, cups, files — anywhere. They started forming a habit without even realizing it.

What happened at Wharf Holdings happened across other major companies in Hong Kong. Many procurement and admin departments received envelopes containing 5–10 sticky notes and a simple instruction card explaining how to use them.

Each envelope also included Changxing Industries' contact info.

Within days, Changxing's phone line started ringing off the hook.

Meanwhile, Su Yiyi and the others were still hand-making batches of sticky notes, 20 sheets per pad. After sealing one more envelope, she looked up and asked, "Dong-ge, so many people are asking to buy now — are we still not charging?"

Yang Wendong, still cutting paper, smiled and replied, "No. Not yet. There's no real money to be made in tiny retail sales. And having people mail in money is too much of a hassle. Sticky notes are convenient — but they're not essential. If it's troublesome to buy, people might just stop using them."

Su Yiyi nodded. "True. Honestly, people with good habits could just write things in a notebook."

Yang chuckled. "In theory, yes. But in reality? Out of a hundred people, maybe one can stick to that. And even then, it's easy to forget to check your notebook."

"Mm." Su Yiyi agreed with a smile.

Yang added, "This period — while we're waiting on the machine — we need to keep sending free samples to smaller companies too. We're not just selling a product — we're building a habit.

Once it becomes a part of their workflow, they'll need sticky notes."

"Got it. Leave it to me," Su Yiyi said brightly.

And so, the simple yellow square began to quietly infiltrate Hong Kong's office culture.

What started as a free sample was about to become... a new habit.

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