The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 634 Asia Pacific Film and Television Group!!!

On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mr. Liu Shudong, the helmsman of Hong Kong's famous investment group "Liu Overseas Investment", demonstrated his usual generosity.

Not only did he arrange a three-day paid holiday for all employees, he also carefully prepared generous holiday benefits - each employee received a heavy cash red envelope and a beautifully packaged Mid-Autumn Festival gift box.

This heartwarming holiday gift fully demonstrates the business leader's humanistic care for his employees.

Ma Zhong was going back to Yanjing, and his old colleague Uncle Bao once again drove over to take him through customs.

When you drive into the country from the Xiangjiang River and pass the Baoxian Bay Bridge, you can see the majestic and magnificent China Resources "Spring Bamboo Shoots" right in front of you.

Every time he passed by here, Uncle Bao would frown and say: "The road is in conflict with the gods, there will be little money, bad luck and disaster."

At this time, Ma Zhong would half-jokingly respond to him: "That's the perspective of you Hong Kong people."

"Youngsters, that's right, youngsters!"

This is Uncle Bao’s catchphrase.

Uncle Bao is a native Hong Konger. He was born in the early 50s and caught up with the great era of Hong Kong when he was young.

After nearly fifty years, Uncle Bao's life of ups and downs is full of legendary stories about Hong Kong:
Fights among wealthy families, Temple Street, Young and Dangerous, top students from Hong Kong University, "No Defense Tonight", rich and handsome men in the Central financial sector, immigration wave, and bankruptcy.

Of course, there is also the spirit of Lion Rock and the rebellion of Queen's Road East...

Ma Zhong and Uncle Bao have known each other for more than seven or eight years.

That year, Ma Zhong came to Hong Kong for the first time. While shopping in Causeway Bay, he found that he did not have enough Hong Kong dollars and was eager to exchange money.

Suddenly, an old man with a slender figure and white hair appeared in front of him. This man was Uncle Bao.

When I first met Uncle Bao, he was nearly 40 years old and looked a little haggard, but he still maintained the neatness, politeness and refinement inherent in Hong Kong men.

Ma Zhong stepped forward and asked Uncle Bao about the currency counter in Mandarin.

Like many Hong Kong people, Uncle Bao doesn’t speak Mandarin but can understand it.

The enthusiastic Uncle Bao personally took Ma Zhong to an affordable money exchange shop.

To thank him, Ma Zhong picked up a box of dessert he had just bought and gave it to him as a token of his gratitude.

Uncle Bao declined the offer on the grounds that people with diabetes should not eat sweets, but they left their contact information with each other.

Uncle Bao speaks Cantonese on weekdays and can speak very pure British English.

Ma Zhong couldn't speak Cantonese at that time, but he could basically understand it.

In this way, Ma Zhong speaks Mandarin, he speaks Cantonese, and occasionally speaks some English, and he and Uncle Bao have had a great time chatting over the years.

Bao Shuben also had an extraordinary background. He was born into a shipping family. Although he was not from the Wang family, the charter family, he had some clan relationship with the family.

According to him, his ancestors started the shipping business when Hong Kong was founded.

Thereafter, generations inherited the family business for hundreds of years. By the time of his father's generation, the Bao family's merchant ships had spread across the routes and ports from Hong Kong to Japan, Borneo, Country Y, and the United States, and the family was prominent at the time.

The year Uncle Bao was born, Li Jiacheng founded the Cheung Kong Plastic Factory in Shau Kei Wan with the US$7000 he saved from his frugal life.

Li Zhaoji had just started trading gold and foreign exchange and had not yet made a name for himself.

The "Shipping King" Bao Yucai had just arrived in Hong Kong for a year and was engaged in the material sales business, but had not yet gotten involved in shipping.

In Uncle Bao's words, when his father was traveling around the world, Bao Yugang had no place to go.

Then why was Uncle Bao able to become close friends with the young man Ma Zhong, regardless of their age difference?

This has a lot to do with the fact that Ma Zhong is from Yanjing.

It turns out that Uncle Bao's mother, Wang, was from "Beiping". She came from a wealthy family and was "beautiful and famous, dignified and elegant, gentle and intelligent."

When Ma Zhong first met Uncle Bao's mother, the old lady was over 60 years old, but she was still energetic, elegant, virtuous and dignified, worthy of being called a "lady of a noble family."

When the war broke out and the north fell, Wang's family suffered an accident and her parents passed away. The teenage girl followed her brother and took all the money in the family and fled all the way from Peking to Hong Kong.

When I first arrived in Hong Kong, my brother died from a cold caused by traveling all the way.

At this time, Uncle Bao's mother, who was penniless, followed her father's letter and instructions, found the Bao family and asked for shelter.

Uncle Bao's father took Wang in and made her his second wife according to the Qing Dynasty Law.

In order to better govern Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government continued to use the "Great Qing Law Code" until it was completely abolished in 1972.

According to this law, Hong Kong men can marry, take concubines, and have multiple legal wives.

Unfortunately, Uncle Bao's father passed away before he started school.

As soon as his father passed away, a "family struggle" broke out in the Bao family, with the Bao uncles and uncles fighting for power and wealth with the Bao widows.

In the end, the helpless Wang was kicked out of the house, and the Bao family left her with only a small house - located on the West section of Queen's Road West on Hong Kong Island, behind the China Merchants Building today - for her descendants to live in.

Leaving a wealthy family is like leaving a deep sea. From then on, Wang and her four children became real "Hong Kong immigrants".

That year Uncle Bao was 7 years old, and he had a younger brother and two younger sisters.

However, Uncle Bao's mother was hardworking and capable. With her expertise in Japanese cuisine, Shandong cuisine, and sewing and mending skills, she quickly learned how to make a living in Temple Street.

Temple Street, located in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, is named after the Hou Tian Temple. It is the night market street with the most Hong Kong characteristics and is known as Hong Kong's civilian nightclub.

However, this place was in chaos and mixed with all kinds of people in the past. Many refugees, drug addicts, prostitutes, gangsters, illegal immigrants and street vendors gathered here.

Here are Hong Kong's famous "one floor, one prostitute", such as "Feng Jie", "Bei Gu", "Bola Mei", "Fo Guo Mei" and "Taiwan Island Mei", who stand on the street under the densely packed old-fashioned billboards to solicit customers.

Over the years, the Hong Kong police and gangster films that people have seen have often been shot here.

Last year, a movie called "Golden Rooster" produced by "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company" well showed the "one building, one prostitute", tenement building culture and the chaotic urban life of the lower class in Hong Kong.

In the play, Wu Junru plays the role of "Old Chicken" A Jin, who is robbed at knifepoint by Zeng Zhiwei's A Bang in front of a bank teller machine on Temple Street...

In the movie, Temple Street is a unique Hong Kong urban culture.

"Asia Pacific Film and Television Company" is a large film and television group controlled by "Liu Overseas Investment" with a market value of 26 billion Hong Kong dollars. It is the largest film and television group in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company has brought together dozens of big stars such as Liu Tehua, Zhou Yunfa, Zhou Xingchi, Cheng Long, Tony Leung, Jin Zhengwu, Lin Qingxia, Wu Junru, Simon Yam and Wu Mengda, Wu Zhenyu, Bobby Au-yeung, Zhang Guorong, Liang Jiahui, Aaron Kwok, Sam Hui, Alex Man, and Koo Tim-lok...

"Golden Rooster" is a film and television work created and shot by "Asia Pacific Film and Television" to promote the newcomer Wu Junru. Unexpectedly, the film became a hit as soon as it was released.

The film tells the story of a stormy night when 45-year-old "old chicken" A Jin (played by Wu Junru) was robbed at knifepoint by A Bang (played by Zeng Zhiwei) who came to Hong Kong from the mainland when he was checking his account balance at a bank ATM.

Ajin cooperated very well and handed over the bank card, but there was only a pitiful 98.2 Hong Kong dollars left in it.

However, she told Abang that he could only withdraw the money from the card if he had another HK$1.8 deposited into the account.

But Abang had no bank account at all, and he had to commit robbery. On such a sad rainy night, the equally lonely Ajin had a heart-to-heart talk with Abang. Ajin told Abang about his ups and downs over the past 20 years, and also revealed the history and changes of Hong Kong over the past 20 years.

In the 70s, Ah Jin's monthly income as a fish ball girl could reach more than HK$7000, while a bank clerk's monthly salary was only HK$1680.

In the early 80s, she worked as a hostess at the Rich Man nightclub, but foolishly got pregnant;
When the economy was booming, her business was also very good. Now that the economy is in decline, as a citizen of Hong Kong, she has no choice but to help everyone tide over the difficulties...

When the story ended, Abang looked at Ajin and suddenly felt very warm. He returned the bank card to Ajin, and the two said goodbye to each other and shook hands.

On a new day, when Ah Jin inserted her bank card into the ATM again, she found that the card, which had only 98 Hong Kong dollars left, suddenly had 90 Hong Kong dollars. It turned out that the "lover" who had lent her money had finally paid her back with interest, which also brought new ideals and hopes to her life...

But in reality, Temple Street is the way of survival for the lowest class of people, or even the only way to survive.

Here, the most respectable job may be setting up a street stall.

Back then, Uncle Bao's mother made a living by setting up a stall in Temple Street.

It was not until 600 years ago that the Hong Kong government officially recognized the operation of hawkers in Temple Street and designated a "hawker approval zone" with more than stalls.

From then on, Temple Street vendors became legal and became a unique urban culture in Hong Kong.

However, although this place has been formally commercialized, the security environment is still chaotic.

Ma Zhong remembers that from the evening of the first day of the Chinese New Year to the morning of the second day, a serious B-force conflict broke out in Mong Kok, which was triggered by the problem of hawkers in Temple Street.

Just two days ago, Ma Zhong and Uncle Bao were still buying gifts for their family at Temple Street. Uncle Bao also told him that there were rules here before and no one dared to mess around.

At that time, as the eldest son in the family, Uncle Bao often helped his mother in Temple Street.

Once, the gangsters from Temple Street came to collect the monthly "Mao Shi" (lucky money, actually protection money) as usual.

Uncle Bao was bargaining with the gangsters, and one of the "leaders" thought the kid was quite clever, so he let him work in the "big stall" (D field).

Uncle Bao was young at that time, with an outstanding memory and strong mental arithmetic ability. He did a great job running errands for people and exchanging money for them in big stalls.

Therefore, Uncle Bao is highly regarded by the "master".

Back then, the "master" he followed was very powerful in Yau Ma Tei. He owned several brothels and nightclubs and was considered a well-known "boss".

Uncle Bao said that once he went to the high-end place at that time, Chungking Mansions (located in Tsim Sha Tsui, now a gathering place for South Asians), and did a good job. The "master" was very happy and accepted him as his godson.

The strange thing is that his godfather did not let Uncle Bao join the society, but sponsored him to study and strictly forbade him to get involved in pornographic materials.

As a "fallen man" in Hong Kong police and gangster films, Ma Zhong really likes to listen to Uncle Bao telling him stories about his time in Kowloon Walled City.

Kowloon Walled City, located in Kowloon and to the north of Kai Tak Airport, is a no-man's land and an unfathomable walled city.

At that time, there were 20 to 30 thousand people living in the city, and the "Great Qing Law" and underworld rules were prevalent. Drug dealers, criminals, and gangsters mingled here.

This year, Asia Pacific Film and Television Company is currently filming a new movie "Kung Fu" directed and starred by Zhou Xingchi in Kowloon Walled City.

"Kung Fu" is the film with the largest investment since the establishment of "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company", with a total investment of 5750 million Hong Kong dollars, setting a new record in the film and television industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

Interestingly, in order to shoot this movie, Zhou Xingchi also respected Mr. Jin Yong’s copyright very much.

Zhou Xingchi took the initiative to give Jin Yong 6 yuan in copyright fees.

This move aroused Mr. Jin Yong's doubts, because "Kung Fu" was not adapted from any novel of Jin Yong.

Zhou Xingchi did not use Mr. Jin Yong's original work when creating this film.

However, Zhou Xingchi explained that some nouns and moves that appear in the movie, such as "Eighteen Palms of the Dragon Subduing" and "Little Dragon Girl", have become cultural symbols and the copyright belongs to Mr. Jin Yong.

Mr. Jin Yong was very happy after hearing this. The two revised the script together and finally reached an agreement.

After Zhou Xingchi paid Mr. Jin Yong 60000 yuan in copyright fees, Mr. Jin Yong donated the money to charity.

Mr. Jin Yong is a master in the world of martial arts novels. His works such as "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Return of the Condor Heroes", "Demi-Gods and Semi-Demi-Gods", and "The Deer and the Cauldron" have now become classic martial arts film and television works produced by "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company".

These works not only bring endless fun to the audience, but also make many actors successful.

Zhou Xingchi and Jin Yong are old friends. They met because of "The Deer and the Cauldron".

In fact, Zhou Xingchi’s behavior is not surprising and is common in the “Asia Pacific Film and Television Company”.

The "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company Group" attaches great importance to copyright. As early as its establishment, it began to hoard large quantities of copyrights of film and television song books at bargain prices.

The company has such a corporate culture, which has a profound impact on all employees.

There is also an old movie "Chasing the Dragon" produced by "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company". The classic fight scene in which "Limp Ho" Cheng Long risked his life to save Lei Luo (played by Liu Dehua) took place in Kowloon Walled City.

Ma Zhong once asked Uncle Bao if he had ever seen the real "Limp Ho" and "Inspector Five Billion" Lei Luo.

Uncle Bao said that Kowloon Walled City is a place full of hidden talents, and there are actually many "high-ranking officials". Anyone who can survive in the walled city is a rare talent.

Li Xiaolong, Zhou Yunfa and Zhou Xingchi often went to the walled city when they were children.

Now, Uncle Bao's mother's business in Temple Street is also stable. Although the family of five is not rich, they live a stable life.

Uncle Bao's mother kept saying that she was from Yanjing all her life, but the strange thing was that she never returned to Yanjing from beginning to end, and she didn't even know what had happened in Bao County next door in the past decade.

Perhaps, Uncle Bao's mother's dream of going to Beijing had long been shattered; or, like most Hong Kong people, they knew very little about the mainland and Bao County.

Uncle Bao was once studying at Queen's College, and young people were very excited about playing and fighting.

However, his godfather severely suppressed some of his extreme ideas and urged him to study hard.

Queen's College, located in Causeway Bay, close to Victoria Park, is the earliest government school in Hong Kong. Mr. Sun once studied here.

Economist Zhang Wuchang also studied briefly at Queen's College.

Queen's College teaches foreign languages, and Uncle Bao's authentic British English comes from here.

Uncle Bao came from the underworld and followed his godfather to hang out in Temple Street and Kowloon Walled City, but his godfather pushed him towards the path of the "temple".

In 48, Chief Inspector Lui Lok retired mysteriously at the age of .

This year, Uncle Bao was admitted to the University of Hong Kong with excellent results.

Uncle Bao's godfather was so happy that he held a big banquet in Temple Street, and all the brothers in the hall came to celebrate with his godfather and Uncle Bao.

Godfather raised his glass and shouted, "Who said Temple Street is full of gangsters? Today we have a champion. Cheers!"

That night, his godfather was drunk...

After entering the University of Hong Kong, Uncle Bao began to stand out. He was handsome, with long flowing hair, outstanding eloquence, and actively formed clubs. He was a star-like "opinion leader" at the University of Hong Kong and attracted the admiration of many girls.

A school girl from the next class ended up getting together with Uncle Bao.

However, I rarely hear Uncle Bao talk about his wife.

In Uncle Bao’s words, he was a radical in the University of Hong Kong back then.

Uncle Bao is very keen on expressing his so-called "opinions". He actively expresses what he considers to be mature ideas in school, on the streets, and in newspapers.

What Uncle Bao talked about the most was the rush to Hong Kong.

Perhaps Uncle Bao was deeply influenced by his mother's experience of coming to Hong Kong from Peking, and he felt extremely sympathetic towards those fleeing to Hong Kong.

When he was at the University of Hong Kong, Uncle Bao often went to the streets to distribute flyers, informing citizens to protect and shelter those fleeing to Hong Kong and to provide them with as much help as possible.

He often called on his classmates to deliver clothes and drinking water to those fleeing to Hong Kong.

It was at this time that he began to pay attention to the other side of the river and felt an inexplicable curiosity about the place across the river.

When he graduated from the University of Hong Kong, all his classmates believed that this outstanding academic master and "radical" should enter the political arena and become a "rising political star."

Uncle Bao believes that in the British Hong Kong government at that time, the so-called highest political achievement of Hong Kong people was the position of Chief Inspector of the former Lui Lok.

At that time, Uncle Bao did seriously consider joining the police station to become a police officer, but in the end he gave up the idea.

After knowing this, his godfather was very unhappy. Perhaps Uncle Bao was concerned about his godfather's identity.

Ma Zhong once jokingly told Uncle Bao that if you had entered the police station at that time, you might have been Liu Jianming in "Infernal Affairs" and your godfather might have been Han Chen.

"Infernal Affairs" is another masterpiece of police and gangster films shot by "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company". As soon as the film was released, it broke the box office records in Asian countries.

The total box office reached 4.5 million Hong Kong dollars, making the "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company" earn a lot of money. Its popularity in Asia is no less than that of "The Bund" that year.

Since the great success of the first "Infernal Affairs", "Asia Pacific Film and Television Company" is planning to shoot the second one.

Therefore, the film's protagonists Liu Jianming and Han Shen became household names.

Uncle Bao also joked that he should be the second "Brother Le", but his godfather could never become "Brother Hao".

At that time, the political scene in Hong Kong was extremely delicate. Lui Lok had retired and there were rumors that the Hong Kong government was going to reorganize the police system.

But young and dangerous people are still rampant, and no one believes that the Hong Kong government can catch all the problematic police officers.

In fact, 1972, the year Uncle Bao graduated, was a turning point in Hong Kong’s history.

In this year, the companies of Li Jiacheng and Zheng Yutong were listed in Hong Kong at the same time. From then on, Hong Kong entered the era of the rise of the "Four Major Families", real estate and finance.

Since Uncle Bao graduated, Hong Kong began to turn around, the economy started to take off, and the stock market, property market, finance, commerce, shipping, and trade entered a bull market that lasted for more than 20 years.

(End of this chapter)