Exciting 1979!

Chapter 380 Fame Spreads Throughout the Land, The Promise for Next Year

These three were Niu Lao's old neighbors. Niu Lao's feud with them started when he borrowed their beloved "Little Rascal" (Dragon Tiger Gate) comic book, and then he moved away. The three neighbors remembered him for the rest of their lives.

After being punched a few times by several old neighbors, Niu Lao covered his head and shouted, "Ah Hu, Ah Bao, Da Xiong, give me some face! My boss is here!"

The three young men then noticed Wei Ming and Liu Rulong getting out of the car. The two were well-dressed and elegant, looking completely out of place in Kowloon Walled City.

Wei Ming was tall and imposing, with an impressive physique. Although Liu Rulong looked like a frail scholar with glasses, the glittery lenses seemed to suggest that he was a ruthless character.

The three temporarily stopped fighting, but they still wouldn't admit defeat: "Your boss is really good, but is he as good as mine?"

As Wei Ming approached, the three men immediately took two steps back, because they were all about 1.7 meters tall, with one of them only a little over 1.6 meters tall, making Wei Ming, this burly northerner, appear far too tall.

However, Wei Ming asked amiably, "May I ask which of the three of you is the most important person here?"

"Our boss is Hong Jinbao!" the three said proudly.

"So you guys are stuntmen, huh? That means you make movies, you're artists, colleagues!" Wei Ming smiled even more warmly. In Wei Ming's eyes, being willing to risk danger and endure hardship to be a stuntman was much more respectable than being a petty thug, which showed that they were still trying to climb out of the mire.

"Fellow traveler? What's your name?" asked Ah Hu, the leader.

Niu Lao immediately ran to the boss's side: "This is our Boss Ming, this is Boss Long, have you heard of Mr. Why? He's a guest of honor of the Governor of Hong Kong, a ruthless man who snatched two hundred million from the hands of various tycoons!"

Wei Ming tapped him on the head: "What do you mean by 'steal'? That's called fundraising, it's a matter of mutual consent." Besides, it wasn't even two hundred million!
Now the three of them understood who the newcomer was. They couldn't have missed such a big commotion before; in fact, several of them had even heard Wei Ming's songs.

Having figured out the conflict between them, Wei Ming asked, "Do you still like reading comics?"

"Like it."

"Okay."

"Watch it when you're bored."

Wei Ming: "Have you ever heard of 'Madman Comics'?"

"Of course, I buy every single issue!"

Liu Rulong knew from their expressions that they were die-hard fans.

Wei Ming clapped his hands: "That makes things simple, Niu Lao. When your 'Riki-Oh' is published as a standalone book, send some over to the brothers."

Niu Lao rubbed his shoulders: "You guys are looking at my magazine, don't you know how precious my hands are now? Be careful I stop updating 'Riki-Oh' so you won't have anything to read."

The smallest of the three, Big Bear, said, "So that Bully who drew 'Riki-Oh!' is really you! I thought it was just someone with the same name!"

The other two are brothers, Tiger and Leopard. I heard that their former neighbors became cartoonists, which makes me sigh. When they were young, they both dreamed of becoming martial arts masters and heroes in comics. Unfortunately, now they are just the most insignificant minor characters in Sammo Hung's stunt team.

Seeing that they were all residents of Kowloon Walled City, Wei Ming suggested, "Could the three of you accompany us inside to explore Kowloon Walled City? I'll treat you to a meal."

"Why are you guys acting like those foreigners, treating Kowloon Walled City like a tourist attraction?" Ah Bao couldn't help but complain.

I heard that foreign artists really liked the Kowloon Walled City. When it was being demolished, they wrote all sorts of letters hoping to preserve it. One American cartoonist even said something like, "I'd rather the pyramids were torn down."

It seems that's really the case. However, they are somewhat like Lord Ye who professed to love dragons but was terrified of them. If we put them in there to live for a while, their thinking will probably change.

Wei Ming took a pack of cigarettes from Niu Lao and gave them to the three of them.

The three teenagers exchanged glances. Being able to dine with a celebrity like Wei Ming was something they could brag about, so they agreed.

However, Ah Hu said, "I can only stay with you for half a day at most. We have to attend the big boss's birthday party tonight."

"Is today Hong Jinbao's birthday?"

"correct."

Wei Ming asked, "Have you thought about what kind of birthday gift to give the big boss?"

This question stumped the three of them: "The big boss always treats us to good food and fun on his birthday, but nobody gives him gifts."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "No one else gave him a gift, but you did, and you touched his heart perfectly. What do you think the result will be?"

The three looked at each other. Wei Ming smiled and gave Niu Lao a few words of advice before driving away. Wei Ming then looked at the three of them and said, "I'll prepare the gifts for you as a thank you for being our tour guide."

Big Bear hurriedly asked, "Are you still treating us to dinner?"

Wei Ming laughed heartily: "Please do as you wish."

The Kowloon Walled City was a melting pot of all sorts of people, and it was easy to run into trouble without a local guide.

Wei Ming first took a photo outside, and then the five of them walked in through an entrance on the west side of Kowloon Walled City.

Ah Hu said, "Kowloon Walled City is mainly divided into two districts. The West District is where ordinary people like us live, while the East District is more chaotic. There are noodle stalls, brothels, loan sharks, gambling dens, and all sorts of things there."

Hearing him say that, Wei Ming was even more eager to go and see the East District.

Liu Rulong asked, "Won't ordinary residents have conflicts with those involved in organized crime?"

Ah Hu: "We usually keep to ourselves and don't interfere with each other. They don't force kids to join, but some people still join on their own initiative. Many of our former partners are already members of the club, but we're still friends when we meet."

Upon entering, Wei Ming and A Long's first impression was one of utter darkness.

No wonder foreign artists like this kind of place. For Westerners, the visual impact of this kind of place is nowhere near as good as the skyscrapers of civilized society. Once this place is demolished, the only way to see this kind of suffering art will be to go to the slums of India to take pictures.

However, while Indian slums are large in area, this place is also high up. During the day, it looks like a huge, irregular block, and at night, with the various lights on, it should have a cyberpunk feel.

Wei Ming's camera kept clicking away. When people on the street saw the unfamiliar faces and asked him questions, they were all stopped by Ah Hu and the other two, who knew them all.

Ah Hu said, "Recently, there are more and more residents in the walled city. Many of them are mainlanders and Vietnamese who have fled here. Life is very inconvenient. We will definitely move out when we make money in the future."

Wei Ming asked, "Who else is in your family?"

Ah Bao: "Mom and Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma, but they all go out to work during the day. Mom and Dad are outside the city, and Grandpa and Grandma are inside the city."

Ah Long asked, "Are there factories in the walled city?"

Big Bear laughed and said, "Maybe some of the snacks you're all eating were produced in the walled city."

Along the way, they saw live and dead rats, open drains and sewage, and used condoms and even dried feces lying around. Thinking about the unsanitary conditions here, Ah Long vowed never to eat snacks again, because maybe even the water here smelled like poop.

The further they went in, the darker it got, so Wei Ming temporarily put away his camera: "Ah Hu, can I come to your house?"

Ah Hu said, "Let's go to Da Xiong's house. My house is on the 13th floor, and his is on the 9th floor. It'll be easier."

The tallest building in Kowloon Walled City has fourteen floors and no elevators. People usually have to climb the stairs, so Tiger and Leopard's grandparents rarely leave the walled city and handle any matters upstairs.

The Walled City was like a small society, with factories, restaurants, hospitals, and even churches. Many criminals were chased into the Walled City by the police. As long as they could endure the loneliness, they could stay there for several years without any problem, since the police generally wouldn't come in to enforce the law.

Finally, they climbed to the ninth floor, where the lighting was slightly better. Wei Ming joked with the Tiger and Leopard brothers, "Although it's inconvenient for you to go up and down the stairs, the lighting must be exceptionally good."

They immediately laughed proudly: "Otherwise, we'd be taller than the bear because we got more sun when we were little!"

At Da Xiong's house, there was only his seven or eight-year-old sister watching TV. She was watching "The Female Knight Mulan," which was based on a novel by Ni Kuang. The female lead was Zhao Yazhi, and the male lead was Huang Jinshen, who was not yet her second husband but would soon become her future husband.

This photo appears to have been taken after Zhao Yazhi gave birth to her second child last year. Even though she's a mother, she hasn't reached her peak beauty yet.

Seeing the girl engrossed in watching TV, Wei Ming patted his pocket and, thankfully, found he had some candy with him. He quickly gave the girl two pieces.

"Thank you, brother." The little girl didn't say much, but she was very polite.

Watching Zhao Yazhi on TV, Da Xiong suddenly felt inspired: "The director of this show came from our village. I want to be like him and make a name for myself!"

Liu Rulong also knew about this drama. He said, "Is the director Du Qifeng?"

Ah Hu: "Yes, he used to be Big Bear's neighbor, and he was a few years older than us."

Wei Ming said "Oh," realizing that Du Qifeng was also from Kowloon Walled City, but he had long since entered another social class and had become an inspirational role model for the youth of the Walled City.

After that, they shuttled back and forth between the eighth and ninth floors, systematically learning about the ecology of the walled city.

They soon arrived at the government office, and Wei Ming suggested, "Let's go down and take a look, then have a meal."

Everywhere in Kowloon Walled City was densely packed, making the most of every inch of space. There was only a small open space in the middle, about 200 square meters, roughly half the size of a basketball court.

Kowloon Walled City was once a blurred area of ​​"co-governance" between the British and the Qing government. The open space was the original location of the Kowloon Walled City government office during the Qing Dynasty. Later, the government office was gone, but the land was preserved.

Wei Ming saw that there were many stone tablets here recording the history of Kowloon Walled City, so he quickly took a few photos. There were also children playing nearby.

According to Ah Hu, there used to be an open-air market here, but now it is mostly used for gang negotiations or as a temporary martial arts school. For example, the Choy Li Fut boxing school often occupies this land.

After passing the yamen (government office) area, they entered the Eastern District, which was also the commercial area of ​​Kowloon Walled City. The five of them went in and the first thing they saw was a video arcade, which showed a lot of explicit content, and not just Hong Kong films.

They went upstairs and saw several restaurants. Passing one, they noticed a bamboo cage outside. Ah Long peered closer and saw a dense mass of snakes. Wei Ming laughed, "How about we have snake soup today?"

In the north, and even further north of Guangdong, it's almost impossible to find authentic snake soup, and Wei Ming hasn't tried it since his rebirth.

Ah Long: "I'm fine."

The three young men from the walled city were a little apprehensive, but when they thought about how expensive snakes were and how they rarely got to eat them, they agreed.

There are many ways to cook snake here, including dishes, soups, and even snake-infused wine.

"One pigeon stewed with water snake soup, another braised snake segment, spicy snake, and secret recipe crispy snake ribs..." When he saw that there were also dragon, tiger, and phoenix dishes, Wei Ming politely declined, as he simply couldn't accept cat meat.

Seeing that there were also regular chickens and pigs, they ordered two more regular ones, and finally ordered two catties of snake wine. The chefs killed the snakes on the spot, directly catching them and killing them right in front of them, which was a rare experience.

They had just been talking about Kowloon Walled City, but after sitting down, Wei Ming asked them what movies they had made with Hung Chun-po.

Ah Hu said, "We entered the industry late. We've only been involved in 'Encounters of the Spooky Kind,' and there's another movie, 'The Prodigal Son,' that hasn't been released yet."

Wei Ming knew that with its release before Christmas, it would be in some competition with "Seven Days of Wrong Love".

Big Bear asked, "Brother Wei, do you make movies too?"

Wei Ming: "We might film it in the future, and maybe we'll even collaborate again. Right now, I'm just writing scripts for others. Have you heard of the movie 'Seven Days of Wrong Wedding' that we've been making recently?"

The three shook their heads. That's true, they didn't read the newspaper. But soon they found out when the new "Madman Comics" magazine came out that Madman Comics was targeting these people who had slipped through the net of compulsory education.

Wei Ming: "You can go to the cinema to support it when it airs. It's a great movie with some exciting scenes."

Upon hearing this, they perked up and, as they had just passed by a pornographic video arcade, craned their necks, eager to go in and take a look.

"So you came to the Walled City to write a story about it?" Ah Hu remembered that Wei Ming had said he was here to gather material, and he had asked what that meant.

Wei Ming: "I might write stories about walled cities in the future, but this time I'm going to write a science fiction story."

The three found it hard to understand how Kowloon Walled City could be associated with science fiction. They had only read Wesley-style science fiction and forgot who had told them that Wei Ming from the mainland looked down on Ni Kuang, one of the Four Great Talents, so he was going to write a science fiction book himself to challenge him!
Snake meat has a tender, smooth, firm, and chewy texture, with no fishy smell and a slightly sweet taste. As long as you don't think about the live snake, it tastes quite good, and I basically finished the whole plate.

After finishing the snake feast, the five continued exploring the East District. There were striptease performances to attract gamblers, as well as many drug addicts. Be careful when taking photos here, as the tigers, leopards, and bears became even more subdued.

After walking around for a while, Wei Ming suggested going to the rooftop to take a look. Ah Hu sighed, "If I had known, I would have just gone to my house."

There were people on the roof as well. Several teenagers were flying kites. Tiger, Leopard, and Bear seemed to recognize them. He called out to one of the older kids, who immediately ran over. There was a railing between them, but he easily stepped over it.

Wei Ming squinted; this hurdling motion seemed to be that of an old friend.

As he got closer, it was indeed him! Turns out he'd been a great hurdler since he was little!
Ah Hu introduced, "This is my neighbor Lin Jiadong. Ah Dong calls Boss Ming and Boss Long."

"Mr. Ming, Mr. Long," Lin Jiadong said shyly. Wei Ming could already see the shadow of a future Dongguan boy on that 14-year-old face. It turned out that he was also from the Walled City.

As they were talking, Wei Ming suddenly heard a loud noise coming from afar. He turned around and saw a plane flying towards them, which looked very close and large.

This place is very close to Kai Tak Airport. If it weren't for the government's restrictions on flight safety, the tallest building in Kowloon Walled City would definitely be more than 14 stories high.

Wei Ming seized the opportunity, took out his camera, and quickly snapped a picture from below of the plane flying overhead.

Actually, the photos would look better taken at the government office site below.

As the plane flew away, Tiger, Leopard, and Bear were lost in thought. When they were kids, they loved counting airplanes on the rooftop and dreaming that one day they would be able to ride in an airplane themselves.

However, more than a decade has passed, and they are still bedbugs in the dark corners. Alas.

"Alright, we should head back now. You still have to attend the big boss's birthday banquet." Wei Ming reminded the three young men that he had collected a wealth of materials on this trip, making it a very successful one.

At this point, Ah Hu said, "Brother Wei, could you take a picture of us here?"

Wei Ming glanced at the mess on Kowloon Walled City: "Alright, strike a pose."

Not only did he take a group photo of the three of them, but he also took photos of the children from the Lin family, and finally had Ah Long take a group photo of him and everyone else.

When they exited through the west entrance, Niu Lao was waiting for them in his car.

Wei Ming asked, "Are the things ready?"

Niu Lao said, "It's ready. I said it was for Hong Jinbao. The deputy director of the factory even made a special edition. Look."

Wei Ming glanced at them and saw that there were three musical greeting cards. The covers were posters of three of Hong Jinbao's representative works: "Sande Monk and Rice Pounder Liu", "Fat Dragon Crossing the River" and "Lin Shirong". The music inside was also different for each of them.

These musical greeting cards are scheduled to officially launch before Christmas. They will be made not only birthday cards but also holiday cards. Giving them to Hong Jinbao now is a way to warm up the market in advance.

The three of them tried it out and all said it was interesting. Wei Ming then took out a pen: "There are still blank spaces here. You can also write a few words to express your blessings to the big boss."

This put the three elementary school students in a difficult position. In the end, it was Niu Lao who taught them to write a few heartfelt blessings, and then they parted ways.

When they got back to the downstairs of the Madman Comics building, Wei Ming had to part ways with A Long and Niu Lao.

Ah Long let Niu Lao go upstairs first. He said to Wei Ming, "Yesterday my dad told me about your predictions for the Sino-British negotiations. He was originally planning to buy a house, but now he plans to raise funds from relatives in his hometown of Foshan and wait for the right opportunity to enter the real estate market."

Wei Ming knew that his relatives in his hometown had many overseas connections and foreign exchange reserves.

Ah Long was worried that his father might get hurt, so he checked with Wei Ming again.

Wei Ming said, "Don't worry, it's the trend of the times, and we can't go wrong by following the trend."

In fact, the UK and China have reached a consensus that the Sino-British negotiations led to a sharp drop in housing prices. The question is whether prices can really rise back after the negotiations end.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Take Kowloon Walled City, which we just visited, for example. If there were negotiations between China and Britain, the British government would definitely clean up this special area created by their management before returning Hong Kong. Therefore, the space for triads to survive would become smaller and smaller, and Hong Kong's investment environment would be greatly improved. As a result, property prices would inevitably skyrocket!"

Wei Ming was referring to a future fact: the clearing of Kowloon Walled City was written into the Sino-British treaty. Ultimately, the Hong Kong British government spent 500 million Hong Kong dollars to resettle tens of thousands of people and finally completely leveled Kowloon Walled City.

Hearing Wei Ming's analysis, A Long was completely relieved. He also decided to work hard to earn money so that he could help his family when housing prices plummeted.

"So when are you planning to write me my second comic book story?" he asked.

Wei Ming started the car: "Finish writing for Huang Guoxing and Niu Lao first, then we'll talk about yours. Don't worry, it'll definitely be yours next year, and you'll become famous because of this work!"

Fame throughout the world? Watching Wei Ming's departing exhaust fumes, A Long twitched his fingers; his paintbrush was itching to paint!

~
The Mazda finally arrived at St. Stephen's Church Secondary School along Pok Fu Lam Road in Sai Ying Pun, but the school hadn't let out yet.

Soon more cars stopped, probably from people who lived far away and came to pick up their children. Most students walked or rode bicycles home after school.

Wei Ming and Amin had already discussed it beforehand the day before yesterday, so after school she didn't ride her bicycle but looked for a car first.

I finally found that old guy's Mazda by the roadside and got in skillfully.

As soon as she arrived, Amin put headphones on Wei Ming, playing her version of "The Little Insects Fly". Although her Mandarin wasn't fluent, she sang Mandarin songs quite clearly. In her previous life, she also had some representative Mandarin songs and was very influential in Taiwan.

Under the shade of a tree, Wei Ming and Amin listened quietly to a song and gave a fair assessment: "It's nice."

This song has a slightly melancholic tone, but Amin's voice is sweeter, making you feel cheerful and wanting to go to the mountains to see fireflies with your loved one.

“How about we go see the fireflies again next year?” Amin suggested.

Next year, next summer he's not sure where he'll be. All he can say is, "I'll try my best to come to Hong Kong to be with you then."

Amin was satisfied with just those words from him; next, they were going to the movie theater for their date.

Tiger, Leopard, and Bear also attended Hong Jinbao's 32nd birthday banquet.

There's no need to make a big fuss about turning 32, but this time Hung Chin-po not only gathered all the members of the Hung Clan, but also several of his fellow apprentices like Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, as well as several strange people from Cinema City. Even Tsang Chi-wai, the "traitor," was busy running around on the spot, and even invited reporters. The event was huge, with an entire floor of a restaurant booked out.

Jackie Chan immediately understood: his senior brother wanted to use his birthday as an opportunity to promote "The Prodigal Son," which was coming out in a few days.

This film is produced by Golden Harvest and Bo Ho, written, directed and starred by Hung Chin-po, and also stars Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying, and Frankie Chan. The senior brother must have high hopes for this film, hoping it can break 1000 million.

This year, two movies, "Modern Bodyguard" and "Heroes from Ancient Times," grossed over 10 million yuan each. Hong Jinbao certainly wanted to make a fortune, since he could take 40% of the box office profits.

But in reality, it was just a high-level employee. In addition to enjoying 60% of the profits in the domestic market, Golden Harvest also received all the profits from overseas markets. It would even owe Profits to Po Ho. It was not until the establishment of Hung Chin Po by De Bao that it could become a giant in the industry.

The three henchmen stood far, far away from their boss, realizing they had been overthinking things. Their boss was surrounded by important figures, and their identities made it impossible for them to get close.

At this point, Hong Jinbao saw that almost everyone had arrived, so he pressed his hands down, and the scene immediately quieted down.

However, before he could speak, he heard the familiar song: "Wishing you longevity and happiness, congratulations on your birthday! May you have many more birthdays to come..."

……

(Guaranteed minimum today~)

(End of this chapter)