Hong Kong variety show: Hung Hing, are you contributing to society?

Today is the day King is released from prison.

Lin Yaodong woke up before dawn.

He stood by the window, looking towards Victoria Harbour.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and a few fishing boats were scattered on the sea. In the distance, cargo ships sounded their horns, the sound muffled and seemingly coming from underwater.

Jiang Xin was already waiting downstairs.

A black Bentley was parked on the side of the road, its body covered with a fine layer of dew.

He glanced at his Rolex on his wrist—it was exactly eight o'clock.

Even with traffic, it takes about an hour to get from Causeway Bay to Stanley.

Huagulong was the last to arrive.

He was wearing a brand new floral shirt, and his hair was gelled so shiny you could see your reflection in it.

As soon as she got in the car, she started chattering away: "Good morning, Dong-ge! Good morning, Xin-ge! I dressed up specially today to make a good impression on King-ge~~"

"He probably doesn't remember me, but I remember him! The first time I went to a gambling den, I hung out with King. His card skills were... wow..."

"King, if it's the King I know..." Lin Yaodong didn't speak, but took the newspaper from Jiang Xin and opened it.

Front page headline:

Kowloon East Police Station cracks down on major murder case in Tsim Sha Tsui!

Inspector Li Zhusong, leading a lone force, personally kills a ruthless assassin!

Heroic detective solves bizarre case, citizens applaud.

...

Three newspapers, three front pages, all featuring photos of Li Zhusong.

The Bone-Melting Dragon leaned closer for a look and immediately bristled: "Are you kidding me? All three newspapers are about that Millennium Bug? Where's I, the Bone-Melting Dragon? If it weren't for me yesterday..."

No, no, if it weren't for Rich Brother's excellent marksmanship, that Y2K bug would have been dead long ago!

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, his floral shirt collar askew: "I'm the only eyewitness, after all! I even helped out! Why isn't the newspaper saying a word about it? I deserve a Good Citizen Award!"

Lin Yaodong chuckled, as if he had expected this, and then handed the newspaper to Huagulong: "It's mentioned. Look here."

Hua Gulong took it, squinted and searched for a long time before finally finding his name in a tiny box the size of a fingernail.

The reports about him, the only eyewitness, totaled less than a hundred words, squeezed into the margins of the article, so small that they could be missed without a magnifying glass.

"Damn!" he cursed, but his face broke into a wide grin. "Such a small page... I can't even see it..."

But his mouth was stretched all the way to his ears.

Lin Yaodong looked out the window without saying a word.

The assassin was killed by Xiao Fu with a sniper rifle at his request, and the newspapers didn't mention it at all.

From the police's perspective, they also have their difficulties.

You can't exactly say "the vicious killer was killed by an unknown sniper," can you?

What would that be?

That's good, though, since no one's investigating.

This can be considered the best outcome that he and Li Zhusong tacitly agreed upon.

The car drove out of the city and onto a suburban highway.

The buildings on both sides are getting shorter and shorter, and there are more and more trees.

Hua Gulong was still rambling on about what happened back then, how he first met King, how King dominated the gambling den, his card skills, his eyes, his aura...

"Back then, I was just starting out in this business, Dong-ge. I didn't know anything. I just watched King-ge win all the money from everyone in the gambling den! The cheaters, the dealers, the bouncers—they were all dumbfounded! From that moment on, I vowed to learn cheating techniques from King-ge..."

But then, King suddenly disappeared.

Hua Gulong made inquiries from various sources and learned that he had been imprisoned.

Lin Yaodong listened without interrupting.

Of course he knows King.

King in the movie "The Conman 1999", the character played by Andy Lau.

It's worth mentioning that in this world, there is another person who looks just like Andy Lau, named Lau Tin-wen, who is another gambling master.

It is said that they will also participate in the International Charity Poker Tournament.

The King in front of us is the conman that Bone Dragon wanted to become an apprentice to, but he later boarded the gambling ship and teamed up with the Gambler to fight the villains...

Memories surged in my mind, like fragments slowly emerging from a beach after the tide has receded.

King, a seasoned con artist, was imprisoned five years ago for intentional homicide.

His ex-girlfriend, Xiaofen, got pregnant with his child and called him to tell him to stop, but he didn't listen.

That time, he and his partner were setting up a scheme to swindle money from a triad boss.

How can we stop halfway through a plan?

They succeeded and won a large sum of money. But the partner was too excited and gave himself away. The gang leader immediately ordered his men to beat them both half to death.

In the act of resistance, he accidentally killed someone.

Intentional homicide, five years.

Five years.

Lin Yaodong looked out the window.

Stanley Prison was already in sight, with its high gray walls, barbed wire, and armed prison guards standing on the watchtowers.

He's been in this world for almost ten years now; time really flies.

"Brother Xin," Huagulong suddenly leaned closer to the front seat, "Did you bring the brazier? Where's the hay? Where are the pomelo leaves?"

Jiang Xin glanced at him in the rearview mirror: "They're all in the trunk."

I prepared this when I picked up Da Tou from prison, but I hadn't had a chance to use it yet, so I thought I'd use it again today...

"That's good, that's good," Huagulong rubbed his hands together. "The first thing King has to do when he comes out is step over the fire pit to get rid of bad luck, that's the rule..."

The car stopped in the small square outside the prison gate.

Jiang Xin glanced at her watch: 8:55.

"It's almost time."

Several people got off the bus.

Hua Gulong followed Jiang Xin to the trunk to unload things: a brazier, dried grass, and pomelo leaves, arranging them one by one.

Hua Gulong even found two bricks, set up a brazier, stuffed dry grass inside, and held a lighter in his hand, ready to light a fire at any time.

At this moment, in the duty room inside the prison gate.

Ah Wen held a cup of coffee and looked out the window at the black Bentley.

"Hey? Isn't that Lin Yaodong's car? Why is he here again?"

Brother Sen leaned over for a look, then chuckled, "They're probably here to pick someone up, aren't they? Didn't they just pick up someone named Big Head a couple of days ago?"

"Lin Yaodong..." Ah Wen shook his head, "He seems to be doing legitimate work now, but he's still a gangster at heart. It's funny, those big shots who went to jail before, when they first went in, they had a few underlings to visit them, but after a few years, who even remembers them?"

"Indeed," Brother Sen sipped his tea, "In this world, human relationships are as thin as paper. But this Lin Yaodong is quite interesting... I wonder who he's picking up today..."

Awen opened his commuting logbook and found today's release list.

"Only one person was released from prison today... Let me see his name... King?"

He paused for a moment, then asked, "What kind of name is that?"

Awen immediately searched for other materials.

"Don't bother looking," Brother Sen waved his hand. "I know this King. He's the same name on his ID card."

"A seasoned con artist, he was in jail five years ago for intentional homicide. I remember him..."

Sen started talking about King.