Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

January 1, 1982. New Year's Day.

Noon. Temple Street.

As Hong Kong Island's most famous "people's nightclub," even though it's broad daylight, the food stalls and vendors lining both sides of the street have already started to set up. The air is filled with the aroma of braised beef offal, the burnt smell of stinky tofu, and the tobacco smell of cheap cigarettes.

Several cars surrounded a Rolls-Royce, slowly weaving through the bustling crowd, and finally stopped in front of a Chaozhou restaurant called "Chao Xing Ji".

This shop has a small, even somewhat greasy, storefront, but it's a well-known place in Kowloon's underworld. It's said that former Inspector Lui Lok loved the braised goose here, and now it's a favorite hangout for the big shots in Kowloon Walled City.

The car door opened, and Lu Chen, dressed in a casual trench coat, stepped out with Ruan Mei and Sophia.

The moment the two stunning beauties appeared, they instantly attracted the attention of countless diners and gangsters around them.

Ruan Mei wore a light pink cashmere coat and a white scarf, looking as gentle as a water lily from Jiangnan; while Sofia wore a black fur coat, sunglasses, brown hair and red lips, exuding a powerful aura, like a queen inspecting her territory.

Wow! It's so lively here!

Sofia gazed at the neon signs lining the streets and the steaming food stalls, her bright blue eyes filled with wonder. "Darling, is this the 'real Hong Kong Island' you were talking about?"

"That's right."

Lu Chen smiled and squeezed the two women's hands. "Central is the face of Hong Kong Island, but this is the heart of Hong Kong Island. Come on, I'll take you to eat some authentic local food."

"Ah Chen, this place... seems a bit messy."

Ruan Mei instinctively tightened her grip on Lu Chen's arm, feeling somewhat frightened as she looked at the tattooed, bare-chested men around them.

"Don't be afraid."

Lu Chen patted the back of her hand and said with a smile, "Although it's chaotic here, this shop is safer than the Governor's House."

……

Push open the door to the private room.

A rich aroma of braised food wafted over.

A middle-aged man in a gray long gown was already sitting at the round table, slowly and methodically washing the dishes. His hair was gray, and he looked like a schoolteacher, but his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, revealed a world-weary and sharp look.

Cyclone.

The leader of the Dragon City Gang, the guardian of Kowloon Walled City, and one of Lu Chen's most important allies in the martial arts world.

"Chenzai, you're here?"

Tornado looked up and saw Lu Chen and the other two. He gave them a rare, gentle smile. "Sit down. The braised goose is fresh out of the pot. It's the best Lion Head goose. I specially asked the boss to save it for me."

"Brother Long! Happy New Year!" Lu Chen smiled and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Happy New Year, Brother Long!" Ruan Mei greeted him politely.

Sofia, mimicking the Chinese, said in slightly accented Cantonese, "Gong Xi Fa Cai!"

"Great! May everyone be happy!"

When Long Juanfeng saw the family of three, his eyes narrowed into slits with a smile. He took out two thick red envelopes from his pocket and handed them to Ruan Mei and Sophia respectively.

"Here, this is for my two younger siblings. It's a lucky gift for the New Year. I wish you both to become more and more beautiful."

"Thank you, Brother Long!"

The two women happily accepted the red envelopes. Although they were not short of money, it represented the approval of their elders, which had a different meaning.

Soon, all the dishes were served.

Braised platter, frozen crab, oyster omelet, congee...

The group ate and chatted in a warm and harmonious atmosphere. Sofia tried to pick up peanuts with chopsticks for the first time, and her clumsy movements drew laughter from everyone.

It must be said that this restaurant's Chaozhou cuisine is truly authentic. The braised goose slices are fatty but not greasy, the frozen crab is fresh and sweet, and the oyster omelet is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Although it was Sofia's first time eating this kind of food, she praised it highly. Although her chopsticks-holding gestures were awkward, she ate with great relish.

When he had almost finished eating, Lu Chen put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth.

He glanced at Tian Yangsheng standing at the door: "Asheng, take Amei and Sophia to Temple Street for a stroll."

Lu Chen smiled and said to the two women, "There are many stalls selling trinkets and antiques here. You can go and have a look. I have some important business to discuss with Brother Long."

Sophia and Ruan Mei were both intelligent women and immediately understood what Lu Chen meant.

"Great! I was just thinking of buying a few jade bracelets to take back to Europe as gifts." Sofia took Ruan Mei's hand. "Come on, Mei, let's go shopping!"

"Well... Ah Chen, you two chat." Ruan Mei obediently got up.

Escorted by the Seven Sons of Heaven, the two women left the private room chattering away.

The door closed, and the private room fell silent instantly.

"Speak, what is it?"

Tornado poured Lu Chen a cup of tea, her expression turning serious: "Chen, you went out of your way to send them away, there must be some things you can't say, right?"

Two things.

Lu Chen picked up his teacup and gently blew away the foam. "First, I have some good news to share, it's about Lei Zhendong."

When the name was mentioned, Tornado's hand paused slightly.

"I promised to avenge Brother Qiu," Lu Chen said in a low voice. "I have already sent the winery's most capable men to Taiwan. According to the latest intelligence, we have tracked down Lei Zhendong's activities in Tainan."

"One week." Lu Chen held up one finger. "At most one week, and his head will be on Qiu Ge's desk."

After hearing these words, Tornado remained silent for a long time. He took a deep drag of his cigarette, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

He knew how difficult Lei Zhendong was to kill. He was a powerful figure who once dominated the Hong Kong Walled City. Even after fleeing to Taiwan, he was still under the protection of the Sanlian Gang, so his defenses were formidable.

But upon hearing Lu Chen's assurance, Tornado genuinely believed that Lei Zhendong was doomed this time.

"Thanks, Chen."

Tornado stubbed out his cigarette and said solemnly, "Ah Qiu has lived his whole life in this hatred. You helped him avenge himself, which saved his life. I will remember this favor for him. And in this way... he should be less obsessed with finding Chen Zhan's son."

"Brother Long, you're too kind. I will naturally do what I promised you," Lu Chen waved his hand. "Now let's talk about the second thing. This concerns my future business plans, so I'm shamelessly asking you for a favor, Brother Long."

Tornado was wondering how to repay the favor, so naturally she wouldn't refuse: "Go ahead."

"As you know, I just bought RTV (Rediffusion Television), and I'll be venturing into the film industry later," Lu Chen tapped his fingers on the table. "Filming movies and TV shows inevitably involves location shooting. Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kwun Tong... these are places we'll inevitably go to for filming, but they're also where triad activities are most rampant."

"Although I have Jiahe Security, my men are all elites, good for bodyguards and special operations. Sending them out to the streets to haggle with petty thugs who collect protection money every day is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, and it's easy to get into legal trouble."

In Hong Kong during this era, the lines between the underworld and the legitimate world were blurred.

Many large corporations and conglomerates have behind-the-scenes partner organizations. This is called a "black glove." These organizations are used to maintain order within their own territories, handle labor disputes, and even deal with holdout residents. In these situations, these organizations are more effective than lawyers and police.

"You need someone to keep watch?" Tornado understood.

“That’s right,” Lu Chen nodded. “I need a powerful and disciplined organization to act as a ‘partner’ for ATV and Golden Harvest in Kowloon. At the same time, I also want to take this opportunity to cultivate my own influence to support the development of my company.”

"Currently, the Yau Tsim Mong area is mainly the territory of Hung Hing and Tung Sing. Other triads are just symbolically involved and don't have much power. The people from Tung Sing have no bottom line when it comes to drugs, I don't like them!" As he said this, a hint of disgust flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. "In comparison, although Hung Hing is also involved in the underworld, at least they have some rules and don't touch that kind of dirty stuff."

"I heard that you, Brother Lung, fought alongside Chiang Chen, the previous leader of Hung Hing, in your early years?"

This is an open secret in the underworld.

Although Tornado is now the overlord of Kowloon Walled City, he was indeed one of Hung Hing's top lieutenants and Chiang Chun's right-hand man back in the day. Although he later left Hung Hing for various reasons and founded the Dragon City Gang in the Walled City, his connection with Hung Hing has remained.

"You want me to help you connect with Hung Hing?" Tornado asked.

"Yes!" Lu Chen said bluntly, "I want to meet Jiang Tiansheng, the current leader of Hung Hing. I will give him money, resources, and legitimate business opportunities; in return, he will give me order, face, and use the banner of Hung Hing to develop his own power."

"This deal is a win-win situation."

Looking at Lu Chen, Tornado seemed to see the spirited Jiang Zhen of yesteryear, but Lu Chen was more cultured, more wealthy, and more unfathomable than Jiang Zhen.

"Alright," Tornado nodded. "The Chiang family owes me a favor. Besides, Hung Hing does need to transform right now, and Chiang Tin-sang is a smart man; he's always wanted to legitimize the triad. Cooperating with you is an opportunity he'd love to have. I'll arrange this for you. I guarantee you'll meet with Chiang Tin-sang within three days."

"Then thank you very much, Brother Long," Lu Chen raised his teacup, "I'll toast you with tea instead of wine."

……

Just as Lu Chen and Tornado were discussing getting involved in the underworld of Yau Tsim Mong in the private room, a small accident occurred outside.

Temple Street.

This street, brimming with the aroma of cooking, was at its busiest time of day. Sofia, arm in arm with Ruan Mei, strolled enthusiastically among the various stalls.

"Wow! Ah Mei, look at this! This hairpin is so pretty!"

Sofia picked up a roughly made but antique-style silver hairpin and held it up to her brown hair. "It has a very oriental feel, doesn't it?"

"It looks pretty, but it seems to be silver-plated..." Ruan Mei whispered, her eyes, honed from childhood to save money, immediately discerning the material.

"It doesn't matter, as long as it looks good!" Sophia didn't care at all, and bought it without even asking the price.

The appearance of the two beautiful women was like a bottle of expensive perfume being sprayed in the sweaty, bustling temple street. Passing men couldn't help but turn their heads, their eyes filled with amazement.

The Seven Sons of Tianyang were scattered around, vigilantly watching the surrounding crowd. Although this was Tornado and Tiger's territory, they dared not relax their guard in the slightest.

Just then, a few shady-looking thugs, dressed in floral shirts and reeking of alcohol, staggered over.

The leader was a burly man with a face full of scars, a thick gold chain around his neck, and a fierce and arrogant look in his eyes.

Tony, the villain in the movie "As Tears Go By".

"Wow? These two girls are really hot!" Tony spat out his cigarette butt, his eyes gleaming. "Tsk tsk, why would such top-quality girls come to a place like Temple Street?"

"Big brother, how about we invite them over for a drink?" The henchman next to him immediately chimed in, understanding the implication.

"Nonsense! When such a gem is delivered to our doorstep, we definitely have to get to know him!" Tony stood up, led three or four of his underlings, and swaggered over.

"Hey! Are these two ladies visiting Temple Street for the first time?"

Tony put on what he thought was a dashing smile and was about to approach the two women to chat when a tall figure stopped him when he was still five or six meters away from them.

Tian Yangyong appeared in front of Tony at some point, staring at him expressionlessly with a cold gaze as if he were looking at a corpse.

"roll."

It was just one word, yet it carried a chilling coldness.

"Damn it! Who the hell are you? Why are you meddling in my business!"

Tony was used to running rampant in Mong Kok, and he had never been treated like this before. Moreover, he believed he knew all the important people on Temple Street, but this person in front of him was not in his memory and was obviously a stranger.

Tony felt utterly humiliated by being publicly reprimanded by an unknown nobody, and raised his hand to slap him.

However, his hand was caught in a clamp as soon as it reached mid-air and could not move forward any further.

Tian Yangyong gripped his wrist with one hand and exerted slight force.

"Ugh—!"

At that moment, Tony felt as if his wrist was about to be crushed, wincing in pain. He grabbed a beer bottle from the side and smashed it over Tian Yangyong's head, simultaneously yelling to his henchmen, "Beat him!"

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

Before the beer bottle could even fall, Tian Yangyong delivered a powerful whip kick to Tony's abdomen.

"vomit--!"

Tony bent over like a boiled shrimp, the beer bottle flew out of his hand, and he flew three or four meters backward, crashing heavily onto a fish ball stall.

"Boss!"

Seeing this, the other henchmen pulled out folding knives and steel pipes and rushed forward.

However, compared to the Seven Sons of Heaven, this group of thugs who only bully the neighbors are simply kindergarten children.

There's not even a need for the other six to lift a finger; Tian Yangyong alone is enough.

"Crackling and popping!"

In less than a minute, the once arrogant group of people were all lying on the ground. Some were screaming in pain, clutching their bent arms, while others were writhing in agony, clutching their legs.

Tian Yangyong stood amidst the haphazardly piled-up crowd, not even breaking a sweat. He simply imitated his elder brother, pretentiously adjusting his cuffs as if he had merely swatted a fly.

"You...you dare hit me?!" Tony clutched his chest, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes glaring venomously at Tian Yangsheng. "Do you know who I am? I'm one of those guys from Mong Kok's Lam Ah-gong! Known as Brother Knife Tony! You bunch of out-of-towners! If you dare touch me, I'll make sure you don't leave this street alive!"

Just when Tony was shouting the loudest.

Suddenly, a voice, tinged with a hint of mockery and languor, came from outside the crowd.

"Wow? Tony, you're really showing off."

As the sound faded, the crowd parted automatically.

"Who do you want to be unable to leave Temple Street?"