Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

"Splash—"

With the sound of a zipper being roughly pulled open, bundles of thousand-yuan bills, exuding the fresh scent of ink and bound with brand-new bank seals, poured out like a red waterfall bursting its banks.

It rolled right out of the tattered snakeskin bag and piled up on the expensive glass coffee table, forming a dazzling little mountain of money.

The red was blinding, so bright it was almost blinding. The private room was deathly silent; you could hear the air conditioning vents clearly.

Those few thugs from the Tung Sing gang, who had just been brandishing machetes and had menacing faces, now all had their mouths agape, their eyes fixed on the money on the table, and they were making gurgling noises as they swallowed hard.

Holy crap, so much cash?!

They've been living a life of crime for years, risking their lives and cutting people until their blades were worn down, but they've never seen so much money at once.

On the sofa, Sha Meng, who had been arrogant and domineering, holding a wine glass and showing off, now had his eyes twitching wildly. He suddenly sat up straight, stared at Lin Yao, then looked at the money on the table, and his brain went blank for three seconds, which was rare for him.

Thirteen Sister, kneeling on the ground, was completely dumbfounded.

She stared blankly up at the figure in front of her, dressed in a floral shirt, baggy shorts, and flip-flops, who stood like a god descending to earth, blocking her view.

This... this is my good-for-nothing younger brother who can't do anything but eat, drink, gamble, and whore, and who was scammed out of all his money yesterday?

Did he rob a banknote printing plant of the ten thousand yuan he stole this morning?!

"Count it! What are you standing there for? Never seen money before, you country bumpkin?!"

Lin Yao placed one foot on the edge of the coffee table, arrogantly pointing at the mountain of money on it, and sneered at Sha Meng: "Two hundred thousand, principal and interest, not a penny less. Count it carefully, take the money, and quickly hand over my IOU!"

Sandman, being one of the Five Tigers of Dongxing, quickly recovered from his shock.

With a gloomy face, he gave a wink to the underling next to him, who immediately stepped forward and hurriedly began to count the items.

"Boss... a full two hundred thousand, all brand new bills just withdrawn from HSBC in Central today..."

My brother's voice was trembling.

Sha Meng's face instantly turned extremely ugly. He had enough money, but the reason he made such a big show of things today was to take the opportunity to humiliate Hung Hing, and even cripple Thirteen Sister, Hung Hing's rising star, and incidentally drown Lin Yao to establish his authority.

Now, this scoundrel actually came with a sack of cash, kicked down his door, and threw the money in his face in front of all his underlings. Where does that leave Dongxing Shameng's face?!

"Great, excellent!"

Sandman suddenly stood up, a fierce glint in his eyes, and pointed at the shattered solid wood door.

"I've taken the money, but you kicked down my door and dared to yell in my place. Consider this debt settled today, but you broke the rules of the underworld. How are we going to settle this score?"

"Swish, swish, swish!"

In the private room, a dozen or so Dongxing henchmen instantly raised their weapons and surrounded Lin Yao and Thirteen Sister, and the atmosphere became tense once again.

Thirteen Sister was terrified. She jumped up from the ground, shielding Lin Yao behind her, and roared like a mother leopard protecting her cub: "Sandman, have you no shame? The money has been returned, and you still want to mess with my brother? If you have the guts, kill me right here today and see if the Hung Hing brothers will wipe out your entire Portland Street tomorrow!"

"Sis, calm down. Girls shouldn't be shouting and fighting all the time; it'll hurt your skin."

Lin Yao, however, calmly patted Thirteen Sister's shoulder and pulled her behind him.

Facing the gleaming blades around him, he showed no fear whatsoever; instead, he looked at the sand bugle as if it were an idiot.

"You want to settle accounts? Okay!"

Lin Yao sneered, reached into the still-filled snakeskin bag, pulled out two more bundles of brand-new banknotes, and weighed them in his hand.

"Bang!"

He suddenly swung his arm and slammed a bundle of banknotes hard into the sand bug's chest.

"This ten thousand is to compensate you for this broken door!"

Sha Meng groaned as he was hit, and before he could react, Lin Yao swung another wad of banknotes at him, this time slapping it mercilessly across Sha Meng's fleshy face.

"This ten thousand is for the emotional distress you caused my sister by scaring her!"

Silence. The entire room was deathly still.

Everyone's gone mad! This is slapping the big boss of East Star in the face with money!

"You bastard, you're asking for it!!!"

Sha Meng had suffered knife wounds and gunshot wounds in his life, but he had never suffered such a physical humiliation from someone with money. He roared in fury and grabbed the machete on the table, ready to chop at Lin Yao.

"Come on, cut me! Cut me here!"

Instead of dodging, Lin Yao took a sudden step forward, directly burying his head under the blade of the sand bug.

His eyes were bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead, making him look like a complete madman. He pointed at the remaining money on the table and roared, "I made tens of thousands of dollars a minute in Central today. I'm so poor now that all I have left is money!"

"My life is very precious now. You, Sha Meng, are just a gangster who's been out there all along. You have nothing to lose. If you dare to lay a finger on me today, I still have 80,000 yuan in my pocket."

"I'll use this HK$80,000 to buy your whole family's hands and feet. If HK$80,000 isn't enough, I'll go to Central tomorrow and make another HK$800,000 or HK$8 million."

"I'll smash this Kowloon Walled City with a mountain of gold, and see if your Tung Sing can protect you, you mad dog!"

Lin Yao's voice was like a booming bell, making the glasses in the private room vibrate.

That extreme madness—treating money like dirt and human life like grass—combined with the pile of bright red banknotes on the table, actually managed to suppress the aura of all the Tung Sing gangsters in the private room.

The ruthless are afraid of the stubborn, the stubborn are afraid of the reckless, and the reckless... are afraid of those crazy people who are both reckless and rich!

Sha Meng's hand holding the knife froze in mid-air, cold sweat sliding down his forehead. He looked at Lin Yao's eyes, which showed no fear and even a hint of excitement, and then at the huge sum of real gold and silver on the table.

Reason told him that this timid scoundrel was possessed by an evil spirit today, a spirit powerful enough to drag his entire family down with him.

People are out here to make money. Who the hell would want to mess with a crazy woman's brother who can casually throw hundreds of thousands at someone for 200,000?

With a clang.

Suppressing his humiliation, Sha Meng threw the machete on the table and gritted his teeth as he squeezed out a few words: "You're ruthless... Take the IOU, and get out of my territory with your sister!"

A henchman nervously handed over the IOU signed by the original owner.

Lin Yao took the IOU without even looking at it, then pulled out the gold windproof lighter from his pocket, lit it with a snap, and burned the IOU to ashes.

Then, he turned around and, amidst the awe-inspiring and complex gazes of a group of Dongxing underlings, pulled up Thirteen Sister, who was still in a daze.

"Come on, sis, let's go get some late-night snacks. My brother's treating tonight, abalone and lobster, order whatever you want!"

The two swaggered out of the nightclub, followed by Dongxing Shameng, whose face was ashen and who had kicked over a coffee table in anger.

A gentle evening breeze blows through the streets of Mong Kok.

It wasn't until she sat down at a roadside food stall and smelled the aroma of typhoon shelter-style fried crab that Thirteen Sister suddenly shivered as if waking from a dream.

She grabbed Lin Yao by the collar of his floral shirt, her eyes wide as saucers, and roared in a low voice, "Lin Yao, confess! Did you rob the armored car? And what about the 80,000 yuan left in your bag?!"

"Sister, robbery is illegal. I'm a law-abiding citizen."

Lin Yao mumbled incoherently as he ate the lobster.

"That money is what I earned in the stock market today. The principal was 10,000, and I leveraged it tenfold, going long on Wharf Holdings and shorting Swire Shipping. In one day, the principal and interest totaled 320,000."

"I paid back 200,000 to the sand worm, spent 20,000 just now to show off, and I still have 100,000 in my bag. Here it is, it's all here."

As he spoke, Lin Yao shoved the snakeskin bag into Thirteen Sister's arms.

Thirteen Sister looked at the 100,000 yuan in real gold and silver in the bag and felt her worldview collapsing.

In one day, 10,000 became 320,000. Is this still the same deadbeat who would even try to renege on a two-yuan soda bill from the convenience store owner?

"You...you know about stock trading?"

Thirteen Sister felt her throat was so dry it was practically on fire.

"I know a little, I know a little."

Lin Yao wiped the grease from his mouth, looked up at the Hong Kong night sky illuminated by neon lights, and his eyes gradually became deep.

Just then, a frantic red warning box popped up again on the panel in his mind.

[Ding! Host assets have exceeded 100,000, successfully averting a life-or-death crisis for newbies!]

[System Main Quest Activated: The Initial Accumulation of Capital!]

[Extremely High Alert: Only 34 days remain until the epic global financial tsunami, reminiscent of Black Monday in 1987!]

[Host, please raise as much capital as possible within 34 days. In this global stock market crash, you will have the opportunity to reap your first billion-dollar empire!]

Lin Yao's pupils contracted sharply.

Thirty-four days—only one month remains until Black Monday, the day when countless Hong Kong tycoons lined up to jump off buildings and global wealth was reshuffled.

100,000 yuan, 300,000 yuan?

Compared to that level of monstrous waves, it's not even a ripple!

He needs money, he needs more money. He wants to raise at least tens of millions of dollars in capital before the stock market crash, and then leverage it dozens of times to short the entire Hong Kong stock market.

Lin Yao turned his head and looked at Thirteen Sister, who was still staring blankly at the 100,000 yuan. Suddenly, he grinned and revealed a set of white teeth.

"Sis, stop looking, what's a little money like this?"

"Come with me tomorrow to register a company. My brother and I are going to buy up the whole of Hong Kong!"