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

The following morning, in a luxury suite at the Peninsula Hotel.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the two-meter-wide Simmons bed. Lin Yao stretched out a huge yawn, feeling a comfortable groan emanating from every bone in his body.

Last night, with the money left over from smashing the sand swarm, he dragged the half-asleep Thirteen Sister out of that doghouse in Kowloon Walled City and booked a sea-view suite at the Peninsula Hotel.

"hiss--"

Thirteen Sister in the next bed suddenly sat up, her hair a mess, looking around warily. Then she threw off the covers, hugged the snakeskin bag containing 100,000 yuan in cash tightly, and finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"You scared the hell out of me! I thought I was dreaming... Lin Yao, you spendthrift! Over two thousand yuan a night at the Peninsula Hotel? Are you crazy?!"

Thirteen Sister's heart ached so much she was sobbing.

"Oh, sister, broaden your perspective, broaden your horizons!"

Lin Yao rolled out of bed, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the bustling view of Victoria Harbour.

"We're successful people now, worth hundreds of thousands. How can we keep fighting with the rats in the walled city for territory?"

Lin Yao turned around and snapped his fingers: "Hurry up and wash up. I'll take you shopping today, and while we're at it, we'll register our Yaosheng Capital Investment Company."

Two hours later, in Central, at the Armani Haute Couture menswear store.

When Lin Yao walked out of the fitting room wearing a well-tailored, hand-stitched black suit with a subtle pattern, his hair slicked back, and shiny custom-made leather shoes, all the female sales assistants in the store stared in disbelief.

It has to be said that although the original owner was a scoundrel, his face was indeed quite handsome. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a roguish charm. When he dressed up properly, he instantly captured the air of a carefree and irresponsible young master from a wealthy family.

"Damn it..."

Thirteen Sister, sitting on the sofa, was so stunned that she didn't even notice the lollipop in her mouth fall to the ground.

"Is this still my good-for-nothing brother? He's like a rich young master from a Hong Kong drama!"

Lin Yao stylistically straightened his tie in front of the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.

As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man," and in finance, attire is everything. If you wear flip-flops to discuss a multi-million dollar deal, even if you're a stock market genius, people will think you're crazy.

He spent 20,000 yuan on equipment and another 20,000 yuan to quickly register Yaosheng Capital Investment Co., Ltd. through an intermediary, and obtained a shell address for a high-end office building.

Standing on the street in Central, Sister Thirteen hugged the half-empty snakeskin bag, on the verge of tears: "What a waste of money! I've spent forty thousand in just one morning."

"We only have 60,000 yuan in cash left. Didn't you say you wanted to buy the whole of Hong Kong? 60,000 yuan isn't even enough to buy a public toilet in Mong Kok!"

Lin Yao lit a Marlboro, took a deep drag, and exhaled a smoke ring.

Thirteen Sister is right. There are still 34 days until Black Monday. 60,000 yuan won't even make a ripple in the global financial crisis.

He needs an extremely large initial capital, at least ten million, to qualify for the high-stakes gamble in the upcoming short-selling frenzy.

The stock market snowball effect is too slow and easily attracts the attention of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. We need to find a place where money can be made faster, more wildly, and without any need for reason.

Just then, a mechanical voice rang out in my mind like heavenly music.

[Ding! The system has detected that the host urgently needs a large amount of initial capital. The panel is automatically searching for highly profitable avenues...]

[Today's top-value intelligence update: At 3 PM sharp, Happy Valley Racecourse will witness its biggest upset in ten years. In the seventh race, a triple T (three consecutive top-three finishes) jackpot has accumulated to a staggering HK$12 million. The correct winning numbers are: 5 (the lame horse), 8 (the perennial bottom-place finisher), and 11 (the new horse). Current odds: 200 to 1!]

Lin Yao's hand holding the cigarette jerked violently, and the ash fell onto his shiny leather shoes, but he didn't bother to wipe it off.

Happy Valley, horse racing, unbelievable odds of 200 to 1, a prize pool of tens of millions?!

"sister!"

Lin Yao's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Thirteen Sister's shoulder, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Come on, I'll take you somewhere exciting. Let's turn this 60,000 yuan into 10 million!"

"Ha, ten million? Have you lost your mind? Where are you going?"

Happy Valley!

2:30 p.m., Happy Valley Racecourse.

This is a carnival for gamblers all over Hong Kong, where the air is filled with the smells of madness, greed, sweat, and hormones.

The stands were packed with people, countless of them waving their betting tickets and shouting at the top of their lungs.

Lin Yao took Thirteen Sister directly into the VIP betting area, where the environment was elegant, with air conditioning and sofas, and it was full of wealthy young men with status and influence.

"Hey, isn't this Sister Thirteen from Portland Street?"

Just as the two reached the VIP betting window, a sarcastic voice suddenly came from the side.

Lin Yao turned his head and saw a young man in a white suit with half a pound of hair wax on his hair, embracing a minor celebrity and looking at them with a mocking expression.

This young master was followed by two bodyguards, making quite a grand entrance.

Thirteen Sister frowned and whispered to Lin Yao, "It's Zheng Liwei, the eldest son of Zheng's Jewelry in Central. He's a good-for-nothing who relies on his family's wealth to harass the girls in our gang. He's a typical spoiled brat."

Zheng Liwei sized Lin Yao up and down in his Armani suit, then scoffed, "What, is collecting protection money this profitable for Hung Hing now?"

"Even a scoundrel can afford Armani and sneak into the VIP area to bet on horses. Does he even know the minimum bet here?"

The little star in his arms chimed in sweetly, "Young Master Zheng, they probably just came in to enjoy the air conditioning. Look at that woman, she looks like a man, she's obviously trash from the bottom of society."

"Snapped!"

Thirteen Sister, with her fiery temper, couldn't stand this and was about to roll up her sleeves and fight, but Lin Yao grabbed her shoulder.

Lin Yao wasn't angry at all; instead, he looked at Zheng Liwei with a smile and said, "Young Master Zheng, right? Since you're so powerful, how about we go all out?"

"You think you're good enough to play with me?"

Zheng Liwei sneered, "I spent a million today to bet on number 1 Lightning King to win alone. That's a thoroughbred that has won five races in a row. What do you have to compete with me?"

Lin Yao slammed the bag containing 60,000 yuan in cash onto the betting table, making a dull thud.

"I only have 60,000 yuan in capital, I'm going all in, betting on the underdog combination in the seventh match, covering the top three numbers: 5, 8, and 11!"

Upon hearing this, several wealthy businessmen and betting agents who were knowledgeable about horse racing couldn't help but gasp, followed by a burst of laughter.

"Hahaha, this kid is definitely a lunatic!"

Zheng Liwei laughed until tears almost came out, pointing at the odds table on the big screen.

"Horse No. 5 had diarrhea yesterday, horse No. 8 has never finished in the top eight this year, and horse No. 11 is a new horse that just entered the race and doesn't even know the rules."

"You're betting on them to be in the top three? The odds are 1 to 200, and you dare to bet on that? You're throwing money away!"

"Never mind where I throw it, just tell Young Master Zheng if he dares to bet against me?"

Lin Yao's lips curled into a wicked smile. "If these three horses don't make it into the top three, this 60,000 yuan is yours, plus I'll kneel down and call you 'Grandpa' in front of everyone. But if I win..."

Lin Yao pointed towards the stables not far away, "Go over there and eat a pound of fresh horse manure raw, dare you?"

"Holy crap, this kid's got guts!"

The surrounding onlookers instantly perked up.

Provoked by Lin Yao's defiant gaze, Zheng Liwei's temper, typical of a wealthy young master, flared instantly: "Fine, I'll bet you today! In Hong Kong, no one dares to make me, Zheng Liwei, lose face. If you lose, I'll make you eat this 60,000 yuan bill by bill!"

"Hey beautiful, issue the ticket!"

Without hesitation, Lin Yao pushed the 60,000 yuan directly to the dumbfounded betting clerk at the window.

Sixty thousand yuan, 1 to 200 odds, bet on the worst horse!

Thirteen Sister felt like she was about to have a heart attack, gripping Lin Yao's arm tightly: "Are you crazy? That's our last bit of capital! You'd bet on me winning instead of those three sick horses!"

"Sis, calm down. Just get the sacks ready to hold the money in a bit."

Lin Yao confidently lit a cigarette.

3 p.m. sharp.

"Bang!"

With a crisp gunshot, the seventh race officially began, and more than a dozen racehorses shot out of the gate like arrows.

On the big screen, Zheng Liwei's heavily bet on Lightning King No. 1 was indeed far ahead, running in the lead with graceful movements and extremely fast speed.

The three less popular horses that Lin Yao bought lagged behind slowly, especially the number 5 horse, which even wobbled a bit when it ran.

"Hahaha, see that, you scoundrel? Lightning King is three whole body lengths ahead. Get ready to eat your money!"

Zheng Liwei laughed arrogantly.

Thirteen Sister covered her eyes in anguish. It was over. This time, she really was going to have to sleep under the overpass.

However, just as the race reached the last bend and it seemed that the number 1 Lightning King was about to cross the finish line, a sudden change occurred!

The lead racer, number 1, suddenly buckled in the front hooves. Perhaps it had eaten something bad the night before, because it fell face-first onto the track right in front of everyone.

That wasn't the end of it. Its fall tripped up the popular horses number 2, 3, and 4 that were right behind it, and the front of the track was instantly thrown into chaos, with riders and horses sprawling.

Holy crap!!!

The gamblers in the stands let out deafening screams.

Meanwhile, the three sick horses, numbers 5, 8, and 11, which had been steadily trailing at the back and running the slowest, perfectly avoided the scene of the chain-reaction collision because they were too far away.

The riders of these three inferior horses reacted quickly, taking advantage of the chaos ahead to whip their horses fiercely.

These three inferior horses, who usually ate their fill and lived a life of leisure, seemed to be infused with some mysterious power at this moment. They took off, bypassed the group of popular horses that were lying on the ground struggling, and leisurely crossed the finish line at an incredibly slow pace.

First place: Number 11!

Second place: Number 8!

Third place: Number 5!

Silence fell upon the entire Happy Valley racecourse, where tens of thousands of people gathered, as if a collective mute button had been pressed.

The next second, a scream like a pig being slaughtered erupted from the VIP area.

"Aaaaaah, what an upset! 3T pulled off an epic upset!!!"

"1 to 200, a perfect score!!!"

Zheng Liwei's arrogant smile froze completely, and the wine glass in his hand fell to the ground with a crash and shattered into pieces.

His eyes, hollowed out by wine and women, widened as he stared intently at the results on the screen, looking as if struck by lightning, frantically tearing at his hair, which was covered in hair wax.

"Impossible... This is absolutely impossible! It's a fixed match, it's definitely a rigged affair!!!"

Zheng Liwei roared hysterically.

Thirteen Sister, standing next to him, was completely petrified. She looked at the big screen and then at the thin horse racing ticket in Lin Yao's hand.

Sixty thousand yuan, multiplied by two hundred...

Ten million, twelve million?!

I've never seen so many zeros in my entire life, including my next life and the one after that!

Amidst the wailing despair and the jubilation of a select few winners, Lin Yao casually exhaled a smoke ring and tossed the cigarette butt to the ground, crushing it to extinguish.

He turned his head, looked at Zheng Shao, whose face was ashen and whose legs were weak, and revealed a devilishly kind smile.

"Young Master Zheng, you flatter me."

Lin Yao snapped his fingers and said to the waiter next to him, "Please prepare a knife and fork for this young master. Remember to pick the freshest ones from the stables. Young Master Zheng has a delicate stomach; don't let him get an upset stomach."