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

"thump!"

In the VIP room of HSBC Peregrine, Richard's legs, clad in expensive custom-made trousers, seemed to have lost all their bones, kneeling limply on the Persian carpet.

His slicked-back hair, which had cost dozens of dollars in hair wax, was now a mess, clinging to his scalp with cold sweat, making him look like a toad that had been hit by frost.

"This is impossible...this is not scientific, Great Britain..."

Richard muttered unconsciously, his worldview shattered into a million pieces.

In just ten minutes, this young man, dressed in Armani and accompanied by a young female bodyguard, not only accurately predicted the collapse of Swire Group, but also timed his prediction perfectly to capitalize on a sharp V-shaped rebound.

Twenty-five million in cash lay quietly in the trading account, radiating a dazzling golden light!

"Manager Richard, the ground is cold, don't kneel down."

Lin Yao sat on the leather sofa, looking down at the sofa and flicking off his cigarette ash, a mocking sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I'm in a hurry. If you can't come up with the 50x leveraged over-the-counter options betting agreement today, I guarantee that Peregrine will become the laughing stock of the entire Central district tomorrow."

Richard jolted awake, as if from a dream. He scrambled to his feet, his face alternating between pale and flushed, and gritted his teeth as he said, "Mr. Lin, please wait a moment. Fifty times leverage is too high a level. I need to consult with the big boss at headquarters in the UK!"

After saying that, he stumbled toward his desk and grabbed the internal international phone.

Ten minutes later, Richard, wiping the sweat from his brow, held a top-secret contract that had just been printed and was still warm from the ink. He bowed respectfully and handed it to Lin Yao.

"Mr. Lin, headquarters has approved it. With a principal of 25 million and leverage of 50 times, your maximum available funds have reached a staggering 1.25 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the handling fee has been reduced to the lowest in Hong Kong—one ten-thousandth!"

Richard kept his head down, and although his tone was respectful, a barely concealed greed and ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

Peregrine's senior British staff didn't believe in any kind of divine calculation; in their eyes, Lin Yao was just a nouveau riche who had gotten rich by sheer luck.

Fifty times leverage? That's practically suicide. If the market moves even two points in the opposite direction, this guy will be liquidated instantly, and his 25 million yuan principal will be wiped out and fall directly into Peregrine's pocket.

The true nature of capital is always to devour people without spitting out the bones.

Lin Yao took in Richard's subtle expressions, and inwardly let out a disdainful sneer.

You are the clown! Wait until Black Monday next month, and I'll show you Brits what true certain death means!

"Swish!"

Lin Yao pulled out his Montblanc pen and signed his name in a flourish.

[Ding! Host assets and credit leverage have exceeded one billion!]

[The whale's prediction panel experience points have skyrocketed, Lv1 upgrade progress: 80%!]

[System notification: There are 33 days left until the epic stock market crash. Host, please quickly develop diversified industries and build a closed-loop business empire to secure enormous future wealth!]

Hearing the system notification in his mind, Lin Yao's smile grew even brighter.

"Chen Zheng!"

Lin Yao tossed the contract to the top trader who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

"Yes, boss!"

Chen Zheng suddenly stood at attention, looking at Lin Yao as if he were looking at God.

"From today onwards, you will keep an eye on the market for me at Peregrine. Without my absolute instructions, you are not allowed to touch a single penny."

"Keep those 1.25 billion bullets firmly in the chamber!"

Lin Yao patted Chen Zheng on the shoulder, "Wait for me to smash this glass as a signal, and I'll make you tear a hole in the sky of Central!"

"Yes, boss, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

Chen Zheng was so excited that he trembled all over, his eyes burning with a crazy fighting spirit. As a trader, being able to control a super fund of 1.25 billion was a peak he never dared to dream of!

After explaining everything, Lin Yao led Thirteen Sister out of the Trading Plaza Building.

"Gurgle..."

Suddenly, a thunderous protest came from Thirteen Sister's stomach. She had experienced too many ups and downs in the past half day, and her nerves had been on edge. Now that she had relaxed, she was so hungry that her stomach was practically sticking to her back.

"Ah Yao, we have 25 million now, shouldn't we go out for a nice meal?"

Thirteen Sister swallowed hard, her eyes shining. "I heard the Australian lobster at the Peninsula Hotel is thicker than my arm!"

Seeing Thirteen Sister's pathetic state, Lin Yao couldn't help but laugh: "Why eat Western food? Let's go back to Kowloon and have the most authentic Typhoon Shelter Crab. Today it's your treat, you can eat your fill!"

"Yay! The food stalls in the Walled City are still my favorite!"

Thirteen Sister excitedly clenched her fist.

The two hailed a taxi and headed straight for Mong Kok in Kowloon. As night fell, the streets of Mong Kok were ablaze with neon lights and bustling with people. It was the most vibrant and lively place in Hong Kong, but also a lawless area where all sorts of people mingled.

Meanwhile, in a secluded old street not far from the food stalls, bursts of violent smashing and cursing could be heard.

"Bang!"

An expensive movie camera was kicked to the ground, and the lens shattered.

"You damn old hag, Lin Zheng, you owe Hutchison Whampoa 500,000 in usurious loans. If you don't pay it back today, I'll smash all the equipment in your crappy film crew and make sure you never make a bad movie again!"

A gangster with tattoos all over his arms and dyed yellow hair brandished a baseball bat and arrogantly pointed at a group of people opposite him.

Surrounded in the middle was a middle-aged man wearing a faded yellow Taoist robe with a distinctive straight eyebrow.

He had an upright appearance, but at this moment his face was full of grief and despair as he desperately protected several extras dressed in Qing Dynasty zombie costumes behind him.

"Brother Ji, please give me three more days, just three days!"

The man with the unibrow pleaded desperately, "My film 'Mr. Zombie' is about to wrap up filming, and I have a feeling it'll be a huge hit. When it does, I'll pay you back a million, not just 500,000, but with interest!"

"Pah!"

Yellow-haired Guy spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground. "Making zombie movies? These days, all the movies on the market are action films and cop movies. Who's going to watch a mummified corpse jumping around in Qing Dynasty clothes?"

"Selling like hotcakes? Selling like hotcakes my ass! Men, strip him of his Taoist robe and break his leg. Let's see if he dares to default on his debts again!"

Several thugs from Hutchison Whampoa walked up with sinister smiles, grabbed the man with the unibrow by the collar, and swung a baseball bat at him, ready to smash him down.

"stop!"

Just at this critical moment, a cold and extremely arrogant voice rang out at the alley entrance.

Yellow-haired Brother Ji frowned, turned around and cursed, "Which blind bastard dares to meddle in Hutchison's business? Do they want to die...?"

Before he could finish his curse, the words caught in his throat, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

At the alley entrance, Lin Yao, dressed in a well-tailored Armani suit, with half a Marlboro dangling from his lips, hands in his pockets, strode in with an air of nonchalance.

Behind him followed Hung Hing's Thirteen Sister, her face contorted with menace, a folding stool seemingly out of nowhere in her hand.

Yellow-haired Brother Kei recognized the tough guy from Portland Street, and his expression changed slightly. But relying on his numbers, he still mustered up his courage and said, "Little Choi, this is a matter for Wo Kee. Haven't you Hung Hing overstepped your bounds?"

Thirteen Sister completely ignored him, instead turning to Lin Yao and lowering her voice to say, "Yao, these guys from Hung Hing usually keep to themselves. It's not worth getting into a conflict over a lousy director who makes bad movies, is it?"

Lin Yao did not answer. His gaze was fixed on the man wearing a Bagua Taoist robe with a single eyebrow, and his heart was in turmoil.

Holy crap, Uncle Nine, Lam Ching?!

This guy looks way too much like the legendary figure from the original world who ushered in the golden age of Hong Kong zombie films.

"Mr. Zombie" is an epic blockbuster that could rake in tens of millions at the box office and create a brand new film genre.

The system just prompted him to diversify his business; it's like God has dumped a gold mine into his arms!

"Is it not worth it?"

Lin Yao exhaled a smoke ring, a domineering and maniacal smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He walked straight up to Huang Mao Ji Ge, and under the other man's wary gaze, he suddenly pulled out a checkbook from the inside pocket of his suit, drew out a pen, and scribbled down a string of numbers.

"Rip!"

Lin Yao tore off the check and slapped it directly onto Huang Mao Ji Ge's face.

"Here's one million!"

Lin Yao's voice echoed in the quiet alley, carrying an undeniable sense of oppressive financial power.

"Fifty thousand to pay off his debts, and another fifty thousand..."

Lin Yao's eyes turned cold as he pointed at the smashed camera on the ground.

"If I buy one leg from each of these scoundrels under your command, will they break it themselves, or will I pay Kowloon Walled City thugs to break it for them?"

Silence. The entire room was deathly still.

Huang Mao Ji Ge was stunned as he held the HSBC cash check that smelled of fresh ink. Although he was a low-level gangster, he recognized the capitalized number on it; it really was one million.

The gangsters in Hong Kong, to put it bluntly, are all out to make money. Someone would spend 500,000 to buy the legs of a few thugs. That's an incredibly good deal!

"Gulp."

The blond-haired man swallowed hard, his previous arrogance vanishing instantly. He bowed and scraped, saying with a fawning smile, "Boss, you...you should have said you had the money! This is such a small matter, how could I trouble you to do it yourself!"

After saying that, the blond-haired man turned his head and looked at the thugs who had smashed the machine earlier with a ferocious expression.

"You damn old hag, didn't you hear the boss? Hurry up and do it yourself! Do you expect me to personally clean house?!"

"Bang! Bang! Ah—!"

After several piercing screams, the gangsters who were smashing the machine broke their own calves with baseball bats and collapsed to the ground, howling and rolling around in pain.

"Boss, are you satisfied with this?"

Yellow-haired Brother Ji held the check in both hands, smiling like a daisy.

"roll."

Lin Yao didn't even bother to look at him.

"Yes, yes, we'll leave right away!"

Huang Mao Ji Ge felt like he had been granted a pardon and led his men to escape from the alley, dragging and pulling them along.

Only after the group of scoundrels had gone far away did Lin Zhengcai, the director with a single eyebrow and wearing a Bagua Taoist robe, suddenly wake up from his dream. He looked at the young, ridiculously young scion of a wealthy family who casually tossed out a million dollars, and he was so excited that he trembled all over.

"This, boss... thank you so much for saving my life, but I may never be able to repay this million in my lifetime..."

Lin Zheng lowered his head in shame.

"Who asked you to pay it back?"

Lin Yao stepped forward, grabbed Lin Zheng, and his eyes gleamed with the fanatical light of a capitalist discovering a golden opportunity to exploit others.

"Director Lin, right? My name is Lin Yao, chairman of Yaosheng Capital."

Lin Yao turned around and pointed to the dilapidated film set behind him. "From today onwards, you, along with your film 'Mr. Zombie,' and everyone in your crew, are all acquired by me."

"I'll give you another five million, provide the manpower and the money, and I want you to finish filming, editing, and release this movie throughout Hong Kong within a month."

"I want to show the entire Hong Kong film industry what true 'dimensional reduction attack' really means!"