Reborn in 1970, I thrived in Hong Kong.

The huge success of "72 Tenants" has brought good news: the mainland comic talent that Li Huai-ren has been longing for has arrived in Hong Kong.

In mid-September, a transfer order brought 120 cartoon talents, including those from Shanghai Animation Film Studio who had been sent to rural areas, back to their original units. They were then sent to Hong Kong to support Phoenix Comics Weekly, owned by Li Huai-ren, and arrived in Hong Kong on October 2.

Li Huai-ren was overjoyed and hosted a banquet at Hongfu Restaurant to personally welcome the 120 talented cartoonists who had traveled from afar.

After meeting these 120 talented cartoonists, Li Huai-ren was so happy that his eyes were practically popping out of his head; he looked like a dog's head that had been boiled in hot water.

The reason is simple: in his previous life, under his mother's guidance of "quality education," Li Huai-ren studied diligently from kindergarten to high school, simultaneously mastering piano and painting. Naturally, he gained some understanding of painters and cartoonists both at home and abroad.

Of these 120 people, he actually knew more than a dozen of them; in his previous life, when he was learning to paint, he had even copied their works.

"It was only during this period that it became possible to gather so many big names into the small Phoenix Comic Weekly." Li Huai-ren sighed, then immediately set his sights on them:

"So many big names have been seconded here. After the reform and opening up, most of them will be returning to their original units. They still have six or seven years, so it's a good time for them to help train a new generation of comic book talent!"

That same day, after obtaining the consent of these bigwigs, Li Huai-ren immediately instructed Phoenix Comics Weekly to recruit comic book apprentices.

The following day, the latest issue of Phoenix Comics Weekly published the news:

Phoenix Comics Weekly is recruiting 120 apprentices aspiring to work in the comics industry. The program is six years long and includes one-on-one tutoring by renowned instructors. Lunch is provided during the apprenticeship period, and the apprentices will receive Hong Kong's minimum wage monthly as a subsidy. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

In a primary school in Kowloon, a boy named Ma Wing-shing, around ten years old, would secretly pull out a copy of "Phoenix Comics Weekly" from under his desk whenever the teacher turned to write on the blackboard. His eyes would fall on the apprenticeship notice, and he would be filled with excitement.

After school in the afternoon, he made a special detour to Phoenix Comic Weekly to take the assessment with Qiu Fulong, Feng Zhiming, Li Zhiqing and others who had registered before him.

An hour later, Ma Wing-shing happily rushed out of the Phoenix Comic Weekly office building:

"Haha, I passed the exam! I passed the exam! Now I'll get a salary too..."

He took eight steps with his short legs to catch the cicadas, disappearing from the street corner in an instant, leaving behind his clear, cheerful laughter.

On one hand, after handing over the task of recruiting apprentices for Phoenix Comics Weekly, Li Huai-ren shifted his focus to Phoenix Electrical Appliances Company.

After more than half a year, Lin Weijia, general manager of Phoenix Electric Appliances Company, finally managed to gather the basic technology patent licenses for air conditioners, washing machines, televisions and other electrical appliances from companies such as Sony, Siemens, and Philips, and could officially start selling the appliances that had already been produced in advance.

In the Phoenix Electric Appliances Company's product showroom, Li Huai-ren glanced at the various appliances with designs far ahead of their time, then turned to Lin Wei-jia and asked:

Have the design patents for all products been obtained?

Lin Weijia smiled happily:

"Boss, we've applied for over a thousand design patents."

Li Huai-ren nodded:

"That's good. Then let's proceed as planned and use some of the electrical appliance design patents that we don't want to use to exchange for the basic technology patents that we need from companies like Sony, Siemens, and Philips."

He glanced back at Lin Weijia and added:

"By the way, give it to those with extremely high craftsmanship requirements."

Don't hesitate, give it away! With current production technology, even if they could produce it, the cost would be ridiculously high.

By the time production costs come down, the patent protection period will likely be over.

Li Huai-ren was certainly very familiar with the production costs of electrical appliances. With current production technology, some exquisitely designed plastic parts simply could not be produced.

The main reasons are: first, the mold cannot be opened; second, the new materials lack the corresponding process conditions for production; and third, the scrap rate of products produced by injection molding equipment is extremely high.

Giving away these design patents in exchange for basic technology patents is just right.

After discussing the launch and sales of the new product with Lin Weijia, Li Huai-ren and Lin Weijia went to the Phoenix Electronics Factory next door.

At the Phoenix Electronics Factory, Li Huai-ren had a private conversation with Lin Wei-jia and Deng Wen-shan for most of the day, learning about the research and development progress of confidential projects such as the Phoenix operating system and Phoenix computers. He also gave Deng Wen-shan some instructions before leaving.

At 5 p.m., Li Huai-ren appeared on time at the underground parking lot of Phoenix Building on Broadcast Drive to pick up Teresa Teng, Angie Chiu, and Leslie Cheung to take them back.

Zhao Yazhi was the first to arrive. After getting into the car, she hesitated for a moment, her cheeks slightly flushed, and said to Li Huai-ren:

"On the morning of October 6th, you are not allowed to go anywhere. You must come with me to one place."

Li Huai-ren was taken aback, and casually asked:

"Where are you going? Why are you being so secretive?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yazhi blushed even more and said:

Why are you asking so many questions? I'll tell you when the time comes.

Just as Li Huai-ren was about to ask for clarification, Teresa Teng had already stepped out of the elevator and was walking towards the Mercedes. He had no choice but to give up and not ask any more questions.

Li Huai-ren picked up the two girls, drove to the school gate to pick up Leslie Cheung, and then went home.

As for the three girls, Lin Qingxia, Chen Yulian, and Guan Jiahui, who attended the same school, they were each picked up and dropped off daily by Qiao Rong, Qiao Wu's second younger sister, who was Lin Qingxia's female bodyguard, driver, and assistant.

The Mercedes came to a smooth stop in front of the villa where Teresa Teng, Angie Chiu, and Chen Yu-lien lived on Bijia Mountain. After Angie Chiu got out of the car, Teresa Teng glanced at Leslie Cheung sitting in the passenger seat, blushed, and said to Li Huai-ren:

"On the morning of October 6th, you are not allowed to go anywhere. You must come with me to one place."

Li Huai-ren was taken aback and immediately said:

"Could you please schedule it for another time? I just promised A-Zhi in the Phoenix Building parking lot that I would go somewhere with her that morning."

Teresa Teng was stunned:

"Oh? A-Zhi already made plans with you? That's fine, we're going to the same place, we can just go together."

After saying that, she pushed open the car door and got out without waiting for Li Huai-ren's reply.

Li Huai-ren, unsure of the two women's intentions, shook his head and said to Leslie Cheung:

"That's strange, why are A-Zhi and Li-Jun acting so odd today?"

Leslie Cheung seemed to have known something all along. Suppressing a laugh, he turned to look out the car window and said:

"What's so strange about it? We'll find out on the 6th."

The next morning, Brigitte Lin rushed over early, just as Li Huai-ren finished his boxing practice. She quickly grabbed him and said:

"The day after tomorrow morning, which is the morning of the 6th, you are not allowed to go anywhere. You must come with me to one place."