Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1010 The Three Great Evil Arts of Asia, Hong Kong's Fierce General Manager (Two Chapters Combined)
"Are these clothes appropriate for us?" The three hesitated upon hearing Fang Yan's question.

He said in dialect:

"What's the difference between appropriate and inappropriate? If people give us these, we should use them with confidence and boldness. Besides, we wear these to integrate into the local community."

"Choose whatever you like. After you've chosen, I'll do your makeup!"

At this moment, Wang Feng said in a deep, muffled voice:

"I need to take a shower, the plane landing gave me a real fright..."

The dialect made me laugh so hard:
"Hahaha... Okay."

At this moment, Li Chong reminded him:

"Wait a minute before you go wash up. Let's check the room thoroughly first!"

The group then began to inspect the items carefully.

Seeing how serious they were, Fang Yan decided to check the cabinets in the room as well.

In the master bedroom's wardrobe, dark gray striped suits and light blue shirts hung neatly, and several ties with patterns ranging from plain twill to dark bamboo leaf patterns were draped on the trouser rack.

Fang Yan opened the drawer again, and there were several pairs of crocodile skin shoes stacked inside, the toes polished to a shine, and a note under the insole:
"If the size is not right, please call the housekeeping department to exchange it."

Upon entering the second bedroom, Fang Yan discovered that there were still clothes there, and they were even The North Face hiking clothes.

That is, a popular outdoor brand in the past.

Seeing this thing appear in 1978 gives Fang Yan a sense of time warp.

It felt like seeing a Qing Dynasty person wearing Converse sneakers in a photograph.

It's reasonable, but it just doesn't feel right.

This brand actually existed as early as 1966, so the company has a very long history.

It was only after outdoor fashion became popular in mainland China that it gained attention.

Actually, Hendrik Willem Van Loon wore a yellow North Face jacket in the 1995 film Police Story 4: First Strike.

"This clothing is made of good material, light and breathable, very suitable for Hong Kong's hot and humid climate," Deng Cai said to Fang Yan as he approached her.

"Then wear it if you like," Fang Yan said with a smile.

Deng Cai liked the style very much and nodded with a smile:

"Hey, okay! Then I won't be polite."

As he spoke, he put it on.

The dialect reminded him:
"Remember to change your shoes into sneakers too."

Fang Yan continued rummaging through the closets, and found beach shorts and printed shirts in the wardrobe in the second bedroom.

Wang Feng picked up a Hawaiian-style floral shirt and held it up in front of the mirror.

He is very tall, so this loose-fitting outfit suits him best, and wearing sunglasses makes him look even more like the person he is.

After searching the second bedroom, Fang Yan went to the main living room. In the mini-fridge next to the minibar, in addition to drinks, Fang Yan also found several boxes of herbal jelly in a separate compartment, with the packaging printed with "Tongrentang Herbal Tea Secret Recipe".

I opened the box and smelled it.

"Director Fang, let's eat first. If we're alright, you can eat later!" Li Chong appeared behind Fang Yan at some point and said to him nervously.

Fang Yan was both amused and exasperated, and said:
"Don't worry, it's not poisonous, and I didn't plan to eat it anyway."

As he spoke, he picked up a copy of "Hong Kong Travel Guide" from his desk drawer.

As soon as I opened it, I found a handwritten note tucked inside the title page:
"I recommend going to Victoria Peak in the evening to watch the sunset. The Peak Tram terminus is at 33 Garden Road."

At this moment, Li Chong noticed two white magnolia flowers in a vase on the windowsill, with the hotel's delivery menu under the porcelain basin.

Cantonese dim sum and English afternoon tea sets are listed side by side, with prices indicated in Hong Kong dollars.

There was also an envelope stuck to it, containing exchanged Hong Kong dollars. The amount wasn't much, but it was enough for a short trip.

Next to the bathtub in the bathroom, there was a set of wooden bath tub toys, clearly intended for children.

Mrs. Huo thought that Fang Yan might have family members accompanying them, but she didn't know that they hadn't brought any family members with them.

Push open the floor-to-ceiling window, and you can see the shimmering Victoria Harbour outside the wrought iron railings, with a cargo ship bearing the logo of "Hutchison Whampoa" slowly passing by.

Li Chong walked over, took out his sketchbook from his canvas bag, tore off a piece of paper, and sketched the layout of the room.

Of the three people here, Li Chong is probably the most meticulous.

"Alright, you should change your clothes too," Fang Yan said, turning around to Li Chong.

They basically checked everything here; it was like something only secret agents would do.

"I'll check under the stool and flowerpots again right away," Li Chong said.

Fang Yan shook his head and said to the other two:

"You guys hurry up and try on the clothes too, I'm going to the restroom to prepare my makeup tools."

He took his briefcase, pushed open the bathroom door, and found he had prepared some things in the bag. After all, he was coming to Hong Kong, so he must have thought about the possible problems he might encounter.

As soon as I got to the bathroom, I found a leather makeup case on the vanity.

Upon opening it, I found a complete set of items, including eyebrow pencils and concealers, presumably intended for women. Now, Fang Yan has gotten a good deal.

He quickly started applying makeup to his face.

With just a few simple steps, Fang Yan's entire demeanor has changed.

His eyebrows and eyes, which were originally upright, became sharp. When he changed into a brand-name suit, the first impression he gave was that of a rich second-generation with some ability, a strange temper, and who was very difficult to deal with.

Fang Yan looked at herself in the mirror, scratched her hair, and finally felt satisfied with her look.

He's like a completely different person now.

At this moment, Deng Cai and Li Chong walked in and were also taken aback when they saw Fang Yan.

Although I knew it was still in dialect, upon closer inspection I realized it was someone else sitting there.

If it were anyone else, they would never imagine that people speak dialects nowadays.

"This makeup technique is amazing!" Deng Cai said to Fang Yan.

"You guys come too!" Fang Yan said.

After some polite refusals, Deng Cai went first, while Li Chong waited on the side.

Fang Yan also made a few simple strokes on his face, and Deng Cai's face and temperament were completely different.

After learning Luo's bone setting technique, Fang Yan's understanding of the human body deepened, and his makeup skills reached a new level.

With the system's support, even professional makeup artists can't match the skill level of those who use dialects.

This move left Deng Cai and his team dumbfounded.

It felt like the same person, but with just a few simple changes in dialect, the whole person seemed to have changed.

“You’re not the main target, just draw whatever you want,” Fang Yan said to them.

"Is this just casual drawing?" Deng Cai asked in surprise.

If you were to draw the dialects carefully, wouldn't people be completely unrecognizable?
When the two of them finished their makeup and came out, Wang Feng, who had just showered and changed his clothes, was in the living room. He was slightly taken aback when he saw the three of them.
"who are you?"

Deng Cai smiled and said:

"Haha, you don't even recognize us?"

Wang Feng then realized what was happening and was so surprised that he was speechless.

"This is unbelievable!"

He greeted Wang Feng in dialect:

"Hurry up, I'll do it for you too."

Li Chong said:

"Yes, so many people outside saw us enter the hotel. We all need to change our appearance so that we won't be spotted when we go out together later."

Wang Feng nodded, then went to the restroom, where he finally witnessed firsthand the incredible skill of using dialect.

Although I am still myself, my face has become that of a different person.

"It's practically a head transplant!" Wang Feng exclaimed.

Of the three great evil arts of Asia in the future, dialects have already been mastered.

Fang Yan said to them:

"Now that's settled, let's go out for a stroll."

Everyone nodded.

Fang Yan plans to first visit her and Lao Hu's company to learn about their current work, then go find Le Miao to deliver the gifts she brought from Beijing, and also visit Tongrentang in Hong Kong.

Then I'll go check on Old Zhou's house.

Finally, let's take a look at the TV series set and see how far they've progressed in making the movie.

Then, it's about time to come back.

Fang Yan opened the door to the room. Before leaving, he still planned to report to Director Liao and the others.

The waiter had just told Fang Yan that Director Liao and the others were all here, so Fang Yan went to a room next door and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a young voice came from inside the door.

“Me!” Fang Yan replied.

The door was immediately opened, and a veteran security guard accompanying the team looked at the group of people in front of him and was slightly taken aback.

Then, cautiously, he asked:
"who are you?"

“We!” Fang Yan said to him again.

The other party then realized what was happening.

"Director Fang?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

Nodding in dialect:

"Yes, I've gotten dressed and am about to head out. Where is Director Liao? We need to report to him!"

Upon hearing this dialect, the other person quickly replied:
"Director Liao had just arrived here a short while ago when Mr. Huo called, and then he went out."

"I guess they've already met with Mr. Huo by now."

"I see..." Fang Yan said thoughtfully.

Then he thought for a moment and said:
"We'll head out now and be back before 6 p.m. If Director Liao asks me, just tell him we've gone out."

The other person was still somewhat unaccustomed to the dialect and the three unfamiliar faces. They carefully sized each other up before nodding.
"it is good!"

Then the old man in the room came out, saw Fang Yan and the others at the door, and asked:
"I just heard a dialect voice."

“It’s me,” Fang Yan replied.

The old man was startled and stared wide-eyed at the "stranger" dressed in a sharp suit at the door.

He didn't come to his senses until his security guard confirmed it.

After greeting the old man, Fang Yan led everyone downstairs.

Before getting on the elevator, Fang Yan glanced at everyone's watches and reminded them:

"Put the watch away; our mainland watches are too conspicuous here."

Everyone then realized that they had been so focused on praising Fang Yan's makeup skills that they had overlooked this detail.

After putting it away, Fang Yan went to the elevator, pressed the button, and took out the "Hong Kong Travel Guide" he had just received. He pointed to a location in the book and said to everyone:

"Let's walk there."

Lao Hu's original company was located at 22 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

In 1978, Granville Road had not yet become the "hotspot for trendy brands" it would later become, but it had already attracted many Southeast Asian pharmaceutical merchants and local trading companies. The street was spacious and the rents were lower than in Central.

It is also adjacent to the Star Ferry Pier, which facilitates the transportation of goods by water, and it is only an 8-minute walk to the Peninsula Hotel.

After taking the elevator, Fang Yan and his group exited through a side door of the Peninsula Hotel, avoiding the crowds in the lobby.

Wang Feng pushed his sunglasses up to his head, revealing two thick eyebrows. Fang Yan had drawn thick eyebrows on him with an eyebrow pencil. Paired with loose beach shorts and the gift package he was carrying, his 1.9-meter height was quite imposing, making him look exactly like a bodyguard and follower of an overseas Chinese businessman from Southeast Asia.

Deng Cai, dressed in sportswear with his hair pulled back, walked beside Fang Yan, looking very much like a friend of some rich second-generation.

As for Li Chong, he was the shortest, dressed in the most unassuming shirt and shorts, and holding a notebook in his hand, just like the person in charge of Fang Yan.

The group walked out like that.

Stepping into Salisbury Road from the side entrance of the Peninsula Hotel, the morning sunlight at nine o'clock is cut into stripes of light and dark by the arcades of the high-rise buildings.

At a newsstand on a street corner, an old woman selling newspapers used a bamboo pole to hold up a copy of the Ta Kung Pao newspaper. Below the headline "The eldest son of the Huo family will get married tomorrow" on the front page, there was a blurry half-body photo of Huo's representative and his fiancée.

"Look to the left," Li Chong said in a low voice.

A motorcycle sped past, and the group of people tacitly shielded Fang Yan behind them.

Right now, everyone seems to be unable to speak the dialect.

Keep going.

Next to the blue and white iron gate of the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, several young men in bell-bottoms were smoking around a motorcycle with a red cloth strip bearing the name "Wo Shing Wo" hanging on the handlebars.

As they passed by, one of them whistled, his gaze lingering on Wang Feng's floral shirt. The fluorescent orange floral pattern on the fabric was considered avant-garde in Hong Kong in 1978; even money couldn't guarantee you could buy one.

As several people turned their gazes toward them, a fierce killing intent sent a chill down the spines of these men for no apparent reason.

One by one, they seemed to have been suddenly muted, and immediately became quiet.

After Fang Yan and the others left, the group finally felt a sense of relief and were able to breathe freely again.

Turning onto Granville Road, the aroma of angelica wafts from the Chinese medicine shops under the arcades.

An employee at Eu Yan Sang was wrapping fritillaria cirrhosa in kraft paper. Behind the counter hung a yellowed "Opium Prohibited" sign, stacked next to a newly posted "Buy Three Get One Free" poster for Huoxiang Zhengqi Water.

Fang Yan, upon seeing this, wondered what Hong Kong Tongrentang would actually be like.

Continuing on, the sound of a ship's horn came from the Star Ferry Pier at the end of the street. A cargo ship painted with the words "Hutchison Whampoa" was slowly docking, and workers were unloading medicinal herbs with bamboo baskets.

The crowd suddenly stopped and stared at the graffiti on the dock railing. Next to the words "Down with British Imperialism" written in red paint, a new cartoon had been spray-painted:

A man wearing a melon-shaped hat is holding an abacus, with the caption "Making money is paramount."

“This painting…” Wang Feng frowned.

"A new wave of artists' stuff." Fang Yan crushed the betel nut residue at his feet with his toe.
"That's how Hong Kong is. Yesterday they were shouting slogans, and today they're thinking about making money."

"They caused quite a stir a while ago, but now things have basically calmed down again."

Everyone nodded in agreement; they had read some recent news about the area before coming.

Soon the group arrived at their destination, 22 Granville Road.

This is a three-story building. The main door downstairs is ajar, and the bronze plaque of "Qihuang Pharmaceutical Trading Company" on the door frame has been wiped clean.

The small blackboard next to it reads "Open at 9:00 AM" in chalk.

It's just past 9:10, but it looks like the store isn't open yet.

The professional manager that Lao Hu hired is a bit lax!

On the wall outside the company, a notice board had been newly posted with a job posting for an English-speaking secretary. The salary column was circled in red with "two thousand per month," which was considered a high salary in Hong Kong in 1978.

The blinds in the second-floor office area were half-open, and people standing downstairs could hear conversations from upstairs.

Upon hearing the dialect, I realized it was a pre-work training session.

He knocked on the door, and a head immediately popped out from the second floor. A man who looked somewhat mixed-race asked in Cantonese with a Southeast Asian accent:

"Sir, what's the matter?"

Li Chong spoke to him in Cantonese:
"Mr. Hu informed you a few days ago!"

Upon hearing this, the other party visibly flinched.

He immediately switched to a less-than-perfect Mandarin and said:
"Just a moment, I'll be right down!"

He quickly arrived downstairs and opened the door.

He looked at the group of people and asked:

"Are you all from the capital?"

"Yes." Deng Cai nodded.

The other party glanced at Deng Cai and asked:

"Which one of you is Mr. Fang?"

This is Lao Hu's old subordinate; he was originally the person in charge of liaison here, so Fang Yan didn't hide anything from him and said:

"I."

The man immediately greeted him with a smile and in dialect:

"Hello Mr. Fang! My name is Chu Bin. You can also call me by my English name David, or Lao Chu, or Binzai, whatever you like." He smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with Fang Yan.

Fang Yan noticed thin calluses on his fingers, which indicated that he either wrote frequently or handled a gun.

"David." In order to avoid being exposed in public, Fang Yan had no choice but to follow local customs and call out to him.

Chu Bin was wearing a yellowish white shirt with a pen clipped to his collar. His work badge, hanging on his chest, showed that he was the "General Manager." He looked thinner in the photo than he does now, but his eyes still shone with shrewdness.

"Mr. Hu called and reminded us that you would be coming today or tomorrow." He stepped aside to let everyone in.

The first floor is a reception area, where there are also many boxes of medicine sent from the capital.

Fang Yan checked the production dates and found they were all from factories in the Chaoyang Dongba area.

"Mr. Fang, please come upstairs. Our office is upstairs," Chu Bin said to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan nodded, gesturing for him to go first.

The others remained vigilant. When they went upstairs, their leather shoes creaked as they stepped on the wooden stairs. The handrails were wrapped with anti-slip rope, a practice common in older buildings.

Upon arriving at the second-floor office area, one can find four wooden desks with abacuses and calculators placed side by side on them. A map of Hong Kong hangs on the wall, with three circles around Victoria Harbour marked in red, labeled "Fok Mansion," "Dock," and "Company."

There were also several pretty young women sitting behind the desk, looking at the group of people who came up with curious expressions.

Chu Bin said to Fang Yan:

"The morning briefing just ended, and the medicinal herb samples are all in the laboratory on the third floor."

Fang Yan glanced at the group of pretty girls, then gave the guy a meaningful look, nodded, and gestured for him to lead the way.

Chu Bin scratched his head awkwardly and led them upstairs.

The smell of alcohol wafted from the laboratory on the third floor. Two technicians in white coats were conducting component tests under a microscope—a necessary procedure for export. Upon seeing the dialect, one of them instinctively said in English, "Mr..."

“Speak Chinese.” Chu Bin coughed lightly, then turned to explain to Fang Yan, “The newly recruited college students are used to being taught in English.”

He pushed open the filing cabinet by the window, revealing a metal box with a combination lock:
"This is this month's shipping manifest. The manifests for sea freight are stamped with a blue stamp, and those for air freight are stamped with a red stamp. We have already started trying to ship to Southeast Asia."

Fang Yan noticed a book titled "Basic Chinese Grammar" in the corner of the tin box. Between the pages was a currency conversion table, and the latest page was marked in red pen with "RMB to HKD exchange rate in May 1978: 1:0.48".

The shipping manifests inside were very neatly made, indicating that the person in question was quite capable.

He read the dialect text very quickly, memorizing the contents rapidly, though Chu Bin felt it was somewhat superficial.

Of course, he didn't dare to be careless and waited patiently to the side.

After he finished translating the dialect in a short while, he said:

"We're currently short on stock, so we're waiting for more to arrive."

Just then, the shouts of dockworkers came from outside the window. Chu Bin walked to the window and pointed to a cargo ship flying the Panamanian flag in the distance:

"That ship will be loaded tomorrow. The goods that arrived in Beijing are very popular here. If it weren't for Mr. Hu wanting to expand into the Southeast Asian market, the market here in Hong Kong would actually be just as good."

Fang Yan nodded.

Then he said to him:
"Thank you for your hard work, David." Fang Yan glanced at the duty roster on the wall and found that his name occupied almost every time slot.

asked:

"Are you the only one in charge of this place?"

“There are three more guys doing fieldwork.” Chu Bin smiled, took out his key, and opened the lab bench drawer. Inside, test tubes were neatly stacked, with labels in Chinese and Latin indicating the various samples collected.

Chu Bin said with a smile:

"Mr. Hu said that once you have seen the sample, it will be sent to the Government House Medical Office. They are currently investigating the ingredients of Chinese medicine, and we need to get there first."

Fang Yan nodded; he hadn't come here to cause trouble in the first place.

I'm just looking at the situation in Hong Kong.

Then, Fang Yan asked about what she cared about most:
"How are the drug patent registrations going?"

Chu Bin said:

"So far things are going smoothly, but it seems like the Japanese side has noticed our actions. People from Tsumura Pharmaceuticals invited me to dinner on Monday night, saying they wanted to talk to me."

Fang Yan was taken aback and asked curiously:
"Oh? Such a quick reaction?"

Chu Bin said:

"They are very well-informed, like dogs. They are willing to pay for intelligence, so it won't be too complicated to find out about me."

"And recently I even had the media publish information about their Otsuka incident. Now they probably want to kill me."

Fang Yan asked him:
"So what do you plan to do?"

Chu Bin said:

"Of course we should go see them; there's no way to avoid this kind of thing."

"They're just using threats and inducements. I've been through this kind of thing many times. Mr. Hu arranged for me to be here to do this."

It's clear he's very confident in himself.

Fang Yan nodded and said:
"Is there anything I can help you with? Like safety or something."

Chu Bin said with a smile:

"Mr. Fang, you're too kind. This is just my duty."

"If I can't even handle things here, then I won't have the face to face Mr. Hu's trust."

After saying that, he took the key and opened a drawer, the contents of which surprised everyone.

It turned out to be a miniature pistol.

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)