Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 239-16: Uninvited Guests

"Mr. Chi, the Chinese menu is in the back."

Seeing Chi Mengli's embarrassment, Ruan Wen quickly reminded her that the next few pages were the Chinese menu.

Hearing the prompt, Chi Mengli immediately turned to the menu at the back and found that he could order either a la carte or a set menu. Regardless of his past life or this life, he did not like Western food. The only thing he liked was Brazilian BBQ buffet, but it seemed that it could not be considered Western food.

"I am a rough man, I don't know how these foreigners eat. The guest should follow the host's wishes. I will eat whatever Miss Ruan eats."

"Kole, you're already in the film industry now, you'll definitely have to go to Europe and America to shoot location scenes, practice your English more and don't bring shame to Hong Kong, you loser!"

Chi Mengli put the menu aside, too lazy to look at it, and let Ruan Wen take a look at it. He already regretted coming to see Ruan Wen. This ghost woman was still living in the world in his mind, relying on the money in her pocket, ready to make great plans.

However, it does not cost much to shoot a movie in Hong Kong now. If the production period is short, a low-budget movie can be made with only two or three hundred thousand.

But even so, there are constant news reports of film companies going bankrupt as soon as they started production. Some well-known large companies even had to sell their headquarters buildings to pay off debts because of the box office failure of a movie.

In the film industry, even if you have 100 million in cash in your pocket, the director will find ways to spend it all and won't save you even a single cent.

Chi Mengli could already predict Ruan Wen's expression when he left sadly.

Seeing that the responsibility of ordering food fell on him, Ruan Wen simply pressed the bell under the table and asked the waiter to come in to take the order.

"Ms. Ruan, what would you like to order?"

The waiter first brought a pot of brewed lemonade and poured a glass for each of the three people present.

"I want the cod fish set meal, and these two gentlemen want the top-grade veal set meal. As for the other side dishes, you can choose the combination as you like."

"For wine, open two bottles of Latour."

Eating and drinking were not the main purpose of this meeting; talking about business was the main focus. Ruan Wen quickly ordered the food and wine and sent the waiter away.

After the waiter left, Ruan Wen cleared his throat, refilled his cigarette, pondered for a moment, and said, "My mother always told me that when you encounter a mountain, you should build a road; when you encounter a river, you should build a bridge; when you encounter money, you should build a road. No matter whether it is a mountain god or a river god, you should not offend any of them."

"Coke, take the things out."

Hearing the boss's instructions, Coke opened the briefcase he was carrying, took out a packaged box, and placed it in front of Chi Mengli.

"Brother Sheng, this is the latest invention in Europe and America. It is a major invention for the film industry. In the future, we can watch movies at home without having to go to the cinema."

Coke explained to Chi Mengli with great excitement that it was just like discovering a new continent.

Chi Mengli held a cigarette in his mouth and opened the packaging bag of the box, only to find that there was a videotape in the package.

Videotapes are indeed a major invention for the film and television industry. They lower the threshold for home entertainment and allow people to watch movies at home.

In his previous life, Chi Mengli was born in 1993. He had never experienced the videotape era. As far as he could remember, it was the era of VCDs.

But this is indeed a good business. Purchasing the copyrights of old movies, recording them into videotapes, and selling them all over the world. After all, Hong Kong movies are the most popular in Asia. All you have to do is find professionals to re-dub the audio.

The copyrights of old movies that have been released are not expensive now, and you can buy a negative for a few thousand dollars.

Chi Mengli immediately understood what Ruan Wen wanted to do. This was indeed a good way to make money. He figured it out in his head, but he had to pretend not to know. He deliberately said, "Miss Ruan, you are a professional, and I am just a gangster. I don't understand the rare items you took out."

"I, the handsome boy Sheng, came here with sincerity, not like a child playing house or guessing."

After saying that, he threw the videotape on the table with an unhappy expression on his face.

Ruan Wen smiled, flicked some ash into the ashtray, and said with a smile: "Mr. Chi, don't be angry. This is the latest videotape developed by Panasonic, a 25mm videotape."

"In Europe and the United States, video recorders using 25mm tapes have gradually replaced 50mm tape recorders and are widely used by television stations in various countries as professional high-end video recorders."

"This type of 25mm videotape costs HK$25 in the Netherlands and West Germany, but Panasonic and Sony's mm videotapes are much cheaper, only HK$."

"This videotape can record four hours of footage."

"Movie film is usually measured in feet. A standard 35mm movie film projects 24 frames per second. If a one-minute movie is projected at the standard frame rate, the required film length is about 1 feet (one foot equals 90 meters)."

"That is to say, a 90-minute ordinary movie requires about 8100 feet of film, but this is only a theoretical basic value."

"Most movies are two hours long, or 120 minutes long, which means you can record two movies on one tape."

There was a knock on the door of the box. Ruan Wen pressed the cigarette butt in his hand into the ashtray, immediately closed his mouth, and watched the waiter come in with the food cart and bring dinner for the three of them.

The waiters placed the plates in front of the three guests, opened the lids of two bottles of chilled Latour wine, and handed two corks to Ruan Wen.

Ruan Wen smelled the wine on the oak cork, it was the familiar tannin smell. Among the first-class wineries in France, she liked Latour red wine because it was complex enough.

Latour red wine has a strong smoky and toasted aroma, accompanied by truffles, mint, leather, black cherry and mineral notes, as well as rich flavors of black currant, blackberry, tobacco, coffee and vanilla.

It has rich tannins, a rich and full taste, a full body, a strong taste and a high alcohol content, giving people a mellow and strong feeling.

But beyond its strength, it also has a hint of gentleness, elegant purity and viscosity, and is full of wonderful layers. It is a fine wine that combines both strength and softness with a complex taste.

"Okay, put it in the wine dispenser!"

Because they didn't order vintage wine but only new wine, and new red wine does not need to be decanted, Ruan Wen asked the waiter to pour the red wine into a wine decanter.

"have a good meal!"

After completing the service, the waiters bowed to Ruan Wen and the other two and left the box.

"I will continue to introduce Mr. Chi. Do you know Sony Corporation in Japan?"

Chi Mengli picked up the red wine glass and swung it for a while, then he heard the name of the country that bothered him. He subconsciously frowned, then immediately covered it up with a smile and answered, "Of course I know."

Ruan Wen did not notice Chi Mengli's reaction. She continued to explain the latest technology to the big boss opposite her: "The Dutch Philips Company has launched a miniaturized home video recorder, but Sony does not want to lose the home entertainment market."

"So we improved our existing technology. This was not an improvement made by a single manufacturer. The BETA Group, led by Sony, jointly developed and pioneered a new type of video recorder that combines shooting, recording and playback."

"Labor costs in Japan are very high in Asia, but they are rock-bottom prices in the Netherlands, West Germany, and North America."

"Within a year, the Japanese video recorders with unified specifications will become the winners in the market, and our 25mm video tape factory will directly monopolize the movie video tape market in the entire Asia."

"I wonder if Mr. Chi is interested?"

Ruan Wen spoke excitedly, and her fair face flushed.

In the long history of human development, every technological change is like a storm that shakes the world. Wherever it roars past, the wave of wealth surges!

From the billowing smoke of the Industrial Revolution, the roar of the steam engine ushered in a new era, with factories standing everywhere and wealth gushing out.

The railways were extended to connect all directions, the business territory expanded rapidly, and those pioneers who dared to be the first made a fortune.

The dawn of the Internet era is a feast of wealth for all the people. Information reaches the world instantly, e-commerce rises, rewriting the rules of consumption, and countless entrepreneurs start from scratch and create business legends.

Social media, online office, new business models are emerging like stars, allowing participants to enjoy the dividends. At present, cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain are in the ascendant, and a group of trendsetters are bravely standing at the forefront.

Seizing the opportunity of technological change is like holding the key to open the door to wealth.

But Chi Mengli was not as excited as Ruan Wen, because he had seen more inspiring speeches than Ruan Wen in his previous life, the pyramid models and sales concepts of getting rich overnight from the mouths of those gold medal lecturers.

Even if they know that this is a Southern-style pyramid scheme, they will still be deeply involved in it and start to pull their closest friends and relatives into the game, becoming the leeks in the pyramid together.

He took a sip of red wine, yawned out of boredom, put the wine glass on the table, picked up the napkin on the table, put it on his thighs, picked up the knife and fork with a little unfamiliarity, and began to cut the veal on the plate.

When Kele saw Chi Mengli starting to enjoy dinner, he knew with his butt that Chi Mengli didn't want to listen to the boss and was ready to leave after eating. He was a little confused. The boss had clearly talked very well and the business prospects were very broad, so why was Brother Sheng not interested?

He is now in his twenties and is not sure whether he should speak up to help the boss persuade him, or just lower his head to eat and pretend that he didn't notice the change in his expression.

"Mr. Chi, you are not interested in my ideas?"

Ruan Wen felt strange. She put down the wine glass in her hand and looked at Chi Mengli who was eating veal in confusion.

The veal was very tender and of good quality. You could tell there was no extra seasoning in the meat. Chi Mengli stuffed the beef on the fork into his mouth, chewed it a few times, swallowed it, took another sip of red wine, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and then said, "I only have three questions."

"First, what is our relationship?"

"Second, how can Miss Ruan Wen open up the entire Asian market?"

"Third, if someone knows about this money-making method of videotapes, and instead of buying the copyrights to the movies, they just steal the negatives and start a pirated business, how can you counter them?"

"Only after these three questions are answered clearly can we continue the conversation."

"If Miss Ruan Wen didn't think of these three things before coming here, I can give you some time to think about it now, but my time is limited. After I have enough food and drink, I will leave."

"Koke is my good brother. When I was not around, the three of us would hang out together all day. I'm very happy that he is doing the right thing."

"Of course, if there are any problems with your film company in the future, Miss Ruan Wen, you can ask Kele to contact me. We can settle the matter once and for all, cleanly and neatly, and no one will have any psychological burden."

After Chi Mengli finished speaking, he picked up the knife and fork again and began to cut the veal on the plate.

Pirated videotapes will be the main way to make money for Hong Kong gangs in the future. All the clubs in Hong Kong are doing it. The more conscientious ones will hire someone to re-dub them, while the unscrupulous ones will just use the original Cantonese version.

It has even developed to the point where the original Cantonese film has one price, the one with Mandarin and English subtitles has another price, and the one with dubbing for sales has another price.

The price of videotapes also started out at thirty yuan a copy and ended up at eight yuan a copy. In the end, when videotapes were replaced by CDs, the price was even as low as three yuan a copy.

To the extent that when piracy was rampant, the major social organizations even closed their fan clubs and focused on selling pirated videotapes.

Chi Mengli thought that his weak arms and legs were no match for the powerful men coming his way, and that blocking someone's financial path was more serious than killing their parents.

However, there are ways to curb piracy. That is to act as a dealer with Nguyen Van, control the supply of goods, expand the scale of the video tape factory, and Nguyen Van's New Wave Film Company will fully acquire the copyright and distribution rights of movies and TV series. Let major societies directly buy genuine goods from them, give them legal authorization, and these idiots can sell them wherever they want, turning the pirated business into a legitimate business.

By doing this, both the societies and the film companies will be satisfied. The film companies will have an additional way to make money by selling copyrights, and can recover funds as soon as possible. The major societies will also save effort, as they do not need to set up their own factories and can directly sell the goods.

The idea is good, but the question goes back to the beginning: what is the relationship between Chi Mengli and Ruan Wen?

If they were partners, Chi Mengli would kick Ruan Wen out in minutes, even if Guo Guohao was in the middle, he would still kick him out.

Because Ruan Wen's idea did not involve exclusive technology, it was just to buy Sony's blank videotapes, record film negatives into them, and then rely on a steady stream of production to crush other competitors.

As for professional work such as dubbing and subtitles, there is no difficulty at all. Hong Kong may lack everything except film technicians.

He could even talk to Sony directly, buy the blank videotape production technology, and set up a production factory in Hong Kong. The Japanese are preparing to unify the standards of the home entertainment market.

This is how the Japanese do things. Once they decide to take a path of technological innovation, they will unify all the patents and specifications along this path as quickly as possible.

It may be difficult for Americans to deal with Europeans because European patents are intertwined. Not only are there patents from European countries, but they also mix in American patents, making it so that you have me and I have you.

Everything in the world is broken because you are in me and I am in you.

However, the Americans are very experienced and have the upper hand in dealing with the Japanese devils' practice of monopolizing the market. After all, the history of the American nation is the history of the struggle between the government and the trust groups.

Since I can't beat you with this technological approach, I will try a cheaper and more market-oriented approach. North America is the world's largest consumer market anyway. Even if your local sales in Japan are booming year after year, they can't catch up to even a tiny toe of the North American market.

This also created a historical joke: in 2012, when game manufacturers all over the world were developing SD cards and online download storage, Sony had to bundle game discs with the sale of game consoles.

Although game discs do not have much of a problem with portability, this counter-trend move has indeed opened the eyes of gamers.

Even in Sony smart TV stores in some areas, when you buy a smart TV, the salesperson will generously give you a DVD player as a gift, allowing you to experience the wisdom of the old era.

To some extent, Sony was forced to do so, as there were hundreds of thousands of DVD players and hundreds of millions of blank discs stored in the Sony Group's Okubo factory warehouse.

What Chi Mengli is interested in is the identity of the dealer, with small profits but quick turnover. As long as the price is reasonable, he can squeeze out all competitors.

He could even make a loss by selling cheap home video recorders just to cultivate the market.

When Ruan Wen heard the three questions raised by Chi Mengli, she immediately became alert. She wanted to call Amir Khan outside the door to prevent Chi Mengli from doing anything wrong.

But she held back, because Chi Mengli was still eating veal quietly, and the man in front of her, although a gangster, was also a handsome guy. As everyone knows, handsome guys have no shortage of girlfriends or one-night stands.

Since she had no evil intentions, she had to think seriously about what secrets were hidden in these three questions.

"Who are you?"

"Brother Sheng is eating in there. I don't care who you are, you are not allowed to go in!"

"What are you talking about!"

Chi Mengli, who was waiting for a reply, heard the noise outside the box, but ignored it and continued to taste the premium veal on the plate.

The door of the box opened, and Amir Khan and Jimi walked quickly into the box and went straight to Chi Mengli and Ruan Wen.

"Brother Sheng, Miss Nine is outside. She wants to enter the box, but there are too many people and she can't stop her."

"Brothers are outside, all with weapons, do you want to get these numbers to help the gang?"

Hearing the name Ninth Girl, Chi Mengli was stunned for a moment, and then immediately thought that Ninth Girl and the Prince were the ones who made money in the film industry, and the person that Ruan Wen had offended before was also the Number Gang.

"The Peninsula Hotel won't let brothers in with weapons. No need to go down, it's a waste of time. Go and ask Miss Nine to come in. I want to see if this bitch has reached menopause. Why is she so angry?"

Chi Mengli took a sip of red wine without even looking at Ruan Wen. Instead, he glanced exaggeratedly at the Rolex Dynatone on his wrist. He had almost finished eating and was already six-tenths full. People who practice martial arts must always feel hungry so that their brains can stay awake at all times.

Besides, there will be a rebroadcast of "Youth Fever" at 9:30 tonight, and Nat Chan, Principal Alan Tam, Chow Yun-fat, and Simon Yam will all be jumping and singing and dancing in it.

Chi Mengli missed the first broadcast, but she can’t miss the rebroadcast this time.

"Who said I was a woman of three years old, who said I was in menopause?"

The soundproofing of the private rooms at the Peninsula Hotel is so poor that I have to give it a bad review.

Chi Mengli put down the red wine glass in his hand and said, "Ninth Miss, of course I, the handsome guy, win when it comes to your weird words. The brothers below, of course, dare not speak their minds because of their different generations."

"Come in quickly, there is good wine here. I remember that you like red wine the most. Drinking red wine is good, it can reduce the wrinkles on your face."

"Fuck! I encountered troublemakers while having a meal!"

You can call a woman a femme fatale or a green tea girl. Although she will appear furious on the surface, she will be secretly happy in her heart.

Although these words are not compliments, they can be interpreted in this way in a sense, such as saying that the girl is decisive, that the girl is considerate, and that the girl is beautiful.

But you can never say that a woman is old, especially when she is really not young.

When the Ninth Girl walked into the box and heard Chi Mengli's sarcasm, she was so angry that her face turned red. However, she couldn't make things awkward right away, so she could only sit down in front of the table angrily.

"I didn't expect our Miss Ruan to have such a wide circle of friends! She even knows the famous Brother Sheng!"

"But Miss Ruan, you have to be careful. Brother Sheng is good in every way except that he is unlucky with his girlfriend. His ex-girlfriend was recently found dead in the mountains under unclear circumstances."

The Ninth Girl was wearing a gorgeous cheongsam, but the slit was a little high, almost reaching her belly button, and her plump thighs and half of her butt were exposed. The temperature today was about 18 or 19 degrees Celsius, but she was not afraid of catching rheumatism.

She sat on a chair, picked up an empty wine glass, poured herself a glass of red wine, and drank most of it.

When the security manager of the Peninsula Hotel, Sheng Lude, heard the waiter report that there was trouble, he rushed to the box as quickly as possible. Although he was a Jew, he was a real gangster and was one of the twelve emperors of the previous Harmony Chart.

He walked into the box and saw two young men in Jianghu arguing with each other. He snorted coldly, then looked at Ruan Wen with a warm smile and said, "Miss Ruan, I am very sorry for the inconvenience. On behalf of The Peninsula Hotel, I promise that there will be no next time."

"We will waive the bill for tonight's consumption. I have prepared a guest room upstairs for Miss Ruan. You can leave at any time."

"Leave? Why?"

"Uncle Lu, Miss Ruan and I are friends. We originally agreed to meet at the Peninsula Hotel. I didn't expect that Handsome Sheng, this loser, would come in and flirt with girls. Uncle Lu, just kick this loser out and don't delay me from talking to Miss Ruan about business."

Standing behind the Ninth Girl was Deng Qi, who was not afraid of Sheng Lude at all, and even less afraid of the shabby Hehetu signboard, not giving him any face at all.

"Miss Nine, if you want to continue making trouble, I will accompany you. I will call the boss now and ask him to ask Brother Yi if anyone can cause trouble in the place of the Zujia Lord and the non-official councillor."

"If you think the commotion isn't big enough, starting tomorrow, all of the Number Gang's __cpLocations will have their circuits inspected. If it doesn't work for one day, then three days. If it doesn't work for three days, then a week. If it doesn't work for a week, then a month."

"Then I'll see if your father Deng Qi can protect you!"

The Peninsula Hotel is owned by the MacArthur family. All the electricity in Hong Kong, Kowloon Island and the New Territories is supplied by MacArthur's China Power Group.

In modern cities, roads are blood vessels and sufficient electricity is blood.

Sheng Lude hit the snake at its most vulnerable part, and directly grasped the vital point of the Ninth Girl. The Number Gang was not afraid of offending the Hehetu, but was absolutely afraid of offending those big bosses who had the power to control everything.

"Uncle Lu, with a red stick in hand, he acted like a hero at Erban Bridge. Today, I see fellow travelers, and a little red flower is in my heart."

Chi Mengli didn't know Sheng Lude, but from what Ninth Girl said, this half-foreign guy in a suit should also be a man of the underworld. She just didn't know if he was from the group of people with the surname thirty-six.

He started by reciting a Hongmen poem, simply testing to see which letter it started with.

"There are brothers from the same sect, what a coincidence!"

"On the left is a meeting of dragon, tiger, turtle and snake, and on the right is a picture of harmony of the standard beasts."

After Sheng Lude finished speaking, he extended his right hand towards Chi Mengli.

Seeing this, Chi Mengli stood up without any hesitation and stretched out his hand.

The two men held hands, Chi Mengli's thumb fell on Sheng Lude's middle finger and squeezed it slightly, while Sheng Lude's little finger dug into Chi Mengli's palm and stabbed it.

"The incense master's majesty shakes the world. He commands seven thousand good men to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. He is in charge of the execution hall and executes the family law."

After exchanging gestures with the young man in front of him, Sheng Lude knew what was going on. He read out his identity as the head of the Punishment Hall and looked at Chi Mengli. He hugged his right hand with his left hand, with the middle finger and thumb of his right hand exposed.

Hearing that the foreigner in front of him was the head of the Hehetu Punishment Hall, Chi Mengli also clasped his fists to the right and said softly: "The loyalty and righteousness of the Hongmen penetrate the universe, and the blood oath will never be separated."

"Many roads lead to the meeting of poetic lines, and the hatred from the sky turns into smoke and dust."

"My name is Hong Ying. I know the affairs of the underworld. I know everything in the underworld."

"Inheriting the beast's mark, being harmonious and victorious for the brother, this is peace and happiness."

"There are two dragons on a stick, and they fight for the pearl, each one is the best."

Sheng Lude looked at Chi Mengli's gestures and listened carefully to the hidden poem from the mouth of this junior, and immediately realized that the person in front of him was the big shot in the water room.

Shui Fang is a disciple of He Ji. Among the many halls, only the leader of the Yau Ma Tei hall, Liang Zai Sheng, is unknown to him. So he thinks the handsome guy in front of him should be Liang Zai Sheng.

He smiled and said, "No fight, no acquaintance. All the Heji in the world come from the Hehetu. We are all family. Ah Sheng, don't make things too awkward with Miss Nine."

After instructing the handsome guy to win, he looked at Ruan Wen again and said, "Miss Ruan, I don't know what the conflict is between you and Miss Nine, but you are now a guest of the Peninsula Hotel."

"I want to ensure your safety, Miss Ruan. If you have anything to say, just ask. I promise to keep you safe."

Ruan Wen glanced at Chi Mengli who was sitting next to her. She knew that if she didn't answer this guy's three questions, there would be no chance of them meeting again. She gritted her teeth and said reluctantly, "Thank you, old man."

"Things have to be resolved sooner rather than later. Let's get it done today."

(End of this chapter)