1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 364 Countdown to the Launch

Cai Lan and Huang Zhan were very self-aware and felt that they were not qualified to be considered as talented as Jin Liangyong.

But there are specialties in the art industry.

When it comes to food and drink, Long Ke is not an expert, Cai Lan is.

"30 foods you must eat before you die... this title sounds quite gimmicky."

In the office building of Jiuyi Culture Company.

Everyone is working overtime in the countdown to the launch of the September 1st Daily.

Cai Lan took the topic that Zhai Yuan had prepared for him, bit the pen and pondered.

This veteran gourmet later became the chief consultant for well-known programs such as "A Bite of Gourmet" and was known as the God of Food.

But now that I have to switch to food reviews, it’s really hard to start writing.

"Just write it down, Uncle Lan. Just 30 kinds of food, isn't that easy for you?"

Zhai Yuan was supervising and guiding from the side. Seeing that Cai Lan had not started writing for a long time, he could not help but urge her.

"That's true, but there are more than 30 kinds of delicious food in the world. It's hard to choose!"

Cai Lan thought for a long time and finally got rid of her decision-making difficulties. She picked up the pen and wrote down the first ingredient on the manuscript paper.

Pufferfish.

"Stop!" Zhai Yuan interrupted directly: "This ingredient is too high-end and not suitable for the first day of publication. Try to use some affordable food, so that ordinary citizens can feel more involved."

"What about abalone?"

“It’s still not popular enough, and it’s a waste of subject matter.”

"Waste? Why?"

"We are now a business newspaper, and the food section will take on restaurant advertisements in the future. We will publish them when we have abalone orders."

"Wow, you really are a business genius!" Cai Lan complained angrily, "You can't write this or that, what are you going to teach me to write?"

Zhai Yuan said: "In the first week of publication, I wrote about 7 home-cooked dishes. Writing about puffer fish, abalone, and mullet roe is not a skill. Only describing a plate of egg fried rice in a flavorful way can be called a "God of Cookery Column"!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Lan scratched her hair hard, feeling that this job was not as easy as she had imagined.

Where is the promised creative freedom?

"Uncle Lan, take your time to think about it. I'll go keep an eye on Uncle Zhan."

Zhai Yuan patted Cai Lan's shoulder encouragingly, then stood up and walked towards Huang Zhan at the next table.

At this time, there were only two other editors in the office, Cai Lan and Huang Zhan.

There were seven or eight editors in total, all writing furiously.

Zhai Yuan walked past an intellectual who was writing editorials, brushed shoulders with another financial economist who was analyzing Hong Kong's economy, and went straight to Huang Zhan's desk.

"How's it going, Uncle Zhan? You seem to be full of ideas~"

Different from Cai Lan who is in charge of the "God of Cookery" column, Huang Zhan is in charge of a section called "Passionate Nightlife". Just by listening to the name, you can tell that it is a romantic section.

Zhai Yuan didn't know whether seniors like 'Fei Long', 'Gu Jing Qiang' and 'Ma Jiao Lun' were born at this time, but he decided to use this signboard first.

Compared to the dirty stories or jokes that are popular in tabloids today.

The page about romantic nightlife is more like a guide to seeking pleasure.

At that time, Hong Kong's economy was booming. Although the Hong Kong government had issued a ban on prostitution since the 30s, the definition of a brothel in Section 117 of the Crimes Ordinance was still very vague. It clearly stipulated that no premises, vessel or any place should be regarded as a brothel unless it was used wholly or mainly for profit in the flesh trade.

This undoubtedly provides a huge loophole for the salty and wet industry to exploit.

From small places like horse stables, women's barber shops, and women's photo developing darkrooms to large places like saunas, nightclubs, and karaoke bars, as long as the business entity is not engaged in the flesh trade, it cannot be considered a violation of the law.

With the prevalence of Tuodi and Beigu, it is inevitable that there are good and bad people.

The column that Huang Zhan is going to do is to publish an article every day, telling readers which brothel has the most beautiful girls of the highest quality, which sauna room has which technician with unique techniques, marking the prices and personal experiences, and providing a guide to finding pleasure for Hong Kong perverts.

Naturally, we will also have to make a mine-clearing guide to expose those technicians who charge high fees and have poor service attitudes. However, such offensive things will have to wait until the newspaper becomes big enough before we talk about them.

"Don't make noise, it will disturb my thoughts!"

At this time, Huang Zhan was writing quickly with a dignified and serious expression on his face, as if he was engaged in a sacred and great profession. He ignored Boss Zhai who was lying on the table.

Faced with such a cold attitude, Zhai Yuan curled his lips.

It doesn’t matter. As long as the column is well written and can attract readers, I can tolerate any indifference!
I picked up a manuscript that Uncle Zhan had already written.

Zhai Yuan took a quick look:

"I read in the newspaper recently that the police are cracking down on prostitution. Why are the police in Hong Kong so bored? They are already miserable, why are you still arresting them? A few days ago, when I came out of a boneyard in Portland Street, a female reporter shouted: Wow! Uncle Zhan, you actually confessed to prostitution? I thought I had committed a heinous crime, and then I said to her: What's so strange about confessing to prostitution? Your father would confess, if you don't believe me, go back and ask him..."

As expected of the king of pornography, he speaks of such things with such confidence.

Zhai Yuan read the manuscript introducing a massage girl with a critical eye and couldn't help but interrupt Huang Zhan.

"Hey Uncle Zhan, is this bone-setting girl No. 8 really sharp? You wrote her to be as considerate as Yamato Nadeshiko."

"Sharp! It ranks among the top ten in my decades of pleasure-seeking career. Especially the dragon tendon grabbing technique I learned from Thailand. I guarantee you will feel refreshed after trying it!"

Huang Zhan rarely paused to discuss massage techniques with Zhai Yuan in a serious tone.

Zhai Yuan nodded thoughtfully, and glanced at the address above: "Sixty dollars, right? OK, I have something to do after work, so I will leave first, so I won't stay to eat with you."

"Hey!"

Huang Zhan raised his middle finger with disdain.

On the side, the chief editor who analyses the Hong Kong economy has also finished writing a manuscript.

"Mr. Zhai, do you think there is anything wrong with this style?"

The column is called "Local Finance", which discusses and analyzes Hong Kong's economy and related policies and regulations from a professional perspective. Citizens all like the word "finance", so the pictures and texts of this column occupy two pages.

The chief writer of Hong Kong Finance is a director who was recently recruited from the Department of Economics and Finance of Hong Kong University.

His name is Zhang Wuchang. Because of his sharp and bold words, he is nicknamed "Crazy Student" in the economics circle. At this time, the article Zhang Wuchang gave to Zhai Yuan started from the recent announcement by the Financial Secretary that the Hong Kong government has a fiscal deficit in the past five years due to deflation.

The article as a whole seems to be profound and incisive.

"Hmm..." Zhai Yuan spent two minutes reading the entire article. He looked at Zhang Wuchang's eyes full of hope for his manuscript to be accepted and rolled his eyes: "Of course not!"

Don't look at Zhang Wuchang's surprised expression.

Zhai Yuan clapped his hands vigorously, asking all the editors who were writing at their desks in the conference room to follow his lead.

"Dear colleagues, remember one thing. When you write articles, you must assume that all our readers are 'illiterate'. There is no neutral analysis of any news event in the September 1st Daily. There is only black or white, yes or no! Try not to use written language in the article. Use simple and direct spoken language, with a lot of pictures, so that readers can enjoy the smooth feeling of knowledge passing through their minds. As for whether they can learn something, what does it have to do with our newspaper?"

When Zhai Yuan said this, he grabbed the manuscript paper on Huang Zhan's desk and shook it in his hand, making a rustling sound.

"Uncle Zhan just created this "Records of the Boneyard Girl at No. 8 Portland Street". I hope that everyone can share it with each other and learn from it later. Future reports should follow this style."

Zhai Yuan looked at Zhang Wuchang again: "Mr. Zhang, your article about the Hong Kong government's fiscal deficit and deflation, what are the problems it brings?"

Zhang Wuchang scratched his curly hair: "Economic recession, rising unemployment, shrinking social wealth and increasing debt burden."

"It's written in the title!" Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes at him. "Your title is 'In-depth Analysis of the Fiscal Deficit Caused by Deflation and the Causes Behind It'. How can this attract readers' attention? Of course, it should be changed to 'Big News! Hong Kong will face the biggest wave of unemployment. Will you be the next unemployed person?'"

…………

When it comes to founding the magazine, Zhai Yuan was personally involved.

There are a total of sixty-four pages, and all the editors' articles in the early stage must be reviewed and approved by Boss Zhai in person to help them establish a new style.

I am afraid that I will follow the path of a serious newspaper.

The day when Tiantian Daily was officially renamed and Jiuyi Daily was officially launched.

There are still 3 days left in the countdown.

at the same time.

Less than half a month after its publication, the Forbidden Fruit Daily has already surpassed the 25-copy mark in sales, setting a new miracle of selling copies in a single day.

"The more you sell, the more you lose. How did you run your business like this?"

The driver drove Li Zhiying's signature golden Rolls-Royce and took Li Zhiying and his wife back to their residence on Tai Po Road.

His wife is a Filipino woman with plain looks. They got married blindly. Since becoming rich, Fatty Li has never abandoned her and their children. Instead, she has two sons and a daughter.

At this time, in addition to the Li couple, their youngest son Li Yaoen, who had just turned six, was sitting in the back seat.

Hearing his wife's nagging, Li Zhiying smiled arrogantly: "If a woman doesn't understand, don't speak nonsense. Loss? Pick! How can I do a business that loses money? Anyway, there is a mansion for you to live in and a luxury car for you to ride, isn't it good enough~"

If we look at it from the perspective of future generations.

Looking back at Fatty Li's first half of his life, he apparently did all kinds of businesses that were losing money. He sold Jordan at a low price and operated Forbidden Fruit Daily at a loss. There was no sign of his profit point at all.

But even so, he could still easily provide billions of Hong Kong dollars as funding to the Hong Kong cockroaches who supported Europe and the West after the millennium.

The Filipino wife doesn't understand any of this and is now worried that her husband will go bankrupt and have to go back to living in public housing.

"Dad won't lose money~ That foreign uncle named Simon also said that he would take me, my older brother and my younger sister to study in the UK, to the best aristocratic school."

Little Li Yaoen, who was sandwiched in the middle, had shining eyes, but what he said made his wife frown.

"You want to send your children away from Hong Kong?"

"Well, you can leave with me later. Tell others that you are going to the Philippines to visit relatives. I will come to find you after I have dealt with things here."

Li's wife nodded, not quite understanding.

Li Zhiying opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but after looking at his young son, he closed his mouth again.

Now that he is acting as a white glove for Ou Xi, the other party also wants to establish a closer relationship with him.

So not long ago, that CIA guy Mark Simon suggested that he divorce his current wife and marry the daughter of a Hong Kong congressman. Needless to say, the congressman was also one of their people. This kind of thing was not uncommon in the political and business circles. However, Li Zhiying felt that he had a happy family now, so he did not immediately agree to the other party's idea. Moreover, even if he discussed it with his wife, he would not choose a place where the children were still around.

"Li Sheng, we're here."

Arriving in front of the big house, the driver slowly parked the car and gave a gentle reminder.

Li Zhiying got out of the car with his wife and children.

Suddenly, Li Zhiying turned his head and looked more than ten meters away.

The street corner that was empty in the past suddenly has a mobile stall today.

Xingge fish ball stall.

Lai Chi-ying asked the driver in surprise: "When did a stall appear on Tai Po Road?"

"It should have been a week. Mr. Li, you have been busy with the newspaper recently, so you may not have noticed it." The driver replied and then asked, "Do you want me to chase him away?"

Li Zhiying's eyes circled around the fish ball stall.

The stall owner was about thirty years old. He was smiling as he cooked fried fish balls for his two foreign neighbors. He had great skills and chatted with them from time to time, making them laugh. One could tell he was speaking Cantonese with a mainland accent.

"Forget it. There's no point in interfering with other people's business."

His Filipino wife patted Li Zhiying on the shoulder and pulled her youngest son to urge him, "Yao En still has to do his homework tonight, and the new tutor I hired should be here soon. Go in and get ready in advance so as not to be too rude."

"Why should I be afraid of being rude if I have money?"

Li Zhiying retracted his gaze and spoke loudly. He also felt that people like Situ Mingzhu and Mark Simon would not stare at him in such a crude way.

It's just a mobile fish ball stall. Maybe it will disappear on its own in a few days. Why did I suddenly become so sensitive?
He smiled and shook his head, took his youngest son's hand and walked into the house: "Did you listen carefully in class today? Did anyone bully you at school..."

The family of three entered the big house and the fence door slowly closed.

In front of Brother Xing’s fish ball stall.

Wei Xing raised his eyelids, wiped off the hot oil that splashed on his hands, and then raised his wrist to look at the hands on his watch.

6:15 pm.

Enough time, closing time!
(End of this chapter)