Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

July 4, 1983, 6:00 AM.

Eagle, Los Angeles, San Pedro Port.

The morning fog over the Pacific Ocean, like a thick gray blanket, enveloped the bustling port. Huge container cranes loomed in and out of the fog, like sleeping steel monsters. Waves pounded against the breakwater, producing a monotonous, dull sound.

Terminal 4, the most remote corner.

The air here was thick with the salty stench of diesel fuel, dead fish, and seawater. Several seagulls landed on the rusty mooring bollards, watching warily as two black sedans drove in.

One of them was a stretched Lincoln, the car of Ryan, the owner of the Red Dragon Hotel. But today, it wasn't Ryan himself who got out of the car.

Tan Ruiqi wore a dark gray wool trench coat, his hair was neatly slicked back, and he wore his signature, enigmatic smile.

Behind him followed a tall woman in a red leather jacket with a cold gaze—Hu Li. She was Tan Ruiqi's most capable assassin and his right-hand woman in the Triads.

"That white pig didn't come?" Hu Li glanced around and asked in a low voice.

"He's probably still dreaming of getting rich while he's in a lap of luxury." Tan Ruiqi adjusted his gloves, his eyes sinister. "This kind of dirty work, with the sea breeze blowing and heads in the air, is naturally done by 'servants' like us."

Just then.

"Buzz—"

A deep engine roar came from the depths of the fog.

A dilapidated fishing boat, though seemingly simple, slowly approached the shore, and several figures jumped off.

Walking in front was a young woman with long, wavy hair, wearing a white fitted suit and high heels. She was extremely beautiful, but her brows revealed a shrewdness and ruthlessness that could only come from someone who had been through the rough and tumble of the underworld.

Behind her followed a man with a buzz cut and a burly build resembling a small mountain, carrying two enormous silver metal cases. Several bodyguards behind him also carried identical cases.

"Is this Miss Vermouth's person?"

Tan Ruiqi narrowed his eyes, sizing up the man and woman. Although they looked harmless, he could sense a dangerous aura emanating from the man named Bobby.

"Mr. Tan?"

The Chinese woman took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of seemingly expressive eyes. She looked Tan Ruiqi up and down. "I am the Chinese woman, responsible for delivering goods to Mr. Ryan."

"Nice to meet you." Tan Ruiqi stepped forward and switched directly to fluent Cantonese instead of English. "I've long heard that Takamagahara is full of talented people, but I never expected that the person in charge of such a big business would be such a beautiful woman."

Upon hearing her native accent, the Chinese woman's expression softened slightly, but her vigilance remained undiminished.

"Mr. Tan, you're too kind. Everyone's time is precious, let's inspect the goods directly."

The Chinese woman snapped her fingers.

Bobby, with her bodyguards, stepped forward and placed the metal box on the oil-stained ground, opening it with a "click".

green.

Everywhere you look is green.

The neatly arranged one-hundred-dollar bills exuded a captivating aroma of ink in the morning light.

Hu Li stepped forward, took out a UV light and a portable banknote detector, and began random checks.

"Sizzle..."

The banknote detector emitted a pleasant beep.

Five minutes later.

Hu Li stood up and nodded to Tan Ruiqi: "No problem, 100 million yuan in face value, all consecutive serial numbers, top quality."

A fleeting glint of greed crossed Tan Ruiqi's eyes.

He waved his hand, and his men immediately unloaded four suitcases from the Lincoln. Inside were twenty million dollars in real cash—this was Ryan's "payment for goods."

The two parties exchanged boxes and confirmed that everything was accounted for.

The transaction should have ended there.

But Tan Ruiqi was not in a hurry to leave.

He walked up to the Chinese woman, took out a box of fine women's cigarettes from his pocket, and handed her one.

"If you don't mind, how about we become friends?" Tan Ruiqi said with a smile, his eyes sincere. "We're all Chinese working hard in a foreign land. As the saying goes, when fellow countrymen meet, tears well up in their eyes. This American territory isn't easy to navigate, so we'll need to look out for each other in the future."

The Chinese woman took the cigarette, but did not light it; she simply twirled it between her fingers.

She remembered Ruan Wen's instructions to her before she came: "That white man named Ryan is nothing but a greedy idiot; he'll die surrounded by money sooner or later. But that deputy named Tan Ruiqi has some ability. If he tries to be friendly, don't refuse, but don't get too close either. Leave an opening; it might come in handy later."

Looking at the smiling, humble former Hong Kong police inspector in front of her, the woman secretly admired her boss's intelligence network.

Even from our brief interaction, it's clear that this man is no ordinary person.

Ryan has casinos, hotels, and legitimate money laundering channels, while Tan Ruiqi has nothing but his triad brothers and a desire to rise to power.

His current overtures are clearly an attempt to bypass Ryan and directly connect with the High Table Group.

"Mr. Tan is right."

The Chinese woman smiled meaningfully, "We are all descendants of the dragon, so naturally we should look after each other."

She took out a white business card with no name but a string of numbers from her handbag and handed it to Tan Ruiqi.

"This is my private number."

The Chinese woman lowered her voice and said, "Miss Ruan said that although Mr. Ryan's business is large, he is, after all, a foreigner, and there are some Chinese customs that he may not understand. If there are any special needs in the future, Mr. Tan can contact me directly."

Special needs.

These five words were immediately understood by Tan Ruiqi.

He solemnly accepted the business card and placed it in the pocket of his suit jacket, as if it were a ticket to the throne.

"Of course, please tell Miss Vermouth that I, Tan Ruiqi, am a grateful person."

Tan Ruiqi extended his hand, "It's a pleasure to work with you."

"It's a pleasure working with you."

The two hands are clasped together.

The sea breeze blew, stirring up the dust on the ground.

Deep within that mist, the seeds of a drama about betrayal and rise to power have already been quietly sown.

……

10:00 AM.

Burbank, Los Angeles, the North American headquarters of Golden Harvest.

In contrast to the chill and eeriness of the dock in the early morning, the conference room on the top floor of the Jiahe Building was bright with sunshine and filled with the joy of victory.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the Hollywood sign gleams on the hillside.

Lu Chen sat in the large leather boss's chair, holding a steaming cup of Blue Mountain coffee. Ruan Wen sat beside him, flipping through a fashion magazine.

Standing opposite him was Robert Lee, the general manager of the North American branch. At that moment, he was beaming with excitement, and even the laser pointer in his hand was trembling slightly.

"Boss! A miracle! This is simply a miracle in business history!"

Robert pointed to the red curve on the projection screen that was almost rising at a 90-degree angle, his voice booming.

"As of early this morning, January 4th."

"Our JF-System (Nintendo Entertainment System) has officially surpassed one million units in global cumulative sales!"

"boom--"

One million units!

It's worth noting that at its peak, Atari took a full year to sell one million consoles. Golden Harvest, on the other hand, did it in just one month!

"What about the specific sales distribution?" Lu Chen took a sip of coffee, his tone calm, as if all of this was expected.

"Hong Kong Island, having launched the earliest (early December), has contributed approximately 650,000 units in sales so far, and the number is still steadily increasing."

Robert, holding the report, reported to his superiors: "In the North American, European, and Japanese markets, although it's only been less than two weeks since the release, the growth rate is simply terrifying! Especially the 'Pokémon offensive' during Christmas, which directly pushed North American sales to over 25 units! And in Japan, Nintendo has also reported good news, selling 15 units!"

"And what's even more amazing is the hardware-software tie ratio. In the past, the average Atari user would only buy 1.5 cartridges. But our JF machine..."

"On average, each user purchased 3.8 cassette tapes!"

"Aside from the bundled Donkey Kong game, almost everyone who bought the console also bought Pokémon and Contra. Battle City and Galaga also sold incredibly well."

"In other words..." Robert took a deep breath, "the profit from selling cartridges alone is more than double that of the console itself!"

This is a terrifying money-making machine.

Consoles seize the market entry point, while software reaps the profits. This business model, which Sony and Nintendo later exhausted, was first perfectly presented to the world by Lu Chen in 1983.

"very good."

Lu Chen put down his coffee cup and clapped his hands lightly. "But that's not enough."

He stood up and walked to the huge world map.

"It's only one million now. By the end of this year, I want that number to be ten million."

"We need to expand our production lines. I've told the factories on Hong Kong Island that I want them to build three more factories. Once the machines are manufactured, I can sell them."

"Yes, boss!" Robert straightened his back.

"Oh, right."

Lu Chen seemed to suddenly remember something, turned his head and asked, "How's our 'old friend,' Atari?"

When Atari was mentioned, Robert's expression instantly became fascinating, a complex mix of schadenfreude and a hint of pity.

"Terrible. Absolutely terrible."

Robert shook his head. "Boss, your prediction has come true."

"That 'E.T.' is now a pariah. Atari just announced yesterday that it has lowered the price to $18 in order to clear its inventory."

"$18?" Ruan Wen, who was accompanying them, looked up in surprise upon hearing the report. "I remember the initial price was $39, right? It's already half price?"

"Yes, but it's useless," Robert sneered. "Even if it were free, let alone $18, kids these days wouldn't want it."

"A very interesting cultural phenomenon has emerged in elementary schools in the United States."

"The kid who owns a Jiahe JF console and Pokémon cartridges is the 'king' of the class. Everyone will flock around him, begging to trade Pokémon with him or go to his house to play Contra."

"And those kids who are still playing with Atari..."

Robert shrugged. "I'll be laughed at, I'll be isolated, people will call me a 'garbage-playing hick.'"

"Some kids even secretly hid their Atari machines under their beds or simply threw them in the trash so their classmates wouldn't know they had one at home."

"This is the reversal of brand momentum," Lu Chen nodded, not at all surprised by the result. "When a product becomes synonymous with 'outdated' and 'shame,' it is completely dead."

"The Atari Shock has begun."

Lu Chen turned around and looked out the window at Hollywood.

He knew that in this time and space, because of Jiahe's strong intervention, this industry winter, which should have lasted for two years, would turn into an invasion war.

The huge market vacuum left by Atari will not be a wasteland, but will be directly filled by the red flag of Golden Harvest.

"Robert, prepare the next step of the plan," Lu Chen instructed. "Take advantage of Atari's stock price crash and Warner Bros.' eagerness to get rid of its burdens."

"Bring in the 'brewery's' business acquisition team."

"I don't want that messy brand, but I want their engineers, their patents, and their global sales channels."

"We will build our own Tower of Babel by stepping over the corpses of giants."

"clear!"

……

That evening.

A small celebration party was held at the Beverly Hills estate.

There were no outsiders, only Lu Chen and his women.

Ruan Wen, holding a glass of champagne, walked over to Lu Chen and looked at the brightly lit Los Angeles night view in the distance.

"This morning, Ms. Hua reported to me."

Ruan Wen said softly, "The deal went smoothly. That Tan Ruiqi is indeed an ambitious guy, just as you predicted. He accepted the business card, and... there's a knife hidden in his eyes."

"As expected." Lu Chen took a sip of his drink, a playful smile playing on his lips. "Ryan is just a miser; Tan Richie is the real wolf. But that's fine too. Using Ryan and Richie to keep us separated layer by layer means we don't have to worry about being traced..."

"What about Atari?" asked the woman beside her. "Are you really planning to acquire them? They're practically in debt now."

"Just eat the nutritious parts."

Lu Chen reached out his hand, making a grasping motion towards the moon in the sky.

"We want the whole world to know that games are not just children's toys; they are the ninth art, a money-printing machine, and more importantly... a cultural export belonging to us Chinese."

The night breeze carried the scent of victory.

In this parallel universe of 1983, the throne of video games will no longer be occupied by Nintendo with its red hat, nor by Sega with its blue hair.

There is only one name, shining as brightly as the sun—

Jiahe.