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

Mid-January 1983.

In Kwun Tong District, in that dilapidated rental room that never sees sunlight and is filled with the smell of cheap tobacco and sweat.

He Yaodong was shirtless, his bronze muscles covered with scars of all sizes. He sat cross-legged on the creaking folding bed, holding a crumpled list of wealthy people in his hand, his eyes fixed on the three characters "Huo Zhaotang".

"Brother Dong, it's him. I feel like this target was tailor-made for us brothers!"

The younger brother, nicknamed "Shengji," squatted on the ground, rubbing his hands excitedly.

"Huo Zhaotang..." Da Dong exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, lightly flicking the name with his fingertip, a sneer of extreme satisfaction curling at the corner of his mouth. "This person was indeed a good choice. Shengji, you've done a great job this time."

Although Da Dong had little formal education, as a ruthless bandit with exceptional strategic vision, he possessed a rigorous analytical logic when identifying targets.

After listening to the introduction of the raw chicken, Da Dong realized that this old guy was simply a "perfect" super hostage!

First, let's talk about their background.

Although Fok Siu-tong and Fok Ying-tung, who has an extremely powerful background, share the same surname and are both prominent and wealthy businessmen in Hong Kong, they are actually not related at all and are even diametrically opposed in their business philosophies!

Huo Daheng has his heart set on the mainland, cares about the people's livelihood, and does business with a sense of national responsibility; while Huo Zhaotang is a bloodthirsty capitalist who is rotten to the core, extremely pure and without any bottom line! So there is no need to worry about Huo Daheng's retaliation.

Secondly, in terms of liquidity, the biggest fear in kidnapping and extortion is that the hostage's family can't come up with enough cash. Although Li Chengjia is wealthy, he doesn't have much liquid capital if it weren't for the acquisition of Hong Kong Island Telecom. Moreover, he almost emptied the vaults of major banks to raise that 1 billion old banknotes.

But Huo Zhaotang was different; he owned a bank himself!

Huo Zhaotang's core business, Huo's Bank, is a medium-sized bank with dozens of branches and underground vaults throughout Hong Kong. With just a word from Huo Zhaotang, he could seamlessly and discreetly transfer tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in unsigned cash from his own vaults in a very short time, without any cumbersome board approval process! For robbers desperate to escape, this was practically the most efficient "ATM"!

And the last point, which is the most unbelievable to Da Dong, even makes him feel that God is helping them.

That is—Huo Zhaotang's security force is practically non-existent!

Logically speaking, a black-hearted banker like him, worth billions, who has done all sorts of bad things and has enemies everywhere, should be surrounded by top-notch professional bodyguards like Li Chengjia or Lu Chen, with a whole convoy of cars.

What's more, just last month saw the globally shocking "Li Zeju's 1 billion kidnapping case," which made all of Hong Kong's wealthy people extremely nervous, prompting them to spend huge sums of money to hire those killers from Golden Harvest Security Company to protect themselves.

But Huo Zhaotang refused!

The reason can be summed up in one word: stingy!

There is an extremely absurd phenomenon in this world: often, the wealthier a person is, the less willing they are to spend money in certain areas. And Huo Zhaotang's stinginess is notorious throughout Hong Kong's high society.

While gathering intelligence, Shengji overheard a joke about Huo Zhaotang that was widely circulated in the underworld.

It was probably last winter when Fok Siu-tong, in an attempt to curry favor with a high-ranking British tax official, treated him to dinner at the Peninsula Hotel's rooftop revolving restaurant. The meal featured top-quality French abalone and 1982 Lafite, costing a whopping tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars! The old man didn't even blink, and when the bill came, he generously tipped the foreign waiter a thousand dollars, thoroughly pleasing the British official.

But when Huo Zhaotang walked out of the hotel, beaming, and got into his Mercedes, he discovered that the driver had left the engine running and the heater on, worried he'd be cold. So Huo Zhaotang gave the driver a thorough dressing-down, accusing him of wasting gas and not saving the boss money. Back at the company, he docked the driver's entire month's salary by five hundred yuan for "unauthorized waste of company resources."

For a miser like him who values ​​money more than life itself, asking him to spend millions to hire Jiahe Security's top-tier team? That would be worse than death for him! So even after such a major incident at the Li family, this old swindler still only brought his two cheap bodyguards who had been with him for years, refusing all requests for security upgrades. He even deducted money from their wages for things as simple as buying a bottle of mineral water.

After recounting Huo Zhaotang's story, Shengji said in a sinister tone, "Brother Dong, do you think these bodyguards, whose wages are docked like dogs by their bosses, would risk their lives to shield Huo Zhaotang from bullets if they encountered our Black Star pistols, all for a meager salary of three to five thousand yuan a month?"

Upon hearing this, Da Dong stubbed out his cigarette on the table, his eyes flashing with an extremely cruel and excited glint.

This is simply a gift from God!

A super-rich sheep with a net worth of over a billion and the ability to access huge amounts of cash at any time, yet so stingy that he even cuts the wages of his bodyguards!

If we don't tie them up, it would be a disservice to the hard work they went through to smuggle them across the ocean!

Furthermore, Fok Siu-tong was no saint either. His Fok Bank appeared to be a legitimate medium-sized commercial bank, but behind the scenes, Fok frequently abused his position to illegally misappropriate ordinary citizens' savings deposits to invest in high-risk, high-return underground industries. In fact, Fok Bank secretly controlled several of Hong Kong's largest finance companies, engaging in outright usury! To collect debts, he forced borrowers to sell their children and even commit suicide; Fok Siu-tong was more ruthless than the triads!

What's even more despicable is that Fok Siu-tong is a quintessential "banana" (Chinese person with a Westernized appearance). He is extremely obsequious to foreigners, always looking down on his fellow Chinese with his head held high, but the moment he sees those foreign officials from the British Hong Kong government, he immediately transforms into a groveling lapdog.

Through shameless sycophancy and massive under-the-table deals, he snatched a lucrative opportunity from Standard Chartered and HSBC – securing the monthly payroll deduction business for the Royal Hong Kong Island Police Force.

Although Da Dong didn't consider himself a good person, he looked down on these yellow-skinned, white-hearted "bananas" (people who are culturally Westernized and lack morals). He even felt a sense of satisfaction in kidnapping Huo Zhaotang, as if he were doing justice for God.

"Okay! He's the one!"

Da Dong suddenly stood up, like a tiger about to hunt, and gave a death order to his brothers in the room: "Shengji, Shazam! Starting tomorrow, you two don't need to follow me anymore. You go get a car and keep a 24-hour watch on this Huo Zhaotang!"

"Find out exactly what time he leaves home each day, what time he goes to the bank, and what time he meets his mistresses! Which routes does he usually take, how many traffic lights does he cross, and are there any blind spots in the surveillance cameras!"

Da Dong's eyes turned extremely cold and calculating. "We only have one chance, and we must strike decisively! We need to let these Hong Kong capitalists know that the name 'Big Circle Gang' is far more terrifying than that tycoon!"

"Understood, Brother Dong!"

Several bigwigs readily accepted the order and were eager to get started.

A long-planned kidnapping case, poised to shock Hong Kong once again, has its final prey decided in this dilapidated rental house in Kwun Tong.

……

at the same time.

Just as Hong Kong's underworld was like a powder keg with a lit fuse, and ruthless gangsters were frantically plotting a bloody storm under their control.

On the shores of Victoria Harbour, in the Peninsula Hotel, a symbol of Hong Kong's highest power and wealth, an extremely luxurious and glamorous signing ceremony for transnational capital was being held in the magnificent banquet hall.

The air here is free of the nauseating smell of blood and the musty odor of years of neglect; instead, there is the aroma of expensive French champagne and the rich smoke of Cuban cigars.

Today marks the final signing and handover ceremony for the complete acquisition of Hong Kong Island Telephone Company by the telecommunications giant, British Telecom!

For the Hong Kong British government, this was an absolutely remarkable "great victory" worthy of being written about in great detail and even recorded in the annals of Japanese colonial history.

At the very front of the banquet hall sat the current Governor of Hong Kong, Edward Youde, the Chief Secretary, and several heads of British-owned trading companies who controlled the lifeline of Hong Kong. Their faces beamed with extreme pride and a sense of relief, as if they had just won a crucial war to defend their country.

In their view, although the outside world was in disarray due to the machinations of a few big-time gangsters, in this battle for core assets that threatened the city's foundation, the capital of the Japanese Empire remained invincible! They successfully thwarted the hostile takeover attempt by Lu Chen, a mysterious Chinese tycoon with strong pro-China leanings! They firmly grasped Hong Kong's communications and intelligence lifeline in their own hands!

"Snap! Snap!"

The flashes of countless reporters illuminated the signing table as bright as day.

Representing BT at the signing ceremony was a sophisticated European female executive with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a cool, elegant demeanor, dressed in an extremely elegant black business suit.

She is Susan, the CEO of the High Table Group in the UK and Lu Chen's most capable senior agent in Europe.

Amid thunderous applause, Susan gracefully picked up her pen and signed her name on the thick share transfer agreement. She then shook hands firmly with the original British directors of Hong Kong Island Telephone Company.

Then, Susan walked to the microphone, facing the cameras of hundreds of media outlets across Hong Kong, and the radiant Governor Edward Youde sitting in the audience, and delivered a speech in extremely standard English, full of arrogant London accent, that was enough to change the history of communications in Asia.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and His Excellency Governor Youde," Susan's clear and confident voice echoed in the vast banquet hall, "Today is a day to be remembered. British Telecom, as the proudest technology giant of the British Empire, has officially taken over the responsibility of serving the communication needs of five million citizens of Hong Kong."

"We are well aware that in this Far East financial center that rivals London, outdated signaling and congested lines can no longer meet the needs of this rapidly developing city."

Susan smiled slightly and dropped the bombshell that shook the entire audience:

"Therefore, on behalf of the Board of Directors of British Telecom, I hereby solemnly announce!"

"In the next six months, BT will inject up to HK$3 billion into Hong Kong! We will completely phase out the current outdated analog signal base stations! We will introduce the world's most advanced second-generation mobile communication technology from the UK! Within six months, we will lay out a new generation of digital communication base station network covering Kowloon, the New Territories, and Hong Kong Island!"

"We will help Hong Kong enter a brand new, truly mobile internet era! The technology of the Japanese Empire will forever stand with Hong Kong!"

boom--!

As soon as Susan finished speaking, the entire audience erupted in a wave of incredibly enthusiastic applause and cheers!

Governor Youde, in particular, was so excited that he stood up and clapped his hands so hard they turned red.

That's such a great achievement!

This is the foundation of our powerful empire! This is the strength of multinational capital! Immediately after the acquisition, they're going to invest billions to upgrade Hong Kong's entire communications network!

Look at the newspapers outside! When tomorrow's front page headlines come out, all the citizens of Hong Kong will be grateful to the Japanese Empire! They will all praise the foreign government's wise decision! What are the most notorious criminals of the century, what is the deterioration of public security? They will all seem insignificant in the face of this epoch-making project for the people's livelihood!

"That Chinese guy surnamed Lu is probably hiding in his office in Central right now, smashing his glass in anger, isn't he?" A manager of a British trading company said to his companion with a mocking smile, holding a glass of champagne.

"Heh, a nouveau riche who made his fortune through financial speculation and women's clothing wants to get his hands on the communication lifeline of the Japanese Empire? That's just wishful thinking!" His companion also looked disdainful.

The entire banquet hall was filled with the joy of victory and the mockery of the losers.

however.

These arrogant foreigners who think they have everything under control will never know.

Less than two kilometers away in Central, in the top-floor office of the towering Golden Harvest Building.

Lu Chen, the Chinese tycoon they mocked as "so angry he smashed a cup".

He was currently holding a glass of fine Romanée-Conti red wine, comfortably leaning back in the large leather boss's chair.

Before him was a huge electronic screen that occupied half of the wall. The screen was broadcasting live the extremely lively signing ceremony at the Peninsula Hotel.

When Lu Chen saw Governor Youde stand up and applaud Susan with great excitement.

Lu Chen finally couldn't hold back any longer and burst into a laugh that was extremely sarcastic and even tinged with pity.

"Mr. Lu, these foreigners have been sold out, and they're still helping us count the money."

Standing to the side, Cheng Yiyan watched the Hong Kong British officials celebrating their victory on television, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Arrogance is humanity's greatest weakness. And the sun, however, has taken this weakness to its extreme."

Lu Chen gently swirled the scarlet liquid in his wine glass, his eyes revealing an ultimate ruthlessness that looked down upon all living beings and manipulated everyone in the world.

"They thought they had successfully blocked Golden Harvest by using British Telecom as a front. They thought that the new generation of digital base stations that were about to be rolled out across Hong Kong was nothing more than a favor bestowed upon Hong Kong by the Empire."

Lu Chen stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the city below, which was being ravaged by ruthless gangsters and was about to be completely devoured by his capital: "But they have no idea who sits at the top of the High Table Group's round table."

Lu Chen's lips curled into a devilishly elegant smile.

"Let these foreigners use their self-righteous arrogance to pay the price for us and pave the way for us."

"They probably never dreamed that they would personally and respectfully hand over the city's communication lifeline, their entire intelligence network that they were so proud of, to me, Lu Chen!"