1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

The first episode is told in reverse chronological order, but it doesn't feel abrupt at all. It barely gives Mrs. Chan any time to think before it immediately cuts from the rooftop to the streets of Hong Kong in 1968.

Hong Kong's stock market was fraught with crisis, British capital was rampant, and the Chinese didn't even have their own stock exchange. Fang Jinxin came out of the British office and said he wanted to establish a stock exchange for the Chinese.

This step sowed the seeds for future feuds between the Fang and Ding families, making one's heart clench.

The scene then jumps to after the exchange's establishment. Fang Jinxin has worked hard to become the vice chairman of the Chinese exchange, dressed in a sharp suit, full of vigor, and promising to make this place a fair and just place for the Chinese community.

"The stock market shouldn't be a place that drains the blood of the poor to feed the rich. Chinese money should support the Chinese people." Mrs. Chen pondered this line, feeling inexplicably moved.

Although she didn't really understand the ins and outs of the stock exchange, she just felt that Fang Jin was a really good newcomer, like a capitalist who genuinely wanted to do something practical, rather than someone who was only after his own personal gain.

Just as I was engrossed in reading, I heard the sound of a key being turned into a lock behind me.

Chen Sheng pushed open the door and came in, bringing with him a draft of air from the corridor.

He is an accountant at a trading company. Anyone familiar with this industry knows that accountants have to do bookkeeping at the beginning of the month, reconcile accounts in the middle of the month, and close accounts at the end of the month. Overtime is a common occurrence.

He worked more than half an hour later than usual today, and was quite exhausted. He put the keys in the entryway and slumped down at the dining table.

"You're back?"

"Um."

"I'll go heat up some food for you."

Although Mrs. Chen was somewhat reluctant to part with Fang Jinxin, her husband was ultimately more important. Reluctantly, she left the television, went into the kitchen, boiled the soup a couple of times, brought the dishes over, and poured him a glass of water.

"Come and eat."

Chen Sheng washed his hands, sat down, picked up his bowl, and ate a few mouthfuls.

He usually talks about the Hang Seng Index all the time during meals, but tonight he was exhausted and didn't feel like talking, just focused on picking at his food.

After finishing her work, Mrs. Chen nestled back onto the sofa, just as the TV switched back to the stock exchange.

Chen Wanxian used his power to amass wealth, colluding with officials and businessmen to recklessly transfer benefits, causing major investors to dump their shares and retail investors to crowd the door in protest.

An old man was squatting in the corner, his hands covering his head, with scraps of paper scattered around him. Mrs. Chen's heart ached at the sight.

"These people are truly wicked."

Someone spoke from behind her. Mrs. Chen turned around and saw her husband standing at the living room doorway with a bowl in his hand, his eyes fixed on the television.

"You scared me!"

Mrs. Chen patted her chest. "Come and sit down."

Chen Sheng moved to the sofa, put his bowl on the coffee table, and said angrily, "The stock I sold at a loss last month was crashed by these kinds of market manipulators."

"Old Zhou from our company is in an even worse situation. He withdrew all his housing provident fund and put it into the bank. Hundreds of thousands of yuan evaporated in one day. The next day, his wife came to the company to find him and was crying downstairs."

As the two were talking, Shang Jinxin pulled out a drawer filled with black money from the TV screen.

In the conference room, Chen Wanxian told Wei Kangcheng, who had come to apply for listing, that his Yellow River Industry would not be allowed to list unless he paid bribes. Fang Jinxin stood up and angrily denounced Chen Wanxian, saying that the Chinese Association was originally established to make stocks accessible to everyone, but now it had all gone awry. After saying this, he set fire to the bribes on the table, and the two men broke off their relationship completely.

Mrs. Chen's palms were sweating as she looked at it, muttering to herself, "How much money did this cost? Just like that, it's burned..."

She received no response to her words. Turning her head, she saw that Chen Sheng was leaning forward, still holding a bowl in his hand with his chopsticks hanging in mid-air, motionless.

"Then eat it!"

"Um."

He picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, but stopped halfway through chewing.

On the screen, Chen Wanxian gritted his teeth and stared at Fang Jinxin, his eyes red-rimmed. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Think it through."

"He's going to get revenge."

Chen Sheng suddenly spoke up, "Look at the look in his eyes, something bad is definitely going to happen in the next episode."

"You eat first."

"I'm not eating anymore."

Chen Sheng put down the bowl, leaned back on the sofa, and stared at the preview for the next episode on the screen.

Chen Taibai glanced at her husband, then got up to collect the bowls.

The chopsticks were placed across the rim of the bowl, and there was still a small half-dish of stir-fried beef with bok choy left, but the soup was all drunk up.

She stacked the bowls, carried them into the kitchen, turned on the tap to rinse them, and glanced back—

He was still leaning back on the sofa, his eyes still on the TV, where the credits were already rolling.

"Still watching?"

"I've finished watching." Chen Sheng snapped out of his daze, stood up, stretched, and cracked his shoulder. "Will it air again tomorrow?"

"Broadcast, 7:35."

"OK."

He took a couple of steps, then looked back at the television and said to his wife, "I'll come home earlier tomorrow, and we'll watch it together."

……

Huo Sheng also watched the first episode.

Overall, the visual experience is very good. The finished product has almost no major flaws. In fact, due to the increased budget, the picture quality is even smoother and the effect is better than the original.

He turned off the TV, quickly washed up, and went to bed feeling relieved. He was just waiting for tomorrow's ratings report to see if his first drama had been a success or a failure.

But he felt like he hadn't slept for long when he suddenly heard a loud knocking on the door, which pulled him out of his dream.

He sat up in bed, momentarily stunned, but the knocking stopped for a moment and then resumed.

"Ah Sheng, Ah Sheng! Open the door quickly!"

Wei Jiahui's urgent shouts came from outside the door.

Huo Sheng immediately became a little nervous.

A knock on the door in the middle of the night probably means it's urgent, and urgent things are usually not good. Could it be that the tapes were burned or stolen? Or has some bad news come out?

He stepped barefoot onto the ground and hurriedly opened the dormitory door, asking worriedly, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"No, no—"

Wai Ka-fai stood in the doorway, his pajama collar askew. "I have some good news I wanted to tell you as soon as possible."

"What good news?"

Huo Sheng was relieved, but quite speechless. What were you doing in the middle of the night?

"Someone I know in the statistics department called to tell me that the ratings for the first episode are out," Wai Ka-fai said, getting excited as he spoke. "Unbelievable!"

Huo Sheng couldn't help but feel nervous, even though he sensed things wouldn't be too bad. He swallowed hard and pressed, "How much?"

"An average rating of 34% per hour, with a peak rating of 36%!" Wai Ka-fai finally got his words out of his mouth.

He wasn't as carefree as Huo Sheng. After watching the premiere, he couldn't fall asleep at all and stayed up until the phone rang, giving him a heads-up before he finally felt at ease.

Hearing this, Huo Sheng felt relieved, leaned against the doorframe, and said, "Isn't this a record-breaking result?"

"Yes, the anniversary dramas from the year before last and last year only had a 33% viewership rating after all their episodes aired, which is lower than ours!"

"That's a good start," Huo Sheng said with a smile. "It seems the plan is working, and the audience likes this kind of subject matter."

Wai Ka-fai laughed along.

He had been waiting for this result for four years, and this time it was clearly more impactful than his previous work, "Looking Back in Anger".

Huo Sheng suddenly remembered something, glanced at his watch, and realized it was already 1 a.m. He couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Have you informed Brother Yingming of this good news?"

"Not yet, I came knocking on your door as soon as I received the news."

"Then call him quickly and tell him. We can't just be happy for ourselves," Huo Sheng said.

We're a perfect trio, sharing both good times and bad. If I get woken up, you won't be able to sleep either.

"Okay, I'll call him right away."

Wai Ka-fai was in a great mood and happily went back to his room to get his phone.

He took a couple of steps, then turned back, leaning halfway out to remind them, "We have a meeting tomorrow morning. Once the detailed data is available, we'll discuss it in detail."

Huo Sheng nodded and silently closed the door.

Once I have money, the first thing I'll do is move, to live as far away from Wai Ka-fai, that workaholic, as possible.