So what if I work with celebrities?

Xu Zan never imagined that he would one day become a member of the martial arts world. Unless there are special circumstances, this stain may accompany him for the rest of his life.

"I'll donate more to schools and road construction in the future; I'm sure that will earn me a good reputation!"

He stood at the kitchen doorway, looking out into the coffee shop at his many underworld brothers waiting for their share of the profits. In any era, payday is always a day to be celebrated.

Even if he is a time traveler, he is no exception.

In his previous life, he had never really come into contact with people from the martial arts world. He had only observed the mischievous students up close when he was in school and heard them talk about how the older brothers from previous years used to wield red-tasseled spears and how mighty they were.

Xu Zan scoffed at this and kept his distance from these brainless idiots. Having loved Hong Kong films since childhood, he harbored dreams and, with the help of his parents, managed to attend the film academy's directing department.

As a result, on my first day of school, someone asked me, "What does your dad do?"

After graduating, I worked on film sets and finally got a small investment opportunity, but then a black swan event occurred, and the box office suffered huge losses.

A true man never admits defeat; he gets up wherever he falls. He sold his house and car, went all in on short dramas, and won big on his first attempt. He woke up to find himself working as a waiter in a coffee shop.

Ideals are lofty ideals, reality is how much a cup of coffee costs.

In the past two years, Xu Zan has finally figured out the network of relationships around him and is no longer reserved. His previous timid and cowardly demeanor made the other brothers think he had kidney deficiency!

He didn't care about being looked down upon; he set three goals for himself: a long-term goal, a medium-term goal, and a short-term goal.

First: Ensure safety; Second: Ensure safety; Third: Under the premise of ensuring safety, if you have money, a house, a car, and women, do not get involved in unnecessary trouble. The intelligence department can kill without blinking an eye.

And so, Xu Zan settled down to be a competent waitress at Delin Café.

Twenty-one-year-old Hsu Tsan was a young man in a military dependents' village in Taiwan in 1975.

…………

Glancing down at his IWC watch, he hurried into the kitchen, finely ground coffee, added a certain amount of water according to a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, and let it steep for thirty seconds…

Before long, a cup of hand-drip coffee was ready.

"I've been talking for ages, my voice's hoarse! Hey! Can someone get me a glass of water?"

The sailor's voice echoed in the hall, and immediately a henchman chimed in: "Boss, I'm off!" Before he could even turn around, he heard:

"Make way, make way!" Xu Zan, carrying a cup of coffee, walked over unhurriedly and placed it steadily on the table with one hand. "Big brother, hand-drip coffee."

"Ha, it's you? You're great in every way, except you're a coward! No good, no good!" The sailor talked so much that he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Who wouldn't like such a thoughtful younger brother?

"Hehe, I'll be more than satisfied if I can help my brother run this coffee shop well," Xu Zan said.

Right now, being someone's underling means you have to bow your head. If you time-travel again and don't know how to assess the situation, you'll be finished sooner or later. In Taiwan during the 1970s and 80s, gangsters were lawless and prone to fighting each other at the drop of a hat.

At first, they were just brandishing razor blades, but later they pulled out guns.

He didn't want to meet the King of Hell too soon.

He was just waiting for an opportunity. Today seemed like a good day, at least the eldest brother, the sailor, was in a good mood. The "company" had made a fortune in the first half of the year.

In his previous life, his dream was to become a great director, but due to a lack of opportunity and bad luck, he wasted half his life. But after traveling back to the 1970s, things were different.

Zhang Che is getting old, Luo Weijiang has lost his talent, Hu Jinquan's slow and meticulous style has lost its audience appeal, and Li Hanxiang has returned to Shaw Brothers... To see who are the most outstanding figures, look to the present!

Now living on the island of Taiwan, there are so many beautiful women in their prime, such as Brigitte Lin, Hu Yinmeng, and Hu Huizhong... truly stunning.

By the way, Big Nose is still playing minor roles and hasn't been noticed by Luo Wei yet. It really is where the dream began.

The sailor distributed the cash on the table among his many brothers, with the amount varying according to rank and merit.

Xu Zan only received 2,500 yuan, which was half a year's bonus, not even enough for his monthly salary.

Many of his underlings left, leaving only a few of the sailor's trusted men waiting for him to finish his coffee. Xu Zan saw his gang members off and hurried back.

He stood beside the sailor without saying a word.

"Your coffee is just different. I've had coffee from many places, and yours is the best."

"Thank you for the compliment, brother. I'm nothing special!"

"Heh, you're being a bit too modest, kid. You're usually quiet and reserved, but you're quick-witted and know your limits. If you were a little bolder, this position could be yours someday!"

The sailor chuckled and patted the sofa, while his confidants around him glared at Xu Zan with hostility.

"Brother, you flatter me. I'm easily frightened, please spare me!" Xu Zan said.

"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. What's up? I've been watching you; whenever something's up, you're always fidgeting with your fingers. Go ahead and say it!"

Xu Zan felt a chill run down his spine. To be able to become the head of the Bamboo Branch Company, he was indeed meticulous. His carefully planned scheme over the past year had indeed been discovered by the other party.

"I often listen to my elder brother's teachings, and I reflect on myself every day. He's right; one should live life to the fullest and be adventurous. I also want to contribute to the gang; I don't want to be just a coffee-making clerk forever!"

The sailor assumed the other man had seen his brothers earning tens of thousands of dollars and was now greedy, wanting to advance his career. "I like ambitious brothers," he said. "There's a karaoke bar nearby that needs extra staff. Why don't you work there as a bouncer?"

"Can I make a lot of money?" Xu Zan asked.

"Not enough big money, monthly salary of five thousand, plus year-end bonus."

"No, no!" Xu Zan shook his head.

"What about pressing for payment?"

"Can you make a lot of money?"

"A fierce and menacing demeanor that cultivates masculinity, facilitates debt collection and money collection, offers high commissions, a monthly salary of 5,000, and a year-end bonus of over 30,000."

"No way, no way, the money is far too little!" Xu Zan said.

"Hey? Forced demolition and eviction, monthly salary of six thousand, year-end bonus of forty thousand!" The sailor looked at him with some annoyance.

"Demolishing someone's ancestral home will disturb their peace and won't make them much money. I won't do it!" Xu Zan said.

At that moment, two of the sailor's henchmen grabbed him and said menacingly, "Are you tired of living? How dare you speak to your boss like that?"

Seeing Xu Zan's smile, the sailor knew something was amiss. He gestured for his men to release her and asked casually, "What do you want to do?"

"Big brother, I recently saw that making movies is very profitable. I wonder if you could give me some money to make movies? I guarantee I'll make money!" Xu Zan said earnestly.

"Huh?" The sailor laughed in exasperation.

The two brothers supporting Xu Zan understood immediately. One of them punched him in the stomach and whispered, "Kid, behave yourself. If it weren't for the fact that you're a brother, you'd be carried out of here today!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Xu Zan forced a smile and said, "Big brother, I'm not lying to you. I've prepared the script; let me show it to you!"

"Oh? You came prepared? Let me see it!" The sailor waved his hand, signaling his underling to release him.

Xu Zan took a notebook out of her bag in the kitchen, handed it to her older brother, and then stood aside, enduring her stomach pain and smiling as she waited for the result.

"Joyful Encounters, an art-house romance film?" The sailor was immediately drawn to the handwriting; the handwriting reflected the person, proving that Xu Zan was a good person.

He glanced at the young man, then looked up at him. He saw that the young man had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a square face, a straight nose, and a square mouth. He looked very upright and was a handsome young man.

"The story is about a college student having a child out of wedlock, having an abortion, and working as a singer in a nightclub. You're quite the observer of society, aren't you?"

Isn't that obvious? At least 40% of the negative list is the fault of people from the underworld; Xu Zan has seen plenty of that in the past two years.

Of course, the inspiration for writing this script came from his past life's film analysis. He had watched every frame of Hong Kong and Taiwan films he could find, especially the debut works of some big stars.

Coincidentally, Hu Huizhong, the female lead in "Joyful Encounter," was his neighbor.

"Brother, I'm really not lying to you. You can have someone take a look; I even drew storyboards for it. Just give me 800,000, and I guarantee the box office will be no less than 3 million!"

The sailor's eyes narrowed slightly, then suddenly widened, clearly moved by Xu Zan's words: Wow, he can earn so much?