Hong Kong: Black Gold Tycoons

Chen Fei left Michelle's apartment around noon the next day.

If it weren't for his Wheel of Reincarnation technique, he probably wouldn't be able to get up today.

The land of gentle pleasures is a hero's grave.

After leaving the house, Teacher Chen secretly vowed to abstain from sex for the day.

As I passed a newsstand, I saw a group of shady-looking young men gathered around it, shouting loudly:

"Boss, do you have the 'extra edition' of 'Black Gold' and 'YES!'? I'd like to get a couple for the guys to see."

The newsstand owner understood immediately, pulled out two magazines from under his stall, wrapped them in newspaper, and handed them over: "The two magazines together cost 11 dollars."

The young man in the lead bought it, and his brothers immediately began to frantically examine it, lewdly grinning as they looked at it.

Wow, this is amazing!

"Isn't this...that guy who makes TV dramas?"

"She has such a great figure?"

"It looks so cute, I just want to squeeze it."

"This extra-extra version looks really good."

"This is great, it's even more exciting than that 'Dragon Tiger Leopard' thing."

Several elderly men nearby shook their heads and discussed the situation.

"Isn't 'Black Gold' magazine always touted as offering exclusive scoops? How come they're doing this kind of thing?"

"Business is tough, so when sales aren't picking up, we resort to some gimmicks."

"But isn't this a bit too much? Would those female celebrities agree to this?"

"What does it matter whether they agree or not? The magazine's already printed, can't it be taken back?"

"It's a pity I'm too old, otherwise I would like to give it a try."

"..."

Listening to their discussion, Chen Fei walked to the stall.

I glanced at the colorful items on the newsstand shelf; they were all newspapers and magazines from that day.

However, the contents of several newspapers surprised him.

He bought a few portions on a whim.

The entertainment section of the Sing Tao Daily devoted a significant portion to the headline: "Black Gold and Yes! Explicitly Feature Pornographic Versions, Female Stars Outraged and Plan to File Lawsuits."

The Hong Kong Commercial Daily's headline was even more sensational: "Fake Magazine, Real Pornography? 'Black Gold' Embroiled in Fabricated Nude Photos Scandal, May Face a Collective Blacklist of Female Celebrities."

Ming Pao's report was relatively restrained, but its wording was not polite: "This newspaper has received complaints from several readers that the 'Black Gold' and 'Yes!' supplementary versions on the market contain vulgar content and are suspected of infringing on the portrait rights and reputation rights of several female artists. Our reporter contacted the Black Gold Group, and they stated that the supplementary versions are not genuine and are malicious pirated and counterfeited. The investigation is currently underway."

The harshest criticism came from a commentary in Sing Tao Daily titled "Magazines Will Stop at Nothing to Boost Sales: Where is the Moral Bottom Line of Hong Kong Media?" The entire article criticized the unscrupulous practices of Black Gold and Yes! magazines, without mentioning piracy at all.

Chen Fei immediately frowned. Which bastard was messing with him?

Then don't blame yourself for inviting him to ride in a cheap plane.

"Boss, give me a copy of 'Black Gold' and a copy of 'Yes!'."

The newsstand owner looked up at him and asked, "Handsome, would you like it with extra toppings or without?"

"What's the point of having it with or without any ingredients?"

The shop owner chuckled, pulled two magazines from under his stall, and patted the covers mysteriously: "That's why young people should definitely get the 'extra edition.' The content inside is absolutely amazing; I guarantee you'll want to keep reading after you finish."

Chen Fei took the two magazines. The covers prominently displayed the logos of "Black Gold" and "Yes!". The layout, font, and color scheme were exactly the same as his own magazines, without any trace of shoddy workmanship.

"The supplementary edition is two dollars more each, eleven coins a book," the shopkeeper said. "It's absolutely worth the price. The contents... hehe, you'll know once you buy it."

Chen Fei paid for it and picked up the magazine, flipping through the pages of "Black Gold".

The content at the beginning is exactly the same as the original; the articles, layout, and Google pages are all copied verbatim.

But when you turn to the middle, several pages of coated paper content suddenly appear, content that was absolutely never in the original edition.

These contents are erotic, and the main characters are female celebrities who appeared in the previous issue of the magazine.

Each page features large photos in bold and explicit poses; some are of swimsuits, some are of underwear, and a few are even more revealing, almost half-naked.

The photos were accompanied by provocative text, with titles such as "Exclusive Exclusive from 'Black Gold'" and "The Unknown Side of Female Stars," using vulgar and offensive language.

Chen Fei opened the book "Yes!" again, and the situation was exactly the same.

The first few pages are normal celebrity photos and horoscopes, but when you flip to the middle, the style suddenly changes, and it's full of sexy photos of female celebrities. Some of them are not even simple photos, but rather composite images.

The face of a female celebrity was pasted onto a nearly naked body, accompanied by a fabricated interview with extremely explicit content.

Chen Fei examined it carefully.

These photos look real at first glance, but he immediately recognized that they were the result of several different negatives being superimposed and enlarged for exposure. This technique, known in the industry as "overlay exposure," is specifically used to forge photos.

The average reader simply cannot tell the difference.

"Does this thing sell well?" Chen Fei asked casually.

The newsstand owner grinned from ear to ear: "Great! It was delivered yesterday afternoon, and by this morning, most of it had already been sold. You wouldn't believe it, some people even came specifically to ask if we had the bonus edition, buying several copies at once."

Chen Fei nodded, picked up the magazine, and turned to leave.

This tactic is far more insidious than piracy.

While the poorly made pirated copies affected sales, discerning people could easily tell they were fake, so the damage to the brands of "Black Gold" and "Yes!" was limited.

However, these two "enhanced" editions are all high-precision replicas, from the cover to the inner pages, from the layout to the font. Ordinary readers simply cannot tell which one is the genuine copy and which one is the pirated copy.

Even more deadly is the pornographic content tucked inside.

Readers who buy this "added-edition" will think it's published by "Black Gold" and "Yes!" themselves; the female celebrities featured will also think the Black Gold Group is exploiting them.

They please neither side and offend both, while the mastermind behind the scenes reaps the benefits.

Even before he arrived at the company, many female artists called Black Gold's office.

The first person to call the Black Gold Group was a female artist from the TV station named Guo Meiling.

She is a second-tier actress at TVB. She just shot a cover photo for "Yes!" a few days ago. The photos haven't been published yet, but today we saw that someone in the previous issue was wearing almost transparent underwear and in an extremely indecent pose.

This was completely beyond her expectations, and she subconsciously thought that she would be portrayed in the same way.

So they called to cancel the collaboration, saying, "Please tell Ms. Yue that our collaboration for this period is canceled, and you can't use the photos we took before!"

The operator put down the receiver, rubbed her temples, and before she could even catch her breath, the phone rang again.

This time it was a female celebrity I worked with last time calling. Her voice was even louder than Guo Meiling's: "Ms. Yue, what's going on with your 'Black Gold' magazine? When did I ever take those kinds of photos? Do you know my boyfriend almost broke up with me after seeing this magazine? Aren't you ruining someone's career?"

"Ms. Chen, we really didn't do this..."

"It wasn't you who did it? That magazine has your 'Black Gold' logo printed on it! If it wasn't you, who else could it be?"

"It's a pirated copy..."

"Piracy? You think you can use piracy as an excuse to wash your hands of everything? From this moment on, I have no business relationship with your Black Gold Group! The contracts we signed before are null and void! And I have the right to claim compensation."

The call ended again.

For the next morning, the Black Gold Group's phone kept ringing.

The operators in the office were extremely busy, their faces pale. They received calls from more than a dozen artists, some calling in person, others having someone else call on their behalf. The messages were all similar: questioning, accusations, threats, and calls to cancel collaborations.

Lok Wai-ching sat at her desk, two embellished magazines spread out in front of her, her face ashen.

She turned to one of the pages, which featured a photo of a newly debuted singer. The girl was only nineteen years old. The photo had been altered beyond recognition, and the accompanying text was extremely vulgar.

Enraged, she gritted her teeth and said, "These bastards!"

She's been on the phone all morning, and her voice is almost hoarse.

I simply had the receptionist transfer the call to the answering machine, and finally, the world was quiet.

"The boss hasn't come back yet?" she asked her employees.

"No," the employee shook his head. "But Mr. Yue said we should recall the magazines with added content from the market, and I've already arranged for someone to do that."

"What's the use of taking it back? They've already printed it, sold it, and everyone who wanted to see it has seen it." Lok Wai-ching rubbed her temples. "The most important thing now is to keep those artists on their toes. If they all terminate their cooperation, our magazine won't be able to continue."

The subordinate hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke up: "Sister Zhen, do you think we've offended someone?"

"Is that even a question?" Yue Huizhen's tone was harsh. "Damn it, if I find out who did it, I'll cripple them!"

……

Although it was only for a short morning.

The news has already spread in many circles.

In a private room of an upscale restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, several behind-the-scenes figures from the entertainment industry are having dinner.

The conversation was already heated before all the dishes were even served.

"Have you heard? The 'extra edition' of those two magazines, 'Black Gold' and 'Yes!'?" someone spoke up first.

"How come I haven't heard about it? My phone was ringing off the hook this afternoon." Another producer shook his head. "The three actresses in my new movie were all criticized by that magazine. They were all crying their eyes out. I guess my movie will be canceled before it's even finished filming."

"From my professional perspective, some of those photos are obviously fake, but some should be real. Black Gold can get his hands on anything."

"Whether it's real or fake doesn't matter. What matters is that the magazine has the name 'Black Gold' printed on it. Readers don't care whether it's a genuine or pirated copy; they only know that it was published by 'Black Gold'."

"That's a really vicious move. Who did it?"

"Who knows? I guess they published something they shouldn't have, so they got tricked."

"Then this is going to be interesting. This move is absolutely devastating. It will be difficult for Black Gold to make a comeback in the future."

……

In TVB's dressing room, several female artists are getting their makeup and hair done.

One of the celebrities spoke up: "Have you seen today's newspapers? Black Gold magazine is in trouble, and everyone's reporting on it."

"I saw it." Another female artist sighed. "Didn't the company just tell us to temporarily avoid any contact with the Black Gold Group to avoid misunderstandings?"

"Who would dare to deal with illicit money now?" The first female celebrity to speak turned her head.

He glanced at Zhao Yazhi in the distance and lowered his voice, saying, "Sister Zhi was supporting Black Gold before, but now that this has happened, the ratings for our show will probably be affected."

"That's right. It's our bad luck to get involved in something like this. We finally got a role, and if the show falls through, we'll definitely be affected too."

Meanwhile, at Wing Fat Printing Ltd. in the Kwun Tong Industrial Area, Raymond Chester was sitting in his second-floor office, a glass of whiskey in his hand, his smile brighter than the sunshine outside the window.

Lin Zhaotang exhaled a smoke ring and said, "Boss, today's newspapers are all reporting on this, and they're all criticizing the Black Gold Group."

Raymond chuckled louder: "Ah Tang, see? What did I tell you? We don't even need to get involved; he'll be in a real mess on his own."

Lin Zhaotang pondered for a moment: "Boss, what if Chen Fei finds out it was us who did it?"

"Found out?" Raymond took a sip of whiskey. "So what if he found out? Does he have any evidence? The paper, ink, and printing technology I used for those embellished magazines were all sourced from different channels. He can't trace it back to me. Even if he finds the printing plant, it's that little-known factory in the suburbs. What does that have to do with me, Raymond?"

"But this is an unnecessary expense for us," Lin Zhaotang continued. "We can easily use those poorly made pirated copies to humiliate him."

"That's no use." Raymond shook his head. "People will still recognize his authentic products, but things are different now. Black Gold's reputation is ruined."

At this point, he put down his glass, poured himself another, and continued:

"Besides, even if he suspects me, what can he do to me? Call the police? When the police come to investigate, I'll just cooperate. After the investigation, I'm still the biggest printer in Hong Kong. Sue me in court? He can't even touch a hair on my head."

His confidence didn't come from nowhere; someone paid him a lot of money to help him, otherwise he wouldn't have done such a thing.

Lin Zhaotang nodded, but he still felt uneasy.

Chen Fei's ability to launch two magazines in Hong Kong out of thin air and write so much unknown dirt on people shows he's no ordinary person.

"Boss," Lin Zhaotang said in a low voice, "I heard that Chen Fei has a very capable fighter under him."

Raymond scoffed, "What good is being able to fight? In this world, connections matter. Besides, this is Hong Kong, a society governed by the rule of law. What good is being able to fight? You should know that the rules of Hong Kong were set by the British!"