Chapter 125

A new day, early in the morning,

Fei Quan took his underling Jun Zai and arrived in Causeway Bay!

He wanted to join Guan Zu’s faction.

"I heard Guan Zu likes to eat at the Kowloon Ice Room."

"We'll wait for him there."

Soon, Fei Quan and Jun Zai arrived at the Kowloon Ice Room.

"Boss, what would you like to eat?"

Nine-Patterned Dragon walked over, limping, holding a pen and an order pad.

Fei Quan didn't care what he ate, and he wasn't in the mood: "Just bring us two of your shop's signature rice dishes."

Nine-Patterned Dragon said: "Then how about the beef brisket with radish over rice? The weather has been getting cold lately; winter radish is as good as ginseng, it’s perfect for nourishing the body."

"That'll do."

Fei Quan picked up a newspaper and started reading.

He had taken this newspaper from a newsstand on Jaffe Road, just taking it directly without paying.

A hoodlum buying things and still paying?

Wouldn't that mean I’m a hoodlum for nothing?!

The front-page headline of the newspaper was: Cheng Long’s latest masterpiece, "Operation Condor," will officially hit theaters on February 7th...

There were other news items, but Fei Quan had zero interest; he’d rather read "Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard."

Finally, he saw a news item: "Sky-High Reward of 100,000, Just to Find a Book!"

Fei Quan glanced at it and wasn't interested.

Wait...

Is this a reward from Five-Star Property Company? Is it Guan Zu?

Fei Quan finally got a little interested and looked carefully; the book being offered for was "Twenty-Four Histories," the full set, and it had to be the 1977 edition.

Fei Quan: "???"

He was completely confused. What is Guan Zu doing? Offering 100,000 for a book?

He must really have nothing better to do.

Just like that, Fei Quan and Jun Zai waited and waited inside the Kowloon Ice Room...

One hour...

Two hours...

And then it was noon.

Nine-Patterned Dragon and Ah Kang couldn't help but be curious, whispering: "These two guys look like troublemakers. Staying here for so long, could they be planning to cause trouble?"

"Should we call Five-Star Property and have them come over?"

"No, let's just watch for now."

At this moment,

Clang~~~

The door of the Kowloon Ice Room opened.

Guan Zu, Li Jie, and Ah Xing walked in.

"Brother Zu!"

Nine-Patterned Dragon and Ah Kang immediately became enthusiastic. Over the past few months, both sides had become friends, and their relationship was quite good.

Hearing the voice, Fei Quan looked up abruptly and saw Guan Zu, feeling overjoyed.

He had finally waited for him!

Fei Quan hurriedly stood up, walked over quickly, bowed, and said respectfully: "Brother Zu!"

Guan Zu frowned as he looked at Fei Quan: "Aren't you that Fei Quan from yesterday? What are you doing here?"

Fei Quan said hurriedly: "Brother Zu, I want to follow you!"

Follow me?

Guan Zu looked at Fei Quan with a strange expression.

You, a small-time hoodlum, want to follow me?

Are you qualified?

Guan Zu shook his head and refused: "You are one of Hong Le’s people. Do you think Brother Piao would agree to you switching sides?"

Fei Quan hurriedly flattered him: "With Brother Zu’s strength, Brother Piao would definitely agree."

Hearing this, Guan Zu just sneered.

"Sorry, I’m not taking in any underlings right now."

"Why?" Fei Quan was anxious.

Guan Zu said: "Then tell me, why should I take you in?"

Fei Quan hurriedly pitched himself: "I can expand your territory for you, Brother Zu... I’ve looked into it; for so long, your territory has never expanded. I can help you fight for it."

"Haha~~~"

Whether it was Guan Zu or Ah Xing, they couldn't help but laugh.

Guan Zu patted Fei Quan on the shoulder: "Are you still living in the past ten or twenty years? What era is this now? It’s the 90s. Every society is thinking about either washing their hands of crime or fleeing abroad. You’re still thinking about fighting and killing?"

"People like you were born in the wrong era. If it were the 70s or 80s, you might have been able to fight your way to a boss position. As for now, give up that thought. Just be a content low-level thug and you might have a decent end, otherwise, you’ll be riding in a hearse..."

After Guan Zu finished speaking, he took Li Jie and Ah Xing to find a seat.

Fei Quan: "............"

Being rejected by Guan Zu, he felt very humiliated, and a fire rose within him.

"Jun Zai, let's go!"

He left the Kowloon Ice Room quickly.

Nine-Patterned Dragon watched his retreating back, holding a cup of tea, and placed it in front of Guan Zu: "Brother Zu, I saw that little brat leaving just now, he seemed to be holding a grudge against you."

"Holding a grudge against me?" Guan Zu chuckled; it wasn't impossible.

This Fei Quan had huge ambitions, just like that Mike.

After that Mike went undercover into Red Star, he went on a killing spree, took out all the hall masters, and finally wanted to take out Brother Tian to take over Red Star. In the end, he couldn't beat the old veteran Brother Tian and was killed by him. (Movie "Lawyer Lawyer")

If Fei Quan were allowed to stay in Hong Le for too long, he would probably follow the same path as Mike.

Guan Zu didn't want to see such a vicious person grow stronger, fearing he would bring trouble to Causeway Bay.

So he picked up the phone and dialed Brother Piao’s number.

"Brother Piao, good afternoon."

"Brother Zu, what’s up?" After yesterday’s confrontation, Brother Piao was completely convinced, changing from calling him "Ah Zu" to "Brother Zu."

"I do have something. Your subordinate Fei Quan just ran to Causeway Bay, saying he wanted to follow me, saying you were old, and that he could help me take over Hong Le’s territory."

"What?!"

On the other end of the phone, Brother Piao was so angry he jumped up on the spot.

On Fei Quan’s side, he left the Kowloon Ice Room and got into a car.

"Bang~~~"

He slammed the steering wheel wildly, his expression finally breaking, filled with rage.

He had poured his heart and soul into wanting to join Hong Xing and fight for Guan Zu, but he never expected to be rejected!

This was a slap in the face!

"Ring ring ring~~~"

The boss, Brother Piao, was calling.

"Hello, Brother Piao!" Fei Quan said, suppressing his anger.

"Fei Quan, where are you? Come back quickly, I have something to arrange for you." Brother Piao laughed.

"Okay, I’ll be there right away."

Fei Quan drove the car, speeding toward Jaffe Road.

More than 10 minutes later,

Fei Quan knocked on Brother Piao’s office door.

"Come in!"

After seeing Fei Quan, Brother Piao immediately showed a happy expression: "Fei Quan, come, come, come~~"

"I saw your performance yesterday, and I suddenly realized that our society really lacks some spirit..."

"Now there is a mission for you. That Sang Bo smashed Brother De’s place last night. Go take him out, and when you come back, I’ll promote you to Red Stick!"

Upon hearing this, Fei Quan was overjoyed.

"Yes! Brother Piao!"

"I’ll go do it right away!"

Fei Quan turned and left, preparing to gather his men.

Brother Piao watched his back with a cold sneer. His underling had already called him; this Fei Quan had indeed come from Causeway Bay.

Fei Quan, oh Fei Quan, since you are disloyal to me!

Then there’s no need for me to keep you. Brother Piao made a call, telling his confidant to secretly leak the news to Sang Bo.

After Guan Zu finished his meal at the Kowloon Ice Room and returned to the boxing gym,

Gao Qiu arrived as well.

"Brother Zu, I need to report to you about the 'Twenty-Four Histories' matter..."

Then he talked about the "Twenty-Four Histories," saying it was banned, not published at all, and had reading barriers; with over 20 million characters, printing it wasn't suitable.

Therefore, this plan had to be canceled and replaced with other books.

At this time,

A burst of noise came from downstairs.

"Brother Jin, I heard you’re in a relationship, is it true?"

!.

"Brother Jin, who is the sister-in-law?"

Not long after, Guan Zu saw Gao Jin with a cold face, bringing directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong, knocking and walking into Guan Zu’s office.

Today, Gao Jin brought the two directors over to let Guan Zu see the full film "New World."

"Brother Zu~~"

Gao Jin looked at Guan Zu, his eyes full of resentment.

Brother Zu, it was you, you big mouth, shouting it everywhere so everyone knows I’m in a relationship, even on the road I’ve met quite a few neighbors running over to gossip.

Guan Zu laughed awkwardly: "You’re here. Ah Qiu, since you’re here, the movie 'New World' is finished, let’s watch it together."

"Okay."

Gao Qiu was also curious about this movie, wondering how it would turn out.

Soon,

On the top floor, in the screening room.

A group of people sat in the screening room, watching the projection screen.

The movie started with the company logo, Five-Star Film Company.

Next, the scene moved to an abandoned warehouse, where a group of people in suits, looking like urban white-collar workers, were inside. There was Li Zicheng in a suit sitting there, and a traitor tied up, covered in blood. Interrogating the traitor, and finally, the most classic scene in "New World"—pouring cement on the traitor, putting him in a cement barrel, and throwing him into the sea.

Next was the gang leader being hit by a car and dying, the power struggle within the society, Li Zicheng’s undercover crisis, Ding Qing being killed, Li Zicheng’s blackening, killing everyone back, and ascending to the position of leader...

Thus,

The movie screening ended.

After watching it, Guan Zu felt very satisfied.

Directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong basically followed Guan Zu’s requirements, constraining the style; romantic where it should be romantic, cruel where it should be cruel, and cool where it should be cool.

The lens style of the entire movie was somewhat different from the lens styles currently on the film market, feeling like a product of a different era.

The gap between the two sides was as obvious as the gap between Cheng Long’s movies like "Drunken Master" and "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Who Am I?" and "Rush Hour."

Most importantly...

These suits looked very handsome, very good!

Watching the whole movie, all the bosses and underlings were tall, handsome men in black suits... all selected by Guan Zu from Hong Xing’s underlings who had good images and sent over to play bit parts.

The only thing that was a bit awkward was...

The advertisements made Guan Zu’s scalp tingle; they basically followed his own requirements, an advertisement every 5 minutes!

Guan Zu said: "Two directors, these advertisements, can we delete some..."

Upon hearing this, directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong were overjoyed.

They had long been unable to stand these movie advertisements.

Director Wu Sen said actively: "Boss, which ones do you want to delete?"

Guan Zu said: "Delete some unreasonable ones... for example, that advertisement at the beginning of the movie, the line said by the underling interrogating: 'This is a Jinba men’s suit, so handsome, what a pity to ruin it, take it off before interrogating,' this feels a bit unreasonable, delete it..."

Directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong were happy.

This is good.

Guan Zu added: "Also, when Ding Qing is pushed into the elevator, he should be panicked, so that part 'Don't hit me, this suit of mine is very expensive (100 words of dialogue omitted)...' seems unreasonable... delete it."

"Okay, okay."

Directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong were even happier.

However,

Guan Zu added: "After deleting it, we need to add a part... after Ding Qing finishes fighting, he comes out of the elevator covered in blood and curses: 'I’m wearing a Jinba men’s suit, you guys are wearing trash suits, humph, fighting with me?'"

Directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong: "............"

Damn, happy too soon!

Guan Zu made 10 more suggestions, deleting a total of 12, but also needing to reshoot 8.

Directors Wu Sen and Lin Dong had a headache.

So you’re not deleting, you’re replacing!

However, after replacing them, it was indeed much better.

Guan Zu added: "Also, it’s Chinese New Year in half a month, I’ll give you 10 days to edit everything out... in addition, the trailer needs to be made as soon as possible, I’m planning to put it on TV stations."

The two directors nodded: "Okay."

Guan Zu also reminded Gao Jin: "Remember to contact the cinema chains and discuss the release... I looked at this year’s Spring Festival, there are three movies that are special, one is 'Operation Condor,' from the Golden Harvest chain, and the other is 'Tricky Brains,' which belongs to the Xiang family, they don’t have a cinema chain."

"The Golden Harvest chain will definitely only show their own movies... so you have to fight for the Shaw Brothers chain, as well as the Golden Princess and New Treasure chains; we need to compete with the Xiang family’s 'Tricky Brains' on these two chains."

Currently, the cinema chain situation in Hong Kong is: the Shaw Brothers (Tycoon Shao) chain is starting to decline, the Golden Harvest chain is maintaining (Cheng Long’s boss’s company), the Golden Princess (Tycoon Lei) is expanding, and the New Treasure chain is expanding (without the ability to produce movies).

Therefore, what "New World" can fight for is the Shaw Brothers chain, the Golden Princess chain, and the New Treasure chain.

And compete with "Operation Condor" and "Tricky Brains."

Guan Zu added: "After negotiating the cinema chains, remember to go to some shopping malls and set up clothing stores; we are going to take the mid-to-high-end brand route."

Gao Jin noted them down one by one.

Then he left quickly.

Suddenly, things were piling up again.

So busy!

In the evening,

Guan Zu finished processing the documents, went downstairs, and got into the car.

Preparing to go back and date Ruan Mei.

Now that her illness was cured, Guan Zu planned to push things forward tonight, completely win her over, and head to the land of bliss.

Slurp~~~~

White Swan, here I come!

"Ah Mei,"

Guan Zu called Ruan Mei.

"I recently raised a cat, it can do backflips..."

"Come to my place later..."

"Cook? Okay, let’s go to the vegetable market together to buy some groceries..."

After Guan Zu finished the call, he showed a hehehe smile.

Ah Xing, who was driving, saw Guan Zu like this through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but say: "Brother Zu, you look very lecherous like this~~~ one look and I know you’re not thinking of anything good."

Bang~~~

He got a flick on the forehead from Guan Zu: "Lecherous your head!"

Ah Xing: "............"

I was wrong, I shouldn't have said that to the boss.

Not long after, the car drove to the downstairs of Ruan Mei’s house.

Guan Zu got out of the car and waved: "You two get lost..."

Ah Xing also got out of the car at this time: "Hehe, I have a date with Ah Min to go shopping."

Xiao Fu: "???"

Terrible, now I’m the only single dog left.

Wait, Li Jie is also a single dog... I’ll go find Li Jie.

Not long after,

Tap tap tap~~~~

Guan Zu saw Ruan Mei happily coming downstairs.

"Brother Zu~~~"

Guan Zu looked at Ruan Mei’s fair and tender skin, that beautiful face...

Slurp~~~

No, I don’t want to buy groceries anymore, I want to take her home directly to watch the cat do backflips.