Chapter 7

Not bothering with the dead fat guy, he pulled over a chair and sat beside the Crown Prince.

He lit a cigarette and said to the Crown Prince and Boxing King Tai beside him: "Crown Prince, Brother Tai, you two find me a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui and Yau Ma Tei, it doesn't need to be big, four or five hundred square feet will do (forty to fifty square meters)."

"Preferably at the head or tail of a street; once you find it, let me know."

"What are you up to?" the Crown Prince asked.

Boxing King Tai didn't speak, but his expression conveyed the same meaning.

"We've just taken in several hundred followers; we need to give them something to do, otherwise they'll just know how to cause trouble all day, so I thought of trying to open a shop."

"As long as we break even, I'm not thinking about making money; the lower-level guys can't make money, and sooner or later something will go wrong."

"You guys take care of this; I'll tell you about the rest later," Li Xin explained.

The two of them didn't press further.

After the gathering, he ordered Tianhong to drive Ji Ge first to Bolanjie, while he himself got into Jiang Tian Sheng's car.

"Anything up?" Jiang Tian Sheng asked with a smile.

"Um, Mr. Jiang, I want to start a film company; would you like to take a share?"

"A film company?" After a moment he said, "This line of work isn't easy; the waters are too muddy. I've invested before and lost quite a bit."

"These bastards will do anything to rake in money; for one film, just the raw stock can run you into the millions! Afterwards they tell you it's for the sake of the shot!"

Li Xin knew this; his mistress Fang Ting had been a third-tier adult film actress, and to promote her Jiang Tian Sheng had invested in two films.

It could be said it was a total loss—she never got promoted, the money was gone, and as such a big boss he felt embarrassed to kick up a fuss over a little money, so he could only chalk it up to bad luck.

Hearing Li Xin say he wanted to start a film company, he felt a bit uneasy; he had money, but didn't want to throw it away.

"Mr. Jiang, how about this: later you do a cameo for me, and I'll give you a ten percent stake."

"A Xin, I can't act; are you joking?" Jiang Tian Sheng said in surprise.

"You don't need to act, Mr. Jiang; just play yourself."

I know you're busy turning over a new leaf; we can't possibly become completely clean, but we can make ourselves gray.

No matter how you clean up, people will still look at you with colored glasses; if you could do a few more cameos and shift from being a triad boss to an actor, wouldn't that be much better?

Could the gang identity then become blurred?

Gangdao people all say you're an actor, and then you will be an actor; sometimes identity is self‑given.

Li Xin isn't just talking nonsense; what he said are all real cases from before the time‑travel.

This is definitely a good approach; those people live it up just the same after returning, and when they have nothing to do they can still go back to their hometowns to make some money.

Such a promising track, he must get a foot in. He can't direct or act, but he can watch!

Find a good assistant director and you can get going; just give him a rough outline and let him fill in the details.

In this era, hardly any productions have a script; they're all just making it up as they go along.

A couple of days before the triad Leader's meeting, he said he had something busy to do, so he sent Huashe to the wireless company to find a little fatty named Wang Jin, the guy who knows mantis boxing.

Using his status as a Prosperity Leader, he signed ten film contracts with him, giving him priority booking—that's the benefit of his position.

Why hasn't he been doing this in Xi Gong for over a year?

His status wasn't enough before, so others had to swallow it; now he's one of the twelve Prosperity Leaders—never mind whether the waters are muddy, on the water he's still a Leader.

He doesn't have to worry about others planting flags; his plot of land is so remote that hardly anyone else wants it.

With no interests at stake, nobody would randomly attack him; besides, Li Xin himself isn't incapable of fighting.

Jiang Tian Sheng's intellect is more than enough; after a moment's thought he figured it out, patted Li Xin on the shoulder, and said reassuringly, "A Xin, whether this works out or not, I'll remember this favor."

……

At the Bolanjie Tycoon Nightclub, as soon as he walked in he saw Ji Ge letting loose in a private room, fondling the two big‑breasted women who lived off hole‑in‑the‑wall sweat money, even rolling their stockings into balls.

Tianhong sat bored on the sofa, sucking cola through a straw, which, in his words, meant drinking interfered with the steadiness of his sword draw.

"Damn, Ji Ge, do you have to rush like this? You've already started." After saying that, Li Xin sat down beside Tianhong.

"A Xin, you don't get this—an inch of time is an inch of gold, and that inch of gold can buy an inch of time; think about it, isn't that quite philosophical?"

Ji Ge finished speaking and let out a lewd laugh.

At first Li Xin thought he'd misheard, but seeing Ji Ge's lewd grin he instantly understood what he meant.

What a lewd talent!

The madam wore a professional smile as she led a bevy of beauties in; without saying a word, she first put on her smile.

See? That's professionalism.

"Oh dear, this boss is so handsome; I don't know which of my daughters is lucky enough to win his favor." The madam said in professional terms, opening with praise.

Li Xin looked at her and said, "I see you still have charm—what can we do about that?"

Ji Ge stopped rubbing his legs, looked at Li Xin in surprise, nodded as if he understood, then said, "So you prefer the mature type." He glanced at the madam and added, "A Xin, Qi Jie is still quite good—her technique is beyond reproach."

The madam called Qi Jie gave Ji Ge a flirtatious glare and scolded in a coquettish voice, "You damn ghost, spouting nonsense—I'll tear your mouth off."

It's clear they're very familiar; otherwise they couldn't talk like that.

Li Xin cut off their flirtatious banter and hurriedly said, "Keep that tall, big‑built guy."

The big‑breasted woman was very well behaved; after sitting down she took Li Xin's hand and placed it on her thigh.

After a few words, Ji Ge's old flame led the crowd out, and Li Xin recalled something, asking, "Qi Jie, do you know a groom named Jimi?"

"Jimi? You want that guy? Lots of grooms are called Jimi, Evans and such. They take on foreign names thinking it makes their girls high‑end—these idiots."

Qi Jie said dismissively.

Li Xin's face darkened; he said Huashe couldn't find him because there were just too many.

What else could he say!

"What about Li Jiayuan—do you know him?"

Qi Jie thought for a moment, clapped her hands, and replied, "Is he somewhat dark‑skinned and still quite handsome?"

Yes, that's him.

Now I know who he is; he's not a groom, he sells level-three pornographic videos and erotic magazines at a stall on Bolanjie.

Damn it, preconceived notions are a bad habit!

He patted Tianhong on the shoulder and ordered, "Bring that handsome young guy to see me."

Tianhong stood up, nodded slightly, said nothing, then got up and left to find that handsome young guy.

He raised his wine cup and said to Ji Ge, "Ji Ge, if you find the person I'm looking for, today's drinks are on me."

Ji Ge instantly broke into a delighted smile.