Chapter 170: Dashua: It's the Year of the Dragon, So You Must Give a Golden Dragon

During the New Year and Spring Festival of '88, Wu Feng spent his time in Sai Kung as usual.

It just wasn't at the old house given by his great-uncle, but here at the headquarters of the New Town hall.

Li Saifeng and Weng Hong both followed along, and Wu Feng did not stop them.

He was never short of Underlings by his side, and in any case, it was very lively here at the Sai Kung headquarters.

Anything like loneliness or solitude simply did not exist.

On New Year's Eve, Wu Feng invested 500,000, purchased a large batch of fireworks and firecrackers from the Mainland, and held a full half-hour fireworks show right here in the Sai Kung New Town.

This scene of brilliant flames and colorful, flowing light was broadcast live by Asia Television.

It is said that many Hong Kong residents switched channels to watch the fireworks, having little interest in the New Year gala put on by Wireless Television.

It is estimated that many Hong Kong people watching TV were very envious of the "special" treatment received by the residents of Sai Kung.

In fact, Wu Feng had originally intended to put on a one-hour fireworks display directly.

To let the Sai Kung residents here in the New Town follow along and have a happy, prosperous New Year.

There was no help for it; compared to the price of fireworks in later generations, the price at this time was truly dirt cheap.

For one million Hong Kong Dollars, one could watch a one-hour fireworks show; the cost-performance ratio was simply too high.

Even if the types of fireworks at this time were far from sufficient compared to later generations, and there weren't many exotic fireworks with various effects and patterns, it was already enough.

Unfortunately, this nouveau riche idea of his was blocked by certain fellows.

The fireworks show at Victoria Harbour was only one hour, so the one here in Sai Kung New Town would also be one hour?

The foreigners also want to save face; don't go looking for trouble over this matter!

Wu Feng was very speechless, but he had no intention of clashing head-on.

At worst, he would just set off the fireworks he had prepared for a one-time display on both New Year's Eve and the night of the Spring Festival.

Likewise, both were broadcast live on Asia Television!

As for whether doing so would make the foreigners feel unhappy, that was not his problem.

It is said—just said, mind you—that the foreigners spent nearly two million Hong Kong Dollars on the one-hour fireworks show at Victoria Harbour, though it's unknown where they sourced the goods.

The only difference between this year's Spring Festival and last year's was that the number of calls received and made increased significantly.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he spent the whole day eating a seafood feast in the cafeteria of the cold storage warehouse with many Underlings who had not returned home, or rather, who had no home.

Incidentally, he accepted the New Year's blessings from the Underlings.

Dashua, that fellow, also became generous and directly gifted a small golden dragon made of pure gold!

Since this year was the Year of the Dragon, it made Wu Feng feel a bit embarrassed.

He couldn't just give a check as a red envelope; that would be too perfunctory.

He heard that besides liking modified cars, this fellow loved playing video games.

Wu Feng directly promised to use Dashua as the prototype for the driver and create a racing arcade game, letting Dashua have his moment of glory.

This was truly not perfunctory!

Once it was actually produced, it would definitely be a hit in Hong Kong, Macau, and the entire Southeast Asia.

By then, Dashua, as the driver prototype, would naturally become famous throughout Asia!

Dashua was instantly overjoyed and kept expressing his gratitude.

Although he couldn't guess how popular this arcade game would be once developed.

But the fact that his Big Brother Wu Feng was developing an arcade game for him made him feel great just thinking about it!

The other Underlings watched this scene with great envy.

The Underlings with ideas lacked the financial resources, and the Underlings with financial resources weren't as direct as Dashua—that was giving gold directly to the Big Brother, something no one had really thought of before.

They kept the commotion going until evening; aside from leaving the necessary security personnel, he covered the costs for how the rest of the Underlings wanted to party that night.

And Wu Feng, taking Li Saifeng and Weng Hong with him, admired the folk activities organized by the local residents to celebrate the New Year on the streets of the New Town.

Things like lion dances and bridal sedan chair processions looked truly festive and lively.

What surprised him was that there were actually some shops and tea restaurants on the street that hadn't closed yet?

It made him think of the Spring Festival in later generations, and an indescribable sense of intimacy welled up in his heart.

Wu Feng did not know that this was a change brought about by his own hard work and tossing about.

Last year, through the cold storage warehouse and the seafood market, the residents of the New Town had all earned quite a bit.

With money in their pockets, they were naturally willing to spend, and how could those doing business pass up an opportunity to make money?

In fact, much like in later generations, the days of the New Year and Spring Festival were the easiest time to make money.

Besides, the foreigners didn't celebrate the Spring Festival, so there were no statutory holidays in Hong Kong during this period.

Regardless, Wu Feng was in a pretty good mood while strolling the streets.

As for the moods of Li Saifeng and Weng Hong, they could only be described as overjoyed.

Returning home at night, it was naturally another round of intimacy.

Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, Hall Masters from other halls arrived with temporarily assembled football teams.

"Feng Zai, Happy New Year!"

The first to come over was Jing Kun; this fellow was full of enthusiasm, as if he and Wu Feng were brothers separated for many years, which made the nearby Hong Xing Underlings glance over repeatedly.

One couldn't blame this fellow for being this way; the comedy film "Good Luck," urgently filmed by Qiankun Film and Television Company before the year ended, exploded right at the Spring Festival box office, and with the momentum, a box office of 20 million was guaranteed—how could it not make Jing Kun pleasantly surprised?

In fact, this comedy film followed the same model as the very famous "Rich and Prosperous" series.

"Rich and Prosperous" was about the internal family turmoil triggered after winning the lottery, while "Good Luck" was about the romantic story between a man and a woman triggered after winning a horse racing bet.

In short, it highlighted a comedic effect, and adding a bit of warmth was about enough.

In fact, such a model did not fit the filming process of Fengrui Film and Television, so it was yielded to Qiankun Film and Television.

If it hadn't been for accumulating popularity starting from novels and comics, the film probably wouldn't have had much box office to speak of.

For a comedy film, what you want is a bit of fun; if the audience knows the ending in advance, how many would still be willing to spend money to buy a ticket to watch it?

It's just like most web novels of later generations; once you've read it through, you wouldn't read it a second time.

Wu Feng also realized the limitations of Fengrui Film and Television, and it wouldn't be too late to make adjustments after returning.

As Jing Kun arrived with a temporarily assembled football team, and other Hall Masters subsequently arrived with their own temporarily assembled teams, the location of the Sai Kung Branch became exceptionally lively for a time.

Fortunately, the branch building was large and spacious enough; a building nearly ten stories high could hold twice as many people.

Not far from the seafood market, there was an abundant supply of cheap seafood feasts, and the Underlings of the various societies ate until they shouted in satisfaction, wishing they could just put down roots in Sai Kung.

It wasn't until the Dragon Head Jiang Tiansheng arrived that this temporarily assembled amateur football tournament officially began.

Before the New Year, Wu Feng had already discussed it with Jiang Tiansheng.

Jiang Tiansheng wanted to enter the sports industry, and Wu Feng's opinion was that the football industry had the highest level of attention.

It didn't matter if there was no experience; they could completely build it up through an amateur football tournament.

And so, with the two of them notifying the various Hall Masters separately, the matter was determined quite easily and happily.

In fact, influenced by Great Britain, the football atmosphere here in Hong Kong is actually quite good.

Can you imagine that in a place as small as Hong Kong, where over seventy percent of the land has not undergone modern development, there actually exists a football league?

Although it was only an amateur tournament, Asia Television still brought over broadcasting equipment and hosts.

There was no helping it; who told Wu Feng to be the boss of Asia Television? The defining characteristic was simply "wealthy."

Not to mention anything else, whether it was Jiang Tiansheng or the various Hall Masters who brought their temporarily assembled teams, they were all quite satisfied with this; who doesn't like the opportunity to show their face on television?

The tournament venue was at the football fields of two public middle schools in Sai Kung!

Come to think of it, while the teaching quality of public schools here in Hong Kong at this time wasn't great, the hardware level was actually quite good; at least they had all the necessary facilities, and the football fields were all standard pitches.

The public schools here basically couldn't retain good teachers; in the movies, even Chen Haonan could end up as a teacher, which shows how poor the teaching quality in certain schools was.

Because it was just a temporarily organized amateur football tournament, the scale of promotion and publicity can be imagined.

Therefore, when the tournament started, it didn't cause much of a stir; they just invited officials from the Sai Kung District Government to come and show their support, and then the tournament started in a lively fashion.

Wu Feng's requirement was very simple: don't create any unpleasantness during the New Year.

Whether it was tackling from behind or malicious injury, neither was allowed. If anyone dared to mess around, the consequences would be very serious, with so many District Leaders watching.

This specific exhortation had a quite obvious effect.

At the very least, although the matches were brilliant and varied, there was no chaotic situation of people falling over.

The current football tournament rules were not as rigorous or standardized as those of later generations.

Things like tackling from behind or malicious injury incidents were the norm.

Even in the Spanish League, which is known for its elegance, Lao Ma had his leg broken by a tackle in Barcelona, and the injured leg even had a steel plate inserted; one can see how serious injury incidents on the pitch were.

One couldn't expect temporary teams formed by a bunch of society members to really follow the rules of the pitch.

Fortunately, with the Big Brothers sitting in charge, they still showed some restraint.

"Playing an attacking game is what's exciting!"

Jiang Tiansheng sat beside Wu Feng, speaking with a smile while watching the match.

"That's exactly how it should be!"

Wu Feng felt that the amateur football tournament before his eyes was even better to watch and more entertaining than the "Village Super League" that would appear in the Mainland later, and he chuckled: "It's just a temporarily organized amateur tournament; if it were still played in a dull way, then there's no point in organizing it at all—nobody would want to watch!"

In fact, at the very beginning, apart from the society's own people, there really weren't many spectators on the sidelines.

But as they kept playing, spectators gradually began to appear on the sidelines, and then slowly, there were quite a few cheers.

Whether it's a football or basketball game, playing an attacking game is the most enjoyable to watch.

Even if the players' skills weren't great—some couldn't even stop the ball without it bouncing three meters away—it didn't stop the match from being truly intense and exciting; taking the ball and rushing forward or passing ahead had a very passionate feeling to it.

Not to mention others, even the host responsible for the live commentary gradually changed from their initial listless, perfunctory mindset to becoming serious and even passionate.

They also hadn't expected that a mere amateur football tournament temporarily organized by a society would be played so brilliantly and excitingly, making even the television station staff responsible for hosting get fired up.

"Look, look! The red team's winger is charging with the ball, relying on lightning-fast speed to break through the interception of three defensive players in one go—ah, a powerful cross!"

"The teammate in midfield follows up quickly, suddenly leaping into the air intending to head the ball—ah, they missed the header!"

(End of chapter)