Manhattan Reborn 1978

Asia, Hong Kong.

Evening~

Kowloon Peninsula, in front of The Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Mr. Thomas P. Schuler-Smith, Consul General of the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, smiled and shook hands with Cui Yingying and Dr. Luo Qingren, who had returned from the United States, and then got into the car and left.

Cui Yingying stood with her hands hanging down, glanced at the sunset in the distance, slowly exhaled, turned around and smiled at Luo Qingren.

"Thank you for coming."

"That's too polite of you to say that."

"If it weren't for this opportunity today, I think it would be almost impossible to meet with the Consul General."

"So, I should be the one thanking you!"

"Hehe~" Cui Yingying took out a piece of note paper from her small bag and handed it to Luo Qingren with a smile.

"This is the number David asked me to pass on to you."

"Due to the time difference, you will be able to contact each other a little later."

"I'll go back and get ready. See you at seven in the evening!"

"Okay." Luo Qingren opened the note paper, took a look at it, carefully put it away, thanked Cui Yingying again, and turned and left.

. . .

Ten minutes later, driver Zhou Liwen drove his car into the cross-harbour tunnel.

Cui Yingying sat in the back seat, quietly watching the wall rapidly receding outside the car window. Her heartbeat slowly slowed down as she carefully recalled her experiences of the day.

In the morning, she "ran into" Consul General Thomas in the consulate, and after accepting his invitation for afternoon tea, she couldn't figure out his intentions.

When she returned to the villa, she immediately found a way to contact the butler Ackleyd and told him the whole story.

Soon, she received a call from Audis Parker.

Mr. Parker asked about her conversation with Consul General Thomas on the phone, and asked about the detailed performance of several people present at the time, and then told her not to worry or be nervous, and that he would arrange everything properly.

So when Cui Yingying went to the Peninsula Hotel for a date, she "ran into" Luo Qingren, a student of Professor Bartlett and David's senior.

Consul General Thomas was very surprised by Luo Qingren's appearance.

But after listening to Cui Yingying's "simple" introduction and chatting with Luo Qingren, Cui Yingying observed that his expression and attitude seemed to become a little subtle.

Because from what Cui Yingying learned from Mr. Parker, although the Consul General Thomas had worked with Mag Ludwigs in Washington for several years, his personal relationship with Mag was not that close.

Mager was implicated in the Watergate scandal and was sent to prison by dozens of prosecutors.

However, Mr. Thomas decisively resigned from all his jobs when he saw the situation was not good, and quietly contacted the prosecutors investigating the Watergate incident and informed them of the "inside story" he knew.

Therefore, the main reason why he was willing to personally inquire about this matter this time was that he was very interested in the party held at the Peninsula Hotel a few days ago.

Thomas had heard of the party organizer, Schroth Rothschild, countless times.

Executives and directors of the top ten foreign banks in Hong Kong were all invited to attend the party.

People who were not in the banking or financial industry tried their best to attend the party, but no one was able to do so.

What exactly happened at that party and what they talked about has become one of the topics that many people are very concerned about recently.

As the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, Thomas would of course be very curious about Schrott's real intention of suddenly coming to Hong Kong to convene that party.

But he had no chance to meet Schroeter, and there was no suitable person who could help him "solve the doubts", so he could only try to inquire from Cui Yingying from the side.

Therefore, Luo Qingren's "unexpected" appearance made Thomas feel "bright before his eyes", but also brought him more doubts.

Who is David Coleman mentioned by Luo Qingren and Cui Yingying?

Why did Schrott take the initiative to give him a villa?

Those who attended the party held several rounds of closed-door meetings in their respective banks over the next two days. What important matters were they discussing?

Thomas, no answer yet.

Cui Yingying and Luo Qingren also did not know the details and could only give vague guesses.

. . .

When the car driven by Zhou Liwen drove out of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, entered Central and was about to go up the mountain, Cui Yingying suddenly spoke.

"We're not going home. Let's go to the nearby big mall and buy some new clothes first."

"Okay." Zhou Liwen observed the situation on the road and slowly turned the car into Hennessy Road.

----

Island country, Tokyo.

night~

Shibuya district.

Spring is getting closer, making weekend nights gradually come alive.

Countless young people are walking on the commercial street near Shibuya Station. Occasionally, you can see young people wearing "strange clothes" gathering in groups of three or five on the street, laughing and making noise.

Marat Boyezhnev, who was already over 40 years old, felt a little uncomfortable with the noisy environment surrounded by young people.

But Yuri Orlov, who is only in his early twenties, feels very novel and excited about this bustling commercial district where the air is filled with the smell of hormones.

The last member of the "threesome", Nobuyuki Kihara, became the "lubricant" between the two.

He pulled Yuri to try not to let him "fall behind" in the crowd, while pulling Marat, whispering his thoughts quickly.

"The original name of this place was Shibuyahara, and it was the fief of the samurai Shibuya clan."

"Later, when the era of the underworld began, Shibuya was centered on a main road connecting the city and the suburbs, and gradually developed and prospered."

"In 1885, the JR Yamanote Line - Shibuya Station, Tokyo's most important transportation line, was officially built, making the area around the transportation hub JR Shibuya Station a commercial plot that many businesses are desperately competing for."

"Look~ That's Tokyu Department Store, and a little further ahead is Seibu Department Store..."

"Seibu Shibuya opened in 1968, and soon after it opened, overseas brands such as Hermès and Yves Saint Laurent entered the store."

"The road ahead is the commercial street that Mitsui Group is planning to develop recently."

"This shopping street is less than ten minutes' walk from JR Shibuya Station, and there are also nearby..."

"The department store right in front of us is Shibuya Parco."

"The reason why most young people in Tokyo gather here is that they can buy the most popular products from home and abroad in shopping malls such as Shibuya Parco."

Kihara Nobunari pulled Marat and Yuri to a less crowded side of the road, stood there, raised his hand and pointed at a building in the distance and said.

"Look over there~"

“That was the first credit card convenience bank established by Sumitomo Bank here.”

"More than a decade ago, major banks on this island started to offer credit card services."