We are all reborn, who wants to be the richest man?

The streets are crowded with people and traffic, like a colorful painting that is dazzling.

In Hong Kong Island, a city where Eastern and Western cultures blend, every corner exudes unique charm

"Great! Is this Hong Kong Island? It is indeed a world-class metropolis and the most prosperous city in Asia."

Standing on the shore of Victoria Harbour and looking across the river, Hong Kong's skyline is outlined by skyscrapers. They sparkle in the afterglow of the setting sun, showing an unparalleled modern urban style.

These skyscrapers are not only commercial hubs, but also a testament to Hong Kong's prosperity and progress.

"Brother Zaishi, this is your first time in Hong Kong Island too, right?"

"Of course, unlike you, I used to have a problem even with eating. Not to mention going abroad, I didn't even have the money to leave Seoul."

The ups and downs of life sometimes really catch people off guard. Yoo Jae-seok could never have imagined that he was a nobody at the bottom of the entertainment industry a few days ago, but now he has transformed into a hot figure in the South Korean entertainment industry.

"Brother Zai Shi, don't say that. We are not as good as you and we haven't even made our debut yet."

Looking at the five handsome guys in front of him, Liu Zaishi always felt that this was not modesty but showing off.

But he didn't take it seriously. Judging from the other party's expression, he didn't have that intention. Besides, the other party had the capital to show off.

They haven't debuted yet and just formed a group within SM, a brokerage company jointly founded by Asia Media and South Korea. But they were noticed by Asia Media. In addition to the contract in South Korea which is still with SM, the global contract was signed with Asia Media.

These young men have made history. Even without their debut, they have gained considerable popularity in South Korea. Everyone is looking forward to their debut next year.

The South Korean people are eager for a world-class star to emerge in their country, and the few young men who have the support of Asian media are undoubtedly the most likely candidates.

"They're going to debut after the New Year, right? Have you decided on the group name?"

“There are several candidate names, but none of them have been finalized yet. However, many people are optimistic about the name hot, so if nothing unexpected happens, this should be it.

But Jae-seok, you also know that our issue is not just SM’s problem now, so if the Asian agency interferes, the president will definitely not disobey it."

Yoo Jae-suk understands this. Although Lee Soo-man is the largest shareholder of SM company, the decision-making power is not in his hands. To put it bluntly, he is just a puppet.

"Let's go, it's getting late. I'll take you to eat something. I heard that Hong Kong Island is very famous for its food."

Having just completed the contract with an Asian agency and having some money in hand, Yoo Jae-suk was not stingy.

"Thank you, Brother Zaishi."

They were not polite either. Even though outsiders thought their future career prospects were much better than Yoo Jae Suk's, they really had nothing now.

The other party got a job after signing with an Asian agency. It was a new large-scale indoor game variety show that SBS was planning. This was something that had never happened in South Korea before, so it was a first.

The Asian brokerage company also knew Liu Zaishi's financial situation, so it took the lead in paying him a salary.

The money is not too much, not too little, two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, which is enough for Liu Zaishi to live for a while.

As night falls, the streets of Hong Kong are decorated with colorful neon lights, as if entering a dream world.

The shopping streets in Causeway Bay are bustling with people and various shops are brightly lit, attracting tourists and local residents from all over the world.

The Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui is star-studded. Not only are there handprints of many movie stars inlaid on the ground, but the bright lights on both sides of the river complement each other, creating a romantic and dreamy atmosphere.

Victoria Harbour, as the heart of Hong Kong, is known as the most beautiful night view in the world.

When night falls, the lights on both sides gradually light up, interweaving with the light and shadow reflected on the sea, forming a breathtaking picture.

Riding the Star Ferry between ports is like being in a glittering dream, feeling the prosperity and romance unique to Hong Kong.

Even after returning to the apartment arranged by the company, they still felt unsatisfied.

"Brother Zaishi, we are going to visit the New Territories Future City tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?"

Several of them will return to South Korea the day after tomorrow, on a flight.

This was Yoo Jae-seok’s first time in Hong Kong Island, and he had originally planned to buy some souvenirs for his friends and family tomorrow, but the other party’s proposal moved him.

The whole world is reporting that the New Territories Future City in Hong Kong Island is a weather vane for future urban planning development, and he really wants to know what the future urban development will be like.

And there should be some souvenirs I can buy there, right?

"Okay, let's go together tomorrow."

Everyone is familiar with Hong Kong Island's Future City. This city is like a dreamland, breeding countless unheard-of treasures and breathtaking new inventions.

These creations beyond imagination not only subvert the boundaries of traditional cognition, but also inspire people's endless longing and yearning for the unknown world with their unique charm.

Every novel display seems like a microcosm of the future world, making people yearn for it and eager to explore it.

Because of this, the New Territories Future City has undergone a magnificent transformation and has become another dazzling tourist treasure in Hong Kong Island. It echoes with Lantau Island, and together they form the two most eye-catching tourist destinations at the north and south ends of Hong Kong Island, leading a new trend in Hong Kong Island tourism.

The car leisurely shuttled across the magnificent viaduct along the coastal border. Outside the car window, the boundless blue sea spread out like a magnificent natural painting. It was in full view, making people feel relaxed and happy, as if it could wash away all the noise and worries in the world.

South Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides, but for people living in Seoul, seeing the sea has become a luxury. They need to go west to Incheon to feast their eyes.

Yoo Jae-suk discovered that he liked the sea very much. Whenever his eyes touched the blue, he could feel his soul surrounded by an inexplicable tranquility and grandeur, as if the sea, in its unique way, touched the softest part of his heart and made him intoxicated.

"Brother Zai Shi, we're almost there. The toll gate for the Seaside Expressway is right ahead."

Yoo Jae-suk still felt a little uncomfortable with the reminder from his assistant. Once upon a time, he also fantasized about having an assistant like a big star, but he didn't expect that when it really came true, it would be just like this, and he didn't feel too much.

"Thank you for your help." Liu Zaishi looked away and thanked politely.

"You're welcome, I'm your assistant."

As he spoke, the assistant took the dictionary from Yoo Jae Suk's knees and smiled, "Brother Jae Suk, don't be so anxious. Learning Chinese will not be a one- or two-day thing. Sister Lisa has not set a time limit."

Lisa is Yoo Jae Suk's current agent. Anyone who can be an agent in an Asian agency must have several big-name artists under him.

For example, Lisa has under her wing Noriko Sakai and Takuya Kimura from Japan, as well as Leon Lai, one of the four most popular singers in Asia, and the new singing god Jacky Cheung.

Lisa is a very nice person. She is dedicated and responsible in everything she does. She had already done her homework when she knew that Yoo Jae Suk was being entrusted to her.

So as soon as the two met, Lisa made a life plan for him.

“I know that comedians have a low status in South Korea and other island countries, but this situation will not always be the same.

If you look at the variety shows in Hong Kong nowadays, you will find that big stars are vying to be on the show, and the fame and status of the MC are also increasing.

Why? It's just for profit.

What is low status? It is just assessed based on income.

When the revenue and profits from variety shows are greater than those from singers releasing records, movies and TV series, comedians will become the top players.

Variety shows are a promising field, and the West has proven this, so you don’t have to feel inferior, just do your own show well.”

This is Lisa’s early plan for Yoo Jae-suk, which is to do a good job on the show and not worry about or envy anything else.

"By the way, if possible, I still hope you can learn Chinese.

The market potential in the north is huge and the future is promising. If you can gain a foothold in South Korea, I don’t mind giving you a push.”

Yoo Jae-suk obeyed Lisa's words. First, he felt there was no harm in choosing an extra language, and second, he had no right to talk about resistance.

Fortunately, Chinese is popular in South Korea now, so I haven't taken the path of learning Chinese. I do have a foundation to learn. The only problem is grammar.

So now this Chinese-Korean dictionary has become a must-read for Yoo Jae-suk. He didn't know that this decision would benefit him greatly more than ten years later, and he would dominate the top of the South Korean artist income ranking for ten years.

The bus arrived at the toll gate, and unlike the congestion at the toll gates in South Korea, the car drove out quickly.

In just a few minutes, they entered a torrent of steel. The surrounding buildings made Liu Zaishi and the five boys of HOT dazzled, and they thought they were back in Central.

"Let's go, let's buy some water first. I'll take you for a walk later, and then we'll go to a century-old Chinese restaurant for lunch."

"Really? Brother Lifeng, are you treating us?"

When hearing about Chinese food, Kangta was the first to scream. Hong Kong Island has a wide range of delicious food, and they had a feast these two days.

Especially Chinese food. After eating authentic Chinese food, Kangta felt that he was deceived by those so-called Chinese food in South Korea. It turns out that there are so many types of Chinese food.

"Treat? It's not me who's paying, it's Sister Lisa who's paying.

Knowing that you are coming to the New Territories to play today, Sister Lisa gave me a card, so I can eat and drink as much as I want today."

"Great! Long live Sister Lisa."

Assistant Cai Lifeng smiled and led everyone into a convenience store nearby.

After purchasing the items they wanted, Cai Lifeng took out a card, tapped it on a machine and completed the checkout, leaving Liu Jae-seok and others stunned.

"I remember you used this card when you passed the toll booth just now? Is this a bank card? Why can it be used not only at gas stations but also to purchase goods without swiping the card?"

"You can think of it as a bank card, or you can think of it as more than just a bank card.

This is an NFC card issued by Far Eastern Bank. It is not a card, but a technology."

NFC, this is the technology research and development recently tested by Far Eastern Group, RFID technology. This is a technological invention that is bound to put all IC cards such as bus cards, access control cards, bank cards, etc. into one card.

Compared with wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, and infrared, NFC mainly solves short-distance communication problems.

When it comes to short-range communication, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely QR code.

QR codes, which are widely used in the streets, are not only less secure than NFC, but are also more troublesome.

Let’s talk about the simplicity first. QR codes need to be presented or scanned, while NFC only requires touching the machine.

The biggest problem is still security. The production cost of QR codes is too low, which makes it convenient not only for merchants but also for scammers.

Many people should be familiar with various fraud activities based on QR code connections, and have heard of them more or less. However, in the field of payment, there is no such confusion when using NFC.

Why did QR codes become popular in China? To put it bluntly, it was because the fisherman benefited from the quarrel between the snipe and the clam, and the house was stolen.

In fact, NFC was the earliest convenient payment option in China, and it was introduced to users by the three major operators less than two years after the 3G licenses were issued.

At that time, telecom operators were involved in almost all mobile phone-related businesses. Even the mobile phone packaging boxes and even the boot animations had promotions of 3G networks. The arrival of mobile Internet was only a matter of time, and payment was the biggest piece of the pie, so naturally everyone wanted to get a piece of it.

But mobile payment is not a vegetable market where any company can participate. At that time, there were only three groups of people who could participate in mobile payment.

Mobile operators, banks and third-party payment platforms.

At that time, the banking system was still undergoing a large-scale migration from magnetic stripe cards to IC cards. The online banking system based on IC cards was already able to realize online banking payments, although one had to carry an online shield with him.

What about mobile operators? In this payment process, from users to banks to merchants, operators have assumed the verification role of sending and receiving text messages, and they are definitely tools. They certainly don’t want this to continue in the mobile Internet era.

So the three major operators began to explore technology and made changes to the SIM cards that they could control.

Because the central bank stipulated in 05 that the contactless payment standard is based on 13.56MHZ communication, which is the same as the working principle of ID cards, social security cards, and bus cards.

So if you want to control these, you just need to add a recognizable module to the SIM card.

If this trick can be implemented, then there will be no need for WeChat or Alipay in future mobile payments. You only need to apply for a phone card and activate various functions.

Your mobile phone can then be used as an ID card, social security card, bank card, bus card, access card or any other IC card type with just a touch.

As for the banks, they will certainly not sit idly by and will cooperate with major mobile phone manufacturers to embed NFC functions directly in mobile phones and bind their own bank cards.

At one time, many companies emerged, each with its own standards. Everyone wanted to take the lion's share, and no one was willing to give in.

The result is that each party has its own standards, and not only can they not reach a consensus on the standards, but they also hold each other back.

This has led to the emergence of NFC, which is more convenient, smarter, and even more powerful in name.

At this time, the third-party platforms that many institutions had considered to be the least likely to gain a foothold in mobile payments began to steal the market.

QR codes are very convenient, but NFC is the absolute future.

This can be seen from the fact that almost all mobile phones developed after 2020 have NFC function. Those black technologies that allow payment with just one touch are actually NFC technology.

If you want to grab a piece of the global payment pie, QR codes are not the way to go.

Due to the popularity of credit cards in the West, NFC is an upgraded product. This is also the reason why the island country that invented the QR code gave up this technology because it cannot be promoted at all.

Of course, Cai Lifeng, Liu Zaishi and others definitely don’t know these strategies, and they are still exclaiming at the magic of this technology.

Because they found that as long as they had this card, they could complete their food, clothing, housing and transportation needs in the New Territories Future City without having to use cash at all.

The New Territories Future City is a pilot project in the Far East. If there are no problems in two years, it will be promoted throughout Hong Kong. Luo Nianzhong's goal is to implement it globally before the year 2000.

By mastering the trump card of mobile payment, with W-pay online and NFC offline, we can completely break the Western financial system that has existed for hundreds of years.