Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

A nightclub in Sham Shui Po, around midnight.

Uncle Hai was sitting on the sofa, holding a glass of red wine, looking at the various people in the room.

Inside the venue were all sorts of people writhing and twisting, some embracing each other, others dancing striptease together.

In Uncle Hai's eyes, this group of people were all money, all of them his possessions.

Recently, however, he has set his sights on a glass collecting business. Although Uncle Hai is not short of money, there is nothing he can't get once he sets his sights on.

After all, he was the person in charge of Hutchison Whampoa at the Sham Shui Po Pier in Kowloon and some piers in Tsuen Wan.

By relying on businesses such as venues, waste paper collection, and used clothing, they secured their position as Hutchison Whampoa's second-largest business.

They also buy and sell glass, but their connections are limited to glass factories in Hong Kong and they haven't yet made contact with glass factories in the north.

Then this shrewd guy, Li Jiangbo, appeared, buying glass from the US and selling it north. His methods were pretty unconventional; I heard he could earn four or five hundred thousand yuan a time!

It would be a lie to say that Uncle Hai wasn't envious of this opportunity, which is why he sent Daozai to investigate Li Jiangbo's background.

If he could get this connection, Uncle Hai's power would increase dramatically. He could even boldly tell Old Feng of the 14K triad, who had previously fought with him over the Tsuen Wan pier, "I have more money and more men. If you keep barking, I'll skin you alive!"

Just as Uncle Hai was daydreaming, the door to the private room opened, and an unbearable stench hit him.

It turned out to be Daozai leading his trusted henchmen in. "Uncle Hai."

Uncle Hai frowned, covering his nose with his hand. "Is everything taken care of?"

Daozai swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "No...no. Li Jiangbo had some tough guys with him, six or seven bodyguards, all of them trained fighters. Our seven or eight brothers were all down in less than ten seconds."

Uncle Hai lit a cigar, puffing out smoke to neutralize the odor in the private room.

After a long silence, Uncle Hai finally spoke: "Knife, you've only just started your job, and this is how you do things?"

These words startled Daozai, who trembled uncontrollably. "Uncle Hai, they..."

"What about them? If you can't handle this position, I'll find someone to take your place!!!"

Knife was now panicked, and his words became fluent and he said, "They forced us to smell boiling excrement, took nude photos of us, and made us sign an IOU for 500,000..."

At this point, I can't continue. I've been in the underworld for almost twenty years, and there's never been a day more humiliating than today!

Uncle Hai remained silent for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette. He had inquired about Li Jiangbo's background before making his move.

Li Jiangbo was a struggling director from the New Territories who made a living by working for Shaw Brothers.

A few months ago, this guy went crazy and didn't renew his contract with Shaw Brothers, instead making hit movies like "Shanghai Bund" and "Happy Ghost." Then, in a flash, he became the boss of a small company.

At the beginning, Li Jiangbo was filming "Happy Ghost" at school and on the Shaw Brothers set, so he couldn't get started.

It was only after learning that he was going to the pier to film outdoor scenes that Uncle Hai decided to take action.

Unfortunately, that good-for-nothing Knife managed to botch the job. He had warned Knife beforehand that the other side had bodyguards, so he should bring more men.

Who knew that this guy with the knife thought he was part of the gang and didn't take bodyguards seriously at all.

Uncle Hai's gaze toward Knife Boy grew increasingly fierce, as if he wanted to tear Knife Boy to pieces.

Suddenly, he overturned everything on the table and roared, "Get out! Wash yourself clean and then come see me again!!!"

Daozai's legs went weak, and he scrambled out of the private room.

After chasing away Daozai, Uncle Hai beckoned a blue-haired man to come to him.

"Send someone to find out how many bodyguards that guy surnamed Li has. I wouldn't dare touch you on Broadcast Drive, but in Sham Shui Po, you'd better be a coward!!!"

Blue Hair whispered, "Uncle Hai, I heard that Yi Sheng has a conflict with this guy surnamed Zhao. Should we...?"

Uncle Hai glanced at the blue-haired man, his eyes questioning.

Blue Hair chuckled and said, "Uncle Ke went to Yi Sheng Fei Bo's territory before, I think he was trying to recruit Shao Da Heng's sworn brother."

After thinking for a moment, Uncle Hai nodded. "Call Fei Bo and tell him I'd like to invite him to Zhang Ji's place to discuss some business tomorrow."

"clear."

......

Three o'clock at night is when a person is most sleepy.

Uncle Hai was fast asleep at home, embracing his lover who was 20 years younger than him.

Several masked men quietly sneaked into Uncle Hai's villa.

The sound of lock picking was extremely jarring in the quiet night air. Uncle Hai was awakened by the sound and subconsciously reached for the machete under his pillow.

When he sat up, he saw several people wearing baseball caps, their faces obscured, holding various tools, staring intently at him in the pale moonlight.

The other party had tools such as sacks, ropes, and steel pipes.

Countless thoughts flashed through Uncle Hai's mind in an instant: Hire a killer? Clean house? Or...?

He immediately released his grip, and the machete fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

The woman in bed was also awakened. She sat up and saw the person wearing a baseball cap by the bedside.

A scream pierced the darkness, and a man holding a steel pipe muttered, "Trouble!"

He rushed to the bedside and knocked the woman unconscious with a single blow.

Uncle Hai, standing to the side, didn't dare to breathe loudly. After so many years in the business, he had long understood: a true man can bend and stretch, why risk his life for the sake of face?

The man holding the rope in the middle took out a photo from his pocket, compared it with Uncle Hai, who was shivering by the bedside, by the moonlight, and after confirming that it was the person he was looking for, he made a gesture to the person next to him.

Uncle Hai's heart sank, knowing that things couldn't be resolved peacefully today. He quickly said, "Heroes, money is no object. The safe is over there, the key is in the drawer, take whatever money you want."

The man with the rope sneered, "Once we've got you, the money's ours!"

Uncle Hai was momentarily stunned, but immediately realized this was aimed at him! He suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Help...!"

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, the man next to him with a steel pipe struck him on the back of the head.

"Take a deep breath, take a deep breath, everything will be alright."

Under the influence of these sounds, Uncle Hai gradually closed his eyes and then collapsed onto the bed.

The man with the rope shook his head.

The group was very experienced; some tied people up, some gagged them, and others withdrew their insurance money.

About a minute later, the two men carried Uncle Hai downstairs in a sack, followed by various cash and gold bars wrapped in cloth.

At four o'clock in the morning, in a container at the Sham Shui Po pier.

When Uncle Hai woke up from his coma, he found himself hanging firmly in the air, surrounded by many other people like him.

Uncle Hai looked around and his heart sank.

Most of Hutchison's top executives are here. On the left is Master Qing of Wo Shing Wo, on the right is Uncle Ke, the person in charge of Hutchison, the second from the left is Scarface Qiang of Wo Shing Yee, and on the far right is Coolie Qiang of Wo Yee Tong.

This is outrageous! Hutchison Whampoa has been completely wiped out!

Ahead was a man in a baseball cap whose face was obscured, and next to him was a large pot of some kind of weird stuff that was emitting a faint, nauseating smell.

Is this what Daozai meant by "cooking rice and excrement"?

Seeing that everyone was awake, the young man took out a stack of documents from a file bag and strode over to them.

"Hey Hutchison bosses, wait a minute, I'm going to loosen your grip, but you'll have to sign all these documents! Otherwise, you'll get a taste of what 'ten-mile fragrance' really means!!!"

Before the leaders could react, the others ripped the tape off their mouths.

The sounds of pigs being slaughtered echoed throughout the container. Without saying a word, the young man gestured for the others to put on gas masks and prepared to light the stove under the pot.

Several bosses, upon learning from their subordinates what "Ten Mile Fragrance" meant, cried out in anguish, "I'll sign! I'll sign! Please don't cook rice dung!"

The other leaders were somewhat dismissive, but were sternly stopped by those around them who had witnessed the events.

The group immediately started cursing, and the container began to make noise again.

The young man picked at his ear, shook his head, and gestured for the others to go up.

Suddenly, the container was no longer filled with noise, but only with wails and curses.

A dozen minutes later, the Hutchison Whampoa gang leaders were untied one by one.

Looking at the IOU, the dirt on him, and the illegal and disorderly content on the paper in front of him, he signed the document with tears in his eyes and pressed his fingerprint.

After the signing, the matter didn't end there. The young man pulled out a camera from somewhere and started taking artistic photos of the gang leaders.

After daybreak, the Hutchison Whampoa bosses were finally freed.

Uncle Ke left with a harsh warning: "Keep your men in check and don't mess with Li Jiangbo." Then he strode away.

The remaining people looked at each other, then left one by one.