N-M Chapter 1 My Cousin Who Does Business in Hong Kong
Chapter 1 My Cousin Who Does Business in Hong Kong
October 3, 1963, Hong Kong, Kowloon Walled City, Eastern District, Room 402, 37 Hau Street, Lung Chun Road.
Lin Yuanshan opened his eyes, looked around at the mottled, moldy walls, and looked rather helpless.
Before 8 p.m. last night, he was still in 2026, a Hong Kong history blogger with only a hundred or so followers.
Who knew that while editing a video, I would suddenly feel suffocated.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself transported to Hong Kong in 1963, becoming an 18-year-old youth with the same name.
During the middle of the night, Lin Yuanshan was merging the memories of this body.
He is now from Nanshazhai Village, Chenghai County, Tuocheng City, Guangdong Province.
My grandfather, Lin Jingsong, also known as Lin Banzhai, sold his house and land when the War of Resistance against Japan broke out. He gritted his teeth and donated 5000 silver dollars, earning him a commendation from Nanjing as an enlightened landlord.
Lin Huaijin, the father, graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages, College of Arts, National Sun Yat-sen University, and worked at the American Guesthouse in Chengdu.
Later, responding to the call to resist Japan, he joined the Chinese Expeditionary Force and served as General Sun's interpreter.
Two generations of the Lin family fought the right enemy but chose the wrong side.
In order to avoid inheriting his father's manure-scooping shovel, Lin Yuanshan boarded a smuggling boat and sought refuge with his cousin Wu Shih-hao, who was doing business in Hong Kong.
"hiss……
Is he from Dahao, a cousin of his aunt, Wu Shih-hao?
Isn't he the future leader of the Yiqun?
"I can't take it anymore! How can the Lin family, three generations of them, keep betting and always making mistakes?" Lin Yuanshan touched the cloth bag that Lin Huaijin had forced on him as he was about to board the ship, and his forehead hurt a little: "The path that Brother Hao took was a dead end."
During this period, Hong Kong's economy was booming; anyone could find a legitimate job and easily become wealthy.
At that moment, the rusty iron door was opened from the outside.
Lin Yuanshan put down his bundle and looked in the direction of the sound.
The newcomer was not tall, wore a brown jacket, and had a head of curly hair like a lion. What was most striking were his triangular eyes that inspired fear.
But the moment his eyes met Lin Yuanshan's, the fierce glint in his eyes instantly transformed into deep concern.
Taking a few quick steps, Wu Shih-hao stepped forward and grabbed Lin Yuan-shan's shoulder: "Yuan-shan, you have your master to protect you!"
Your cousin's wife and son fell into the water and died while on a boat to Hong Kong.
Last night, the smuggler told me that your boat encountered the water police again, and I was almost scared to death.
"You're my uncle's only son. If anything happens to you, how can I face him?"
hiss……
This guy is incredibly strong.
Despite the pain in his shoulders, Lin Yuanshan smiled and replied, "I'm sorry to have worried you, Brother Hao."
"Hey! Ah Yuan, are you out of your mind?" Wu Shih-hao's face darkened, and he turned around, pulling up a stool to sit down. "We're family, what are you saying about being sorry?"
Just then, hearing the two men talking, three men ran in from outside.
Wu Shih-hao opened a pack of Lucky Coins cigarettes, offering them to Lin Yuan-shan as he introduced each one to him.
The character Chen Da-wen in the movie "To Be Number One" is based on Huang Zong-wen, nicknamed "Four-Eyes Man".
There are also the real-life inspirations for Dawei in the movie "Chasing the Dragon," Huang Zongwu, nicknamed "Silly Wu," and Xiaowei, a lean young man nicknamed "Big Chicken."
"Apart from the mute Xiong who was supposed to be running the place, these are all fellow villagers from Dahao who came to Hong Kong with me to make our fortune."
At this point, Wu Shih-hao pulled out a few slips of paper from his jacket pocket: "I need to take Ah-Yuan to the police station to get a temporary residence permit. Ah-Wen, you take the brothers to collect those slips in Shek Kip Mei."
Also, at noon, downstairs at [Xiongji Chaozhou Food Stall], we hosted a welcome dinner for A Yuan.
Remember to call Dumb Xiong. If he doesn't come on time, the chopsticks won't wait, hahaha.
"Got it, Brother Hao." Four-Eyes Wen took the IOU and smiled at Lin Yuanshan, "Yuan, last night I saw that you were about the same height as me, so I prepared a set of clothes, pants, socks and shoes."
It's different here than in my hometown. These Hong Kong people always respect clothes before people.
"Change into your new clothes and go out with Brother Hao. I'm taking everyone out to do some work."
"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Brother Wen." Lin Yuanshan nodded with a smile. "See you at Xiongji at noon."
Four-Eyes Wen smiled and waved, leading everyone to get up and leave.
After sending his men away, Wu Shih-hao urged Lin Yuan-shan to change out of his patched shirt and trousers.
A moment later, Lin Yuanshan put on the white shirt and black trousers prepared by Si Yanwen, as well as a pair of old but polished and studded black leather shoes.
Not to mention the body itself, the person has a refined and scholarly appearance.
Even Wu Shih-hao couldn't help but nod in approval at Lin Yuanshan's extraordinary spirit, a quality far surpassing that of people from this era, despite his being from a later time: "Wow, if you get a new hairstyle and some hair oil later, I think you'll be even more handsome than Xie Xian!"
A few minutes later, Lin Yuanshan slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Wu Shih-hao downstairs.
With a broad smile, Hao greeted the familiar residents of the walled city while putting his arm around Lin Yuanshan's shoulder and telling everyone that this was his cousin, A Yuan, from his hometown.
While following his cousin and greeting people along the way, Lin Yuanshan, a researcher of Hong Kong history, was also observing this legendary place that was demolished in 1994 and could only be known to later generations through film and literature—the Kowloon Walled City.
Due to historical reasons, Kowloon Walled City was a no-man's-land that the British Hong Kong government dared not govern, the British government did not want to govern, and the British homeland was not comfortable governing.
It covers an area roughly the size of three football fields, yet it is crammed with 50,000 people, making it the most densely populated and most undesirable place in the world.
Not far downstairs, Wu Shih-hao led Lin Yuan-shan into a narrow alley.
Upon arriving here, you find yourself walking on thick, foul-smelling sewage, with a dense network of power lines overhead that obscures the sky.
Garbage, flies, cockroaches, and mosquitoes are everywhere, and the air is so polluted that it makes it difficult to breathe.
Less than 300 meters into the alley, Lin Yuanshan encountered three fellow Daoists who had died suddenly by the roadside.
A matchbox used for sucking powder in the mouth.
One of them had wide-open eyes and was foaming at the mouth.
The last one even had more than a dozen rats crawling on it.
As the two approached, the rats showed no fear. One or two of them, with their terrifying red eyes, continued to gnaw on the dead man's flesh.
Wu Shih-hao, who was leading the way, stopped in front of the corpse.
He turned his head, the smile on his face disappearing, replaced by a serious expression: "A-Yuan, do you know why I led you through this alley?"
Look at what happened to these people; you absolutely must not follow their example.
If I find out you're smoking this stuff, I'll break your legs, not even your relatives will be spared!
As he finished speaking, Wu Shih-hao's triangular eyes, gleaming with a menacing light, fixed intently on Lin Yuan-shan.
Lin Yuanshan's expression remained unchanged, meeting his gaze without fear.
A few seconds later, Lin Yuanshan said firmly, "Brother Hao, I won't smoke that kind of stuff. I won't even touch it."
Wu Shih-hao initially didn't care about Lin Yuan-shan's calm gaze.
But upon hearing this, he felt a little guilty and looked away: "Ha, alright, remember what you said today."
"Don't worry, my dad sent me to Hong Kong hoping I could make something of myself, earn a lot of money, go back to build an ancestral hall, and become a respected figure in our community." Lin Yuanshan smiled. "How could I possibly get involved with something as harmful as heroin?"
Wu Shih-hao forced a smile, turned around, and took out a five-yuan banknote.
He patted the wooden door on the right and stuffed the banknotes into the crack: "Drag these three salted fish back to the public toilet for me, and while you're at it, tell the Walled City Council to call the Municipal Council and have them send someone in to collect the bodies."
PS: In 1963, Xie Xian was 27 years old and was the most popular star in the era of Cantonese films in Hong Kong.
He embodies style, charm, and charisma, earning him the titles of "Fashion Godfather" and "Spokesperson for Casanova." He is a super idol that Hong Kong's youth strive to emulate!