Due to problems left over from history, for a long time, the Kowloon Walled City became one of the “three Unregulated” zone that was not cared for by the British, Chinese, and Hong Kong governments and had long been controlled by triads. It became a haven for triads. Pornography, gambling, and drugs were rampant, making this area of ​​fewer than three hectares became the epitome of poverty and crime in the special era. Even the police couldn’t enter the walled city until the establishment of the ICAC in 1974.

In real life, the Kowloon Walled City was demolished in 1993, and was rebuilt into the walled city park, and Qiao Wen had never seen this famous slum with his own eyes. Despite this, the legend of it has been handed down for generations, serving as a source of inspiration for many artists and a mecca for cyberpunk enthusiasts at one point.

At this time, a plane from Kai Tak Airport rumbled past the roof of the adjacent tenement building, casting an enormous shadow.

Qiao Wen remembered how William Gibson, the father of cyberpunk, described it— “The walled city stood at the end of a runway (near the Walled City is Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport), waiting to be cleared. It has always been the home of butchers, unlicensed dentists, and drug dealers…those cluttered windows were like dream nests. They seemed to absorb all the crazy vitality of Kai Tak Airport. They suck energy like a black hole.”

It was a city that inspired countless creators, but there was a fundamental difference between literary and artistic creation and real life.

At this moment, standing here, even an adventurer like Qiao Wen felt the overwhelming depression and uneasiness that could not be dispelled.

In his real life, he was born and raised under the Red Flag. He had a wonderful family and had never suffered materially. His adventures were all about deserts and jungles and so on, he had never been into a real slum.

But now, not only did he need to go deeper, but he was also one of them.

It could be said to be very…exciting.

It was 1972. It was the last two years before the police were stationed in the walled city, so it was still the darkest period of the Kowloon Walled City.

But the good thing was, not only did he inherit the memory of the original body, but he also knew a little about the plot of the original book, so there was no need for him to worry about appearing in such a place.

As he was turning his head and looking around, Haozi on his side suddenly reminded him: “By the way, Awen, you are awake now. You better go back and report to your grandma first. Uncle Hua concluded you may not be able to make it. So my brother and I didn’t dare to tell your grandma, just said that you are here for treatment and cannot see the wind, let her not visit you for the time being.”

Qiao Wen just remembered that the original body was an orphan and grew up with his grandma. His grandmother made a living by setting up a shop selling dried goods. It was not easy to pull(raise) the sick seedlings of the original body. Initially Qiao Wen was very contended, that he wasn’t like other children in the city in not learning, but he studied hard and had excellent grades. He just graduated from Form 5 this year, and due to financial reasons, he planned to find a decent job to support his family instead of going to university.

However, before he could submit his resume he fell ill, and by the time he woke up, he became the current Qiao Wen.

After a little thought he said: “Haozi, I want to go outside the walled city to get some air. You tell my grandmother that I’m fine, so she can rest assured. It’s almost time to close the stall. You can help her close it.”

Haozi said: “Are you going out alone? How can I feel at ease when I send you alone. What if you faint on the road and no one cares?”

Hearing this, he turned to him with a smile and patted his shoulder, and said: “I’m fine, don’t worry, you’ve been taking care of me for the past two days. You must also feel tired, help Grandma close the stall, and go back to rest early.

Haozi stared at the teenager in front of him blankly. All year around, he had a frown on his face, so he couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had seen him smile, but he felt that this smile had cleared up the originally cloudy sky.

Though he couldn’t tell why, he felt Awen was really different, and he was content about this, so he nodded subconsciously and obeyed his words: “Then be careful. Don’t forget to go back to Uncle Hua to drink medicine.”

“Got it.”

Just as he was about to turn around, he was stopped by Qiao Wen again: “Do you have any money on you?”

“I have ten dollars.”

“Okay, give it to me.”

Seeing the skinny teenager trotting away, Qiao Wen followed his memory and went in another direction.

The walled city was divided into two districts. The western district was the place where the good people lived; While the eastern district was rife with gambling and drugs, where no ordinary person dared to enter.

The organization that controlled this place was called Hexing Society, which claims to be Hongmen Orthodox. The current boss was Zhao Shanhai, nicknamed the Diamond Mountain Leopard, known as Lord Leopard, who was a ruthless and vicious character.

The He Xing Society was considered to be a small society throughout the city with less than 1,000 people. However, the situation here was special because the government had no control over it. It did not matter if one killed someone outside and set a fire, once they fled back to Walled city no one could get them down. Because of this, it was known as the most arrogant society in Hong Kong city.

The Hexing Society was controlling the Walled city for many years, almost everyone was proud to be a part of the Hexing Society. A good child like Qiao Wen was simply a rare animal.

As for Chen Canan, he was also a member of Hexing Society.

As far as he remembered, the original body was disgusted with Chen Jianan’s involvement in the gang. At first, the two of them had a big quarrel over this matter. Later Chen Jianan explained that he only joined the society to protect the neighborhood, and swore that he would never be contaminated with pornography, gambling, or drugs, after that the two reconciled as before.

However, there were no people who didn’t wet their shoes, walking by the river all year round, let alone in this chaotic era.

Currently, Chen Jianan was only in the bottom four or ninth boy of Hexing Society. If he succeeds in his assassination tonight, then he would directly be promoted to a red stick by Zhao Shanhai. After that, the blood on his hands would only increase.

In his mind, he recalled Chen Jianan’s violent deeds he did in the original book. As he was walking he wondered, since he was here, maybe it was difficult to stop him from going to the villain’s road.

With a sigh, he continued down the grubby lane.

Since the walled city wasn’t that big, it only took him a few minutes to get outside. Despite the short distance, the difference between the in and out was worlds apart. Inside was a dark slum where the sun doesn’t shine, while outside was a thriving and prosperous metropolis.

His eyes fell on a row of rickshaws on the side of the road, which were waiting for the passengers.

It was the early 1970s.

Although public buses, trams, minibusses, and taxis were everywhere, this kind of convenient and cheap rickshaw was still a means of subsistence for people at the bottom.

Qiao Wen estimated the distance of the place he was going. It wasn’t far away and only took 20 minutes to walk. But his current body, which had just walked for a few minutes, had already reached its limit.

Squeezing the only ten dollars in his hand, he strolled to a rickshaw and said to the driver, “Yau Ma Tei Furong Tea House.” and got in.

In fact, today was not only a turning point for Chen Jianan – a vicious and prosperous villain but also a turning point for the male protagonist Lin Zihui.

Lin Zihui’s father, Lin Zhaoming, who was about to be killed by Chen Jianan, was a wealthy proprietor in Hong Kong. However, the fate of the protagonist in the novel was not destined to be so smooth, so Lin Zihui was not the legitimate son of the tycoon but the illegitimate son of Lin Zhaoming and the tea house lady (Formerly known as the hostess of the tea house).

Like all the novel protagonists, he had a turbulent background. His mother died of illness not long after giving birth to him. In addition, his father relied on his original wife to make a fortune. Though his wife and children were not energy-efficient lamps, he would not bring his illegitimate child home, even if it was to protect him. So Lin Zihui has always been raised by his uncle who owns the tea house.

Although he wasn’t recognized by a wealthy family, Lin Zhaoming treated him very well. He had lived a life as a young master since he was a child. Compared with Chen Jianan and Qiao Wen in the slums, his growth conditions could be described as a world difference.

But unfortunately, after his father died in the original book, he lost the ATM to fill the vacancy. His gambling uncle quickly lost the tea house and contracted a serious illness, he had no money for treatment and soon died. After his uncle’s death Lin Zihui was totally helpless, and not only that, his father’s wives and children were also suppressed everywhere. His life was hard.

Of course, as the protagonist, he naturally worked hard in the face of adversity, all the way to face abuse and slag, from a poor to a big man in the city.

In fact, his experience was similar to that of Chen Jianan. They both embarked on the journey of being a bigwig because of changes. It was just that one went white, and the other went black, but the difference was so big. As a protagonist, because of his ‘lead-halo’ his journey went smooth. On the other hand, the biggest role of the villain’s existence was to set him off as the protagonist, being abused by him over and over again.

When Qiao Wen was reading the book, it rather puzzled him to see that Chen Jianan always loses to Lin Zihui. It took only two years for Chen Jianan to rise from a forty-nine boy to the double red stick of the Hexing Society. Then, taking advantage of the Hong Kong government to sweep the gang, he killed Zhao Shanhai and became the new leader of the Hexing Society.

After that the Hexing Society, which was in the Kowloon Walled City developed into the entire Hong Kong City, breaking into the real estate and entertainment industries to whitewash, turning pornography, gambling and drugs into the underground and it was all done before he reaches 20.

Such a powerful villain was repeatedly defeated when it came to Lin Zihui and even ended up being shot to death indiscriminately, from no angle it make sense.

Of course, in Shuangwen (cool text article), the male protagonist was always powerful, and all logic must give way to the male protagonist’s aura.