"Of course! After buying the horse, I can go home and watch 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'. Silly Guo Jing and pretty Huang Rong have already started dating. Of course, this is in the play. They are not a couple in real life."
The rumored boyfriend of the charming Huang Rong was actually Duan Yu from "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils." The Daily News published gossip about photos they had taken of Duan Yu presenting roses to Huang Rong.
"Speaking of this TV series, my granddaughter is a huge fan of Guo Jing and wants to be a star. Last November, she applied for TVB's acting training class, but she was eliminated in the first round."
Over six thousand people applied, but only sixty could participate in the training. Then, forty were eliminated, and twenty were selected to sign contracts. Damn, it's harder than running for a seat in the Legislative Yuan!
"Is being a big star something just anyone can do? Sam Hui's film salary is three or four million, even more than the Governor of Hong Kong, Edward Youde. Of course, it's much more difficult!"
...
The only remaining two-seater in the second-to-last row was occupied by Li Ling and Lin Baozai, with a middle-aged man and a young woman sitting behind them.
The middle-aged man was dressed in a well-fitting suit and had a medium-length retro hairstyle, imitating Sam Hui from the movie "Aces Go Places".
The young woman had braided hair and wore a blue cotton shirt. Her attire was out of place among Hong Kong people, and she looked familiar. She was a pale and silent mainland girl who had been on the same boat as her last night.
She didn't say a word on the ship at the time, and she remained silent when they met again, pretending that she didn't know Li Ling.
Li Ling didn't engage with them. He carried his camera, loaded new film, and took pictures of the city outside the window and inside the car, capturing the cityscape of this era.
Chow Yun-fat has a line in "Cold War 2": "Digital photos are very attractive, but film is my true love."
While taking photos, Li Ling also strained his ears to hear the middle-aged man speaking in hushed tones.
“Public transportation on Hong Kong Island is quite convenient. The fastest is the railway, and the MTR, which opened four years ago. The next fastest are buses and minibuses, with routes running through the entire island and extending into the villages.”
Another type is the tram, which runs a lot in the urban area of Hong Kong Island. It is mostly double-decker with tracks. It was introduced from Britain. After all, it was a colony, and British goods can be seen everywhere in Hong Kong Island.
The road signs have traditional Chinese characters, but they must also have English labels. And when you find a job in the future, you'll need an English name; otherwise, you're not a true Hong Kong woman.
The young woman would occasionally look up while listening to the lecture, secretly observing other waiting passengers. Li Ling was her main target for peeping.
"It's quite a distance from Yuen Long to Sha Tin. One is in the western New Territories and the other is in the eastern New Territories, separated by many mountains. The Hong Kong government is currently planning a tunnel through the mountains, but it hasn't been put into construction yet. Buses can only take the Tsuen Kam Road that winds around the mountains."
Traffic to and from the New Territories and Kowloon is all congested on this road, so the speed is slow. It will take us about two hours to get to Sha Tin.
Lin Baozai looked around in his seat, turning his head every now and then.
Li Ling was worried that he wouldn't be able to hold back his words, so she instructed, "It's a long walk to Sha Tin, go to sleep, Bao Zai, I'll wake you up when we get there!"
"Yeah, Brother Ling, I didn't sleep at all last night, I'm so sleepy!" Lin Baozai stopped himself from speaking, obediently closed his eyes, and he was indeed sleepy. He quickly fell asleep and soon drifted off to sleep.
After a bumpy hour and a half on the highway, as the bus was about to enter Shatin New Town, Li Ling's face showed worry.
On the highway, police set up checkpoints to inspect vehicles.
This scene is reminiscent of Andy Lau encountering a policeman on a bus in the movie "Running Out of Time".
More than a dozen police officers stood on both sides of the road, holding long guns, wearing bulletproof vests, with their trousers tucked into military boots, and wearing blue berets on their heads.
These officers are not ordinary police officers, but members of the PTU (Police Tactical Unit), which is part of the bomb disposal department and whose combat capability is second only to the Special Flying Tigers.
Tsuen Kam Road is an eight-lane road with heavy traffic. In addition to the bus, a private mainland Chinese car, two taxis, and three trucks were stopped. More than a dozen police officers dispersed and checked the documents of the passengers in each vehicle.
The early 1980s were the peak period for crimes committed by the Tai Chung Tsai gang on Hong Kong Island. The PTU was probably conducting routine spot checks on illegal immigrants.
Two police officers, a man and a woman, boarded the bus one after the other. They coldly surveyed the passengers, and if they didn't like someone, they would directly ask that person to show their identification.
"You, you...and you, show me your ID!"
They weren't investigating Li Ling; he was sitting in the back row.
But they eventually found him.
"You, stand up!"
All Hong Kong Island police officers are armed, so Li Ling will not act recklessly and will cooperate by standing up.
The one who called out was a policewoman. Li Ling smiled and asked her, "Madam, is there something you need?"
The policewoman stared intently at the design on the front of his short-sleeved shirt—it was a Star Wars t-shirt that had become a global phenomenon.
"Wow, this Darth Vader look is so cool, even the hilt of his sword is a short laser, I love it! Hey handsome, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is coming out in North America on the 25th of this month. I'm a Star Wars fan and I've been wanting to buy promotional items for this movie. Could you tell me where you bought your T-shirt?"
"Madam, I bought this outfit at Meijia Department Store. You can go and take a look." Li Ling then realized that it was his fashionable attire that had attracted the police's attention. He needed to pay more attention to such details next time.
"Oh, I'll definitely go check it out after get off work," the policewoman said excitedly.
“Madam, actually I can give you this shirt,” Li Ling chuckled, “provided you don’t mind.”
"You're covered in sweat, who wants your clothes!" the policewoman said with obvious disgust. Of course, the sweat wasn't the main issue.
“You’re so handsome, I don’t really mind your clothes, but you’re a good six feet tall, so they don’t fit me.”
Li Ling shrugged: "Well, there's nothing I can do about that!"
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Chapter 78 Getting Scammed
"Well, there's nothing we can do about that!"
Li Ling didn't want to talk to the policewoman any longer, fearing she might make a mistake, so she prepared to sit down. However, the male police officer grabbed her again, saying, "Handsome, your camera is pretty cool too. Can I borrow it to take a look?"
Li Ling couldn't believe his ears. He thought to himself, "You're police officers, on official duty. Instead of catching thieves, you're here talking about movies and cameras. Where is your professional ethics?"
Damn it, all the tax revenue from Hong Kong Island residents has gone to waste!