Hong Kong Films: Three Years Undercover, From Sandal-Bearer to Boss

Hong Kong Island in the 1980s. In the shadowy alleys of Lan Street, Zhou Shijie appears to be a low-ranking member of Wo Sing Wo, making a living by taking a cut from more than thirty women under his control. In secret, however, he is "Gray Owl," an undercover agent for the anti-vice unit of the West Kowloon Regional Headquarters.

After three years lying low, he thought he would slowly sink into this gray world, until a million dollars in cash appeared.

Two low-budget "art films" set off a frenzy in Hong Kong's underground videotape market. Zhou Shijie caught the scent of money and decided to go straight, transforming himself from a street thug who fought with cleavers into a film mogul.

But when Ba Bi, the boss of Tung Sing in Mong Kok, suddenly made his move, he kidnapped Lina, the actress Zhou had been backing, and demanded a million-dollar ransom.

Zhou Shijie agreed to raise the money on the surface, but secretly ventured into the lawless Kowloon Walled City to find someone who would make Ba Bi regret ever being born.

In 1980s Hong Kong Island, a place where gold and traps were everywhere, a man with the dual identities of undercover cop and gangster was quietly weaving his dream of building his own film empire.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.