In 1952, Lin Shiyi, a Tanka man, became the godson of underworld boss Guo Zhaohua to save his sick younger brother. After ten years of risking his life for him, all he got in return was being pushed forward to take the blame. Three years in prison taught him that so-called kindness was nothing but exploitation. On the day of the Lord Guan festival in 1963, he publicly produced evidence of his godfather's crimes, repaid blood with blood, and became the new master of Kowloon Walled City.
A period of tremendous change followed: the ICAC storm, the demolition of the Walled City, and Hong Kong's return to China. He left his life as an underworld kingpin behind to become a legitimate businessman, said goodbye to Sister Feng, his companion of half a lifetime, and watched his brothers fade away. In 2015, seventy-six-year-old Lin Shiyi passed away peacefully in the sunset glow of a nursing home.
This is the tale of an ordinary man's struggle to defy fate, and a folk epic of Hong Kong's colonial era.
