A Spirited Girl Takes on Hong Kong! [Period]

New story: Reborn to Marry My High School Classmate. Please add it to your reading list!

70% of the story is locked for piracy protection. Please read the official version. I'm a poor author... Please don't hurt me.

She was once a secret guard in the Eastern Palace. Reborn in the 1970s, she finds herself in Hong Kong's Walled City, among the cramped tenements of Pig Cage Walled City.

"This is Pig Cage Walled City. It's dangerous here! If you're not home by nightfall, you could end up dead in the street."

The old man chatting in front of his stall leaves A Ling puzzled. What danger could there be in the Walled City? Compared to what she's used to, this is child's play.

Nine-year-old A Ling listens, then swiftly guts the fish. Scales flutter into the trash can. She packs the fish in a plastic bag and hands it to the customer. She has to hurry: once she finishes at the fish stall, she still needs to deliver a message to some gangsters.

A Ling has to survive, so she takes on all kinds of odd jobs around the Walled City, with clear prices and no cheating. She's tiny, but her reputation is excellent.

At ten, the old beggar woman who took her in falls seriously ill, and A Ling urgently needs money. She finds a high-paying part-time job as a casino chip runner.

"Damn it! Which asshole was that?"

"Got a problem with me, Dongguan Zai? I'm Big Circle Feilong, and you dare stop me!"

Suddenly, a cleaver flies toward A Ling. She catches it with one hand and sighs.

"Uncle, remember to put your trash in the bin. You'll get fined for messing up the streets."

Feilong pulls out a gun, ready to shoot Dongguan Zai. A Ling flings the cleaver. With a clang, it knocks away the bullet, then embeds itself in the wall, perfectly still.

"Uncle, don't do anything reckless. I haven't even collected my wages yet."

After that night, A Ling's part-time job becomes full-time. Going in and out of the casino becomes as routine as eating.

At twelve, A Ling earns her godmother's approval and helps manage the accounts. As she thinks about how her goals are gradually coming within reach, her calculations grow ever quicker. She's planning to move into a bigger place soon, so she won't have to share a room with the old beggar woman anymore.

In the blink of an eye, A Ling is seventeen. Her godmother is brutally murdered, and the Walled City is thrown into turmoil. On her way home one night, A Ling rescues a foreign man with brown eyes. Seeing how he's dressed, she immediately decides to make him repay her kindness, and starts doing the sums in her head.

Ji Baihong is a Russian-Chinese merchant, born with an air of elegance. He greets everyone with a three-part smile, but underneath he's a wolf in sheep's clothing.

A little scene:

On a typhoon night, Ji Baihong climbs through A Ling's window, only to find himself bound hand and foot the next moment.

"Mr. Ji, we need to keep our partnership within bounds."

Ji Baihong gazes at A Ling with burning amber eyes. "Could we have a relationship that goes beyond business?"

"Sure. Become my underling and do what I say."

Ji Baihong chuckles. "All right. Then untie me first."

A Ling lifts the man's chin. "If you're going to be mine, you follow my rules."

Her fingertips slide lower, tracing his Adam's apple before stopping at the top button of his shirt. "For starters, transfer me five hundred thousand. Let's see how sincere you are."

Later, Madam Tatiana, waiting for her daughter-in-law to arrive at the Rublyov Estate, writes in her diary:

Ivan's wife loves money. Luckily, I have some savings of my own to give her as a welcome gift...

Ivan told me over the phone that he's always worried his wife will be lured away by some other man. So he has no choice but to keep making more and more money, to keep her heart...

Both leads are sexually inexperienced. Tough queen x gentleman with a screw loose

Size difference # touch-starved # clear-eyed madman

1. The female lead is as steady as they come, practical and resilient, and as ruthless as a mythical money-hoarding beast.

2. The male lead is a gentleman in sheep's clothing: restrained, patient, and loaded.

3. Inspired by 1970s and 1980s Hong Kong, but set in a fictional world. No harmful guidance intended. Please don't conflate it with reality!

4. At first, the female lead is only trying to survive. Later, she reforms the Walled City, develops legitimate industries, and leads its residents out of poverty and toward prosperity.

5. The plot comes first, and the male lead appears later.

A new-era story in the works. Add it to your reading list if you're interested: Splendid Bygone Days, set in the Nanyang region.

Blurb:

In 1980, Jakarta's rainy season lasted twice as long as usual.

Lin Chenxun, heir to one of the wealthiest families in Nanyang, was driving past the local military headquarters when he rescued a family of three huddled in the rain.

His name may sound like a Buddhist verse, but he isn't a man of compassion.

"Sign this, and I'll keep your family safe."

"What will it cost me?"

"Three years. Be the young lady of the Lin family and help me put on a show."

In 2026, Le Shaoqing, a senior officer in the National Guard, wakes up in the body of a Chinese Indonesian woman with the same name, who has just signed a marriage contract.

In this era, one decree from Suharto can strip a tycoon of his entire fortune overnight and send him to the Sunda Strait to feed the fish. The lives of ordinary Chinese people are worth even less than weeds in a rubber plantation.

Once Le Shaoqing figures out what year it is, she quickly climbs into the Lin family's wedding car. She knows all too well that staying alive comes first, and this deal is a sure win for her under the circumstances.

During their three-year marriage, Le Shaoqing uses modern agricultural technology to turn the Lin family's loss-making plantations into Nanyang's most profitable cash cow. She uses her ability to anticipate policy shifts to help the Lin family dodge one political purge and military shakedown after another.

On the day the Lin family finally transfers all its assets overseas and escapes the government of Punanba, the young lady, who was supposed to fly to Singapore, is pinned against a bookcase by her husband. He kisses her relentlessly and pleads in a low voice:

"I'll give you every last bit of the Lin family fortune. Could you stay and spend your life with me, with no more guns pointed at us?"

Theme: Eliminate harmful illegal industries and be a law-abiding citizen!