When Lin Yining first arrives in Hong Kong in the 1950s,
she is just a lonely girl from Haicheng with nothing to her name.
She knows nothing of her parents or her identity.
To survive, she polishes shoes, delivers newspapers, sells flowers, and picks up cigarette butts outside the Lichi Ballroom.
Little by little, she manages to grow up.
Someone says, "What a shame you're not a man!
If you were a man and wanted to get ahead,
you could use your brains and become a comprador, use your fists and become a cop, or, failing that, join a gang and at least earn enough to eat and drink.
But then again, it's a good thing you're a woman. It doesn't matter if you're as flat as a washboard, as long as you've got a pretty face, you can sell it!
Thank me later. If you can get yourself a powerful patron, you'll be set for life..."
"Thunk!"
Lin Yining brings down the cleaver in her hand, its blade sinking three inches into the counter.
"I've got more than fists. I've got a knife too!"
This is a chaotic, lawless era.
This is a world where black and white are hard to tell apart.
This is a society that favors foreigners and looks down on Chinese people.
It is heaven for some and hell for others.
And Lin Yining is fighting her way out of hell...
Set in Hong Kong in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, with showbiz elements and an alternate-history backdrop.
Theme: Fight through adversity and claw your way back from the brink of death. Even an orphan girl can become a queen!
