1997, 30 June, 11.50 p.m.

In 10 minutes, Hong Kong's return to the motherland will be the day of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and this wish that we have been looking forward to for a hundred years will finally be realized!"

At this moment, the host who filmed the return scene is excitedly announcing this great joy to the people of the whole country through live TV.

Outside Victoria Harbour, the lights are bright, and at this moment tens of thousands of people gather nearby, looking at the last 10 minutes of the countdown on the conspicuous electronic screen on the "Universal Building".

The camera suddenly turned to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, which was full of guests and officials from China and Britain who had come to watch the ceremony, and on the stage, two Chinese and British flags were hung high, and the guard of honor of the two countries below was ready to go, ready to officially raise and lower the flag.

Time passed little by little, and when the last ten seconds counted down, a passionate trumpet sounded.

0:00 on July 1, 1997.

"Arise, you who do not want to be slaves, cast our flesh and blood into a new Great Wall......

Accompanied by the thick and high-pitched national anthem, the Chinese seated at the scene stood up one after another, singing this familiar and well-known national anthem in their mouths.

Huo Yaowen, who was standing side by side with Huo Guantai, looked at the red flag rising, humming the national anthem along while recalling the past nearly 30 years since he was reborn.

He was reborn in Hong Kong in 1968, founded the Hong Kong University Press in 1969, established Yiu Man Publishing Company in 1970, established Universal Film Company in 1973, co-founded Hong Kong Phoenix Television with Ho Tsokchi and Lo Manhui in 1974, acquired Hutchison & Co. in 1975 and renamed it Hutchison Whampoa, and invested in Apple Computer Company in 1978......

With the national flag fixed on the flagpole and the Hong Kong handover ceremony officially ended, Fok Yaowen's excited expression calmed down slightly.

At this time, the camera swept over the first row of personnel and broadcast Huo Yaowen live, most of the young people watching TV didn't know this middle-aged handsome guy, but anyone who was a little older recognized who this was at a glance!

At this time, Huo Yaowen has already closed his pen for many years, although his works have been printed and published many times around the world, but due to the deliberate suppression of the British government in Hong Kong, he has not appeared in public for a long time, and gradually his books are more popular than others, and he has long since disappeared from the 7-80s era when people were popular and books were popular.

But that's okay, since he became a shareholder of HSBC in 84, Huo Yaowen has been behind the scenes and rarely appears in the public eye. This also happened to escape the dangerous period of the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s when bandits kidnapped wealthy businessmen and ran amok.

More than an hour later, after attending the cocktail party held by the business and political circles of Hong Kong Island in the evening to celebrate Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Huo Yaowen took his wife Anna back to the villa on the top of Victoria Peak.

……

July 1, 2:15 a.m.

Taiping Peak, the Huo family's mansion.

A tall middle-aged man was standing on the balcony of the roof, looking out at Victoria Harbour in the distance, only to see dozens of passenger ships parked near the port, a large part of which were from the mainland to watch the handover ceremony.

On one of the largest passenger ships, there is a five-star red flag more than ten meters long, even if it is dozens of kilometers away, you can still vaguely see a little red light.

"Stampede"

Suddenly, there was the sound of leather shoes walking on the floor.

Huo Shuhua walked up from downstairs with a black coat, waited behind Huo Yaowen, and whispered: "Dad, it's raining lightly tonight, and it's cold, so you better put on your clothes." ”

Huo Yaowen turned around and looked at his son, who was half a head taller than him, and on that handsome face, he could vaguely see a little bit of his youthful demeanor, and casually took the coat handed over by his son and draped it on his body.

Putting on his coat, Huo Yaowen continued to look at Victoria Harbour in the distance, and he said, "Shuhua, how is working at Yahoo?"

Huo Shuhua walked to his father's right side and replied, "It's good, Mr. Yang has always taken care of me, but I don't really want to continue working at Yahoo, I don't feel interesting." ”

"It's boring, don't you like technology companies? What's the matter? Yahoo hasn't been doing well lately?" Huo Yaowen glanced sideways at his son's side face.

Huo Shuhua shook his head and said: "No, Yahoo's advertising revenue this year is very good, it has exceeded more than 300,000 US dollars in the first half of the year alone, more than 200,000 more than last year, I believe that Yahoo will be higher and higher in terms of advertising revenue in the future." ”

Huo Yaowen: "Isn't that good? You yourself proposed to work at Yahoo last year. ”

"I brought it up, but not long ago, when I went back to my hometown in the mainland to visit my third uncle, I went to Shenzhen and found that many small technology companies had been established in Shenzhen, so I thought about whether to set up a search website similar to Yahoo in the mainland, or instant messaging software such as MSN and icq. ”

Huo Shuhua said with excitement on his face: "I have investigated, at the beginning of this year, there were more than 500,000 Internet users in the mainland, an increase of nearly 300,000 over last year, I believe that in the future, relying on the huge population base of the mainland, there will be more and more Internet users, and by then what will be the 30 million Internet users in the United States?"

Huo Yaowen said: "Well, there will indeed be a lot of Internet users in the mainland in the future. So, do you have a plan to start a business?"

In the past 2,000 years, it has to be said that it is a miracle that the mainland's Internet users will grow by leaps and bounds at a rocket-like speed, and it will only take a few years to become the country with the largest number of Internet users in the world.

Huo Shuhua: "I already have an idea, because the algorithm of the search website is very troublesome, and the current Yahoo is still popular with English algorithms, and it may take a long time to develop a Chinese search engine." So I'm going to set up an instant messaging Internet company first, and I'll try to see if I can add a program to instant messaging that can directly open the search engine......"

Listening to his son's detailed description of the entrepreneurial plan, Huo Yaowen smiled and said: "Since you have thought about it, you have to do it seriously, and when the time comes, I will buy a share in the name of the group, and the rest will depend on you." ”

"Dad, don't worry, I have confidence. Huo Shuhua nodded firmly, he is full of confidence in starting a business in the mainland, after all, the Internet field in the mainland is almost blank at this time, he worked in Yahoo in the United States for more than a year last year, and before that, he participated in the work of various subsidiaries of Huanyu Group, and he is very confident to make a career.

"It's good to have faith. ”

Huo Yaowen looked at his son's high-spirited appearance, and in a trance, he seemed to see himself when he was young, and couldn't help but sigh: It's good to be young......

As soon as this thought came to mind, Huo Yaowen shook his head slightly, when he is old, he really likes to miss the old days, but God treats him well, two lives, a rich life, it is enough, there is no need to be too greedy to do it again.

Huo Yaowen suddenly asked, "By the way, you went to Canada not long ago, but you saw all the books?"

Huo Shuhua said: "As soon as I arrived in Canada, I contacted Aqi and asked him to come out for dinner. ”

"How's it going?"

"It's good to hear him say it himself. ”

“……”

Huo Shuhua looked at his father's appearance of wanting to speak and stopped, and said with a smile: "Aunt Lu is also very good, when I went there as a guest, my aunt was also there." ”

Hearing that she was okay, Huo Yaowen was a little more relieved. Among the close people, she is the only one who remains in Canada, on the one hand, to take care of her sick father, and on the other hand, to take care of his father's business and industry in Canada over the years.

After looking at the night view of Victoria Harbour for a while, it seemed that there were still crowds there, and it could be seen that the procession to celebrate the return of the motherland had not yet dispersed.

Huo Yaowen stretched out his hands and moved, and said in his mouth: "Shuhua, I'm going down, do you want to go together?"

"No, Dad, I drank more wine at the drinking party before, and I woke up with the wind. Huo Shuhua shook his head.

"If you drink too much, you will blow less wind, and you will catch a cold easily, and your mother will talk about you again when the time comes. By the way, when you go back to the mainland to start a business, you can write a detailed report and hand it over to me when you go to work next Monday. The group's affairs are still business-like. ”

Huo Yaowen glanced at his son, and didn't care about him, he was in his twenties, and he knew that he was taking care of himself, so he turned around and went downstairs.

"Got it, father. ”

Huo Shuhua stood in place and looked at his father's back downstairs, his eyes were full of admiration and admiration, no one admired his father more than Huo Shuhua.

……

Downstairs, Huo Yaowen walked to his bedroom, he didn't turn on the light, only relied on the faint light outside the window, glanced at the figure lying on the bed, he smiled at the corner of his mouth, took off his coat, and was about to go to bed to rest, when he saw the figure on the bed sit up, and a familiar voice sounded: "Honey, are you back?"

"Well, it's back. Huo Yaowen took advantage of a little moonlight, walked to the side of the bed, and reached out to stop Anna's waist that was gradually a little fat.

"Don't pinch it. Feeling Huo Yaowen pinching his swimming ring, Anna patted his chest angrily and said, "I've just gained a little weight recently, and I've lost weight after a while." ”

Huo Yaowen smiled: "It's good, there's no need to lose it, people who are almost sixty years old, do you still care about this bit of meat on your stomach?"

"I'm in my early 50s. ”

Older people don't like to listen to rounding, and Anna is the same, she subconsciously glared at Huo Yaowen fiercely, but unfortunately there was no light in the house, relying on the moonlight outside and the street lamp at the gate, she could only see the vague figure clearly, and she couldn't see the expression on her face at all.

"Yes, yes, a girl in her early 50s. Huo Yaowen laughed.

"That's, the last time I went out shopping with Xiaobao, others thought I was Xiaobao's sister!" Anna raised her head proudly, I have to say that she has always been very well maintained, she is in her 50s, and she looks like she is in her early 40s.

The husband and wife were chatting when suddenly a violent firecracker sounded outside the window, and in a moment they saw brilliant and colorful fireworks in front of the window.

"Fireworks?"

Anna got up and stepped out of bed, standing by the window, looking out at Victoria Harbour in the distance.

I saw the brilliant lights near the port, and a few firecrackers sounded "bang", one after another colorful fireworks bloomed unscrupulously in the dark sky, and the bright colorful light shone on Anna's dignified and elegant face, making Huo Yaowen feel a trance back to the day when he was in his 20s and taught at the University of Hong Kong.

I vaguely remember that day, the eyes were bright, the sun in the sky was as hot as a furnace, and people in the sun were dizzy, as if they were drunk. It was the same angle, the same Anna's smiling face, and those blue eyes seemed to be shining with a seductive light, and the heartbeat had also quietly risen from that time.

"Huh?"

Suddenly feeling that she was being hugged, Anna was subconsciously startled, and then remembered that it was Huo Yaowen who was hugging her behind her, a slight smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she grabbed the palms that went around her lower abdomen, and the two hands were clenched together.

A warm and romantic atmosphere gradually permeated the room......

Outside the window, the fireworks are still being set off, and the fireworks bloom in the air for the most beautiful and gorgeous seconds.

The brilliant light covered half of Hong Kong Island, shone on Taiping Mountain, and shone on Huo Yaowen's resolute and vicissitudes of face in front of the window.

One moment it is red, then it is white, then it is yellow, and then it is blue.

At this moment, Huo Yaowen looked at the red flag on Victoria Harbour and the fireworks in the inky night sky, and his ears seemed to be ringing the classic song "Pearl of the Orient" by Luo Dayou.

"The creek bends southward,

Flowing to the Xiangjiang River to have a look,

Pearl of the Orient,

My lover

Whether your style is still romantic;

The harbor of the moon's crooked,

The night is deep and the lights are shining,

The Pearl of the Orient stayed awake all night,

Keep the promise of the vicissitudes of life

……”

(End of book)

(End of chapter)