One Touch

The term "gray family" has plenty of room for interpretation. It could refer to people involved in shady businesses, outright criminal forces, or those engaged in illegal trade.

From the perspective of criminal forces, those on the mainland were indeed less impressive than those along the coast. They were also less famous than the criminal forces in Hong Kong and Taiwan portrayed in classic movies and television dramas.

Anyone who liked the entertainment industry knew that during Hong Kong's darkest era, there had only been two kinds of entertainment companies. One was controlled by various criminal organizations, while the other had ties to them. Quite a few legendary singers, movie stars, and award-winning actors had experienced being controlled by criminal organizations. Many big-name celebrities had even suffered persecution at their hands and could only swallow their anger.

The mainland cracked down much harder, so criminal forces dared not flaunt themselves openly. Still, the people in the southern regions were quite fierce. I will not go into detail, but one could look at their achievements during the War of Resistance against Japan. Back then, Yizhou alone supplied more than three million troops for the war, accounting for one-fifth of the nation's total army. Its contribution was immense, and people had always said that without Yizhou, no army could be formed.

It had to be mentioned that as a major rear area, Yizhou Province had not suffered Japanese occupation apart from Yudu, which had been bombed. Yet anyone strong enough to carry a gun had rushed one after another to the battlefield.

Even though public order had improved and every region was stable now, Yizhou still accounted for a considerable number of the nation's notorious riot-plagued cities.

Naturally, the criminal forces of today could not possibly go around collecting protection fees. That