"The only country in the world that recognizes the legal status of gangs is right here!" GS said, pointing at the land below.
"Boss, aren't the triads in Hong Kong Island legal too?" Tin Yeung-sang asked, glancing at GS.
"That's different. We're associations. They're gangs! Read more books and learn something when you have time! Use your brain!" GS said, tapping his temple.
He offered no further explanation. Tin Yeung-sang didn't understand, but he didn't ask any more questions.
Associations in Hong Kong Island were legal, but associations weren't gangs.
Hongxing, for example, had originally been a general association of commerce and industry.
Hop To had started as a workers' mutual aid group.
Down below, however, gangs were called yakuza organizations and operated with the Japanese government's permission, completely different from the associations in Hong Kong Island.
At their peak, Japanese gangs had even set up roadside recruitment stalls, just like companies hiring workers.
And at its peak, the Yamaguchi-gumi had earned eighty billion US dollars a year.
Of course, the Yamaguchi-gumi was still a long way from its peak. After splitting two years earlier, it was now embroiled in an internal war, and its strength had declined considerably.
Another reason was that Japan's booming economy had reduced the number of people joining gangs.
With Japan's economy booming, ordinary people lived well and earned good money. Who would join a gang?
At this point, the average Japanese monthly income was around ten thousand Hong Kong dollars, five times what ordinary people in Hong Kong Island earned.
Among the Four Asian Tigers, Hong Kong Island, Taiwan, and South Korea were currently learning from Japan.
Once the Plaza Accord was signed two years later, things in Japan would become even more outrageous.
Within two years, the yen would appreciate from 240 to