In the first-class cabin of the airplane, Lin Baicheng sat with his eyes closed, resting while waiting for takeoff.
"Excuse me, sir."
A crisp female voice sounded beside him. Sitting in the aisle seat, he knew the passenger for the window seat had arrived, so he opened his eyes.
"I'm sitting inside."
It was a young woman wearing sunglasses and a hat, looking to be in her early twenties. She pointed to the window seat.
Lin smiled, nodded, and stood up to let her pass more easily.
"Thank you."
She spoke politely. Although the first-class seats were spacious enough that she could have squeezed past even if he hadn't stood, it was still inconvenient for a young woman to brush past a man in such close proximity. Most women would prefer the aisle passenger to move to avoid unnecessary physical contact.
"You're welcome."
After she sat down, Lin returned to his seat.
Although her sunglasses hid her face, judging by her outfit and elegant demeanor, she was likely very attractive. For a dull journey, having a beautiful woman seated beside him was a pleasant surprise.
What puzzled Lin, however, was that after sitting down, the woman took off her hat, but not her sunglasses. He found it odd but didn't ask—after all, they were strangers.
Soon, the plane took off.
"You're not from Hong Kong, are you? From your accent, you don't sound like a local," Lin said casually, making conversation to pass the time.
"Mmm, I'm from Wan Island (Taiwan)," the young woman replied in Cantonese.
Her Cantonese was clearly learned later in life—probably only for a few years. The reason she addressed Lin in Cantonese earlier was simple: this was a flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong, and statistically, the passengers were more likely to be from Hong Kong than from Taiwan.
"Oh, from Wan Island. Speaking of which, the person I'm most familiar with from there is Miss Teresa Teng—you people practically treat her as a national idol."
The Teresa Teng he mentioned (Deng Lijun in Mandarin) was a legendary singer. By 1977, she was already hugely famous across Southeast Asia—though not yet an international superstar.
"You know Teresa Teng?" the young woman asked curiously.
"I've seen her. I attended her concert at the Lee Theatre in July, but she wouldn't know me," Lin smiled and waved casually.
Before being reborn, Lin had listened to many of Teresa Teng's songs, and because he had written novels about the 1980s entertainment industry, he was very familiar with her reputation.
In fact, he had seen her from afar—at her solo concert in July at the Lee Theatre in Hong Kong. His cousin Lin Qin, a big fan, begged him to go, so he brought her and his sister Lin Shufang along.
Unfortunately, the seats he bought were in the middle, quite far back. He only saw her from a distance—and not very clearly.
"Well, now she knows you," the woman said playfully as she removed her sunglasses and smiled at him.
"Teresa Teng!"
Lin's eyes widened in disbelief. The woman sitting beside him was actually the very person he had just mentioned. If she hadn't quickly made a shushing gesture, he would have exclaimed out loud.
"I can't believe it! To meet you here, Miss Deng—it's such a surprise."
"By the way, I'm Lin Baicheng. It's an honor to meet you."
"Lin Baicheng? Same name, similar age… you wouldn't happen to be the new owner of Asia Television (ATV), would you?" Teresa Teng asked in surprise.
She had just come back from Japan to Hong Kong a few days ago. The media had been writing nonstop about Lin. It was hard not to know about him. However, the photo in the newspapers looked quite different from the man in front of her, hence she didn't recognize him immediately.
The difference was understandable—those photos were from when Lin first became famous for writing novels. Back then, he didn't care much about his image. Now, with money and status, he naturally paid more attention to his appearance.
"I am indeed," Lin nodded—no reason to hide it.
"I really didn't expect it to be you. You're incredible," Teresa said in genuine admiration. "I read about you in the papers—you debuted as a novelist this year, used your first earnings to buy an arcade factory, started making games and selling them worldwide, and now you're even a major shareholder in a TV station. To become a billionaire in less than a year—your life is like a legend."
"A legend?" Lin smiled confidently. "Miss Teng, you might think I'm arrogant, but in my opinion, this is just the beginning. I'm still far from anything truly legendary."
And he meant it. Being a billionaire was nothing yet. Only when he owned tens or hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars could he call it legendary.
"Arrogant? Not at all. You're just being modest," Teresa replied. She could tell he wasn't boastful—but confident, immensely confident about the future.
"That's true," Lin nodded. For ordinary people in this era, someone becoming a billionaire within a year was nothing short of a myth.
You couldn't judge it from the perspective of future generations. With the average monthly wage in Hong Kong being around 500 HKD, a hundred million dollars was an astronomical figure. It would take an ordinary person many lifetimes to earn that much without spending a cent.