sentences:  Ma and Xiao are manual laborers busting their tails in Shanghai at the beginning of the film, and Ma's first encounter with the crime lord Tan Si starts him off on the underworld influence ladder.Step by step, he earns the respect of everyone he meets, either with his strength of character or by beating them up.When he gets a really big break by defeating a Russian strongman, he indulges himself in a fancy cigarette holder, much like the one Tan Si uses.