Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 2 002 [Local Real Estate Agency]

This building was the key to Li Jiacheng's rise. At that time, Li Jiacheng bought the old Bank of China Building from the Chinese Estates Company and spent a huge sum of US$2700 million. He partnered with HSBC to demolish and rebuild the Bank of China Building and built a modern Grade A commercial building. As a result, he came into contact with HSBC boss Stephen Sham, who valued him and took the first solid step towards his future success.

Li Jiacheng bought 22.4% of Hutchison Whampoa's shares from HSBC. Now he owns more than that share. I am afraid that his shareholding has exceeded 40%, and he will have complete control of Hutchison Whampoa by the end of the year.

In his previous life, many people hated Li Jiacheng, but they had to admit that Li Jiacheng's business achievements were beyond the reach of most people. Luo Qihong was a time traveler, and everyone envied Li Jiacheng's abilities.

After sorting out his thoughts, Luo Qihong walked closer to the building and arrived at the trading hall of HSBC. Immediately, a man of about the same age came up to him.

"What's your name, sir? Are you investing in stocks?" A young man with a square face and wearing glasses asked with a smile.

Luo Qihong smiled and responded, "My last name is Luo. This is my first time in the trading hall. I plan to buy a few thousand yuan worth of stocks."

As the 'quasi-central bank' of Hong Kong, HSBC is naturally a gathering place for elites. Luo Qihong has too little funds and is worried about being treated differently, so he made it clear in advance that if he is unhappy, he can just change jobs.

"Mr. Luo, please come this way!" The young man introduced himself as he walked over. "My name is Liang Botao, and I'm a trader."

Luo Qihong felt that the name was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was, so he smiled and said, "Mr. Liang, please take care of me in the future!"

Liang Botao smiled modestly and said, "Mr. Luo is our rice boss. Mr. Luo should take care of us, otherwise we would have no business."

Liang Botao did not look down on Luo Qihong, an investor with only a few thousand yuan. Perhaps he was also a newcomer in the financial securities industry and needed retail investors like Luo Qihong to accumulate small amounts into large ones.

Luo Qihong smiled and skipped the topic directly. "Mr. Liang, I only have 6000 yuan, and I want to buy all of it in Jianing Company's shares."

Liang Botao took the banknote, glanced at the blackboard, and immediately found the stock quote of Jianing Company. He said to Luo Qihong, "The current share price of Jianing Company is 8.4 yuan, and 50 shares make up one lot. Mr. Luo, your 6000 yuan can buy 14 lots, leaving about 120 yuan."

Finally, Liang Botao returned 100 yuan to Luo Qihong and charged a handling fee of 20 yuan.

Luo Qihong felt a little uncomfortable looking at the densely packed blackboard. In his previous life, he was used to looking at electronic screens, and the data was refreshed at any time. Now, these stock prices are all calculated manually, and not only is the information not timely, but it is also prone to errors or omissions.

Soon, Liang Botao finished the business and handed the receipt to Luo Qihong, saying with a smile, "Mr. Luo, your business has been completed. There are 14 lots in total, a total of 700 shares of Jianing Company. Is there anything else you need my help with?"

"No more, thank you Mr. Liang!"

"You're welcome, Luo Sheng, take care!"

In the early 80s, the Eastern Harbour Crossing was not yet included in the Transport Department's plan. To get back to Kowloon Bay from Quarry Bay, one had to take a boat or take the underwater tunnel in Causeway Bay, the latter being too far.

Luo Qihong didn't plan to go back too early, so he wandered around, from Central to Wan Chai, then to Causeway Bay, and finally met an old classmate on the streets of North Point.

Luo Qihong recalled the original owner's relationship with his old classmate Lin Luoqi, and after getting into the mood, he said, "Luoqi, didn't you go to Central to be a white-collar worker? Why are you opening a store here?"

Lin Luoqi has an average appearance but a sturdy build, about 1 meters tall, and has an overall good appearance.

His family background is better than Luo Qihong's, and he seems to be a rich second generation. Luo Qihong really doesn't know what his family does. Lin Luoqi poured Luo Qihong a cup of tea and said proudly, "Being a white-collar worker doesn't have the freedom to open a shop and be an agent. Besides, I earn much more than a white-collar worker, at least this amount a month."

Luo Qihong looked at Lin Luoqi's raised palm and asked, "5000?"

"This is the number for now. If you work harder, you can add one more zero." Lin Luoqi smiled, with a look of showing off on his face.

Luo Qihong did not have much feeling about 5000 yuan in this era, but when he remembered that the original owner had saved up 3 yuan for three months by living frugally, he had a rough comparison of 6000 yuan.

Today, the price of a new house in North Point is more than 400 yuan per square foot. According to this calculation method, 5000 yuan is already a large sum of money (for the working class), as the salary of an ordinary worker is only a few hundred yuan.

One month can buy 11 square feet, which, converted into the housing prices and wages of the past life, should be more than 20 a month, more than 10 times that of the average person. (Hong Kong housing prices are more than 2 per square foot.)
It's definitely worth showing off!

Luo Qihong sighed secretly, and suddenly he became interested in the local real estate agency. After hesitating for a while, he said, "It seems that the real estate industry is very profitable. Do you mind taking me with you?"

He thought he would need to negotiate with Lin Luoqi for a while before he could "get ashore", but Lin Luoqi said excitedly, "Okay, when can you start working? By the way, let's talk about the salary first."

"I'll give you a base salary of 20 yuan, with a commission of 500%. How about that? The base salary on the market is 200 yuan, and the commission is even lower, only 5%."

What Lin Luoqi said was true, this was the market situation. He had already treated his old classmate very well. Of course, Luo Qihong was also helping Lin Luoqi make money, and the remaining 80% of the commission belonged to him.

Luo Qihong was not clear about the market situation of the intermediary. From the original owner's memory, he knew that Lin Luoqi was a person with some friendship, but he did not dare to trust him completely, so he joked, "It's possible, but I don't know how long I can do it. You know my mother is not a simple person."

“Haha!” Lin Luoqi laughed, “Everyone’s mom is the same. My mom may be even more powerful than my aunt, so I live alone now and dare not go home.”

In this way, the two of them reached an agreement, and Luo Qihong went back to explain to his family that he would come to work tomorrow, September 9th.

Luo Qihong had a very clear idea that his future business must be related to real estate. Under the current circumstances, no industry was more profitable than real estate. Now, he could not only understand some of the industry's situations, but also make money and even increase investment in the stock market.

He doesn't think that his identity as a time traveler is omnipotent. He just knows more things than others. The difficulties encountered by others will still occur to him, so it is very important to familiarize himself with the industry, improve his abilities and exercise his skills.

When we returned to our home in Kowloon Bay, it was exactly noon, time for the Luo family to have lunch.

After much deliberation, Luo Qihong decided not to tell anyone about his role as an agent, but to tell a white lie, "I found a job in Wan Chai, and I plan to go to work tomorrow."

His mother, Lin Ya, was a plump housewife with a round face. I don’t know if it used to be round or square. When she heard what Luo Qihong said, the gloom on her face was immediately swept away. She smiled at Luo Qihong and said, “Okay, Wan Chai is a good place. It’s close to Central and is also a business district.”

"What about the salary? Is it higher than before?" Lin Ya continued to ask.

Luo Qihong paused and replied, "About the same, not much higher."

"Then you can take a rest today and don't have to help with the work. Let your brother and father do it themselves." Lin Ya still loves her youngest son very much, but she feels a little resentful because her youngest son quit his job without permission.

(End of this chapter)