Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 226 [Christmas and Spring Festival]

The three chatted for a while and gradually shifted the topic to the city.

"The real estate market is in a mess now, and the company's stock price is also terrible. I wonder when this plunge will end?" Li Yude sighed heavily. Although he had avoided the plunge to a large extent, he was still working for a real estate company, and it was not a big deal if the stock price kept falling.

The worst off among the three is Lin Luoqi. Although he is still a long way from bankruptcy, he is not feeling well either.

"No one knows when it will end. It depends on the progress of the negotiations between the two countries. Once the agreement is reached, the plunge will be over." Luo Qihong said indifferently.

He couldn't tell them the truth about what could be negotiated in September 84. Even if he told them, the two people in front of him might not believe it.

Li Yude asked Lin Luoqi in vain, "Luoqi, I heard that something happened in your family, how is it now?"

The news of Lin Zuhui's family division has spread throughout the circle. Although Lin Zuhui did not admit it, Yiren Real Estate Company was indeed out of the control of Haofeng Real Estate. Lin Luoxun became the largest shareholder of Yiren Real Estate Company, Lin Luoshi was the second largest shareholder, and Lin Luoqi and his son also obtained a considerable amount of assets.

Except for Lin Zuhui himself, the rest of the Lin family were cleared out of Hao Feng Real Estate. Now Hao Feng Real Estate is managed by Lin Zuhui's long-time confidant. This operation has caused some confusion among the outside world.

Lin Luoqi's face looked a little ugly. He drank the wine in the glass and did not answer Li Yude's question.

Li Yude did not ask any further questions, and the atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly cooled down.

"Many companies in the same industry are in constant trouble now, and they may face a wave of bankruptcies in the next few months." Luo Qihong glanced at Lin Luoqi and Li Yude and said casually.

Lin Luoqi looked at Luo Qihong deeply and asked, "Ah Hong, do you have any plans?"

Luo Qihong raised his lips and smiled. "I have a big plan, but now is not the right time. We have a lot of funds on hand. What do you think if we take the opportunity to acquire some companies whose business conditions are not so good but whose properties are of high quality?"

Li Yude laughed and said, "Mr. Luo is very optimistic about the future of Hong Kong. Aren't you worried that the North will take over Hong Kong?"

Luo Qihong shook his head. "Of course I am not afraid, but I think there will be a long buffer period, which will give us a chance to grow stronger. Besides, we are Chinese, with the same roots, so there may not be any trouble."

Li Yude smiled and said, "Mr. Luo is still young. I often hear the elders of the previous generation say that their assets were confiscated."

Luo Qihong ignored Li Yude and turned to look at Lin Luoqi, "Luoqi, what do you think?"

Lin Luoqi's face was full of hesitation, and he was obviously worried that his property would be confiscated.

In fact, Luo Qihong has enough strength to carry out this project alone, but he considers that the impact is too great. And he would save as much money as possible, which is a good habit.

"Okay, then I'll look for someone else." Luo Qihong said with a smile.

This was an opportunity to make a fortune, and he believed that someone would be interested.

Luo Qihong was really annoyed after being silently rejected by these two people. He didn't know how much benefit these two guys had taken from him, but now they didn't believe him.

With a feeling of resentment in his heart, Luo Qihong came to Fujia Newspaper Company with a group of bodyguards.

Luo Qixing had recruited several talented editors not long ago, so Luo Qihong talked to these people one by one, and those who were unqualified would naturally be dismissed.

As for that little bit of compensation, Luo Qihong wouldn't care. The biggest loss to the company would be if incompetent people sat there and collected salaries.

However, these editors did not give Luo Qihong such an opportunity. He found that these people all had good professional abilities.

"Is it possible to publish a magazine before 83?" Luo Qihong stared at the editor seriously.

The four editors looked at each other, obviously thinking it was unlikely.

"How long will it take you?" Luo Qihong asked directly.

"Half a year! And the amount of funds must be increased to 50 yuan." Editor-in-chief Yu Jichang said somewhat guiltily.

Luo Qihong understood the principle of "don't employ people if you don't trust them, and don't doubt people if you employ them", so he decided to delegate power and said, "Okay, I'll give you 50 yuan in funding and allow you to hire more people. Subtract the previous 3 months, and now there are 3 months left. I want to see the new magazine published before the Spring Festival."

Yu Jichang was pleasantly surprised and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, Luo Sheng, I will definitely complete the task as planned."

Luo Qihong thought for a moment and said, "Stop publishing those 'pornographic magazines' that don't sell well, and speed up the transformation of regular magazines. You can recruit employees who need jobs freely, and fire those who are not competent for the job."

"Yes! Luo Sheng!" Yu Jichang was even more delighted. He had obtained greater power, the power to appoint and dismiss employees.

Luo Qihong was very clear-headed and knew that with power came increased responsibility, so he smiled and said, "I want you to reorganize the company within three months, otherwise I don't think you can stay in the company anymore."

Yu Jichang was a little confused. He thought Luo Qihong was young and didn't understand the company's management. But it turned out to be a candy and a stick.

However, this was a condition that was hard to refuse. Yu Jichang thought about it for a while, and still expressed his loyalty, "Don't worry, Mr. Luo. If I can't do it in three months, I will resign automatically."

Luo Qihong nodded, immediately wrote a check for 40 yuan (10 yuan had already been given in advance) and handed it to Yu Jichang, and gave him a few instructions.

"Mr. Luo, the company has too few magazines. Can we use abnormal means to increase the company's profits?" Yu Jichang suggested.

"Oh, does Chief Editor Yu have any good suggestions?" Luo Qihong asked. "Creating a new magazine is for the future of the company, but our current profits are very limited, so I suggest that we learn from magazines in the same industry and, if necessary, use lawsuits to increase the company's visibility." Yu Jichang said in a somewhat obscene manner.

Luo Qihong thought for a while and responded, "Will it affect the company's reputation?"

Yu Jichang smiled and said, "No, borrowing is very common in the newspaper industry. It may lead to lawsuits. However, our company itself is not well-known. This will make us famous quickly."

"Whether it's the famous Ming Pao Group or Sing Tao Newspaper Group, they have a lot of lawsuits every year. Some of them sue others, and some of them are sued by others, but their reputations are still very good."

Luo Qihong didn't think Yu Jichang would dare to deceive him, and he had also heard of many lawsuits involving newspaper companies. He nodded and said, "Okay, you can make an investigation report first, and you can start to learn from it after I have read it."

Luo Qihong thought of those famous magazines in his previous life, but unfortunately he had only read them and could not remember the specific content and sections of the magazines. It was not much different from starting from the beginning.

The current Fujia Newspaper is short of both funds and talents, and is not enough to publish good magazines, so Luo Qihong has not even proposed a direction for the magazine.

On the way to work the next morning

There was a huge traffic jam on Connaught Road. Although this situation is quite common, there was an unusual smell in the air.

Luo Qihong asked his bodyguard to get out of the car to see what was going on and satisfy his curiosity.

Soon, the bodyguard came back and explained the situation. It turned out that several gold shops and jewelry shops in Central were robbed, and the robbers shot and killed several people, including a police officer. This attracted the attention of the Central Police Station.

Some of the scenes were on Connaught Road, so a section of the road was blocked, causing traffic jams.

Such a big case also requires reporters to report on it, and some vehicles were stopped to allow the owners to talk about the impact of the incident on them.

In fact, after the Iron Lady fell, the pillar industries of real estate and finance were greatly affected, and public security began to decline. Many gangsters and outsiders wanted to take advantage of the chaos to do something.

As a result, serious incidents have occurred frequently during this period, causing great pressure on the police force and causing a shortage of manpower.

Central, the most prosperous area in Hong Kong, has seen so many vicious incidents. One can imagine what other areas have become.

After thinking for a while, Luo Qihong instructed his bodyguard leader to notify the security company to strengthen the security of his family. As for Chen Yusan, she is not a member of the Luo family yet, so naturally she is not among the protected ones.

You can't take any chances with this kind of thing. Once something goes wrong, the ransom is secondary. What's important is personal safety.

The real world is not like in the movies. There are not many kidnappers as trustworthy as Zhang Ziqiang. For example, Wang Dehui, the former chairman of the Chinachem Group, was kidnapped in the 90s and his life or death is unknown.

Baoxiang Film Company Meeting Room

Luo Qihong still does not have an office here, and Hong Jinbao and Cen Jianxun have no intention of moving their offices.

Luo Qihong browsed the report and suddenly laughed, "Mr. Hong, Mr. Cen, the current real estate market has fallen a lot, and the company's movies have made a lot of money. I think it's time to buy some office space and other properties that belong to the company."

"The Baoxiang Film Company has already made a name for itself in Hong Kong with four films. It can't remain as shabby as before. I think we should move the company to Wan Chai, where property prices have already plummeted."

Sammo Hung and Sammul Sham both nodded in agreement.

The profit of Bao Xiang Film Company in 82 was estimated to be more than HK$1 million. The current price of an office in Wan Chai is more than HK$7 per square foot, and an office on the first floor is only HK$3 million, which is completely affordable.

"I think the price of offices will continue to drop. Can we buy them later?" Sammo Hung still wanted to save more money.

"Well, just take your time shopping. It's hard to find a study that you like right away." Luo Qihong laughed.

Then, Cen Jianxun began to change the subject, "All major film companies are actively preparing for Christmas and Spring Festival movies. We are also preparing, but there are no suitable scripts at the moment. Do you have any plans, Mr. Luo?"

Luo Qihong shook his head. "No. The company has received so many scripts. Is there no suitable one?"

Bao Xiang Film Company did not have a group of screenwriters like its peers, but Sammo Hung and Sammo Hung used their influence to buy a large number of scripts. Of course, the quality of these scripts was uneven.

Hong Jinbao said, "At the beginning, Ah Xun and I did screen some scripts, but the films produced by our peers during the Christmas and Spring Festival schedules were too strong, and we didn't want to lose too badly."

Hearing this, Luo Qihong nodded and said, "Give me the script to have a look, maybe I can give you some advice, as well as a list of movies that other companies are going to schedule."

As a result, Cen Jianxun immediately found three documents from the pile of documents on the desk and handed them to Luo Qihong, "This is the list of movies we have selected and other similar movies."

Xu Guanjie's studio is preparing to release "Best Partner 2: The Great Show" to compete for the Spring Festival slot.

This is a strong competitor. Not only will it inherit the good reputation of the first "Best Partner", but it will also have Xu Guanjie's personal influence in Hong Kong. This "Best Partner 2" is likely to be another movie with a box office of over 2 million Hong Kong dollars.

Movies like "Shushan: The New Shushan Swordsman" will compete for the Spring Festival period, but many movies do not want to be released during the Spring Festival due to "Best Partner 2" to avoid this guy Xu Guanjie.

Sammul Chan and Sammo Hung wanted to continue the tradition of "The Lucky Stars" and shoot a second part. The screenwriter would naturally be Sammo Hung. Unfortunately, they lacked confidence and were worried that they could not beat Sam Hui.

(End of this chapter)