Hong Kong 1980: The Savage Era

Chapter 290 291 [A layer of sandpaper]

My feelings towards Kwan Ka Wai are very complicated. I have changed from just wanting to play around with her to feeling reluctant to let her go. Now I am a little shaken. Can we really become a marriage partner?

Luo Qihong leaned against the head of the bed, picked up the cigar, glanced at the sleeping Guan Jiahui, and put it down silently.

Luo Qihong was usually full of energy in the morning, but he felt a little sluggish on this day. The reason was naturally that he was thinking too much, which affected his sleep.

It was already a little after 10 o'clock in the morning when he arrived at the Fujia Newspaper Company in Kowloon Bay. Many employees had already gone out to work, and the office was a little empty.

It happened that Yu Jichang was at Fujia Newspaper, so he hurried over to report on his work. He knew very well that Luo Qihong's schedule was very tight and the time he spent at Fujia Newspaper would not exceed 8 hours a week, and sometimes only 3 or 4 hours.

After reporting some important matters of the company, Yu Jichang would sit down obediently and wait for his boss's orders.

"The sales of the company's new magazine are not good. We need to find a way to increase sales, or write something that the audience will like to read." Luo Qihong said to Yu Jichang while flipping through the report.

"The competition in the magazine industry is very fierce now. We have abandoned our previous style, and the content of our magazines has not kept up. Some of them borrowed from magazines in the same industry and now have received lawyers' letters accusing us of plagiarism." Yu Jichang said distressedly.

"What did the lawyer say? Can it be beaten off?" Luo Qihong closed the document and looked at Yu Jichang.

Lawsuits accusing peers of plagiarism are very common. Most of the time, the lawsuit is settled by paying some money, and then the other party continues to copy and borrow from the work.

After all, the money lost is a small part, and the money earned is the big part. There is a lot of money to be made here. As for face, just let it go with the wind.

"The lawyer said it's difficult to win. But we can delay the case indefinitely so that we can make more money. This is also a common practice in the media industry," said Yu Jichang.

"If the amount of the claim is not large, just pay it to them and we can get it back from the magazine. We are too lazy to spend time on it." Luo Qihong waved his hand, not wanting the trouble to continue.

Yu Jichang sighed and said, "Not only do they want us to return the borrowed money, but they also want us to pay them 30 yuan in damages. This is really too much."

Luo Qihong was also slightly surprised. He didn't expect the other party to be so greedy. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then let's continue the lawsuit. We must at least get our compensation amount down. The total compensation cannot exceed 10 yuan."

"Yes, I know what to do." Yu Jichang smiled.

"Editor Yu, it's time for the company to have some outstanding works." Luo Qihong said seriously.

Yu Jichang hesitated for a moment and confessed, "The three magazines I tried before failed. They didn't become popular magazines, but it's no problem to make back the investment. I will continue to make new magazines to make up for this shortcoming of the company."

Luo Qihong also knew how difficult it was to make a popular magazine. Fortunately, he had Tiantian Daily to support him, otherwise he would have thought of changing people.

Recalling the types of magazines in his previous life, he suggested, "Try to make a travel magazine and an entertainment magazine. Since you can't open up the market with quality, you can only win with quantity."

"Will this increase the cost of employing people?" Yu Jichang is always afraid of tigers in front and wolves behind.

Luo Qihong said in a deep voice, "Editor Yu, I asked you to come back to make money for the company. Now you can't make the magazine I want, and now you are questioning my decision. What do you want?"

The domineering aura emanating from Luo Qihong frightened Yu Jichang immediately, and he quickly responded, "Okay, I'll tell the people below to do it right away."

Luo Qihong was already quite experienced in management. Seeing that the intimidation had worked, he comforted Yu Jichang and said, "The company is good, and it's good for you too. The dividends at the end of the year are much higher. If the company doesn't make money, how will your family's life improve?" Yu Jichang quickly agreed and continued to report other things.

“The magazines and daily newspapers that we can acquire now are those with poor sales, so I don’t think it’s a good time to acquire them. It’s better to wait a little longer.” Yu Jichang explained bravely.

Luo Qihong didn't care about these things. Acquiring those junk magazines and daily newspapers would only drag down the company. It would be better to spend money to continue to develop new magazines.

After pondering, he recalled comprehensive magazines like "East Weekly" in his previous life, which covered economic, political, entertainment, sports news, etc. It could be said to be a melting pot of information.

Of course, this kind of magazine needs to spend a lot of money to be successful, and that was the case in the past.

So Luo Qihong asked Yu Jichang to recruit various talents to form the team of "West Weekly", and specially approved 2 million yuan as start-up capital.

“Once West Weekly finishes its first issue, I will approve another 2 million yuan for publicity expenses,” Luo Qihong said generously.

There was no way. 2 million yuan was not a lot of money for him, and he believed that West Weekly would bring him more returns. He had to be willing to sacrifice his son to catch the wolf.

"Do we still need to publish entertainment magazines and travel magazines?" Yu Ji often worried about insufficient funds.

"Of course we will. We will put these two magazines at the Tiantian Daily and use the profits from the Tiantian Daily. I won't transfer funds from my personal pocket." Luo Qihong said.

In the afternoon, he came to Zhaoan Real Estate Company again to take charge.

In fact, Zhaoan Real Estate Company is the enterprise with the strongest control by Luo Qihong. The three giants are all his confidants and they check and balance each other. Even if he does not appear for half a year, the company's operations will still be normal.

"The last time Huaguang Shipping bought 65% of Vinda Shipping, it has used up its remaining cash flow. Now it can only maintain normal operations, and it will only last for about 9 months." Chen Zhilong integrated the information and reported to Luo Qihong.

Luo Qihong laughed when he heard this and said, "It seems that Zhao Congyan has no plan to revive the shipping industry. I don't know where he gets such confidence from."

"Zhao Congyan has been in the shipping industry for decades and is a world-class shipping tycoon. He does have the courage, but betting everything is a bit scary." Chen Zhilong rarely fails to flatter him.

"No matter what, he is doomed. The charter ship king and Cao Ship King (Cao Wenjin) both reduced their fleets significantly before 81. Wheelock & Company was acquired due to its shipping expansion, but this guy hasn't changed at all. He is really stubborn." Luo Qihong sighed.

The business world has always been like this. There are very few family businesses that can survive three generations, but not many of them fail at the hands of entrepreneurs either.

"Zhao Shizeng has come to you and said that he hopes to distribute the funds in the Huaguang Real Estate Company's account as dividends. If Huaguang Shipping can improve, they will consider handing over Huaguang Real Estate Company to us for management." Chen Zhilong said, noting Luo Qihong's expression.

"Humph!" Luo Qihong sneered, "Consider? Do I need them to consider? I want to take back the management rights of Huaguang Real Estate Company at any time. Do I need their consent? It's ridiculous!"

"Don't I know that they want to wait until Huaguang Shipping gets better before dealing with me? Would I be so stupid as to cultivate an enemy for myself?"

"I have already rejected them, but Zhao Shizeng has always wanted to meet you and thinks we cannot represent you." Chen Zhilong's tone was somewhat dissatisfied, directed at Zhao Shizeng. After all, Zhao Shizeng looked down on him.

"Next time he comes, tell him that I don't have time to talk to him about this kind of thing." Luo Qihong believed that he and Zhao Congyan's family were already at loggerheads, with only a layer of sandpaper left to separate. The current Huaguang Shipping could no longer be saved, and he didn't need to care about Zhao Congyan's little tricks.

(End of this chapter)