Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 454, Section 35: Abundant Wealth

Zhang Jieli understood Chi Mengli's words in an instant. He nodded, glanced at Shan Sijie, and after receiving a look of response from his apprentice, he replied, "Chi Sheng, let me organize a few plans first."

"I, Boss Luo, really enjoy serving as the legal counsel for listed companies. I assure you, Mr. Chi, that the one million you've put out will be well worth it!"

"Of course!"

"Walk slowly!"

The special counsel, the chief justice, and the forensic experts at the Department of Justice all have ties to the Luo family. Even if they don't want to do anything for the Luo family, it will make their rivals wary.

To gain a foothold in the business world, you need to find the right backer. Da Luo, a good backer who only values ​​money and influence, is exactly what I need.

Chi Mengli shook hands with Zhang Jieli, watched the elevator doors close, and then returned to Hua Zirong's office.

"Ah Sheng, you've got quite the entourage now. A top lawyer from Luo Jinwen Law Firm is representing you in court. I'm impressed! I'm impressed! Teach me a few tricks sometime."

"You know, even my big boss, Stock King Chong, couldn't hire the top lawyer from Lawrence Law Firm. He could only find a law firm that was nearby. When it comes to connections, Lawrence is very popular in Hong Kong."

When Wah-Wing saw that Handsome Sing had returned to the office, he quickly stood up, opened his cigar box, but when he saw that Handsome Sing refused, he lit one for himself and joked with Handsome Sing.

Sitting in the chair, Chi Mengli took out a cigarette case, put a Double Happiness cigarette in his mouth, and said to himself, "I'm a loser, a worthless wretch. But there's a catchy rhyme going around lately, Uncle Rong, have you heard it?"

"The younger ones often say that."

"I only smoke Double Happiness cigarettes, and I can only rely on myself for everything! Smoking cigars is a game for bosses, but Double Happiness is the confidence of those who live the life of a gangster!"

"A scoundrel like me who climbed up the ranks should have more confidence!"

"The casting will be next month. Congratulations to Uncle Rong on taking up the position of chief accountant. The chief accountant is in charge of the accounts. If you hand someone a piece of pork, you can still get your hands covered in grease. Uncle Rong, you are known in Hong Kong for having many friends and many ways to make money."

"If there's any good business, you must include me in the profits."

As expected, Wah Jai Wing is no match for the Immortal King. No matter how many gangs he gets support, it will be in vain. Getting a small amount is still good. Right now, Golden Finger Cheng Yi Ran needs bridging funds, and Shui Fong has at least three to five hundred million dollars lying around.

Lending at a commercial interest rate of 10% according to the unwritten rules of the business world is a sure-fire way to make money.

Cheng Yiran dared to play the "three green cards" trick with HSBC, saying she had no money but could take his life, but this famous Hong Kong shrewdness wouldn't dare to play that trick with the shrew.

Fifty years later, the English teacher, disguised as Mr. Qian, a financial agent, failed to list the financial group, causing Shuifang to lose a large sum of money. In response, Shuifang sent someone to give Mr. Qian more than ten dollars.

Finally, the English teacher sent someone to intervene and tried to cover up the losses to the water room, which brought the matter to light.

If you owe money to a scalper and tell them it's an investment, and that investments can fail, the scalper might actually send your whole family to the underworld to sell salted duck eggs.

The man in front of me, Wah Jai-wing, is the guarantor. He's using the lives of his entire family as collateral, so he'll definitely be careful in everything he does.

Upon hearing Liangzai Sheng's congratulations, Huazai Rong gave a wry smile. Only he knew his own difficulties. Shenxian Jin had talked to him about how doing business with Cheng Yiran could only be a short-term endeavor.

Bridge loans, at the latest within three months, must have an interest rate of 20%.

Even if you opened a noodle shop, you wouldn't earn back the 20% loan interest.

To turn things around, they need to manipulate some blue-chip stocks, artificially inflate their prices, distribute high dividends, and finally force a stock split, turning one share into ten, thus devaluing the stock.

However, all industries in Hong Kong are now saturated, and the major chambers of commerce are all trying to go public through family connections. To exaggerate a bit, each of the major wealthy families has its own securities firm.

Insider trading, insider traders, retail investor group leaders, and financial analysts each have their own territory. If you cross those lines, it's not something that can be resolved with just one or two lives.

To find emerging industries, you need to look for emerging industries that have potential for growth.

After thinking about it for several nights, Wah Jai Wing suddenly remembered the entertainment empires built by the Americans and felt that Handsome Sheng's boxer bar was a fresh idea and a good way to make money.

“My boss, King of Stocks, is very interested in your Boxer Bar and wants to collaborate on it. Ah Sheng, you've got your hands on the rubber company, you're not really planning to get into the rubber business, are you?”

“I know you, Ah Sheng, are not a stingy person. Boxing King Sheng’s shares in the rubber company are worth 50 million. With the shares you recently bought at a deliberately low price, you are now the largest shareholder of the rubber company.”

"The Chu family is clearly leaving Hong Kong and is liquidating their assets to start a new life in New Zealand."

"If I'm not mistaken, once you join the board of directors, you'll issue a name change announcement and split up the main business. There's no point in getting into rubber, a commodity that's so common."

“Even a wrecked ship has three thousand nails. With the rubber business and the sale of the processing plant, you can definitely make a big profit. I went for a stroll in Victoria Harbour last night to exercise and discovered your business center. The foundation is already laid.”

Do you need a Feng Shui master?

“I am very familiar with Mr. Cai Bolai. You are a young man and may not know this feng shui master. His grandfather was Cai Zuibai, who was the director of the Imperial Observatory in the late Qing Dynasty. He used only an abacus and a brush to calculate the time of solar and lunar eclipses, and his accuracy far exceeded that of foreigners.”

"The Seven Luminaries and the Illumination Calendar is a closely guarded secret of Shinhodo!"

“Master Cai is currently adjusting the feng shui of Central. Your business center is in Central. I can help you with that. I’ll get Master Cai involved in the construction and layout. The gambling king’s hotel used his guidance and is now thriving. If you go too late, you can’t even get a reservation.”

In Hong Kong, even if you're building a tenement building, you have to consult a feng shui master to determine the location and layout. Only after the feng shui master approves can you dare to start construction and cut the ribbon.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Chi Mengli also hired a feng shui master through Shenxianjin. This master was Prince Hui's personal feng shui advisor. The location of the mahjong parlor and the orientation of the private rooms all had to be approved by this feng shui master before construction could begin.

But no one said that only one feng shui master could be used. When the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong was first designed, Li Ka-shing gathered fifteen feng shui masters and worked together to solve the feng shui layout of the HSBC headquarters.

The entire structure resembles a knife, with the blade pointing directly at the Standard Chartered Bank headquarters and the Jardine Matheson Group headquarters behind it.

The three banks, HSBC, Jardine Matheson, and Standard Chartered, fought a five-year legal battle over the architectural design and the direction the blade should face. These foreigners, who speak fluent Cantonese, worship Chinese gods and spirits, and firmly believe in feng shui, are even more superstitious than others.

In the end, HSBC lost money, Standard Chartered Bank hired a feng shui master to install a large dragon ball to block the evil influence. Jardine Matheson was more assertive, after all, the two companies had been fighting for a lifetime. Jardine Matheson's taipan installed a row of exhaust vents resembling cannon muzzles on the roof of its headquarters, pointing them at HSBC.

(A few years ago, when Standard Chartered's performance declined, they sabotaged it by removing the dragon ball. Then Jardine Matheson and HSBC's performance also declined, so HSBC and Jardine Matheson sued Standard Chartered.)
(The court ordered Standard Chartered to pay compensation, and then installed the giant dragon ball, which could not be adjusted in position; it had to be exactly as it was, not an inch off.)
(Standard Chartered tried to renege on its promise, claiming it didn't know the original location, while HSBC and Jardine Matheson both provided satellite positioning data.)
"Thank you very much, Uncle Rong! Since you're willing to act as a go-between, I won't stand on ceremony!"

"The main business of the rubber company, the factory, will all be handed over to you, Uncle Rong, to find a seller. But Lao Ding likes the cargo terminal in Yuen Long, and I have already agreed to sell it to him."

"And the two warehouses on Kowloon Road need to be left to me; I have a use for them."

“I don’t care how much money the main business and factory make. Give it all to the Chu family in exchange for their shares. Uncle Rong, you have a long-standing relationship with the Chu family. You know them well, so you can definitely help me get it done.”

"I currently control 21% of the rubber company's shares. To be on the safe side, I want to control 39%. After the Chu family is out of the picture, I will reissue new shares and restructure the shareholding structure."

"I don't mind if the Chu family can leave some shares and hitch a ride. We can all make money together. I, Handsome Sheng, am not a stingy person!"

"Uncle Rong, are you interested in doing something with me, a strategic investment? But let's make it clear, the voting rights will definitely belong to me, and I'll only give you a board seat. However, I can guarantee that you'll break even in two years."

"Old Ding is preparing to establish a new financial investment company, with an initial investment of 50 million. I can't leave you much of the share, so react as soon as possible."

Chi Mengli also left a large piece of fat meat for Hua Zai Rong. The rubber company's main business is estimated to be worth more than 20 million. It is a poorly managed industrial company that has been experiencing negative profit growth for three consecutive years.

If he hadn't taken action himself, the company would have already been marked as ST (Special Treatment). If the acquisition is not genuine, or if he spreads rumors that the acquisition failed, the rubber company will definitely be in freefall.

Even if foreigners investigate him for stock market manipulation, he can easily deny it, saying the Chu family's offer was too high, and that he raised his bid and issued announcements from the beginning, so there was nothing wrong with it. Hong Kong sees hundreds of failed acquisitions every year; even if the Department of Justice and the Independent Commission Against Corruption work overtime every day, they can't completely eliminate them!

"The Chu family will definitely agree. Brother Jin is interested in the legal yacht you designed. Spinach is indeed a good business. You can even run a betting operation in Macau. Lan Lai is very optimistic about you."

"But my boss and I made our money in the financial markets, so long-term investing isn't out of the question. However, Cheng Sheng currently lacks the capital to do big things. It's too slow; he won't agree!"

Hua Zirong knew how many holes Cheng Yiran had in her coffers. She seemed to have billions of dollars in cash lying in the bank, and her stocks could be exchanged for money as soon as she sold them.

But all this money and cash came from pledging equity. If the foreigners from HSBC, Jardine Matheson, and Standard Chartered knew you were going to sink, they would definitely give you a ride. First, they would buy you at a low price, and then the Department of Justice would investigate and squeeze all the assets out of the participants.

"If Cheng Sheng wants to completely turn his losses around, even if the gambling king intervenes, he can't do it. But I can assure you that Boxer Bar will be profitable for the next three years."

"As long as we raise the stock price, Cheng Sheng will have one more bullet in his hand."

“I don’t want much, I just need 300 million. Cheng Sheng will invest 300 million, and this 300 million will just circulate in the account. Everyone likes good news. The more good news there is, the more shares I can print.”

"I will never forget Cheng Sheng's share, or Rong Shu's share."

"If I lose money on spinach, I'll be the biggest fool in the world!"

Cheng Yiran's ship has long been adrift. He has too many shell companies, and through these illusory shell companies, he has become the actual controller of an international listed company.

In fact, this fancy sedan chair can be carried for a while longer, but Hong Kong is about to face a property market collapse crisis, and the stock market will also collapse along with the property market.

Chi Mengli knew that Cheng Yiran had narrowly escaped this ordeal, supported by two groups of corrupt officials from Honolulu, but the price was immense; he had gone from being a golden finger to a black glove.

“Since you have confidence, Ah Sheng, I’ll bet on you. I’ll talk to the big boss, but I don’t know what Cheng Sheng’s decision will be.”

"I still have a batch of flooring stock from a rubber company. If you're interested, you can add to your position!"

Wah Jai-wing only said he would pass on the message, without making any other promises, and revealed that he still had a batch of stocks at rock-bottom prices.

With enough chips in hand, Chi Mengli no longer had funds to accumulate more chips. He shook his head, indicating that he didn't need to for the time being. He glanced at the wall clock in the office and realized that it was almost time to get straight to the point: "Uncle Rong."

"My film copyright company is going public, and now I need a shell company."

"We have a complete videotape processing production line and a VCR production workshop. I'm delivering one to your home, along with a dozen or so videotapes. You should have seen them by now."

"This is a unique business. It involves the copyrights to 500 films. The company can also invest in new films in the future. You are an expert, so you must know that this is a profitable business."

“I’ve recently been buying Japanese adult films. The market for erotic films is huge, and bad boys love them.”

"I hold the patent rights, so this is my exclusive business. As long as I can reduce costs to the absolute minimum, I guarantee no one can compete with me!"

"Many Hong Kong film companies have gone public, but this is the first one to have such a supporting industry. I think you'll definitely be interested!"

Wah Jai Wing did watch the VCR and videotapes that Handsome Sheng sent him, and he really liked them. He even had one in his lounge, and he would sit in the lounge and watch movies when the theater was closed.

The VCR and videotape industry has a very promising market prospect. If it were to go public, it would definitely be very profitable.

"Ah Sheng, you're really sharp-minded. Let's have a good talk about this."

"But I've also heard that your foreign mistress has disappeared. This is not easy to handle. Why don't we set up a new company in the name of the board of directors, leave the original company untouched, and directly engage in leasing?"

"Film copyrights and factory equipment will all be leased for one dollar. The current limit for leases in Hong Kong is sixty years, so let's sign a sixty-year lease first."

"Sixty years from now, who will still watch these worthless old movies? As for the equipment, it will have long been scrapped!"

"With the new company going public, there will be fewer problems, and everyone will earn more!"

Such unorthodox methods are no challenge for Wah Jai-wing. As a genius who breaks the law, he can reach peaks that others cannot reach with just a flash of inspiration.

It has to be you!

You old scoundrel, you're really wicked!
After hearing Hua Zirong's idea, Chi Mengli gave a thumbs up and prepared to do it when she got back. After all, the company's equity structure was very simple, with only two controlling shareholders, and now only she was left. This was why the board of directors had approved it unanimously.

“I have a shell company that I can transfer to your name, Ah Sheng, at any time. But in exchange, you need to pay five million, plus 10% of the shares and 8% of the circulating shares, all at the floor price.”

Shell companies and fictitious companies both have value, and with the impending merger of the three entities, such companies will become even more valuable.

Chi Mengli nodded. The videotape business has been good recently. Dao Yousheng sold out his stock in two days and has now placed another order.

To encourage these struggling sellers to increase their sales, Chi Mengli started a bundled sales strategy: keeping the wholesale price the same, and giving away a VCR for every twenty movie tapes purchased.

Two thousand VCRs/playback machines, first come, first served.

Upon hearing the news, the various branches of the Water House realized they couldn't let such a new source of income pass them by. The leaders of these branches all approached Shen Xian Jin, asking him, the head of the branch, to come forward and discuss the matter.

In order to increase sales, Chi Mengli sold each movie videotape for seven yuan and also put out two thousand VCRs to enter the market, but stipulated that the minimum order quantity could not be less than two hundred thousand units.

More than twenty branches contributed 30,000 to one branch and 20,000 to another. In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, they had gathered the 200,000 copies. After learning the price, Lan Lai went even further and placed an order for 100,000 copies.

Such a large client is hard to find, so Chi Mengli directly gave Lan Lai a thousand VCRs and players to sell in Macau.

Backed by the gambling king, Lan Lai was also very shrewd. He directly negotiated with major hotels, requiring each room to be equipped with a recorder. A thousand units were not enough, so he quickly placed an order for ten thousand more recorders.

The videotapes were originally selling well in Tuen Mun and became a hot commodity in the night market. Gangsters with a little money found them novel and would buy them along with the videotapes and VCRs.

Seeing that business was good, the big boss originally ordered three batches of goods, mainly recorders and players.

Chi Mengli's strategy of bundling products to open up the market actually worked. He went directly to the Sheraton Hotel where he had been staying for a long time, chatted with the hotel's foreign general manager, and offered to give him fifty yuan per recorder. He immediately placed an order for five hundred units.

There are many luxury hotels in Yau Ma Tei. He asked Spinach East and Ji Mi to negotiate with each one, offering a rebate of thirty dollars per unit, while the henchmen would receive twenty dollars, so that they wouldn't work for nothing.

People come out into the world to make money.

Having finished discussing everything, Hua Zirong, seeing that it was almost time, stood up, brushed the ash off his clothes, and said, "I'm having a better time talking to Ah Sheng."

"It's already noon. I've already made a reservation at Yung Kee Restaurant. They have their signature roast goose, a must-try dish at the Governor's Mansion."

"The French folks from my ancestral home eat swill. They're not the kind of French people who know how to eat. What they think tastes good might not actually taste good."

"But Uncle Rong, I have a true Chinese palate. The new 'Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moon' is really delicious. It's a replica of Jin Yong's 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes.' You must try it!"

"You must try the Li Yunzi Pipa Shrimp, Golden Coin Chicken, and Boat Congee. Also, there's White Rabbit Milk Pudding, which my Shanghai friends say tastes like their childhood."

"Respect is not as good as wisdom; Uncle Rong, you've gone to great lengths!"

Chi Mengli also stood up and walked out of the office with Hua Zai Rong.

(End of this chapter)