Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 659, Section 249: Peaceful Days Won't Last Long

(Thank you to the boy who loves reading historical novels for your support! Thank you for always supporting Ah Xian! Ah Xian sends you love!)

The receptionist came in carrying a tray with a chilled glass, a bucket of ice, a bottle of chilled Perrier, and a small bowl of lemon slices.

The younger sister was very thoughtful and even prepared two kinds of pastries for Chi Mengli: wife cake and salted egg yolk pastry. Both were not too sweet, which suited Chi Mengli's taste perfectly.

"Thank you!"

Chi Mengli took out her wallet, pointed out a red snapper, and placed it on the tray: "Let's go buy a milk tea at noon, Sheng-ge's treat!"

"Thank you so much, Brother Sheng!"

The young woman saw the red snapper on the tray, expressed her sincere gratitude, and then took the tray to leave.

"Pearl, you guard the gate. I won't see anyone who comes!"

Xi Ren opened the lid of the Perrier bottle, poured it into an iced glass, picked up her chopsticks, took two lemon slices, threw them into the glass, placed it in front of Chi Mengli, and then instructed Pearl to keep the door closed.

Perrier with lemon slices tastes good. Chi Mengli drank more than half a glass to calm her body's heat.

The weather in Hong Kong is getting hotter and hotter, and my liver fire is exploding just like the temperature. I need to drink more ice water to calm down.

“I bought a seaplane, and once I have enough money, I’ll get a cargo helicopter to specialize in the sex trade. I’ll register a gold company in Macau, set up fake warehouses, fake contracts, and fake import/export documents, and specifically get sex from consignors.”

“I did the math, and the profit margin is huge. Hong Kong now allows the construction of empty container terminals, so we’re building one at the Tsing Yi Ferry Pier.”

“We’ll take 40%, then go through the whole process and only need to take 50%, and then sell it to AKB through a registered gold company. We’ll do it at the current gold price and get 55% just by sitting back.”

"A sure-fire way to make money!"

Xiren really liked this kind of low-risk, high-profit business. AKB Company uses gold points for settlement, just like an arcade. You spend money to buy points, then use the points to place bets, and then use the internal points to exchange for cash.

However, this operation requires a massive amount of gold as ballast. If gold is purchased through normal channels, there is no problem, and AKB Company can guarantee profits. After all, AKB Company is the bookmaker, just like a casino, and it earns a 7% commission.

The company that recycles points operates independently and continues to charge a 3% handling fee, just like the Kowloon Club. They charge a handling fee for both buying and selling, and they are fair and honest with everyone.

The two companies combined can get ten percent, a sure-fire way to make a profit!

Add to that the ticket sales, drinks, hostesses, booth fees, and tips, and AKB48's company can make a fortune.

The profits are so high now that Xiren even wanted to persuade Sheng Ge, who was sitting opposite her, to delay the listing process for two or three years. The net profit would be at least 30 million per month, which is more than 90% of the listed companies in Hong Kong.

This is just the beginning. In the long run, we can expand to Southeast Asia, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, and we're guaranteed to earn even more.

Such an extravagant cash cow is something Hong Kong hasn't seen in a long time; the last time was with Cheung Kong Holdings.

Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings distributes large dividends to shareholders every year, with an average annual profit margin of over eight percent.

This is already an incredibly high rate of return. If AKB48 could achieve the same rate of return as Cheung Kong Holdings, it would definitely become a blue-chip stock.

"Nice idea!"

Chi Mengli nodded, indicating that it was possible. If he hadn't already placed an order for a seaplane, he would have preferred to get a helicopter first. The price of transporting helicopters was very low, and with just a modification to the fuel tank, he could travel between Macau and Hong Kong without any problems.

It's practically impossible for Hong Kong to apply to build a private airport. If Jardine Matheson and HSBC couldn't get it done, then of course no one else could either. Swire Group has always been on high alert.

However, the Governor's Office and the Chief Secretary were not unreasonable, because Hong Kong has limited land, and Baron MacLehose had been working on a public housing scheme for everyone.

It's impossible for everyone to own a public housing estate. Hong Kong is a capitalist city. Even if you give apartments to carpenters for free, they will sell them and either become drug addicts or gambling addicts. They will only benefit from the benefits of triads.

Private airports cannot be built legally, but helicopter landing pads can be built freely. Build a few helicopter landing pads and construct a wide road suitable for propeller-driven transport aircraft to land, and even if someone finds out, they can't use that as a reason to cause trouble.

"Don't rush the port renovation! First, build the hangar, install high-standard empty containers, and establish an air freight company. It's a legitimate business, and all the paperwork must be in order. Find an opportunity to buy land in Haojiang and build an empty container terminal there as well."

With time standing by her side, Chi Mengli wasn't in a hurry. Haste makes waste; if she wanted to succeed, she had to take it slow.

“Ninth Sister arranged to meet me once. She wanted to launder a sum of money. The amount wasn’t large, about 120 million yuan worth of contaminated rice. But this time it was special because the money was to be transferred into a Swiss bank.”

"We want the relay baton! And we want the pumping speed to be halved!"

Xiren disliked Ninth Sister very much; this good-for-nothing's first words were nothing but wishful thinking.

"Get that old hag out of the way! When she's having a fit, hide under the covers and don't come out and embarrass herself!"

Chi Mengli took a sip of Perrier water, sneered coldly, and said, "The cost of the aerial relay baton is high. With this little bit of rice, I won't add any pumping. I'll just take care of this gossipy old lady because she's a regular customer."

"Go tell Ninth Sister that if it's less than 200 million worth of contaminated rice, don't even mention it. If it reaches 200 million, we'll take 40% of the profits, 10% for express delivery, and 50% for handling." Taking only 55% is already a rock-bottom price!

The air relay is a trip around the world, from Hong Kong to Macau, from Macau to Chiang Mai, from Chiang Mai to Los Angeles, from Los Angeles to the Cayman Islands, from the Cayman Islands to Oman, and then to Dubai.

The money then traveled from Dubai to London, and finally from a shell company in London to a Swiss bank.

This whole process, no matter how fast it goes, takes at least three days. Every step requires a shell company that uses a money laundering agent. The money laundering agent has to prepare contracts for every transfer, import and export documents, and even has a dedicated empty container floating at sea.

Every collaboration has the potential to go wrong, and the appearance of a shell company could be discovered by the Commercial Investigation Department.

It's important to understand that maintaining a legitimate company with regular business operations, consistent social insurance payments, and commercial medical insurance is extremely costly. Once you make a public appearance, you might have to go into hiding for many years, or simply abandon the company and deregister it.

The money laundering companies spend huge sums of money every year to maintain these seemingly legitimate companies, so the pumping and handling fees are very high. Similarly, the money laundering companies can also guarantee that your money will not be frozen by the International Court of Justice. After going through a process, it will become completely legal banknotes.

Because of the need for an aerial relay, Chi Mengli can only get a maximum of 15%, which is purely a friendly price.

"I'll talk to Ninth Sister about when we can act as matchmakers?"

Xi Ren nodded, indicating that she would talk to Ninth Sister. She opened the drawer, took out three cut-up listening devices, and threw them on the table.

A bugging device?!

Chi Mengli picked up the bugging device on the table and examined it carefully. Two of them were from the police, and the other one was from Russia.

He spends his days going in and out of antique shops. It's not a problem if the police come in and install two listening devices, but it's also suspicious because he hasn't done anything wrong. He's now considered a rising star in the business world and has many friends in the Department of Justice.

When a high-ranking official signs a document, he is very cautious, and may even reject a document if there is insufficient evidence.

Moreover, when he met with Guo Guohao, that bastard didn't remind him to be careful with his words and actions. Guo Sir would definitely have reminded him of such crucial information, since cleaning up his mess would be a troublesome matter.

Did the Criminal Intelligence Division and the Intelligence Division act on their own initiative?
Chi Mengli was at a loss for words, so she threw the bugging device onto the table and asked, "Sister Xiren, what did you find?"

"When the power suddenly went out, I called the power company. The repairman, who usually takes half a day to arrive, appeared at the antique shop half an hour later and replaced a circuit breaker and a few meters of wiring."

"After the repairman left, I hired a professional cleaning company to inspect the mahjong parlor and the antique shop, and that's when I found the three listening devices."

"Two of them are newly installed, this one has been installed the longest."

Xi Ren picked up a strangely shaped red Russian item and began to explain.

"Red Russian goods are just mass-produced goods, don't even think about them!"

"Russia is a technology disseminator. Hong Kong is now full of Russian goods. You can buy a whole box of them if you go to Sham Shui Po."

Guessing the origin of a product based on its type sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't; this time it didn't.

Chi Mengli took out a cigarette case, picked out a cigarette, put it in her mouth, lit it, and started talking.

"If I'm not mistaken, the latter two were probably brought in by Jasmine. Jasmine came up to us to investigate Biaojin. God's arrangement is more dramatic than any soap opera director's!"

"Who would have thought that Biaojin would actually come to us on his own initiative!"

"You've done the right thing by making an example of her; we can't let Jasmine get too out of control!"

Chi Mengli coughed, flicked the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray, and continued, "When you see Ninth Miss, tell her that Biaojin wants to cooperate with Professor J. As for whether or not to meet or cooperate, you don't need to tell us."

"If you want to meet with Biao Jin, you'll have to come up with eight million. I, the middleman, can't work for nothing!"

Tea money is a must. These scoundrels, including Ninth Sister, have plenty of money in their pockets. It won't be a problem to squeeze them out of it.

Chi Mengli glanced down at her wrist and realized it was almost time to go get lunch.

"Alright, it's getting late. Let's call Ah Dong and go to Fu Lin Men for seafood!"

"By the way, have Ah Dong bring along that lousy top student. He'll be a key figure in the gang in the future, so he should at least make an appearance!"

Xi Ren nodded, picked up the phone, and left a message for Bo Cai Dong. She loved seafood the most because it was oil-free and she could eat as much as she wanted without gaining weight. Recently, the Typhoon Shelter style of cooking, which is spicy, was popular in Hong Kong.

On a hot day, eating some spicy seafood and drinking an ice-cold beer sounds wonderful.

Good flowers don't bloom forever, and good times don't last forever. The rainy season is just around the corner, and there won't be many more peaceful and sunny days!

Chi Mengli stood up, walked to the window, looked at the dark clouds on the other side of the sky, and sighed repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)