Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

Upon returning to Hong Kong Island, Wang Yaotang took Teresa Teng home and then planned to visit Sally Yeh's home.

I'm not a jerk, I just want to have a baby!

As a result, he was blocked by the four-eyed guy as soon as he came out of Teresa Teng's house. "Brother Yao, we have to talk!"

Looking at the serious-looking four-eyed guy, Wang Yaotang was a little confused. "What's wrong?"

Could it be that Teresa Teng's pregnancy has been exposed?

Wang Yaotang felt a little uneasy. After all, the four-eyed girl had followed him before he had even made a fortune. It wouldn't have mattered if Wang Yaotang had just played around before, but now that Teresa Teng had "come with her son," the battle for the first wife was getting closer and closer.

"We'll talk about it when we get back," the bespectacled man said in a deep voice.

Wang Yaotang was now feeling a little guilty. The four-eyed boy was his brother, but Guan Jiahui was also his own sister, his only family in the world.

"Okay, let's go back."

He took Wang Yaotang back to Kowloon Tong and went up to the third-floor rooftop. Ah Wei was already waiting there, with cooked food, side dishes, and wine on the table, so he had obviously been waiting for a while.

Pulling out a chair and sitting down, Wang Yaotang, wanting to liven things up, grinned and asked, "When are A-Jie and the others coming back?"

"Ah Jie and the others are doing well." The four-eyed guy poured wine for Wang Yaotang. "Brother Yao, you haven't been to the company since you got the major shareholder status of Giordano Apparel. When are you planning to go and take a look?"

"Huh? Well, I haven't had much time these past few days. What's wrong?"

"Is Hongdou Apparel going to merge with Giordano?"

"no need?"

"After the merger, we can streamline the supply chain and effectively reduce costs. Hongdou can also leverage Giordano's channels to expand overseas. In addition, what about Giordano's erotic apparel brand? The sales of the 20 stores are not ideal. Finally, all Giordano products are manufactured by OEM. Should we start producing them ourselves?"

"No, wait a minute." Wang Yaotang raised his hand to press down. "What did the management say? What are they doing? Are they all waiting for me to make the decision?"

"Do you think they dare to make decisions on their own? Right now, the entire management is trying to stay the same, afraid of making a mistake and having 'God of Wealth Yao' thrown into the sea to feed the fish." The four-eyed guy said irritably, "Only you can decide the overall direction, Yao-ge!"

"When have I ever thrown the management team into the sea to feed the fish? Who's ruining my reputation?" Wang Yaotang said speechlessly, but he agreed with the current situation.

"Brother Yao, do you know how many stores Giordano and Hongdou Clothing have combined? How many employees do they employ?"

Wang Yaotang shook his head.

"We have 86 stores in Hong Kong and 35 stores in other parts of Southeast Asia. Including our garment factories in mainland China, we employ a total of 2200 people."

Wang Yaotang didn't quite understand what the four-eyed boy was trying to say.

"Okay, let's not talk about the clothing industry. Ah Wei, it's your turn." The four-eyed guy leaned back in his chair, picked up his glass, and took a sip.

"What's wrong with you again?" Wang Yaotang had a bad feeling.

"Currently, Tiansheng Entertainment Company owns a total of 128 entertainment venues and 17 restaurants in Yau Tsim Mong and Haojiang. Brother Yao, do you know how many employees they have in total?" Ah Wei asked with a lack of smiles.

"How much, how much?"

"Excluding security personnel, the company employs 3145 people!"

Wang Yaotang gave a soft "Ah," and then...?

"Let me tell you about Yaoxing Audio-Visual Products Store. It has a total of 94 stores and employs as many as 1050 people," the four-eyed guy continued.

“I’ll mention the security company again; including those in Macau, they employ 1600 people,” Awei said in a deep voice.

"Fenglinwan Chain Express Hotel has 26 locations and 320 employees."

"There is also a plastics factory, command headquarters, finance company, and Yaoguang Audio-Visual, with more than 280 employees."

Wang Yaotang stared blankly at the two of them, his mind filled with a series of numbers. "How many people are there in total?"

"Over 8600 people!" the bespectacled guy said through gritted teeth. "Brother Yao, do you know what that means?"

"What does that mean?" Wang Yaotang began to lean back.

"Brother Yao, I've looked at the employee expenses. Among all the companies, the lowest-paid are the cleaners, with a salary of 2500. Last month, we paid out 5200 million in employee salaries alone. As for the security team, we provide meals, and our monthly employee expenses alone exceed 5500 million!"

The bespectacled guy shouted, "Every day I open my eyes, 184 million is gone!"

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Wang Yaotang's forehead. He raised his hand to wipe them away. How come there were so many people eating with him all of a sudden?
I didn't feel anything when they were just talking nonsense, but now that it's actually happened, I feel a heavy weight on my heart.

"Is the company no longer making money?" Wang Yaotang asked cautiously.

"Making money, the combined net profit of all companies this month is expected to reach 3000 million, of course, before taxes." The four-eyed guy finally showed a smile.

Wang Yaotang immediately breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, "Making money is all that matters. You're so serious, are you trying to scare me to death? I'm supporting 8600 families right now. If I go under, they'll all starve!"

After saying that, he picked up his wine glass and gulped down a mouthful.

The bespectacled man's face remained expressionless. "Brother Yao, what I want to say is that our businesses are too chaotic. Many are completely unrelated. We know nothing about managing Ah Ji and Ah Jie, and Ah Wei and I are only half as good as them. As for you..."

Four-Eyes and Ah-Wei didn't say anything, but their meaning was clear: they would kill and not bury the dead.

If they really had management skills, they wouldn't have let the industry become such a mess.

"Hey, what do you two mean? I don't understand management? Nobody in Hong Kong understands management better than me!" Wang Yaotang said irritably.

"Brother Yao, you're planning to integrate the Pearl River stone quarry and enter the Hong Kong and Macau stone market, and you also have plans to enter the cement market, right?"

Wang Yaotang rubbed his nose. "Yes, the stone market is perfect for us. How could we not make money? What makes Lü Zhihe so special? Is he a fighter? How good is he? How many divisions does he have? He can control 30% of the market, so it's not unreasonable for me to control 60%. That's hundreds of millions in profit a year!"

“We definitely have to do it.” The four-eyed man sighed again. “It’s just that our industries are too chaotic right now. I’ve been looking at the industry data of the major families in Hong Kong recently, and I’ve also consulted some people. These families or conglomerates all have one thing in common: they have a core industry, and then other industries develop around that core.”

“We’re dabbling in whatever makes money right now, but we can’t become the industry leader in any of them. Oh, right, speaking of which, I just remembered the wine industry.” The bespectacled guy slapped his forehead. “Without becoming the leader, you have no say in the industry, low risk resistance, chaotic operations, and high management costs…”

"There are too many problems. Once an economic crisis occurs, all industries may suddenly become unprofitable. How will we support so many people then?"

"besides……"

"Anything else?" Wang Yaotang took a deep breath. "No, the way you're making it sound like I'm about to go bankrupt."

"There really is." The bespectacled man counted on his fingers, "He went to Macau, spent ten days, and spent 7000 million!"

"Three million!"

"Brother Yao, I told you before that the company has more than 2 million in profit. If you keep spending like this, you'll spend it all in a month!"

"Hehe, hehe." Wang Yaotang grinned and wiped his face. "If it weren't for investing in education, we wouldn't have been able to get a ticket to the Haojiang Building Materials Market, or even have the opportunity to get involved in the security escort business. Besides, buying six nightclubs is definitely going to be profitable."

The bespectacled guy didn't say anything.

"Um, how much cash do you have left?" Wang Yaotang asked cautiously.

"The acquisition of Giordano cost around 4000 million yuan, and we still have 1.8 million yuan in cash."

Wang Yaotang breathed a long sigh of relief. He was terrified; he thought he was out of money again.

“However…” the four-eyed guy drawled out.

Wang Yaotang's heart tightened again. "What's wrong now?"

“With so many industries scattered around, it’s a waste of time for different companies to run back and forth every day. We need to bring all the companies together in one building. It’s difficult to rent so much space in one building, so my suggestion is to buy,” the four-eyed man said in a deep voice.

"Buy a building?" Wang Yaotang's eyes widened. "Wow, are you kidding me? How much does a commercial building cost?!"

"Depending on the location and size, it'll be between 2 million and 8 million," the bespectacled man said calmly.

Wang Yaotang wiped his face. "Four-Eyes, stop joking. Where would we get that much money? Partnering with Zhuhai to deal in stone will definitely cost tens of millions. We also need to acquire several bulk carriers. Even if we don't transport them all ourselves, we still need to prevent being held hostage by others. That will cost another tens of millions."

"I've wanted to buy a bigger villa for a long time, it would cost tens of millions."

“I previously had my eye on the underground parking lot in Peninsula Centre, which is 50000 square feet and can accommodate more than 2000 people at the same time. It’s the largest nightclub on Hong Kong Island, bar none. I’ve already planned it out. All the hostesses will speak fluent English, and preferably Japanese as well. You know, our industry doesn’t have any industry leaders and has low risk resistance. Is this enough to be an industry leader?”

“I talked to Zhang Yaorong, and the renovation is estimated to cost 5000 million. I was thinking it would be best to just buy it outright, as renting it for more than 3000 million a year is too expensive.”

"I knew it." The bespectacled guy shook his head with a smile. "Let's underestimate the funding gap, say 5 million."

"Pfft, cough cough cough..." Awei clutched his chest, his expression pained.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Wang Yaotang asked impatiently.

“Asset divestiture,” the bespectacled man said in a deep voice.

"What do you mean?" Wang Yaotang frowned.

“Sell off those industries with low conversion rates. Conversion rate is the ratio of the effort, manpower, and resources invested to the final profit. We can’t possibly control all the profitable industries. People’s energy is limited.” The four-eyed man glanced at the two of them and continued, “We should invest in industries with higher conversion rates so that we can make more money, instead of wasting our energy on the sidelines.”

"Wow." Wang Yaotang laughed as he looked the four-eyed guy up and down. "Didn't realize you were so knowledgeable. We agreed to eat, drink, and have fun together, but you were hiding away studying. You're really despicable, you bespectacled guy!"

The four-eyed guy chuckled, "He learned it from Brother Yao, six languages! Wow, a language genius!"

The two burst into laughter at the same time and clinked their glasses together.

Awei's expression gradually stiffened. At this moment, although they were all sitting together, he felt isolated and rejected intellectually!
He reached out and tapped on the table. "Should I leave?"

"Hahahaha." X2
After a few laughs and jokes, Wang Yaotang said, "You're right. We really should reorganize our industries. Abandoning some peripheral businesses can recoup some capital. However, the conversion rate isn't absolute; it also depends on the market potential and social influence of the industry itself. Some industries, even if they earn less, should still be held onto." "Hmm, let's sort it out then. Let's start with the venues in Yau Tsim Mong," the four-eyed man asked.
Wang Yaotang lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. "Although we forced the earliest batch of brothers to study and learn, to be honest, some of them are falling behind. It's not that we can't afford to support them, but this is not good for anyone. Let's ask around and see who doesn't want to continue. Let's transfer those small venues to them."

"We will only retain nightclubs that are medium to large size."

“Okay.” The four-eyed guy nodded. “What should we do with those restaurants and eateries? Some of the land is in our hands.”

Wang Yaotang frowned and thought for a moment, "Sell them all. The real estate market is not good now, and nobody wants these small plots of land. Forget it, let's keep them for now. If we can buy the ones next to them, we'll acquire them and hoard them."

"Okay, what about the plastic factory that makes the pontoons?"

"How is it being handled now?" Wang Yaotang couldn't remember.

"They sent money and goods over, but didn't do much else."

Wang Yaotang stroked his chin. "Let's put this aside for now. We can't just go to Zhuhai and ask for their cooperation on integrating the stone market without any real intentions. There are also two small stone mines that are in the hands of other people. Let's see if we can exchange them."

"We definitely can't touch the finance company or Yaoguang Audio-Visual. As for the budget hotel, I mean we should sell it all. The profits are fixed, there's no prospect of development, and the reputation isn't good either," the four-eyed guy said.

Wang Yaotang sighed, "Does it require a lot of effort?"

“There are 26 shops, and hundreds of girls work in the hotels every day. Although most of the girls are managed by pimps, it’s still a lot of trouble here. Last month, a customer took drugs and killed a girl in the room. It was only when the girl next door heard the screams and ran downstairs to call for help that people found out. By the time they went upstairs, it was too late.” The four-eyed guy shrugged.

"Damn it!" Wang Yaotang cursed. "How was it handled?"

"Let's call the police. The murderer hasn't escaped, but the stable boy has. It's a scam." The four-eyed guy cursed. "I went to the police station to handle it. They promised to settle this matter only after they caught the culprit."

"Does this kind of thing happen a lot?"

"In two years, nine prostitutes have died here, and many more have been injured for all sorts of reasons. It's very troublesome."

Wang Yaotang coughed repeatedly upon hearing this, "How could there be so many? I had no idea."

"You have to handle everything? Are we brothers useless?" Awei said with a smile. "Some of the women in this line of work have problems with their parents, some got addicted to gambling and drugs, and some were cheated by men. Every family has its own troubles. With hundreds of women, the number of deaths and injuries is already very small. In other gangs, people get into trouble every day."

“Damn it, I was originally thinking of transforming the business, as the tourism industry in Haojiang has great potential. Forget it, let’s sell it, we don’t need to make this kind of money anymore.” Wang Yaotang shook his head.

"If we get rid of all of these, we can reduce the workforce significantly. In that case, will the HR company still exist?" the four-eyed guy asked. "After all, they are different companies. They can't be managed like a department. Besides, the HR company hardly makes any profit, and the management has become inefficient."

"Damn it, why is it so hard to make money?" Wang Yaotang said with a bitter smile. "Just leave an empty shell, treat it as a dumping ground, and put all the staff in the yard to manage themselves."

“In that case…” The four-eyed guy pulled out a notebook, scribbled something down, and then looked up. “We only have 32 venues in Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, and Yau Ma Tei, with more than 1600 security guards. We don’t need that many anymore. Half of them should be enough.”

“This won’t do, absolutely not!” Wang Yaotang shook his head. “This is the foundation of our presence in Hong Kong. How did we develop into such a large industry in just over two years? It’s because we have so many brothers who dare to fight and struggle to support us. If we lay off half of the people, the morale of the remaining people will also be shattered. At that time, the four major companies, including Prince Rong, will be the first to swallow us up.”

"So we're just going to keep them like this?" The four-eyed guy shrugged. "800 people, minimum salary 5000, food, clothing, training, consumables, it'll cost 8 million a month, over 100 million a year. And even if we're willing to keep them, so many strong and healthy guys with nothing to do might be okay in the short term, but in the long term, something bad is bound to happen."

"Besides, all the venues used to have security teams to maintain order, but now hundreds of venues have been transferred out. They need people to look after the venues, but we can't keep doing it, can we?"

Wang Yaotang raised his hand and rubbed his face hard, unable to think of a solution for a moment.

"By the way, Yao-ge, do we still have to pay the 'company' and the 'gang' for the venues that have been transferred out? What if something goes wrong and they can't handle it? What if someone wrecks the place? Should we go to us or Grandpa?" Awei suddenly asked.

"I'll take it!" Wang Yaotang picked up his wine glass and downed it in one gulp. This was troublesome. "If we could handle it ourselves, we wouldn't have joined Shengyi Company in the first place. They would have come to us. What can Grandpa do about it?"

"In this way, Cabel is pushing for the approval conditions of the security company. These guys spend money extravagantly and are unlikely to come up with the money to take over the business all at once. It's good to let them raise money during this period, and then let them 'pay up' to the security company. Haha, now the security company has business and doesn't have to worry about being idle."

“I’ve been thinking about it. Although we’re successful now, we can’t forget our roots. We started as thugs and built our business on the back of a company. We earned our place through hard work and every punch we took. Ah Xiang, do you think we could have achieved our current influence by relying solely on Hongdou Clothing, over 30 nightclubs, and hundreds of audio-visual product stores?”

"Can we kill Fatty Li? If we kill a foreign senior superintendent, will the police not say a word?"

The four-eyed man frowned, pursed his lips, and shook his head.

Unlike Wang Yaotang, Aji, and Ajie, he was a good student. He wouldn't have become a scoundrel if he hadn't been forced into it. After his brothers started to make their fortunes, he became more averse to the scoundrel identity and wanted to become a big businessman like the big families.

Of course, this doesn't stop him from using certain methods...

"So, the controlled area still needs to be expanded. Smaller venues can be given to lower-level people. People have to rise to the top. Of course, we will operate normally. We don't make money from prostitution, gambling, or drugs."

"Slap!" Awei suddenly slapped his thigh. "Brother Yao, now that you mention it, I remember there are still more than 40 video arcades."

Wang Yaotang laughed out loud, "Go ahead and transfer it."

"So, are we still going to film?" the four-eyed guy asked.

“This…” Wang Yaotang smacked his lips, “For now, we still need this to further expand the videotape market. So, we’ll register two offshore companies that use each other’s names, and then transfer a portion of the shares to Wang Jing and the others so they can continue doing it.”

"By the way, have you calculated how much money you could get if you transferred all of it?"

"I estimate that a chain hotel could sell for 3000 million or more."

"So little?" Wang Yaotang was somewhat surprised.

"Otherwise, why would I be clamoring to sell? After deducting rent, labor, and utilities, the profit per room is about 50 yuan per day, which is 1500 yuan per month. With 26 stores and less than 1000 rooms in total, the net profit is about 1800 million yuan per year, and we still have to deal with so many messy things."

“More than 100 small venues and more than 40 video arcades?” Wang Yaotang frowned.

"One hundred million, that's about it. Only a small portion includes property. For a small venue, seven or eight hundred thousand is already a lot. If it's any more expensive, the guys below can't afford it. Besides, we still have to pay the security company and Ah Gong."

"If you just keep it in your hands, you'll make hundreds of millions a year, right?"

"Pretty much, but it will save a lot of trouble. Besides, this money can be invested in other industries and still make money, maybe even more," the four-eyed man said with a smile.

"Alright, just thinking about over 8600 people eating with me gives me a headache. It's terrifying. Do the four major families even have that many employees?" Wang Yaotang laughed.

"They should be, they can't be worse than us." The four-eyed guy looked at Wang Yaotang with a hint of malice. "Let's not talk about other things, let's get down to business."

"No, wait a minute." Wang Yaotang stared wide-eyed at the bespectacled man, looking him up and down. "Have you become this arrogant now? You just made a decision about the jobs of thousands of people, involving more than 100 million yuan, and you think it's a small matter?"

"Come, come, let me hear what you consider important!" Wang Yaotang raised his hand.

The bespectacled man raised his head and looked down at Wang Yaotang with his nostrils, "Is it a big deal what industry we will focus on in the future?"

Wang Yaotang blinked. "No core industries?"

“We have businesses in our hands, including clothing, nightclubs, and audio-visual chains. They’re practically unrelated. As the big brother, you have to let us little brothers know what to do,” the four-eyed guy said with a bit of a quirk.

"Hiss—" Wang Yaotang gasped. These industries seem good now, but in less than 20 years, they will all be sunset industries!

If we're talking about influence, a lousy clothes seller has absolutely no influence whatsoever!
Looking left and right, it's all an illusion!
The real core is still that damn 'security' industry!

The reason I was able to develop so many industries in such a short time is... of course, my own intelligence and talent!
But even the few thousand brave and daring brothers he had played such a tiny, insignificant role.

"Bang!" Wang Yaotang slammed his hand on the table, startling Four-Eyes and Awei. "I've decided. Our core business will be the 'protective umbrella' security company."

"Huh?" The bespectacled guy thought he had misheard.

Wang Yaotang looked at the four-eyed man with shining eyes, "Think about it, if we had several thousand brothers with hundreds of guns, wouldn't the Hong Kong British government give us a little face!"

"How is this possible!" The bespectacled man shook his head violently. "Has the Hong Kong British government gone mad?"

"Never mind whether you're crazy or not, just tell me if you want to give me face or not!" Wang Yaotang's lips curled into a smirk.

"Of course we have to give them face."

"The likes of the four great families, shouldn't you give me a little face!" Wang Yaotang raised his voice.

"Of course we'll give it to you," the bespectacled guy said with a smile.

"I want to enter the building materials industry, is that possible?"

"Of course, why not!"

"What if we had a few warships, even if they were old and outdated gunboats? I'd like to get into the shipping industry, is that possible?"

"Yes, absolutely!"

"If the security company expands its influence to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, will they give me any face?"

"Give it, you must give it!"

"Bangkok, Singapore, Manila—I want to open a nightclub or a clothing store. Can you offer me preferential policies?"

"A discount is a must!"

"Sand, stone, cement, timber, steel—I want to take a share of the market. Is that too much to ask?"

"It's not excessive, it's definitely not excessive."

"So!" Wang Yaotang clapped his hands hard. "What is a core industry? If you hold a 'nuclear bomb' in your hand, then your industry is a core industry!"

"Why do I have a feeling that we're going to be wiped out by all these countries?" the four-eyed guy said, with a mix of anticipation and a wry smile.

“That’s because you only have military power in one country. If you can’t wipe them out in several, then you can only cooperate.” Wang Yaotang laughed heartily. “A street thug has no face, but if you’re rotten all over Hong Kong Island, then you’re a ‘tycoon.’ If you’re rotten all over Southeast Asia, then you’re a ‘Fortune 500’!”

"From now on, the protective umbrella will be the core!"

"Set a small goal: to legally own guns in Hong Kong and Macau!"

"Phase Target: Maritime Security!" (End of Chapter)