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

Tuen Mun, temporary pier cargo storage station.

After Jia Hua's three large mines ceased production, its 50% market share fell into the hands of Wang Yaotang and was replaced by stone mines from Zhuhai. Customer information and customer needs were directly transferred from Gu Yuanbin.

After the Kwun Tong incident, rumors of a power struggle between Wang Yaotang and Lü Zhihe spread, becoming common knowledge in the industry. Most believed it was only a matter of time before Wang Yaotang replaced Lü Zhihe as the de facto owner of the three major mines.

As for Li Xiangjiao's underhanded tactics, since they were underhanded, they were naturally kept secret, and not many people knew about them.

There is a strong information barrier between the upper and lower levels. Some news is known to everyone at the top, but not a word of it leaks out to those below. Of course, this is not necessarily a good thing.

……

Tuen Mun, temporary pier cargo storage station.

"Shi Guofei, didn't you say you'd deliver the goods today? Why didn't you deliver them?" A man in a gray-blue shirt asked with a frown, "You bastard, did you forget about me?!"

"Sorry, sorry." Shi Guofei put his hands together and apologized with a smile, took out a cigarette, handed it to him, and helped him light it. "Of course I didn't forget. It's just that we don't have enough stone. The boss said one thing and we took on all of Jia Hua's orders without even considering whether our production capacity was enough. I'm just the one in charge of packing the goods. I'm anxious too."

"You should know what the situation is like up north, right? They're having a hard time even getting food. Do you know what they use to haul ore to the docks?"

"You're not trying to tell me we'll use a horse-drawn carriage, are you?" The man in the shirt widened his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

"Where are the horses, oxcarts, and mules?" Shi Guofei said exaggeratedly.

"Hahaha, really? Master Yao doesn't need a truck!"

"Of course it's true." Saying this, Shi Guofei looked around and lowered his voice, "You know about chili oil, right?"

The man in the shirt nodded. "The cheap diesel fuel used to subsidize fishing boats and industrial vessels has been dyed with red dye."

“Now, many fishermen buy red oil but don’t go out fishing at all. Instead, they sell the oil to some gangs and smuggle it over there.”

"Victory?"

Shi Guofei nodded. "There's no other way. They've started collecting fuel tax over there. What's the use of a big boss having a car without fuel if there's no fuel? Let alone fuel, there's no electricity either. We can only work 8 hours a day."

"No, the oil can't be sourced from Hong Kong Island?"

"Obviously not. They have such strict rules over there that you have to report even if you bring in a single grain of rice."

"leave!"

"Please understand, what can I do if the goods can't be delivered from up there?"

"If you keep delaying me here, how am I supposed to explain this to my superiors?"

"Please help me out! I'll treat you to dinner tonight, and you can pick any girl you like—yellow, white, black—I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

"real or fake!"

"There's a branch in Tuen Mun West, are you sure?"

"I'm warning you, you have to get the goods back in two days at most!"

"Don't worry, I'll delay someone else's next time," Shi Guofei said with a grin.

You son of a bitch!

After finally managing to coax the people away, Shi Guofei stood there with his hands on his hips. He knew the goods from the patriotic businessman were definitely available, but he had been told by his superiors to appease Hutchison Whampoa's purchasing team, so he had no choice but to obey.

As for the evening's plans, the company will reimburse him, and he can enjoy himself too, so why not?

Two days later...

"Didn't we agree on two days? What happened?!"

"Yeah, two days? It won't arrive until tomorrow. My goodness, it can't be that urgent. I can't help it. Look at me, I have blisters on my lips. I haven't slept for a day and a night. There's a shortage of goods everywhere. I don't know what the higher-ups are doing."

"Please help me out, please shrug it off." With that, Shi Guofei pulled out an envelope and handed it over.
The man in the shirt was about to start cursing, but the words were stuck in his throat. He subconsciously clenched his fist, and his eyes lit up. The thickness of the shirt clearly showed how serious the other party's difficulties were. It would be really inhumane of him to make things difficult for someone who was just a deliveryman.

Why should working people make things difficult for each other?

"Two days, I'll give you two more days at most!"

"Yes, yes, definitely!"

Two days later...

"What the hell are you doing!" The man in the shirt clutched the envelope, his expression conflicted. He sensed the sincerity, but the supplies at the construction site were rapidly dwindling, and it looked like they were about to run out.

However, the thickness of the red envelope made him reluctant to part with it...

"I'll give you one more day!"

A day later, before the man in the shirt could even come looking for him, Shi Guofei felt he couldn't hold on any longer and went to He Zecheng, the manager of the warehouse, saying, "Manager He, this can't be delayed any longer."

“What do you mean by ‘can’t be delayed’? The goods are in our hands; we can deliver them whenever we want.” He Zecheng said sternly, “Can you do it? If not, find someone else.”

"But……"

"No buts!" He Zecheng stood up abruptly. "Do you know how many people want to do this mission? You son of a bitch, if it weren't for your sister, I wouldn't have let you come. If you mess this up, you can get the hell out of here right now."

"I... fine." Shi Guofei nodded stiffly.

"Seven days, we must delay for another seven days no matter what!" He Zecheng said in a deep voice. He had received news from He Huang and Chang Shi that their sand and gravel reserves still had enough for a week.

"How can that be... I'd rather die than not stay alive." Shi Guofei acted as if his mother had just died.

Watching the person leave, He Zecheng shook his head; he had no hope of dragging it out for seven days.

At most five days, maybe four days, they'll realize it.

That's how people below do things. When a problem arises, their first thought is to fix it themselves instead of reporting it to higher-ups. After all, if they always go to their superiors, what's the point of the company hiring them? They're there to solve problems!

Cutting off the supply of projects to Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa isn't as simple as just saying "stop delivering." The inventory is there to buy time for the supply disruption.

After some discussion, this delaying plan was decided, taking advantage of the subordinates' tendency to cover things up. If the front-line purchasing staff couldn't cover it up and reported it, the second level would also try to cover it up. As the saying goes, the company needs you to solve problems.

By the time the report reached the general manager's desk through the various levels of management, the inventory had already been depleted.

Don't talk about company rules and regulations or red lines; it's useless. Covering it up won't solve anything. It's the same all over the world. Nobody can solve it. Once it explodes, it's already out of control.

When the man in the shirt came back, his attitude had completely changed. He first begged Shi Guofei, but when he realized he still couldn't get the goods, he started yelling and shouting that he would kill Shi Guofei.

Shi Guofei was speechless. "I'm just an employee. These are all orders from above. What can I do? Why should other employees make things difficult for each other?"

"You old hag, you still know you're a working-class person, so why are you making things difficult for me!"

"There's nothing I can do!"

Sure enough, the people from Huang and Cheung Kong came were purchasing managers Bao Dexuan and Deng Hengyi. At this point, Shi Guofei was no match for them, and He Zecheng personally took charge.

At this level, the music was aware of the discord between Wang Yaotang and Li Xiangjiao, although the specifics were unclear.

"You're deliberately delaying our delivery, aren't you?" Bao Dexuan demanded loudly.

“Yes.” He Zecheng nodded in agreement.

"Is this what Wang Yaotang means?" the visitor asked in a deep voice.

"Who do you think you are? You dare ask that?" He Zecheng retorted directly.

"You! You fucking lunatic! I think you've really messed up your attempt to flatter him. When your boss apologizes to Mr. Li, he'll throw you into the sea to feed the sharks!"

"Then you don't need to worry about that. Think about how to solve the raw material problem first!" He Zecheng sneered. "If I can force Li Xiangjiao to bow down to the boss, I'll consider myself successful. As for you, if you can't get the supply, you can wait to take responsibility!" The purchasing managers of Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings looked as ugly as if their mothers had died. With the three major mines of K Wah shut down and Shek O and Lamma Island falling into the hands of Wang Yaotang, there were no other stone mines in Hong Kong. Where were they supposed to find goods all of a sudden?

Currently, Hong Kong's stone market is comprised of 70% domestically produced stone, 20% from Taiwan, 5% from smuggling, and the remaining 5% is high-end stone, with import sources being more complex, including Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Currently, the only people the purchasing departments of both companies can think of are from Taiwan. However, they haven't had much cooperation before, so they have no choice but to approach them now.

However, all that could be coordinated was merely a drop in the ocean, and within two days, the problem of running out of inventory was on the desks of the general managers of the two construction teams, Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings.

Kong Wenjing pointed a trembling finger at Bao Dexuan, "You, you, you, why did you wait until now to report it!"

Bao Dexuan pursed his lips. "It was Wang Yaotang's side that deliberately set a trap. By the time I found out, it was too late. I contacted Taiwan, but the goods will take a few more days to arrive."

"You motherfucker, you motherfucker, wait! Who are you expecting to wait? Dozens of machines and thousands of workers on the construction site, are you expecting them to stop working?!" Kong Wenjing roared at the top of his lungs, "Do you know how much money we lose for every day we stop work? Do you know how much money we lose for every day we're late in delivering the project?!"

"Who will bear this loss? You!"

"When Li Sheng asked me, was I supposed to answer that Wang Yaotang had set a trap for us? So we just foolishly waited to be schemed against!"

"Damn it!"

Kong Wenjing was furious and paced around his office. Despite mentioning Li Xiangjiao, he had no intention of reporting it immediately.

How can you say that as the general manager, you were completely unaware of the problems that were occurring below, and that it was a management failure?

Or perhaps he blames Li Xiangjiao for his feud with Wang Yaotang, which led to the latter retaliating against him?
If you can't solve the problem, whatever you say will be wrong.

"You fucking go find those Taiwanese right now and follow them 24/7. Even if they're taking a dump, stand by and watch them. Make them deliver the goods as soon as possible. Now, immediately, get out there and get to work!"

After yelling and driving the people away, Kong Wenjing vented his anger in the office for a while before picking up the phone again and calling other familiar construction companies to try and get some stone quarries from them to tide him over.

After much pleading and cajoling, some coordination was finally achieved. A meeting of department leaders was immediately convened to readjust the construction sequence at the site, prioritizing the sections requiring less stone to ensure uninterrupted or minimal work stoppages.

the next day.

"Kong Wenjing, has Wang Yaotang cut off your supply?" A representative from Hengji Construction called and asked in a somewhat unfriendly tone.

"Don't listen to those rumors. It wasn't Wang Yaotang who gave the order. It was the people at the freight yard who took it upon themselves to curry favor with Wang Yaotang. I've already spoken to Mr. Li, and things will be resolved soon."

"Tell me the truth. People from over there came to the company to see me first thing this morning, telling me not to get involved in your two-party conflict. And now you're telling me it's your subordinates who are pulling strings behind the scenes?"

"Oh... they're talking nonsense, they're lying to you."

"I fucking... don't get me into trouble!"

Click! The phone rang. Kong Wenjing's face was grim. Wang Yaotang's side was so ruthless!

One by one, the friends I had contacted before called. It's not that they don't want to help, it's that they don't dare to get involved. Why should working people make things difficult for each other?

……

Li Xiangjiao's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water. He never expected to receive such terrible news when he arrived at the company early in the morning: the construction site was shut down!

He didn't ask Kong Wenjing why he hadn't told him earlier. If the companies below him all came to him for help when they encountered difficulties, what was the point of hiring them?
Time is fair to everyone; he only has 24 hours. Subtracting eating and sleeping, he's practically on the go reviewing documents. Such a vast business empire is truly not something one person can manage.

Stone quarries are not important in the real estate industry.

Suddenly, I remembered that at the auction, I said that the price would definitely rise after Wang Yaotang monopolized the market, but I never expected that this bastard would cut off the supply.

This is incredibly audacious! It's like holding a knife to the throats of all the real estate tycoons—blatant robbery!

If he were to use such a nuclear weapon, wouldn't Wang Yaotang be afraid of provoking all the real estate tycoons to unite against a common enemy?
Even Lü Zhihe wouldn't have dared to do something like this back then!
Li Xiangjiao immediately called Li, Guo, Zheng, Bao, Xu, and Feng to denounce Wang Yaotang's despicable and thuggish behavior.

"Yes, Brother Li is right. Wang Yaotang is indeed too impetuous in his actions. This matter has gone a bit too far."

"Brother Li is truly insightful. Letting this kid control the stone mining industry is like giving him a knife. No, we must check and balance him."

"Brother Li's insight is brilliant..."

When they answered each other, they all denounced Wang Yaotang, but when asked to allocate some stone materials to help him solve his problems, they all laughed it off, talking about the threat of Wang Yaotang, the unstable production in the mainland, and that they also needed to stock up to cope with the situation. In any case, borrowing stone materials was out of the question!

You two should settle your own feud!
"This brat is not worth discussing things with!" Li Xiangjiao cursed angrily.

Wang Yaotang suddenly stabbed him right where it hurt, and the pain was indescribable!

It's just a stone quarry; it's not important in the real estate industry.

There is so much of it in mainland China that it is abundant; the city of Guangzhou alone can easily supply the Hong Kong market.

Although there is a temporary shortage in production due to infrastructure issues, these problems are not insurmountable.

Besides, there's Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

This thing isn't that important.

But a short-term lack of supplies can really be deadly!

It's definitely impossible to ask Wang Yaotang for help, so what about looking in mainland China?

Huo Jianning said in a deep voice, "The simplest way is to go to the mainland. Wang Yaotang can get stone mines, and so can we. The output there is huge. Filling our small hole is just a matter of a word."

“No.” Li Xiangjiao abandoned this option after only a moment’s thought. “We are about to negotiate. If the British government goes to the mainland when it is at a disadvantage, it’s like rubbing salt into London’s wounds. Besides, what if the mainland takes advantage of the situation and asks me to say something? Can I refuse?”

Judging from one's own experience, if Li Xiangjiao were in that position, he would definitely do the same thing, whether from a business perspective or from the perspective of equivalent exchange, it's quite reasonable.

However, this would completely sever the good relationship that had been maintained with British Hong Kong for so many years.

With the port in Tsuen Wan, the conversion of industrial land in Hung Hom into commercial development, the subsequent development of so many plots of land, and the investment in building new ports, his layout on Hong Kong Island is very large. Now is the time to exert his strength. Any one of his projects is worth tens or hundreds of billions of dollars. How can he ruin the relationship at this time?

That would be putting the cart before the horse!
Therefore, even if work is suspended, he will absolutely not communicate with the mainland at this time, so as not to cause the British Hong Kong authorities to misunderstand him.

“Then we can only turn to the Taiwanese.” Sheng Songsheng said in a deep voice, “But since they are in such a hurry for the goods, they will definitely have to pay a high price, and sea transportation also takes time. Let’s try to coordinate. If that doesn’t work, we can simply give the workers a holiday in advance and have them catch up on the work when the goods arrive.”

"Tell the people below to take time off in lieu of leave. Yes, take time off in lieu of leave!"

Li Xiangjiao nodded slightly. "Adjusted rest," she said. "That's a good way to put it. If raw materials can be adjusted, then rest can be adjusted too."

“I’ll talk to them in Taiwan.” Hutchison Whampoa’s General Manager, Ma Shih-min, took on the responsibility, which can be considered as making up for his past mistakes.

“Okay, let them give us the goods that are about to arrive first, to delay the others, since we’re in a bit of a hurry,” Li Xiangjiao said.

“I understand.” Ma Shimin nodded. “Mr. Li, do you think we should sign a long-term supply agreement with Taiwan? The stone mines in Hong Kong have all fallen into the hands of that bastard Wang Yaotang. Who knows when he will cut off the supply again? It’s too painful to be held hostage like this.”

“A long-term supply agreement…” Li Xiangjiao squinted.

For stone materials, transportation costs account for a significant portion of the price. Under the same conditions, Taiwanese stone is about 15% more expensive than stone from Hong Kong. Now that Wang Yaotang has started mining in Zhuhai, costs will definitely be further reduced. If supplied long-term, construction costs will be significantly higher compared to Henderson Land and New World Development...

The real estate market is not just about competing with Wang Yaotang; the real rivals are Li, Guo, Zheng, Bao, Xu, Feng, and others.

"It's too dangerous to be in someone else's hands. We need to have at least some ability to protect ourselves," Huo Jianning said in a deep voice.

Li Xiangjiao's face was rather grim. There was Qingzhou Yingni (a type of clay) on the cement; it was the reason he had wanted to acquire Shek O and Lamma Island, but...

The thought flashed through Li Xiangjiao's mind, and she slammed her hand on the table. She had fallen for that little bastard Wang Yaotang's trick!

This bastard is after the loan he has from Jia Hua.

To break the deadlock and avoid being threatened in the future, he needs to own his own stone mine as a safety net, and then Jia Hua is the only option left!
With that little bastard around, it's impossible for me to acquire it at a low price. With the guaranteed debt wasted on the stone mine, it will be difficult to get my hands on Jia Hua's high-quality assets. Even with HSBC's support, I might not be able to compete with that bastard in terms of cash reserves.

I am a capital-intensive company, while that guy's entertainment and audio-visual industries are cash cows with light assets!
Damn it, that little bastard is too cunning! (End of Chapter)