A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

A New Year Comes (1951).

On New Year's Day, Chen Guangliang took his family to vacation at their villa in Repulse Bay. All seven of his children, except for two who were studying in the United States, accompanied him.

Apart from his eldest son from both families, Chan Kwong-leung did not feel much urgency for his other children, so the remaining five children planned to study in Hong Kong until they turned 18 before going to the United States to study.

Chen Guangliang's pride sometimes stems not from how much money he's made, but from the fact that all seven of his children are handsome men and beautiful women, not at all unattractive. They've also inherited his intelligence, being quite talented.

Overall, his seven children are all his pride.

Therefore, sometimes when he doesn't engage in promiscuous relationships, he hopes to maintain a good relationship with his children and spend more time with them, which is essential for the prosperity of the family.

"Dad, I miss my eldest brother and second brother!"

Chen Leyi, Chen Guangliang's only daughter, came to his side and started to act coquettishly.

She's already 13 years old this year, and has grown into a graceful young lady, a true lady from a distinguished family. A girl like this should receive her education in Hong Kong until she's 18 before going to the United States to study.

Chen Guangliang turned his head and said affectionately, "You go to America with your mother every year and see them every time, so how could you miss them?"

Every summer, Jiang Meiying goes to the United States for a month, taking her daughter with her to broaden their horizons. Chen Wenhua, on the other hand, is not brought along; he lives with his aunt, brothers, and other relatives for a period of time.

Chen Leyi looked up and said, "I wish our family wouldn't be separated."

"Silly girl," Chen Guangliang said, "A true family doesn't need to be together all the time, but rather their hearts are connected. If someone bullies our Chen family, then all members of the Chen family will have only one voice, no matter where we are in the world."

The Morgan family is a model for all families in later generations, and its unity is the most famous.

Chen Leyi clenched her little fist and said, "I will definitely fight alongside my brothers!"

As if someone were really going to bully the Chen family, Chen Leyi's fighting spirit was ignited!
"Haha, of course it's your older and younger brothers who should protect you, little princess."

"No need! I won't let you look down on me!"

That being said, as Chen Guangliang's only daughter, she was deeply loved from a young age. Chen Guangcong doted on her, Yan Renmei doted on her, her biological mother Jiang Meiying doted on her, her brothers doted on her even more, and her younger brother was still doted on after he grew up.

Chan Kwong-leung has even stipulated that Chan Lok-yee will be treated equally with her brothers and will receive the wealth of the second wife's family.

He only cares about his own children's generation; as for the third generation, he won't interfere. He will definitely dote on his daughter.

Of course, Chen Leyi also has to work hard herself. Like her brother Chen Wenjin and younger brother Chen Wenhua, Chen Guangliang definitely supported their entrepreneurship. The wealth they built was created by themselves, even though Chen Guangliang was behind the scenes. So the wealth that Chen Leyi received was just securities and properties held by her mother. If she wants to have a career, she has to create it herself. Her father will certainly support her, but the main thing is that she needs to have the ability herself.

"Alright, who would dare to underestimate our Leyi!"

Yan Renmei smiled and took Chen Leyi's hand, a stark contrast to her usual strictness towards her sons.

The family was reunited, and they were overjoyed.

In fact, the two female protagonists, Yan Renmei and Jiang Meiying, understood a principle very well—the two families were able to unite because of Chen Guangliang's personal charm. Their husbands always had a kind of charm that could influence people. Even though they usually spent more time with their children, their children admired their father more.

It's not entirely a curtain wall mentality.

Soon after, Chen Guangcong and Yang Xiuying, along with their three children, arrived at the villa in Repulse Bay. They would come to gather every holiday, but they would never stay overnight.

“Wenbo is going to study abroad next year, and after thinking about it, I think he should go to the United States too! Except for humanities, nothing in the UK can compare to the United States, not to mention that I have many brothers there who can take care of me.”

Chen Guangliang treats his nephew like a son, hoping he will join the Global Group in the future, given his father's substantial shareholding. If he decides to start his own business, Chen Guangliang will offer support and even advice.

However, he also has two nieces. When Chen Guangcong divides his assets in the future, the business (equity) will definitely go to his son, but in terms of cash, stocks, and properties, Chen Guangcong's branch of the family will also give a considerable amount to his two nieces.

You can't control the third generation, but you should be fair to the second generation, since they have plenty of money.

Chen Guangcong laughed and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you, brother!"

Chen Guangliang asked, "What about Wenbo's idea?"

Chen Guangcong replied, "He's following his family's arrangements."

This short sentence seems to confirm that the family listens to Chen Guangliang on important matters, and the children are used to it.

“Okay, studying abroad is the final stage of theoretical learning; working is the practical learning.”

Chen Guangcong asked curiously, "Brother, are you really that keen on them joining the family business? I think you're much younger than me!"

It seems that the eldest brother has always been looking forward to the day when his children and nephews graduate from university and join the family business.

Chen Guangliang patted his younger brother's shoulder meaningfully and said, "Having an atomic bomb and not using it are two different things. I hope to be their support, but aren't I also relying on them as my support? Even you are my support!"

Chen Guangcong said earnestly, "Actually, it's about family unity; everyone is closely united around you, brother."

Chen Guangliang nodded, offering no rebuttal.
He thought of a matter of brotherly unity. In his previous life, after Chen Zengxi died, he did not hand over the reins directly to his son, but to his younger brother Chen Zengtao. After Chen Zengtao stabilized the company for a few years, he handed it over to his nephew.

This succession arrangement avoided fluctuations in the company and also reflected the deep bond between the brothers, who had started their business together in the 1950s.

As for his younger brother, whom he had raised himself, he naturally had a stronger bond with him.

After New Year’s Day.

Chen Guangliang arrived at his office in the Ping An Bank Building. Now, he can manage global business operations from the comfort of his office. Of course, he also occasionally travels overseas to conduct business research and formulate corporate development plans.

Leaning back in his leather chair, Chen Guangliang thought that he could make a profit of about HK$5000 million from the 'supplies' this time, which was practically like robbery.

The goods stockpiled in the Macau warehouse alone yielded a profit of over ten million Hong Kong dollars, and Chen Guangliang felt at ease with it, since the batch of medicines was absolutely genuine and all of them were life-saving drugs; the other supplies were also urgently needed.

Some other goods, such as steel and plastics from Tseung Kwan O, are sold to smugglers in Hong Kong and are not traded directly with the mainland.

The value of these supplies, already doubled from being stockpiled in Hong Kong, given that the United States had already imposed a blockade on their overseas origins.

Earning 5000 million was easy.

But what's even more encouraging is that this wave of development has propelled Worldwide Shipping into a large company with annual profits of around seven to eight million US dollars. However, while an annual profit of eight million US dollars may seem like a lot, it's actually not a large sum for the development of shipping.

Global Shipping currently has 40 ships, most of which are second-hand, and many are 30 years old, with some even 35 years old. They may be scrapped in 5 to 10 years.

The cost of building a Liberty ship is probably between $1.8 million and $2.2 million, but a second-hand Liberty ship currently costs only $70 or $80.

In Britain, building a 10,000-ton cargo ship costs as much as $2 million; while buying a 10,000-ton second-hand ship, even a 30-year-old one, costs only $500,000 to $600,000 (the price has increased).

The price difference is quite large.

The total value of Worldwide Shipping's fleet is only around US$1200 million, consisting of just six British-built cargo ships weighing 6 tons each.

Oil tankers are even more expensive, and it's much harder to get started!

At that time, the China Merchants Group in Taiwan only had four second-hand Type A oil tankers, which were actually insufficient to meet the island's oil needs, but it was also difficult to come up with the funds to build cruise ships.

The cost of building an oil tanker with a displacement of over 10,000 tons is approximately 5 million US dollars!
Expensive indeed.

If Japan's shipbuilding industry develops, the overall global shipbuilding cost will drop significantly.

Moreover, the cost of shipbuilding will not increase further in the future. This is because some industrial products will not see their prices rise continuously with inflation.

Due to the technology and costs of steelmaking worldwide, the cost of steel in this era was very high.

"Brother, are you looking for me?"

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "By the way, Xiaohu, he needs to know when to stop on his routes to the north. This includes transporting goods to the interior; he needs to know when to stop too soon. Why don't you go and talk to him about it?"

"Okay, I'll tell him right away!"

"Well, after all, if he really gets blacklisted by the US, it will be inconvenient for him to do any business in the future. Don't be greedy."

"Yes"

In her previous life, Cao Wenjin was on a blacklist, and later she could only go to Malaysia to engage in agriculture for a while.

On the contrary, Zhao Congyan knew when to quit while he was ahead and did not experience too much hardship.

Although what Yang Xiaohu is doing now will not implicate the Chen family, Chen Guangliang does not want him to ruin his future.

Before the New Year, Chen Guangliang came alone to Du Yuesheng's residence.

He was invited, and Du Yuesheng treated him with great hospitality.

"Guangliang, I've called you here to ask you for some advice!"

The two sat in the living room, accompanied only by Du Yuesheng's butler, Wan Molin.

Chen Guangliang said, "Mr. Du, you're too kind. Please feel free to ask me any questions, and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge!"

Back in Shanghai, Du Yuesheng had helped him and never oppressed him, so Chen Guangliang was sincere.

Du Yuesheng immediately said, "It's like this, Taiwanese spies are always coming to Hong Kong to wage 'psychological warfare,' forcing me to go to Taiwan or Japan. In short, they won't allow me to go to the mainland, nor will they allow me to stay in Hong Kong. I'm quite troubled by this. I know you've never liked politics or underworld matters. You just need to use your brain for me, or perhaps offer some words of comfort!"

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "This psychological warfare is nothing more than sending someone to tell you that the mainland has reached an agreement with the Hong Kong government to extradite you back; or that the mainland has sent someone to assassinate you; or that you have decided to go to Taiwan. This is either to scare you into going to Taiwan or to prevent you from returning to the mainland. In the end, Mr. Du lacks a sense of security in Hong Kong!"

Du Yuesheng said excitedly, "You've hit the nail on the head! So, how do you think I should deal with this situation?"

This is probably what it means for a hero to grow old!
Chen Guangliang said, “Turning a deaf ear and a blind eye won’t work. The Hong Kong government can’t be coerced. It has its own initiative and is a place that upholds the rule of law. As long as they don’t engage in political activities or continue their gang activities, the Hong Kong government can’t do such illegal things for Taiwan or the mainland. To put it another way, Mr. Du is already 63 years old. He’s thinking more about his descendants. As long as you don’t participate in those things anymore, your descendants will have no problem with future success and inheritance thanks to the years of nurturing they’ve received. Your life has been very worthwhile!”

"Guangliang, there's a 22-year age gap between us, but you see things much more clearly than I do!"

Du Yuesheng has recently been driven to frequent mental breakdowns by the "psychological warfare" waged on Taiwan. He feels his days are numbered if this continues.
Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "It's just that I have my own insights in this area!"

The number of people looking for him was no less than those looking for Du Yuesheng, but it was very difficult for them to get an audience with Chen Guangliang, given his formidable security. Chen Guangliang, however, would never proactively meet with these people; he would generally refuse to meet them directly, remaining completely unyielding.

This conversation eased Du Yuesheng's worries somewhat, since what he feared most was those kinds of 'psychological warfare'.

Before leaving, Chen Guangliang left a check, saying, "Mr. Du, this is the money for the Oriental Daily's withdrawal of its shares!"

Du Yuesheng tried to refuse, but Chen Guangliang said, "Take it. You helped me a lot back in Shanghai. Besides, this little bit of money is nothing to me, not worth mentioning."

The Oriental Daily News claims to be withdrawing its shares, but in reality, the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges have long been separated. Chen Guangliang's return to control the Oriental Daily News is merely a matter of borrowing the nameplate; everything is being rebuilt from scratch.

After Chen Guangliang left, Du Yuesheng looked at the check for 'US$10' and couldn't help but sigh, "Of all the friendships I built up back then, only this one won't take my life and even gave me money!"

In one of his boxes were many IOUs, but he couldn't collect them, otherwise it might be detrimental to his descendants.

Wan Molin said, "The Chen family shall prosper for a hundred years!"

Du Yuesheng nodded and said, "I've heard that Globe Shipping has a huge fleet that can sail anywhere in the world!"

He reads newspapers, so he naturally knows about these things.

Wan Molin nodded and said, "It is said that the headquarters radio station in Hong Kong can connect to radio stations on ships sailing around the world, thus forming a global radio information channel. It is clear that he is the real shipping magnate."

No one knows how much wealth the Chen Guangliang family has. All that is known is that when Chen Guangliang makes a move, it is often a huge investment, often amounting to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars or even tens of millions of US dollars.

The wealth of the "Four Great Families" is all fabricated by slanderers. If the Nationalist government had not lost power, the Four Great Families would have been incredibly wealthy. But after losing power, their wealth naturally remained in the mainland or disappeared with the war.

However, as everyone knows, the wealth of the Chen Guangliang family was rarely destroyed by war because Chen Guangliang was always one step ahead of others.

Holding the $100,000 check, Du Yuesheng's mind was filled with memories of his interactions with Chen Guangliang in the 1930s. In fact, Chen Guangliang had already repaid the favor back then, helping him amass considerable wealth.

So giving him a check for $10 today is one of the reasons why Chen Guangliang is a person worth getting to know better, and also why many people regard him as a leader among Chinese businessmen.

He genuinely needed the money; since arriving in Hong Kong, he hadn't been able to make a living and had even lost a considerable amount in business. The fear was that if he suddenly passed away, his family would be left destitute. (End of Chapter)