A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chen Guangliang and Guo Deming arrived at an industrial factory in Kwun Tong, where they saw a sign that read 'Rebecca Wigs'.

Upon entering the factory, there were about fifty or sixty female workers and some imported American machinery.

"boss"

Rebecca Wigs' General Manager, Jung Ji-jae, came up with two members of the management team and greeted them respectfully.

"Yes, show me around. I heard you're already in mass production."

"Okay, please!"

Zheng Zhicai led everyone to the production area and introduced, "Boss, look, we can now rival the quality of various wigs from Europe. To be honest, we initially found a wig maker in Hong Kong who specialized in making wigs and beards for theatrical actors, which finally gave us an understanding of the industry. Subsequently, we went to wig factories in the United States to investigate and study wig production tools. After half a year of preparation, we not only mastered the wig manufacturing process but also have the capacity for mass production."

Chen Guangliang immediately noticed the problem and said, "It seems that the process is not entirely mechanized?"

Zheng Zhicai nodded and said, "Yes, we have adopted a semi-mechanical, semi-manual model. We considered that if we adopted all the American manufacturing processes, we could save a lot of labor and greatly improve efficiency; however, Hong Kong labor is cheap, and you, boss, have always encouraged Cheung Kong Industrial Group to create more jobs so that everyone can have food to eat; after comprehensive consideration, we have adopted a semi-mechanical, semi-manual approach, which can not only achieve higher economic benefits, but also allow us to hire more female workers."

Chen Guangliang said with satisfaction, "Good, this is a great idea and deserves encouragement! Our Yangtze River Industrial Group is not short of money, but if it can create more jobs, it is something we must consider. On the other hand, with the influx of counterfeit factories into this industry, economic benefits are also something we need to consider."

Hearing his boss's praise, Zheng Zhicai felt a surge of joy, as his boss rarely praised people. He knew that it was probably the phrase "creating more jobs" that had struck a chord with his boss.

Zheng Zhicai then said, "The boss thinks that many counterfeit factories will soon join in. I'm thinking about whether we can secretly produce a batch of wigs and then go to the United States to find agents so that we can get a large share of the market."

Guo Deming chimed in, "No need for all that trouble. The boss just acquired Lane Crawford, which deals in import and export and has sales channels in Europe and America. For Rebecca wigs, we can start by cooperating with Lane Crawford."

Zheng Zhicai immediately said, "Okay, in that case, we can go public right away!"

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "The raw material for this wig is real hair, which we at Rebecca can control. We can establish a procurement center in Southeast Asia, and local wig factories can buy from us in the future. In addition, after we establish cooperation with Lane Crawford, we can also try to win over the US distributor."

"Ok"

As a manager in his thirties, Zheng Zhicai feels that this year is a year of career take-off. He stood out from Xinfeng Textile Group and was selected by the group to serve as the general manager of Rebecca Wigs.

Now, judging from the boss and General Manager Guo's intentions, the wig industry is becoming a major industry, and he suddenly feels a great responsibility, and his own career is about to take off.

After staying for half a day, Chen Guangliang left, saying that these industries were only worth keeping an eye on occasionally.

Wig products are being produced in large quantities, and a solution must be found immediately.

Zheng Zhicai arrived at Lane Crawford headquarters with wig samples of various hairstyles.

Lane Crawford is Hong Kong's largest and oldest department store, also engaged in import and export trade. Although it has now been acquired by its own owners, neither the owners nor the general manager have offered any assistance, so naturally, he himself needs to go door-to-door to promote the products.

Zheng Zhicai walked into the Ministry of Trade office and took out the samples, spreading them out on the table.

Several office staff members immediately gathered around to look, and a manager asked, "Where did all these come from?"

“Hong Kong,” Cheng Chi-choi replied succinctly.

“No, absolutely not,” the manager said. “Wigs of such high quality can only be made in France. They must be European products. As far as I know, there is not a single wig factory in Hong Kong, let alone any wig-making talent.”

“That’s us,” Zheng Zhicai said confidently and proudly.

Introduce Rebecca's wig factory to him, explaining that Rebecca came from the Yangtze River Industrial Group and had learned the technology and imported the equipment from the United States; in every aspect, the conditions were excellent.

The manager was very satisfied with Rebecca's wigs and immediately signed a contract to order 100 wigs per month at HK$500 each.

This price is two-thirds lower than that of French products.

Rebecca's cost to produce wigs is only a little over HK$100 each, resulting in a profit margin of more than three times higher.

Of course, Lane Crawford's purchases alone were not enough to make Zheng Zhicai happy, after all, the factory had 60 female workers and produced far more than 100 wigs per month.

Therefore, Zheng Zhicai immediately arranged for his capable assistant to first go to the United States to find sales channels; at the same time, he also prepared to purchase wig materials in Southeast Asia on a large scale and establish a supply chain.

The group provided Rebecca with HK$1 million in funding, which allowed her to establish a sufficient leading position.

On this day, Chen Guangliang brought Yan Renmei to the 'Times Cinema' in Qingshui Bay. After nearly four years of clearing the mountains and splitting rocks, the site was beginning to take shape.

Zhuang Zhujiu and his wife Sheng Qi accompanied them on a tour of the Times Cinema.

The two families are about to become in-laws, and Chen Guangliang is also the Zhuang couple's "benefactor." Without him, the Zhuang couple would still be working on the mainland; and now, Zhuang Zhujiu has become Hong Kong's well-known "media king."

Zhuang Zhujiu and his wife only hold 22% of the shares in Times Pictures, but Zhuang Zhujiu is actually in charge of all the work. Chen Guangliang may not get involved more than a few times a year, and only occasionally offers some suggestions.

"This is the photography studio. This is the soundproofing sheet factory," Zhuang Zhujiu personally introduced.

Looking at the dramatic changes, Chen Guangliang immediately asked, "Currently, is it possible for Times Pictures to relocate its entire filming base here?"

Zhuang Zhujiu shook his head and said, "Not yet. The entire project is expected to take ten years. Although the last four years will mainly involve building an ancient city and tourist facilities such as hotels, it will still take at least two more years before we can transfer all the filming to the Times Film City."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangliang did not delve into the matter further.

His original plan was to sell both the Phoenix Productions site (20 sq ft) in North Point and the Era Productions base (15 sq ft) in Kowloon Bay to Cheung Kong Property Holdings. Alternatively, they could collaborate on developing two large-scale residential projects.

“In that case, let’s try to relocate the entire operation here by the end of 1956.” Zhuang Zhujiu said, “Yes, that’s what we’ve planned too. Currently, there are buses running around all day, so transportation is gradually no longer a problem. However, there’s something I need to discuss with you. Should we purchase another piece of commercial land in areas like Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, or Yau Ma Tei to build a cinema building? And sell the Kowloon Bay production base to recoup funds and make full use of the abandoned land to invest in commercial land.”

This is a transformation!
This fully demonstrates that Zhuang Zhujiu had a forward-thinking vision.

It's worth noting that commercial land in Tsim Sha Tsui is currently priced at HK$150 per square foot, but it may rise to HK$250 by the end of next year, and to over HK$300 by 1956.

Moreover, the abandoned Kowloon Bay film production base no longer generates profits, while investing in commercial land in Tsim Sha Tsui can generate profits once it is built.

Chen Guangliang then said, "You should talk to Manager Yan of Cheung Kong Properties! After we buy the land, we'll wait for the Hong Kong government to issue new building regulations, which should encourage buildings to grow taller. At that time, we can prepare three cinema buildings in Kowloon."

“Okay,” Zhuang Zhujiu continued, “Times Film Industry has a very large asset base. If it weren’t for the new investment in commercial land, there would be no need to sell that plot of land in Kowloon Bay.”

This is the truth. After 24 years of development, the losses from the war may have been small, but the wealth accumulated over the years is enormous—overseas alone, it owns more than 200 properties, theaters, and more than a dozen amusement parks.

In Hong Kong, he owns twelve large cinemas, all of which are his own properties.

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "I have no idea how big Times Pictures is, and it's hard to count how many assets it has."

This confirms a saying by an old American tycoon: "A person is truly rich when he doesn't know how much wealth he has!"

Zhuang Zhujiu said, "The asset list can be compiled, but the valuation is difficult. Do you want someone to estimate it for you?"

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "Never mind."

It wasn't that he completely trusted Zhuang Zhujiu, because Zhuang Zhujiu himself wouldn't know the total asset value of the entire Era Film Company.

Chen Guangliang didn't discuss production matters much. In any case, over the past few years, he had Times Pictures poach and cultivate talents like Lin Dai, Li Hanxiang, and Raymond Chow, and provided them with support.

In addition, Zhuang Zhujiu has studied film production over the years, and his abilities are no less than those of Run Run Shaw. So let the two of them compete slowly in the future!

Currently, in Hong Kong's film industry, only Times Pictures and Shaw Brothers are competitive, and in Southeast Asia, the two companies also compete in distribution and theaters; however, overall, Shaw Brothers has always been on the defensive, and its scale is not even one-third of Times Pictures'.

Next, Chen Guangliang only needs to oversee the property upgrades of Times Pictures, and he can still firmly control the entertainment business of overseas Chinese.

After the Korean War, Hong Kong's reputation in the United States became very bad, mainly because many Americans believed that Hong Kong was a smuggling paradise and an unattractive factory hub, and were also worried that Hong Kong might be "smuggled".

Therefore, at the suggestion of the British Ambassador to the United States, Governor Alexander Grantham made a special trip to the United States in October 1954 to give a series of speeches. During the six-week trip, Grantham visited 16 cities, where he gave speeches to promote Hong Kong. In addition, he was interviewed by various television stations and held public forums with many groups to express his opinions on the future of Hong Kong.

In order to establish a fresh and positive image for Hong Kong, Grantham also delivered speeches in the United States entitled "Hong Kong - The Berlin of the East" and "Hong Kong - The Cornerstone of Freedom," among others.

Hong Kong's industry saved the city's economy; according to 1954 figures, textile and garment workers accounted for 30% of Hong Kong's total workforce. Conversely, traditional British textile industries suffered a sharp decline in business, prompting numerous protests to Alexander Grantham. This example, however, illustrates the booming development of Hong Kong's textile industry at the time.

With the opening of the world's largest consumer market, the United States, to Hong Kong, Hong Kong's industry finally experienced a "major boom".

When Chen Guangliang visited the Rebecca wig factory again at the end of the year, there were already several hundred female workers, an expansion of nearly ten times.

Zheng Zhicai, as the general manager, excitedly reported to Chen Guangliang: "Mr. Chen, thousands of orders are coming in like snowflakes. Fortunately, we made sufficient preparations in advance and expanded our production capacity in a short period of time, otherwise we would have missed this wave of orders."

Earning HK$300 per person, HK$30 per thousand people, and millions of dollars in profit for thousands of people.

Chen Guangliang said, "Hong Kong has a great advantage in light industry, so orders from Europe and America will inevitably shift to Hong Kong. By the way, how are things going with your wig raw materials?"

Zheng Zhicai said confidently, "We have established procurement centers in Indonesia and India, and firmly control the largest real hair acquisition network in the region."

"Well, the next step is to see how far the global wig market will develop and whether it can dominate an important industrial sector in Hong Kong."

When Chan Kwong-leung brought up the concept of "new industrial categories in Hong Kong," Cheng Chi-choi said, "Recently, many people have been trying to poach our staff and have gone to great lengths to spy on our trade secrets, which is very troublesome!"

Chen Guangliang said, “Although emerging industries are usually very conservative about technology, we cannot be like that. When I entered this industry, my intention was to benefit the whole of Hong Kong. So from now on, whenever someone asks to visit our factory, we can arrange for someone to receive them and make it public to everyone how to purchase raw materials for wigs and wig manufacturing machines. We will also accept anyone who sends people to learn from us. I believe you come from the Xinfeng Textile Group, so you should understand!”

Zheng Zhicai was shocked and said in disbelief, "Boss, the wig industry is different from the textile industry. Our competitors can learn it quickly. So our competitive advantage is only the sales channels, wig raw materials, scale and management that we have established in advance."

Chan Kwong-leung laughed and said, "Isn't that enough? Let go, from now on you are the chairman of the Hong Kong Wig Association, and everyone will remember your contributions to Hong Kong!"

Zheng Zhicai quickly replied, "I wouldn't dare. I was appointed by the company, and all of this is part of the company's strategy!"

Chen Guangliang patted him on the shoulder and then said, “Some people are sending us to learn, so we don’t need to pay them salaries. Making wigs isn’t like manufacturing high-tech products. If people can’t learn anything here, they’ll look for other channels. Even if they take some detours, they’ll eventually succeed. A thriving wig industry in Hong Kong benefits everyone!”

"I understand!"

“Okay, Ping An Bank will send someone to be stationed there later to support the development of Hong Kong’s wig industry. Of course, I still have a lot of confidence in Rebecca wigs. The first to try something new is more likely to scale up.”

"Yes, Mr. Chen."

Chen Guangliang left satisfied!

It's not that he's truly a man of noble character, but rather that he knows how to make choices.

He can't monopolize the wig industry, so he might as well enhance the influence of Cheung Kong Industrial Group and himself in Hong Kong.

The more prosperous Hong Kong becomes, the more his real estate, banking, and other businesses will benefit.

One prospers, all prosper! (End of Chapter)