A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

After his trip to Monaco, Chen Guangliang attended a tanker conference in Europe. As the president of the World Tanker Association, he was required to attend.

He then flew to New York.

Such "global flights" became a regular part of Chen Guangliang's work starting in the late 1950s; and in the 1960s, the frequency increased significantly.

Chen Guangliang's four sons and one daughter have joined the family business, and his two sons are already 20 years old; they have become Chen Guangliang's source of strength.

Upon arriving at New York Airport, Chen Guangliang saw Yan Renmei and Jiang Meiying with a group of people to greet him. The three of them then got into a stretched Rolls-Royce and drove towards the villa on Long Island.

Jiang Meiying joked, "Hey, Audrey didn't come along. Are you all tired of staying here?"

During their trip to Europe, Chen Guangliang and Audrey Hepburn did indeed spend about ten days together, mainly because Chen Guangliang would bring Audrey Hepburn with him when attending some events.

Chen Guangliang knew Jiang Meiying was joking, but he just smiled and said, "She also has work to do."

Audrey Hepburn's assets were already sixty to seventy million US dollars, but they mainly consisted of beach resorts and the money earned from those resorts over the years, which she then reinvested.

Seeing that Jiang Meiying was about to tease her again, Yan Renmei stopped her, saying, "Alright, why are you jealous of each other when you're from the same nest!"

Jiang Meiying shut up in time!
Now she doesn't care about three women making a drama; instead, she cares about Audrey Hepburn eating alone.

It was partly due to their physical condition; although they were all in their forties or fifties, they were actually in the physical condition of someone in their early thirties. Coupled with their youthful mindset, this led to some minor incidents.

Back at the Long Island villa, Yan Renmei's fourth son, Chen Wensheng, and Jiang Meiying's second son, Chen Wenhua, were both there.

"Father"

"Well, how's your internship going?"

Chen Wensheng and Chen Wenhua were both born in 1942, with Chen Wenhua being the older brother.

Chen Wensheng was born in Chongqing.

Jiang Meiying went to the United States while pregnant, so Chen Wenhua was the only child born in the United States.

The two brothers were not only the same age, but also classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This summer, because they were already 20 years old, Chen Guangliang allowed them to intern at Jiang Meiying's investment company.

Chen Wenhua said, "We've learned some practical skills, but of course we're still just doing odd jobs under our eldest sister!"

Chen Guangliang laughed. If we were to say which of his children had the highest prestige among his siblings, his eldest son, Chen Wenjie, would naturally be number one; but his eldest sister, Chen Leyi, would be close behind. This was mainly because Chen Leyi had been pampered since childhood and had an outgoing personality, which gave her a lot of authority over her younger brothers and sisters, and she was the kind of person who would really beat them up.

Chen Wensheng then said, "The older sister said that after our internship, she would give us some funds to open an account for practical experience."

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "What you two need to learn isn't stock trading. You could say that our entire family's stock investments are all based on what I tell you to buy and when to sell. You don't need to waste any energy on that. What you need to learn is real financial knowledge—finance and business management. Frankly speaking, even if you were Wall Street stock market gurus, the money you've earned wouldn't be enough to compare. Not to mention, your father has been in the financial markets for over thirty years and has never lost money, with annual profits of around 20%. What do you have to compare with me?"

The two brothers were instantly shocked. They naturally knew their father's abilities, and their original idea of ​​making some money in the stock market quickly disappeared—yes, when it comes to stock trading, who can compare to their father? During their internship, they discovered that their mother/stepmother's investment company already had assets of hundreds of millions of US dollars. This was all thanks to their father, after all, they had a general understanding of their mother/stepmother's abilities.

Chen Wenhua then said, "We will listen to our father."

Chen Wensheng nodded in agreement: "We will listen to our father. Investing in stocks is a minor matter. I remember my father often talking about value investing. To realize this value, we need to have great skills to understand the prospects of the industry and the management of the company. So ultimately, finance and business management are what we should master."

Seeing how sensible his two sons were, Chen Guangliang was very satisfied. Of course, the fundamental reason was that he, as their father, had always been a role model for them.

"Therefore, if you are optimistic about a company in the future, you should either buy a majority stake and become a major shareholder, using your abilities to bring better development to the company; or buy a portion of the shares, become a director, and offer your own development suggestions, rather than buying a company's stock and waiting for it to appreciate. Doing so is completely unskilled and lacks any difficulty."

"He is the father"

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Guangliang went on vacation with his family.

after one day.

In a luxuriously decorated office in an office building in Manhattan, Chen Guangliang is working.

Jiang Meiying and Yan Renmei were both dressed in office lady attire. One was reporting to him, while the other was reading a magazine on the sofa.

"Starting in June, we began buying stocks, including IBM, Boeing, and Coca-Cola. Our focus was on IBM; we currently hold IBM stock worth slightly over $40 million, held across ten companies under the names of four individuals."

At the start of this year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell from a high of 720 points to a low of below 550 points, a drop of 27%. Under these circumstances, Jiang Meiying's exit from the market last year was equivalent to a profit of at least 30%, as companies like IBM saw their shares fall by half.

Now that they've bought back at the bottom, they only need to wait until 1967-1968 to gradually begin liquidating their holdings and cashing out.

Chen Guangliang estimated that the value of the securities held by Jiang Meiying's family at that time could be as high as 5 million US dollars, because IBM alone could appreciate seven or eight times.

"Well, since we've already bought it, there's no need to put in much effort for the next few years. The main purpose of this branch of the family is to let Wenjin develop in the real estate industry. I will make other arrangements after Wenhua graduates and joins the workforce."

The daughter doesn't need to plan her career; she can simply enjoy the cash gifts from the family or invest in securities and real estate.

"it is good"

After quickly finishing his work, Chen Guangliang's hand slipped under Jiang Meiying's uniform skirt. The black stockings, supported by her voluptuous figure, presented a perfect aesthetic.

Yan Renmei noticed the unusual situation, muttered something, and then got up to pull down the screen of the window. She didn't want the 'family scandal' to get out, even though they were a legally married couple.

Office, uniform skirt—in his previous life, Chen Guangliang never understood why wealthy people liked to have affairs with their secretaries. In this life, he finally understood: it's all under the same roof.
Soon, Jiang Meiying's voluptuous figure began to sway.

Chen Guangliang naturally wouldn't let Yan Renmei off the hook either.

The morning mist over Victoria Harbour had not yet dissipated when Chen Guangliang was already standing in the sample room of the Wah Tai Industrial Building in Kwun Tong.

In the center of the glass display case, the machine, made of brass and acrylic, was humming softly. The robotic arm, holding a pink plush bear, slowly rose up, paused at the top for three seconds, and then suddenly fell down—this was the seventh failed attempt at debugging.

“Mr. Chen, we still can’t control the spring force properly.” The engineer from Huatai Toys wiped the sweat from his brow, clutching a disassembly diagram of the Yili candy machine he had brought back from the United States. The antique machine from the 1920s lay on the workbench, its tin bucket already rusted. “After we changed the bucket to a three-finger gripper, the center of gravity completely changed.” Chen Guangliang bent down to examine the gear assembly inside the machine, and suddenly noticed the plastic toy samples piled up in the corner.

“Reduce the weight of the bear by 30%,” he said, picking up a Donald Duck doll and pinching its soft rubber beak between his fingertips. “Add anti-slip texture to the inside of the claws, using the same frosted process used to produce plastic slippers.”

This decision later proved to have changed the landscape of the entire toy industry.

A week later, the improved claw machine underwent its first test at Daimaru Department Store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Huatai's general manager, Su Dongsheng, suddenly burst out laughing as he looked at the crowd in line—a man in a suit had thrown in twenty coins but still hadn't won anything, and his tie was all askew.

"Mr. Su," the department store manager handed over the sales report, his voice filled with unbelievable excitement, "Yesterday alone, we used up three boxes of coins."

They also realized that such a claw machine could bring a lot of foot traffic to the mall, which was a win-win situation.

"Manager Li, we are currently only testing, but don't worry, the machine will stay here, but we will send someone to keep an eye on it, mainly to record the test data."

"Okay. Once you've officially started production, be sure to let us know. We want to be the first to try it out."

"it is good"

soon.

Several Hong Kong newspapers reported on the news of the 'claw machine,' and this novel device caused a great sensation because it was invented by a Hong Kong company, which was exciting.

A row of claw machines has appeared in Amazon's shopping mall in the United States. Some machines contain Barbie dolls, while others contain Donald Duck.
The machine accepts a special coin, including a silver one-dollar coin made in 1935, as the special coin is a replica of the silver one-dollar coin, only made of a different material.

"One dollar for one try, wow, this is way more fun than slot machines!" A young man hurriedly exchanged his tokens and started playing seriously.

By this time, a crowd had already gathered around him, after all, these things were really too rare.

"We caught it! Shuit, how did it fall!"

"Continue, I'll insert another coin!"

The machines were so captivating that soon long queues formed around the mall as people eagerly tried to win the prizes.

When someone grabbed him and dropped him into the hole, everyone screamed.

Little did they know that they had already spent more than twice the price of a doll that was worth two or three US dollars on the market.

Of course, emotional value is priceless.

Time flies, and winter is here in the blink of an eye.

At the Wing Cheong Yacht Manufacturing Plant in Tseung Kwan O, thousands of workers are working overtime, many of whom are skilled workers and engineers.

Since the 'Poseidon I' was exhibited in July this year, orders for the Poseidon series yachts have exploded, with bookings even extending two years into the future. Meanwhile, the United States and Italy have also purchased patents for the 'duplex cockpit' and 'flybridge system,' but clearly they won't catch up so quickly, given that Rongchang Yachts has spent three years developing these technologies.

The duplex cockpit and flybridge system are not the only two patented technologies of the new generation of yachts; there is also the application of fiberglass technology in the yacht industry.

"Boss, the shipyard on Tsing Yi Island will be operational by the first half of next year, at which time our production capacity will more than double," Liu Zhaoxian, general manager of Rongchang Yachts, reported to Chen Guangliang.

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Although expanding production is a good thing, we must also ensure quality, otherwise the reputation we have worked so hard to build will be easily lost."

Liu Zhaoxian said earnestly, "Boss, rest assured. Rongchang Yachts has always adhered to the quality management system of the Yangtze River Industrial Group. We are already preparing to train the workers at the new factory and increase the proportion of technical engineers."

The emergence of Rongchang Yachts has effectively compensated for the gradual decline of Hong Kong's shipbuilding industry.

After World War II, due to the destruction of shipyards in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong's shipbuilding industry developed unprecedentedly, becoming one of the two major industries along with textiles. In 1947, two ocean-going ships of 6000 tons were built.

Of course, the shipbuilding industry was largely dominated by British capital, such as Swire and Jardine Matheson. Although Chinese-owned shipyards emerged later, their investment ratio was far less than that of British capital, and they only built small boats.

The rise of Wing Cheong Yachts has created 2000 to 3000 new shipbuilding jobs in Hong Kong, and many shipbuilding workers who were about to lose their jobs have now joined Wing Cheong Yachts.

This is only the early stage of development. Chen Guangliang believes that by the mid-to-late 1960s, Hong Kong's yacht manufacturing industry will be able to provide at least tens of thousands of jobs for the local community.

"Manager Liu, how did Wenkai perform?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhaoxian wanted to praise him immediately, but considering his boss's personality, he thought it over carefully before speaking fairly: "For the past three years, Engineer Chen has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the research and development of yachts, practically treating this place as his home. He is very focused and has leadership qualities. And since July of this year, Engineer Liu has also been in charge of the marketing activities for the Poseidon series. Although our products are excellent, without Engineer Liu's hard work overseas, I believe the order would not be on the way for two years. To be honest, although Engineer Liu is young, he is more suitable than me to be the general manager of Rongchang Yachts!"

Chen Guangliang glanced at Liu Zhaoxian, and after sensing his sincerity, he said, "Next year, I plan to transfer him to a position in the group. You need to be prepared!"

The Cheung Kong Industrial Group is enormous, a pillar of Hong Kong's industry, and even globally, it's considered a large industrial conglomerate. Chen Wenkai, as the heir to this group, naturally wouldn't work in a subsidiary company.

"Ok"

Shortly after, Chen Guangliang left Rongchang Yacht Manufacturing Plant.

Looking at Chen Guangliang's retreating figure, Liu Zhaoxian couldn't help but mutter to himself, "None of the descendants of the Chen family are weak. This family will probably continue to grow stronger even a hundred years from now."

He had heard of them before: Chen Wenjie, the eldest son of the first wife, was in charge of Cheung Kong Holdings, and his work style was steady and he had the demeanor of a general; Chen Wenming, the second son of the first wife, was always on the go, networking and marketing around the world, and he was able to successfully lease out ships from Worldwide Shipping. His work style was swift and decisive.

Liu Zhaoxian had worked with Chen Wenkai, the third son of the eldest son's family, for over three years, which allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of Chen Wenkai. He was a typical techie, but he also excelled in marketing, proving himself to be both a skilled and capable individual. Furthermore, Liu Zhaoxian discovered that Chen Wenkai possessed strong leadership charisma and a great team spirit, which were significant strengths.

Everyone at Rongchang Yacht knows that Chen Wenkai is a workaholic and is usually very amiable to his colleagues, which are great qualities.

The boss Liu Zhaoxian knew was a typical boss with a bad temper; he had been scolded by the boss over the phone one night, which was also because he had done something wrong. (End of Chapter)