A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

It’s Spring Again (1969).

On this day, the Sing Tao Shangri-La Hotel officially opened, and Chen Guangliang and his wife Yan Renmei returned to this land once again.

Of course, the Shangri-La Hotel (Sing Tao) that has opened is only part of a 28-story modern wing hotel; two more phases of construction have yet to be completed.

Regardless, this 28-story modern hotel tower is currently the most luxurious and modern hotel in Singapore. The opening ceremony was attended by a large number of guests, including prominent Chinese figures and wealthy individuals from across Southeast Asia, as well as the Chief Executive of Sing Tao Hotel.

At the scene, Chen Guangliang and his wife became the focus of everyone's attention, not only because of Chen Guangliang's wealth, but also because of the great contributions he made during the War of Resistance against Japan.

“Mr. Chen, welcome back to Singapore!” A fifty-year-old man approached Chen Guangliang and raised his glass.

Upon seeing him, Chen Guangliang felt as if he were seeing an old friend, and said with a smile, "So it's Chengyi! I'm practically a Singaporean now, I'm often in Singapore, haha!"

This man, who looks much older than Chen Guangliang, is Li Guangqian's eldest son.

When Chen Guangliang saw him, he didn't think of Li Guangqian, but rather of Chen Jiageng, whom he had known since they were in Chongqing, because Li Chengyi was his grandson.

Unbeknownst to many, Chen Guangliang is already 59 years old, although he looks only 40 to outsiders (or he deliberately plays the role of an older man).

Li Chengyi was not bothered by Chen Guangliang calling him "Chengyi". He had become friends with Chen Guangliang in the late 1940s and early 1950s, so he was indeed a junior.

Not to mention, this was already a prominent Chinese businessman in the 1930s, one of the two major donors to the January 28 Incident in Shanghai (the other being Du Yuesheng), the general manager of the China Merchants Group, the founder of China's modern sugar industry, a senior financial advisor to the Republic of China, and a patriotic businessman in the rear areas during the War of Resistance against Japan.
“Mr. Chen is right. The Chief Executive awarded the title of ‘Honorary Citizen’.”

Everyone laughed in a friendly manner.

Of course, in everyone's eyes, Chen Guangliang's influence in the 1960s was still that of being listed as the "richest Chinese in the world", "No.1 among the top ten Chinese businessmen", and "the world's shipping magnate".

Later, many Chinese businessmen from Southeast Asia sought out Chen Guangliang for a chat, and it seemed that they were all interested in investing in Hong Kong.

In response, Chan Kwong-leung stated very openly: "Hong Kong is great, very friendly to capital, not only allowing free movement of people, but also offering one of the highest rates of return in the world. If you have any ideas, you should definitely pursue them and not have any doubts about Hong Kong."

"With Mr. Chen's words, we can rest assured!"

"That's right."

Investing in Singapore or Hong Kong is not contradictory.

Chen Guangliang's investments in Singapore are actually limited to three major industries: real estate, hotels, and oil refining. In addition, there are some smaller investments, including shipping and industry, but the amounts are not large.

No matter how good Singapore's prospects are, it will never become his family's base.
In Chen Guangliang's plan, Hong Kong will always be the family's base, but he can spread his seeds all over the world.

After the party, Chen Guangliang and Yan Renmei checked into the presidential suite at the Shangri-La Hotel, where he had been renting the suite long-term.

In the suite, Yan Renmei, charming and beautiful, said with emotion, "The Shangri-La Hotel has finally opened in Singapore. This is the third time we have participated in the opening of a Shangri-La Hotel. The first time was more than 30 years ago."

She had a deep affection for the Shangri-La Hotel. When she was a student, she often met with Chen Guangliang at the Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai. At that time, the "Eight Beauties of China and the West" often gathered together and attended dances.

As time went by, the fates of the "Eight Beauties of China and the West" varied greatly; some stayed in mainland China, while others went overseas.

Chen Guangliang sat on the sofa and smiled, "Shangri-La is a very good hotel brand, and it's also the representative of our family's hotels. Although there are only two in the world at present, it will definitely spread all over the world in the future. In the 1970s, there will definitely be hotels in Tokyo and London."

We need to take it one step at a time. It's not that we lack funds, but rather that we need to proceed steadily!

Yan Renmei nodded calmly. She had always greatly admired her husband's business planning. Knowing when to be fast and when to be slow was definitely the best decision.

Just as Yan Renmei was reminiscing, Chen Guangliang came up behind her with a glass of champagne. She was dressed in a blue and white porcelain cheongsam, looking charming and noble.

Chen Guangliang sniffed at her neck, noticing the faint fragrance and her delicate, flawless skin. It was hard to imagine that Yan Renmei was a 36-year-old mother; time hadn't left many marks on her.

"Am I getting old?" Yan Renmei turned around and asked charmingly, her breath sweet as orchids.

"No, she just has a bit more of a mature woman's charm!"

"You're just lying! But time flies. I met you when I was 14, and gave birth to Wenjie for you when I was 18. I wonder how many more years I'll stay young!"

The last sentence was written on a whim!

Although she and Chen Guangliang have a very good relationship, and her four sons each run a large conglomerate, and her daughters are all building their careers; her husband is different from other men. 'Immortality' may be too exaggerated, but anti-aging is absolutely true, even though his women have all acquired 'anti-aging' genes.

It would be a terrible thing if such a husband were no longer young—after all, he is an extremely capable man and would never become a monk.

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "I'm five years older than you. If you're not young anymore, then I'm old too. Growing old together is a good thing!"

Yan Renmei has his own essence nourishing him; at 54 years old, he looks like he's in his early thirties. In her previous life, Zhao Yazhi could still play a young girl on screen at seventy; while Yan Renmei could probably still look like a young woman in real life even at seventy, at most like a mature woman.

Putting everything else aside, Yan Renmei is 54 years old this year, but her body functions like someone in their early thirties, and her skin is still incredibly supple.

"I'll serve you"

Yan Renmei was in a good mood and squatted down on her own initiative.

Chen Wenjin stepped off the plane and quickly walked happily toward someone, saying, "Big brother, why are you here to pick me up?"

Chen Wenjie patted him on the shoulder and said, "If I don't come to pick you up, who will? Come on, let's get together as brothers tonight."

"it is good"

That evening, the four brothers, Chan Man-kit, Chan Man-kam, Chan Man-kai, and Chan Man-sing, gathered in a private room at the Furama Hotel in Causeway Bay. Chan Man-ming was unable to attend because he was overseas. The four brothers had a very good relationship and chatted about everything under the sun.

“Dad and Mom went to Singapore, otherwise we would have had a family dinner today. But it’s good, it’s rare for us brothers to get together alone.” Chen Wenjie, as the eldest brother, raised his glass and said.

Chen Wenjin also raised her glass and said, "As soon as I got off the plane, I went to visit my grandmother. She is in good health, which is a blessing for our family."

The brothers nodded. Grandma's presence in the family wasn't very strong, but they had felt her simple and genuine affection since they were young. It was a completely different kind of affection from their mother's strictness and their father's magnanimity. They all remembered Grandma's warm care and concern.

Everyone chatted about everything under the sun, but avoided talking about their careers, which seemed intentional.

"By the way, how's Wenhua's child? I can't wait to see him until summer vacation!" Chen Wenjie said with a smile.

Chen Wenhua, the second son of the second wife, got married last year. Only Chen Guangliang attended the wedding, as the first wife's branch of the family was not successful. This is also the family's usual practice: the weddings of the children of the second, third, and fourth wives are always held in a low-key Western-style church, and other branches of the family do not need to attend.

The main purpose of doing this is to downplay the issue of the number of rooms.

However, every summer or Chinese New Year, the Chen family would gather in Hong Kong for at least a week to strengthen their bonds and help the women who married into the family integrate into the family, otherwise it would affect the relationships of the third generation.

Chen Wenjin laughed and said, "Very healthy, with big eyes! Our family genes are strong; you can tell we have more Eastern genes. Haha!"

The brothers laughed again. Chen Wenjin said this based on experience. He and Kelly already had four children (three sons and one daughter), but they were 60% Eastern and 40% Western. The key point was that Kelly was a purebred Westerner with blonde hair and blue eyes.

His younger brother, Chen Wenhua, also married a Westerner, and once again, their son's Eastern genes outweighed their Western genes.

The next morning, Chen Wenjin came to Chen Wenjie's office again. They hadn't talked about business yesterday, but they wanted to talk about it today.

Chan Man-kit took out a map, pointed to Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, and said, "This is the plot of land we call Salisbury Road Passage. The Hong Kong government is about to put it up for public auction. I think all aspects are suitable for the Sheraton Hotel to develop in Hong Kong. You can take a good look!"

Chen Wenjin, who has lived in Hong Kong for quite some time, immediately said, "This location is indeed excellent, right next to the Peninsula Hotel. Land in Tsim Sha Tsui is scarce, and it's rare for it to come up, so we naturally have to seize the opportunity. In Central, there are the Shangri-La Hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and the Hilton Hotel, but on Hong Kong Island, there's only the Peninsula Hotel, which is available for investment in a five-star hotel."

Chan Man-kit nodded, then pointed to the Tsim Sha Tsui waters and said, "I've heard that the Hong Kong government is considering land reclamation here, which fully demonstrates the development potential of Tsim Sha Tsui."

Chen Wenjin's eyes lit up, but he said, "What's your prediction for the price of this plot of land, brother? Has the Hong Kong property market not yet taken off?"

Chen Wenjie smiled and shook his head, saying, "Then you're wrong! This plot of land is known in Hong Kong's business community as the 'Tsim Sha Tsui Land King.' I can predict for you that it will probably be around HK$2500 per square foot. This price per unit is already about 80% of the price of land in Central in 1964. In other words, commercial land in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui has recovered, and has even risen slightly. The only thing that hasn't risen is residential property prices."

Chen Wenjin nodded and said, "In that case, the price per unit of this land will be high, but the land is a bit small, only 15000 square feet."

Chen Wenjie said, "The plot ratio is very high, it is surrounded by streets on all four sides, and it can accommodate about 28 square feet of floor space. More importantly, if the Sheraton Hotel does not choose this plot, we do not know if there will be a more suitable one later."

"Okay, that's the one. I'll go check it out in person later!"

"I'll accompany you"

"Will this affect my older brother?"

"Look what you've said, let's go."

A month later.

The auction for the Salisbury Road access site in Tsim Sha Tsui was held as scheduled. Amazon Hotels, a US company, won the land at a price of HK$3100 per square foot, for a total price of HK$4650 million.

The price of this plot of land set a new record for the highest land price in Hong Kong, even surpassing the previous record for the highest price per unit in Central (of course, Central was much more expensive at that time).

More importantly, the sale of this land marked the beginning of a boom in Hong Kong's real estate market, with investors flocking to the industry.

The owner of this land is Amazon Hotels, which has also announced a partnership with Sheraton Hotels to build a five-star hotel—the Sheraton. (Ownership and management rights are separate, with approximately 4% of annual revenue allocated as a hotel management fee.)
"dad"

Chen Wenjin visited the Cheung Kong Group's office building again, and this time he went into the chairman's office.

"To be honest, I was a bit surprised by the price this time; it's much higher than I expected. Of course, this is determined by Hong Kong's economy, so it's still very good value for money."

What they didn't know was that in the previous life, the price of this piece of land was HK$2661 per square foot, while in this life it was HK$3102 per square foot, an increase of nearly 20%.

Of course, Hong Kong's GDP reached HK$188 billion last year, which is about 20% higher than in the previous year.

Chen Wenjin nodded and said, "It doesn't matter if the price is a little higher, after all, Hong Kong has a high rate of return and a promising economic outlook."

Later, Chen Guangliang asked, "How are your funds?"

Chen Wenjin immediately gave a detailed report: "Last year, I cashed out most of my Mattel shares, obtaining $5000 million in cash flow, which greatly improved my financial situation. Now, Amazon Group is maintaining stable development in the shopping mall and hotel sectors. The three new Ritz-Carlton hotels have been finalized or are under construction. With the Sheraton Hotel opening in Hong Kong, we are also considering opening in Japan. Amazon Shopping Mall will have nine locations by the 70s. Total assets are approximately $9 million. My current debt has also been greatly reduced to about 5%, which is extremely low in the United States. I am grateful to my father for creating so many opportunities for me. Whether it was investing in IBM or cashing out Mattel toys, they were all key to Amazon Group."

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "You are the eldest son of the second wife, and you are in the real estate and hotel industry. You can't do without capital. It's hard for me to treat you brothers equally, but the conditions and prospects I've given you are not bad. It's just that you've chosen different fields."

“We brothers have a very good relationship and are very grateful and satisfied with everything our father has given us.”

After chatting for a while, Chen Guangliang said, "Alright, let's have dinner together with our families tonight. You should go back to the United States. You can't waste too much time on these two trips a month. As your career grows, you won't need to do many things personally."

"Ok"

After Chen Wenjin left, Chen Guangliang smiled. He didn't actually like his children revolving around him. His children had their own careers, and the Chen family had businesses all over the world. This was his plan.

When gathered, they are a blazing fire; when scattered, they are countless stars. (End of Chapter)