A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Zhang Min, who had just turned eighteen, walked into an office building in Phase II of the Haifu Center. Several employees immediately stood up and greeted him respectfully.

"Hello, Miss Zhang!"

This scene made Zhang Min feel triumphant. She went from being a "Northern girl" to becoming the owner of an investment company with assets of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

As for the cost, it shouldn't even be called a cost. Zhang Min felt that submitting to a big shot like Chen Guangliang was simply a stroke of luck.

"Ms. Zhang, the company's paperwork has been completed, and the 20 million yuan has been deposited into our account!" A female assistant handed Zhang Min a document.

Her eyes held not only respect but also envy.

An eighteen-year-old girl suddenly becomes the mistress of a powerful figure, and from then on, her career takes off.

Although it's unknown which tycoon's mistress she is, the fact that she could give him HK$2000 million in one go and have connections in the banking sector is enough to prove that the person Zhang Min is involved with is no ordinary person.

As for why people don't guess that Zhang Min comes from a wealthy family, it's actually quite simple: Zhang Min's Cantonese isn't fluent enough, and her behavior doesn't seem like that of someone from a wealthy family; instead, she seems like a mainland Chinese woman.

Zhang Min took the documents with a slight tremor, then remembered the man behind her. She immediately perked up and said arrogantly, "Call everyone to a meeting!"

Five employees rushed to the conference room. These employees were all seasoned professionals, not newbies. They had joined Zhang Min's investment company through referrals and only knew that Zhang Min had a powerful background.

A strong background indicates a bright future. After all, these people are just employees, not managers. Joining a startup like this naturally offers a better chance of success.

At the start of the meeting, Zhang Min said, "The company is in its early stages, but things will be very busy, so everyone should be prepared."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt reassured, fearing that they would be idle after changing jobs and that the company would go bankrupt, making their choice a mistake.

"Yes, Miss Zhang!"

Zhang Min then said, "Although the company's funds are only HK$2000 million, we have already received five times leverage from the bank, so whether we invest in real estate or securities, the total amount is HK$1 million!"

These words shocked not only the five employees, but also Zhang Min himself.

One hundred million! And she's only eighteen.

Of course, she owes HK$8000 million, plus interest.

If she lost money and didn't get Sir Chen's help, she would have no choice but to jump into the sea.

But she wouldn't be content with mediocrity, so she would actually follow Sir Chen's plan.

"The first thing we did was to secretly acquire shares of Chinese Estates Holdings, with a quota of 150 million per trading day."

"The second thing is to purchase properties, mainly large housing estates and luxury homes."

"The third thing is to acquire shares of Hong Kong and China Gas. This can be done gradually."

An employee familiar with securities advised, "Ms. Zhang, although Chinese Estates is a long-established real estate company, its operations are conservative, and its long-term investment value is not high."

Zhang Min said confidently, "It's alright, just do as I say!"

She muttered to herself, "What do you know? I have the God of Wealth guiding me."

A month later, Bassina Company, a company associated with the Li Guanchun family, offered HK$16 per share in cash to acquire more than 1300 million shares of Chinese Estates Holdings, with the condition that the acquisition would only be effective if it acquired more than 50% of the shares.

Later, Amex Inc. (owned by Joseph Lau) bid HK$16.5 per share.

On April 19, Amex raised its price to HK$18, forcing the Li family to withdraw.

The appearance of Hong Kong snipers, just like in his previous life, actually surprised Chan Kwong-leung when he saw the newspaper.

Midea Group's 'Midea Electric Appliances' has always had a business of producing 'electric fans', but it seems that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it did not stop the rise of Amigo.

At the time, the oil crisis in Europe and the United States sparked a wave of energy conservation, leading to sluggish sales of air conditioners in the US, while electric fans experienced a boom. Therefore, the US market alone was enough to bring explosive growth to Hong Kong's electric fan industry.

In this light, Aimeigao's rise to prominence is quite logical, since Chen Guangliang didn't intend to target a nobody.

"Mr. Chen, what are you looking at? Are you looking at news about Aimeigao? You're amazing! When I bought it, the price was just over 14 yuan, and now it's almost 19 yuan, a 30% increase!"

On the yacht Serenity, eighteen-year-old Zhang Min was pure and innocent.
She nestled against 76-year-old Chen Guangliang, like a little girl in love.

Actually, it's somewhat incongruous; at least Chen Guangliang looks about the same age as his father, and of course, he's more than qualified to be her grandfather.

Indeed, there's a reason why men still prefer eighteen-year-olds until death.

"Since the price has gone up, you should sell immediately without hesitation!"

Zhang Min immediately tensed up. She first tentatively asked, "I heard from the employees that the other party might launch a counter-takeover, so the stock price will continue to rise!"

Chen Guangliang said casually, "Will you listen to them or me?"

Zhang Min quickly replied, "Of course I'll listen to you. I'll call my agent right now and have them cash out for me."

Chen Guangliang remained silent and continued reading his newspaper.

It's actually quite simple. The takeover battle has basically reached a stalemate. It's impossible for Joseph Lau to acquire shares from the stock market because shareholders have tasted success before. So they will only continue to drive up the stock price in the secondary market, hoping that the combination of Fung and Wei Li will launch a counter-takeover.

At this point, it's the easiest time to cash out and exit without much pressure.

When Joseph Lau acquires the Li family's shares in Chinese Estates Holdings, his shareholding will exceed that of the Fung family and Sun Hung Kai Securities. At that time, both sides will hold around 40% of the shares, but neither will be able to continue the fight. In that case, whoever has more shares will have more say.

Therefore, whether in the past life or this life, when Joseph Lau acquired Chinese Estates Holdings, Wayne Li was the second largest shareholder. The two parties will cooperate briefly, and the stock price will calm down later.

Although these things are none of my business, now that I know, it seems like I can't just sit idly by and do nothing!
A moment later, Zhang Min walked in, clearly having finished the phone call.

At this time, although she was only eighteen years old, she was arrogant and conceited. After recent development, she had also become more womanly. Of course, she still couldn't reach the charm of "Teacher He" and "Qimeng" in her previous life.

It's okay, he still has the energy to develop it anyway.

"Mr. Chen, you made over seven million this time!"

Zhang Min sat down and began to speak excitedly.

In less than two months, an investment of 30 million yielded a profit of 7.5 million. And his initial investment was actually only 6 million. Chen Guangliang laughed, "Now you know how easy it is for rich people to make money!"

Zhang Min said sensibly and obediently, "I don't know if it's easy for rich people to make money, but I think it's because you're so capable, Mr. Chen, that you make money so easily."

"Good girl, so lovable!"

Chen Guangliang happily lifted Zhang Min's chin and bestowed upon her a mouthful of immortal saliva.

He then said, "After cashing out, I will continue to buy shares of Central Gas and also start buying shares of Bank of East Asia, intending to hold them for the long term."

"Okay, I promise I'll listen to you and not make any reckless investments, otherwise if I lose money, I won't be able to pay it back even if I sell my shares."

Chen Guangliang smiled. He gave Zhang Min 2000 million yuan, but made her invest with five times leverage.

Actually, this wasn't him playing tricks or trying to keep Zhang Min in check.

For him, a woman he'd slept with once wasn't necessarily someone he wanted to keep. Of course, if a girl wanted to stay, he could afford to support her.

Zhang Min's use of leverage is purely a matter of his business mindset—using a small amount of capital to do business with several times the initial investment.

This time.

Chen Guangliang decided to have Guan Jiahui, Li Zhi, and Zhang Min use their funds to buy shares in Hong Kong and China Gas and Bank of East Asia; then, when Liu Luanxiong came to snipe them, they would sell them at a high price.

In this way, someone will be there to help them get ahead, so why not? As for Joseph Lau cashing out, he will naturally face pressure, since the three women, Kwan Ka-wai, Lee Chi, and Cheung Man, have hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in assets.

However, given Chen Guangliang's wealth, it's clearly inappropriate for him to be eating such scraps of meat. But he also considered the need to nurture these women from infancy to adulthood, gradually accumulating wealth. Furthermore, Chen Guangliang's wealth had already been largely divided; if he were to use any of it, his family would inevitably have some reservations.

So it's just a matter of speaking; even if you take a feather from a passing goose, it doesn't matter.

Accompanied by senior executives from Wharf Holdings, Chen Wenming visited Times Square in Causeway Bay.

"Mr. Chen, since Times Square opened last year, the overall commercial level of Causeway Bay has been upgraded. At the same time, Times Square has become the undisputed core commercial complex in Causeway Bay," the operations manager of Times Square introduced from the side.

Chen Wenming stood outside the square, looking up at the towering Times Square, feeling a sense of pride.

Wharf Holdings Limited owns two major real estate complexes: Harbour City and Times Square.

However, Harbour City was a product of Hongkong Land. When they acquired Wharf Holdings, Harbour City had already entered the later stages of development and was completely completed in the early 1980s, so it cannot be considered his masterpiece.

However, the Times Square project was initiated by Chan Man-ming. He joined Wharf Holdings in 1977 and immediately halted the project because the land was originally intended for the construction of high-end residential buildings (the former tram depot).

Under his planning, the project was officially launched in the 1980s.

The entire project includes two office towers, Shell Tower and Westminster Tower, which are 46 and 36 stories high, respectively, as well as a 16-story shopping mall, which will house 300 shops, 18 restaurants, 4 cinemas and 700 parking spaces, with a total building area of ​​240 million square feet.

The construction of Times Square took five years and was completed and opened at the end of 1985.

The building is truly magnificent, with its exterior walls constructed of granite and frameless glass. The most eye-catching feature on the wall is Hong Kong's first giant outdoor TV screen. The building is surrounded by a 3.3-square-foot open courtyard plaza, with a large clock tower in one corner. Its stunning appearance sets it apart from its peers, instantly making it the most premium commercial building in Causeway Bay and a landmark of the area.

The construction of Times Square was a great success, as no additional land premium was required and the total investment was only 15 billion yuan in construction costs. It is expected to bring the group more than 5 million yuan in rental income every year.

Of course, the rent is still increasing, so it may only take two and a half years to break even.

After inspecting Times Square, Chen Wenming immediately convened a meeting of senior executives of Wharf Holdings to discuss the group's next steps.

Today, Wharf Holdings is not a listed company and has extremely low debt.

In this situation, there is an urgent need to find new projects, given the booming development of Hong Kong's real estate market and the influx of cash flow, requiring a way to channel funds.

"The Times Square project on Orchard Road in Singapore is progressing smoothly, but the group still has a considerable amount of funds available. What are your opinions?"

The acquisition of Wharf Holdings cost 'Worldwide Shipping' a lot of savings over the years, but it didn't run out of money; in fact, it even helped pay off some of Wharf Holdings' debts.

Today, Wharf Holdings not only owns Harbour City and Times Square in Causeway Bay, but also Times Square on Orchard Road (under construction); of course, Wharf Holdings also has some port and transportation assets, as well as scattered real estate assets.

The vice president of Wharf Holdings immediately said, "Wharf can currently develop real estate in Hong Kong, and of course, it can also consider redeveloping the five residential towers in Harbour City into first-class commercial office buildings."

Back in the day, Wharf Holdings built a large portion of Harbour City's land into high-end residential apartments, consisting of five buildings.

But this kind of planning is a waste for Hong Kong today. Such a luxurious place should be used to build first-class commercial office buildings.

Chen Wenming said, "Wharf Holdings in Hong Kong should focus on developing the projects it already has!"

Once these words were spoken, everyone understood that this was to avoid competition with Cheung Kong Holdings and to prevent a situation of "one company dominating the market".

Everyone knows that the "Five Tigers of the Chen Family" monopolize all aspects of Hong Kong's economy, and this family must be wary of such claims.

A senior executive said, "In Hong Kong, only the five residential towers in Harbour City that are being redeveloped can be designated as Grade A office buildings. Last year, Cheung Kong proposed building a new airport on Lantau Island. Although this private airport construction plan was rejected by the Hong Kong government, it prompted the government to consider the new airport. At the same time, modern technology has allowed Kai Tak Airport to gradually relax the property height restrictions in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is also an opportunity for the five residential towers in Harbour City to be converted into five office towers."

The five residential towers in Harbour City each occupy a very large site, so there is no need to merge them. They can be demolished and placed on the same site to build an office building of about 40 stories.

This is a massive project.

However, Chen Wenming clearly believes that it is too early.

"The redevelopment of the Harbour City residential building into an office building needs to be postponed again. I've decided to invest in real estate in Japan, and I'll go and investigate later."

Chen Wenming's words raised some questions among the crowd.

He explained, "The key is the continued appreciation of the yen, and the appreciation of the yen will inevitably lead to a decrease in Japanese exports, so it is very necessary to boost domestic demand."

This resolution is therefore passed.

Chen Wenming's idea was actually very simple: first, take the funds to Japan for a trip, and then sell the Japanese assets at the end of the 1980s to invest in the redevelopment of Harbour City in Hong Kong.

In fact, Universal Properties, a subsidiary of Universal Group, has nearly doubled its assets invested in Japan, with a total value of around US$600 million.

Furthermore, Worldwide Shipping was in a state of 'struggle' at this time. After all, it had a fleet of more than 800 million tons, and even without debt, the fact that the ships were docked in port under these circumstances still required a lot of expenses, which was equivalent to operating at a loss.

Overall, the main profit-generating businesses of the Global Group currently lie in real estate, trade, and aviation. (End of Chapter)