America: My Time

Chapter 1570 The Clown
Chapter 1560 A Clown
What are clowns? These guys are clowns. While they were all clamoring to teach John a lesson and think they could take his place, their families' overseas sales and investments started to run into trouble. Even Old Master Huo underestimated the speed of John's counterattack. In fact, John had already made arrangements before he left. If they had been willing to admit defeat and apologize to John on the spot, the matter could have been let go. Unfortunately, they didn't seize that opportunity.

Old Huo's intervention wasn't actually to persuade John to show mercy, but rather to give these guys a chance to apologize. Unfortunately, they didn't see Old Huo's good intentions and instead complained that he was heartless. This is the ugliness of human nature!

"See? This is the madness of greed. They've all lost their minds, only seeing profit. They ignore all human relationships, even the opportunities Old Master Huo created for them. If they're like this, those Koreans will be too. It's all their scheming behind this. We can't let a single Korean stop them. Now they're causing trouble in Hong Kong again. The best way is to teach them a lesson, so they won't dare to act rashly, otherwise there will only be more trouble." After returning home, John pointed out to Lee Boo-jin, making her see the reality of the world!

If you're not ruthless, you can't stand firm! At this time, you can't be soft-hearted at all, otherwise you'll be the one who suffers. John is very clear about this, but Lee Boo-jin hasn't truly realized all of this. She still holds onto a sliver of hope in her heart. Even after experiencing so much, she still has a glimmer of expectation for family. But this glimmer of expectation is destined to be fruitless.

John could see through the selfishness and ruthlessness of the Samsung Lee family, but not everyone could, especially Lee Boo-jin. However, the more she acted this way, the deeper she sank, and ultimately she suffered greatly. Unfortunately, John couldn't go too far in many things, because doing too much would benefit no one.

"Is it necessary for them to do this? Anyone with a modicum of rationality knows their scheme is doomed to fail, so why are they still doing it?" At this point, even Chung Chu-hung couldn't understand. Even she could see through it all, so why couldn't those others? If John was willing to compromise, he would have done so during the Asian financial crisis, not now. Not to mention that Standard Chartered Bank is currently undergoing a complete transformation, making it even less likely that they would be given any chance!

"This is the greed of human nature. For them, they will do everything they can as long as there is a glimmer of hope, and they can accept failure. Profit makes them lose their rationality, leaving only greed in their hearts. The conditions offered by the people behind them are incredibly tempting, which is why they forget the danger and all of this happened."

"Didn't they consider that the consequences of failure were something they couldn't afford?"

“Of course they thought about it, but they felt that someone would speak up for them, and they felt that Old Master Huo would stand up for them, after all, they are all Hong Kong people!” John said with a sigh. Actually, there was another possibility, that is, these guys thought they could persuade Yuan Tianfan and Standard Chartered Bank, after all, Standard Chartered Bank has assets in Hong Kong, and it is impossible for them to ignore the feelings of Hong Kong people!

Of course, more importantly, John's plans for Hong Kong, and even his plans for Asia and China, made them feel that they were capable of confronting John, after all, they had the numbers and the power. Unfortunately, they forgot that they were a disorganized bunch and could not form much power at all. Moreover, in terms of relationships, John was more powerful than them!
"A Hong Konger!" Lee Boo-jin and Cherie Chung exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise in their eyes. At that moment, they both understood. This was the logic of the local bullies, even using personal connections as a pretext.

During this time, Chung Chor-hung received many invitations and persuasion from various people. At first, she didn't understand what they were up to and just thought they were a bit crazy. But now it seems that she didn't understand their intentions. They were just playing the emotional card and wanted her to persuade John as a Hong Konger.

Chung Chor-hung was like this, and so was Lee Boo-jin, but what she faced was even more insane. Those Koreans were more arrogant and their tone was more overbearing, as if if she didn't speak up for them and persuade John to give them benefits, then she wouldn't be worthy of being a Korean and would be letting down the Korean people. Apologies, kidnapping, and playing the emotional card—that was their scheme.

Why is this the case? To put it bluntly, it's because John's conduct over the past twenty years has made them feel that this is the most likely path to success. After all, those guys in Japan were the best at it back then, taking a lot of wealth from John. So they felt that they could do it too. They just didn't see that the transactions between John and Japan were profitable!
Although John has changed somewhat since the Asian financial crisis, this is not enough to deter those guys. They even think it's just a facade and naturally want to continue testing him to see if John has truly undergone a fundamental change. It can only be said that the gap between them and Morgan is too great; Morgan would never do such a foolish thing.

It's often said that your enemy is the one who understands you best, but these people don't understand John, or rather, they only know the surface—John's past attitudes. As local bullies, they always see John as an outsider, someone they can target, forgetting just how ruthless John's methods were in the past.

John didn't offer much explanation about all of this in Hong Kong. Those who understood would naturally benefit, while those who didn't would find it useless to explain further. Everything depended on Lee Boo-jin and Cherie Chung's own abilities, since with Standard Chartered Bank's full-scale expansion, Hong Kong was no longer the focus of the conglomerate.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could such a change happen so suddenly? Didn't those guys in the US guarantee that we wouldn't be affected in any way? What are they saying now?" When the overseas crackdown occurred, those guys became anxious because their market share overseas was shrinking.

"Yes, that's Britain. HSBC didn't say there wouldn't be any problems, but they can't even handle things in Britain now. What's going on? Why is there such a change in retail?" John's counterattack dealt a heavy blow to those in Hong Kong, given his control of the retail market. This wasn't just about exports; the same applied to imports. They were all too arrogant. Facing a giant controlling energy, mining, and other raw materials, they dared to cause trouble with their limited resources. Who else would suffer if not them? Now that these guys are being suppressed, their losses are staggering, after all, the overseas market is much larger than the Hong Kong market.

"It's no use talking now. HSBC has no solution. They can't affect sales in the UK, and the British authorities are ignoring us. They're more afraid of the other side! There's only one way for us to resolve this crisis: ask Mr. Huo to step in again and continue playing the emotional card."

"Are you kidding me? Do you think Old Master Huo will still care about us? Don't forget what we did before. Most importantly, even if Old Master Huo intervened, it wouldn't have mattered. This is a business war, and we brought it on ourselves. If we really want to minimize our losses, we can only admit our mistakes and apologize to the other party. Otherwise, all our channels will soon be blocked one by one!"

There were some clever ones among these people who could see through the situation, but unfortunately, it was too late; the opportunity had already been lost. Even if they wanted to back down now, it was too late. By the time they tried, John had already left Hong Kong and headed to China. John had completely relinquished control of everything in Hong Kong. This time, they couldn't find anyone, and it would be pointless to try.

"See? This is what happens when you act impulsively. If we had gotten involved, what do you think our fate would be now? Remember, never underestimate the power of a conglomerate, or you will pay a heavy price!" Li Bancheng sighed as he saw the losses suffered by his Hong Kong counterparts and said to his youngest son.

"But we refused, which offended HSBC and others! They will also have a significant impact on us, and might even target us!"

"You're overthinking it. The business world is all about profit. They won't do anything without getting something out of it. And you're underestimating HSBC. Why would they target us over something so trivial? It wouldn't benefit them at all. We've made it very clear that we have neither the funds nor the resources to get involved! They won't push us into the enemy's hands at this time. We've also seen HSBC's weakness this time, and we've seen the true colors of those guys. Have they reacted at all? Have they offered any help? No, all their promises were just lies!"

"But this way we won't be able to take control of Hong Kong's communications!"

"Do you really think that's possible? Do you really think the other side is easy to talk to, or do you think their knife isn't sharp enough? Losing Hong Kong Telecom wouldn't mean much to them, but what kind of blow do you think we would suffer if this happened? Unless we give up all our overseas investments and all our markets, we'll be driven to our deaths one by one. This is an internal power struggle within the American conglomerates, and it has nothing to do with us outsiders. Whoever gets involved will suffer. Do you really think those guys' promises are useful, or do you really think they have the ability to stop Bell Labs' product upgrades? Even without Hong Kong, there's still Taiwan, and even Japan and South Korea. But if we become enemies with them, how much do you think the Li family will lose? Only you guys would be foolish enough to believe those promises. Look at Hong Kong's top ten richest people, who's involved? None, not a single one. Only people like you who can't see the situation would get involved!"

"But it would be a shame to give up such a good opportunity. If we can create a wave of momentum, we might really have a chance to force him out of Hong Kong. After all, Hong Kong is only so big, and he has too many assets in his hands!"

"They have the ability to seize things from British conglomerates, but do you think we have the ability to do the same? People need to know their own limitations, or they will suffer a great loss!"

Yes, people need to know themselves, but these guys in Hong Kong don't know themselves. They all think they're amazing and can stand up to big shots like John. Maybe it's because John is too low-key in Hong Kong that makes them think they're so powerful, but how many of them are just being used as pawns?

Did the Li family tamper with this conflict? How many of Hong Kong's top ten richest people were secretly pushing things along? Only they themselves know the truth; only a fool would expose himself. John was naturally aware of these guys' schemes, but it wasn't an easy time to take action against them. After all, John's focus was currently on the United States. Even though John was in Asia, the root of this conflict lay in the United States.

When John's plane took off from Hong Kong, all the bigwigs in Hong Kong knew the news. They all understood that the matter in Hong Kong had come to an end. No matter what thoughts or schemes they had, it was over. None of them dared to make any more small moves, otherwise it would be another disaster once Standard Chartered Bank realized what was going on!
The more you understand John, the more you realize that he is at his most dangerous now. If Standard Chartered Bank hadn't shifted its focus to the US to accelerate expansion and didn't have the resources to target them—time is of the essence—engaging with these Hong Kong figures would only give the behind-the-scenes manipulators an opportunity. Many hope John will truly focus his efforts on Asia, on Korea and Hong Kong, but they all know that the US is the real priority.

With John in the US, they wouldn't feel too much pressure. But with John gone to Asia, which of those old guys wouldn't worry? Even Morgan was worried that John might suddenly make a move and kill those people. After all, such things have happened before, especially now that it's election season. One wrong move and the situation could get out of control!
To put it bluntly, Hong Kong and South Korea are just pawns, even discarded pawns, of those American conglomerates, used to hold John back. Unfortunately for them, John doesn't take the bait and avoids direct confrontation, instead using other methods to retaliate and make them pay a heavy price. Look at the changes in overseas markets, look at the suppression they've suffered—it all demonstrates how ruthless John's methods are. The influence of someone who completely controls the upstream and downstream supply chains, as well as energy and mining, is far more complex than it appears on the surface. Every move he makes can deliver a devastating blow to his enemies, a fatal strike!
(End of this chapter)