Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 397 Make a friend
The Li family's control is astonishing.

At 10:30 a.m., Ming Pao received instructions to remove the editorial.

Before noon, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission also announced a list of malicious short sellers, restricting their selling positions.

However, Chen Xuebing, the instigator, was not among those listed.

Because they sold at a low price when they were first in the market, and withdrew quickly after receiving news from the BVI, they sold at an average price of 99.48 and bought back the shares at 99.00, making a profit of less than 200 million, but losing 800 million in basic securities lending fees.

Other short sellers were more genuinely interested. Some started shorting heavily at 101.5 yuan and made more than two points by the time the price reached 99 yuan. They were still battling with the market-stabilizing funds until the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued its announcement, preparing to break through the 99 yuan mark in the afternoon and officially ignite the market.

Chen Xuebing spent ten million yuan on this short-selling and BVI scan.

The Li family also spent ten million.

The following day, the Hong Kong Financial Times published a headline: "Li Zeju fined HK$1000 million for failing to file overseas investment in a timely manner."

Involving HK$58.28 billion in irregular overseas investments, Li Zeju transferred funds through his family trust office to three accounts to invest in an overseas fund. He was fined HK$20, HK$200 million, and HK$800 million respectively, totaling HK$1020 million, for concealing related-party transactions and making material misrepresentations.

As for what the funds invested overseas did, it wasn't mentioned, and that's not something Hong Kong law cares about. The only thing they ordered was to recover the HK$58.28 billion within a specified period.

Of course, the Li family certainly spent more than ten million, because after receiving the $500 million offer, the BVI grey market company never called back, obviously because they received a much larger hush money.

Cai Zhijian, Wu Jiesi, and Kan Zhidong were utterly astonished.

There really is! 58 billion!

Only three accounts were found, yet 58.28 billion yuan had been illegally transferred overseas!
Damn, if the village is this prosperous, what must the town be like?
Where did the chairman get his intelligence?
Chen Xuebing only felt it was a pity.

It's very sensitive, extremely sensitive. Once this has been alerted, it's unlikely there will be another opportunity.

However, the fact that the Li family punished themselves with a cup of wine does not mean that they will give up.

He immediately called the leader who had approved his status as an advisor for the Hong Kong conference and reported the matter. He first claimed that he had found clues about the Li family's transfer of assets, and then admitted his mistake of deliberately shorting the stock in order to investigate the clues.

It is called a "mistake" because the related reports had a slight negative impact on Hong Kong investment in mainland China, but this was quickly overshadowed by even bigger news the next day.

The leader said, "Understood."

He then gave a very politically astute answer: "Since we have this matter at hand, let's make good use of it and promote investment in Hong Kong."

The implication is that the Li family will not be held accountable for this matter.

But letting him make good use of it seems to confirm that this is something the Li family should be afraid of.

After considering it for a moment, he realized he might not understand, so he asked directly, "If someone is causing trouble in Hong Kong investments, and there is evidence, can we make an example of them?"

His words still carried a hint of menace.

In Hong Kong, the Li family is the monkey, and he wants to kill one of the monkeys, specifically the monkey king.

As for why they came out so aggressively to kill the monkey, and why they couldn't get along with the monkey, it's self-evident to those who understand Hong Kong's socio-economic structure, just like playing cards.

There is still a real landlord mentality in Hong Kong. Some small landlords see that the big landlords do this, so they do it too.

Just like Zhang Mazi said: "You are very important to me."

After a moment of contemplation, the leader said, "It's not the right time yet. Don't delay development by searching for evidence. Xiao Chen, development is the top priority. Focus on completing your blueprint."

In the eyes of the leaders, seizing this opportunity to promote the development of the mainland Internet is the most important thing to do.

Chen Xuebing knew that without the absolute support of the higher-ups, it would be impossible to storm into Hong Kong with an iron fist.

In addition, given the expectations of leadership, the methodology for doing things needs to be changed.

Everything must move in a positive direction.

The Book of Changes says that a wise man keeps his talents hidden until the right time to act.

The character 器 (qì) is deconstructed to mean talent or ability, not weaponry.

But now he truly has hidden his weapons, a knife to kill monkeys.

This gives it a deterrent effect.

We can put everything aside for now. Monkeys are still a Class II protected animal. We can discuss killing monkeys after they are downgraded in status.

The next day, evening.

No. 27 on the Bund is named Roosevelt Mansion. It is operated by the Hong Kong Roosevelt China Investment Fund and rents the first to sixth floors of the former Jardine Matheson Building as a clubhouse.

Membership system.

Jardine Matheson's central bank has an inseparable relationship with Hong Kong's shipping magnate.

In 1978, Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings secretly acquired shares in Wharf Holdings, a core asset of Jardine Matheson, with the intention of gaining control. To protect itself, Jardine Matheson sought help from Hong Kong shipping magnate Y.K. Pao. Pao accepted Jardine Matheson's request and purchased the Wharf Holdings shares held by Jardine Matheson at HK$36 per share, helping Jardine Matheson defeat Li Ka-shing. However, Pao himself became the largest shareholder of Wharf Holdings.

In 1980, Jardine Matheson's subsidiary, Hongkong Land, suddenly announced its acquisition of Wharf Holdings for HK$100 per share, attempting to regain control.

Peter Woo orchestrated the counterattack, assisting Y.K. Pao in mobilizing HK$21 billion in cash within 24 hours to acquire 2000 million shares at HK$105 per share. Ultimately, Pao's shareholding increased to 49%, giving him complete control of Wharf Holdings, and the shipping magnate family gradually shifted towards land-based operations.

Chen Xuebing chose the former site of Jardine Matheson to meet with Wu Guangzheng, creating an atmosphere imbued with historical weight and hoping to establish a more formal relationship. Hong Kong's wealthy families value family history, and such long-standing friendships invariably begin with a memorable event.

Tonight, the curtains on the third floor of the Roosevelt Club are tightly drawn. Inside, a dozen or so people, strangers to each other, are conducting a secret little auction.

The auctioneer on stage was dressed in a bespoke suit from a British company, his graying sideburns were neatly combed, and there was a strange fragrance in the air.

The Queen Victoria writing desk stands on the table, made of rosewood, with its legs carved with acanthus leaf patterns.

"Starting bid: 800,000."

"Eight hundred and fifty thousand."

"one million."

Several twists and turns.

"One million six hundred thousand."

As soon as Chen Xuebing finished speaking, the hammer fell to the ground.

"Mr. Chen has good taste. Is it a gift for your girlfriend?" Wu Guangzheng, who was sitting next to him, said with a soft laugh.

"Mr. Wu, this is a small gift for your wife. I heard that she bought a similar item in 99. I hope she likes it."

Chen Xuebing's words surprised Wu Guangzheng, but since the gift had already been purchased, he couldn't refuse and could only nod, "Then thank you, Mr. Chen."

The next item in the auction is a box of ten Arturo Fuente cigars from 1992, aged for 15 years.

The starting price is 40.

The auction was quite intense. After more than a dozen rounds of bidding, Chen Xuebing won the bid for 85 yuan, drawing everyone's attention.

Cigars are generally better when they are new, but professionally aged cigars have their own unique flavor, and there is a process to smoking them.

The clubhouse has a professional cigar room. Mr. Chen immediately ordered the waiter to open all ten cigars and put them into individual humidors to rehydrate them for ten days to stimulate the activity of the oils before they can be enjoyed.

The collector's edition aged cigars were smoked on a whim, much to the regret of the cigar enthusiasts in the room, who wished they could bid again to take them home as collectibles.

Wu Guangzheng knew that Chen Xuebing wanted to invite him to draw.

"Mr. Chen, I have other matters to attend to in ten days."

Chen Xuebing laughed and said, "Mr. Wu is a busy man, of course he won't wait ten days for a good cigar, but we can't smoke ten in one night either, right? A few friends from Shanghai real estate will be coming, and we will also invite Mr. Xu from Shida. We plan to discuss a business deal for Shanghai Shikumen architecture, from Nanjing West Road to Julu Road, involving the urban renewal of about 15 square meters of land, planned as a shopping mall and a villa area. If Mr. Wu is interested, we can talk while we enjoy a cigar."

Upon hearing this, Wu Guangzheng quieted down and became somewhat tempted.

Chen Xuebing smiled and remained silent, quietly waiting for the next item to be auctioned.

Soon, two more necklaces were purchased.

A Kashmir cornflower blue sapphire worth 88, and a Brazilian Paraiba neon blue sapphire worth 110 million.

This is a genuine gift for my girlfriend.

After the shoot, Chen Xuebing invited Wu Guangzheng into Cigar Room No. 3 and opened a box of 2006 Cohiba 40th Anniversary Commemorative Cigarettes, Behike Generation 1 (40 cigars).

Amidst exhaling smoke, Chen Xuebing waved for Miss Shi Qie to leave, then took out a file folder and handed it to Wu Guangzheng.

"Mr. Wu, you must have heard about the Li family's illegal overseas investments. Here are some similar transaction orders and transaction times that we found from Cheung Kong's past transactions based on their trading methods. I would like you to help me check and find these Cheung Kong stock holding accounts and bank accounts."

Wu Guangzheng had just opened the file folder when his movements immediately froze.

"Mr. Chen, did you do what happened the day before yesterday?"

"Ah."

The Li family knew about it, so he stopped hiding it.

“This won’t do.” Wu Guangzheng immediately shoved the documents back at him. “You’re not in Hong Kong, so you might not know the nature of this. Checking this kind of information is tantamount to starting a war.”

Chen Xuebing, however, pushed it back.

“If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have done it. I’m going to enter Hong Kong and make the Li family hesitant to act. I already have a list of five BVI company accounts. I can find a few more new accounts through this information. There might be big fish among them. Mr. Wu, you can check it or not, you can keep it and see. This is very deadly to the Li family. You can keep it for yourself if you want, just consider it as making friends.”

He set off a smokescreen, saying there were five.

If Wu Guangzheng takes it to investigate, then everyone will share a secret.

If Wu Guangzheng were to turn around and tell the Li family, they could then discern Wu Guangzheng's intentions through the Li family's subsequent reactions.

When others suspect you of having dangerous weapons, you'd better actually have them.

So for the past two days, he has been thinking about how to come up with a weapon that the Li family can't resist.

He discovered that he did indeed have it.

"By the way, Mr. Wu, we are planning to add some items to the agenda for this meeting, and we have also invited the Vice Mayor of Shenzhen to attend and speak."

(End of this chapter)