Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

7 p.m., Central.

Five black Rolls-Royce Silver Spurs drove out of the basement of the Golden Harvest Media Building and headed along Garden Road toward Government House.

The reason why Wei Yixin took the initiative to invite Lu Chen was very simple: Lu Chen's Golden Harvest Group was now too huge, so huge that it had become completely intertwined with the social economy of the entire Hong Kong Island.

From media and real estate to retail and logistics, Golden Harvest's industrial reach has penetrated almost every sector of Hong Kong Island. Even by conservative estimates, at least 300,000 people on Hong Kong Island rely directly or indirectly on Golden Harvest for their livelihood; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that half of the city's economy depends on it.

Therefore, when the stock market crash occurred and the whole city was in despair, the Governor's Office naturally needed Lu Chen's support to clean up the mess.

The October evening breeze blew in from the direction of Victoria Harbour, causing the aerial roots of the banyan trees on both sides of the road to sway gently.

At this time of day, the streets of Central should be bustling with traffic, but now there are very few pedestrians. Occasionally, you can see a few stock investors who have just left the entrance of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, squatting dejectedly on the cold roadside, clutching the few stock certificates in their hands that have become worthless.

……

Government House is located on Upper Albert Road in Central. It is a white neoclassical building with six Ionic columns standing outside the main entrance. The Union Jack above the capitals flutters and unfurls reluctantly in the night wind.

When Lu Chen's convoy arrived, the open space outside the main gate was already filled with more than a dozen top-of-the-line luxury cars.

Lu Chen glanced around and saw that they were all prominent figures in Hong Kong. The two-tone Mercedes-Benz belonged to Li Huanggua; next to it was a dark blue Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, owned by Cheng Yu-tung; further ahead were the black Bentley owned by the shipping magnate and the silver-grey Mercedes-Benz owned by Huo Daheng... In short, all the big names in Hong Kong had been invited.

"It seems the Governor is really getting anxious," Lu Chen said softly.

The Boss Flower, who was tidying up documents, nodded upon hearing this: "The index dropped by 450 points in one day, the economy is in recession, the unemployment rate is rising, and there is social unrest—so many things happening at once, and he has only been in office for a year. How can he not be anxious?"

Looking at the luxury cars at the event, Lu Chen felt a subtle sense of awe.

Ten years ago, the attendees would probably have been mostly foreign directors and British executives, but now the majority of attendees are Chinese...

Times have really changed.

The car came to a smooth stop in front of the main building's steps. Tian Yangsheng got out first and opened the back door. Lu Chen straightened his suit, stepped out of the car, and led everyone up the steps into the building.

The marble floor reflected the warm light of the crystal chandelier in the dome, and the walls were adorned with oil portraits of the governors of Hong Kong, from Pottinger to Youde, each face framed in gold and placed in its own era.

Upon entering the inner hall, Tian Yangsheng and Ba Wanghua were led to the waiting room by a waiter, while Lu Chen followed the butler through the porch and into the main building's reception room.

The reception room was already full of people. Interestingly, not only were the seating arrangements clearly defined, but the atmosphere was also completely different.

The British merchants, led by Li Huanggua, sat on the left, their brows furrowed and their expressions grave. Li Huanggua held a cup of black tea in his hand, circling the rim of the cup around his index finger a dozen times, but he didn't take a single sip.

There was nothing he could do; he lost a fortune today. By the close of trading, Cheung Kong Holdings had fallen by more than 10%, resulting in a loss of over HK$100 million in a single day.

What worried him even more was that the stock market crash directly disrupted Cheung Kong's original massive rights issue plan. Just last month, Li Huanggua had confidently stated at the board meeting that the rights issue would reduce Cheung Kong's debt-to-equity ratio to a historic low, but before the rights issue documents were even sent to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the share price had already plummeted by 20%.

The underwriting syndicate from the bank has made four phone calls this afternoon, each one more urgent than the last.

The faces of the trading company executives and financial tycoons next to him were equally grim. One of them had just lit a cigar with a look of anxiety, but before he could even take a puff, he subconsciously stubbed it out in the ashtray. After he finished, he realized his lapse in composure and, with a gloomy face, took out another cigar and lit it.

Therefore, this group is the one most eager for the Governor's Office to intervene so as to stabilize market confidence as soon as possible.

The right half of the living room was occupied by the Chinese faction, led by Bao Shuping, whose expressions were completely different.

Today, the shipping magnate wasn't even wearing a tie. His white shirt collar was slightly open, and he sat in a chair with his legs crossed, his right hand resting on the back of the chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping the leather back of the chair.

Huo Daheng sat next to him, his cane leaning against the outside of the chair armrest, his hands folded on the top of the cane. Although his expression remained calm and serious, there was no trace of heartache.

As for the other Chinese business tycoons, they were chatting together, looking relaxed, and one of them even laughed halfway through the conversation.

Although most of them lost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in a single day, they no longer cared about the loss.

After all, with Lu Chen's help, they had already made up for the losses in Hong Kong Island through profits from shorting US stocks.

The reason they're sitting here tonight is purely out of a protective instinct for Hong Kong's local industries; they don't want to see their home base completely destroyed by the foreigners.

"Click".

As Lu Chen pushed open the door and entered the reception room, the previously buzzing conversation abruptly stopped.

"Little Lu is here."

"Mr. Lu."

The shipping magnate was the first to stand up, and the others quickly followed suit. Whether they were Chinese or British, they all greeted him respectfully.

Lu Chen nodded with a smile, walked past everyone, and took the initiative to walk to the empty main sofa in front of the fireplace.

Li Huanggua glanced at Lu Chen across the coffee table, her expression somewhat complicated.

As one of Hong Kong's top tycoons, Li Huanggua naturally had his own connections. He knew that the assets of the shipping magnate and the gambling king, Ho, had not only not shrunk, but had actually made a fortune from the stock market crash.

He also knew that the key figure who had led them to this feast was none other than Lu Chen, who was sitting opposite him at that moment.

To be honest, although he admired Lu Chen in the past, as the head of British capital and one of the top ten tycoons in Hong Kong, he did not envy Lu Chen.

After all, he had his own docks, his own banking connections, and his own network of contacts in London.

The preferential treatment from the Hong Kong British government, the low-interest loans from HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citibank, and the personal friendships with several old knights in Whitehall—these were the foundations that Li Ka-shing had built up over decades in Hong Kong.

But today, all that confidence has crumbled in the face of the stock market.

HSBC's share price fell by nearly 15%, the Hong Kong government faced public scrutiny, and even the old knights in London were about to have their estates seized by banks... His most prized British capital camp was struggling to survive in this storm, and his political and business relationships, which he had cultivated over twenty years, were as fragile as a waterlogged newspaper in the face of billions of dollars in market value that had evaporated.

Li Huanggua picked up his teacup, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

The black tea in the cup had long since cooled, and a strong, pungent bitter taste immediately spread from the back of my tongue.

Looking through the rising steam at Lu Chen, who was surrounded by admirers like a star, Li Huanggua sighed deeply. He knew it was time for him to make a change.

The British Empire has long since declined, and the withdrawal of foreigners from Hong Kong Island is only a matter of time.

Li Ka-shing has spent his entire life in business, and his principle has always been to only stand next to the biggest tree—in the past, the biggest trees were foreign firms and the Hong Kong British government, but now…

He can also be patriotic.