Rebirth of the Hong Kong Millennium Conglomerate

Chapter 87 Fengyun Daily Reaches the Top

The mornings in Hong Kong are always shrouded in a thin layer of sea mist. As the ferry horns of Victoria Harbour break through the morning haze, the newsstands on the streets are already set up, with various newspapers and magazines stacked on the tin racks. The smell of ink mixed with the salty dampness of the sea breeze spreads in the cool air.

The streets were unusually lively that day, as a brand-new copy of the "Fengyun Daily" was prominently displayed at every newsstand.

The bright red masthead with gold foil embossing, set against a simple layout, stands out among a host of long-established newspapers.

Early risers approaching the stall couldn't help but be drawn to the unfamiliar newspaper. Some people traced the surface with their fingers, asking the stall owner with curiosity, "Fengyun Daily? A newspaper like this? I've never seen one before."

The stall owner deftly pulled out a serving and handed it over, smiling as he said, "This just arrived this morning. Want to buy one and take a look? It's only a few cents."

These past few days, thanks to the publicity from the "Eternal Daily," the "Fengyun Daily" already carried a certain mystique. Coupled with the stall owner's casual introduction, many people were willing to spend a little money for something new.

At almost every newsstand, the Fengyun Daily became a popular item in the early morning.

The newspapers, which had been neatly stacked, were almost all gone in less than half an hour. Seeing this, the stall owners hurriedly took out their phones to contact the suppliers, urgently requesting more deliveries: "Send more 'Fengyun Daily,' they're selling like hotcakes here, we simply can't keep up!"

From Causeway Bay to Tsim Sha Tsui, from Mong Kok to Central, the same scene is playing out at newsstands in every part of Hong Kong.

Red mastheads are ubiquitous on the streets; some are simply curious about the newspaper's contents, while others want to see reports on the country.

What exactly does the international news report cover?

By the afternoon, all the copies of the "Fengyun Daily" at the newsstands had been sold out. Many citizens who hadn't been able to buy one were still a little disappointed and asked the newsstand owners if the newspaper would arrive soon.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside the editorial department of Fengyun Daily was extremely enthusiastic.

Sales data is being compiled from various regions, and office staff sit by the phone, pens flying across paper, reporting figures that repeatedly exceed everyone's expectations. "Causeway Bay area, morning sales have exceeded 3 units!"

"In Tsim Sha Tsui, we delivered twice more, but it still sold out. Total sales reached 28,000!"

"Sales in the Central business district are quite good, with white-collar workers buying the most; nearly 2 units have been sold!"

Each number announced was met with a low cheer from the work area.

From preparation to launch, everyone worked tirelessly day and night. Now, seeing this labor of love recognized by the market, their excitement is beyond words.

The head of the distribution department stood in the center of the office area, looking at the constantly being compiled figures, his eyes full of excitement, and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

On this day in Hong Kong, the "Fengyun Daily" became a hot topic of discussion on the streets.

In the tea restaurant, someone pointed to the newspaper and said, "Look at this international news section. It's much more detailed than other newspapers. They even explain the situation in Africa very clearly."

In the office building, colleagues passed it around and remarked, "Fengyun Daily really does have some skills; the content is concise and highlights the key points."

Even casual conversations among neighbors would gravitate towards this new newspaper, with some finding its layout novel and pleasing to the eye.

Once all the statistics were completed, the first-day sales figures for the Fengyun Daily in Hong Kong were finalized at 38 copies!

This figure caused quite a stir in Hong Kong's newspaper industry.

It is nothing short of a miracle that these new newspapers can achieve such results on their first day.

The following morning, when the sales figures were prominently published in the Hong Kong Daily, the entire Hong Kong press was captivated.

The Fengyun Daily prominently displayed the headline: "Our first-day sales in Hong Kong reached 38 copies!"

It ranked second on the Hong Kong newspaper sales chart.

The top spot remains firmly held by "Qian Gu Daily," with daily sales of 46 copies.

This string of numbers not only astonished ordinary readers, but also gave a shock to the heads of major newspapers in Hong Kong.

Below this string of local sales data in Hong Kong, there is another line of data showing sales in more than ten overseas countries and regions. The daily sales of "Qian Gu Daily" reached 725 million copies, while "Feng Yun Daily" followed closely with 518 million copies.

A whopping 518 million copies—the first-day overseas sales of a new newspaper are unprecedented in the entire Chinese-language newspaper industry.

Immediately, the Chinese-language media circles in Hong Kong and even overseas were discussing this suddenly appearing "Fengyun Daily," wondering how it had managed to do it.

The atmosphere inside the chairman's office at the headquarters of Oriental Daily News in Wan Chai was quite different from the heated discussions outside; a low-pressure atmosphere seemed to envelop the entire office.

Ma Chengkun sat behind a large mahogany desk, his face ashen, clutching a copy of today's "Fengyun Daily" in his hand, his knuckles white from the force.

The sales figures in the newspaper were like needles, piercing his eyes.

He slammed the newspaper down on the table, the paper making a sharp, jarring sound in the quiet office.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!" Ma Chengkun's roar suddenly rang out, making the glass outside the window seem to tremble slightly. "It's just a new newspaper, and it sold 38 copies on its first day, even making it to second place! Have we at the Oriental Daily News been wasting our time all these years?"

The office door was ajar, and the employees outside didn't dare to breathe. They all kept their heads down and worked quietly, afraid that they might become the chairman's punching bag if they were not careful.

During this period, the sales of *Oriental Daily* had already declined significantly, and now the emergence of *Fengyun Daily* has taken away a considerable amount of market share, even squeezing them out of the top three in sales. Ma Chengkun's anger had been building up for a long time, and today...

Upon seeing these sales figures, they completely erupted.

Not long after, a department manager knocked on the door and came in, wanting to report on the recent distribution plan. He had only said half a sentence when Ma Chengkun interrupted him sharply: "Report what? Can you salvage the sales? I think you're incompetent. You should pack your bags and get out of here!"

The department manager's face turned ashen. He stood there, not daring to utter a sound. After a long while, he meekly retreated out. Before closing the door, the sound of Ma Chengkun smashing things could still be heard coming from inside the office.

Over the next few hours, angry roars could be heard from the chairman's office from time to time. Every employee who came to the office to report on their work was subjected to a barrage of insults. The entire office area of ​​the Oriental Daily was shrouded in a suffocating atmosphere, and everyone was trembling with fear, as if walking on thin ice.

Unlike Ma Chengkun's furious outburst, in another office building in Causeway Bay, Hu Xian, the chairman of Sing Tao Daily, was sitting in her office, quietly studying Fengyun Daily.

On her desk were two newspapers, one was the Sing Tao Daily and the other was the Fengyun Daily, and next to them was a notebook filled with her annotations.

Hu Xian held a cup of tea, her gaze repeatedly comparing the two newspaper pages, her brows slightly furrowed, but without a trace of anxiety.

As a veteran leader of Hong Kong's newspaper industry, Hu Xian has a keen eye for talent. Unlike Ma Chengkun, she is never blinded by momentary anger.

In her view, the success of Fengyun Daily was by no means accidental; there must be a deeper reason behind it. What she had to do was to find out the reason and understand the core competitiveness of this new newspaper.

She flipped through the contents of the Fengyun Daily, carefully reading every word from the international news on the front page to the financial section in the middle, and finally to the livelihood information at the end.

The more Hu Xian looked, the clearer her doubts became, and the more certain she became.

The most eye-catching part of this new newspaper is undoubtedly the international news section.

Whether it's political changes in Europe and America, the economic situation in Southeast Asia, or regional conflicts in Africa, Fengyun Daily provides detailed and timely reports. The content is truthful, the perspective is unique, and there are even many exclusive stories. These are contents that other newspapers in Hong Kong can hardly match.

Even her Sing Tao Daily only scratches the surface of international news, falling far short of the depth and breadth of Fengyun Daily.

"Why are they able to get so much first-hand international news?" Hu Xian murmured to herself, her fingers lightly tapping on the international news page of the Fengyun Daily. She already had the answer in her heart.

If Hong Kong newspapers want to do good international news, they either need to rely on foreign news agencies for their reports or build their own teams of overseas correspondents.

However, news submissions from foreign news agencies are not only delayed but also subject to many restrictions, while setting up a team of correspondents abroad is extremely costly and the results are hard to see in a short period of time.

However, the international news in the Fengyun Daily was not only timely but also highly exclusive, and Hu Xian knew without a doubt that the source was related to the Qian Gu Daily.

Everyone knows that the Fengyun Daily and the Qian Gu Daily are brothers, and the Qian Gu Daily's strongest trump card is its affiliated news agency!

It is a global news agency with branches in various countries and regions and thousands of correspondents stationed abroad. It can capture news leads from all over the world in the first instance and provide the "Qian Gu Daily" with the most timely and comprehensive international news materials.

In retrospect, Fengyun Daily must have shared this resource.

With such a globally covering news agency as its backing, the international news section of Fengyun Daily naturally far surpasses all other newspapers in Hong Kong, which is the core reason why it achieved such high sales on its first day.

Having figured this out, Hu Xian gently closed the newspaper, leaned back in her chair, and fell into deep thought.

Her fingers gently caressed the rim of the teacup, her gaze fixed on the Hong Kong skyline outside the window, her eyes filled with contemplation.

Sing Tao Daily has been deeply rooted in Hong Kong for many years and has a great advantage in local news, but it has always been a weak point in international news.

Over the years, she has been trying to make up for this shortcoming, but she has been struggling to find a suitable way.

Seeing the rapid rise of the "Fengyun Daily" thanks to the news agency, she began to have some thoughts—should she follow the example of the "Qian Gu Daily" and create her own news agency?

Once the idea took hold, it took root in her heart.

If Sing Tao Daily had its own news agency, its international news section would be significantly enhanced. It would not only solidify its existing readership but also expand into overseas markets, just like The Daily News and The Daily News, allowing Sing Tao Daily's influence to extend beyond Hong Kong and reach the world.

But then she thought about it again, and Hu Xian frowned.

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