Zheng Bai Cheng had gained some fame, but it was mainly in the literary field, not in the commercial world. Although he had acquired Tao Da Food, taken it private, and delisted it, then proceeded with a group reorganization, it would still take time for him to become known in the business world.
But there was nothing he could do about it. He was a newcomer to business, with not many resources at his disposal, let alone any background. As long as he didn't get eaten alive in the business world, he would be considered successful.
At Tao Da's headquarters, Zheng Bai Cheng was chatting with General Manager Hou, Director Zhou, and the Finance Director, who had also been the “Emperor of Employees” before becoming Finance Director. The three of them had just finished discussing the cooperation direction between Tao Da Food and Chen Ji OK Company, and were now reminiscing about some amusing stories from Hong Kong's past. General Manager Hou, it turned out, had a lot of stories to tell.
"Boss, if you want to establish yourself and develop long-term in Hong Kong's business world, you just need to take steady steps. If you want to expand your business, you need to find a wealthy family to marry into. Although it might not necessarily help you, it will make things smoother in the business world."
General Manager Hou was speaking the truth and was actually trying to help him. The situation in Hong Kong was indeed like that. After all, Zheng Bai Cheng was an outsider, a mainland transplant... He became famous due to a combination of chance and circumstances. He needed fame.
Now, if he wanted to achieve significant growth in Hong Kong, he needed to do something. Marrying into a wealthy family was one option, but becoming even more famous or making a unique contribution to business were also possibilities. Back in the day, a certain boss had risen to prominence by marrying well.
"What kind of fame or special contributions would those be?"
Hearing his boss's humble inquiry, General Manager Hou was delighted. He quickly responded, "Let me give you an example. Three years ago, the Hong Kong government wanted to revitalize Hong Kong's real estate market, so they auctioned off the former naval dockyard on the island. The only participant was Mr. Huo, who offered a bid of several million Hong Kong dollars, far less than the government's desired price of over one hundred million Hong Kong dollars. The land was over 1.7 million square feet, how could they sell it so cheaply? The government canceled Mr. Huo's bid, citing the reason that only one person had bid."
"Oh, General Manager Hou, where is that land?"
Seeing that the young boss was interested, a bold thought crossed his mind: was the boss thinking of buying it? However, he wasn't sure, so he replied honestly, "It's in the area around Connaught Road, surrounded by Harcourt Road, Cotton Tree Drive, and Justice Road. It's in the area between Central and Wan Chai."
"General Manager Hou, if we submit an application to the government and ask to buy that land, would they be willing to sell it?"
"Oh, Boss, this… how much are you planning to offer?"
"Two hundred million Hong Kong dollars."
"Boss, do we have that much money?" General Manager Hou was immediately taken aback. Two hundred million Hong Kong dollars, that was an astronomical sum!
"That's my concern. It's your job to negotiate the deal."
Seeing his boss getting angry, he quickly said, "I'll contact the right people immediately. It might be difficult, though."
"It's alright, where there's a will, there's a way."
As they were discussing this, Lin Xiao Hua knocked on the door and came in. Zheng Bai Cheng was very satisfied with this; he felt his fiancée was very sensible, and didn't barge in just because she was his fiancée.
"Cheng Ge, Amanda called and said she has finished the North American matters."
Zheng Bai Cheng was overjoyed. "I'll call her back right now. General Manager Hou, you go find the government officials and talk to them. If they're willing to sell, that's great. Offer 180 million Hong Kong dollars first, and say we're going to build a complex there. If they want to see our plans, we'll talk about that later."
Han Yu Fang stood there quietly, listening to their conversation. The numbers, whether it was two hundred million or one hundred and eighty million Hong Kong dollars, were shocking to her.
Even though 1967 had just passed and the real estate market had stabilized, there were still many uncertainties.
Zheng Bai Cheng was excited and followed Lin Xiao Hua. She asked, "Cheng Ge, what was that 180 million Hong Kong dollars all about?" Zheng Bai Cheng said, "It's nothing, just a business matter. Our Jin Cheng Land doesn't have much of a reputation in Hong Kong yet. To gain recognition, we need to do something big."
"Oh… what kind of big thing?"
"I'm going to buy a piece of land that the government hasn't sold."
Zheng Bai Cheng went to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed. At that time, there were no automatic exchanges, so it took him several minutes to get through.
"Amanda, was the acquisition successful?"
"Yes, 15 million US dollars. City Bank of New York also provided a loan. It went very smoothly. The contract is signed, and MARV now belongs to Jason Entertainment. Your 'Interstellar War' will be the first novel to be adapted." Amanda's response was brief, she was a good employee.
"Amanda, there's one more thing. I need you to negotiate with City Bank of New York and get them to give me a credit line of 50 million US dollars. I have a big project. I'll mortgage everything, all-in. Get them to give me the best interest rate possible."
"My God, are you crazy? That's 50 million US dollars, not 5 million, not even 500,000. They…"
"Just talk to them. I have almost 80 million Hong Kong dollars in assets in Hong Kong, plus 8 million US dollars in their bank... oh, I used it, 7 million US dollars in loans. They should give me 50 million US dollars. We'll figure out the interest when I make the repayment... What for? I have a big project. I'm going to buy a piece of land…"
Zheng Bai Cheng realized that it was a pain to explain things to this Western woman. But he could see that she was worried about him being unable to repay the loan. Looking at Lin Xiao Hua beside him, he understood that everyone was worried about the debt.
"It's okay, with my talent, it's just a small amount."
Although he didn't know what would become of that piece of land in the future, he believed that decades later, it would be worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars.
Lin Xiao Hua saw his expression and smiled. Her thought was to help Cheng Ge write more novels so they could repay the loan.
"Call the Commercial Daily and the City Daily. Have them come and get the outline." He pulled out two notebooks from his drawer and continued, "Get General Manager Hou to hire an assistant. Let them handle these matters."
He said this as he saw Lin Xiao Hua picking up the phone to contact the Commercial Daily and the City Daily. How could he let his boss's wife handle such things?