Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 192 [Success requires one step at a time]

The Governor of Hong Kong, Murray MacLehose's solemn promise reduced the enthusiasm of the demonstration. In addition, the Hong Kong government took action to block newsprint reports, and the matter came to an end. Schools and other institutions began to resume normal operations, and society returned to calm.

Li Xiaonan returned to school to attend classes. Although some classmates ignored him, his student life was not greatly affected overall.

All major newspapers have focused their main attention on the stock market crash and have invited many economic commentators to analyze the current economy and stock market. These newspapers often have better sales, after all, they concern the wealth of many people.

Li Wendi read the plan written by Wu Xiong. Although it was not very detailed, he could see that Wu Xiong had put a lot of effort into it. So he agreed to Wu Xiong's buying investment plan, which mainly targeted large Chinese companies in Hong Kong.

As for British listed companies, they did not suffer too much drop in this stock market crash. Even if the stock market recovers, the increase will not be very large. It is better to buy undervalued Chinese companies. Due to the large drop in the previous month, it is easier to buy 400 million shares now, especially those of medium-sized Chinese companies, such as Great Eagle Properties.

Xu Shoukun and some other police inspectors and Hong Kong government officials are actively working together, hoping to put pressure on the Governor of Hong Kong and successfully get the Hong Kong government to revoke its decision so that they can feel a little more at ease.

Therefore, many people wanted to make changes to Hong Kong's public security. Some inspectors began to incite their police officers to confront their superiors. There were even reports that "the Governor wanted to use the interests of the majority of Chinese police officers to silence the people of Hong Kong, and Godber's corruption incident will only make a big deal out of a small one." This caused the police force to become inexplicably restless and began to ignore Hong Kong's public security.

As a result, the number of illegal and criminal cases increased dramatically within a few days, with theft and robbery being the most common. Except for Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, other places were severely affected.

However, Hong Kong Governor Murray MacLehose strictly disciplined the police officers who were inactive and filed lawsuits against them for dereliction of duty in the court, showing an attitude that "the police officers involved must go to jail". Originally, the police force thought that this was a scare tactic used by the Hong Kong government, after all, the law does not hold everyone responsible.

Unfortunately, the court sentenced those police officers at lightning speed. Some sentenced them to three months, some to six months, and some to as long as two years. The sentences were executed immediately, which shocked all the police officers.

They really didn't think that the Hong Kong government would take fatal action. You have to know that the prisoners in Stanley Prison are all enemies of these police officers. Even with the care of the prison guards, it is difficult to escape the revenge of the prisoners in the same cell. However, there are also people who live like fish in water in prison. They must have a good relationship with the gangsters and have had unusual transactions with them.

Under the implementation of coercive measures, the police officers became "obedient" and Hong Kong's public security was restored to some extent, but it was still not as safe as before. There were many more criminal cases than before, and business in shops on the streets was at least 30% quieter.

"Alas! What kind of corruption purge is this? It has left everyone without a good meal, and things are worse than before. If this official is not corrupt, the next official will surely be more corrupt." A man in his 50s stood at the door of a shop, looking at the crowd hurrying by, and said with a helpless expression.

"Dad, it's unreasonable for the police to collect protection fees just like the mafia. If there were no protection fees, wouldn't we be able to earn more? The current losses can be made up in the future." The son persuaded with confidence.

"I hope so." The man glanced at his son. He had been through too many things, and paying protection money had become a habit for decades. His son was still a little young and didn't know how dangerous the world was. Those officials were the most untrustworthy.

These two father and son represent the true thoughts of the lower-class people in Hong Kong. Some are optimistic, while others are pessimistic, but they all hope that things will pass quickly and they can return to normal life.

Li Wendi also held the same idea. Because of the meeting with that bastard Xu Shoukun, the people from the ICAC had already started investigating his background, including his deeds during his time with the Liansheng Society. He felt that there must be a lot of information about him in the laundry shop (the office of the ICAC).

Like in the movies, hire someone to burn it? Li Wendi had thought about it, but it was not necessary. After all, it had not come to that point yet.

Moreover, if he was burned, he could no longer stay in Hong Kong, and the current Governor of Hong Kong, Murray MacLehose, would not let him go.

Those detectives who had so much evidence didn't do it, so he, who was just a suspect, would definitely not do it.

However, he couldn't help but worry about something unexpected happening, and he was also very rational and did not interfere with those people's investigation.

Cluck! !
Zhang Wentao knocked on the office door, his eyes showing a hint of excitement.

The knock on the door woke up Li Wendi who was deep in thought. He frowned and said impatiently, "Come in!"

"Boss, Gao Sheng, the major shareholder of Capital Real Estate Company, is willing to sign a contract with us, and the signing date is set for the day after tomorrow." Zhang Wentao said excitedly. This is a piece of fat meat, and the boss will naturally give him credit for it.

"The day after tomorrow? Why not tomorrow?" Li Wendi said expressionlessly, "What about Cheung Kong Industries? What's their reaction?"

Zhang Wentao was poured with a bucket of cold water. His excitement instantly stagnated and his tone became much weaker. "Cheung Kong Industries has not yet contacted Metropolitan Real Estate Company, so they probably don't know our offer for the time being." Li Wendi finally realized that his tone was not right. He took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions as much as possible, and said, "Go check what Cheung Kong Industries is doing recently. Why has the acquisition of Metropolitan Real Estate Company been suspended?"

"Yes! I'll arrange it right away!" Zhang Wentao said respectfully, not daring to show the slightest dissatisfaction. Li Wendi was becoming more and more domineering as a superior, which put him under even more pressure.

"Don't underestimate the strength of Cheung Kong Industries. They are stronger than us." Li Wendi sighed and continued, "As long as we don't sign a contract, Cheung Kong Industries will have a chance to grab our order. We Chinese have a saying that goes 'know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger'. Don't let your guard down until the last moment."

"Understood! I will definitely find out the situation of Cheung Kong Holdings." Zhang Wentao's head twitched suddenly. The boss is much more cautious than us. Is this the secret of his success?

"Go!" Li Wendi waved his hand, indicating that Zhang Wentao could leave.

In fact, Li Wendi didn’t care much about whether he could get the Capital Real Estate Company. He just didn’t want Li Huanggua to succeed too smoothly, so he wanted to create as many obstacles as possible for Li Jiacheng.

A Ducheng Real Estate Company alone cannot cause any serious losses to Li Huanggua's Cheung Kong Industries. This is only a small part of Li Huanggua's plan. However, Li Wendi hopes to interfere with Li Huanggua's mentality, although the possibility is very low.

In the afternoon, Li Wendi drove to the Qinian Newspaper Office because the sales of the newly issued newsprint were shockingly low and could not even recover half of the cost.

He Qijun was naturally disheartened and planned to stop publishing. Although this would draw ridicule from her peers, she was a rational businesswoman and profit was more important than face. Moreover, she was holding back her anger and hoped to impress her family and let them know that she, He Qijun, could accomplish things.

Li Wendi calmed down and said with a smile, "Business definitely has gains and losses, but this time the loss is indeed quite serious."

"A newspaper not only needs to have a good publication, but also needs to have influence in the industry, which cannot be bought with money."

"To increase sales, we can only rely on creativity, promotion and advertising."

Li Wendi didn't understand the creativity of newsprint, he only knew how to plagiarize. In his previous life, newspaper sales were maintained through promotions.

Hearing this, He Qijun raised her eyebrows and fell into deep thought.

After two minutes, He Qijun finally asked, "You mean we can do promotions to increase sales? Wouldn't our profits be reduced a lot?"

"Are we still profitable now? Once sales pick up, we can stop promotions. Promotions are not a routine. The most important thing is that newsprint doesn't make much money. What we want is the influence that newsprint brings." Li Wendi smiled slightly. "As far as I know, there are 48 newspapers in Hong Kong that have their own newsprint. Do their newsprints have profits? They should also be struggling to survive."

"But." He Qijun hesitated to speak, unwilling to reveal her biggest goal, perhaps because she was afraid that Li Wendi would look down on her.

Li Wendi walked over slowly, put one hand on He Qijun's shoulder, leaned over, and said gently, "It takes time to achieve success, and it takes more time to gain recognition from others. Didn't it take me a whole year to get to where I am today? It's human nature to be impatient, but you can't be impatient when doing things, otherwise it will prolong the time it takes you to succeed."

After her thoughts were exposed, He Qijun's face turned red and she couldn't say a word, even though she wanted to hide it.

"If you really want to show off, I have plenty of ways to do it. It's nothing more than spending money." Li Wendi said, "I think you want others to be convinced, not to show off. Especially for an old man like your grandfather who has experienced many vicissitudes of life, you can't fake it. Doing things honestly is more important than anything else."

"Hmm!" He Qijun stood up from the chair, somewhat at a loss.

Li Wendi burst into laughter, and He Qijun shyly warned her, "Don't laugh."

"Okay, I won't laugh anymore." Li Wendi turned around and smiled secretly again.

He Qijun clenched her fists and gently beat Li Wendi's chest.

(End of this chapter)