Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 209 [One Step Ahead]

However, when Li Wendi saw He Qijun's hot and greedy eyes, he suddenly found that it seemed difficult to stop him. After all, when the newspaper was first established, He Qijun held more than half of the shares, which could be converted into the same voice.

Of course, Li Wendi certainly didn't want to have a conflict with He Qijun. It was just the Qinian Newspaper, he could still afford the loss.

So he nodded and said, "Since you want to, then proceed according to this plan. However, the Qi Nian Newspaper and the Xiangjiang Daily should not be merged, because the Oriental Daily and Sing Tao Daily above us are not easy to mess with. We can't afford to provoke them for the time being."

Once the two newspapers are merged, the previous profit distribution plan will naturally follow. With the popularity of Hong Kong Daily, its sales volume will probably be close to the top three daily newspapers in Hong Kong. Oriental Newspaper Company and Sing Tao Newspaper Company will definitely take measures.

"I know this." He Qijun lowered her head slightly and said, "Hong Kong's economy is getting worse and worse. Am I taking a big step? If the sales of the magazine drop, I may not be able to repay the loan, which will affect the overall operation of the Qinian Newspaper."

Since He Qijun had thought of this, Li Wendi could not say anything unpleasant. Instead, he should encourage her and said, "It's indeed a big step, but if it succeeds, the benefits it brings are also very optimistic. Besides, don't you have me?"

He Qijun also wanted to hear Li Wendi's promise to help the Qinian Newspaper. Now she found that having a strong backer was a blessing. She could do things as she pleased without always thinking about the consequences of bankruptcy and liquidation.

The acquisition of Hong Kong Daily set the basic tone, so Li Wendi no longer paid attention to it and turned to bring up the invitation letter for the HSBC Charity Gala, wanting He Qijun to attend with him.

He Qijun agreed readily. She knew that attending such an important party with Li Wendi would mean announcing their relationship to everyone. It could be said that if the two did not get married, it would inevitably cause an uproar. The newspaper hype would make the two of them a household name in Hong Kong and a topic of conversation among the citizens after dinner.

An industrial building in North Point

Zhou Liangzhi, dressed in a suit and tie, paced back and forth in the office. At first, he thought of setting the selling price higher so that he could bargain more easily. Unfortunately, several buyers came and offered prices lower than the market price, which disappointed Zhou Liangzhi.

However, today, Zhou Liangzhi feels at ease if he can sell it at the market price, let alone a high price. After all, the losses in the stock market need to be made up in time, otherwise a large amount of interest will be generated.

Led by the lady at the front desk, Li Wendi and He Qijun came to Zhou Liangzhi's office.

Although Zhou Liangzhi was not clear about Li Wendi's strength, he had heard about some of the deeds of the Qinian Newspaper. He distributed the bulk of the daily newspaper's profits to the newsstand owners, and was obviously a ruthless and wealthy person.

Seeing how young Li Wendi and He Qijun looked, Zhou Liangzhi felt a little contempt in his heart. He thought that the two must have very strong backgrounds and could not have reached this level by their abilities alone.

"Mr. Li, Ms. He, welcome, welcome!" Zhou Liangzhi greeted them with a smile.

Li Wendi smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Zhou!"

Li Wendi knew that such people were smiling tigers. They seemed polite but were actually ruthless. Of course, he knew how to deal with such people.

The three of them chatted for a while, all with welcoming smiles on their faces, and the atmosphere was very good.

"Mr. Zhou, let's get down to business. I heard that your newspaper wants to sell its Hong Kong Daily News for 350 million. Can the price be lowered? How about 200 million?" Li Wendi made a direct offer, and the price was naturally slightly lower than the market price.

Zhou Liangzhi certainly would not agree to the price of 200 million, his face gradually darkened, "200 million is impossible, but I can go a little cheaper, 330 million is a suitable price."

Li Wendi knew that the negotiations would not go smoothly. According to market conditions, the value of Hong Kong Daily was approximately HK$250 million. HK$330 million was a premium of more than 3%, which was a very expensive price.

He Qijun glanced at Li Wendi and said, "The sales volume of Xiangjiang Daily is only about 6 copies. According to market research, the value of Xiangjiang Daily is at most 250 million. Mr. Zhou is asking for 330 million, which is already a high premium."

"And as far as I know, Mr. Zhou has discussed the sale with no less than three newspaper companies, and their highest offer is 3 million. I believe the price given by my peers is reasonable, because the sales volume of Xiangjiang Daily seems to be declining, and there is a trend of falling below 230 copies."

Zhou Liangzhi was not surprised. This information was easy to find. He had also prepared his words. "Hong Kong Daily is one of the earliest Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong. I won't talk about its influence. You two are also very clear about it. You are attracted by its reputation, not its market value. Those colleagues who came to our store don't know the value of the goods. I believe you two are the ones who know the value of the goods."

Zhou Liangzhi did not answer the question directly, but attacked from the side.

"Mr. Zhou is selling the Hong Kong Daily to make up for the losses in the stock market. The entire newspaper industry knows about it. I believe we can wait, but Mr. Zhou, you can't wait that long." Li Wendi smiled slightly and said, "If Mr. Zhou is willing to sell the Hong Kong Daily to me for 240 million, I can take over all your stocks at the current market price." Zhou Liangzhi frowned. Li Wendi's words hit him where it hurts. Although the stocks now have a price, no one is taking over. If Li Wendi can take over his stocks, then he will definitely be able to keep the rest of the industry. This is a good temptation for him.

But when Zhou Liangzhi glanced at Li Wendi, it popped into his mind that the Qinian Newspaper had offended many of its peers, so this might be a good opportunity for him.

His peers probably don't like Li Wendi taking over the Hong Kong Daily. As long as the news gets out, it is likely to attract bidding from his peers. Wouldn't he be able to make more profit? Then he can sell it to Li Wendi and it would be natural to ask Li Wendi to take over those shares.

Zhou Liangzhi immediately shook his head and said, "I will not sell the Hong Kong Daily at a low price. I thank Mr. Li for his kindness in taking over my shares. I will lower the price by another 10. How about 320 million?"

Li Wendi continued to bargain with Zhou Liangzhi, but unfortunately Zhou Liangzhi refused to lower the price even a penny.

The two had no choice but to say goodbye.

After the two men disappeared, Zhou Liangzhi raised the corner of his mouth slightly and sneered, "This time, the Xiangjiang Daily will definitely be sold for a good price."

After the two got in the car, He Qijun said with an unpleasant expression, "Does Zhou Liangzhi want to use us as a stepping stone? Want to take advantage of the opportunity to sell at a high price?"

"Yeah!" Li Wendi nodded, "It should be pretty close. I would do the same if I were in your shoes. I always compare prices from different stores."

"What should we do then?" He Qijun frowned. "The Xiangjiang Daily is very important to the Qinian Newspaper Company. It will affect the subsequent development plans."

"If he can spread the news, so can we." Li Wendi smiled cunningly. "His personal financial situation is not very good. The situation in the stock market will become more and more serious. By then, in order to get back some of his principal, Zhou Liangzhi will know who is the right choice for him."

He Qijun thought for a moment and said, "Do you want to spread Zhou Liangzhi's personal financial information so that the financial company can hurry up and collect the debt?"

Li Wendi tilted his head and asked He Qijun, "Why are you so smart?"

"You have said it so clearly, only a fool would not understand."

"You are obviously not a fool."

"Li Wendi, you actually said I was a fool"

So the two of them started playing around in the back seat, and as it was a hot summer day, they were both sweating before long.

Li Wendi returned to the Qinian Newspaper and immediately arranged for people to investigate Zhou Liangzhi's personal financial situation. He also took the lead in spreading the news that the Qinian Newspaper proposed to Zhou Liangzhi to purchase the "Hong Kong Daily" for 200 million yuan.

The next morning, many reporters gathered at the door of the Qinian Newspaper. They seemed very interested in the news of the acquisition of the Hong Kong Daily.

Li Wendi gave the opportunity to face the reporters to He Qijun, hoping that He Qijun could adapt to these situations as soon as possible and become familiar with the reporters' question and answer methods. There may be more such occasions in the future.

When faced with reporters' questions, He Qijun was able to cope with them at first. As the questions became increasingly tricky, she spent more and more time thinking. However, the reporters would not wait for her to react and would ask even more difficult questions.

When He Qijun looked at him for help, Li Wendi stood beside her and helped her answer some questions. He naturally chose not to hear the questions that could not be answered and simply skipped them.

Li Wendi is well aware of the tricks of this group of reporters, who are all people who never mind getting into trouble. In his previous life, the wealthy people were very afraid of these people, fearing that they would embarrass them.

Li Wendi is not afraid. People always have the tendency to be selectively deaf. As for the reporters' speculations and writings, Li Wendi intends to let the public guess.

(End of this chapter)