Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 228 [Still Have to Accept the Appointment]

"Wendy!" After the auction ended, a familiar voice came from behind Li Wendi.

Li Wendi looked back and saw that the person coming was Cheng Yutong from New World Development Company, and next to him was his eldest son Cheng Kar-shun.

"It's Uncle Tong." Li Wendi greeted with a smile. It was the first time for him to see the father and son together on camera, especially the bald Zheng Jiachun, who looked to be about the same age as Zheng Yutong. People would believe that they were brothers, and Zheng Jiachun liked to hang out with Zheng Yutong.

Li Wendi also felt that Zheng Jiachun was a bit strange. Why did he like to play with his father?

"Are you free? How about we find a place to have a good chat?" Zheng Yutong introduced some of his sons to Li Wendi and then made an invitation.

"Okay! If Uncle Tong calls me, I will definitely make time for it." Li Wendi said politely. Zheng Yutong is really worth making friends with. If there is anything, Zheng Yutong will really help.

Zheng Yutong smiled, then walked away from the auction venue while chatting.

A coffee shop in Central
There was a cup of coffee and a small plate of dessert on the table for each of the three people.

After chatting for a few minutes, Zheng Yutong got down to business. "I heard that you have a batch of gold worth more than 4000 million yuan that you want to sell. I wonder if you have found a buyer?"

Today's gold price has risen to $149 per ounce. The batch of gold in Li Wendi's hands, originally worth 1300 million yuan, has risen to more than 4300 million yuan, an increase of 200%.

Li Wendi found it a little strange. As the leader of Hong Kong's jewelry industry, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company has always had sufficient reserves of gold jewelry, and it has many channels to purchase goods. It should not look down on these high-priced goods.

"Hasn't found it yet. What? Is Uncle Tong interested in this batch of goods?" Li Wendi asked with a smile.

Zheng Yutong nodded without hesitation. "The economy is bad now. Many people want to buy gold to preserve its value. The business at the gold shop is very good. I am afraid that the company's inventory will not be able to hold up. Chow Tai Fook cannot close down, so I can only look for sources of goods everywhere."

"Are the previous channels no longer useful? Or are the cargo owners taking the opportunity to ask for a high price?" Li Wendi expressed his doubts.

Chow Tai Fook has always had a good reputation, and Cheng Yutong is very stable in doing business, so this kind of situation should not have occurred.

"Neither. I have already obtained a batch of gold from Australia. Unfortunately, the weather is bad now. The cargo ships and planes cannot transport it normally. Now I can only get goods from other places as an emergency measure to prevent the situation where there is no goods to sell."

For large companies, reputation is more important than anything else. If there were rumors that Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company was hoarding gold and waiting to sell it at a high price, wouldn't that be a waste of money for Jingfu Jewellery and Chow Tai Seng Jewellery? After all, these jewelry companies are not weak.

"So that's how it is!" Li Wendi nodded in understanding. "Since Uncle Tong wants this batch of gold, I can sell it at a lower price. Half of this batch of gold was obtained through Uncle Tong's channels, so it's just right to repay a favor. 140 US dollars per ounce, how about it?"

Unexpectedly, Zheng Yutong waved his hand and refused, saying, "This is business, and has nothing to do with our friendship. Let's go by the market price, $149 per ounce."

In fact, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company is not entirely owned by the Zheng family. The Zheng family only holds more than 30% of the shares. There are some old and small shareholders and some employees holding shares. However, the Zheng family can have the final say within Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company, and those shareholders generally will not object.

Therefore, Zheng Yutong didn't really want to owe this favor.

"Okay. Then you decide the time of delivery. I can do it anytime that's convenient for me." Li Wendi said without hesitation. A discount of $9 per ounce is only a reduction of more than 200 million yuan, which is just a drop in the bucket for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company.

Zheng Jiachun stood aside, just watching quietly, not saying much, like a piece of wood.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Cheng Yutong said another thing, "Last year, I acquired a piece of land with an area of ​​80 square feet in Pokfulam. I plan to build a high-end residential area. I wonder if you would like to invest in it, Wendi?"

Hearing this, Li Wendi's eyes widened in surprise. This was a very high-quality project. Even in his previous life, it was a well-known luxury residential area. New World Development Company made a lot of money from this project.

According to the previous planning, the high-end residential area of ​​Baguio Bay in Hong Kong Island has 50 residential buildings, equipped with a large number of tourist and leisure facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, children's playgrounds, etc. It is even more popular than the large housing estates built after the 80s and 90s.

"Of course, thank you for your support, Uncle Tong!" Li Wendi said happily.

"But your share won't be too high, 1000% of 5 million, how about that?" Zheng Yutong said seriously. In fact, this ratio is already very cheap. Without connections, it is not necessarily possible to get a share even if you have money.

Because others are unwilling to take you to play!

"Okay, 5% is already good, and I don't have much money now. Uncle Tong still understands me." Li Wendi took the opportunity to say something nice.

"Well, let's sign the two contracts together to save everyone running around." Zheng Yutong said with a smile.

"Okay, let's do as Uncle Tong says. Let's deduct the 1000 million yuan directly from the gold payment. There's no need to transfer it back and forth so much." Li Wendi took over and filled in the gaps. After all, there were some things that Zheng Yutong was not easy to say.

This is really a pleasant surprise, especially the investment in the Baguio Bay project. It is definitely a good opportunity for Li Wendi's company to learn. That is a large-scale high-end residential project. Learning opportunities are naturally rare. If Changxin Real Estate Company wants to build a large housing estate in the future, this is a very good reference project experience.

Moreover, a 5% stake can also bring very good profit returns, even dozens of times. After all, it was 75 or 76 when the first phase of the Baguio Bay residential area was completed, and the real estate market had begun to recover.

The price of oil rose smoothly from $3 a barrel to $12, an increase of 300%, which caused other oil derivatives to rise as well. The increases varied, with the lower ones increasing by 80% and the higher ones increasing by 200%. Many businessmen were complaining.

Because some orders can no longer be processed at the previous prices, and customers will not agree to raise prices, if they breach the contract, they will have to pay a large amount of liquidated damages, which is greater than the amount of loss.

In April 74, the oil embargo ended, but the oil price in Hong Kong remained high. For this reason, many businessmen went to the Hong Kong government to petition, asking the six major oil companies to lower their prices like the international market.

However, the six major oil companies could not bear to see such huge profits, so they negotiated with the Hong Kong government, while making a fuss about the high price of oil and carrying out promotions, hoping to make a huge profit by taking advantage of the time difference.

Looking at the messy situation, Li Wendi felt a little upset. As long as the market was not peaceful, it would be impossible to expect the economy to pick up.

Before Li Wendi could even warm the check for more than 3000 million yuan he received from Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company, he handed it over to Hutchison Group.

Li Wendi also mortgaged 18% of the shares of China Gas Company to HSBC Bank for a loan of 2000 million yuan, thus successfully paying 6100 million yuan to Hutchison Group. However, Li Wendi also had to pay more than yuan in interest to HSBC Bank every month, which was also a considerable expense.

Fortunately, Junfu Jewelry Company made a lot of profit from gold jewelry (previous inventory), nearly 200 million. Since it is a private company, Li Wendi can naturally embezzle some of it to solve the urgent problem.

Soon, Li Wendi's attention was attracted by the news in the newspaper. The Hong Kong Land Development announced that it would invest 6 million yuan to rebuild all the buildings in the Central area, and the entire project would be completed within 10 years.

This is a very good sign.

When the local market is depressed, start demolishing and rebuilding old properties. When the local market recovers, you can start renting out the properties again and earn more rent. After all, you can naturally increase the rent.

At the same time, you can also take the opportunity to expand the area of ​​the property. For example, the Entertainment Building owned by China Entertainment Real Estate has a current floor area of ​​more than 9 square feet. Once rebuilt, the floor area can be expanded to 15 square feet, which is nearly 60% more rental area than before.

As for the construction costs incurred, they are just a drop in the bucket, and three years of rent are enough to pay back the money.

Therefore, Li Wendi judged that many real estate developers would follow the Land Development Company and take over their old buildings. Of course, they must have sufficient funds. Companies like Changxin Real Estate Company and China Entertainment Real Estate do not have so much funds and can only wait for the next opportunity.

Jingle Bell! !

The ringing of the phone woke Li Wendi from his thoughts.

"Hello!" Li Wendi picked up the phone, his tone a little heavy, "What's the matter?"

"Boss, there's a call from a Mr. Xu Shoukun. Would you like to transfer the call to me?" The secretary's voice came from the receiver.

Li Wendi thought about it and decided that he should appease Xu Shoukun. If he pushed this guy into a corner, who knows what Xu Shoukun would do. "Let him in."

"Yes!"

"Hey! Mr. Li, long time no see. Do you still remember me, your old friend?" Xu Shoukun's joking voice came, but the tone was a little wrong.

"How could I forget Inspector Xu?" Li Wendi responded indifferently.

"I'm hosting a banquet at the Happiness Tea House tomorrow. Would you mind giving me a favor, Mr. Li?"

"Inspector Xu, you're too polite! What time? I'll definitely come!" said Li Wendi.

"Let's have tea at noon."

"Okay, see you then." Li Wendi hung up the phone with a gloomy expression on his face.

It was obvious what Xu Shoukun wanted to discuss, which was nothing more than the corruption case being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

He had heard that Godber was being extradited back to Hong Kong. Even in the UK, Godber could not escape the sanctions of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Obviously, Chinese detectives like Xu Shoukun had no chance of escape. So this group of people panicked and tried to find connections everywhere, hoping to be the fish that slipped through the net.

Li Wendi was just afraid that Xu Shoukun would use his family as bargaining chips, so it would be better for him to take the initiative and appease this loser.

(End of this chapter)