Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 233 [Investment Department Comics]

The beginning of April

The Hang Seng Index fell below 400 points again, paused at 399 points for a day, and continued to fall. The market became dead silent, but there were not many people jumping off buildings. After all, this was the fourth short-term recovery.

Li Wendi was very clear that this time the decline would be even more turbulent. According to his memories of his previous life, by the end of the year the Hang Seng Index would fall to more than 100 points, which was lower than the Hang Seng Index in the 60s.

By the end of 74, Li Wendi was able to harvest a wave of stocks in the stock market. Naturally, the stocks of small companies were not within Li Wendi's harvesting range.

He Qijun is worthy of being a woman from a big family. She is extremely career-oriented. After completely taking over the Hong Kong Daily and putting the operation of Junfu Jewelry Company on track, she began to set her sights on other industries, aiming to become a new generation of strong woman in Hong Kong.

This also reminded Li Wendi of another He family in Hong Kong in his previous life. However, He Qijun knew better what she wanted and would not pursue any illusory love.

In the office of the Qi Nian Newspaper, Li Wendi crossed his legs and said thoughtfully, "It's not that easy to get into the comics industry. Comics from Japan are very competitive in Southeast Asia. Comics from Hong Kong are not competitive enough and may face losses. Have you really thought it through?"

Li Wendi naturally had many high-quality comics from his previous life in his head, but he didn't want the Qinian Newspaper to develop too quickly. After all, he and He Qijun were not married yet. If any unexpected situation occurred, he would be at a disadvantage.

He Qijun contributed to the growth and development of Qinian Newspaper, but it would never have reached its current position without the support of Li Wendi. The pressure brought by the profit distribution of Qinian Newspaper and the acquisition plan of Xiangjiang Daily was not something He Qijun could bear. All of this was influenced by Li Wendi's power, otherwise Qinian Newspaper might have been torn into pieces by its peers.

There is no rule of ladies first in the business world. As long as you block other people's way, they will naturally fight you back. The winner depends entirely on your strength and luck.

"Well! I've thought about it. I sent people to spread the word a few days ago. Now I've received a lot of comic manuscripts. You can take a look." He Qijun fiddled with the desk for a while and dug out a stack of handwritten comic manuscripts.

The carbon ink in the sketch above can even dye Li Wendi's fingers black, which shows that it was drawn not long ago. As for the creativity, there is basically no creativity in it. It is just some plagiarized plots, and the market in Hong Kong is very limited.

"How is it? What do you think?" He Qijun asked anxiously. She knew nothing about comics and had just been busy supplementing some relevant knowledge recently.

Li Wendi smiled and said, "If you want to open up the market through comics, I think you are still a little short of it. Why are you suddenly interested in comics?"

So, He Qijun explained the reason. It was probably because Zhao Xi had found a good direction. He felt that Hong Kong was a little weak in this aspect, and it might be a direction to strengthen the Qi Nian Newspaper.

"I heard from Xiaonan that you told her a lot of stories, stories about fairies, a child who wanted to become Hokage, and a man who wanted to become a pirate king. I think these stories can be edited into comics, and they should be very popular." He Qijun said to Li Wendi with hope in her eyes.

So that was the idea!
Xiaonan's younger sister is the same. She tells everything to others.

Li Wendi couldn't help but sigh. He told these stories to encourage Li Xiaonan, but now they have become Li Xiaonan's capital for showing off, which is a dilemma for him.

In fact, the stories told to Li Xiaonan are incomplete. It will take a lot of time to perfect all the storylines.

After thinking it over, Li Wendi knew that he had to help, otherwise there would be a rift between the two. He was also a person who sought to maximize profits, so he said, "Okay, these stories are indeed suitable for becoming comics, but I hope that the derivatives of these comics will be decided by me. I plan to acquire a toy company and make some comic dolls, figurines and the like, so that I can increase profits better."

It is up to Li Wendi to decide, which means that these matters need to have nothing to do with the Qinian Newspaper. He Qijun understood these words, and suddenly felt that Li Wendi was still wary of her, but she quickly realized that she had snatched a lot of things, and Junfu Jewelry Company and the Qinian Newspaper were both under her management.

"Okay, I still hope that Qinian Newspaper can get some shares. After all, Qinian Newspaper is the distributor of the comics." He Qijun made a serious suggestion.

"Well, 20%." Li Wendi nodded without explaining anything because he knew He Qijun would understand.

Li Wendi then added, "You should set up a comics team as soon as possible, and I will take care of the toy company's affairs."

In this way, the two reached a preliminary agreement.

Inside the office of Changxin Real Estate Company
Li Wendi is interviewing candidates for the investment manager position at Changxin Real Estate Company. The right person will become Li Wendi's direct subordinate and be responsible for all investment projects of Changxin Real Estate Company, including securities investment and currency investment.

Originally, these things could have been handed over to Zhang Wentao, but unfortunately Zhang Wentao was not very alert in this regard and could only be an executor. He could not even provide Li Wendi with any suggestions, so Li Wendi had to find someone to relieve his pressure in investment.

Several people had been interviewed before, but they were all mediocre and none of them could impress Li Wendi at all.

The person at the moment was a pretty woman, very young, only 24 years old, the same age as Li Wendi. Her name was Lin Dongmei, and she graduated from Harvard University, a top student to be sure.

Li Wendi was a little confused. With this academic qualification, she could get a very good job even in the United States. Why did Lin Dongmei come to a small company like Changxin Real Estate?

Lin Dongmei directly answered Li Wendi's question, "Because Mr. Li is the youngest chairman of a listed company in Hong Kong and a self-made man, I think we are both young people and can have more similar views. Moreover, if the company is smaller, I will achieve greater success in the future."

Li Wendi liked Lin Dongmei's answer very much. The words sounded pleasant and did not seem like flattery.

"Then what do you think should be the current investment direction of Changxin Real Estate?" Li Wendi asked with a faint smile. In his eyes, there are also "fish that slip through the net of education" among top students. If he catches one of them, wouldn't he be terrified?

"The best investment right now is the stock market, followed by currency, and gold last." Lin Dongmei glanced at Li Wendi and continued, "Changxin Real Estate Company is in the real estate business, so I won't teach you about this."

Li Wendi asked again about the reasons for the arrangement, and Lin Dongmei was able to analyze it from the perspectives of the international market and the Hong Kong market. At the same time, many of those answers were in line with the historical development of the previous life.

Although Li Wendi did not immediately decide to hire this "top student", he was a little less attentive in the subsequent interviews, after all, he had made a good choice.

Zhang Wentao was naturally unhappy because he was no longer in charge of this department and his power was greatly weakened.

However, Zhang Wentao was powerless to change this. This was Li Wendi's decision, and it was also because he was not capable enough. Zhang Wentao clenched his fists slightly. He could not sit still and wait for death. The real estate affairs of Changxin Real Estate must be firmly in his hands. At the same time, he had to use other time to study, otherwise he would really be left behind by Changxin Real Estate.

Three days later, Lin Dongmei started working, but there were only five people in the investment department, and those people under her seemed to be newcomers who could not help her much, which meant she was destined to be extremely busy.

"Boss, this is some information I have sorted out in the past few days. I think the current Hong Kong stock market is still not at its bottom, but there is a lot of funds that can be mobilized in the company's account. If it is kept in the account all the time, it will only be a waste." Lin Dongmei said seriously.

"What investment projects do you have?" Li Wendi closed the document and looked at Lin Dongmei and asked.

"I think you can try to buy some US dollars. The US dollar is depreciating now, but it is an important international currency and is directly linked to hard currencies such as gold. So Americans will not watch the US dollar continue to depreciate. I think the US dollar will appreciate soon." Lin Dongmei analyzed.

It is only the beginning of July now, and there are still 7 or 5 months to the end of the year. The US dollar is bound to have some volatility, so it is a good investment project.

"Then how much do you plan to invest? Changxin Real Estate Company doesn't have much funds, and we still have to pay some construction costs." Li Wendi crossed his fingers on the table.

"I understand! I plan to invest 200 million US dollars, more than 500 million Hong Kong dollars first." Lin Dongmei was still very cautious, and it might be because she heard what Li Wendi said that she changed the amount.

"Okay, I approve it. You can go to the Finance Department to get the money." Li Wendi signed the report with a big wave of his hand, and said, "Our main focus should still be on the Hong Kong stock market. Of course, you can always come to me if you have any short-term investment projects."

"Yes! Boss!" Lin Dongmei nodded, stood up, took the documents and left the office.

Li Wendi looked at the beautiful figure, and became thoughtful.

Although the oil embargo has ended, the price of oil is still high. It is unlikely to return to the price before October 73. Many plastic factories and toy factories are beginning to show signs of operating difficulties. After all, they have lost a lot of money on previous orders.

Due to He Qijun's comic expansion plan, Li Wendi collected a lot of information on toy companies, one of which was quite suitable for Li Wendi to start with.

Western restaurant with beautiful piano music
Li Wendi met with Yang Tianguang, the boss of Xiyangyang Toys Co., Ltd., to discuss the sale of the toy company.

Due to the shrinking US market, the unemployment rate reached 7.2%, the sluggish toy market, and the rising prices of raw materials, the Happy Goat Toy Company eventually fell into a period of operational difficulties.

Yang Tianguang is not young anymore, around 50 years old, and has two children studying abroad, which requires considerable tuition and living expenses, so Yang Tianguang can no longer support himself and hopes that his two children can continue to finish their studies.

"Mr. Yang, let's stop talking nonsense. I have investigated your company. There are some losses. Although they are not serious, it requires an injection of a considerable amount of capital to revitalize the entire company. So my asking price of 200 million may not be in line with the market situation. The most I can give is 130 million." Li Wendi did not intend to lower the price. Business is business, not for sympathy or favors.

At present, Xiyangyang Toy Company still has some business orders that have not been completed, which is another loss, and the asset value is not very good. Assets such as factories and offices are privately owned by the company, and only those equipment are the company's assets.

What Li Wendi was interested in were the equipment and skilled workers. Once the acquisition was successful, he could start production of the products immediately and rely on the company's previous customers to open up sales.

Yang Tianguang was embarrassed. "130 million is too low. Although the company is in trouble, the machinery and equipment can be worth 70 or 80 yuan."

"Mr. Yang, I'm not trying to lower the price on purpose, but the current market conditions are not good. Plus, your company still has quite a few orders, and you're going to lose some money on those orders. You should take that into account, right?!" Li Wendi said, suppressing his smile.

Yang Tianguang thought for a while, "Reduce 20, 180 million! This price has a good meaning."

"Mr. Yang, to be honest, if there weren't those orders, it would definitely be worth 180 million. I also know that you are in trouble, Mr. Yang, so I will raise the price a little, to 150 million!" Li Wendi said with a slight sigh.

After some negotiation between the two parties, Li Wendi finally acquired the toy company for 155 million yuan.

Li Wendi liked the name of this company quite a bit, so he decided not to change the name of the company after taking over.

Yang Tianguang acted quickly. The day after the signing of the contract, he took Li Wendi to convene a general meeting of company employees.

"Xiyangyang Toys has been established for nearly ten years. Many of you are old employees of the company. Now the company has been transferred to Mr. Li Wendi. You may not have heard of Mr. Li's reputation. Mr. Li is a famous real estate tycoon. At the same time, Mr. Li has promised that he will not fire any of you. Let's applaud and invite Mr. Li to speak!"

At Yang Tianguang's request, Li Wendi stood in front of dozens of workers and said a few words, the main point of which was that the company would not go bankrupt and as long as they worked hard, they would get the corresponding rewards.

An hour later, Li Wendi appeared in Yang Tianguang's former office, looking through documents to understand the company's specific situation.

Before the acquisition, I only knew about the company's financial situation, assets, and operating conditions, but not much else.

Yang Tianguang is still an honest man and did not deliberately conceal the company's situation. Even the deposits given for those orders are still in the account, not a single cent missing.

However, the situation of Xiyangyang Toy Company is not optimistic. After the orders are completed, there will be basically no cash turnover in the company's accounts, and it may even need to seek a loan from a bank.

After the oil crisis, there were not many orders, a significant drop compared to before, and the profits earned were not enough to sustain the company's operations.

However, Li Wendi was not worried about these things, because the Happy Goat Toy Company was a small factory and the funds needed were nothing in his eyes, only a few hundred thousand.

Li Wendi is now considering whether to acquire another clothing factory and embroider cartoon characters on clothes, which should be another profitable business.

Although these two businesses cannot make as much money as newspapers and real estate, they are still a small piece of meat. Perhaps they can lay the foundation for some large enterprises in the future and become the family business of the Li family.

(End of this chapter)