Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 239 [Nothing Can Be Done for the Time Being]

The beginning of April

The Wharf Holdings held a board meeting, and Bao Fuda specially invited Li Wendi to attend in order to fulfill those promises and introduce him to the board members.

So Li Wendi and Zheng Yutong attended the event together, of course this had to be informed to Bao Fuda and others in advance.

The scene was just as Li Wendi had expected. The conference room was filled with foreign directors, except for him and Zheng Yutong.

Zheng Yutong behaved very naturally and greeted all the directors cordially. He was in much better condition than Li Wendi, who seemed like a follower.

Li Wendi didn't care. It was just the right opportunity for her to learn how to deal with people from Zheng Yu. After all, she would need these skills in the future.

"Everyone, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Cheng Yutong, the owner of New World Development Company and Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Company." After introducing Cheng Yutong, Bao Fuda turned his attention to Li Wendi and introduced him, "This is Mr. Li Wendi, the chairman of Changxin Real Estate Company."

"Clap!!"

The applause was very sparse and the directors looked somewhat contemptuous. It was obvious that they were still unwilling to accept the fact that these two Chinese had become members of the Wharf Group.

Li Wendi and Zheng Yu sat down on the left side of Bao Fuda, looking normal, without any sign of anger or annoyance.

The foreigners have been arrogant for a long time. If we want to break this arrogant attitude, we need to take it slowly, such as acquiring the four major foreign companies one by one, so that they can only kneel down at the feet of the Chinese.

"Okay!" Bao Fuda picked up the documents on the table and began to talk about today's agenda. "The company's earnings in the first half of this year were not bad, but the investment in Harbour City is still huge, so like in previous years, we still have no dividends this year."

Wharf Holdings owns many enterprises, including the tram company, the Harbour Tunnel Company and other franchise companies, all of which are large and stable profit-making companies. Unfortunately, Harbour City is like a gold-devouring beast, sucking up all the profits of Wharf Holdings' companies. In addition, Wharf Holdings fully implemented Jardine Matheson's plan and could only use its own funds to build Harbour City.

Therefore, Jardine Matheson has been keeping the share price of Wharf Holdings depressed. In fact, Wharf Holdings is also a strong man carrying gold in the market, but Wharf Holdings has the support of the huge mountain of Jardine Matheson. Otherwise, many people would like to lay their hands on this gold mountain, just like the acquisition of Dairy Farm by Hong Kong Holdings to swallow up Wharf Holdings.

Li Wendi is certainly not afraid of Jardine Matheson as his "backer". It is just a matter of spending more money. The important thing is where can he find such a high-quality Wharf Group?

The tram company under the Wharf Holdings owns a lot of land in Sai Wan, Causeway Bay and North Point. The building on the land of the Sha Tung Street Repair Shop in Causeway Bay alone is worth more than 21 billion yuan in the 200st century. This is a priceless heirloom that can bless the family inheritance.

After the meeting, Zheng Yutong and Li Wendi found a place to eat and chat.

"Wendy, we still have a long way to go if we want to gain a firm foothold in the Wharf board of directors. These foreigners are extremely arrogant." Zheng Yutong said without any joy on his face. This was the first time in all these years that he felt so embarrassed.

"Well, just be a Bodhisattva there for a while. They will cry in the future." Li Wendi said with some viciousness. He has now begun to train talents to take over the huge business of Wharf Group. He is ready to replace all employees.

A saying from his ancestors emerged in his mind: "Those who are not of my race must have different hearts." It was not that he could not trust foreigners, but that he could not trust them for the time being because his foundation was unstable.

"As long as you have a plan!" Zheng Yutong was just giving Li Wendi some advice. He was not very interested in Wharf Holdings, even though it was very tempting.

"If I successfully acquire Wharf Holdings, would you be interested in becoming a real director?" Li Wendi said half-jokingly.

Zheng Yutong's eyes flashed with light. After Li Wendi played the villain, his investment in Wharf Holdings had a different meaning. Moreover, the rental dividends from Harbour City alone were tempting enough.

"Okay, then I will definitely invest in Wharf Holdings." Cheng Yutong said with a smile, feeling from the bottom of his heart that this young man Li Wendi was worth making friends with.

Inside the spacious office of Hong Kong Land

Bao Fuda held a pipe with the pipe tip against his lips, looking thoughtful, and said, "It is basically certain that Li Wendi, a Chinese, wants to take action against Wharf Holdings. Otherwise, he would not have dragged in Cheng Yutong, who does not own any shares in Wharf Holdings. Cheng Yutong is the boss of New World Development Company and is well-known in the Chinese circle."

In response to Bao Fuda's explanation, Newby simply glanced at it. In fact, the two of them only had a simple working relationship and were not as close as the outside world imagined.

Newbigin seized the management rights of Jardine Matheson from the Keswick family. The Keswick family naturally hated Newbigin to the core. However, Bowfoud had a close relationship with the Keswick family and seemed to be monitoring Newbigin for the Keswick family. However, Bowfoud rarely opposed Newbigin's decisions and sometimes even strongly supported Newbigin. Therefore, these relationships seemed unclear and the only clear ones were the two parties involved, Newbigin and Bowfoud.

"I'm worried about Mr. Zheng. His strength seems to be several levels higher than Li Wendi. If the two of them join forces, or if Li Wendi gets his help, Wharf Holdings will be in danger." Niubijian pondered for a moment. "It's not the 50s or 60s anymore. The status of the Chinese in Hong Kong is rising, and they are vaguely trying to challenge our status. Although our Jardine Matheson Company is a super company, these Chinese are too smart. Once they smell blood, they will chase us and bite us to death like hyenas."

Bao Fuda paused for a moment, thinking that Newby's words were a bit alarmist, but he didn't want to refute them. Before 72, who could have imagined that Chinese companies would grow so wildly? If they continued like this, they might really threaten the entire Jardine Matheson Group.

"Does Taiban mean that we should stop these people's actions?"

Niubijian shook his head. "We can't stop them. We can only try to hide our wounds and prevent the hyenas from smelling us."

Bao Fuda nodded. This was the only solution for now.

Junfu Jewellery Company Office

As soon as Li Wendi entered the room, he saw a magical scene: three women gathered together, pointing and drawing at things on the table, with smiles on their faces. The scene looked very harmonious and beautiful.

He did not disturb her, but walked lightly and approached slowly. However, He Qijun still looked up and noticed her because she noticed Li Wendi's shadow.

"Haha!" Li Wendi laughed dryly to hide his embarrassment, and said with a smile, "What are you discussing? You seem to be having such a good time chatting!"

He Qijun said unhappily, "It's about the styles and designs of some jewelry. You don't have to worry about the company's affairs. We can only discuss it with our brains."

Li Wendi took a few glances and felt that it was similar to the previous styles. There seemed to be nothing new about it. Maybe he didn't know much about jewelry. "I think it looks good. Any questions?"

"Brother Wendi, don't you think these styles are a bit old-fashioned?" Huang Lixin reminded. She knew that Li Wendi liked He Qijun, and He Qijun's status was naturally higher than theirs.

"Yes, yes, now that you remind me of this, I can see what those designers did." Li Wendi quickly shirked the responsibility and changed the subject, "I'm going to deduct their wages." Zhao Yazhi smiled. Everyone could see that Li Wendi was just pretending, but no one noticed.

He Qijun ignored Li Wendi and said to Zhao Yazhi and Huang Lixin, "Let them make a batch of styles first and test the reaction in the market."

"Okay!" Zhao Yazhi glanced at Li Wendi several times before reluctantly pulling Huang Lixin out of the office.

He Qijun took a sip of coffee and said, "I heard that you are eyeing the Wharf Group. Now that you are so rich, do you have any plans to invest in Junfu Jewelry and expand its scale?"

As soon as he talked about serious matters, Li Wendi immediately put away his joking expression and said, "Junfu Jewelry is a family-owned business. Unlike those listed companies, we need to develop steadily and steadily, and it is not suitable for rapid expansion."

In Li Wendi's plan, he wanted to build Junfu Jewelry into a "stabilizing force" like Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Company, which can help the family withstand some major crises, rather than simply operating it to make profits.

He Qijun nodded slightly. She also wanted to test the position of Junfu Jewelry in Li Wendi's heart, because Li Wendi handed Junfu Jewelry over to her to run. If it was not important, she would feel that Li Wendi still did not trust her at all.

Li Wendi's answer surprised her, but also made her happy. It turned out that Junfu Jewelry had such an important position.

Naturally, inheritance is the most important thing for a family business, and outsiders are not allowed to get involved.

"We need to develop steadily and steadily. I plan to use the company's profits to buy a few shops and expand the company's business scope to some relatively densely populated places such as Sai Wan, North Point, Sham Shui Po, etc." Ho Ki-kwan expressed her "long-planned" idea.

Li Wendi thought for a moment and said, "The public security situation has been bad recently. The police force in these places is insufficient. It is very dangerous to open a jewelry store. I still suggest that the plan be postponed for a while."

When it comes to the so-called poor public security, He Qijun understood that Li Wendi was referring to the impact of the ICAC's anti-corruption operations on the police force, and that some police officers were not doing their job well to fight against the ICAC.

However, He Qijun shook her head and said, "We can buy a lot of insurance. We can't give up expansion just because of the bad public security. Because of this, this is our opportunity. We can be the first to occupy the market. Otherwise, we will always follow behind companies like Chow Tai Fook and King Fook."

Li Wendi knew what He Qijun said made sense, and after much hesitation, he agreed to He Qijun's plan. However, he still asked He Qijun not to store too much goods in stores in these areas. Although there was insurance compensation, the company would still suffer losses, such as reputation, and customers would feel that Junfu Jewelry was unsafe.
Starlight Real Estate Office

Li Wendi is in charge as usual. There are not many matters to be handled in Starlight Real Estate at present. Although Li Wendi has injected a batch of funds, they are all about collecting rent, which his subordinates can handle easily.

It took Zhang Yan a lot of twists and turns to find Li Wendi because Li Wendi seldom came to Starlight Real Estate.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking for me in such a hurry?" Li Wendi poured a cup of tea for Zhang Yan and asked with a smile.

"Nothing, I just want to chat with you." Zhang Yan said as usual.

Ever since his funds in the stock market were trapped, Zhang Yan has become a lot more honest and has been helping Li Wendi concentrate on handling the affairs of Wenyan Decoration Engineering Company. However, Zhang Yan still has some strength in real estate, but he lacks the capital to squander.

"Young Master Yan, we have known each other for many years. How could I not know who you are? Tell me quickly!" Li Wendi curled her lips and said unhappily. Zhang Yan was actually embarrassed.

"I want to acquire a listed company of my own. Do you think now is the time?" Zhang Yan said with some excitement. It was obvious that listed companies were very tempting to him.

Li Wendi glanced at Zhang Yan and said, "Most companies are in bad shape now and are struggling to survive. It is not difficult to successfully acquire a company, but the difficulty lies in the subsequent operation. To put it bluntly, the company needs funds to reorganize, which will cost several million at least. Can you get so much money?"

Zhang Yan was a little confused and silent for nearly a minute before he said, "I can still raise 400 or 500 million yuan, but this is all the money I have. If there is any disturbance, I may go bankrupt."

"If I had listened to you last time and sold all my stocks, the situation would definitely be much better now. It's all my fault for being too greedy."

Li Wendi thought that what Zhang Yan said was all bullshit and that he was trying to get him to borrow money or invest, so he asked, "Which company do you like?"

"I'm different from you. I can only choose some small companies." Zhang Yan felt even more embarrassed, but he still took out the prepared documents from his briefcase and handed them to Li Wendi, "Here are the information of those companies."

Li Wendi was not vague and took it directly and read it very seriously.

Luckin Property Co., Ltd.'s share price is 0.6 yuan, and the subscription price is 0.5 yuan. The asset value is good, the rent can still repay the bank interest, and it has experience in developing small residential buildings. The development of two small sites under its umbrella has been stopped (lack of funds).
Gaohe Real Estate Co., Ltd. is a pure rental collection company.
Half an hour later, Li Wendi asked, "Which company do you think is promising?"

It is unlikely that Li Wendi will analyze each company for Zhang Yan one by one. Firstly, it would be a waste of time. Secondly, he cannot make direct decisions on Zhang Yan's business. Zhang Yan needs to make the decision himself.

"Luckin Coffee Co., Ltd., what do you think?" Zhang Yan said hesitantly.

“Since you are interested in Luckin Coffee, you should conduct a more in-depth investigation into it. Tell me what you know about this company.” Li Wendi began to worry.

So Zhang Yan talked about his insights on Luckin Coffee, which of course lacked depth because Zhang Yan was a little worried that his choice was wrong.

"No company is absolutely good. It depends on whether it is suitable for you at the moment. Whether you can make a fortune depends on your management." Li Wendi said, "Luckin Real Estate has no problems on the surface, but you still need to continue investigating. If possible, I don't recommend you to buy too many stocks from the stock market."

"Why?" Zhang Yan was a little confused.

"Because your funds are limited, if all the money is spent on acquiring stocks in the stock market, the company's future operations will be difficult. If you can reach an agreement with the boss of Luckin Coffee, you can acquire some stocks from the stock market, take some stocks from that boss, and then let the company issue new shares to you. In this way, the company can use the funds from the new shares to adjust part of its debts," Li Wendi analyzed to Zhang Yan.

After chatting with Zhang Yan for several hours, Li Wendi promised Zhang Yan that if Zhang Yan lacked funds, he could come to him and he would definitely help, and even promised 500 million.

In fact, Li Wendi was in favor of Zhang Yan starting a new business. After all, brothers are brothers, but there are many fathers and sons who become enemies because of money, not to mention brothers like Li Wendi and Zhang Yan who "changed careers late". It would be better for them to separate early.

To be on the safe side, Li Wendi called Zhang Wentao and asked him to investigate the financial situation of Luckin Coffee to prevent Zhang Yan from falling into a trap.

(End of this chapter)