Chapter 607
Small Family
In the office of Ping An Bank Building, Chen Mengyi, the chairman and CEO of 'Media Group', is giving a work report to her father, Chen Guangliang.
"Today, Hong Kong pop culture has begun to develop systematically, and the trainee system of Times Entertainment has become a model for other companies. Boy groups and girl groups are already showing promising growth. Take our first boy group, H.O.T., for example. Their first album achieved double platinum status, and their second album even surpassed the Little Tigers of Taiwan. They are already very well-known in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and other regions. At the same time, our second boy group, Shinhwa, was very popular upon their debut."
"Regarding Times Pictures, Stephen Chow has had a breakout year, with both 'All for the Winner' and 'God of Gamblers II' ranking in the top five at the box office. He has the potential to join Jack Sing as one of Hong Kong's box office giants. Our investment in the Hollywood film 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' has been a huge box office success, and the toy rights for it are held by Huatai."
"The most impressive result is undoubtedly that of Asia Television, which completely surpassed TVB this year and sold the rights to 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' for a sky-high price."
The media group has four main business segments: Oriental Daily News, Times Pictures, Times Entertainment, and Asia Television.
Oriental Daily News remains Hong Kong's largest newspaper, focusing on popular, news-oriented entertainment. However, the Chan family rarely interferes in the affairs of Oriental Daily News, which has always been managed by professional managers. The Chan family actively supports 'press freedom'.
After listening to the report, Chen Guangliang took out a document and gave it to his daughter, Chen Mengyi, saying, "It seems that it's time to start 'Hong Kong style dramas.' This is a document about the characteristics and requirements of Hong Kong style dramas, as well as a script outline for 'Meteor Garden.' Remember, we need to develop a systematic approach, not just follow the script verbatim."
“I understand,” Chen Mengyi excitedly accepted the proposal. From being unfamiliar with Hong Kong pop culture at the beginning, she has now become very enthusiastic about it.
Of course, she also understood that, at least in her father's mind, Hong Kong pop culture was already a systematic development plan, so her father would give her guidance regularly.
"Delicate emotional portrayal, tight plot design, and vivid character development. Emphasis is placed on training screenwriters, especially female screenwriters for their sensitivity in the realm of emotions."
"In 'Meteor Garden,' set in a prestigious academy established by four powerful families to cultivate outstanding descendants, the F4, descendants of these families, naturally hold a prominent position. Shan Cai, an ordinary girl, arrives with her parents' dream of her rising to a higher social status. Her friend Li Zhen accidentally angers Dao Ming Si, the leader of the F4, prompting Shan Cai to stand up for her friend, thus beginning her complex love-hate relationship with the F4."
The influence of "Meteor Garden" in Asia surpassed that of Korean dramas such as "Autumn in My Heart" and "Stairway to Heaven" before it did.
Chen Guangliang presented the outline of "Meteor Garden" with the intention of testing the waters first, and then filming the classic Korean drama from the previous life in the 1990s.
Of course, these can only serve as samples of 'Hong Kong dramas'. Once a certain scale and a sound system are established, a major explosion of Hong Kong dramas will naturally occur.
"Father, this 'Meteor Garden' concept is excellent; it feels like a shoujo manga."
Upon hearing this, Chen Guangliang immediately said, "Then let's invite comic artists to create together and cultivate this IP in depth. The F4 actors in this project must be from our own company and sign long-term contracts. In the future, F4 will also be a group."
Chen Mengyi's eyes lit up. Her father was indeed a father; he was proficient in everything.
"Yes, I've written it down."
Hong Kong pop culture is not simply a cultural industry; it can also permeate various industries.
The tourism, retail, cosmetics, plastic surgery, and real estate industries will all benefit from the influx of Hong Kong investment.
Hong Kong Governor Wilson announced the plan for Hong Kong's new international airport, with a budget of HK$1270 billion for the core works.
In the fiscal year 1987-1988, the Hong Kong government's revenue was HK$636 billion, expenditure was HK$501 billion, and the surplus was HK$135 billion. It is evident that the new airport project was extremely costly.
However, the Hong Kong government will obviously not 'lose out' and will offer land around the Airport Express and Lantau Island at high prices to real estate developers in order to obtain sufficient funds.
This would inevitably lead to conflict with the mainland, because a core element of the "British-Chinese negotiations" was that the Hong Kong government could only sell a fixed area of land each year.
This is to prevent the future Hong Kong government from having "no land to sell"!
Moreover, the new airport plan was clearly a trap set by the Hong Kong British government: to spend as much Hong Kong money as possible while maintaining a good reputation. Whether the 97 government had the funds was none of their concern.
In any case, the new airport is destined to face numerous challenges.
Actually.
In 1984, CK Asset Holdings proposed a new airport plan, in which a private consortium led by CK Asset Holdings would be contracted to build the new airport.
Of course, in this plan, the Hong Kong government will also grant the land to compensate for the investment of private consortia.
It was this suggestion that accelerated the completion of the new airport.
The atmosphere on the 'Tranquility' superyacht became tense after Li Jiaxin joined them.
Guan Jiahui, Li Zhi, and Zhang Min looked at the uninvited guest. Guan Jiahui's eyes were full of provocation, while Li Jiaxin was not afraid of fighting three people at once and stretched out her neck, ready to start a fight at the slightest provocation.
"What are you doing? Are you going to put on a women's fight for my enjoyment today?!"
Chen Guangliang was wearing shorts, revealing his lean upper body. He didn't look like an old man who was almost eighty years old at all. He had a powerful aura, and the four women's jealousy was instantly extinguished.
Li Jiaxin was the first to react, stepping forward to take Chen Guangliang's arm and saying, "Mr. Chen, you went to great lengths to invite me to this party, and look how they treat me."
Guan Jiahui was furious. She immediately took Chen Guangliang's other arm and said, "Darling, this little girl is no simpleton!"
Who are you calling a little girl?
"You are it, look at yourself."
Guan Jiahui's gaze was fixed on Li Jiaxin's chest, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Actually, Li Jiaxin's was quite good, and with Chen Guangliang's help, it grew considerably larger. But unfortunately, Guan Jiahui and Chen Guangliang were there earlier, and their development was even more perfect!
"Alright! I invited you here today to give you some pointers on your investments. If you like arguing, I'm going inside to take a break!"
The four women were instantly captivated upon hearing this.
The five then sat down in the salon area, where the air was cool and there was chilled red wine and delicious snacks.
"The bottom-fishing period will only last for six months, and things will return to normal within six months at most."
As soon as Chen Guangliang finished speaking, Guan Jiahui immediately asked, "Can we buy anything at rock-bottom prices? Office buildings, securities?"
After saying that, she looked at Li Jiaxin provocatively.
Today, Kwan Ka-wai's net worth is close to one billion. More importantly, she also owns an IT retail business and is making long-term preparations for listing.
Li Jiaxin retorted defiantly, "I've already bought at the bottom, you're all a step too late!"
Good heavens, this is drawing the flames of war to Chen Guangliang.
Chen Guangliang coughed and said, "The market only started to fall last month, and people's mindset hasn't adjusted yet, so it's not the right time to buy at the bottom."
He then changed the subject, saying, "The four of you are quite a force to be reckoned with now. This time, you'll have to follow my instructions when it comes to buying at the bottom. I don't want anyone to know that I'm the one directing you to buy at the bottom."
"why?"
The women finally spoke in unison.
Chen Guangliang said with a smile, "Our Chen family has monopolized Hong Kong's economy. In the last ten years or so, I have been trying to break the monopoly. However, the strength of other businessmen in Hong Kong is too weak, so it is still unavoidable. But it is shameful for the Chen family to be involved in things like property speculation."
Making small money is shameful. Guan Jiahui said with dissatisfaction, "I've given birth to two children for you, don't I count as a member of the Chen family?"
What about me?
The women became anxious.
Having been with Chen Guangliang for a long time, what they care about isn't just money, but also deep affection. Even if Chen Guangliang is unwilling to go public, he still has to acknowledge the children's 'Chen family genes and bloodline' in private!
Chen Guangliang said directly, "You can't integrate into the big family because I've retired and my children have taken over. But I'll create a separate small family for you. As long as you're united and don't cause trouble, it'll be easy for each branch of the family to become worth billions in the future."
The four women were immediately intrigued. After all, they dared not cause trouble not only because of Chen Guangliang's authority, but also because Chen Guangliang had retired and the power of the Chen family was in the hands of the second generation. How could they not be afraid?
At this moment, Guan Jiahui adopted the air of a leader and said, "The three of us have been following you for so long, and we've always been united and never caused any trouble. But this one might be a different story!"
After saying that, he deliberately provoked them.
It's a real headache.
Provoked, Li Jiaxin immediately snapped, "Who are you trying to insult? I've been with him for three years, when have I ever made a fuss?"
Chen Guangliang stopped:
"Listen. Now I'll plan your bottom-fishing operation: Jia Hui, you have a high-quality business in IT retail, so this bottom-fishing operation mainly involves shops and office buildings. Shops are crucial, since there could be dozens of IT stores in the future. For office buildings, focus on Central."
Guan Jiahui said charmingly, "I'll listen to you, darling."
Li Jiaxin gave it a disdainful look.
Then, Chen Guangliang said to Li Zhi, "Ah Zhi, you are now moving to Singapore, but this time you can also buy up properties in Hong Kong at rock-bottom prices, mainly luxury homes and high-end residences."
Lizhi nodded.
Chen Guangliang said to Zhang Min, "Amin, although you have a lot of investments in the mainland, you can't skimp on investments in Hong Kong. This time, you can buy up shops and high-end residences at rock-bottom prices and use them for long-term rental income."
"it is good"
Finally, Chen Guangliang said to Li Jiaxin, "Jiaxin, you should buy up luxury homes and office buildings at rock-bottom prices to collect rent for the long term."
Li Jiaxin immediately said, "Is it okay to occasionally buy some high-end residential properties or commercial properties?"
This is blatant provocation and defiance of management.
Chen Guangliang said, "No, I will follow the arrangements."
The other three women did not retaliate.
High-end residences are actually just 'large housing estates' and 'ordinary residences in good locations'.
Luxury homes can be understood as residences or villas of over 1,000 square feet in areas such as Mid-Levels, Deep Water Bay, The Peak, Repulse Bay, and Clear Water Bay.
Chen Guangliang continued, "Of course, regarding securities, all four of you have already started buying at the bottom, so I won't go into details."
It doesn't involve 'ordinary residential properties', since those are things you can't speculate on, and you can't make money from just any property.
High-end residences are actually just ordinary residences, but there are some distinctions between them.
Regarding securities, the total market capitalization of the Hong Kong stock market is approximately HK$7000 billion. The Chen family's largest securities investment is naturally in Ping An Investment, holding securities worth around HK$150 billion.
Even if these women leverage their assets, their combined strength is only a little over a billion, which doesn't amount to much influence.
Over the next few days, Chen Guangliang enjoyed the bliss of having two women. Although Li Jiaxin still had some friction with the team, she had obviously integrated and started to compete with Guan Jiahui in beauty, continuing the vying for favor!
The news in the newspapers was quite distressing for Chen Guangliang, a Hong Kong tycoon—large numbers of Hong Kong people were queuing at the immigration office.
These immigrants are mostly middle-class people in Hong Kong with considerable assets. When they immigrated, they also took Hong Kong's social wealth with them.
For Chan Kwong-leung, it was not easy to cultivate a more prosperous and developed Hong Kong, but some people are trying to trip him up.
Of course, the most fundamental reason why Hong Kong is developed is that it is a 'free port' where capital flows in and out freely, so everyone's capital flows in or out freely.
Even the Chan Kwong Leung family would consider relocating if Hong Kong's capital flow were restricted.
Putting down the newspaper, Chen Guangliang quickly shook off the 'heartbreaking thoughts' he had just had.
"If the working environment is better, I believe more people will choose to stay."
In Chen Guangliang's view, the ideal work environment is to create two calling cards for Hong Kong: Hong Kong's technological and cultural development.
Of course, the mainland is key to the technology industry, which is why Cheung Kong Industrial Group has many investments in the mainland today.
“Dad, this is the first generation of our joint venture brand ‘Little Genius’ in mainland China. We’ve already secured prime-time advertising time with CCTV.” Chen Wenkai held up a learning machine that looked like a keyboard, then plugged it into the television in his father’s office to demonstrate it.
Chen Guangliang started playing with the learning machine he had played in his previous life. Back then, studying was just a pretense; playing games was the real purpose.
After experiencing it for a while, Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "It's very good. Of course, you have to understand that Little Genius is just a test product for us in the mainland, and we don't need to invest too much energy in it. When the time is right, we need to bring Midea into the mainland and make it a wholly-owned brand."
“I understand! We are currently collaborating with many electronics companies in mainland China, and we are accumulating experience. Although the equity of these companies is 50/50, we retain control of the management. When the time is right, we will gradually cash out these companies and focus on developing our own brand.”
At that time in mainland China, joint ventures were the norm, although with the influence of the Chen family, sole proprietorship was also possible (there were quite a few sole proprietorships).
However, Chen Guangliang believed that the overall timing was not right, and that mainland consumption was insufficient to support it, so they should wait until 1992.
They have established numerous joint ventures with mainland companies in the electronics sector, retaining control of the management. This allows them to accumulate experience and build networks. Moreover, these joint ventures can be sold at high prices in the future, offering substantial returns.
Among the joint ventures are those led by Xiaotiancai (小天才), which focuses on game consoles; a joint venture semiconductor company that produces low-end chip products; and a joint venture lithium battery company.
It can be said that these companies have also helped the mainland develop in these fields, such as semiconductors and lithium batteries, truly embodying the role of mentors in teaching apprentices.
Next, Chen Guangliang and Chen Wenkai discussed the development of the Yangtze River Industrial Group.
Over the years, Cheung Kong Industrial Group has generated billions of Hong Kong dollars in net profit annually, and this money, after further investment, has left behind a significant amount of cash flow.
Chen Guangliang naturally wouldn't let this money sit idle. Yangtze River Industrial Group has been consistently investing in 'minerals' and acquiring overseas industrial and technological companies.
Today, Yangtze River Industrial Group has a very deep presence in lithium and copper mining and other fields. Of course, it usually does so by acquiring shares rather than directly controlling the company, in order to avoid obvious political trouble.
Overall, the Yangtze River Industrial Group's business and assets have spread to more than 30 countries worldwide, making it a global enterprise. (End of Chapter)