Chapter 201: The Plot for Liu Chong Hing Bank
"1.3 million? Not bad at all," Yang Wendong nodded with satisfaction.
Although it didn't compare to the half-month profit of Changxing Industrial, the advantage of real estate was that, if you dared to scale big, you could operate dozens of projects simultaneously.
That's how the Chinese property tycoons of the '70s and '80s played the game—market cap of only a few billion, but leveraging simultaneous project launches to mobilize tens of billions in capital.
At the end of the year, profits could be tens of millions or even over a hundred million—even after much of it was funneled out of the listed company through various legal and "creative" accounting means.
Wang Fengzhi continued, "As for Changxing Shipping, since it currently only handles orders from Changxing Industrial, there's no external income. And the ship purchases have cost over HK$6 million, so we're still operating at a loss."
"That's fine," Yang nodded. "Once the shipping company starts taking external orders, I'll have them charge Changxing Industrial standard market rates.
It's a company like any other and should be making a profit."
If the shipping company grew large enough in the future, it would need more vessels—maybe even brand-new ones. Financial data would be essential for securing loans from banks, so even now, when it was just starting out, it needed a track record of revenue.
Wang continued, "Mr. Yang, those are the primary financial highlights of your major industries.
There are also some properties under your name that hold considerable value, but since they aren't leased out, I haven't included them in the annual revenue."
"Got it," Yang said, then added, "Starting this year, Changxing Real Estate will be buying more properties and land—some for rental, some for future resale.
Include those assets in the reports going forward, but don't count unrealized appreciation toward profit. Just list them separately for me to review."
Real estate companies had a quirk—assets purchased long ago appreciated over time.
Some listed real estate companies would report these paper gains as real profit just to make their financials look good, thereby attracting more investors.
Yang wasn't planning to list any of Changxing's companies just yet, so there was no need to play accounting games.
"Understood," Wang replied.
...
After Wang left, Su Yiyi tapped her pencil against the table thoughtfully and said, "Dong-ge, if Changxing Industrial went public, its valuation would be several hundred million, right?"
"Roughly," Yang said.
Su Yiyi smiled, "Then that would put you on par with those top British hongs in terms of scale."
"It's not that simple," Yang shook his head. "The real value of those giants lies in their vast land holdings on Hong Kong Island. That's where the real, long-term potential is.
Sure, Changxing Industrial's profits are high right now, but most investors don't have confidence in industrial stocks. Same with banks."
The major British hongs in Hong Kong controlled huge land banks—an unmatched advantage.
Even the future Four Great Chinese Families only got started after buying land from the British between 1966 and 1980.
For example, Hopewell acquired Swire's Blue Chimney factory and turned it into the famous New World Centre. Li Ka-shing acquired Hutchison. Pao Yue-kong bought Wharf, and so on.
Industry, no matter how profitable, wasn't something ordinary investors liked to bet on. Land was tangible. Factories could fail overnight.
Even Yang, as a time traveler, would've hesitated to invest in industry if he didn't know the future. Just look at BYD in his past life—world leader in EVs, but its stock performance was nothing special.
"You're right," Su Yiyi nodded. "I heard Jardine is planning to go public soon."
"Great," Yang chuckled. "Once the British hongs start listing, that's perfect for us."
Once they were publicly traded, he'd have a chance to make his move.
While taking down a British giant in this era was a stretch, mid-tier companies might be fair game.
Some Chinese firms were also preparing to go public—not necessarily for capital, but to offload shares to ordinary retail investors. Yang, of course, had his sickle ready.
He wasn't the one getting harvested—he was watching for the right crop to cut himself.
...
That afternoon, Su Yiyi went to her office for a nap. Pregnancy made midday rest a necessity.
Yang, on the other hand, didn't need it. Once back at his desk, he had his secretary bring him a stack of recent financial newspapers. He was scanning the market for companies that had recently listed or were planning IPOs.
From his past-life knowledge, he remembered the many famous acquisition battles of the '70s and '80s. But this was still 1961—too early to wait ten years.
If he found a promising target now, he had no issue moving early.
Knock knock.
Yang looked up and smiled. "Old Zheng, come in."
Zheng Zhijie stepped in and sat down. "Mr. Yang, I just got a call from Wong Yiu-nam. China Motor Bus will go public on February 22, right after the New Year."
"That's quick," Yang said with a grin. "Jumped ahead of Kowloon Motor Bus, huh?"
"Yes," Zheng replied. "Wong has someone close to Yim Shing-kun whispering in his ear, encouraging him to list early and expand routes.
Yim's very prideful. He wanted more routes under his name and took the bait."
"Interesting… Wong has his own spy network now?" Yang laughed.
Zheng shook his head. "Not really. That person wouldn't leak any secrets, but nudging things legally? That's no problem."
Yang nodded. "People like that can be incredibly useful. But let's make sure we don't have anyone like that in our own ranks."
"Of course. I'll be careful," Zheng said. "By the way, I'd like to give Yim a little extra push—via Ganghua Daily or the commercial radio station."
"What kind of push?" Yang asked.
"I want the media to start promoting the idea that Hong Kong needs more bus routes," Zheng said.
"That's a solid idea," Yang nodded. "But don't make it look like we're behind it. Until we're ready to move openly, we must avoid direct links to China Motor Bus."
In this era, public opinion was hard to measure accurately. Getting meaningful survey data required interviewing thousands—and even then, results weren't always reliable.
That's why media coverage could strongly influence corporate decisions. If the papers reported something often enough, people would start to believe it—and so would the decision-makers.
Zheng hesitated. "Should I reach out to Ming Pao or Sing Tao Daily?"
"No," Yang said firmly. "Neither you nor anyone from our team should contact the newspapers directly. Yim has connections. If he finds out, the whole plan is blown."
Yang paused, then continued. "Find a middleman. Have them talk to some reporters or editors. Just say we're part of a grassroots welfare group advocating for Hong Kong citizens.
Don't just focus on transportation. Include issues like water shortages, high prices, and long work hours for laborers."
Water shortages had already begun to crop up in Hong Kong—though not yet in Central or the richer neighborhoods. The other issues were common grievances that were always relevant.
"Got it. Bringing up multiple topics makes the transport issue less obvious anyway," Zheng said.
"Exactly. Public welfare affects everyone," Yang smiled. "And if we can actually help spark positive change, even better—we've done a good deed."
Of course, one businessman couldn't solve systemic issues. Even pushing for minor improvements was difficult.
Still, media pressure could sometimes prompt government action—even if only rarely.
"That would be great," Zheng said. "I'll ask Wong Yiu-nam to handle this. He has more skin in the game and will be more proactive."
"Fine. Work it out with him. The main goal is to drain China Motor Bus's post-IPO capital. If we can get them operating on heavy debt, all the better," Yang grinned.
"Understood." Zheng handed over a file. "Mr. Yang, this is the list of properties I've identified in Kwun Tong. There's also a map on the last page."
Yang flipped through the documents. "These are all in central Kwun Tong?"
"Yes," Zheng confirmed. "Since we don't yet know where Changxing's Industrial Park will go, I chose the center area. It's the safest bet.
No matter what, this zone will be the economic heart of Kwun Tong. Once Mr. Wei finalizes the factory location, I'll focus on buying nearby land."
"Sounds good," Yang said. "My guess is we'll end up near the waterfront. The closer to the port, the better the logistics. That suits our factory needs."
"Then I'll focus on coastal properties," Zheng replied.
"What's the status of the two new residential plots?" Yang asked.
"Land leveling is underway. We're about to lay foundations. We should be ready to start pre-sales by April or May," Zheng said.
"Fast," Yang smiled.
"That's the nature of real estate," Zheng said. "Speed means faster cash turnover, which lets us roll into the next project."
"Then go bigger," Yang said. "Once your team is fully staffed, start the next project as soon as you can. I expect the housing market to rise steadily over the next few years."
As a time traveler, Yang knew that from 1958 to 1965, property prices were in a long-term uptrend.
Sure, in 1961, a small banking crisis—led by Liu Chong Hing Bank—would temporarily tighten credit, but it wouldn't derail the overall trend.
Zheng nodded. "Understood. I'll finish building the team as quickly as possible."
"By the way, are we still using Liu Chong Hing Bank for financing?" Yang asked.
"Not exclusively," Zheng replied. "We also use Hang Seng and a bit from Standard Chartered. But we still mostly rely on Chinese banks."
"Try to use Liu Chong Hing's money as much as possible," Yang said. "But gradually move all deposits elsewhere. If it's tricky, use the funds for payroll or similar expenses."
If history stayed on course, Liu Chong Hing Bank was only a few months away from a run. Once that happened, not even a god could save it—only HSBC or the government had the muscle to intervene, and Yang wasn't at that level yet.
After the run, Liu Baoshan would start liquidating assets—including prime properties he had spent years acquiring.
Yang had no intention of letting someone else pick up those properties on the cheap. If the Liu family couldn't keep them, then he would.
"No problem," Zheng replied without hesitation. "They're very willing to lend, so I'll use their loans for property and land purchases in Kwun Tong."
Yang nodded. "Good."
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