Chapter 423: A New Partnership with Walmart
Bruce Lee nodded and said, "Yes, I made a few films in Hong Kong before, and now that I'm in America, of course I want to break into Hollywood.
Hollywood has always cast white actors as the leads. I want to be the first Chinese star to take that spot."
"Ambitious," Yang Wendong praised. "But that's definitely going to be very difficult. White Americans have a deep-rooted aversion to other races. It might be acceptable to land a supporting or villain role, but playing the lead? Even if you fight your way into that position, some white audiences may never fully accept it."
Xenophobia, in truth, wasn't uncommon. Even among Asian communities, biases existed. Let alone white or black people—even yellow-skinned individuals from different regions might treat one another differently. Of course, as long as it didn't break the law, such preferences were people's personal freedom.
"I understand that," Bruce Lee said. "But someone has to be the one to make a change. I believe I can do it. I've already gained a lot of support from white audiences through martial arts competitions in the U.S."
"Well then, let me wish you early success in Hollywood," Yang Wendong said. "But you might also want to consider filming in Hong Kong someday. You probably know—I also own a film company there."
Yang Wendong, of course, already knew that Bruce Lee would inevitably struggle in Hollywood for the next few years. Deep down, white Americans—especially the business tycoons in Hollywood—looked down on others. The more significant issue was the lack of Chinese people in America at the time, meaning very few audience members and very limited consumer power.
Bruce Lee's real breakout moment came when he returned to Hong Kong in the original timeline, filming a few iconic martial arts movies that exploded across Asia. Only after seeing his value in the overseas market did Hollywood finally push him into the spotlight. At the end of the day, it was a business decision. If you could make them money, they'd raise you up. If not, then don't even dream about it.
The same was true in Hong Kong. Especially now, with Changxing Group beginning to take control of the upstream and downstream of the film industry, the future of Hong Kong cinema would likely surpass its original trajectory—but it would all be under Yang Wendong's control.
Bruce Lee thought for a moment and replied, "Alright, but in the short term, I'm planning to focus on development in the U.S."
"I understand," Yang Wendong nodded. "Sometimes people have to hit a wall before they turn around. Here, take this card. If you ever need anything, just come find me in Hong Kong."
"Thank you," Bruce Lee said, putting the card away carefully.
Yang Wendong looked around and asked, "So, how many Jun Fan Gung Fu Institutes are there in America?"
"Four in total," Bruce Lee replied.
"That's too few," Yang Wendong laughed. "With your reputation, you should open more. That would also boost your fame. If funding is the issue, I'd be willing to invest."
Bruce Lee shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Yang. Actually, several Chinese-Americans here have already approached me with the same idea. But the problem is—my time and energy are limited. Same with my students. They can't teach indefinitely.
And I need to be the one to find and train the right people. It's not something that can be done in just a year or two. That's why I've only maintained a few schools."
"That's true," Yang Wendong nodded.
Capitalists typically disliked business models that couldn't be quickly replicated. Anything that relied too heavily on one individual—or a select few—made investors wary.
Martial arts was exactly that kind of industry. It required deep personal cultivation and long training periods. You couldn't just throw money at it and expect results. Like in his past life—no matter how much abalone a terrible soccer player ate, they'd still be terrible.
Bruce Lee continued, "Even if I really opened forty or even four hundred schools, we wouldn't have enough qualified instructors. Only through the screen can I reach millions. That's how I can truly promote Chinese martial arts.
Otherwise, many people will only know about Japanese karate and never realize the strength of our own martial traditions."
"Well said. For that line alone, I'll support you fully," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "Mr. Lee, give Hollywood a try. If you succeed, I'll use capital to boost your reputation even more. If not, come to Hong Kong. As long as you have the skills, I'll make you Asia's next kung fu superstar."
If Bruce Lee became even more famous under Yang Wendong's guidance and didn't die young like he had in the original timeline, his influence could greatly benefit Yang Wendong's businesses.
Especially in industries tied to the general public. Having Bruce Lee as a brand ambassador would double the effectiveness. And the film business itself was highly profitable. It could also help Hong Kong films expand globally.
"Thank you, Mr. Yang," Bruce Lee said happily.
"Alright, I'll be looking forward to your next movie," Yang Wendong said.
If Bruce Lee didn't face some setbacks in Hollywood first, he might never reach his true potential. A proud man like him would never give up easily. Even if he did go to Hong Kong, he'd still try everything to get back to America, which wouldn't help Yang Wendong's plans.
Better to wait a few years. After all, Hong Kong was heading for an economic crisis anyway, along with other problems. By the time the economy picked back up, Bruce Lee would likely have suffered setbacks in Hollywood. The timing would be perfect.
Bruce Lee smiled. "OK."
After some more casual conversation, Bruce Lee invited Yang Wendong to have a simple meal at a small restaurant next to the martial arts school. Then, they parted ways.
On the way back, Bai Yujie asked curiously, "Is that guy really good at martial arts?"
"He's amazing. Way better than Hong Kong's martial artists," Yang Wendong said. "You know that most of Hong Kong's films right now are martial arts films. I've already used various methods to promote martial arts schools in Hong Kong, but relying solely on our local talent isn't enough.
We need someone like Bruce Lee—a national martial arts champion in America—to gain enough fame and open the Asian market for Hong Kong films."
Often, an entire industry needed a breakthrough figure. Once a single Hong Kong movie star became famous, it would be easy to capture the Southeast Asian non-Chinese market and get them familiar with Hong Kong cinema.
Once that mental barrier broke, other similar films would be accepted too. That would mark the beginning of Hong Kong's dominance over the Asian film industry. Even TV dramas and music would benefit.
But stars like that were incredibly rare. For now, the only one Yang Wendong could rely on was Bruce Lee, just like in the original history.
"Yeah, I watched his students perform—it was incredible," Bai Yujie said in agreement.
"If you're interested, you should look up his old fighting footage. It's even more exciting," Yang Wendong said. "But right now, we have more important things to handle. Christmas is coming soon, and we still need to go to Arkansas before heading back."
This trip to the U.S. had been primarily for acquiring KFC, and that was already done. But since he was here, he needed to take care of other business matters as well.
The next day, the group boarded a flight to Arkansas—headquarters of what would become Walmart, one of the future Fortune 500 giants.
"Eric! Long time no see!" Sam Walton said with a wide grin when he saw Yang Wendong. "I heard you've been doing better and better over in Hong Kong!"
Under normal circumstances, Sam Walton wouldn't have taken much interest in a company from Hong Kong. But Yang Wendong was one of Walmart's major shareholders, so Walton made sure to keep tabs on him—especially after seeing Carrefour's unique operating strategies in Hong Kong, which had given him some useful insights.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Things have been going well. I hear Walmart's doing great lately too. Isn't your 30th store about to open?"
In the original history, Walmart had grown from nothing, scraping together loans and expanding at a snail's pace in the early days. No matter how capable Sam Walton was, he couldn't move the needle without scale or momentum. With no significant footprint, external funding was hard to come by. Even banks that were willing to lend would only do so with extreme caution and high interest rates.
But in this altered timeline, a few years back, Yang Wendong had bought into the company and offered a low-interest loan. That injection of capital had dramatically changed Walmart's growth trajectory.
"That's right. We're expanding faster and faster," Walton said with a grin. "That's actually part of why I asked you to come. I wanted to discuss Walmart's next development phase with you—after all, you are one of our major shareholders."
"Sure," Yang Wendong nodded.
If Walmart could develop faster, it would benefit him greatly. This investment was already a high-yield one, and Yang Wendong didn't expect Carrefour to enter the U.S. market anytime soon—at least not within the next two decades.
After arriving at a modest office inside a small building, Sam Walton personally brewed a few cups of coffee and said, "Eric, now that we're close to 30 stores, we're running into a serious issue.
As the stores expand outward, our transportation costs are increasing. Each location has different needs, and that's creating massive logistical challenges for our suppliers."
"Yeah, I figured that would happen," Yang Wendong replied. "So you're thinking of building a logistics center?"
In the supermarket business, transportation costs aren't that noticeable when you only have a handful of stores. But once you scale up, those costs shoot through the roof.
When store numbers are low, they're usually clustered together. You can make a single delivery run and even shift inventory between nearby locations. But once the store count grows, they naturally spread out. That leads to all sorts of issues—especially in the pre-internet era, where everything had to be tracked via phone calls and paper forms. The more locations, the higher the labor cost, and the more likely human error becomes.
That's one of the reasons large shopping malls had become popular in the past: once supermarkets reached a certain size, they hit this very bottleneck.
Carrefour in Hong Kong didn't face the same challenges. Though they had many locations, most were clustered in compact urban areas. Compared to a country as vast as the U.S., their logistics were a breeze.
Sam Walton nodded. "Exactly. The only way to bring down costs is to build our own logistics center and warehouse, with our own delivery system.
Even more importantly, it'll let us ensure stock levels and product quality across all locations. In this industry, that's absolutely crucial."
"How much funding do you need?" Yang Wendong asked.
"About $1 to $1.5 million," Walton replied. "That would be enough to build a logistics hub and warehouse right here in Arkansas. Once it's up and running, we can use it to support all future store openings too."
"Alright. I'll contribute based on my shareholding ratio," Yang Wendong agreed. Then he asked, "But I'm just a minority shareholder in Walmart. What about your end—do you have enough capital?"
Walton chuckled. "Not really. That's why I'm coming to you. My plan is to have Walmart apply for a bank loan. Given our current performance, the banks should be willing. You're a shareholder, so I don't technically need your approval, but I still wanted to keep you informed."
"That's fine," Yang Wendong nodded, then added after a pause, "Walton, or maybe I could invest more money into Walmart?"
Walton quickly shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I think the current shareholding structure is quite good as it is."
"Fair enough," Yang Wendong didn't press further. "But have you thought about going public? Walmart already has quite a few minority shareholders, right? They'll want to see a return, and listing the company is the best way for them to realize gains."
Before Yang Wendong got involved, Walton had already sold off some shares to repay debts and fund operations. These were small holdings—similar to early-stage individual investors.
Yang Wendong knew about them but hadn't gone out of his way to buy them up. Such actions would be impossible to keep hidden, and if Walton found out, it might create unnecessary conflict.
However, once the company went public, he could quietly acquire more shares on the market. Even if Walton had suspicions, he wouldn't have any proof. And most importantly, going public would prevent Walton from shifting Walmart's assets around. That meant Yang Wendong's shareholder rights would become far more secure.
In the original timeline, Walmart went public in 1970. But with the changes in this timeline, moving things up a few years wouldn't matter much.
Walton said, "I'd prefer to wait. Once we've scaled up a bit more, we can go public and raise a larger round of funding all at once."
"Alright then," Yang Wendong smiled. "Actually, there's something else I wasn't planning on bringing up, but since you're building a logistics center, maybe now's the time to try it."
"What is it?" Walton asked.
"You know I own supermarkets in Hong Kong," Yang Wendong began. "While East and West have their differences, a lot of products in supermarkets are the same. My Carrefour stores in Hong Kong have a stable, low-cost supply chain.
Once your logistics center is up, I could ship cheap consumer goods from Hong Kong straight to your warehouse. That would definitely lower your procurement costs."
Previously, he had tried to get Changxing Trading to work with overseas supermarkets. But it had been tough—back in this era, most supermarkets got deliveries directly from suppliers, and they needed restocking frequently. That meant you had to be located close by to make it work.
But since supermarkets were scattered, how could you manage that?
So only a few products had made it into overseas stores; most were simply not feasible.
However, if the supermarket itself had a centralized warehouse and logistics system, that changed everything. Overseas suppliers could just send bulk shipments to the warehouse. Distribution to stores? That was the logistics center's job anyway.
"Products from Hong Kong? You think they'll be cheaper than American-made goods?" Walton raised a brow. "Shipping costs aren't exactly low."
"I'm well aware," Yang Wendong said. "I'll calculate everything on my end. Only the cost-effective items will be shipped to the U.S.
Plus, you know about shipping containers. The U.S. already has many container warehouses. Once Hong Kong adopts them, things will get even easier—and cheaper."
"Alright, we can give it a try," Walton agreed.
After all, all he wanted was cheap goods. They'd deal with the rest when pricing came into play later.
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