Chapter 242 Four Major Newspapers Unite
After leaving the Governor's Residence, Lin Haoran didn't go anywhere else but directly instructed Li Weiguo to drive him back to Shixun Road.
June in Hong Kong was already unbearably hot. With Victoria Peak blocking the way, the sea breeze from the south barely reached Central; only the east-west directions along Victoria Harbour had some breeze.
Upon returning home, Lin Haoran immediately felt much cooler.
Shixun Road was located on Mount Gough in the Victoria Peak area, surrounded by lush trees. Occasionally, sea breezes swept through, and the temperature here was several degrees lower than in the urban areas.
After arriving at the villa, Lin Haoran first swam in the pool for more than ten minutes before getting out and lying on a beach chair, enjoying the gentle breeze with great comfort.
Above his head was a sun umbrella, so the sunlight couldn't reach him at all.
At this moment, a young Filipino maid approached with a glass of iced orange juice and placed it on the round table beside him.
"Come here and give me a shoulder massage," Lin Haoran said with a smile to the maid.
This maid had just turned 20 years old, was of Chinese-Filipino descent, looked quite pretty, and had been working at Lin Haoran's villa on Shixun Road for three months already.
"Yes, boss," the maid responded obediently and walked behind Lin Haoran to start massaging his shoulders.
Meanwhile, the two brothers, Li Weidong and Li Weiguo, dutifully patrolled the courtyard.
Outside the villa gate, there was even a security post, manned by two former soldiers from the group of fifty veterans Lin Haoran had hired from the Philippines. They took turns guarding the property daily.
Even though Shixun Road was extremely safe—more so than Deep Water Bay—with patrol cars frequently passing by, the houses here were widely spaced, and enhancing security measures was only prudent.
The maid's pressure was just right—not too heavy, not too light—making Lin Haoran feel extremely relaxed.
At some point, Lin Haoran drifted off to sleep.
Deep in a dream, he was suddenly awakened by a voice calling him.
Opening his eyes, he saw it was Li Weidong.
Unknowingly, evening had arrived, and the setting sun bathed the sky in beautiful golden clouds.
From the villa on Shixun Road, the view was excellent, offering a sweeping panorama of Hong Kong's urban landscape.
The sun's afterglow reflected brilliantly off the glass windows of the tall buildings.
"Boss, the phone is ringing," Li Weidong reported.
Yawning, Lin Haoran got up, walked quickly to the living room, and answered the phone.
"Hello, this is Lin Haoran," he said directly upon picking up.
"Boss, it's Cui Zilong. I've made some progress with the intelligence you asked me to gather," said Cui Zilong over the phone.
"Come over to Shixun Road, then. Bring the information and have dinner here while you're at it," Lin Haoran replied.
Since it was nearly dinner time, he figured the villa's kitchen staff was already preparing the evening meal.
Cui Zilong was one of his top lieutenants, and Lin Haoran valued him highly.
"Alright, boss. Give me 20 minutes; I'm heading over now!" Cui Zilong answered without hesitation.
After hanging up, Lin Haoran went to the bathroom to wash his face and refresh himself.
The drive from Central to the villa wasn't far, and about ten minutes later, Lin Haoran heard the sound of an engine outside the first-floor living room.
Li Weiguo quickly went out to open the gate, and sure enough, it was Cui Zilong. His car smoothly parked in the designated space.
"Thanks for making the trip," Lin Haoran said, walking out with a smile.
"No trouble at all. I just finished work, and it's my honor to have dinner at the boss's place," Cui Zilong replied with a hearty laugh.
"Come on in," Lin Haoran said, gesturing toward the villa.
The two of them entered the villa one after another.
Lin Haoran led Cui Zilong into the study on the first floor. After sitting down, Cui Zilong opened his briefcase and pulled out several photographs.
"Through our inside source at the Hong Kong Times, we confirmed that someone had indeed instructed them to stir up the incident. However, the real mastermind behind it might only be known to the owner of the Hong Kong Times himself; even their general manager was merely following orders.
Since we couldn't directly uncover the mastermind from the Hong Kong Times, we shifted our focus to a Chinese middle manager at Jardine Properties. By offering him a bribe, we succeeded in getting information from him. He revealed that Jardine Properties had, as early as the beginning of this year, planned to crush Fortress Electrical Company so that their own Jardine Electrical City could seize the market share from Fortress Electrical's chain stores.
However, these clues still weren't enough to directly prove that Jardine Properties was the instigator.
Fortunately, around five o'clock this afternoon, our people accidentally acquired several photos, the ones I'm holding now. These photos were taken two days ago by paparazzi from another newspaper at a café near Jardine House. They clearly show the general manager of Jardine Electrical City meeting with Mr. Hong, the owner of the Hong Kong Times."
This incident had already been stirred up by the Hong Kong Times over the past few days, attracting attention from paparazzi everywhere. Given Mr. Hong's fame, it was natural for paparazzi to snap such photos.
Lin Haoran took the photos. In them, the two men showed little awareness of being photographed—their facial expressions and gestures were all captured.
From the photos alone, Lin Haoran could already infer that the general manager of Jardine Electrical City was colluding with Mr. Hong.
Even without Cui Zilong's findings, Lin Haoran had already confirmed from Governor MacLehose that Jardines was involved.
Now, with Cui Zilong's investigation, the case was practically closed.
The photos were solid evidence.
"Later, we also learned from the relatives and neighbors involved in the commotion that unfamiliar faces had been frequenting their homes at night lately. Judging by their attire, they were most likely reporters from the Hong Kong Times," Cui Zilong continued.
Lin Haoran nodded, studying the photos and contemplating.
The other party's intent was clear: to ruin the reputation of Fortress Electrical Company.
If Fortress were just a retailer selling other brands, this scandal wouldn't have been so devastating.
But Fortress Electrical's products were now all their own branded goods.
In other words, every item sold under the Fortress name was actually manufactured for them under private labels.
Initially, Fortress Electrical sold only famous Hong Kong brands.
Later, seeing the high sales figures, Chen Shoulin decided to have manufacturers produce goods under their own brand, thereby drastically increasing profits.
However, this approach had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was obviously higher earnings.
The downside was that when trouble like this arose, Fortress couldn't shirk responsibility.
No brand, not even the top ones, is entirely free from quality complaints.
Usually, such incidents wouldn't make headlines.
But this time, the Hong Kong Times exploited the narrative of a fatal electrocution, causing Fortress's reputation to plummet.
If mishandled, Fortress could lose the good reputation it had painstakingly built over the years.
"How's your coordination with Mr. Chen Shoulin?" Lin Haoran asked.
"Boss, after some discussion with Mr. Chen, we came up with a plan. This afternoon, I invited the directors of Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Overseas Chinese Daily, and Sing Tao Daily—all newspapers I have good relations with.
I didn't tell them that Jardines was behind this; instead, I revealed the plan to take down the Hong Kong Times. All three were very interested. They knew that if the Hong Kong Times were ruined or lost credibility, it would benefit everyone.
The Hong Kong Times sells around 20,000–30,000 copies daily. Hong Kong's newspaper market is limited. If they fall, Oriental Daily, Overseas Chinese Daily, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Sing Tao Daily, and others will seize that readership.
Mr. Chen has solid evidence that the Hong Kong Times fabricated news and manipulated public opinion. Once we join forces, the Hong Kong Times will suffer heavily—even if it doesn't collapse, it'll be seriously wounded!
Tomorrow, our four major newspapers will unite to report on the Hong Kong Times's media manipulation. Several articles have already been prepared—you can take a look," Cui Zilong said, smiling as he pulled several A4 pages from his bag.
Hong Kong's newspaper industry was extremely competitive. In such a small territory, over 400 newspapers and magazines were vying for market share.
Competition was cutthroat.
The Hong Kong Times was one of the top ten newspapers, and many others envied its success—especially peers like Oriental Daily and Sing Tao Daily.
If the Hong Kong Times' reputation collapsed, its readership would be divided among the top competitors.
Moreover, this scandal was a hot topic.
That explained why the directors of the three newspapers so readily agreed with Cui Zilong's plan.
They had no idea that Jardines was involved.
Had they known, they might not have been so enthusiastic.
After all, offending Jardines wasn't a trivial matter.
But Cui Zilong, of course, didn't tell them that.
With the four major newspapers coordinating their attack, starting tomorrow, life for the Hong Kong Times would become extremely difficult.
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