Inside Lin Baicheng's office at Baisheng Securities, the atmosphere was calm yet focused.
"Yufeng," Lin said, glancing across the desk at Cheng Yufeng, "how's the investigation coming along on your end?"
"Yes, Mr. Lin," Cheng replied promptly. "Changjiang Industries was founded by Li Jiacheng in 1950. At first, the company produced plastic goods, but later it expanded into real estate — which is now its main business. It went public in 1972, with a total share capital of 42 million shares at an offering price of 3 HKD per share, giving it a market capitalization of 126 million HKD at the time. Its current market value is about 678 million HKD."
"Li Jiacheng holds roughly 40% of the company, making him the largest shareholder. The other major shareholders each hold less than 10%. Around 40% of the total shares are circulating freely on the market, while another 20% are held by various smaller shareholders."
Cheng continued his report: "According to our findings, there are four institutions that together hold 12.5% of Changjiang Industries' shares. A few other institutions collectively hold about 3%, and the rest are in the hands of individual investors."
Lin nodded thoughtfully. "And how are things going with Haruko?"
Cheng replied, "Miss Mao Li Haruko has been in contact with Mitsubishi Bank. After reviewing last year's financial report and profits from Galaxy Games, the bank expressed a willingness to issue a loan — but they want to send a team to Hong Kong for on-site evaluation. Miss Haruko will bring them here tomorrow."
To acquire Wharf Holdings, Lin needed enormous capital. Even though he already controlled nearly 10% of Wharf's shares — and could exchange another 10% with Li Jiacheng — that still wasn't enough for a controlling stake.
He needed more funds.
And to keep the acquisition under wraps, he decided to borrow from a foreign bank instead of local ones.
Previously, he had worked with Goldman Sachs in the U.S. This time, he planned to secure a loan from a Japanese bank. Strengthening ties with Japan — one of his main investment targets — was a move that would surely pay off later.
Haruko, based in Japan, had started the talks, and among the banks approached, Mitsubishi Bank showed the strongest interest.
Since the amount was substantial, Lin decided to disclose Galaxy Games' financial statements to Mitsubishi. To obtain a large loan, transparency was necessary — they needed to see how profitable the company really was.
Lin hoped to use 20% of Galaxy Games' shares as collateral to secure a 1 billion HKD loan. That would place the company's valuation at 5 billion HKD — which wasn't high considering its annual profit of 620 million HKD.
Still, since Galaxy Games' success relied mainly on just two titles — Hong Kong Blocks and Pac-Man — the bank might worry about future profits. They'd probably apply a discount, so the final valuation would depend on Mitsubishi's assessment.
"Good," Lin said, nodding. "Tomorrow, we'll host the representatives from Mitsubishi Bank together and fully cooperate with their evaluation. Once the loan is approved, start contacting the institutions holding shares of Changjiang Industries. Buy out their holdings. After that, reach out to other shareholders — I want our stake in the company raised to over 20%."
"Yes, Mr. Lin," Cheng said firmly.
The next day, Mao Li Haruko arrived in Hong Kong with Mitsubishi Bank's representatives. They wasted no time — heading straight to Galaxy Games to begin their due diligence.
Lin didn't interfere; in fact, he was glad to see their enthusiasm. The sooner they completed the assessment, the sooner he could get their decision.
The Japanese team stayed in Hong Kong for just one day before returning, promising to deliver their evaluation soon. Haruko returned with them to Japan to continue following up on the loan process.
The Mitsubishi loan wasn't finalized yet, but Lin already had 300 million HKD from Standard Chartered Bank, enough to start quietly buying Changjiang Industries shares.
Yet he didn't act immediately.
Once large-scale purchasing began, Li Jiacheng would notice sooner or later, forcing Lin to confront him directly — and negotiate the share swap for Wharf Holdings.
If the swap failed, that was one issue. But even if Li agreed, he would surely resent the coercive nature of the deal, turning him into a potential rival.
Lin wasn't afraid of having Li Jiacheng as a competitor — after all, as a reborn man, he believed he could handle anyone — but the real danger was exposure. Li might leak the information about Lin's Wharf acquisition to the public or even directly to Jardine Matheson.
If that happened, Lin would have to buy up Wharf's shares immediately before Jardine could respond. Otherwise, the British conglomerate would pour capital into defending its position, pushing Wharf's stock price sky-high.
And that would make the acquisition ruinously expensive — possibly beyond what Lin could afford.
So, he had only two options:
Either don't move at all, or strike like lightning — acquire Li Jiacheng's shares and immediately launch a massive buyout of Wharf before Jardine had any time to react.
For now, all he could do was wait for Mitsubishi Bank's evaluation.
Meanwhile, at Asia Television, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had progressed smoothly. Several rounds of preliminaries and semifinals had already taken place, producing ten finalists. The grand finale would air that evening during prime time.
The earlier rounds had all drawn strong viewership, and excitement was high. This would be the first final — and the first chance for someone to actually win a million Hong Kong dollars. Everyone was eager to see who the lucky winner would be.
The stage had been built in the ATV Tower, with the audience limited to one hundred people — mainly because, in this era, live response data collection wasn't as convenient, and too many audience members would slow things down.
That night, Lin arrived at the venue himself — not alone this time.
He had brought along his younger sister, Lin Qin, and had also invited another special guest.