Although the date had already entered January 1978, according to the lunar calendar it was still technically 1977 — the New Year had not yet arrived.
Hong Kong, like the mainland, celebrates the Lunar New Year. There were still about ten days left before the first day of the new lunar year.
With 1977 about to end, as the boss, Lin Baicheng naturally needed to hand out bonuses and benefits to his employees. Technically, he didn't have to — nothing in the employment contracts required it — but if he didn't, he'd be labeled stingy, and employees would be more likely to job-hop. Since the company was making a lot of money, handing out bonuses and benefits was necessary.
He didn't plan to skimp on this, though he also wasn't foolish enough to hand out an excessive amount.
He didn't need to do this personally. More than ten days earlier, when only one month remained before New Year, he had already asked his older sister, Lin Shufang, to take care of it. He only needed to make the final decisions.
Meanwhile, with the New Year approaching, Xinhua News Agency's Wang Yiping and Li Fuquan once again visited him — officially to offer New Year greetings. They chatted with Lin Baicheng, congratulated him on acquiring Hutchison Whampoa, and tried to strengthen their relationship.
Lin Baicheng never took the initiative to visit Xinhua, but he welcomed them warmly, and the conversation went pleasantly.
Wang and Li also invited Lin to visit the mainland when he had time, saying that China's environment was no longer what it once was, and that Hong Kong's reporting on the mainland had long been biased and demonizing. If Lin went personally, he could see what the mainland was truly like.
Lin politely declined, explaining that shortly after the New Year he would be going to the United States for quite some time. He would visit the mainland when he had the opportunity.
Lin understood that visiting the mainland now had little practical value. He couldn't do business there yet; the trip would be purely sightseeing. Xinhua's real intention was likely to shape his understanding of the mainland and subtly confirm his political stance.
But Lin wasn't worried that declining would cause issues. After all, this was not an official large-scale invitation. When the mainland government did invite many Hong Kong business elites in the future, he would attend then — and his stance would be clear enough.
For now, making money was far more important.
Although Lin hadn't gone to the U.S. recently, he had Isabella there. From her reports, he learned that after receiving his investment, Apple expanded extremely quickly, and personal computers were selling very well.
The personal computer industry was still in its early stages, and few people noticed the potential. He needed to develop office software before the market matured, so he could seize an early monopoly.
On the same day Xinhua visited, Lin received an invitation.
It was sent by Fok Ying-tung — not to visit his home, but an invitation from the Hong Kong Chinese Businessmen's Association, inviting Lin to attend their year-end gathering.
The so-called Hong Kong Chinese Businessmen's Association actually formed years earlier, when doing business as a Chinese person was difficult. Fok Ying-tung initiated it, with Bao Yugang and others responding. Its purpose was to unite Chinese businesses, avoid internal conflict, and resolve issues internally whenever possible.
The association had no binding authority. Fok served as honorary chairman, and every year they held one year-end gathering. Any Chinese businessman with some reputation in Hong Kong was invited.
After acquiring Asia Television, Lin received the invitation to join the association. Once he learned what the organization was about, he agreed. Cheng Yufeng handled the paperwork; Lin himself did not attend in person.
This time was the year-end gathering, and since he had nothing else scheduled, Lin decided to attend.
The invitation had arrived three days earlier. On the evening of the third day, Lin headed to the event.
The gathering wasn't held at The Peninsula Hotel, but at a hotel owned by a Chinese businessman.
There were many attendees — practically every prominent Chinese businessman in Hong Kong. Lin could recognize most of them; only a handful he didn't know.
By the time he arrived, the venue was already quite full.
"Mr. Lin!" "Mr. Lin, long time no see!"
Several people greeted him warmly. Lin responded with polite smiles and greetings; this was far from the first time meeting most of them.
But this time, his status was entirely different. Having acquired Hutchison Whampoa — a company worth nearly HK$3 billion — his influence had skyrocketed.
Although all attendees were Chinese businessmen, that didn't mean they didn't work with British companies. Many present had significant business dealings with Hutchison Whampoa. Naturally, they would not ignore Lin, the company's new chairman.
Lin didn't know exactly who these people were in relation to him, but since they greeted him, he returned the politeness.
After a moment, he spotted Li Ka-shing and greeted him as well — though without offering a handshake.
"Mr. Li, I still haven't congratulated you. Wharf's stock price has risen above HK$30 now."
"What's there to be happy about?" Li replied. "If I hadn't sold most of it cheaply earlier, I really could've made a fortune. Now I'm just breaking even."
The higher Wharf's stock climbed, the more displeased Li Ka-shing became with Lin Baicheng — and the deeper his hostility grew. If not for Lin's actions, he could've made two to three times his money — roughly HK$500 million. As things stood, even if the stock rose to HK$40–50, he'd earn at most HK$100–200 million. The difference was massive.
Losing HK$300–400 million in potential profit — that hatred ran deep. Li suppressed his anger with great discipline, but he would not forget such an offense.
"Who hasn't suffered?" Lin sighed. "I sold early as well. Now that I calculate it, I lost at least HK$100 million."
Lin's own hostility toward Li was no less intense — otherwise he wouldn't have instructed Cheng Yufeng and Wei Li to use Hutchison Whampoa's resources to suppress Cheung Kong Holdings.
But Lin wasn't afraid of Li Ka-shing. He had many bodyguards, and his family was well protected — so he didn't fear dirty tricks. And in business? If he, a reborn man with future knowledge, couldn't outperform Li Ka-shing, that would be a disgrace.