Chapter 94 – Visiting Liu Chong Hing Bank
On January 8th, Yang Wendong and Wei Zetao headed to the Liu Chong Hing Bank branch located in Tsim Sha Tsui—the very same branch where Yang Wendong had once opened an account.
Last time, he had walked there early in the morning, but that wouldn't do now that he was going with Wei Zetao. So, they had arranged a taxi the night before.
Upon reaching the street corner beside the bank, the two got out of the cab.
Wei Zetao smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, this building housing Liu Chong Hing Bank actually has an underground parking garage, but taxis aren't allowed in. So we'll have to use the main entrance."
Yang Wendong nodded. "That's actually a good way to filter out big clients—just check if they have a car."
In any era, banks or similar financial and insurance institutions tend to filter their clientele. In fact, society does the same.
In areas with many cars, high-end brands like BMW, Benz, Audi, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley become the standard for filtering. In areas with fewer cars, any vehicle can be proof of financial status.
Wei Zetao nodded. "Exactly. If someone doesn't even own a car, most Chinese-owned banks won't take them seriously. But I've already explained your situation to the people at Liu Chong Hing Bank—they seem to be giving it considerable attention."
"That's good," Yang Wendong replied with a smile. "Just give it a bit more time. A car won't be a big deal for us soon enough."
It's not that he couldn't afford a car now, but with the company still needing funds in many areas, it simply wasn't necessary for the time being. Just a little more patience—once factory capacity expands, both mouse glue traps and sticky notes will generate solid profits.
Wei Zetao smiled. "Right. We're still in the early stages of development. Once we get through this phase, things will get much easier."
"Let's head in," Yang Wendong said with a light laugh. "If we succeed, we'll all enjoy wealth and luxury in the future."
In his past life, Yang often saw online "public intellectuals" praising how super-rich entrepreneurs started from scratch and remained frugal. In his youth, he had admired them.
But after making some money himself—even though he was still far from those billionaires—he couldn't help but scoff: nonsense.
What's the point of making money if you don't enjoy it? Why even bother getting rich then?
Of course, as he grew older, he realized those "intellectuals" were likely just talking nonsense—or perhaps didn't know any better themselves. All that talk about frugality among billionaires might have been just PR fluff.
Or maybe it's just about different preferences. Some don't buy luxury cars because they don't care about them—but trips to "Lolita Island"? That, they'd never skip.
Wei Zetao nodded. "That day is coming very soon."
"Hmm… I might be a good person," Yang Wendong said with another smile, "but I'm definitely not going to shortchange myself."
If he made enough money, he could enjoy life while also helping many others escape poverty—a win-win. There was no need to mimic people like Sam Walton or Zuckerberg.
In Hong Kong history, people like Zhao Shizeng and Li Ka-shing had truly lived their own lives.
Wei Zetao smiled. "You're so young, Mr. Yang. If I were ten years younger, I'd probably do the same."
"Haha, you're still in your prime," Yang Wendong replied with a laugh.
As they walked and chatted, their relationship grew closer. Even though he was the boss, Yang still needed capable subordinates—and at times like this, there was no need for pretense.
Besides, putting on airs every day around your own people was exhausting. Work was work; life was life. Building good personal relationships with his team outside of work was never a bad idea.
Soon, the two arrived at the bank's front entrance.
Seeing the long line of people, Yang Wendong commented, "So many people depositing money. I remember it was the same six months ago."
Wei Zetao nodded. "Yes. Since last year, Hong Kong's housing market began to recover, and industrial exports rose sharply. Loan demand in the market has been growing steadily.
To attract deposits, banks have employed all kinds of tactics. But Liu Chong Hing Bank went the most extreme—introducing small-account openings with just HK$100 and offering high-interest rates. Supposedly, they brought in tens of millions in deposits within a year, only slightly behind the British banks in Hong Kong.
This strategy has drawn criticism from across the industry. Still, Liu Chong Hing Bank just does things their own way—even I think the risk is too high."
"That's minor," Yang Wendong said with a chuckle. "The biggest risk is that they established a real estate company themselves and used depositor funds for property development."
"I wasn't aware of that," Wei Zetao said, surprised. "I haven't paid much attention to the real estate market. Are you saying Liu Chong Hing Bank is risky? Should we consider a different bank?"
"No need. As long as the amount we borrow exceeds our deposits, we're safe," Yang Wendong replied. "I chose them as our corporate bank precisely because of their relaxed lending policies."
"Mr. Yang, your foresight is admirable," Wei Zetao said, now understanding Yang's thinking.
"I'm just prepared in advance," Yang replied modestly. "But when it comes to execution, I think you're still better than me."
Wei Zetao smiled. "You're the boss, Mr. Yang. You're responsible for strategy. As for negotiating with banks and other companies, that's our job on the management side."
"That's just how I like it," Yang agreed with a nod.
Thanks to his past life experience, Yang wasn't incapable of negotiating with banks and businesses. But the 1950s were still very different from the 21st century.
As the boss, he would avoid showing up unless necessary. When it was necessary, he'd step in.
A classic rule: big matters, small meetings; small matters, big meetings. For major deals, it's usually the bosses who sketch out a rough framework before their teams handle the details.
Of course, Yang was still a small fry compared to Liu Chong Hing Bank's top brass. Otherwise, for standard lending practices, it would be the bosses setting intentions, and then the team handling the rest.
Once inside the bank lobby, Wei Zetao went to speak with a security guard. The guard returned shortly, bringing a woman in her early thirties, dressed in a bank uniform and suit.
"Hello, Mr. Wei," the woman said with a smile, extending her hand.
"Miss Ning, nice to see you," Wei Zetao smiled, clearly familiar with her. Then he added, "This is my boss, Mr. Yang. Mr. Yang, this is Ning Wenjue, Manager of Credit Services at Liu Chong Hing Bank."
Ning Wenjue turned to Yang Wendong and smiled warmly. "I've heard so much about you, Mr. Yang. It's an honor to finally meet you."
"You're too kind," Yang said, shaking her hand with a smile. These kinds of mutual compliments were standard in business settings.
Yang Wendong had no real fame in Hong Kong. Even if someone used sticky notes, who would assume it was created by a local entrepreneur? People just found them convenient and didn't think twice.
Only a small group with sharp business insight might spot the opportunity and dig deeper.
Miss Ning added, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Wei, it's a bit noisy here. Shall we move to a quieter place to discuss things properly?"
"That would be much better," Wei Zetao said with a smile. "You're the host—please lead the way."
"Right this way," Ning Wenjue said, leading them past the line of waiting customers to a private VIP lounge.
Soon, a stylish bank clerk served them coffee. Most local Chinese still preferred tea at the time, but the upper and middle classes leaned toward coffee—likely because it was more stimulating and aligned more with British colonial culture.
"Mr. Yang, I've been using sticky notes a lot recently," Ning Wenjue said after a sip of coffee. "I have to say, they've made my work so much easier.
But I was just using them normally—I never would've guessed they were invented by someone from Hong Kong. That's really impressive."
Yang replied, "You're too kind. Our company, Changxing Industrial, used to only make glue traps—very glue-related. One day, my assistant lost a slip of paper she had written on, and that gave me the idea."
Ning laughed. "Writing notes on little slips and sticking them in the relevant files—I've done that, and I believe most clerks have too.
Likewise, I'm sure many people have lost those slips at some point. Across the globe, that must be a huge number. But no one thought of putting a weak adhesive on the back of the paper. I really admire you, Mr. Yang."
"Haha, Mr. Yang is very gifted when it comes to inventions," Wei Zetao added. "That's our biggest strength at Changxing Industrial. But Miss Ning, even with a great product, if we want to sell globally, we need significant production capacity.
It's similar to what Cheung Kong Holdings did. We need enough capital to expand our output and maximize profits."
Ning nodded. "I understand. But your company's loan request is quite large. A million Hong Kong dollars without any real collateral puts our loan approval department in a tough spot."
Yang stepped in. "Miss Ning, I understand that having collateral is ideal for banks. But from a manufacturing standpoint, we have stable procurement contracts overseas, along with transaction records—and our partner is one of the world's top corporations.
If even that isn't enough, how can any small or medium manufacturing business in Hong Kong get a loan?"
He believed in his business, but banks didn't analyze every factory in detail. They looked at risk only.
Even if they did believe in a business, they'd still use negotiation tactics like this to seek better terms—it's standard commercial behavior.
"Of course we want to support Hong Kong's manufacturing industry," Ning said. "But without any real collateral, the risk is quite high for our bank. We do hope you can provide something of tangible value."
"At the moment, we don't have any high-value property," Wei Zetao replied, shaking his head.
Yang said nothing but nodded slightly in agreement.
That's the core problem with the financial industry—banks or lenders always need reliable collateral. Real estate fits this role perfectly. As long as prices don't fall, it's nearly risk-free.
But manufacturing? Too many risk factors. That's why banks prefer real estate. The lower interest rates for real estate loans reflect their lower risk, while business loans carry much higher rates.
Ning said, "Mr. Wei, Mr. Yang, while we do support manufacturing, most of our loans go to small-scale operations or companies with long histories. These typically involve smaller amounts and often have intermediaries as guarantors.
After reviewing your company's materials, I did some digging. Sticky notes are indeed gaining traction in the U.S., and 3M is a reputable distributor. Still, for a million-dollar loan, we need collateral. So my proposal is: how about using the sticky note patent as collateral? What do you think, Mr. Yang?"
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