Chapter 294: Drought Begins and the Launch of Water Stations
"Wireless television?" Governor David Trench paused before replying, "Indeed, in Europe and America, television broadcasting is already shifting to wireless signals.
But here in Hong Kong, the population is small. Setting up a wireless TV station would be a massive investment."
Yang Wendong responded, "Actually, between wired and wireless television, they each have their strengths. When population is sparse, cable TV is more cost-effective. But once the population grows, wireless becomes more efficient.
I believe, with the way Hong Kong's economy is developing, more and more families will be able to afford televisions. Wireless broadcasting will definitely be viable."
The pros and cons of cable versus wireless television were complicated. But it was certain that wireless would become the dominant format in the future, especially in densely populated areas.
In mainland China, most users in the early 21st century still had cable, but that was largely due to government enforcement.
Of course, some cable TV companies specialized in specific content and charged selectively. That kind of model could only work over cable. Wireless couldn't restrict who got to watch.
Historically speaking, wireless television was the inevitable trend for Hong Kong. Even Rediffusion — the city's current sole broadcaster — eventually switched to wireless and became Asia Television.
Governor Trench said, "Actually, I did consider this two years ago. I had some staff investigate, but they concluded it wouldn't be profitable — so we didn't pursue it.
But now that you've brought it up, I'll revisit the matter."
"Thank you," Yang Wendong said politely. He knew full well this wasn't the kind of thing the Governor could decide on a whim.
Even if the government wanted to license a new wireless broadcaster, it would have to go through a public bidding process. Yang Wendong could at best be one of the bidders.
Governor Trench added, "Mr. Yang Wendong, I'll need some documents from you on this subject. I'll use them to push this internally within the colonial administration."
"No problem," Yang Wendong agreed without hesitation.
Today, he had only come to plant the seed. No one expected a decision to be made instantly.
In the original timeline, no one knew exactly when the colonial government began planning a wireless station. What was certain was that Rediffusion won the license in 1965, and TVB didn't launch until two years later.
Even if he sped things up now, it would still take at least a year or two — and Yang Wendong didn't know whether that would happen before Governor Trench stepped down.
Central, Hong Kong Island:
In the top floor of an office building, several British executives were in the middle of a meeting.
Suddenly, a phone rang. One of them picked it up and after a brief conversation, his brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?" asked a blond man.
The man with the phone said, "Just got word — Yang Wendong's factory has stopped supplying us with plastic bags."
"Just as I expected," the blond man said calmly. "Plastic bags are too important for supermarkets.
When no one had them, it didn't matter. But now Carrefour has them. Other chains have them. Even street vendors have them. If our new Yifeng Supermarket doesn't have them, we're dead on arrival."
Yifeng Supermarket was the name of Jardine Matheson's new retail chain.
Over the past year, Carrefour's stunning success had caught the attention of many large financial groups. The sheer volume of foot traffic and sales had even begun affecting the performance of traditional department stores.
Jardine Matheson — Hong Kong's most powerful British conglomerate — saw how profitable the supermarket model was and decided to enter the market themselves.
The man with the phone continued, "It's not just that they stopped selling to us. Changxing Industrial is also tightening supply to independent traders. They're now handling plastic bag distribution internally through Changxing Trading."
"What?" the blond man looked genuinely surprised. "So this is about cutting us off from bulk plastic bag purchases."
"Exactly. And right now, they're the only supplier of plastic bags," the other man said. "Trying to source enough bags for our stores is going to be tough."
If they only needed small quantities, it wouldn't matter. But even a single supermarket consumed a huge volume of new bags — and they needed a reliable supply.
The blond man asked, "What about exports? Aren't their bags sold overseas?"
"They are," the other replied. "But now even exports are handled by Changxing Trading. Previously, foreign distributors or Hong Kong brokers could buy directly from the factory. Now Changxing itself accepts the orders and ships the goods out directly."
"So basically, they've locked down Hong Kong's entire plastic bag supply chain," the blond man said.
"Right. There may still be a few loopholes, but not many. After all, the factory is the source," the other man replied. "Our only real option is to buy bags from overseas and ship them back. Once they leave Hong Kong, they can't control them — or track them."
The blond man frowned. "That'll raise our costs significantly."
"True. In Chinese, they'd call this 'a strategy in plain sight.' It openly raises our costs without breaking any rules. But plastic bags are cheap — the added cost is just a few cents per transaction."
The blond man shook his head. "Retail is all about margins. A few cents won't kill us, but it creates a disadvantage.
And let's not forget — we don't have the brand recognition Carrefour has."
"We do have one advantage," the other man said. "We've secured cheap rental deals from Hongkong Land. I've been negotiating with them — they're giving us great rates."
"That's something, at least," the blond man said. "But don't take it for granted. Even though they're part of Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land won't always give us sweetheart deals."
"True," the other man said. "But honestly, I'm not too worried. Plastic bags are so popular — someone else will start making them soon. Once that happens, this problem disappears."
"Let's hope so," the blond man nodded. "Get the renovations moving. Lock down your supply chains. Mr. Keswick wants us to launch as soon as possible."
"Understood," the other man said. "Should we report this to Jardine's top brass?"
"No. It's a small matter. All the higher-ups care about is when we open, when we turn a profit, and when we generate significant cash flow. That's what Mr. Keswick is really focused on."
"Mr. Keswick understands the retail sector?"
"He didn't before. But with his connections, it's easy enough to get advice from top professionals in the West."
"Fair enough."
July 22, Changxing Tower:
"Yifeng Supermarket? That's a pretty decent name," Yang Wendong said upon hearing the news.
His influence had seriously disrupted the course of Hong Kong's commercial history. Originally, Jardine had no intention of entering the supermarket sector this early.
By the late 1960s, several supermarkets had already sprung up in Hong Kong. Among them, PARKnSHOP and Wellcome were the most well-known — both founded by Chinese entrepreneurs.
Those small, early chains probably didn't attract much attention from financial groups. But once they grew, they were eventually acquired by the big players.
Now, thanks to Carrefour's explosive launch — backed by serious capital, strong media resources, and a model adapted from Walmart — Jardine had taken notice and decided to act.
Liu Huayu chuckled. "Yes, and Hongkong Land has already allocated six properties in Central and Causeway Bay. Looks like they'll be opening in September."
"That's faster than we were," Yang Wendong observed. "Are they just hiring anyone?"
"Some were poached from us," Liu Huayu said. "Some are from other Hongkong Land shopping centers. And the rest are new hires."
Yang Wendong laughed. "Looks like they're serious. But what they may not realize is — working in retail, especially in sales and warehousing, isn't as easy as it looks."
Liu Huayu also nodded in agreement. "Yes, managing warehouse inventory and stock levels is one of the hardest parts. I bet once they open their supermarkets, they'll find that out fast."
Yang Wendong added, "Logically speaking, the mid-level employees they poached from us should know this."
Liu Huayu responded, "I'm sure they do. But how much authority they'll have over there is questionable. If the foreign executives insist on opening early, they'll have no choice but to follow orders."
"That's true," Yang Wendong continued. "It seems they're not entirely professional either. But Jardine Matheson has deep pockets—they won't give up easily. So tough battles lie ahead.
Let's just focus on building up our own advantages. Especially when it comes to inexpensive products that draw in customers. We need to make Carrefour's name stand out."
In the 1960s, without adjusting for inflation, Jardine Matheson's scale was even greater than it was in the 1980s, especially in terms of its share of Hong Kong's economy.
Their stock market valuation had already hit HKD 1.7 billion last year, and this year it surpassed HKD 2 billion. It could be said that the 1960s were their peak.
Changxing Group had strong profitability. If it went public, its valuation might be in the hundreds of millions—but that was just market value.
In terms of assets, Jardine Matheson still had a much stronger foundation. It was the wealthiest group in Hong Kong, and no one knew the full extent of its overseas holdings.
When facing such a powerful competitor, there could be no carelessness. Even if supermarkets were just a minor business for them, that didn't mean they wouldn't fight hard.
Liu Huayu said, "I've already arranged to sell rice, tomatoes, and eggs at cost. These are the three items where we can maintain the lowest procurement prices.
Rice is purchased alongside China Resources' bulk orders in the U.S. Tomatoes come in bulk from China Resources as well—picked while still green, so they transport well. Eggs are locally sourced. We've provided funding to several chicken farms to help them scale up and meet our demand."
"Good. Let's stick with that for now. Once Yifeng Supermarket opens, we'll evaluate whether more actions are necessary," Yang Wendong nodded. "In the meantime, coordinate with Changxing Media to ramp up promotion. At the very least, we want everyone living near our stores to visit frequently enough that it becomes a habit."
People are creatures of habit. Once they get used to something, it's hard to change. Much of the Internet's "burning cash for growth" model in later decades was built on this same principle.
"Understood," Liu Huayu replied, then added, "Mr. Yang Wendong, I have another idea."
"Go ahead."
Liu Huayu said, "Recently, all the soda and beverage items in our stores have been selling out. It's because the drought is worsening—even on Hong Kong Island, water cuts are frequent. For many people, drinks are at least a temporary substitute for water."
"You mean we should focus on selling water?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment. "But how would we sell it?"
The drought was getting worse. Over the past few months, only one day of light rain had fallen, and it wasn't even enough to moisten the ground.
The lack of water had begun to affect Hong Kong Island. Even Changxing Tower and Changxing Plaza had been forced to buy large water tanks for emergency storage, just in case water supply was suddenly cut off.
Liu Huayu said, "Watsons already has the ability to produce water. Why not launch our own purified water? But instead of glass bottles, we use medium-sized plastic jugs. That way, customers can buy clean, drinkable water they can also use at home."
"Purified water…" Yang Wendong considered.
The concept of purified water had long existed. But it was a niche product due to the high cost of glass bottles. Only premium brands offered it, and even then, only in advanced markets.
Plastic bottles hadn't been invented yet in this era. But thicker plastic jugs were already feasible.
Using them to sell purified water could work. For Hong Kong's middle class, spending hours lining up for public water wasn't appealing. Selling clean water directly might actually be more convenient and cost-effective for them.
Liu Huayu added, "This is drinkable water, not tap water. That way, customers don't have to boil it. It avoids the issue of us reselling tap water, which would be illegal."
"I understand," Yang Wendong nodded. "Coordinate with Zhou Haoran on this. For plastic supply, talk to Wei Zetao."
"Understood," Liu Huayu replied.
Yang Wendong looked out at the scorching sun and sighed. "It's getting drier by the day."
The real drought in Hong Kong had begun.
August arrived.
Under the blazing sun, the land cracked. Many reservoirs in Hong Kong were now dry.
In Kwai Wan District, in an open field:
A courtyard-like structure stood at the center. Outside the building, a massive steel canopy provided shade. Beneath it, long lines of people waited.
"The water's flowing!" someone shouted.
Excitement rippled through the crowd as they saw water coming from the pipe. People at the front of the line were finally able to fill their containers.
A man holding a megaphone shouted, "Stay in line! Everyone will get water. The limit is five liters per person!"
"Finally, water!" one woman nearly burst into tears with joy.
"Yes, and it's clean too. My daughter has been drinking dirty water these past few days and got diarrhea."
"My family doesn't even cook rice anymore. As long as we can boil some water, it's enough."
"Same at my house. No water means I couldn't even produce breast milk. I've got a baby at home—thank the heavens!"
"Thank the heavens? You should be thanking Mr. Yang! He's the one who built this water station!"
"Nonsense, it was the gods who guided Mr. Yang to do good."
"Get lost, go pray to your gods somewhere else."
A cacophony of voices filled the air.
"Quiet!" a security guard yelled into his loudspeaker. "The more you talk, the thirstier you get! Keep it down!"
The crowd fell silent.
A few hours later…
Several black sedans arrived nearby. Their presence caught the attention of the people in line.
Someone with sharp eyes gasped, "Isn't that Yang Wendong? The Post-it King, Yang Wendong?"
"Yang Wendong?"
"The great benefactor is here?"
The whispers spread, but most didn't move. With guards around and shade provided by the canopy — along with ceiling fans — they didn't want to risk losing their hard-earned spot in line.
Not far away:
Yang Wendong stepped out of the car and looked toward the shaded crowd. "So many people… are we sure it's safe for them to gather like that?"
Lin Haoyu grinned, "Don't worry, Brother Dong. Just like you instructed — we have shade, we have fans, and we're giving out some drinking water while they wait. No issues."
"Good," Yang Wendong said. "But there are still too many people. Some are standing outside the canopy."
Lin Haoyu explained, "I've already arranged to expand the pavilion, but it's too crowded during the day. Construction will be done at night. It'll be ready in a few days."
"Is the water supply enough?" Yang Wendong asked.
"For now, yes," Lin Haoyu replied. "It's lucky you had the foresight to build a 1,000-cubic-meter storage tank. Without it, we'd be in trouble. The turnout has been overwhelming.
Especially in the evenings. Many people work during the day and come to collect water at night — that's when it's most packed."
"What about the supply lines?" Yang Wendong pressed.
"So far, so good. But folks at the water plant say Hong Kong's water consumption is increasing rapidly. And we're opening more and more stations. It's hard to predict what'll happen next," Lin Haoyu said.
Yang Wendong nodded. "My five oil tankers will begin shipping water soon. Hopefully, that'll ease things."
This level of drought created massive demand for water. Hong Kong normally relied on the mainland, but with even Guangdong Province suffering drought, the situation in Hong Kong was far worse.
"If it gets worse, we may have to impose stricter rationing — make sure everyone gets enough to drink. Beyond that, we'll just have to tough it out," Lin Haoyu said.
"Yes, that's all we can do," Yang Wendong agreed.
Thankfully, this wasn't ancient times. Otherwise, a drought like this would have already resulted in widespread famine and death.
(End of Chapter)
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