Chapter 148 - Returning to Huafeng Cement Factory
After becoming a member of Hongkong Electric Group's board of directors, the matter soon faded into the background without causing much of a ripple. In fact, unless someone dug carefully, few even realized that Lin Haoran, the Chairman of Qingzhou Cement Company, was now also a shareholder of Hongkong Electric Group.
In the blink of an eye, it was now September.
Hong Kong's September remained oppressively hot, with daily temperatures easily exceeding thirty degrees Celsius. Even the sea breeze felt like a blast of hot air.
It wasn't until after nine in the morning that Lin Haoran lazily got out of bed. Stepping outside his room, he immediately felt the difference. Unlike most of Hong Kong, his residence was pleasantly cool.
This wasn't Deep Water Bay — it was Severn Road Villa.
By mid-August, the private villa he had bought for four million Hong Kong dollars had finally completed its renovations. The entire exterior had been redesigned with a modern style more fitting for the future. The interiors were minimalist and elegant — not overly luxurious, but stylish and tasteful, exactly what Lin Haoran preferred.
After moving in at the end of August, he hired two young Chinese-Filipina maids to handle cleaning, as well as a husband-and-wife team specializing in cooking. All the hires were thoroughly vetted — anyone failing the loyalty test was immediately replaced.
Thus, with seven people (including himself, Li Weidong, and Li Weiguo), the villa was lively without being crowded.
After living here for more than ten days, Lin Haoran had already grown fond of the place. Compared to Deep Water Bay, the climate here was a few degrees cooler. The surrounding views were far superior too — not just the sea, but panoramic cityscapes, mountain ranges, and night vistas.
Even the streets outside Severn Road were constantly patrolled by police. For the sake of the affluent residents, sirens were rarely used, ensuring a quiet and secure environment.
Four million Hong Kong dollars for this lifestyle was well worth it.
After waking, Lin Haoran sat down to his usual breakfast — fried dough sticks and tea — and opened the newspaper, a habit he had long cultivated.
As always, he first checked the gold prices.
By now, gold had surged from 320 to nearly 390 U.S. dollars per ounce — almost reaching the 400 mark. While it seemed like a moderate climb over two months, Lin Haoran knew that after November, the pace would accelerate dramatically.
Events like the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would drive gold prices even higher. Global inflation would worsen the situation. Gold's ascent was inevitable.
Even if he cashed out now, he'd already made substantial profits. After all, his entry point had been 253 dollars per ounce. In three months, each ounce had gained over a hundred dollars.
But Lin Haoran had no intention of cashing out early. There was still much more money to be made.
Moving to Severn Road Villa also had other perks: reaching Wan'an Group Tower or Hongkong Electric headquarters now took barely fifteen minutes by car — far faster than from Deep Water Bay.
After finishing breakfast and reading the paper, Lin Haoran headed out with Li Weidong and Li Weiguo.
Today, he wasn't going to Wan'an Group. Instead, he was paying a visit to Yumin Finance Company's headquarters.
The first 50 million Hong Kong dollar loan he had taken from Yumin Finance last year was due.
Today's trip had two purposes: first, to repay that loan and reclaim full ownership of Huafeng Cement Factory; second, to negotiate an extension for the 240 million Hong Kong dollar loan he had taken out to finance his oil investments.
That second loan, signed in early November last year, was also approaching maturity.
Lin Haoran intended to push the due date back three months — to February of next year. By January, he expected his gold futures investment to mature, bringing in a huge windfall. At that point, paying off the loan would be effortless.
Even if he scraped together the money now to repay it, it would be unnecessary — the interest cost was minor compared to the profits he was expecting.
Leaving Severn Road and heading downhill, the winding roads slowed their pace slightly. After about twenty minutes, they reached Yumin Finance Company's office.
As Lin Haoran stepped inside, he was greeted by Yang Changdao, the company's general manager.
"Uncle Yang, you're looking very well these days," Lin Haoran laughed.
Indeed, Yang Changdao's face was glowing with health — and his waistline had expanded noticeably over the past year. Clearly, he had made plenty of money lately.
Lin Haoran also knew that Yang Changdao had been working increasingly closely with another major client — Karson Group. Profiting handsomely from those deals too.
If nothing unexpected happened, Yumin Finance would likely run into trouble around 1983 due to its exposure to Karson Group — but that was still far off. Right now, in 1979, the good times were still rolling.
"Nonsense," Yang Changdao chuckled. "Compared to you, my dear Lin Haoran, what do I have to brag about? You're not only the Chairman of Wan'an Group but also the Chairman of Qingzhou Cement Company. You're far more impressive than me, managing little Yumin Finance."
"Uncle Yang, you know why I'm here," Lin Haoran said, getting straight to business. "The funds and interest for my first loan have already been transferred to Yumin Finance's account. Here's the transaction receipt. I'd also like to reclaim the property title for Huafeng Cement Factory. No problems, I assume?"
"Of course, no problem. I'll immediately process the repayment formalities for you!" Yang Changdao said with a big smile.
In Yang Changdao's view, doing business with Lin Haoran was the safest and most reassuring bet. After all, Lin Haoran now owned two major companies and had enough strength to privatize both. Clients like him were every finance company's dream — those who could convert listed companies into private ones were undeniably trustworthy borrowers.
After completing all the procedures, Lin Haoran successfully retrieved the property rights, title deeds, and related documents for Huafeng Cement Factory that had been pledged to Yumin Finance Company.
Over the past year, as real estate prices had soared, the land occupied by Huafeng Cement Factory had become extremely valuable — easily worth twenty to thirty million Hong Kong dollars on the open market.
"Dear nephew Lin, if you still need cash flow, feel free to come to me anytime. Even though you still owe us 240 million Hong Kong dollars on another loan, if you need more, I could easily approve an extra hundred million or two for you without any issue!" After handling the repayment, Yang Changdao's smile became even broader.
Clearly, he was keen to continue doing business with Lin Haoran.
"Uncle Yang, no need for another loan. But there is something I do want to discuss," Lin Haoran said, smiling. "I currently have all my funds invested, and the 240 million loan is set to mature in November. I'd like to negotiate an extension — just three months will do. By then, my capital will be free again. Naturally, I'll continue paying interest during the extension. Would that be a problem?"
"Extending the repayment by three months? That's no problem at all. It's not difficult," Yang Changdao agreed instantly, surprising Lin Haoran with how fast he answered.
After all, a man who could privatize two listed companies wasn't someone they needed to worry about defaulting.
Moreover, Lin Haoran had pledged part of Qingzhou Cement's property rights to them as collateral.
Half an hour later, Lin Haoran had signed a new loan extension contract with Yumin Finance.
As for the follow-up administrative work, Yang Changdao assured him it would be handled smoothly.
Reviewing Huafeng Cement's property documents after a year brought a wave of nostalgia to Lin Haoran.
A year ago, besides owning Huafeng Cement Factory, he had practically nothing.
Now, he was the owner of two large companies, holding billions in assets, and the largest shareholder of Hongkong Electric Group.
It was time to merge Huafeng Cement Factory with Qingzhou Cement.
When he first acquired Qingzhou Cement, he had already considered this move. Back then, since Qingzhou Cement wasn't yet privatized, the idea had been to have it acquire Huafeng Cement, allowing Lin Haoran to withdraw cash via the public company.
But now that Qingzhou Cement was private, there was no longer any need for such maneuvers. Both were his wholly-owned private assets.
After leaving Yumin Finance Company, Lin Haoran had Li Weiguo drive him to Qingzhou Cement.
At Qingzhou Cement's headquarters in Hung Hom, he went straight to the General Manager's office.
"Boss, what brings you here today?" Burton asked, a bit surprised.
Normally, if Lin Haoran needed anything, he simply summoned Burton to the chairman's office. It was rare for Lin Haoran to come to him directly.
"I need you to help me with something. Here, take a look at these," Lin Haoran said, handing over the Huafeng Cement property and title documents.
"Huafeng Cement Factory? Boss, you mean...?" Burton looked puzzled.
"I plan to merge Huafeng Cement Factory into Qingzhou Cement. This will also boost our production capacity in Hong Kong. I'll leave the process to you. Since we have time today, let's visit Huafeng Cement together. Oh, and bring Huo Jianning along too," Lin Haoran said directly.
He wanted Huo Jianning to observe and learn — part of grooming him for bigger responsibilities.
Before long, if all went according to plan, Lin Haoran would take full control of Hongkong Electric Group. Qingzhou Cement, while sizeable, would become too small a platform for Huo Jianning's talents.
When the time came, Huo Jianning would be transferred to Hongkong Electric — starting from a mid-level management position. Hongkong Electric, with its diversified operations, would offer broader opportunities for growth.
In his previous life, Huo Jianning had served as Chairman of Hongkong Electric Group for eleven years — a testament to his ability.
Thus, Lin Haoran's plan was simple: accelerate Huo Jianning's growth through greater exposure to complex corporate operations.
Eventually, whether leading Hongkong Electric or being reassigned elsewhere, he would be ready.
In Lin Haoran's new world, Huo Jianning would still have a brilliant future — only this time, under a different boss.
Before long, Huo Jianning joined them, and the trio set out.
From Hung Hom to Yuen Long wasn't far, but the roads were winding and not particularly good.
After nearly two hours of travel, they finally arrived at Huafeng Cement Factory.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1