Chapter 324 Guiding the Junior
"Then when will the board meeting be held?" Lin Haoran asked. "It has been tentatively scheduled for nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Currently, all the major shareholders of Jardines Matheson are in Hong Kong," Niu Bik Kin replied over the phone. "Good, then I will attend the Jardines board meeting on time tomorrow," Lin Haoran said with a smile. He was not surprised that Niu Bik Kin agreed to his demand. During their talk in Niu's office, Lin had already seen from his reaction that the other man was tempted. As for Shen Bi agreeing as well, that was even less surprising. After all, the agreement that Lin Haoran and Niu Bik Kin had reached was that Lin would not seek to control Jardines but merely join the management as a major shareholder. What did this mean? It meant Jardines Matheson would not become Lin Haoran's enterprise; it meant Lin Haoran could not use Jardines' strength to surpass Huifeng Bank. This naturally reassured Shen Bi.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Haoran felt quite pleased. There was no rush now to announce his control over Land Development Corporation. Once announced, the cross-holding plan between Jardines and Land Development would surely be aborted, and his plan to use Land Development to control Jardines indirectly would fail. Leaving the Hong Kong Electric building, Lin Haoran went to the Kowloon Tong villa district. His eldest brother, Lin Haoning, lived in that area. However, Lin Haoran was not visiting his brother but rather Liu Luanzhong. Liu had bought a villa there the previous year through Wharf Holdings but had not moved in until recently. Now, having sold his shares in Aimeigao to Karson Group, and as power struggles began shaking Aimeigao's structure, it was no longer suitable for Liu to live at the factory; he moved into the villa with his wife and child.
Earlier that morning, Liu Luanzhong had called to invite Lin Haoran over for a visit. Feeling a bit guilty for selling his Aimeigao shares without giving Liu prior notice, Lin decided to accept the invitation and visit in the evening. After passing through the busy Hung Hom Tunnel and along Princess Road, it took Lin less than half an hour to reach the villa area. The neighborhood was filled with villas, denser than some parts of Hong Kong Island, though property prices here couldn't compare to Mid-Levels, The Peak, or Deep Water Bay. "Haoran, you're finally here! Come, let's chat in the study," Liu said warmly at the door, his wife following behind him holding a one-year-old boy. "Wait a moment, I have something to bring in," Lin Haoran said with a smile, taking a few elegantly wrapped gift boxes from Li Weiguo and handing them to Liu. "First time here, just a small gift for your wife and child." "You didn't need to be so polite!" Liu said with a big smile, but he happily accepted the gifts.
They walked into the villa, and under Liu's guidance, entered a spacious study. "I've already instructed the kitchen to prepare dinner. Tonight, we'll have a good drink!" Liu said, beaming. There was no sign of resentment about Lin selling his shares to Karson Group. "You seem to be in a good mood. How are things at Aimeigao now?" Lin asked, sitting across from Liu. He hadn't paid much attention to Aimeigao recently; the company no longer concerned him. His focus was now solely on Land Development and Jardines. Newspapers had reported supposed competition between Liu and Chen Songqing over control of Aimeigao, but Lin knew most of these stories were fabricated.
"What can I say? On the surface, I'm competing, but secretly I'm selling my shares. As of now, I hold less than 20%. Over the past few days, I've been quietly offloading while speculators were busy driving the price up. Even if I can't sell all, it doesn't matter. With the current overvalued share price, I've already made a nice profit. I'll be back later when the price collapses. I've studied Karson Group and, just as you said, their foundations are shaky," Liu said, laughing. Clearly, he was satisfied with the price at which he had sold.
Lin nodded and continued chatting with him. From Liu's words, Lin confirmed that even after selling more than 20% of Aimeigao, market sentiment had barely shifted due to the sheer number of speculators. "Has Chen Songqing tried negotiating with you?" Lin asked curiously. "We talked. He wants me to give up control of Aimeigao, promising I could stay on as general manager but under Karson's umbrella. Right now, we're pretending to get along. I still manage day-to-day operations, but Karson has already stationed their finance people and executives inside," Liu explained.
"Technically, after you dumped so much stock, shouldn't Chen have easily increased his stake? Even if Aimeigao's market cap is HKD 30 billion now, adding a few points should be easy. Why hasn't he declared control yet?" Lin asked. "Probably worried that if he announces it, the share price will crash," Liu guessed. His reasoning made perfect sense to Lin. Indeed, Karson likely intended to manipulate Aimeigao's inflated price for future gain. A public announcement would ruin that.
"By the way, Haoran, I have a question. Now that I'm holding a few hundred million Hong Kong dollars in cash, should I invest it in land or property?" Liu asked humbly. Lin thought for a moment. It was almost October 1980; Hong Kong's real estate boom would likely peak around early 1981. After that, the market would stagnate and finally collapse by late 1982. There were still some months to profit, but risks were growing.
"If you don't have other investment plans, real estate could still offer better returns than leaving the money in the bank. But be cautious — if you see any signs of a bubble, sell immediately," Lin advised carefully. Though he knew a crash was inevitable, he wasn't about to say it outright.
"I'm not too worried," Liu said. "Next summer, when Aimeigao's profits plunge, I'll need cash to start buying back shares." He was open with Lin — after all, it was Lin who had taught him this strategy. "If you still have surplus funds," Lin added with a smile, "you might consider buying shares in Huifeng Bank. It's a great long-term stock, although banks are heavily influenced by economic cycles. Or, if you're interested, you could look at other promising listed companies."
"No thanks. I'm not interested in Huifeng Bank. But you gave me a good idea — maybe I should start dabbling in investments," Liu said, eyes lighting up. Lin Haoran agreed enthusiastically. Liu was known in the future as a financial genius, comparable even to Li Jiacheng. His success in investment fields was no fluke; he was truly gifted.
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