National Tide 1980.

Two days later, Ning Weimin, who was far away in Hainan and still discussing investment details with the Sanya government, received a message from EIE Group.

After personally printing out the detailed information using the fax machine, he was delighted to see the Japanese text on it.

EIE is actually going to sell the Regent Hotel in Hong Kong.
He really didn't expect that this unexpected happiness would come so suddenly.

Although he didn't know much about Hong Kong, only about Hong Kong films and his travel experiences from a few short trips in his previous life.

But at least he knew that in this era, the Regent Hotel in Hong Kong was a high-end hotel on par with the Peninsula Hotel owned by the Kadoorie family, a symbol of luxury in Hong Kong, and much more prestigious than the Shangri-La Hotel owned by the Kwok family.

In particular, he became friends with Teresa Teng in this lifetime. He heard from this Asian diva that she gave free recommendations to the Regent Hotel, and thus learned the reason why the Regent Hotel is so famous.

Firstly, since its opening, the Regent Hotel has stood out in the Hong Kong hotel industry with its more than 500 rooms, exceptionally spacious rooms, modern and luxurious facilities, and views of Victoria Harbour.

Secondly, like the Peninsula Hotel, the Regent Hotel uses Rolls-Royces as its VIP transportation.

In the entire port city, only these two hotels have such a grand gesture.

This is probably why Stephen Chow deliberately used the name of the Regent Hotel in his 1990s film "From Beijing with Love" to create a joke about the Regent Hotel.

Although it was just a joke, it was enough to reflect that the Regent Hotel was the best representative of luxury hotels in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 90s, and could even be said to carry the memories of a generation.

In conclusion, the Regent Port City Hotel is an extremely rare and hard-to-buy asset.

Its industry standing in the port city is comparable to that of the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo.

It's worth noting that while the New Otani Hotel is not quite on par with the Imperial Hotel Tokyo, which is ranked number one in Tokyo, it is still considered one of the "Big Three" and belongs to the top tier of luxury hotels in Tokyo.

The same goes for Regent Hotel. In the city's hotel industry, it may rank slightly lower than Peninsula Hotel. It may not be fortunate enough to be the industry leader, but if you continue to rank it down, it will either be number two or number three.

Especially for Ning Weimin, who has a thorough understanding of the future of Gangcheng and knows that Gangcheng properties will skyrocket in value, the offer from the other party carries no risk whatsoever.

One hundred and eighty billion yen is equivalent to only one hundred and fifty million US dollars.

It's nothing, he can afford it perfectly well.

Although it may not seem cheap now, it won't be over the next twenty years.

Twenty years later, the hotel property will have appreciated at least tenfold, completely disregarding depreciation and losses. During this period, the money the hotel earns is all free bonus.

To put it bluntly, this deal is essentially a win-win situation where you "eat the cake, but the cake is still there," so why not do it?
Especially now that he has his own travel agencies in Japan and China, it couldn't be more convenient for him to cash out using the Regent Hotel. On the contrary, it would help him build a reputation for his main tourism business and gain a foothold in the port city for free.

Gaining both fame and fortune—how delightful!

If he goes to Hong Kong to invest in the future, it will be much more convenient for him to stay in hotels and conduct business.

After all, he is a person with assets in Hong Kong.

If he were to be known as the owner of the Regent Hotel, the shrewd businessmen there wouldn't look down on him, and would probably call him "Mainland Cousin" like in the movies.

He's the "flag bearer" of mainland capital in Hong Kong, you know? He can make those Hong Kong cowards cry for their parents just as badly in business.

So he had to buy it, even if it cost him an extra 10 billion yen, he felt it was worth it.

Therefore, Ning Weimin replied to Tokyo, Japan without hesitation.

He told the EIE Group that he had little objection to the deal and could sign a letter of intent immediately and pay the EIE Group a deposit of 4 billion yen.

However, he also had an additional condition: he required EIE Group to send someone to Hainan to sign a formal contract and bring several professionals to help him with engineering calculations and risk assessments for the resort, golf course, and office building projects he planned to invest in in Hainan, and to discuss the possibility of cooperation between the two parties.

Ning Weimin was very shrewd; he realized that EIE Group's price haggling stemmed from its anxiety about a lack of funds.

Although he didn't intend to haggle over the price of this deal, nor was it possible for him to haggle, he still wanted to squeeze some money out of the other party, or rather, to gain some extra benefits from the other party in Hainan.

It's important to know that EIE's main businesses are electronics sales and the golf industry, which don't overlap much with Ning Weimin's main businesses. However, EIE's main businesses are well-suited for investing in Hainan.

Especially now, Ning Weimin is investing in Sanya because of Mayor Xiao.

In recent interactions, Mayor Xiao's pursuit of political achievements has become very apparent.

In addition to the urgent need for road infrastructure, Sanya also urgently needs a landmark high-rise building and a golf course representing high-end living to serve as its calling card.

As for the tourist resort project that Ning Weimin is truly interested in and has a good understanding of, Mayor Xiao is not in such a hurry at the moment.

Because some people have already made similar plans and started construction.

Therefore, in order to provide Mayor Xiao with some support, Ning Weimin's investment plan obviously carried a higher risk than he had initially anticipated, making him somewhat uncertain.

It's not that he's unwilling to lose money or that he has to make a quick profit; he's not that short-sighted. He's investing in the future.

But even if he's going to lose money, he needs to know roughly how much he can lose, right?
It was precisely because of this situation that Ning Weimin received the EIE's trading invitation today, and he felt that God had truly been kind to him.

Not only did they give him an unexpected blind box gift, but they also delivered the partner he desperately needed to him.

For no other reason than that EIE has been acquiring a large number of overseas properties in recent years, focusing on golf courses, and is quite professional in the evaluation and construction of office buildings, hotels and golf courses.

If EIE were to provide an estimate for projects like office buildings and golf courses, Ning Weimin would have a clearer direction.

To be frank, no matter what the outcome, Ning Weimin can accept it, because he will never suffer a loss.

If we could get the EIE Group onto this pirate ship now, that would be perfect.

The risk of losing money in recent years may not have to be borne by Ning Weimin alone.

He might even receive special government favors because he brought in Japanese investment for Mayor Xiao, and he might even end up losing money.

Conversely, even if EIE doesn't have the funds to invest, refusing to invest is also a good thing. What Ning Weimin truly needs is EIE's professional expertise. As long as EIE is willing to help him solve his current professional problems and explain the direction and specific steps involved, that's sufficient.

Ning Weimin is willing to bear the pressure of potential continuous debt in the present, which actually helps him preserve the future pie, so he doesn't have to share any of it with outsiders.

Of course, an even more ideal outcome would be for Ning Weimin to pay EIE management fees and then have EIE employees work for him, training relevant domestic talent for him.

After a few years, once he had figured out the specifics and trained the right people, he would then break away from EIE and go it alone.

He can get any advantage and avoid any loss.

If there is such a thing as a perfect deal in this world, this might be the outcome.

As expected, things unfolded exactly as Ning Weimin had predicted.

Regardless of whether EIE Group is interested in the invitation to invest in Hainan, their eagerness to finalize the Regent Hotel deal with Ning Weimin is absolutely genuine.

Therefore, for the sake of the money, they had to give Ning Weimin face.

Soon after, news came from Tokyo that the group's vice president would be bringing a group of talents that Ning Weimin needed to Hainan the day after tomorrow, and they were willing to discuss specific related matters with Ning Weimin in person.

Upon hearing this reply, Ning Weimin couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

To be honest, he himself didn't expect to open such a big gift box.

If judged by blind box standards, this should be considered a hidden gem that came out of nowhere.

That's why I say, being a good person really is an art.

Even the worst person wants to make deals with good people.

The old man's teachings were absolutely right.

Buying and selling are different from doing business. Doing business requires meticulous calculation and being extremely careful with every penny; even the slightest difference is unacceptable.

If you want to do big business, then don't be afraid of taking a loss; often, taking a loss is the best way to gain an advantage.

The Japanese aren't stupid either; this time, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If EIE, the hunchback, hadn't been so short of money, he wouldn't have been willing to sell the Regent Hotel.

Thankfully, when Takahashi Harunori was dealt with last time and EIE Group's burdensome assets were acquired, he didn't take advantage of the situation to kick them while they were down, but instead offered a fair price.

Otherwise, why would they remember him again this time?
The reason he was able to succeed was clearly because of his kind and honest character.

Who says "the buyer is never as shrewd as the seller"?

This statement does not hold true for him.

…………

Five more days passed, and the date arrived at November 3, 1990.

On this day, in the capital of the Republic, a TV series reflecting the lives of Beijing residents during a special era premiered, setting off an unprecedented TV drama craze.

This is the TV series "Yearning" produced by the Beijing Television Drama Art Center.

Liu Huifang's arduous life touched countless kind hearts, and her simple and unadorned story moved hundreds of millions of viewers across the country.

The sensation that "Aspiration" brought to audiences in Beijing was no less than that of "The Dirty Dozen" and "Man at the Bottom of Atlantis" back then.

Because this drama is down-to-earth, it tells the stories of most ordinary people who personally experienced their first few years.

The viewership frenzy brought by "Aspiration" elevated the television set to a milestone position in the history of television in the People's Republic of China, and also created a miracle in the history of broadcasting in the People's Republic of China.

Because it is characterized by low cost, short cycle, and fast production, it fully leverages the advantages of television as a production method and a medium of dissemination using electronic technology.

It can be said that this drama played a pioneering role in the marketization of television dramas in mainland China.

Interestingly, on the same day, Ah Xia, far away in Hong Kong, knew nothing about the TV series that was dominating the screens in mainland China, and with her life experience, she was unable to empathize with the female lead in the series.

However, the intense emotions she felt after receiving Ning Weimin's call that day could be aptly expressed by the title of this drama.

For no other reason than that Ning Weimin informed her that he had become the new owner of the Hong Kong Regent Hotel.

Without a doubt, this news itself has nothing to do with Xia.

However, it should be noted that another matter arising from this is of great importance to her.

Because Ning Weimin also gave her and Hong Hanyi the opportunity to become shareholders of Regent Hotel.

They also hoped that the hotel could represent them and oversee its daily operations.

This means that Ah Xia and Hong Hanyi are very likely to have truly cleaned up their act and become part of Hong Kong's high society.

So how could Xia maintain her usual composure after realizing this?
She was a poor girl who followed Hung Hon-yi and was involved in gangs for more than ten years. Later, she took Hung Hon-yi's daughter to Japan to seek refuge.

I thought that the best outcome would be to live a wealthy and stable life once Hung Hon-yee was released.

She never dreamed that she would have such a future.

So she quickly became restless in her office, picking up the phone only to put it down again, ultimately deciding to drive to Hong Hanyi's office to tell him the good news in person. (End of Chapter)