Hong Kong: Rise of the Kings.

Chapter 922 0910 [Extreme Joy Leads to Sorrow]

The next day—
18 Ka Yip Street, Chai Wan,
Ming Pao Industrial Group.

For many Hong Kong people, today is just like yesterday, a very ordinary morning, with a sunny day and clear blue sky. Everyone stays in offices, companies, and factories, laboriously repeating yesterday's boring work, waiting for the night to fall and then going home.

However, the meeting room of the Ming Pao Industrial Group in Chai Wan was different from the deserted atmosphere that had lasted for many days. The six ceiling fans in the meeting room were whirring, trying to bring cool breeze to the room. The large oval conference table that could accommodate sixty people was full of people.

At this time, the room was bustling with people discussing something. More than ten voices sounded at the same time, making the meeting room even noisier than a vegetable market.

"This time, our Ming Pao ranked top in sales in Hong Kong, surpassing Oriental Daily and Sing Tao Daily for the first time, becoming the king of newspapers!"

"Yes, our efforts have paid off! Ming Pao has achieved today's sales volume, so we should all celebrate!"

Several Ming Pao senior executives said.

"But having said that, the sales of our Ming Pao newspaper have been able to stand out from the crowd and become the best-selling newspaper in Hong Kong. First of all, we have to thank the editorial column! It is this column that has earned us enough readers and topics."

"Yes, especially the part criticizing and judging Du Yongxiao. It really attracted a lot of attention. Countless readers went to this column just for this!"

Everyone discussed again and analyzed the advantages of newspapers.

"It's a pity that the Oriental Daily and Sing Tao Daily are controlled by a man named Du. Not to mention publishing critical articles about Du Yongxiao, they can't even say a bad word about him."

"That's right! These two newspapers have been controlled by Du Yongxiao. It will be extremely difficult for them to regain the sales lead."

At this moment, the whole conference room was filled with a warm atmosphere. After all, it was not easy to be the number one newspaper sales person in Hong Kong.

Ming Pao has been working hard for so many years, but this is only a few times. Especially this time, it was able to firmly hold the first place with the help of the Du Yongxiao incident, which is even more rare.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet! Now, let's invite our Ming Pao editor-in-chief Mr. Shen Baoxin to say a few words to everyone!"

Ni Kuang, a special writer for Ming Pao and a good friend of the big boss Jin Yong, stood up and said.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Shen Baoxin.

Shen Baoxin is one of the founding fathers of Ming Pao. He and Jin Yong jointly founded the newspaper. Jin Yong contributed 30,000 Hong Kong dollars and Shen Baoxin contributed 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, plus the money to pay the rent of the newspaper and the salaries of the employees.

If Jin Yong is the spiritual leader of Ming Pao, who laid a solid foundation for the development of Ming Pao with his pen and sixteen martial arts novels, then Shen Baoxin is the general manager and logistics minister of the entire Ming Pao, in charge of all major and minor matters inside and outside Ming Pao.

It is precisely because of Shen Baoxin's ability that Jin Yong has so much time to concentrate on his creation.

Shen Baoxin is exactly 43 years old this year. His temples are gray due to overwork. He wears a pair of round glasses on his nose, making him look old-fashioned and conservative.

Shen Baoxin adjusted his glasses, glanced at Jin Yong, the newspaper boss sitting next to him, and then took out the document and said, "First of all, I don't need to elaborate on the fact that our Ming Pao's sales volume ranks first in Hong Kong. This is everyone's credit and the result of everyone's joint efforts. So I hope everyone can applaud themselves!"

clap clap clap!
Led by Shen Baoxin, everyone applauded.

"Secondly, let's discuss how to celebrate tonight. Should we go to a dance hall or a big hotel?"

"Of course, we're going to the dance hall!"

"Not so good, after all, there are female colleagues."

"Then let's go to the Grand Hotel and have a feast!"

"That's great. Everyone has worked so hard for so many days, it's time to have a good meal!"

Everyone was talking and discussing where to go to celebrate.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet. Let's listen to what President Cha says about how to celebrate." Shen Baoxin looked at Jin Yong with a smile and gave him the decision-making power.

When everyone heard that Jin Yong was to make the decision, they all fell silent and felt uneasy.

The reason is very simple. Jin Yong is notoriously "stingy", especially when it comes to withholding "royalties".

For example, Cai Lan, a famous writer in Hong Kong, wrote for Oriental Daily News, and was paid 1,000 yuan for 750 words a day for a three-month serial. But he translated Japanese mystery novels for Ming Pao, and was paid only 653 yuan a day for 800 words a day, 350 yuan less than Oriental Daily News.

Cai Lan and Jin Yong had a good relationship, so they did not protest. But it was different for Ni Kuang and Yi Shu. The brother and sister protested to Jin Yong together, calling and sending letters, demanding an increase in the manuscript fee.

Jin Yong always pushed left and blocked right, using Tai Chi to dissipate the force and neutralize the fierce momentum of the Ni brothers and sisters.

Ni Kuang was so angry with him that he took advantage of a banquet, still a little drunk, to loudly demand that Jin Yong increase his royalties.

He said, "Cha Liangyong, you have made so much money, you should increase your royalties.

Jin Yong smiled and said, "Okay, I'll join!"

Finally, the storm was settled.

Afterwards, the manuscript fee was really increased to 5%, which is better than nothing.

Ni Kuang was dissatisfied and called to scold him. Jin Yong couldn't persuade him, so he used his trump card.

"Okay, okay, Ni Kuang, stop arguing! I'll write you a letter." Jin Yong said in a tone that was almost pleading. Upon hearing the letter, Ni Kuang fainted and sighed, "My life is over!"

It turns out that in terms of eloquence, Jin Yong cannot match Ni Kuang, but when it comes to writing letters to comment on the truth, Ni Kuang is definitely no match.

Ni Kuang is afraid of writing letters, for he values ​​every word at a price of gold. Writing letters is a waste of money, and only fools would do it.

Only Jin Yong is a complete fool who just loves writing letters.

Ni Kuang said, "I have never seen a person who likes to write letters as much as Cha Liangyong." He acted on his words. Two days later, Mr. Cha's letter arrived. I opened it and saw more than a dozen clauses, either complaining about the high expenses of the newspaper or the economic downturn, and saying that they had to save money. The last clause was that my brother wanted to increase the manuscript fee, which would inevitably cause a chain reaction, meaning that if you increase it, others would also have to increase it. This amount of money was not light, and Ni Kuang felt very sad. In the end, he had no choice but to surrender and not ask for an increase in the manuscript fee.

Therefore, up to now, Ni Kuang's payment for his articles in Ming Pao is not very high. Compared with "Eastern", "Fresh" and "Emerald", it is far inferior.

Ni Kuang often sighed: "I am too familiar with Louis Cha, so sometimes it is difficult to say anything careless!"

Yi Shu is the second person in the world who dares to negotiate royalties with Jin Yong after Ni Kuang.

Yi Shu is even more sharp-tongued than Ni Kuang. She pointed it out directly in her column, using sharp words, almost saying that Jin Yong was being mean to those who work for a living.

Faced with such a fierce attack, Jin Yong responded to all changes with the strategy of remaining unchanged, and even used stillness to overcome movement, and still managed to make Yi Shu completely subdued.

In the cultural circles of Hong Kong, the Ni brothers and sisters are well-known for their sharp tongues, but they were completely subdued by Jin Yong. How powerful do you think Jin Yong is? Although the wood flea is evil, it can't perform any tricks when it meets glutinous rice.

Jin Yong is the glutinous rice that tamed the two naughty fleas, the Ni brothers and sisters.

For this reason, many people say that Jin Yong is stingy. In fact, Jin Yong is not stingy, he just understands the principle of saving. He is not like Ni Kuang who spends money recklessly, nor does he become arrogant after becoming rich. He spends when he needs it, and is sometimes generous to his friends. Ni Kuang understands this very well.

Whenever Ni Kuang had any difficulty, Jin Yong would help him. Sometimes when Ni Kuang needed money, Jin Yong would advance the royalties. This was what Ni Kuang said to the Ming Pao Publishing Department.

Ni Kuang's royalties were not small amounts, usually over 100,000. Jin Yong never frowned. At most, he would advise Ni Kuang, "Don't waste money!" But for people inside Ming Pao, this boss Cha was a real "fine-tuner" who was very careful with every penny. It would be difficult to get him to pay for a grand celebration banquet this time.

really--
Jin Yong pondered for a moment, adjusted his black-framed glasses, and then said, "Given the current development of our company, we cannot be complacent because of a little bit of achievement, and we cannot be arrogant just because we are the number one in sales. We must learn to be thrifty and modest..."

"Ruined!"

"No chance!"

"Alas, it was all for nothing!"

When everyone saw this scene, they sighed.

"but---"

Seeing the low mood at the scene, Jin Yong changed the subject, "In order to boost morale and strengthen unity, I decided to make an exception. This time, I will invite you to eat seafood at Taibai Seafood Restaurant. Is that okay?"

Everyone was stunned.

What, a seafood dinner?
Even Shen Baoxin and Ni Kuang looked at Jin Yong in surprise, as if they saw another person.

Jin Yong touched his chin and looked at the two of them: "What are you looking at me for? Don't you recognize me?"

"No, Lao Cha, do you have a fever?" Ni Kuang has a good relationship with Jin Yong and asked without hesitation.

"Fever! Don't laugh at me!" Jin Yong certainly knew what Ni Kuang meant.

"You don't have a fever, but you are so generous and willing to take risks?"

Jin Yong rolled his eyes, not wanting to pay attention to Ni Kuang. He turned his head and looked at everyone: "So, did you win or not?"

"have to--"

Everyone said in unison.

Everybody is so happy.

No one expected that the big boss Jin Yong would be so generous today and actually treat everyone to a seafood dinner.

Tai Pak Seafood House is one of the best restaurants in Hong Kong, with delicious food and elegant environment. What's even better is that they don't have to pay the bill.

The scene was extremely lively.

Everyone was discussing how to have a feast tonight.

Jin Yong was also very happy. It was rare for everyone to be so united, and even rarer still was the newspaper sales being so good that it could sit on the throne of number one in sales.

I remember how difficult it was to found Ming Pao. I worked day and night to achieve what I have today.

Just when Jin Yong was feeling confused, Ni Kuang suddenly leaned over to his ear and said, "Old Cha, I have something to say, shall I?"

"What?" Jin Yong looked at Ni Kuang suspiciously.

Ni Kuang said: "We are all friends, I don't want to discourage you, especially seeing that everyone is so happy now, I don't want to pour cold water on you, but -"

Ni Kuang hesitated for a moment, and then said, "It's about Du Yongxiao. You know that Du Yongxiao is not an ordinary person. As the first Chinese police commissioner of Hong Kong, he is in a high position and has great power. As a super tycoon in Hong Kong, he is even richer than a country... This time, our Ming Pao has been unscrupulously attacking and criticizing him in the newspaper. I have read some of the previous articles, which are still worth mentioning, but the ones later on are a bit too much. They are all groundless and fabricated..."

Jin Yong frowned.

This time they did take advantage of Du Yongxiao's "bonus". They achieved huge sales by exposing a lot of negative information about Du Yongxiao and slandering him as a traitor.

At the beginning, Jin Yong was very cautious in censorship. After all, Du Yongxiao was a public figure, not an ordinary person. However, as the sales of the newspaper continued to rise by criticizing Du Yongxiao, Jin Yong lost himself a little. He turned a blind eye and acquiesced in the publication of some unverified content in the newspaper.

Now that Ming Pao was far ahead, Jin Yong had long forgotten about this matter. He was only awakened when Ni Kuang suddenly brought it up.

"伱means——"

"What I mean is that Du Yongxiao is not an easy person to deal with. If we offend him like this, I'm afraid he will fight back..." Ni Kuang said worriedly, "Especially since I've fought with him before, he's a vindictive person. If we don't take action, once he does, it will be with thunder and lightning!"

Ni Kuang had suffered a lot from Du Yongxiao in the past, and he was still frightened at this moment.

Jin Yong was silent.

He held his chin, as if thinking about something.

Shen Baoxin said, "Although the Du guy is powerful, he's not that powerful. After all, we're newspaper people, we have the power to influence public opinion. If we're afraid of him, we're just worrying about nothing!"

"Yes, if the Du guy fights back at this time, we can just create another wave of revelations and say that he is abusing his power and taking personal revenge!" said another senior executive.

In his opinion, even if Du Yongxiao took action, he would definitely rely on the power in his hands to suppress their newspaper, such as asking the police to come and "check the electricity meter" or something like that.

Others also thought so, believing that Du Yongxiao's revenge was to use his power to frame Ming Pao.

Jin Yong was somewhat sober at this time, and shook his head and said, "We were the ones who made the mistake first. Even if he retaliates now, it's our own fault! However, if he really abuses his power, we should write a letter about it..."

Everyone smiled at each other and said, "That's right! No matter how powerful he is, he is still a public figure, and public figures are most afraid of scandals! If he dares to use his power, we will fight back hard and make him lose face!"

Everyone imagined how embarrassed Du Yongxiao must be when he was criticized by them, and then they all laughed happily.

at this time--
Boom!
There was a muffled sound.

Someone broke into the meeting room, and it turned out to be Li Zhihui, the head of the newspaper's legal department.

Li Zhihui is 33 years old this year. He graduated from the Law Department of Cambridge University in the UK and is very familiar with legal provisions. When the newspaper was recruiting new people, they also had needs in the legal field, so they hired him with a high salary.

As it turned out, Li Zhihui was an excellent legal advisor who helped Ming Pao win many lawsuits.

Jin Yong and Shen Baoxin now trust him even more and hand over the legal affairs of the entire group to him.

"It's bad, everyone!"

Li Zhihui exclaimed as soon as he came in.

"We were sued by the Du Group! They accused us of damaging Du Yongxiao's reputation and the reputation of the Du Group... and demanded--"

Li Zhihui paused and looked at Jin Yong and others——
"Claim one hundred million!"

(End of this chapter)