Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2729 He's Finished (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Hong Kong Island is one of the world’s leading shipbreaking centers, especially renowned for dismantling large oil tankers and scrap ships.

In the Tuen Mun area, there are dozens of shipbreaking yards of varying sizes. The larger ones can dismantle giant oil tankers weighing hundreds of thousands of tons, while the smaller ones can only dismantle merchant ships weighing a few thousand tons.

Because there are many companies in this industry, the competition is fierce. The most profitable companies are not professional shipbreaking yards, but steel mills. They purchase large quantities of scrap ships as raw materials for their electric arc furnace steelmaking, and their profit margins are naturally very large as they produce and sell their own products.

But most of them are simply dismantling old ships.

In the morning, the ear-piercing sounds of steel cutting, the hissing of gas welding, and the muffled thuds of ship dismantling all rushed into the small office room, making people feel irritable. Sitting behind his desk, Xu Zhaozu's brows were furrowed, and the noise outside constantly amplified his irritability.

The boat was stolen.

Although there are old ships every day, no one is happy to have their business snatched away.

At this moment, Xu Zhaozu became increasingly angry, and couldn't help but mutter curses under his breath:

"What exactly is that brat good for?"

The "rascal" he was referring to was his eldest son, Hui Chi-hang, who had always been his pride and joy. Hui Chi-hang had studied at Tung Ning University and, after returning to Hong Kong Island, joined the company as his assistant. Because of his good English, Hui Chi-hang was always the one who went abroad to buy old ships.

A few days ago, Xu Zhiheng went to the auction of those old ships in Greece. He originally thought that no matter what, he could get a few big ships, so he wouldn't have to worry about money for the next year.

But the result?

The ship was snapped up by Da Dong, leaving them empty-handed.

These past few days, Xu Zhaozu has been extremely anxious, constantly making phone calls and inquiring everywhere about where to find scrapped ships. The ship dismantling business is all about hard work, covered in dust and sweat, but to earn that kind of money, you first need ships to dismantle.

In a tiny area of ​​Hong Kong Island, there are more than a hundred shipbreaking yards of all sizes. With too many boats and too few boats, the supply of ships is their lifeline.

Without ships, the factory would have to shut down. The workers were waiting to start work and get paid. Once the workers left, the factory would fall apart.

Therefore, Xu Zhiheng dared not slack off in the slightest. But after searching around, the results were still unsatisfactory.

The door creaked open, and before anyone even entered the room, the sound came in:
"dad!"

It was Xu Zhiheng; he was even pulling a suitcase.

Before he could say another word, Xu Zhaozu slammed his fist on the table as soon as he saw his son, his temper flaring up instantly:

"How dare you come back? It's just a few tens of thousands of yuan short, and someone else got the prize first. I raised you all these years, and you can't even handle this simple thing!"

Seeing his father's furious expression, Xu Zhiheng didn't explain. He simply reached into his bag, pulled out a folded Greek newspaper, and handed it to him.

"Dad, don't scold me yet, take a look at this."

Xu Zhaozu glanced at the newspaper, his anger flaring even more:
"You little brat, are you taking advantage of your dad because he doesn't understand foreign languages? If I didn't not understand foreign languages, would Greece even need you to go?"

Xu Zhiheng patiently spoke directly:
"Dad, Zhou Changdong from Dadong has bought seven oil tankers in Greece in the last two days, with a total tonnage of about 600,000 tons."

"what?"

Xu Zhaozu suddenly looked up, his eyes wide open, and his voice changed as he said:

"Six hundred thousand tons? Is he crazy? Where would he get so much money? So many ships, even if you dismantle them, it would be enough for him to dismantle for two years! So much capital tied up, the interest is higher than the profit..."

Ship dismantling is unlike other industries; it requires significant investment. First, you need a site and equipment. Because the investment is substantial, they often use bank loans to buy ships, dismantle them, sell the steel plates, and recoup the funds to repay the loans. This cycle continues indefinitely. As for the profits, they essentially end up with the old ships sitting at sea, waiting to be dismantled.

"He's not crazy."

Xu Zhiheng shook his head and said:

“Zhou Changdong had no intention of dismantling the ship at all. As soon as he got the ship, he sold it directly to a Liberian shipping company.”

Xu Zhaozu gasped, speechless for a long time before finally muttering, "My God... This time, the Zhou guy is going to make a fortune, at least tens of millions!"

His tone was full of envy, and his eyes were full of longing for this windfall, as if he could already see Zhou Changdong counting money until his hands were sore.

Seeing his father's appearance, Xu Zhiheng gently shook his head and said:
"Dad, he didn't get rich, he got into trouble."

"Disaster? What disaster?"

Xu Zhaozu was taken aback, his face full of confusion.

"Dad, think about it, right now, who would be scrambling to buy these old, outdated oil tankers?"

Xu Zhiheng paused, looked at his father's bewildered face, and directly pointed out:

"It's Iran."

"Iran?"

Xu Zhaozu was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood what was happening. His expression changed drastically, and his earlier envy and jealousy vanished instantly. The world knew how strict the SEA's sanctions against Iran were; crossing that line was tantamount to playing with fire.

Besides, this is Hong Kong!
Thinking of this, Xu Zhaozu said:
"What's gotten into Zhou Changdong? How dare he go against SEA? Da Dong... Da Dong is finished this time."

Seeing his father's appearance, Xu Zhiheng said:

"Dad, only when Da Dong is finished will we have a chance..."

Xu Zhaozu's eyes lit up at his son's words, and he said:
"You mean... Daidong Steel!"

...In November, Hong Kong Island already had a touch of winter chill, and the fashionable women in their colorful dresses had almost disappeared from the streets. Actually, they hadn't disappeared; they had simply layered wool coats over their long skirts, like the traditional horse-face skirt.

Once inside the office, they would still put on beautiful dresses. Just like now, several female employees in the office were still wearing skirts. A faint scent of perfume filled the air.

In the cubicle by the window, Chen Lixin was hunched over his computer, constantly adjusting data and carefully verifying it.

The 23-year-old had just graduated from university a few months ago, and like many young people, he applied to work for an overseas company after joining the workforce.

However, his overseas trip is a bit...unreliable.

It's on Hong Kong Island, and it's basically not much different from the mainland, except that it's not as bustling as mainland China.

The hum of the computer echoed in his ears. As he flipped through the spreadsheets, the sounds unique to a city morning drifted in from the half-open window: the noise of the first tram, the roar of car engines, the footsteps of people on the roadside, and the cries of vendors…

The various voices converged, creating a vibrant and lively atmosphere reminiscent of everyday life.

The noise seemed a bit loud, but it didn't affect his work. His job wasn't complicated; he simply distributed various steel materials in batches to different places.

Some were sent to the steel company, while others were sent to the company's storage warehouse.

"Section Chief Chen, this is Da Dong's delivery for this month: 4800 tons of steel plates, all from the Liberty ships built in 43..."

When Fang Meiyun handed the report to the section chief, she stared straight at him with her beautiful eyes. He was 23 years old.

They are so young!
If I could marry him, that would be wonderful. I heard his family is also from Guangdong Province.

That's why her expression and tone were completely ingratiating when she spoke to the section chief.

However, Chen Lixin seemed completely oblivious to the woman's advances, flipping through the report and saying:

"The materials from Da Dong are missing a ship certificate. Please have them provide the missing certificate."

"Okay, Section Chief, I'll call Da Dong right away. Oh, by the way, Section Chief, about that recently released 'Drunken Master' movie..."

Just as Fang Meiyun was about to ask him to go to the movies together, the phone rang, and Chen Lixin picked it up.

Hearing the invitation from the other end of the phone, Chen Lixin noted down the time and place and agreed. After hanging up, he looked up again and saw Fang Meiyun still standing there. Chen Lixin asked:
"Miss Fang, is there anything else?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

Fang Meiyun shook her head repeatedly, then hurriedly left. As soon as she returned to her seat, her female colleague leaned over and said:
"The appointment didn't go through?"

"Ugh, this guy is so difficult to deal with..."

Chen Lixin had no interest in what his female colleagues were discussing. He simply tapped the names on the sticky notes with his pen, lost in thought.

"Xu Zhiheng".

Although he had only met Xu Zhiheng a few times, Xu Zhiheng graduated from Dongning University fifteen years ago, making him his senior.

"What does it mean that my brother asked me to meet him at noon?"

Soon, in a tea restaurant near the company, Chen Lixin frowned as he looked at the newspaper Xu Zhiheng had brought him.

"Zhou Changdong's ability to buy and sell oil tankers of hundreds of thousands of tons is truly remarkable!

"It's more than just looking at them with new eyes!"

Xu Zhiheng laughed:
"Among the oil tankers he photographed, the oldest was only 22 years old. In principle, they don't need to be scrapped, and the price isn't scrap value. If you look at it by tonnage, even if Da Dong produces and sells them himself, he definitely won't make a profit."

"So he sold it to someone else, the Liberian shipping company..."

Liberia has always been the dominant force in the "flag of convenience" trade. Those shipping companies were never owned by Liberia itself. After World War II, with the high operating costs of the American fleet, American shipowners sought to reduce costs by registering their ships overseas in places with lower costs.

Subsequently, through the collaboration of American lawyers, shipowners, and the Liberian government, the Liberia Maritime Law, modeled after US maritime law, was enacted. By attracting global shipowners through open registration, and with its low taxes and relaxed regulations, it quickly drew in shipowners worldwide. In particular, there was an influx of Greek shipowners—Greek shipping magnates registered large fleets of oil tankers in Liberia to circumvent their country's high taxes and strict employment laws.

It seems reasonable to sell to a Liberian shipping company, but anyone can see that this is just a smokescreen, and the real owner is someone else.

But who is the real owner of this ship?
It's obvious which country it is without even guessing.
Thinking of this, Chen Lixin sneered:

"Da Dong really hit the jackpot this time!"

Although he was talking about making money, his tone was sarcastic. Xu Zhiheng responded to this by saying:
"Just like you said, he made a fortune this time, but when it comes to making money, there are principles to follow: what kind of money can be made and what kind cannot. Don't you think so?"

Chen Lixin nodded, and then said:

"Yes, he will find out."

When he spoke, his tone was extremely calm, as if he were talking about something casual.

Then he added:

"Brother, thank you for telling me this."

Xu Zhiheng smiled and said.

"Even if I don't tell you, you'll find out soon enough, won't you?"

(End of this chapter)