1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 677 Even trash needs to be put to good use!

As expected, the next afternoon, Chen Lei led a large group of people from Los Angeles to Hong Kong Island.

"Boss, what are your instructions?"

In the office, Chen Lei looked at her boss, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, and asked respectfully.

"Are you tired from coming from Los Angeles? Take a rest for the next couple of days, things aren't particularly urgent."

Seeing Chen Lei's travel-worn appearance, Li Changhe first offered a gentle expression of concern.

After all, their attitude was commendable; they came straight over without even adjusting to the time difference.

"It's okay, boss, I'll just go back and get some sleep tonight."

"Please give me your instructions first, so I can have a better understanding of what's going on. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep when I get back."

Chen Lei said rather eagerly.

It was quite rare for Li Changhe to summon her; clearly, he had important business to discuss with her.

Seeing this, Li Changhe immediately gave instructions to Chen Lei.
"Leila, I asked you to come here for one thing: to get the immigration agency project in the previous travel company up and running."

"Immigration agency program?"

"Boss, do you mean immigrating to the United States from Hong Kong Island?"

Chen Lei asked curiously.

Li Changhe nodded: "That's right. As far as I know, the Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong Island are expected to begin in the second half of the year. This time it will be a high-level meeting between the two countries, and the meeting will basically determine the future of Hong Kong Island."

"Personally, I'm not very optimistic about the UK's side. They basically don't have any trump cards to play against the University of the East. So I'm more inclined to believe that the University of the East will regain sovereignty over Hong Kong Island, and that Hong Kong Island will return to China at a specific time!"

"And once Hong Kong Island returns to China, as you know, there will definitely be a large number of people leaving Hong Kong Island. They will most likely immigrate to Europe and America. What I need you to prepare is this business."

"Boss, you mean we'll target those Hong Kong residents who flee after the handover as potential clients?"

Chen Lei then asked seriously.

Li Changhe nodded: "Yes, but I have one more request."

"At that time, my venture capital firm in the United States will simultaneously invest in real estate in Hong Kong Island based on the negotiation results. After all, once the return of Hong Kong Island is confirmed, these people fleeing here will definitely sell their properties, which will trigger a wave of real estate collapse."

"My requirement for you is that you design a separate model, and our services will appear as an add-on service to the real estate acquisition."

"In other words, those clients who sell me real estate will receive one to two years of free services, depending on the circumstances. During this time, you need to train your staff and prepare for these services."

"You should also design your own salary and bonus system, and I will pay them separately later."

After listening, Chen Lei nodded in understanding. In other words, their mutual aid services for Chinese people in Europe and America would be offered as a benefit for these people leaving Hong Kong, along with the property acquisition.

"Boss, you don't even charge the most basic membership fee?"

Chen Lei hesitated for a moment and asked, "Does their mutual aid association have a very basic annual fee of $100 a year, which allows you to enjoy many preferential services?"

This is actually quite cost-effective in the US.

"Don't accept it yet, let them get it for free for a while first."

"And that's not all, Leila. We'll provide them with free services, and you'll also need to create files and keep track of their situation in the United States."

"If my prediction is correct, many of the first batch of people leaving Hong Kong are elites from Hong Kong Island, and their abilities are not bad. Our companies on the other side will need these people to fill the gaps."

"So what I need you to do is not only provide services, but also conduct a targeted screening to identify the capable individuals among them and put them to my use."

Li Changhe then spoke earnestly to Chen Lei.

This is his true intention.

Once the Sino-British negotiations conclude, a group of middle-class elites from Hong Kong Island will be the first to leave. Among them, some are selling off their assets and leaving because they fear our reckoning due to historical reasons.

However, some people simply can't accept it.

Many elites educated in the Western style cannot even accept the "one country, two systems" principle, so they are determined to leave.

Li Changhe wouldn't simply judge these people's right or wrong based on nationalism, since there are actually quite a few people overseas who hold this kind of ideology.

Currently, his company still finds it difficult to employ a large number of mainland Chinese, since there is actually a shortage of qualified personnel in mainland China, and he has no choice but to hire them.

Therefore, this group of Chinese elites who left Hong Kong became Li Changhe's first target. He wanted to recruit them in large numbers and use them to support his company system.

This also indirectly creates the idea that Victor, even in Europe and America, prefers to employ Chinese staff.

In this way, it would be only natural to recruit Chinese employees from mainland China in the future, and even let them have access to some of the core technologies.

This can be seen as Li Changhe laying the groundwork for his future "deception" plan, allowing these departing Chinese to "make use of waste" first.

Of course, this was his underlying intention; on the surface, it was still to recruit Chinese elites.

After listening to Li Changhe's words, Chen Lei immediately understood her boss's intentions.

This is not only about using them to provide services to these overseas Chinese, but more importantly, it's about using this service as a pretext to select a large number of high-quality talents.

This is essentially the same as the work of the group's human resources department.

This is an important department and function of the company.

Thinking of these things, Chen Lei's heart immediately burned with passion.

"Understood, boss. I understand our mission. I'll see if we can recruit more people in Hong Kong right away."

Chen Lei then spoke seriously.

Li Changhe nodded: "No rush. I estimate that there is still at least half a year before this point. You have enough time to prepare and coordinate the work on both sides."

"In addition, in North America, besides the United States, you should also focus on expanding into Canada."

“Both Hong Kong Island and Canada were formerly British colonies, and their passports and legal systems are mutually compatible in many ways.”

"So I estimate that some people leaving Hong Kong will prioritize Canada, and you need to make sure we have enough manpower there."

At this moment, Li Changhe gave Chen Lei another piece of advice.

It is well known that Hong Kong people prefer Canada, and many celebrities have immigrated to Canada, where there are also close ties with the Chinese community in Hong Kong.

"Don't worry, boss. We have branches in several major Chinese cities in Canada, since there are quite a few Chinese people there."

"The only issue is that we haven't made contact with the gangs there yet." "On the West Coast, with Mr. Buckleyville's help, plus your influence over the various gangs, the work is actually quite easy to carry out."

"But in Canada, we are currently facing some difficulties. Although we have made contact with several other organizations through the Hongmen, the most powerful organization there right now is called Big Circle."

“They don’t have deep ties with Hong Kong’s triads. I’ve heard that many of them are from the mainland. They are ruthless and quite mysterious. We haven’t been able to contact them yet. These people may become a destabilizing factor affecting our expansion.”

Chen Lei said softly.

"The Big Circle? What a coincidence, I do have some connections there."

"Here's what I'll do. I'll have Ah Hu introduce you to someone. He has some connections with the big circles over there, and he'll make the connections and provide you with some conveniences."

Li Changhe said with a light laugh.

It looks like Scarface is doing a really good job over there.

"Okay, then I'm all set."

Hearing that even the most troublesome Big Circle could be handled by their boss, Chen Lei's respect for the boss increased even more.

"Okay, you should go back and rest first. Once you're rested, contact Ella. She'll arrange the office space for you. You can also apply for the necessary funds through her. I'll sign off on it then."

Li Changhe's office has a separate finance team, which makes it convenient for him to make arrangements on a whim.

"Understood, boss. I'll go back and rest now."

Chen Lei didn't linger; she needed to go back and sort out her thoughts to figure out how to proceed with the next steps.

Without a doubt, she will be traveling back and forth between Asia and North America for some time.

After Chen Lei left, Li Changhe stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looked at the bustling Victoria Harbour in the distance, and shook his head.

The Sino-British negotiations brought not only huge profits to Hong Kong's real estate and foreign exchange markets, but also a large number of talented individuals.

For Li Changhe, this group of people made up for the shortcomings of others in a short period of time. With this group of people, he could confidently recruit Europeans and Americans overseas as well.

Then we can let these Hong Kong elites compete with those European and American elites.

This gives him enough time to wait for domestically trained personnel to emerge.

Li Changhe then stayed in Hong Kong for a few more days, watching as the arrangements were getting on track, and also witnessing the outbreak of the Falklands War.

Because the newspapers were now jubilantly touting the British Navy's renewed expedition.

One hundred and twenty-seven warships sailed majestically toward the South Atlantic, a sight that, for many media outlets, almost seemed like a re-enactment of the glory days of the British Navy.

However, Li Changhe knew more inside information. The so-called 127 warships were actually only about 40 warships; the rest were civilian ships and cargo ships.

Great Britain mobilized the entire nation's resources, assembling 127 ships to participate in the war in the South Atlantic, which perfectly demonstrated its outward strength but inner weakness.

Of course, Argentina is even more useless.

However, Li Changhe did make a note of those media outlets that were making such a big fuss. These media outlets, which were clearly pro-British, would be his main targets for dealing with in the future.

However, for now, before the Sino-British negotiations are over, Li Changhe does not plan to take action.

Let these people run wild for a few days.

After arranging these matters, Li Changhe quietly returned to the mainland. However, he did not go directly back to the capital, but instead made a trip to Shanghai first.

Since Gong Xue's starring film "Mom, Love Me Again" has been released, this film, which is a heavily modified and integrated version of Li Changhe's work, has unsurprisingly become a huge success once again.

After all, Li Changhe is already a well-established brand, and then Gong Xue was added to the mix.

Gong Xue also became a sensation again thanks to this film, instantly becoming one of the top film actresses in China.

In the old-style house in Shanghai, Gong Xue was covered in sweat, as the splits she had just done had taken a toll on her energy.

"Sigh, I'm too afraid to go out now. Everyone I meet is so enthusiastic, they all want to shake my hand. I don't know whether to shake their hand or not. Going out is so tiring these days!"

Gong Xue said to Li Changhe with a hint of helplessness.

Fame has its downsides. Although Gong Xue was somewhat famous before, it was relatively better because Xiuzhi's image was more traditional, and people recognized that image more.

Now, her portrayal of a single mother in "Mom, Love Me Again" has genuinely encouraged a large number of people, especially many educated youth returning from the Cultural Revolution.

It is said that after the movie was released, the number of people in Shanghai who went back to reunite with their families increased significantly, and many people boldly brought back the children they had originally abandoned.

Even some families with conservative parents chose to acquiesce after watching the movie.

After all, the tear-jerking scenes in the movie have made many people understand what kind of sins they have committed.

As a result, Gong Xue's image became more positive, and she encountered more enthusiasm from her comrades when she went out.

Li Changhe nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it's not appropriate for you to appear in public right now."

"How about this, I'll arrange for you to go out first, get familiar with Macau Island, and then go to Hong Kong Island later."

"Your current image is too positive, which isn't a good thing for you!"

Unlike later generations who resisted role models and exemplars, the propaganda apparatus in China today actually enjoys setting up benchmarks and exemplary figures as models to encourage the public.

The public is quite receptive to this approach, showing great enthusiasm and recognition for role models.

Gong Xue's roles in the films have had a similar effect, which has made Li Changhe somewhat worried.

The higher you climb, the harder you fall. People easily project the characters from the movie onto the actors themselves, which isn't actually a good thing for Gong Xue.

"Yeah, I feel that way too. When I go out, they are enthusiastic towards me, but the enthusiasm is not actually directed at me, but at the character I'm playing."

"I always feel awkward about this enthusiasm, but I can't resist it."

Gong Xue then spoke softly to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe nodded: "If nothing unexpected happens, this movie will win an award without any problem. Here's what I'll do: I'll arrange for someone to transfer you to Hong Kong and Macau, under the guise of exchanging acting skills."

"We'll have the Hong Kong Island Company and Shanghai Film Studio contact each other and ask them to give you a few spots. You can go there discreetly."

"We'll see how to arrange things later."

The main reason is that with Gong Xue's sudden rise to fame, Li Changhe suddenly realized that he couldn't just take her out so easily. Otherwise, if the media were to accuse her of being a two-faced person who worships foreign things, it would be a huge blow to his new daughter-in-law.

"Well, I listen to you!"

(End of this chapter)