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

Chapter 686 Wai Tak Fung!
The next day, Li Changhe went to the office and called Ella over.

"Ella, I remember there was a scandal involving the Zhang Yushan family not long ago, right?"

"Could you find those newspapers for me? I'm going to take a look!"

At this moment, Li Changhe gave instructions to Ella.

"Okay, boss!"

Although Ella was curious as to why her boss suddenly wanted to see the Zhang family's scandals, she still carried out Li Changhe's orders without question.

Soon, Ella found the newspapers that had previously exposed the Zhang family's scandals and presented them to Li Changhe.

After reading it, Li Changhe smiled slightly.

That's right, he remembered seeing this news a while ago, the Zhang family's inheritance dispute!

The reason for the Zhang family's inheritance dispute is quite simple: internal family conflict.

According to the newspaper, the Zhang family used to follow the traditional Chinese patriarchal model, where the family was not allowed to separate, lived together, or have private property. All expenses were provided by the family as a whole. Even when the daughters-in-law bought clothes, they were given the same amount of money and could freely choose styles within the same price range.

It can be said that this is a typical feudal patriarchal Chinese wealthy family.

Their power also passed down from brother to brother. After the founder of the family, Zhang Zhushan, the eldest brother, Zhang Yujie, took the reins first, then the second brother, Zhang Yulin, and then the fourth brother, Zhang Yuliang. Several brothers successively took control of the family's power.

However, the problem lies with Zhang Yuliang; he held power for too long.

The older brothers didn't hold power for long; some died young, others died of illness, and they all passed away long ago. Zhang Yuliang, on the other hand, has held the reins of the family since the 1960s, and still does now.

For more than a decade, there were no conflicts within their family because Zhang Yuliang's mother, Zhang Zhushan's first wife, was still alive and protected the interests of each branch of the family.

However, in 77, the year Li Changhe traveled through time, the old lady died.

After his death, Zhang Yuliang was no longer restrained by anyone, and this head of the Zhang family began to slowly resort to underhanded tactics.

Leaving aside the company's power structure, Zhang Yuliang has been in charge for over a decade, and the other members of each branch have no right to interfere in the company's business, let alone compete for it.

The real flashpoint of the conflict was their ancestral home.

In recent years, with the booming real estate market on Hong Kong Island, many wealthy people have set their sights on the land of their ancestral homes, since the locations of many wealthy Chinese families' ancestral homes on Hong Kong Island were not bad in the past.

Many wealthy families have begun to convert the land of their ancestral homes into commercial buildings, thereby not only acquiring a building but also earning a large amount of wealth through rent collection.

For example, the Zhang family's ancestral home is located in Causeway Bay.

Zhang Yuliang also used a similar method, using the name of his family company to develop his ancestral home and build a commercial building in Causeway Bay.

This idea is good, but it involves a problem: the demolition and relocation process.

After all, this is the Zhang family's ancestral home, and according to the Zhang family's previous rules, the eldest, second, and third sons all live here.

So if you want to demolish your ancestral home, the first thing you need to do is clear these people out.

Zhang Yuliang's idea was to solve the problem once and for all, not only kicking these people out, but also announcing that the family company would no longer support them.

Zhang Yuliang's offer was a demolition compensation of HK$1.5 million to HK$3 million per house, plus a compensation of less than HK$1 million per nephew or niece.

In other words, the first, second, and third wives would each receive a maximum of a few million in compensation before being kicked out of the family business.

Zhang Yuliang didn't know how he managed to appease the first and third wives, but Cui Xiuying, the widow of the second wife, refused to leave and became a holdout in the ancestral home.

After a series of actions including hunger strikes, forced demolitions, and violent evictions, Cui Xiuying finally filed a lawsuit against Zhang Yuliang, demanding an investigation into Zhang's assets and an equal division of property among the four branches of the family.

The feud between the younger brother-in-law and his widowed sister-in-law became a hot topic in Hong Kong's print media last year, leaving an impression on Li Changhe.

Therefore, after talking to Bao Yugang last night, he finally remembered this incident.

Legally speaking, Cui Xiuying's claims are not unreasonable. The Zhang family's businesses, including the shares in Wheelock, should be the common property of the four branches of the Zhang family, so the four branches certainly have the right to a share of them.

However, according to historical memory, when Bao Yugang acquired Wheelock, it was clearly Zhang Yuliang who led the sale of the shares.

In other words, Zhang Yuliang was still a major shareholder of Wheelock and Company at that time, and even the head of the entire Zhang family.

"It seems that Choi Soo-young's case has failed?"

“But that shouldn’t be the case. Judging from the newspaper descriptions, Choi Soo-young’s evidence and demands are very clear, and her chances of winning are very high.”

Li Changhe frowned slightly as he looked at the descriptions of the two companies in the newspaper.

The media reporters in Hong Kong are actually quite capable; they did a good job of listing the basic information about both sides. From Li Changhe's perspective, Cui Xiuying's accusations actually have a high probability of winning.

So why did Zhang Yuliang win in the end?

Did they spend money? Or...?
Li Changhe sat there and began to ponder.

A moment later, Li Changhe called Ella.

"Ella, go and investigate something for me."

"Boss, what are your orders?"

Ella said respectfully.

"Go investigate this Zhang family inheritance dispute case. Have you found out if a verdict has been reached? If not, who is the presiding judge?"

"Also, investigate the information of the other branches of the Zhang family besides Zhang Yuliang's lineage, and it would be best if you could confirm and contact them personally."

"Oh, and while you're at it, could you also make a Wah Tak Fung meal?"

At this moment, Li Changhe gave instructions to Ella.

Ella nodded: "Understood, boss, I'll go check right away!"

After Ella left, Li Changhe walked to the window, looked down at Victoria Harbour in the distance, and fell into deep thought.

He had never really considered Wheelock before, because although Wheelock was also one of the four major trading companies in Hong Kong, its core business was not real estate, but shipping, unlike Jardine Matheson and Hutchison Whampoa.

Wheelock and Yuk-Kong Pao actually had a cooperative relationship. The two parties jointly established Wheelock Shipping Company in 75. Moreover, in the past two years, Yuk-Kong Pao abandoned his shipbuilding business and went ashore, selling his ships to two major clients.

One was the Dong family of Eastern Shipping, and the other was Madden of Wheelock.

Like Tung, Madden also bet on the recovery of the shipping industry, so he took over many of Bao Yugang's ships.

In comparison, Wheelock's real estate business is not particularly large, but it is still quite good.

Wheelock’s most important commercial real estate holdings were actually the International Building and the Federal Building, two commercial buildings located in Central, which were also among the assets held by the Zhang Yuliang family’s Federal Properties.

The reason why the Zhang Yuliang family became a major shareholder of Wheelock was because Madden acquired the Zhang Yuliang family's real estate company, and then used a merger and share swap method, thus making the Zhang family a major shareholder of Wheelock.

However, compared to Hongkong Land and Wharf Holdings, Wheelock's real estate business on Hong Kong Island is not particularly outstanding, and its future potential is not as good as Hongkong Land and Wharf Holdings, nor as good as Hutchison Whampoa.

In fact, Li Changhe's acquisition of Wheelock is rather of little use now.

Acquiring Wheelock means he will soon have his own sizable shipping fleet, which is actually a burden for Li Changhe. After all, shipping will be sluggish for the next decade due to low oil prices, and the fleet will essentially be operating at a loss.

However, broadly speaking, if he could control a large shipping fleet, it would actually be of great benefit to the country.

Moreover, he and Pao Yu-hsing had already decided to jointly operate a shipping company, so incorporating Wheelock's fleet into their company as a future industry for cooperation with the mainland was not out of the question.

Besides shipping and real estate, Wheelock also owns many other good companies, such as the famous department store Lane Crawford.

This is a department store brand specializing in high-end European and American products, including clothing, jewelry, perfumes, luxury goods, and watches. It enjoys a high reputation in Hong Kong Island, Southeast Asia, and former British colonies.

For Li Changhe, who plans to develop urban complexes, high-end department store brands like Lane Crawford are actually very suitable for him to move in.

"Although it's a bit of a gimmick, it's not entirely useless in the long run. Let's take it first!"

Li Changhe then made up his mind.

However, he wasn't in a hurry about this matter; he would wait until the Hong Kong Island real estate market collapsed before making any decisions.

Wheelock is now surviving entirely on real estate and rental income from Hong Kong Island; its shipping business is actually not very profitable anymore.

In a few months, when the Hong Kong Island real estate industry collapses, that will be the time when both the Madden family and the Cheung Yuk-leung family want to flee, and when Wheelock's desire to sell will become stronger.

Let's not rush things now!
A few days passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was time for the business cocktail party that Youde had invited.

On this day, Li Changhe changed into a sharp suit and followed Bao Yugang to the Governor's House.

At this moment, Government House is brightly lit, filled with luxury cars, and a large number of wealthy Chinese and British businessmen are coming and going, demonstrating the concentration of wealth and power on Hong Kong Island.

When Bao Yugang and Li Changhe appeared at the entrance of the hall, they instantly attracted the attention of everyone present.

Everyone knows Bao Yugang, but the first name that came to mind for all the important figures present was that of the tall, handsome young man next to him.

Bao Zeyang

"Bao, you're really late!"

At this moment, in the center of the banquet hall, Shen Bi, who was originally surrounded by people, saw Bao Yugang and Li Changhe and immediately strode over, greeting Bao Yugang warmly.

Then he looked at Li Changhe and smiled warmly.

"Vic, it's rare to see you here. Let me think, this must be your first time at a business event like this!"

"That's right. I told him at home that this is the most important banquet His Excellency has extended since taking office, and he absolutely has to come."

"It took a lot of persuasion to finally get this kid out of his house. It was really tough."

Bao Yugang then chuckled and joked.

Li Changhe smiled and said, "Since the Governor has extended such a warm invitation, wouldn't it be disrespectful to Lord Youde if I didn't come?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Bi couldn't help but inwardly scoff.

There are plenty of times when you don't give people face. Even when MacLehose was here before, you didn't give him much face either.

However, Shen Bi would certainly not say these things aloud.

Instead, he said with a smile, "It's good that you came, Vic. Come on, I'll take you to see Lord Youde. I've been waiting for you in the banquet hall."

"Mike, if we had known you had this mission, we would have come with you!"

"Let's go in first; we can't keep His Excellency the Governor waiting."

Bao Yugang said with a smile.

Then, the three of them walked towards the passageway at the back of the banquet hall.

Along the way, Lao Bao would greet acquaintances from time to time. He, or rather the Bao family he represents, is now clearly the richest Chinese family in Hong Kong.

Even the traditional four major families are now slightly less influential than the Bao family.

Moreover, Bao Yugang has always had a good reputation and is humorous, so he can be considered to have "a wide circle of friends" and get along well with all kinds of people, which is part of Bao Yugang's charm.

Of course, Li Changhe was well aware that although Lao Bao had many friends on the surface, there were actually not many people he could truly trust.

As for Li Changhe, his situation was much simpler; he just followed behind Bao Yugang and greeted him.

Anyway, he doesn't know many people here.

During this time, Li Changhe also saw his subordinate, Wei Li, who is now the head of Zhidi.

Wei Li also saw Li Changhe, but when he was about to come over, Li Changhe just smiled and nodded at him. Seeing this, Wei Li immediately understood what Li Changhe meant and did not come over.

Soon, the three of them passed through the corridor of the banquet hall and arrived at a reception room at the back.

Just then, someone came out of the reception room.

"Hello, York, Rowland."

Upon seeing the two people emerge, Bao Yugang greeted them with a smile.

The two people who came out were Schjoker, the current head of the Swire Group, and Laurence Kadoorie, the head of the Kadoorie family.
"Helle, Bao, you're here too!"

The two men smiled and greeted Bao Yugang, then looked at Li Changhe behind him.

"Bao, this must be your outstanding nephew, the victor!"

Schjok's gaze fell on Li Changhe at this moment, and he asked Bao Yugang with a smile.

Bao Yugang nodded: "That's right, he is Vic."

“Vic, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Schjoker, the chairman of the Swire Group, and this is Mr. Laurence, the head of the Kadoorie family.”

"Hello, Mr. York, Mr. Rowland!"

Li Changhe politely greeted the two of them.

Schjok smiled and nodded: "What an excellent young man. I'd like to have a good chat with you sometime."

Roland, standing to the side, simply nodded gently without saying anything more.

The Kadoorie family and Li Changhe had actually been cooperating for a long time, but this was the first time that Laurence had met Li Changhe.

However, both men were smart enough not to reveal their secret relationship, especially at the Governor's House, so Lawrence did not show much enthusiasm.

"York, Roland, you can talk to Vic later. Now I need to take him to meet Lord Youde."

See you in the banquet hall later!

Shen Bi then interrupted their conversation, as this was not the time for chatting; they needed to take care of business first.

(End of this chapter)