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

Chapter 722 The Car Problem!

Time flies, and it was soon December 1982.

The stock market has fallen further recently, with the Hang Seng Index plunging 60 percent to 670 points.

Dragged down by the stock market, real estate prices plummeted and collapsed.

Li Changhe had anticipated this situation and had already discussed it with Lin Yuan, so that the higher-ups could be prepared.

At this moment, Li Changhe arrived at the villa of his classmate Xiao Guan in Kadoorie Hill.

"What, not going back to your Deep Water Bay tonight? Got kicked out?"

Seeing Li Changhe walk in, Guan Zhilin said with a hint of resentment.

"She went back to the mainland, so I came over here."

Gong Xue had been in Hong Kong for two or three months, and with New Year's Day approaching, Li Changhe let her go back.

Let her return to the mainland more often in the future, so that it will be convenient for Li Changhe to return to the mainland to "visit relatives".

"Why, do you feel wronged?"

"How could I dare? She's the legal wife!"

Rosamund Kwan said sourly.

She hadn't thought much of it before, but after Gong Xue left and Li Changhe stopped coming here often, she suddenly felt a little lost.

People are afraid of comparisons.

When there was no comparison, even though she knew she couldn't enter the Bao family's gate, she didn't feel anything because Bao Dashao was all alone at the time.

Now that he has a legal wife, Li Changhe spends even less time with her, which is why Guan Zhilin feels a sense of loss.

"People always have gains and losses. Nothing in this world is perfect. You only see her glory, but you don't see her pressure."

"On the other hand, even if you were put in that position, you might not be able to withstand her pressure."

"Being the legal wife of a wealthy family is not easy. She is able to sit on her throne because she is a native of Shanghai, and the entire Bao family, from top to bottom, approves of her. This is fate, and no one can change it."

Li Changhe smiled and said to Guan Zhilin, which could be considered an implicit warning.

"Alright, I'll be your concubine then, sir. Shall I help you change your clothes?"

Rosamund Kwan pouted, looking utterly dejected.

However, she also knew that what Young Master Bao said made sense. If it were her, she wouldn't have the confidence to make the entire Bao family like her.

There's nothing we can do; after all, old Shanghai is the white moonlight in the hearts of Hong Kong people.

The immense popularity of "Shanghai Bund" is enough to prove Shanghai's status in the hearts of Hong Kong people.

"No rush, let me look at something first!"

At this moment, Li Changhe casually took out a document that Shen Bi had given him from his briefcase.

I don't know how things were discussed internally at Downing Street, but anyway, the documents were only given to him in the last few days.

The above is some information about the car brands he is allowed to purchase.

Li Changhe hadn't finished reading it after he got it back, so he decided to continue reading it today.

The British provided a lot of information about cars, but it was mostly junk; there were no high-quality cars like Rolls-Royce or Bentley.

Even best-selling models like Land Rover and Mini are not included.

The only thing Li Changhe vaguely remembered was MG!

Other models like the Morris and Triumph are not selling very well these days.

The people Li Changhe sent investigated and found that these were brands that were almost abandoned by Leyland Motors; they were just using them to get rid of him.

Even so, Li Changhe had no choice but to patiently and seriously study the matter.

There's nothing he can do; he currently owns nothing of this kind of industrial capital.

"What are you looking at?"

Seeing Li Changhe sitting on the sofa reading documents, Guan Zhilin leaned over and hugged his neck from behind, asking curiously.

The dense English text on the page was like gibberish to her, but she did recognize some of the car illustrations.

Information on some British car brands.

"I plan to acquire a car brand from the UK."

Li Changhe casually said to Xiao Guan.

"Oh, well then, I'm going to take a shower now."

She had originally wanted to ask Li Changhe to shower with her, but seeing how serious he was, she decided it was best not to disturb him at this point.

"Go!"

Li Changhe casually said something to Guan Zhilin, then continued looking at the documents, before falling into deep thought.

Although his involvement in the automotive industry was primarily for the sake of the domestic industrial system, this industry is indeed not easy to enter.

Although the domestic market is vast, to be honest, it won't really take off until at least two thousand years from now. Two thousand years ago, cars were an absolute luxury.

Most importantly, two thousand years ago, it was very difficult for car companies to make a profit by relying on the mainland market, a fact that Li Changhe was well aware of.

So, two thousand years ago, Li Changhe had to find a suitable sales region for the car company.

After all, the automotive industry is a capital-intensive industry. Once it starts operating, it is difficult to stop production. If the models do not sell well and cannot generate profits, the annual losses will be a huge number.

Actually, Li Changhe initially had his eye on Land Rover, but he was aiming for the Middle Eastern market.

Firstly, he has a good relationship with the Saudi prince in the Middle East, especially after the new king ascended the throne, and the two sides have had a good working relationship, which is conducive to his expansion into the Middle Eastern market.

After all, he knew that the Land Cruiser in Japan became popular because it sold like hotcakes in the Middle East.

Secondly, Land Rover off-road vehicles are expensive and have high profit margins, making them suitable not only for the Middle East but also for sparsely populated areas like the United States.

Unfortunately, he could see it, and the British weren't stupid either.

The Range Rover series is now one of the few off-road vehicle series that can make money for them, and they've added the gimmick of being a royal vehicle, so Leyland doesn't sell it at all.

"car."

Li Changhe looked at these brands and began to ponder them.

The current market for sedans is very limited for him. In Europe and America, there are their own brands, such as General Motors and Cadillac in the United States, as well as various brands in Europe, and Japanese brands. There are all kinds of cars available.

The same is true in Europe.

In Asia, Japanese cars currently dominate the region and sell well in various countries, while Korean cars have yet to rise to prominence, although Hyundai is already considered a leader in the Korean automotive market.

Most importantly, both Japan and South Korea have very strong protectionism, making it very difficult for foreign vehicles to enter the country.

"Or, should we only target the mainland market?"

Li Changhe thought of this idea, but then shook his head.

Based on his understanding of the future, cooperation among car companies in mainland China will definitely be joint ventures; it's impossible for them to allow sole proprietorship or a majority stake.

As for joint ventures, if they rely solely on the mainland market, it wouldn't really be very meaningful for him.

Li Changhe casually put down the documents and rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on.

This thing is really a huge project.

Forget it, let's wait until Ella and her team finish their research before we talk about it. Anyway, he can't reach an agreement with Downing Street in the short term.

After all, Downing Street has only agreed to sell, but how to buy from Leyland, what to buy, and at what price still need to be negotiated.

After putting the documents back into his bag, Li Changhe got up, ready to relax.

After all, Xiao Guan had already taken a bath, so why should he waste his spring time?

After a passionate encounter, Li Changhe sat back on the headboard, feeling refreshed.

"By the way, how's the film company doing lately?"

At this moment, Li Changhe casually asked Guan Zhilin a question.

He didn't pay much attention to the film companies, since their output was too small. Besides, both Wang Jing and Shi Nansheng were quite capable, a fact proven by history, so Li Changhe didn't need to focus on them.

"Things have been pretty good lately. The company has added a lot of people and a few new directors have joined. Although the box office hasn't been a huge hit, we're not losing money either."

"By the way, for the Spring Festival, we're preparing to release a film in collaboration with Golden Harvest, starring Jackie Chan, which is the 'Police Story' series you mentioned before."

At this moment, Rosamund Kwan was too weak to speak to Li Changhe.

Has filming for "Police Story" started?

Li Changhe was somewhat surprised when he heard this, but then he thought that since "God of Gamblers" had been released ahead of schedule, it was normal for "Police Story" to start filming.

Last time, Li Changhe helped Jackie Chan resolve the troubles of New Journalism and then reached an agreement with Golden Harvest. The two parties would jointly promote Jackie Chan overseas. In return, Jackie Chan would no longer be an exclusive actor for Golden Harvest and would also collaborate with Planet Films.

"Police Story" is probably the first film that Planet Pictures collaborated on with Golden Harvest.

"Who directed this movie? Wong Jing?"

Li Changhe continued to ask curiously.

"No, it was co-directed by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Golden Harvest listed Jackie Chan as the director, so we simply had Sammo Hung go and work with him. The two are fellow students and have a good understanding of each other. Moreover, Sammo Hung can keep Jackie Chan in check."

Did you participate in the film?

"Yes, I did act in it. It's the same old role, a mysterious Chinese heiress from Europe and America, but I don't have many scenes."

"Wang Jing meant that the first film was just to introduce the Hong Kong Police series, and there would be plot connections later on."

"I'm free tomorrow night, I'll go with you to take a look!"

"It's been a long time since I've seen a movie."

Li Changhe really wanted to see it, since the current "Police Story" was definitely different from the original historical "Police Story" in his memory.

The same applies to the "God of Gamblers" series; the plot has been altered.

He's had nothing to do these past few days, so he's actually planning to go take a look.

"Really? We're going to the movies tomorrow night?"

When Rosamund Kwan heard that Li Changhe was going to watch a movie with her, she became interested and looked up at Li Changhe with surprise.

"Yeah, I'll go tomorrow night if I'm free."

"I will try my best to schedule my time."

"Darling, you're so good!"

The little girl was easily satisfied. She was overjoyed to hear that Li Changhe was going to take her to the movies, so she knelt down again on her own initiative.

The next day, Li Changhe arrived at the company in high spirits.

"Boss, Mr. Lee Chiu-kei from Henderson Land Development just called and wants to arrange a meeting with you."

"Let's schedule it for the afternoon!"

Li Changhe casually gave Ella the instructions.

He was actually quite curious as to why Lee So-gi wanted to see him at this time.

Logically speaking, shouldn't he be busy acquiring real estate right now?

Soon, in the afternoon, Li Zhaoji arrived at Bao Zeyang's office as promised.

"Fourth Uncle, what brings you here amidst your busy schedule?"

After inviting Li Zhaoji to sit down, Li Changhe smiled and asked Li Zhaoji.

"What are you so busy with? Everyone knows Hong Kong Island is the busiest place these days!"

Li Zhaoji smiled and said to Li Changhe.

What a terrible future!
He originally thought that Li Changhe's decision to give up the real estate in Central, Hong Kong Island, was a way of leaving them a lucrative opportunity.

But little did anyone know, Li Changhe still managed to devour the biggest piece of meat.

It's not that Li Changhe is competing with them, but rather that many people on Hong Kong Island are only willing to sell their houses to Li Changhe, or rather, to the company that Li Changhe has prepared.

The reason is simple: the other party wrote a US dollar check!

Nowadays, everyone in Hong Kong knows that the US dollar is valuable!

The Hong Kong dollar exchange rate has been declining. Ten thousand US dollars is worth seven hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars today, but it may be worth seven hundred and fifty thousand Hong Kong dollars tomorrow.

Most importantly, you can spend US dollars abroad.

For Hong Kong residents who are clearing out their assets in preparation for emigration, the allure of the US dollar is far greater than that of the Hong Kong dollar.

After all, they sold Hong Kong dollars, which they would then convert into US dollars.

However, due to the sharp drop in the exchange rate, there are too many people exchanging US dollars in Hong Kong, and many banks have closed their US dollar exchange channels.

To put it bluntly, there are no more US dollars.

As for the remaining banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered, it's not like you can exchange your money immediately upon arrival; you have to queue and wait.

And while we wait, the Hong Kong dollar might depreciate again.

Therefore, once they learned that the secondhand housing company under the Bao family could directly issue dollar checks, these homeowners were willing to sell even if the price offered was lower and the exchange rate was even lower than the current rate, since the dollars they received were the real assets.

Even if they explicitly state that they don't accept many types of apartments, these homeowners will still go to great lengths to use their connections to get them to accept them.

What Li Zhaoji and his group have received are basically the leftovers, the ones that Li Changhe's companies don't want at all.

However, Li Zhaoji and the others couldn't accuse Li Changhe of breaking his promise.

They all understood the reason: the terrible things HSBC had done.

"Fourth Uncle, I have no choice. HSBC has to supervise the funds. I have so much money, but they won't let me touch it. They only allow real estate investment. I can only write dollar checks."

Li Changhe said, feigning helplessness.

Li Zhaoji sighed: "Alright, Ayang, I know your difficulties. Nobody expected this. I didn't come here for real estate."

They didn't expect the exchange rate to plummet; their Hong Kong dollars were far less attractive than the US dollar.

"So, Fourth Uncle, what are you doing today?"

"Ah Yang, I came to see you because of something. Is someone on your side acquiring shares in Hong Kong and China Gas?"

Li Zhaoji asked Li Changhe seriously.

After listening, Li Changhe feigned surprise and asked, "China Gas? I really don't know about that."

"Well, to be honest, I was a shareholder of Hong Kong and China Gas before. With the recent stock market downturn, I originally planned to take the opportunity to acquire some more shares of Hong Kong and China Gas."

"But recently, my people have told me that someone is also acquiring shares of Hong Kong and China Gas. I suspect it might be one of your friends who invest in the stock market?"

"If that's the case, could you help me ask around and we can discuss which shares I should acquire?"

"Can I just consider it a favor that your fourth uncle owes you?"

Lee So-ki said earnestly.

After listening, Li Changhe said softly, "Okay, Fourth Uncle, let me find out from them first. If it really was my friends who did it, I'll ask them for you."

"Of course, there is another possibility: it could have been acquired by my subordinates."

Li Changhe said with a wry smile.

Now that Li Zhaoji has come knocking on his door, Li Changhe feels he can finally confront him directly.

He definitely wants a piece of the pie with China Gas.

"Your subordinates acquired it?"

"I can only say it's possible, because I remember that Hong Kong Electric has a stake in Hong Kong and China Gas, doesn't it?"

Li Changhe then pretended to be thinking and said.

Then he began to explain to Lee So-gi.

(End of this chapter)