Mixed in 1980

Chapter 328: Strong Counterattack
Is it worse than the supermarkets in Chinatown?
Chen Fan unconsciously frowned. Chinatown Supermarket had been developing smoothly in recent years, and had achieved a huge scale in Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan and South Korea.

In the last two years, it has entered the European and American markets and developed very rapidly. It has more than 30 large supermarkets in the UK and about the same in Italy.

Now that everything has been smashed and looted, the losses are considerable.

Zhou Wenya added that it might be even more serious than the Chinatown supermarket, and the problem is definitely not small.

"The British government has banned the sale of Flystar brand pagers and mobile phones in the UK, effective immediately, citing national security threats."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan was stunned!
Suddenly, this reason seemed familiar. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the same rhetoric used by Europe and the United States to deal with Huawei in later generations.

Is Feixing now enjoying the same treatment as Huawei?

Chen Fan suddenly felt it was surreal. Compared to Huawei in later generations, what was Feixing's size?
The phone is a new product released this year. It represents a leap from the bulky "brick phone" and has been miniaturized. It was released almost simultaneously with the Nokia 1011 and weighs around 200 grams.

They do have their own technology, but that's about it; they don't have any technological advantage compared to other brands of mobile phones.

But the British did something quite unexpected.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan asked, "Besides the supermarket and mobile phones, are there any other projects?"

Zhou Wenya immediately responded: "President Chen, these are the two main businesses we have in the UK."

"Wait for my call!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan frowned deeply. Xu Jinqiu walked over and asked, "What happened at the company? Why don't you go to Hong Kong?"

Chen Fan shook his head slightly and didn't hide anything, explaining the situation in general terms: "It's nothing more than losing some money, it's not a big deal."

Xu Jinqiu nodded and asked, "How do you plan to retaliate?"

"I'm thinking about it." Chen Fan raised the corners of his mouth. She knew him best. Losing money didn't matter, but he had to get revenge.

"Then take your time to figure it out."

Xu Jinqiu took out cigarettes and a lighter from the coffee table drawer and handed them to Chen Fan. Although her husband had successfully quit smoking, he still liked to smoke one or two cigarettes when he was thinking.

Chen Fan took the cigarette, walked to the door, sat on the threshold and smoked, carefully considering how to deal with the current situation.

Retaliation is definitely necessary.

We must deal with the current situation, and even retaliate, at least to avoid suffering any losses on the surface.

After finishing her cigarette, Xu Jinqiu called over Zeng Ali and Zhao Yuanyuan, and each of them brought a stool and sat down next to Chen Fan.

Zeng Ali suggested, "Why don't we go big? We've got the Kwai Tsing Wharf under our control, so let's just ban British goods from being unloaded there."

You're even more ruthless than me!

Chen Fan rolled his eyes and said irritably, "Doing this after 1997 was fine, but now that Hong Kong is still in British hands, it simply won't work."

Zeng Ali added, "Then let's start with the supermarket project and ban the import of British goods."

Chen Fan nodded slightly.

The rule that Hong Kong should prioritize imports from Britain was broken by Chen Fan as early as 1985. At that time, Chen Fan used real estate as leverage to force the British to submit.

Through negotiations, mainland authorities have prioritized imports from Hong Kong by adding "Mainland China" to the list.

But that's not enough. How many British goods are actually on supermarket shelves? A complete lockdown wouldn't have a significant impact on Britain.

After a moment's hesitation, Chen Fan went back inside and made a phone call.

"Wenya, write down a few things."

"First, we can't lose in terms of public opinion. We need to make this issue really heated and incite Hong Kong people's dissatisfaction with the British."

Zhou Wenya quickly agreed, then asked in surprise, "President Chen, aren't you coming to oversee things?"

"I believe you can do it!"

"..." Zhou Wenya really wanted to say, "I don't even believe it myself, this is no small matter."

Chen Fan continued, "The second thing is to sell all the supermarkets in England and Italy, and from now on, Chinatown supermarkets will be prohibited from importing their goods."

"Mr. Chen, this is such a pity. The supermarket team has put in a lot of effort to open up the markets in these two countries. Isn't this just letting someone else get away with it?"

"Make a decisive move when necessary. The longer you drag it out, the greater the loss will be. Just do as I say."

"Okay, Mr. Chen!"

Chen Fan nodded and continued, "The third thing is to quickly acquire a small to medium-sized bank and withdraw our funds from the British-owned bank."

Compared to the first two, the third will have a greater impact on the British people.

Whether it's Chen Fan personally, Xinghuo Investment, or other companies, they all control enormous amounts of funds.

Losing a huge amount of deposits will have a huge impact on the bank. If there are problems with the bank's internal finances, it may even lead to a bank run.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenya couldn't help but grin. With the loss of such a massive amount of deposits, the British-owned bank would not have an easy time for some time to come.

Some banks are bound to have problems.

Their money has already been loaned out, and they don't have enough cash. If handled well, they can quickly plunge a bank into a run on its banks.

This was exactly what Chen Fan wanted to see, and he specifically instructed: "The acquisition of the bank must be expedited. You have one month; it must be completed."

"Okay, Mr. Chen!"

"One last thing: inform Xinghuo Real Estate that all the land parcels are to be developed. Remember, do not publicize it to the outside world and keep a low profile."

"Mr. Chen, this kind of thing can't be kept secret."

“We weren’t told to keep it a secret, so we just won’t publicize it ourselves. If a reporter asks, we’ll say we’re only developing the property, not selling it, and make it seem like we’re going to speculate on real estate.”

After giving his instructions, Chen Fan hung up the phone, a slight smile playing on his lips, a cold glint in his eyes. Those British guys never learn; let's keep playing.

His three wives were standing nearby, and they all laughed when they saw him like this. Comrade Chen Fan was still the same as ever, never holding back his revenge.

While we were talking about this, Sun Shaojie came over again.

Having brought six and a half pounds with him, he sent his son off to play, then took out a cigarette and lit it: "Have you received the news from England yet?"

"You found out too?" Chen Fan asked curiously.

"Of course! Such a big thing, the embassy called back immediately. Those damn British, they're really scoundrels," Sun Shaojie said angrily.

Pagers and mobile phones are major contributors to foreign exchange earnings. The sudden loss of a market in one country will have a significant impact on the mainland's plans to earn foreign exchange.

"The embassy has lodged a protest with the British, and the Ministry of Commerce has also issued a diplomatic note, putting pressure on the British devils."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan shook his head slightly: "Protests and pressure must be done, and we cannot lose momentum, but the outcome will not change. Westerners all have robber logic."

Sun Shaojie couldn't help but sigh. The country is still poor, and there are many things we can't do. Others can ban things whenever they want, and there's really nothing we can do.

Chen Fan patted him on the shoulder: "Take it slow. One day, we'll make those British look down on us."

"There will come a day!"

Sun Shaojie smiled and said, "I brought Haoran's luggage with me. Please take him with you on this trip."

Chen Fan's face instantly darkened, and he complained, "What's the point of bringing six and a half pounds when our whole family goes on vacation? Bring it yourself."

Sun Shaojie chuckled: "That's your nephew. Take him to broaden his horizons. Besides, we'll be family sooner or later. Go now."

Before Chen Fan could get angry, she turned and ran.

Chen Fan gritted his teeth in anger. There was really nothing he could do when he encountered such a shameless person. The next day, he could only take Liu Jinban with him and set off for western Guangdong.

Guan Xiaoyu and Zhou Xu also came along, bringing their two children, as well as a camera and a video camera. However, they would only stay for six days, as Zhou Xu would have to return to work.

If there are many people, we'll use a private jet.

After spending a day in the capital of western Guangdong, Chen Fan and Xu Jinqiu went to Yangshuo with the foundation's people. They went out to conduct research, while their families stayed here to experience the world-renowned landscape.

"Old Chen, let's go fishing!"

Xu Changqing packed up his fishing gear, called up a few of his old partners, and headed straight for the fishing spot on the Li River. Looking at the scenery, he couldn't help but sigh, "Fishing here is a completely different experience."

Chen Musheng set up the fishing platform and opened the parasol: "The view is absolutely stunning. Just sitting here makes me feel so much better. It would be even better if I could catch a big fish."

Xu Changqing laughed and said, "I just asked the locals, and they said the red-tailed fish here is the most famous. Let's catch a few more today and make fish soup for the kids when we get home tonight."

Zeng Hongwen joked, "I'm just worried the kids won't like it. We've caught so many fish these past few years, they're already tired of it."

Zhao Dali agreed, "That's exactly right. Now when we catch fish and bring them home, the kids immediately turn their noses up, afraid that we'll end up having to drink fish soup again."

Xu Changqing shook his head: "Life is different now. Why did we go fishing back then? It was because we were worried that the children wouldn't have enough meat to eat and wouldn't get enough nutrition. Now meat isn't even a rare treat."

Zeng Hongwen pointed to the tourists not far away: "Can you compare them? Back then, it was hard enough for us to survive. Look at us now, there are so many people out having fun."

"If there's no development, wouldn't all our generation's efforts have been in vain?" Xu Changqing had already prepared the bait and started casting his line into the water.

The others also got busy. Before they knew it, a crowd had gathered around, curious about their equipment; many were seeing fishing like this for the first time.

When someone came over to ask, Xu Changqing said that he made it himself and that if they wanted to buy it, they could go to the capital to ask, as many fishing tackle shops there sell it.

I don't know if it's available in other places.

Time passed slowly, and when the sun began to set, the group stopped fishing, packed up their gear, and headed home with their catch.

Someone came up and asked if I was selling my catch.

Xu Changqing shook his head, keeping the red-tailed fish and giving away all the other fish, since no one would eat the common domestic fish he brought back.

Back at the hotel entrance, Chen Fan, Xu Jinqiu, and Guan Xiaoyu also returned.

Everyone was taken aback when they saw Xu Jinqiu. Xu Changqing asked with concern, "Qiu'er, what happened? Why is your face swollen?"

Chen Fan chuckled: "Dad, it's nothing, I just got stung by a wasp."

"Wasp sting?" Xu Changqing looked at his daughter.

Xu Jinqiu smiled awkwardly, then pulled at her swollen face and gasped in pain.

Xu Changqing then asked, "How did you provoke the wasps?"

Chen Fan laughed heartily and teased, "Dad, you don't know, Qiu'er is really something. She tricked a bunch of kids into poking a hornet's nest, and everyone else was fine, but she got stung herself."

Xu Jinqiu was furious and slapped her husband, saying indistinctly, "Those bad boys all jumped into the water, I didn't have time to jump in."

Xu Changqing laughed too. How could he not know his own daughter's personality?
She looks gentle and weak, but she's actually quite cunning.

Taking a bunch of kids to stir up a hornet's nest, what a ridiculous idea! She deserved to get stung: "You're a mother now, and you're still causing trouble like this."

"I didn't lose out either."

Xu Jinqiu chuckled, opened the trunk, and took out a huge hornet's nest, along with a basket of wild fruits, including myrtle, Japanese raisin tree, and black jujube.

Upon seeing this, Chen Fan's face darkened.

This woman lets loose as soon as she gets to the countryside. Even after being stung by wasps, she doesn't stop, managing to trick the children into bringing back the beehive and even stealing a basket of wild fruit.

The children were also very unlucky to run into them.

"We'll have the hotel staff remove the bee pupae and extract the oil residue later. Let's go back and eat some wild fruit first."

Carrying a basket, Teacher Xu, like a victorious female general, entered the hotel and called the children out to eat wild fruits, then boasted to them about today's achievements.

"Second Aunt, I'll go with you tomorrow."

Yan Xi's eyes lit up, and the other children also clamored to come along. Xu Jinqiu agreed with a smug look on her face, saying that she would take them to see something different tomorrow.

"Go ahead and cause trouble!"

Zeng Ali took a few myrtle berries and said while eating them, "If you dare to take the kids to stir up a hornet's nest tomorrow, see how I deal with you."

Xu Jinqiu mumbled, "Do you think hornet's nests are easy to find? You just happened to come across one. You can't usually get one even if you want to eat it."

Zeng Ali nodded and said, "That's true."

Xu Jinqiu added, "Tomorrow I'll take the children to dig for field mice and catch rice weevils."

Zeng Ali's lips twitched, and she reached out and slapped her sister: "Are you trying to kill me? You're always coming up with disgusting stuff. Don't corrupt the children."

Xu Jinqiu retorted, "Big sister, you've never been to the countryside, so don't comment if you don't understand."

"This time, I'm on Qiu'er's side."

Miss Zhao swallowed the myrtle: "Field mice taste very good. We often ate them when we went to the countryside. There are also rice weevils, which taste amazing. I'm going tomorrow too. I haven't eaten them for many years."

Xu Jinqiu nodded and said, "Then let's all go. We'll eat in the village tomorrow, buy some things to take there, and also buy some from the village so the children can experience rural life."

That's how it was settled.

The next day, everyone set off, except that Xu Jinqiu's appearance wasn't very good; the swelling in her mouth hadn't completely subsided, which added a lot of amusement.

At the same time, the information war in Hong Kong officially broke out.

Under the control of Spark Investment, media outlets not controlled by British capital launched a fierce attack on Britain, accusing the British of not following the rules.

Not to be outdone, British-controlled media quickly launched a counterattack, criticizing Flying Star for endangering British national security and claiming that the vandalism of Chinatown supermarkets was a spontaneous act by the public.

Amidst the mutual attacks in the media, Jiang Dawei, the rotating president of Chinatown Supermarket, held a press conference to officially announce that Chinatown Supermarket would no longer import British goods.

All existing British-style items have been removed from the shelves!

Another business battle has begun, leaving Hong Kong people speechless. Chen Fan and the British are truly natural enemies, always ready to clash.

But Chen Fan had the confidence to back it up.

On the land of Hong Kong, they completely disregarded the British and repeatedly extracted huge profits from them. Who would dare to underestimate them?

The British might suffer again.

Thinking about this, even the people of Hong Kong themselves felt strange. Why would they have such an idea that Chen Fan could defeat Britain?
Perhaps, this is due to their past achievements.

Xinghuo Investment has also been busy, with the acquisition of a bank already on the agenda. Yu Jing is mainly in charge of this, and they are open to both small and medium-sized banks, but the key is the bank's license.

During the acquisition process, Yu Jing discovered something particularly interesting, and couldn't help but smile as she shared her speculation with Zhou Wenya.

"Wenya, why don't you make a trip to the mainland and talk to President Chen? If we can join forces, we might be able to get a big piece of the pie."

"Okay, I'll go myself!"

Without hesitation, Zhou Wenya called the Xu Jinqiu Charity Foundation to inquire about Chen Fan's schedule and rushed to western Guangdong.

When Zhou Wenya saw Chen Fan, she was startled and her whole body turned dark.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Zhou Wenya got down to business: "When Mr. Yu was acquiring the bank, he discovered that Hang Seng Bank's reserves were insufficient."

Chen Fan frowned slightly: "Attack Hengsheng?"

Zhou Wenya organized her thoughts: "According to President Yu's idea, we can take advantage of the situation to attack Hang Seng, and perhaps we will have the opportunity to acquire Hang Seng."

"Hang Seng's major shareholder is HSBC, right? There are many shareholders behind it, including major European and American banks. It won't be easy to attack Hang Seng." Chen Fan shook his head slightly.

Zhou Wenya explained, "We definitely can't do it on our own. But if we can unite with the major families in Hong Kong and manipulate public opinion, we still have a chance."

Chen Fan pondered for a moment, "Should we join forces?"

It's not that it's impossible; if everyone unites, it's just a matter of dividing the profits. The real fear is that HSBC might inject a large amount of capital during an attack.

"Stay here for two days, then go back and conduct a detailed investigation. Produce me a feasibility report, and launch an attack if the opportunity arises."

Without data, Chen Fan dared not draw any conclusions.

"President Yu has already begun the investigation."

Yu Jing agreed and spent two days there before rushing back to Hong Kong. These were turbulent times, and she had to take charge of many things, so she couldn't stay away for too long.

The data that Chen Fan needs also needs to be obtained as soon as possible.

Chen Fan wasn't in a hurry. He then led several families to visit many places in western Guangdong, while he followed Xu Jinqiu around.

The children also enjoy following along.

After arriving in the countryside, the children were like they had discovered a new continent. They had all kinds of food and toys that they had never seen before, and they all played wildly.

Liu Jinban tugged at Chen Fan: "Uncle Chen, when I get out next year, will I still be able to come?"

Chen Fan gritted his teeth inwardly: "You have to study!"

Liu Jinban added, "I always get first place in every exam, so it won't affect my ability to play."

Chen Fan gritted his teeth: "Let's talk about it next year."

After sending the little guy away, Chen Fan really wanted to go back to Beijing and beat Sun Shaojie to a pulp.

More than twenty days later, the trip finally came to an end.

The children were reluctant to go home, and the adults were exhausted. Even though the schedule was very limited, the long hours still made it difficult to go home.

Back home, everyone rushed to take a shower, and after showering, they lay down on the bed, not intending to get up until they had slept enough.

The next day, Zhou Wenya came over again.

Yu Jing followed, taking out a thick stack of documents from her bag: "President Chen, this is the data we compiled, and we found that there are huge loopholes in it."

PS: First update of 5 words is here. There will be another update later~ Thanks for your support!

(End of this chapter)