Mixed in 1980

Chapter 354 Aiming at HSBC and Standard Chartered
"That's pretty impressive. After ten years, all you've got is a messenger job," Chen Fan teased.

Xin Yingjie rolled his eyes: "Ten years after graduation, your mouth is still as sharp as ever. You can pass on messages to higher-ups; most people don't even have that opportunity."

Let's talk in the living room!

Chen Fan led his people to the living room, while Zeng Ali took Qi Yue's arm and led her to the east courtyard. They had both previously worked as assistants in student clubs at Peking University and were quite familiar with each other.

After brewing tea and lighting a cigarette, Xin Yingjie coughed lightly and said, "We are also monitoring the direction of British investment. The Ministry of Commerce wants to teach Britain a lesson."

"The main goal is to get your side to exert its efforts and see if there is an opportunity to take over HSBC and Standard Chartered's businesses in Hong Kong and separate HSBC Hong Kong and Standard Chartered Hong Kong."

"Ultimate control over the issuance of the Hong Kong dollar!"

"Make it clear, is it the higher-ups who want to acquire it, or am I the one who wants to acquire it?" Chen Fan frowned. They had discussed this in Hong Kong before, and this matter was not easy.

Favorable timing, geographical location, and harmonious relationships are indispensable.

Xin Yingjie emphasized, "You will handle the acquisition!"

Chen Fan took a deep drag on his cigarette, his brow furrowed, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "Acquiring the entire territory is very difficult, but if we only acquire the Hong Kong portion, there is still a certain chance."

"There are many things to do, so I can't give you an answer right now. Let's talk about it after the New Year. I need to analyze whether we can set up a scheme."

"There's another condition."

“I have no problem acquiring it. We’ll settle the US dollars spent with our own money.”

Upon hearing this, Xin Yingjie was slightly taken aback.

What kind of operation is this? These days, the US dollar is the universal currency. Reverse operations do happen, but they are rare, especially on such a large scale.

"Dude, I have more US dollars than I can spend. What if the dollar collapses one day? Wouldn't I lose a lot of money? Holding multiple currencies is called hedging, you know?"

Xin Yingjie gave a thumbs up without hesitation!

Others would go to exchange for US dollars to avoid danger, but you're doing something else entirely. It's quite bizarre, but he believed that Chen Fan wouldn't make baseless accusations.

The US dollar might really not be able to withstand the pressure in the future.

Chen Fan didn't explain. Who could say what would happen decades later? Before he died of illness in his previous life, he didn't see the US dollar collapse; there were only signs.

Regardless of the outcome, diversifying your currency holdings is always beneficial for hedging against risk.

It's not just about currency; there are other assets as well: gold, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jade, jewelry, land, real estate... Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Of course, you may also encounter "pig butchering scams".

They're currently at low prices, making them a good time to buy. But once prices rise to high levels, they'll become a "harvesting" scheme, just like any other investment product.

Price fluctuations are controlled by large capital.

After having a meal with Xin Yingjie and his wife, Chen Fan returned to his courtyard, took out paper and pen, and started writing and drawing, pondering how to make the pit in Hong Kong bigger.

Let HSBC and Standard Chartered suffer an even more severe setback.

"I have a headache!"

Xu Jinqiu walked in, stood behind him, glanced at the paper, and gently massaged his shoulders: "Xin Yingjie came to our house today for this?"

Chen Fan nodded and said, "It will be quite difficult to implement the ideas from above, but it's still quite interesting to be able to trick the British."

Xu Jinqiu was speechless!
The feud between our family and the British is already too long to count, so we should seize any opportunity to ruthlessly exploit them: "There are several other powerful families in Hong Kong, we can unite with them."

"Either we have no relationship, or we don't trust them, or there's a conflict of interest, so forget it. If I end up with a useless teammate, I might as well go it alone." Chen Fan shook his head slightly.

After thinking for a while, he said, "No rush. The curtain has just been raised, and British capital has only just begun to enter the market on a large scale. There is still time."

At this point, Chen Fan picked up the phone and called Zhou Wenya: "Wenya, starting tomorrow, list the company's more than 9800 second-hand houses for sale."

"List in batches and control prices carefully!"

"Prices can't rise too sharply; they must rise slowly. If new home prices are too high, they need to be brought down."

“Okay, Mr. Chen!” Zhou Wenya replied.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan rubbed his temples: "Starting tomorrow, the battle with the British capital will officially begin and will last for about two and a half years."

Xu Jinqiu nodded and said, "Aren't you going to Hong Kong to oversee things?"

"No need. If I go, it will only make the British nervous. Let's talk about it after the New Year."

He put his arm around his wife's slender waist and inhaled her delicate fragrance: "Teacher Xu, how about we arrange something special for tonight?"

Xu Jinqiu smiled, her pretty face slightly flushed: "Comrade Chen Fan, you're over thirty, not a young man anymore, and you still have such a lewd mind."

"My wife is too tempting, I can't help it." Chen Fan raised an eyebrow slightly and lightly touched her lips: "Hong Kong sent some fashions a few days ago, and there was a nice business suit among them."

Xu Jinqiu bit her lip: "And black stockings?"

Chen Fan nodded and said, "My wife has such long legs, and when she wears black stockings, the visual effect is amazing."

With a wink, Xu Jinqiu turned to change her clothes. That's just how scoundrels are; they sometimes come up with strange ideas.

……

Snow began to fall again in Beijing, and a cold wind swept through Hong Kong. However, the property market saw a recovery, with prices slowly returning to 93 levels and continuing to rise.

The British are very dissatisfied.

The results were clearly not as expected. Just as new homes were about to raise prices, a bunch of second-hand homes immediately came out on the market, with prices significantly lower than those of new homes.

The key to real estate speculation is speculation itself. If the price of second-hand homes doesn't rise, the real estate market won't rise. The only way is to buy up properties and encourage other speculators to do the same.

"Should we start?"

Li Zhaoji tapped the table lightly. The price wasn't high yet, just over HK$6000 per square foot. He hadn't expected Chen Fan to have already taken action.

It's clear that Chen Fan has a lot on his mind!
The government suppressed prices as soon as the housing market showed signs of improvement, clearly indicating that it did not want the housing market to skyrocket and that it had planned to allow housing prices to rise slowly from the very beginning.

The same problem fell on him.

Should they join now, or wait until later? Chen Fan never specified a timeframe for their entry into the game; the latest they could do so was 96.

By 96, the price will be much higher.

But by the end of 96, everyone had to unite to suppress the housing market; this was something everyone had to abide by.

The benefits of harvesting the Mexican valley have already been taken!

If he betrays her, given Chen Fan's personality, it will be a fight to the death, and the mainland authorities will be strongly dissatisfied. She will definitely not have a good time after 1997.

"Chen Fan is righteous, and I can't be stingy with him!"

After a moment's hesitation, Li Zhaoji picked up the phone and asked the company to arrange for the sale of 300 secondhand homes to test the waters and stabilize prices.

We'll follow the pace of Spark Investment from now on.

Xinghuo Investment did not immediately start selling off all its units; this time, it only released 2000 units, and Xinghuo Real Estate's new housing projects have not yet started.

After hanging up the phone and taking a drag on a cigarette, the phone rang again. It was Zhou Wenya from Xinghuo Investment calling to express her gratitude for his support.

"Assistant Zhou, you're too kind. Please pass on a message to Mr. Chen for me: I will follow up on this operation from start to finish and work together to suppress foreign investment."

Li Zhaoji breathed a sigh of relief after hanging up the phone.

Since a decision has been made, it must be carried out without hesitation. Chen Fan is a stingy person, yet also very generous. I believe he will be rewarded in the future.

Before I could even sit down, the phone rang again, and Old Huo's voice came through the receiver: "Comrade Li, are you starting to follow up?"

"Why are you using Chen Fan's form of address too?"

Li Zhaoji was both amused and exasperated, and shook his head: "I plan to follow the whole process. If the real estate market crashed in 1997, following it now would actually be the most advantageous thing to do."

"You trust Chen Fan so much?" Old Huo asked in surprise.

Li Zhaoji raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "Comrade Huo, don't you believe me? If you didn't believe me, you wouldn't have made this call."

"Haha...Let's have tea sometime."

After hanging up the phone, Lao Huo made another call and ordered the sale of 100 second-hand houses. Although he owned quite a few houses, he didn't own as many as Li Zhaoji.

"I hope that in 1997, the market will really collapse!"

Just like Li Zhaoji said, the crash in 1997 made it the right time to follow suit. Don't be fooled by the relatively low prices; the key is to get out now.

When prices rise to 1996 or 1997, it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to escape the fray.

Just like in 1981 and 1982, prices soared to their peak, but transaction volume was extremely low, and the real estate market was completely locked up by an invisible shackle.

Money in your hands is real money; a house that hasn't been converted into cash is just a number on paper.

Not only the two of them, but also Li Hongying, Liu Jianxiong, Hua Sanshao, as well as Zhao Chuanwang and Dong Chuanwang are following up. Everyone understands the reasoning and believes in Chen Fan.

"Fuck... how come there are so many second-hand houses? Spark Investment is dumping second-hand houses, what are they thinking?"

Shen Bi was also frustrated. HSBC had fully supported the real estate speculation and had even provided a portion of the funds. The sudden influx of secondhand homes had clearly disrupted their previous plans.

PS: Second update!
(End of this chapter)