Mixed in 1980

Chapter 401 Li Hongying's Teachings
"Go to Hong Kong?" Mr. Ye was slightly taken aback.

Chen Fan nodded slightly: "We have many partners in Hong Kong. Yan Jin and Wanwan will have to take over sooner or later. There's a project here, so let them show their faces first."

Mr. Ye was surprised. His daughter hadn't even married into the family yet, and the other party had already arranged for her to take over the family business. It was clear that the Chen family adored their daughter.

What's even more difficult is that the Chen family will consult his opinion.

That's respect!
The other party did not consider themselves superior just because they were rich; they were seeking my opinion entirely from the perspective of my in-laws.

After a moment's thought, Ye's father said, "Let the young man decide for himself," then picked up his wine glass and clinked glasses with Chen Fan.

After a satisfying meal, Ye's parents moved to Ya'er Hutong as arranged by Chen Yanjin, and the two families began to interact more.

However, due to family matters, Ye's father and mother only stayed for two days before returning to Minxia.

"Sister-in-law, do you want to come along?" Chen Yanjin asked Ye Wan to go get the travel permit.

Ye Ling quickly shook her head: "You're going to meet your business partners, what would I do with you? You guys go ahead with your work, I'm going to go play with your fourth son."

Time flies, and May Day is just around the corner.

Chen Yanjin took Ye Wan by plane and flew directly from Beijing to Hong Kong. As soon as they came out of the airport, they saw Li Hongying and her bodyguards waiting outside.

"Aunt Ying, what brings you here?" Chen Yanjin pulled Ye Wan along and quickly went to greet her.

Li Hongying patted the young man on the shoulder: "I was the one who picked up your parents when they first came to Hong Kong. Now that you're coming with your wife, I have to come and pick them up too."

As she spoke, she looked at Ye Wan and said, "You must be Wanwan, right? You're really pretty and have a great presence."

Ye Wan blushed slightly: "Hello, Aunt Ying."

Li Hongying took Ye Wan's arm and walked out, saying, "Don't be shy at Aunt Ying's place. Stay at Aunt Ying's house tonight, and go back to your own home tomorrow."

The car soon entered the shallow water bay.

It's the same house as before, just renovated to better suit modern aesthetics.

After instructing the servants to take her luggage to the guest room, Li Hongying began to make tea: "Did your father call me because he's planning to let you take over the family business?"

Chen Yanjin shook his head slightly: "It won't be that fast. I can't do it if I don't adapt in a few years."

"Be more humble than your father, but that's not good. As Chen Fan's son, you have to be domineering to keep people in line. You have to make people fear you first, not respect you."

Li Hongying served the tea and then said, "Back then, your father, your Uncle Gu, and I went together to acquire a television production line. Do you know how your father did it?"

Chen Yanjin shook his head slightly, indicating that he had never heard of this.

Li Hongying smiled slightly: "Back then, your father had some money, but it wasn't much in Hong Kong. The first time he went to make an acquisition, he ran into a competitor."

"It was a senior account manager from HSBC, accompanied by two British people. At the time, the HSBC account manager said, 'Have your father withdraw from the acquisition for HSBC's sake.'"

“Back then, HSBC was incredibly powerful, backed by the British. In Hong Kong, everyone would give them face, more or less. Your father had only just started making his fortune.”

"But your dad is no pushover. He immediately called his bodyguards in, dragged out the HSBC key account manager, beat him for ten minutes, and brought him back in like a dead dog."

"The old man is so fierce?" Chen Yanjin asked in surprise.

I knew my father had a bad reputation in Hong Kong, that he was a ruthless man and a powerful figure from out of town, but I had never heard of the old man resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement.

Ye Wan's expression was also somewhat strange.

After my first visit to the Chen family, I went there every weekend and had a lot of contact with my future father-in-law. I always felt that he was very kind and respectful of the ideas of young people.

"Otherwise what? Throughout the 80s and 90s, your father was known as half the King of Hong Kong. No one in Hong Kong was not afraid of him and was afraid of being killed by him."

Chen Yanjin awkwardly touched his nose.

Ye Wan's expression became even stranger. Half of the King of Hong Kong, what does that mean?
Noticing her expression, Li Hongying teased, "Wanwan doesn't know? You're really something, Wanwan probably doesn't understand the family situation, does she?"

Ye Wan nodded: "Aunt Ying, can you tell me about it? Chen Yanjin only says half of what he means, and it's always a bit ambiguous."

Chen Yanjin explained, "I was afraid of scaring you."

"Get out of here, you've been a sly devil since you were little."

Li Hongying rolled her eyes at her nephew and gestured for Ye Wan to sit down next to her: "Your father-in-law started out in finance. He had money at the time, but no real foundation."

"Without a foundation, there is no right to speak."

“In 1984, your father-in-law was planning to get into real estate. When he participated in a land auction, he ran into Liu Jianxiong. Liu was very arrogant at the time and tried to flirt with your stepmother.”

"A conflict broke out at that time, and then we encountered robbers that day. Afterwards, Liu Jianxiong mocked your father-in-law in an interview, and the two families officially became enemies."

“Your father-in-law is a man who always seeks revenge and never swallows his anger. He immediately took out 1 million US dollars and declared that the money was to target Liu Jianxiong.” “No matter which piece of land Liu Jianxiong’s company wanted to get its eye on or what project it wanted to undertake, he would target it to the end. Then he bought up Liu Jianxiong’s company’s stock and sold it off.”

"Anyway, after all that, Liu Jianxiong was almost bankrupted. He had no choice but to publish a public apology in the newspaper before the matter was considered closed."

After hearing this, Ye Wan's mouth dropped open.

Is this what my future father-in-law does? Domineering, ruthless, and reckless—this is a completely different person from the one I've met before.

Li Hongying patted Ye Wan's hand: "After this battle, your father-in-law has finally gained a foothold in Hong Kong and let others know that he is not to be trifled with."

“At the time, we advised him to make money through harmony. He said that you have to make people afraid first. Only when others are afraid of you can you talk about making money through harmony.”

You know Li Ka-shing, right?

Seeing Ye Wan nod, Li Hongying continued, "Back then, when your father-in-law wanted to acquire Kwai Chung Port, Li Ka-shing also had his eye on Kwai Chung Port. The two were competitors."

"Just like dealing with Liu Jianxiong, we targeted Li Ka-shing at land auctions. At that time, Li Ka-shing was still acquiring Wheelock and Wharf Holdings. Your father-in-law then said that he would bid higher to buy them, forcing Li Ka-shing to give up Kwai Chung Port."

"This is the power he gained after dealing with Liu Jianxiong. It lets everyone in the Hong Kong business circle know that if you dare to offend him, he will do whatever it takes to destroy you."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wan blinked.

Li Ka-shing was also targeted by his future father-in-law and had to back down? It seems that Chen Jiayuan is not as simple as he appears.

Thinking about this, I couldn't help but pinch my boyfriend; he always keeps everything hidden.

Li Hongying patted the back of her hand and continued, "What truly made your father-in-law famous was the acquisition of Kwai Chung Port."

"In the 1980s, Hong Kong was still under British rule."

“Ports are important strategic resources, and the British will only hand over ports to pro-British forces. So they suggested that your father-in-law invest in Britain or become a British citizen.”

"It clearly crossed your father-in-law's bottom line."

“He was only twenty-two years old at the time, young and impetuous. He pointed at the head of the Marine Department and yelled: ‘I’m going to take Kwai Chung Port. Even the Queen of England can’t stop me.’ I said it.”

“At that time, Hong Kong was still under British rule, and the Queen of England still had many supporters in Hong Kong. Once he said this, it was reported by the media, and everyone knew that he had no chance.”

“But he still managed to take over Kwai Chung Harbour. Do you know why?” Li Hongying smiled slightly.

Seeing Ye Wan shake her head, Li Hongying continued, "After that, your father-in-law started frantically acquiring land, once buying 61 plots of land and 9800 houses."

"By 1985, the British wanted to speculate on real estate and drive up housing prices so they could sell land and houses and bleed money from Hong Kong. This was precisely the weakness of the British."

“Your father-in-law was very accurate in his calculations. He decisively introduced China Construction to invest in Xinghuo Real Estate, brought in the state as a backer, and started to restrict the sale of houses, vowing not to let house prices rise within five years.”

"In this way, the British plan to exploit Hong Kong will be thwarted, leaving them with no choice but to negotiate with your father-in-law."

"In the end, he made an outrageous demand, not only taking over Kwai Chung Port, but also the telecommunications company, the power company, and the gas company."

"From then on, he became the largest land supplier in Hong Kong, monopolized the port, telecommunications and electricity businesses, controlled a large portion of the shares of the gas company, and also controlled the largest financial company in Hong Kong. Therefore, he was called half the King of Hong Kong."

"Later, he also established Chinatown Supermarket and acquired Hang Seng, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank. He basically monopolized all the major businesses in Hong Kong."

Ye Wan scratched her head, her head buzzing.

Finance, banking, land, telecommunications, electricity, gas, ports, retail... What an amazing family! No wonder they're called half of the King of Hong Kong.

The key point is that I jumped right in.

Totally unprepared.

Li Hongying put her arm around the little girl and gently patted her shoulder: "Wanwan, do you know why I'm telling you all this?"

Ye Wan looked completely bewildered.

Li Hongying smiled slightly and explained, "Yan Jin is going to take over the family business, and you will be the head of the Chen family this generation. In Hong Kong, your status will be extraordinary."

"In this place, you don't need to worry about anyone's feelings, and no one has the right to give you feelings. You are the one who gives others feelings."

"You must be assertive here."

"No matter the occasion, if you meet someone you're close to, you can greet them with a smile. If you meet someone you don't know well, just nod. You can even pretend you didn't see them."

"If we act too kindly, others will only think that the Chen family has changed this generation and is no longer powerful, which may lead to bad thoughts."

"You can learn from your aunt when we get back to the capital."

“Your aunt is very assertive in Hong Kong and rarely gives people a friendly look outside.”

(End of this chapter)