Mixed in 1980

Chapter 414 Establishing Prestige
TVB financial news anchor Chan Wai-yee was somewhat surprised when she received the invitation from the Chan family from the station director, as the last time the Chan family held a banquet was more than a decade ago.

After 1998, the Chen family seemed to have disappeared.

Unfortunately, the Chen family's influence is ubiquitous, affecting every aspect of Hong Kong. As a financial program host, I dream of interviewing Chen Fan.

After changing into her formal attire and calling for a photographer, Chen Huiyi set off early with the station director.

The cocktail party was held at the Repulse Bay Hotel.

Chan Wai-yee arrived very early, and there weren't many people present yet. They were all wealthy businessmen from Hong Kong, but compared to the real elite families, their status was still too low.

The less famous you are, the earlier you should arrive!

Chen Huiyi had heard a story that when the Chen family held a party in 1992, the British were very arrogant and deliberately arrived half an hour late, trying to give Chen Fan a hard time.

As a result, the British were utterly defeated by Chen Fan. After a financial battle, the British were forced to sell Hang Seng Bank for HK$1.

Chen Huiyi called the photographer and found a corner to rest. Not long after, another group of people arrived, including senior executives from Xinghuo, Xingguang, and Xingmang, as well as executives from their subsidiaries.

"Start the interview!" Chen Huiyi stepped forward decisively.

Don't assume they are just ordinary workers; each of them controls a giant corporation and has access to information far beyond what most people can imagine.

Soon, Zhou Wenya arrived as well.

Greeting guests at the entrance, Chen Huiyi decisively went up to interview them. Chen Fan's head butler had more resources at his disposal than any other tycoon in Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, Zhou Wenya kept her mouth shut and dismissed her with just a few words.

Soon, Chen Fan and his family arrived.

There were quite a few people. Besides Chen Fan and his three wives, there were several young people behind him, who should be the younger generation of the Chen family.

Chen Huiyi didn't dare to go up and interview him rashly. Having worked in the financial industry for many years, she had heard a lot about Chen Fan's story and knew that he was not a good-tempered person.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Wenya waved to him.

Chan Wai-yee hurriedly stepped forward, greeted everyone, and only after confirming that the interview was allowed did she allow the photographer to turn on the camera and take out the microphone.

"Mr. Chen, as far as I know, your previous two cocktail parties caused great turmoil in the financial markets. Will this one be the same?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan smiled and shook his head slightly: "Times have changed. In the 80s and 90s, we had to fight the British, but now there's no need for that."

"The purpose of this reception is to meet with old friends in the business community and, incidentally, introduce the children to these senior figures."

The camera panned across the young members of the Chen family, and Chen Huiyi continued, "Mr. Chen, can I assume that you have already considered the matter of succession?"

"Of course!"

Chen Fan nodded slightly and introduced, "Starting today, my second and third sons will join Xinghuo Investment and gradually take over its businesses."

This concludes the interview!

It was simple, yet enough. Chen Fan used this banquet to send a message to the outside world that the successor of the Chen family was beginning to take over.

This would be big news in Hong Kong.

Banks, finance, real estate, retail, ports, shipping, electricity, telecommunications, gas... the Chen family's businesses are too vast.

A sudden change in decision-makers, or even a minor change in a decision, can affect people's livelihoods. Even raising electricity prices by a few cents (HKD 10 cents) can have a significant impact.

Undeterred, Chan Wai-yee interviewed Chan Yin-kin and Chan Yin-cheng again. The brothers only gave some bureaucratic platitudes about not changing major decisions and maintaining Hong Kong's prosperity.

Hmm... a perfectly watertight piece of nonsense!

Chen Fan was quite satisfied with this. It's good to talk a lot of nonsense, especially in the Internet age. Never express opinions casually.

After all, you are not "Yuan".

It's impossible to please everyone. When there's something to do, just keep your head down and get to work. When there's nothing to do, just say a few harmless things.

We don't create our own IP, nor do we make money from traffic.

After seeing Chen Huiyi off, Chen Fan led the children to the door to greet the guests. The next guests to appear were all high-ranking officials from Hong Kong and members of various families.

In my past life, there were four major families in Hong Kong.

That's not the case anymore. If you had to rank them, it would be something like the "Top Ten Families," and almost all of Hang Seng Bank's shareholders are on that list.

During the Asian financial crisis, everyone swept through Southeast Asia, reaped profits from Japan and South Korea, took away too much cash, and acquired too many assets.

Now that the economy is recovering, the assets purchased back then have appreciated several times or even ten times.

In 1998, he returned to Hong Kong, defeated international speculators, and finally liquidated the foreign capital, establishing a joint real estate company where each party received substantial benefits.

When the subprime mortgage crisis broke out in 2007, Chen Fan's strength alone was not enough, so he also pulled in the government and they plundered Europe and America again, following the model of 1997.

They even launched a special attack on Britain at the time.

This had an extremely strong impact on the British financial and real estate sectors, causing the pound sterling to plummet once again, resulting in heavy losses for Britain.

Sadly, Old Huo did not live to see that day, passing away in 06, bringing to an end the life of a legendary patriotic businessman.

"Comrade Chen, is it time to hand over the shift?"

Li Zhaoji brought his children and grandchildren over. He is now 83 years old, but he is still in good health and could live for another ten years or so without any problem.

"Comrade Li, it's been a long time."

Chen Fan warmly stepped forward to shake hands: "You know me, I don't like to meddle, and the kids are all grown up now, let them do what they want in the future."

Li Zhaoji was speechless; indeed, that was the case.

He shook his head with a smile: "I don't have many years left to live. I'll let the kids have their own way of interacting with each other in the future. But you old rascal, why are you making such a big fuss? Is something wrong?" Chen Fan laughed: "No, really, I just brought the kids out to get acquainted with them."

Li Zhaoji asked suspiciously, "Really not?"

"Really not!"

Chen Fan touched his nose: "From now on, let the young people do what they want. I won't interfere, but my son wants to establish his authority, so he'll probably cause some trouble."

Li Zhaoji understood what he meant, so he stopped asking and said, "Alright, let's go in first. If you need anything later, just let your son know."

"Let's talk later!" Chen Fan smiled.

As guests arrived one after another, the party officially began. The guests gathered in twos and threes to chat, and many female guests had their eyes on the Chen brothers, Chen Yanjin and Chen Yancheng.

The successor of the Chen family!

If you can climb the social ladder, you can marry into a wealthy family, the biggest wealthy family in Hong Kong, bar none.

Unfortunately, both brothers were accompanied by female companions.

Hmm... and Chen Yanche, he's a bit young, but who cares, as long as he's single. Even if I can't reach him, I still have girlfriends at home.

As a result, Chen Yanche was surrounded by all sorts of women throughout the night, including socialites from wealthy families, rich businesswomen, and glamorous actresses from the entertainment industry.

Chen Yanche is good at socializing.

He was perfectly at ease among a group of women. Chen Yanxi glanced at him several times, and finally couldn't resist, so she simply dragged him over.

"Haven't you had enough of being beaten?"

"Sis, what did I do? They came up to me on their own, I couldn't just shoo them away, could I?"

Seeing his older sister frown, Chen Yanche quickly defended himself: "Sister, you have to believe me, I've come to my senses and I promise I won't do anything reckless."

"I'll trust you this once!" Chen Yanxi scoffed.

Chen Yanche said sullenly, "Sis, don't worry, I don't even look down on them. They all smile so hypocritically, and not a single word of truth comes out of their mouths."

Chen Yanxi said disdainfully, "If you weren't a child of the Chen family, no one would even give you a smile. You really think you're a treasure."

"Sis, I'm bored!" Chen Yanche chuckled awkwardly.

Chen Yanxi teased, "Can't you hear the truth? On the other hand, if you're willing to arrange a marriage, finding one here wouldn't be bad."

"Sister, please don't hurt me!"

Chen Yanche shuddered. Seeing his older sister's serious expression, he quickly backed down: "I promise I'll behave myself while I'm in Hong Kong, okay?"

Chen Yanxi nodded and said, "It depends on your performance."

Chen Yanche breathed a sigh of relief. After being disciplined by his second brother last time, he had decided to behave himself and wait until he was in charge of everything.

Having made his decision, Chen Yanche stopped wandering around and stayed by his older sister's side. Even if a beautiful woman came over to greet him, his older sister would handle it.

For him, the party meant nothing.

It didn't really mean much; Chen Fan was just showing up with the children to send a message that the Chen family was about to begin the handover.

But it caused a stir in Hong Kong.

At 10 p.m. that night, TVB broadcast an interview with Chan Wai-yee, and the following day, Hong Kong media outlets covered it extensively.

Chen Fan may have been in hiding for over a decade, but he will not be forgotten.

Those who are older still vividly remember the open and physical battles with the British in the 1980s and 90s, especially the financial crisis of 1998.

Young people are also familiar with Xinghuo Real Estate, especially with the soaring housing prices in recent years. They are all criticizing Xinghuo Real Estate. When the older generation criticizes Chen Fan, they also join in the criticism.

The focus of the report was not on Chen Fan, but on Chen Yanjin and Chen Yancheng, with concerns that their rise to power would cause changes in Hong Kong's business landscape.

The Chen family has the capability.

The Chen brothers were clearly not soft-hearted. Under media scrutiny, within a week of joining Xinghuo Investment, they had dismissed more than 20 senior executives.

Chen Yancheng also took drastic measures, directly removing one of Feixing Mobile's vice presidents and eliminating all of his associates.

Li Zhaoji sipped his tea, clicking his tongue in amazement: "Chen Fan is quite something, leaving behind a bunch of parasites to establish his authority for his son. He's gone to great lengths."

"These two young men from the Chen family are quite capable, especially Chen Yanjin. He took down these people with extremely ruthless methods. He's a tough guy, and he'll probably be the one to lead the way in the future."

"At twenty-two, with two master's degrees and a doctorate in economics, he's a child prodigy with connections. The Chen family's future is secure for the next thirty years."

……

After the swift and decisive action, everything returned to calm.

It's as if the two brothers came to power specifically to rectify internal affairs, without affecting the overall situation. There's just a group of people criticizing the Chen brothers for being heartless.

"Brother-in-law, quite a few people are criticizing you."

Ye Ling held the newspaper and looked at Chen Yanjin carefully. This guy was like a different person after he came to Hong Kong. Hmm... he had the air of a domineering CEO!
Twice he mistook someone for someone else, and I was too embarrassed to hit him. Of course, I was only embarrassed; I would still hit him if necessary.

It's his own fault for having bad eyesight!
Chen Yanjin took the newspaper, glanced at it, and threw it away. He then took out his laptop, connected to the internet, and checked the news about Midea, the big boss. The US debt crisis should be coming soon.

It's time to make a move!

Getting rid of parasites is just the appetizer; establishing authority isn't just about firing a few people. The real test is when you show your skills.

PS: First update! Please vote, thank you!
(End of this chapter)