My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 937 I wouldn't have known about this if you hadn't told me.
Indeed, despite having taken several lives, Wei Dong lacked the aura of someone who had served in the military and been on the battlefield.

Yet it has a strange, institutional feel to it.

He's been in the tax office for far too long; he's very familiar with it.

When we arrived at the fifth floor, the office floor of the bidding bureau, some of the staff who came out to greet us were wearing Zhongshan suits.

Wearing sleeves, with two or three pens tucked into the left breast pocket.

If Wei Dong hadn't turned around and seen the narrow corridors typical of Hong Kong, he would have suspected he was in some government department in mainland China.

I was quite shocked: "You guys dress like this when you go out?"

As it turned out, they were very meticulous, and some positions were basically not taken out, maintaining a work style that was both politically sound and professionally competent.

Wei Dong was a little puzzled by this approach, but he didn't say anything.

Thirty or forty years later, Hong Kong no longer holds much appeal for mainland workers; it's now a huge, glamorous world.

Emphasizing discipline is also part of ensuring the team's combat effectiveness.

The conversation on the phone was probably very simple; Lao Fang was too lazy to even come over for a meeting and handover, since his presence would definitely draw attention.

"Comrade Weidong is coming here, and he's definitely under surveillance. Please be vigilant and take precautions at all times." The office director was very thoughtful.

Wei Dong couldn't say that it was all so serious, at least he himself had no bottom line when dealing with gangs.

He nodded and accepted the compiled list of work assets to be transferred.

Beside him was a business secretary, a capable and efficient woman in her thirties with slightly protruding teeth and a Beijing accent: "The China Merchants Investment Corporation was established in 1872. It was initiated and expanded by leaders of the Westernization Movement, represented by Li Hongzhang. It has gone through all the ownership forms and has been nationalized by different regimes many times. Thirty years after liberation, the company was left with only a tiny branch, struggling to survive next to Victoria Harbour, and was almost forgotten by the public. Mr. Fang took over as the thirty-second leader, and now you are the thirty-third person recommended by him."

Wei Dong was still slightly shaken: "I'm just assisting in the management. The old man is seventy years old and can be assigned new leadership roles by his superiors at any time. I'm just exploring the work situation now."

I just said it casually, and someone actually took a note of it!

This forced Wei Dong to be cautious in his words and actions, but just looking at the list made him want to scream.

When Lao Fang took over in 1978, the company had less than 200 million yuan in its accounts. He also wanted to build a wharf and develop container shipping in the western district. However, his first business deal was to buy this newly completed 25-story building.

More than 60 million, almost a third of the funds I had, it felt like I was going all in.

But now, with the news channel broadcasting daily updates on housing prices and commercial office building prices across Hong Kong, Wei Dong has a better understanding of Hong Kong's housing prices: "Old Fang is amazing, these housing prices... Back then, they were only a little over two hundred Hong Kong dollars per square foot, and now the Sheung Wan area should be around three or four thousand, a more than twenty-fold increase in ten years!"

I often dare to make purchases because I know that Hong Kong property prices will be the highest in the world in the future, and that buying now is a sure way to make money.

But from choosing the container terminal and getting into the container business, to making the decision in 78 to buy this building to invest in and establish a base when he was short of money.

That's really awesome.

The area was surrounded by staff who had come to meet the new leader. Immediately, someone spoke up: "No matter how expensive this building is, we can't sell it. So, no matter how expensive the property is, it has nothing to do with us, right?"

The main reason is probably that Wei Dong is too young and was parachuted in as a leader. Both this place and the West District have high-level personnel, with various directly affiliated cadres, almost all of whom are in their thirties or forties and in their prime.

Wei Dong didn't feel offended and shook his head to explain: "Asia Television is what I acquired and I'm running, you know? They have real estate programs every day. I remember there was some data that said office rent in the Sheung Wan area was six dollars per square foot in the 1970s, and it should be around 25 dollars now. Just now I saw a lot of signs downstairs with many units living here. How much money did our tendering and bidding bureau collect from them?"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment: "These are all relevant ministries and liaison agencies, and these are all work locations arranged by the state. How can you charge them?"

What surprised Wei Dong even more was his question: "If you don't charge money, then what kind of investment was it for the Investment and Development Bureau to buy this building back then? We are all working in locations arranged by the state. Why should I pay rent for my office building in Beijing? Can't you just follow the rules when it's my turn to pay and then talk about past relationships when it's my turn to collect rent?"

He was also decisive and efficient. His first business deal after taking office was to collect rent: "Commercial institutions should follow commercial rules. I sent a letter to all the institutions in this building, starting next month, to collect HK$10 per square foot per month. If you think it's too expensive, you can either reduce the size of your space or move out."

In government offices, there's a long corridor in the middle, with offices and dormitories on both sides. Now everyone's crammed into the reception room to see the leaders.

It immediately turned into a complete mess.

It turns out that people upstairs and downstairs had heard that the new leader of the bidding bureau had arrived, and people from various units came to see what was going on. It was shocking!

It feels like you're charging me rent and food expenses even though we're family.

Immediately, someone claimed they would call to complain.

Wei Dong, now that he's got plenty of lice, is no longer worried: "Go ahead and sue me. As long as I'm in charge of this part of the work, I have to collect rent. The money comes from the state, but it can't be that the investment bureau spent tens of millions to buy this building and ended up losing money, while other companies make good money on paper and their rent and office costs are zero."

At least the people in the bidding bureau have kept quiet without realizing it.

Each floor is 9,000 square feet, and each floor costs 90,000 dollars a month. More than 20 floors would cost more than 2 million dollars! And that's a friendly price. If it were market price, it would be 5 million dollars.

What else could this be but a work achievement?

That's when we realized how insightful Lao Fang's investment was back then.

You can break even in a year!!

They actually said that it doesn't matter how expensive the housing prices are.

No wonder some units keep expanding their area; it's a way of taking advantage of others.

Anyway, quite a few people rushed off to make phone calls.

Wei Dong then began to walk around the office.

A single-story building of nearly 1,000 square meters is not small. The front is narrow but actually runs through two streets. There is also a storefront on the first floor of the back door, which is cheaply rented to the foreign trade department to sell local specialties from the mainland.

This won't do. Wei Dong drove over and surveyed the area: "It's lifeless. It's like they brought the state-owned department store model to Hong Kong. Even in Sheung Wan, where land is incredibly valuable and backed by such a large treasure trove of goods from the mainland, it can't sell well. I'll double the rent now."

Immediately, a leader from the relevant unit came up to him: "Dong, isn't your approach influenced by capitalism? The West is dominating the East. This is our front line. What about the staffing of a group of comrades? You're just talking nonsense!"

Wei Dong wasn't afraid to confront leaders in their forties or fifties: "You know this is a battleground. The country handed over this battleground to fight a war, not to swat mosquitoes! Do you know the term 'square meter efficiency'? It's the economic benefit generated per square meter. Do you want me to show you the accounts? How much money did you make last month? What benefits did you create for the country? We sent you to Hong Kong to fight a war. If you can't handle it, we'll change the team!"

The corridor was completely silent!

Because from the young leader's words, one could actually sense the atmosphere of being in the tunnels of Shangganling.

The other party looked at Rang Weidong, but was not furious. After thinking for a moment, he said, "We have a contract, signed until the end of June."

Wei Dong nodded: "That's right. If we're talking about things according to the contract, then the contract won't be renewed when it expires. If we want to renew it, then we'll have to compete with the sales company I organized for rental prices, and the highest bidder wins."

The other party then became angry: "Young man! You're deliberately inflating prices! This is a very serious matter, I need to write a report!"

Wei Dong always said the same thing: "If it doesn't work, we'll switch teams. If this building had already started collecting rent and making money, and selling storefronts would have boosted performance, the current funds of the bidding bureau could have been used to continuously acquire the buildings next door. That's the main purpose of the country sending the bidding bureau to this position. Soldiers and commanders, don't forget your responsibilities!"

Many people from other floors crept up the fire escape ladder, all listening to the young leader who was about to cause trouble.

They couldn't help but ask each other, "Who is this? Whose family is this?"

But all you have to say is: "That guy who acquired Asia Television, Rang Wei-tung, who owns Centennial Runfa, O'Nia, and X Camera!"

No one dared to say a word.

This is truly a case of both internal and external performance!

Subsequently, no one dared to question the passport document that Wei Dong had requested to be temporarily issued, which was brought over from Pengzhen West District this morning.

This building has more than 20 floors, with the bottom four floors considered as a podium. The fifth floor, which is for personal use, has a rather large rooftop garden, which Wei Dong thought was perfect for building a basketball court.

Of course, he wouldn't do that when he first arrived, but as he listened to the office director's introduction with his hands behind his back, he casually pointed and said, "Look, the airship that was delivered from over there today..."

Isn't this on the Victoria Harbour waterfront? He was pointing to the other side of the street, where there's a pier with several high-speed yachts moored.

Now that Wei Dong crosses the Cross-Harbour Tunnel every day, when has he ever paid attention to these things: "From where? Pengzhen? Are there any ships coming from Pengzhen?"

The office director was surprised: "You don't know? This is an important achievement of Mr. Fang in building the West District Wharf Development Zone. Starting in 1981, there were two speedboats every day from the wharf in front of the five-star hotel in the West District. There is a special customs clearance port there that is only for boat passengers. It takes 45 minutes to get here."

Wei Dong was furious: "I really don't know why the sales manager of Guoji always takes a bus from the city with me in the morning, which takes two hours!"

The office director was used to it: "The comrades who come to cross the border every day arrive at seven or eight in the morning to do their work. The speedboat departs at nine in the morning and returns from Pengzhen at around ten o'clock. So they all come by car in the morning and return by boat at night. Only Old Fang has a car assigned to him, so he always travels by car."

Wei Dong was speechless. Perhaps Lao Fang thought that the grassroots staff would tell him about this, and the grassroots staff assumed that the leaders had their own reasons for making the arrangements.

On the aircraft carrier, he would occasionally see "yachts" coming and going in front of the five-star hotel, and wondered what was so interesting about the sea view there.

This is comparable to when he was in Shangzhou, he went to a rice noodle shop every day, and only found out at least ten years later that there was a chicken coop upstairs. He only realized this after he was arrested.

No wonder my colleagues often have shifty-eyed remarks about going to eat rice noodles.

(End of this chapter)