A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 266 Food and grass go first
Weihai Road, Chen’s Villa.

Xue Zheng (female), a teacher at Zhongxi Girls' School, is tutoring Yan Renmei with her homework, and her eyes are full of admiration for her.

In fact, Xue Zheng admired the patriotism of Yan Renmei's husband, which was also an important reason why she was willing to tutor Yan Renmei in her homework despite her busy schedule.

Just fifteen minutes into the lesson, the maid came to the two of them, holding a fruit plate.

"Teacher Xue, please take a rest!"

Xue Zheng was a little surprised. After all, he was tutoring his homework, and the maid shouldn't disturb him at this time, especially the maid from a wealthy family.

Of course, she didn't show any impatience, but just looked at Yan Renmei.

Yan Renmei looked at Aunt Fang in confusion, wondering why she didn't show any such expression today.

The maid quickly said, "Mr. Chen has instructed that Madam, you can sit for no more than fifteen minutes before you need to lie down or walk around."

When Yan Renmei heard this, she immediately became shy.

Xue Zheng looked at Yan Renmei's eight-month pregnant belly and laughed, "So that's how it is. Was it my negligence, or am I also a mother?"

"Teacher Xue"

Xue Zheng smiled and said, "Renmei, lean back on the sofa and I'll give you a lecture."

Yan Renmei wanted to insist, but Xue Zheng and the maid were telling her to do so, so she had no choice but to do it.

After a while, Xue Zhengbian finished his lecture and ate some fruit.

Yan Renmei said embarrassedly: "Teacher Xue, I heard that you will be the Dean of Academic Affairs soon. How about I change another teacher? After all, you are also very busy."

Xue Zheng said, "It won't be until next semester, and that's fine. You can always find some time. You can study a lot of courses on your own or Mr. Chen can help you with the lessons, so I believe you can keep up with everyone else's progress in the second half of this year."

She already knew that Yan Renmei would come to class in the second half of this semester. She actually appreciated Chen Guangliang's open-mindedness in this regard. After all, Yan Renmei would be able to graduate next year (1934).

"Thank you, Teacher Xue. You and Teacher Zhou have increased your workload quite a bit because of my case."

"Renmei, we are also adhering to the principle of not letting any student fall behind. Moreover, Mr. Chen has made great contributions to the country, so we are doing him a favor."

Xue Zheng is a person with a strong patriotic sentiment. He has always admired Chen Guangliang's performance in the "Jianghuai Flood" and the "January 28 Incident".

After a while, Chen Guangliang also came back early. When he saw Xue Zheng, he greeted him respectfully.

"Trouble, Teacher Xue!"

Xue Zheng said, "Isn't Mr. Chen very busy at work? Why is he leaving get off work so early?"

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "I pay attention to work efficiency, so I don't work long hours."

Afterwards, the three of them sat on the sofa and chatted.

Chen Guangliang always wanted to become a director of Zhongxi Girls' School, but he was unsuccessful because Zhongxi Girls' School was founded by the American Methodist Church. The board of directors required Chen Guangliang to convert to Christianity before approving him to join the board.

Naturally, he refused to do this. Chen Guangliang was an atheist and a person without religious beliefs. Even if science could not explain time travel, religion naturally could not explain it either.

During this time, Xue Zheng took the initiative to say, "Mr. Chen, I will soon be the Dean of Academic Affairs at Zhongxi Girls' School. To be honest, what I most hope to do is to increase the number of Chinese language courses at Zhongxi Girls' School to improve the students' Chinese proficiency and to hire Chinese teachers to teach Chinese history and geography."

At this moment, Xue Zheng seemed to be meeting not a student, but a respected elder.

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "That's a good thing! But Mr. Xue can take a long-term view and contact more like-minded people to resist the control of the American advisors."

Xue Zheng was impressed by what he had said, and immediately said with a smile, "Thank you for your advice, Mr. Chen. It's very useful!"

Chen Guangliang said: "I believe Teacher Xue will do the same."

On that day, Chen Guangliang also invited Xue Zheng to have dinner together, and everyone talked about education in China, which was quite enjoyable.

You should know that Chen Guangliang himself also founded a school, namely Xincheng Primary School (Xincheng Garden).

Originally, Chen Guangliang's idea was to enroll students for free, but later Fang Jiaobo reminded him that if he enrolled students for free, the residents of Xincheng Garden would have objections, so he finally set up a fee-paying school, but it was not a profit-making school, and the overall teaching quality was still very high.

"I didn't expect that Mr. Chen can speak not only English, but also French, Japanese and Cantonese. You are really a genius!" Xue Zheng said admiringly.

Chen Guangliang's diploma is from a three-year private school in an open public school, but it makes sense to say that he has a master's degree in economics based on the articles on business economics he wrote in the Oriental Daily.

"I'm truly honored to receive the teacher's praise. However, I do have a gifted memory; I can barely call myself someone who has a photographic memory."

Xue Zheng was surprised when she heard this, and then she said curiously: "Mr. Chen, I am really curious about this kind of talent. If you don't mind, how about we test it?"

Chen Guangliang also said: "Then let the teacher test it!"

After a while, Xue Zheng wrote down an article he was familiar with, written in English, and gave it to Chen Guangliang to recite.

As expected, Chen Guangliang was able to recite it after just reading it once. Although there were one or two mistakes, it was still enough to shock Xue Zheng.

“It turns out there are geniuses in this world.”

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "I might just have a gift for memory. My reflexes aren't necessarily genius. If I were asked to study mathematics and physics, I wouldn't necessarily become a master. Furthermore, I'm only interested in languages, business, economics, architecture, shipping, and other subjects, not science."

Xue Zheng nodded and said, "Today is an eye-opener. You have learned so much, which shows that you are a master and worthy of admiration. Renmei is also very lucky to have a husband like you."

This sentence fully expresses respect for the master, and also shows admiration for Chen Guangliang's respect for knowledge and culture.

After dinner, Chen Guangliang sent Xue Zheng out and arranged for a female bodyguard to take her home.

When they got home, Yan Renmei immediately took Chen Guangliang's arm and said, "Brother Liang, don't you hide your talent very well?"

Chen Guangliang said with a smile: "If you don't show Teacher Xue some skills, how can she take good care of you as a student?"

Everything was for herself, Yan Renmei was deeply moved.

In fact, the ability to remember everything at a glance is not unique in this world, and it only exists in about one in ten million.

Chinese Securities Exchange.

"It's fallen, Times Pictures has fallen again, it's below 230!" "What's going on? Didn't they say it was going to go up to 400 or 500?"

Wang Zhonglei couldn't believe his eyes and asked in a louder voice.

There was no question or answer. After reaching 330, Times Pictures' stock price began to falter. Then, it quickly reversed direction and began to fall rapidly. In just half a month, it had already fallen by 3%.

Seeing that his second brother remained silent, Wang Zhonglei said, "Second brother, why don't you say something? If the eldest brother knew we invested over ten thousand dollars in stocks, he would beat us with a shovel."

The reason why the restaurant opened by the three brothers can make money is mainly because the eldest brother has excellent cooking skills.

Wang Zhonglin, like a gambler, said with red eyes, "Don't worry, the decline is only temporary, and it will definitely rise again. Haven't you heard that Times Pictures produced five films last year, all of which achieved very good box office, even surpassing established film companies like Star and Lianhua? Moreover, this film company is backed by the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial groups, the Chen family of Ningbo, the Sheng family of Changzhou, and the Zhuang family."

At this time, someone nearby said, "Do you know anything about stock speculation? Times Pictures' stock was originally only worth 100, but now it's been hyped up to over 300. It's not unusual for it to fall. This stock has more room to fall!"

Wang Zhonglin said unconvincedly, "What do you know? It's just a 100-yuan note, but that doesn't mean it's worth 100 yuan. It must have appreciated several times over by how much money people made last year!"

"cut"

He immediately waved his hand and left, obviously thinking that the Wang brothers didn't understand stocks at all.

Wang Zhonglei immediately said, "Second brother, do you want to sell it? It's better to lose a little than to lose it all."

Wang Zhonglin said anxiously, "You're crazy! If the price goes up, we'll lose everything."

Wang Zhonglei didn't pay attention immediately and could only continue to hold it.

The Wang brothers originally bought 30 shares of Times Pictures, but when they saw the price increase by more than ten yuan, they added 15 shares and now hold a total of 45 shares.

This means they have lost 4500 yuan, almost the equivalent of a whole floor.

The headquarters of Times Pictures is located in the administrative department of Times Cinema on Nanjing West Road, which is responsible for managing Times Film (production and distribution) and Times Cinema Line (cinemas).

At this time, Chen Guangliang was listening to everyone's work report.

Lu Hanzhang excitedly said, "Last year, Times Film's film revenue was 82.62 yuan, which exceeded the 1931 yuan achieved by the largest Star Film in 77. This year, Star Film's operating income has deteriorated to 52 yuan."

Everyone showed excitement. In the second year after its establishment, Times Film became the largest film company in China.

Although only five films were shot last year, virtually every one of them was well received by the market.

For example, other film companies only release one film a year, "Burning Red Lotus Temple" or "Red Peony", while last year, Times Pictures released at least three films that surpassed "Burning Red Lotus Temple" and "Red Peony".

Although Times Films only produces 5 films a year, each of them is a masterpiece.

Then, Lu Hanzhang said: "Last year, we also completed a new initiative, which was to shoot the first film with pronunciation on the Internet, "Diao Chan" (different from the pronunciation on wax discs). At the beginning of this year, we also established the Cartoon Department. The Wan brothers chose us and rejected the Star Film Company."

Rapid development, and quality development.

Last year, Times Cinema's profit was nearly 40 yuan, a figure that was enough to outperform many factories and make many industrialists envious.

Chen Guangliang asked: "What are our goals this year?"

Lu Hanzhang immediately reported, "This year, we're going to shoot more than five films. We've already got plans for 'Once Upon a Time in China II' and 'Fong Sai-yuk,' and the rest will be handed over to the screenwriters. But one thing is for sure, this year we're going to increase our slate of mainstream romance films and films about women."

Only the continuation of two kung fu movies can ensure the basic base, and the rest of the movies need to be some current mainstream movies.

After all, since the appearance of "Huo Yuanjia" and "Fist of Fury", many follow-up works have come out.

Chen Guangliang also decided not to interfere. After all, the pattern of three major directors including Ren Pengnian and Wang Tianbei has been formed. They can continue to shoot movies in their own style. The new movies of these three directors alone are enough to be box office hits.

At the same time, with its huge fame, Times Films has also attracted some screenwriters and directors to join, and as long as it is not a directional movie, it can be filmed.

Chen Guangliang said with satisfaction: "There is indeed a big market for romance and women's films. However, this year, we are going to establish a second production studio in Hong Kong, so we also need to prepare a Cantonese film. Of course, this will be prepared after the studio is built."

Immediately afterwards, Zhuang Zhujiu said, "We have purchased 16 acres of land in Kowloon Bay on the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong to build a Hong Kong film studio. The land cost 10 yuan. If we adopt the construction and filming method, we expect to start filming in the second half of the year."

Because it is industrial land, the price is already cheap.

Kowloon Bay will be prime residential land in the future, and all that needs to be done is to change the land use. 15 acres of land, equivalent to 9.6 square feet, is a very large plot of land in Hong Kong.

Chen Guangliang asked, "What about the cinema plan?"

Zhuang Zhujiu immediately said, "We're still looking for targets, and the initial target is the commercial districts of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island."

Investing in a "one-run cinema" may cost more than 70 in Shanghai, while in Hong Kong it is estimated to be around 40, which saves a lot of land.

"Okay, we need to hurry up with our Hong Kong plans. We need to understand one thing: Hong Kong has its advantages. If something like the January 28 Incident happened in Shanghai, you'd see the intellectuals and the wealthy would flee to Hong Kong. This clearly demonstrates that Hong Kong is a more suitable place for a second base than Beijing."

"Yes"

No one had any more questions, after all, the boss had explained it clearly enough.

Finally, Chen Guangliang said, "Regarding the recent drop in our stock price, the company can disclose last year's financial situation in the media to avoid the market losing confidence in us."

Zhuang Zhujiu was a little speechless. After all, wouldn't a stock drop be more beneficial to him and them? Didn't he really not want to buy back at the bottom?
The financial director then said, "Okay, I'll get the detailed financial information for last year as soon as possible."

Chen Guangliang added: "Let Mr. Zhuang or Mr. Sheng publish it."

The financial director naturally has no right to disclose financial information. Only higher-level management is qualified to disclose financial information.

Indeed, Times Pictures made a profit of about 60 yuan last year, which means its asset value is only more than 200 million yuan.

The current market value is still higher than the asset value.

After the meeting, Chen Guangliang was in a good mood because Times Entertainment had already started to develop in Hong Kong and purchased properties and land in Hong Kong.

Chen Guangliang also had the same idea: before the army is dispatched, food and fodder must be sent first.

He first let his companies develop in Hong Kong one by one, and then waited until after 1934 to go to Hong Kong to purchase properties and assets.

(End of this chapter)