A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

This day.

Chen Guangliang was fishing alone on a superyacht.

Soon after, a yacht approached, and then Deborah brought Lizzie aboard his boat.

At this time, Li Zhi was very uneasy. She came to Hong Kong last year. Her father was a TVB actor, but she could only work as a saleswoman. She also went to Cinema City, but was ridiculed for being "too unsophisticated" and was rejected. Therefore, she could only continue to work as a saleswoman.

Some time ago, Ms. Deborah ran into her at the mall and gave her a business card. She thought it was a stroke of good luck and that she had gained Deborah's appreciation.

But today, Miss Deborah took her out to sea, and then onto a superyacht.

Liz was very worried that Miss Deborah was 'selling' her, but she couldn't refuse immediately, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and board the ship.

"Sir Chen, I brought a friend along. I hope it won't bother you?"

Sir, Li Zhi has been in Hong Kong for a year and knows that he is one of the most powerful people in Hong Kong.

Sir Chen?
Chen Guangliang turned around and said with a smile, "It's alright, I also enjoy making friends!"

Li Zhi saw Chen Guangliang and vaguely recognized him from somewhere, but couldn't quite place him. The man in front of her was probably in his forties, very charming, with deep, penetrating eyes that seemed to see through everything in the world.

Afterwards, the two women accompanied Chen Guangliang fishing, one on each side. When the fish took the bait, Dibola quickly helped Lizhi retrieve the fish.

Chen Guangliang sized up Li Zhi. She was indeed unsophisticated, but she was the new woman he wanted—her figure was large enough, her skin fair enough, and she had potential. Besides, 'unsophistication' was often a kind of charm; who doesn't have a soft spot for a country girl?

Dipola said bluntly, "Lizhi is a northern girl. She's pretty, but a bit rustic!"

Lizhi's face immediately turned bright red. She felt insulted and wished she could disappear into the ground.

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "Minyi, what you're saying is a bit much. Back in the 1920s and 30s in Sheung Ho Tan, was I considered unsophisticated? Sheung Ho Tan was the largest city in the Far East back then, and Hong Kong was just the countryside. Now, it's just that the tables have turned!"

Dipola quickly slapped her cheek and said in feigned panic, "Sir Chen, I didn't mean to mention it in front of you. Please forgive my bluntness."

At this moment, Li Zhi felt as if she were bathed in a spring breeze, and immediately raised her head in surprise.

"Are you Mr. Chen Guangliang?"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "What, would I be a fake?"

Lizhi said shyly, "No, it's just that you look so young. I thought you were only in your thirties or forties!"

Chen Guangliang is 72 years old this year. He will be 40 years old without any problem and will be in his prime.

"Haha, I need to make more friends with you kids to maintain this youthful state."

This immediately brought the two closer, and Lizhi let down her guard. She felt like she had been struck by lightning, having suddenly met such an important person.

Afterwards, Chen Guangliang put away his rod and invited the two women to the deck sofa of the yacht, where Lizhi and Dibola sat on his left and right sides.

Lizhi then realized that she was still somewhat unsophisticated, and immediately felt a little ashamed of herself.

Chen Guangliang greatly admired the somewhat rustic Li Zhi, and of course, he planned to cultivate a beauty for himself. Li Zhi wasn't among the most beautiful actresses in Hong Kong, but her good skin, large breasts, and ability to pull off short hair made her the kind of woman Chen Guangliang desired.

Chen Guangliang was also very direct, and soon he put his arm around Li Zhi's waist, enjoying the charm of the village girl.

Sir Chen Lizhi became shy. She felt that she was not the kind of woman who would be greedy for money, and she was somewhat reluctant.

If it weren't for Sir Chan's great charm...

She might even resent the current situation.

"Lizhi, come with me from now on. I can train you properly. In Hong Kong, you can't get by without a powerful backer."

"Forehead"

Li Zhi hadn't expected Chen Guangliang to be so blunt, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
Chen Guangliang didn't stand on ceremony. He got up, picked up Lizhi, and headed towards the bedroom.

"Do not"

Chen Guangliang naturally ignored her; he was very familiar with and adept at understanding the woman's half-hearted resistance.

That's how women are!

soon.

Chen Guangliang tore open Li Zhi's clothes and saw the majestic Wei Wei Mountain that he had been longing for.

It's so damn white! And it looks incredibly soft and smooth!

"I am Sir Chen, number one!" Li Zhi said nervously and expectantly.

It's not surprising, considering their age and environment.

Chen Guangliang found a white towel and handed it to Lizhi.

Lizhi blushed, thinking to herself that this man was so domineering, even making her prepare things.

After the matter was over.

Chen Guangliang reassured her, "Little girl, you have a good foundation. Follow me and take good care of your health and temperament. I guarantee you will be both beautiful and elegant in the future."

"Um"

Li Zhi was lying comfortably in Chen Guangliang's arms, feeling a strong sense of security.

"Sir Chen, are you like this with all women?"

Which way?

"That's exactly it."

Haha, do you like it?

"I like"

On September 22, 1982, Chen Guangliang stood at the airport in Beijing, leading Hong Kong Governor Sir Edward Youde and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the mainland to welcome Margaret Thatcher.

Given Chen Guangliang's status, it would normally be unusual for him to "lower himself" to greet the Prime Minister in London, especially since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only sent a deputy.

However, Chen Guangliang and Thatcher had a close relationship and were good friends, so he acted as a go-between to negotiate with the upper echelons of Beijing.

When the news reached Hong Kong, it officially triggered the outbreak of the Hong Kong economic crisis.

In fact, prior to this, starting in September of last year, Hong Kong's real estate and securities markets had already begun to adjust; by June of this year, everyone had already guessed that the London government, riding the wave of the Falklands War, would definitely come to discuss the Hong Kong issue.

Therefore, the Ping An Index had actually fallen to 1300 points at this time, with a peak of 2200 points; of course, it was at this point that the real crash began.

Hong Kong stocks plummeted, and property prices also plummeted, as if a storm was brewing.

The Chen family is undoubtedly taking a "laughing at the changing world" approach. Although their own assets are declining, everyone knows that assets will eventually rise.

In fact, even some troubled entrepreneurs know that after an asset price crashes, it will rise again.

But the key problem is that banks won't think that way. They will only press for repayment and tighten credit, which will cause many companies to go bankrupt and never see the light of day.

Discovery Bay, the Chan family villa complex.

Discovery Bay has now become a well-known offshore luxury residential island in Hong Kong, with ten phases already on sale (expected to have more than forty phases in total).

Of course, many properties in Discovery Bay are in the hands of speculators, so the vacancy rate is still quite high.

Chan Kwong-leung is vacationing at the Chan family villa complex in Discovery Bay. All four of his wives and concubines have come to Hong Kong. In fact, his third wife, who lives overseas, often stays for one or two months at a time, since their children have grown up.

"Audrey, your ruby ​​ring is so beautiful!"

Yan Renmei, Jiang Meiying, and Si Yezi surrounded Audrey Hepburn with great interest.

Audrey Hepburn happily took off the ring and handed it to Yan Renmei, saying with a smile, "I bought this last year, but I haven't had a chance to wear it yet. This ruby ​​is from Myanmar, weighs 23.1 grams, and I bought it from a private collection in Europe. It cost me 132 million US dollars, which is equivalent to 60,000 US dollars per gram."

The three women took turns wearing it, and there was no awkwardness between them; they were even closer than sisters.

Finally, Audrey Hepburn simply put it on Yan Renmei, saying, "If the other girls get tired of wearing it, they can give it back to me later!"

The family has a habit of sharing rare treasures. For example, in the underground vault of 79 Deep Water Bay, the other three women can go in and take whatever they want, and in the end, they can choose whether or not to return it.

It's very simple. For the large Chen family, the value of any rare treasure in the world is likely to be greatly reduced in their eyes, and they won't take it too seriously.

Yan Renmei raised her hand and smiled, "Okay, I'll wear it for a while before giving it to Mei Ying!"

After saying that, the four women came together to Chen Guangliang, who was resting with his eyes closed by the pool.

Yan Renmei held up the ruby ​​to Chen Guangliang and said, "What do you think of Audrey getting such a beautiful ruby?"

Chen Guangliang opened his eyes, looked at his four beautiful wives and concubines, and said with a smile, "They look very nice! They also have great collectible value and could be worth 60 US dollars per gram in the future."

He could tell at a glance that the ruby ​​originated in Myanmar and was cut to a master level. Given that Audrey Hepburn would never buy a low-quality piece, he gave it a very good future market price.

The four women were surprised. Yan Renmei said, "23.1 grams, that's worth more than 1300 million US dollars. Audrey's return on investment is ten times, which seems pretty good!"

Audrey Hepburn immediately became interested and said, "Didn't my husband tell us that when buying diamonds, jade, and gemstones, we should buy the biggest and most expensive ones? We made the right choice!"

This strategy is correct, Chen Guangliang added: "It is crucial to purchase from reputable places, and the identification documents are very important."

Even if diamonds become commonplace in later generations, they will only be one or two carats or less. The first quality of a truly top-quality lab-grown diamond is its natural pedigree, and the second is its provenance.

Take, for example, the Star of Africa diamonds owned by the London royal family; their value will never fade. If someone were to steal the Star of Africa from the royal family, even if someone were to buy it, its value would be at most one-tenth.

Looking at his four wives and concubines, Chen Guangliang was quite impressed: Yan Renmei was wearing a Western-style long dress, exuding nobility and virtue; Jiang Meiying chose a Chinese cheongsam, looking dignified and charming; Audrey Hepburn wore a black tight-fitting dress, looking both noble and playful; and Si Yezi wore a traditional Japanese kimono, looking traditional and dignified.

In her previous life, when Jiang Meiying was sixty years old, she still attracted the attention of a police officer in Shanghai who committed indecent acts, which shows that a beauty remains a beauty even in old age.

"Come on, I'll take you to the underground treasure vault and see what else you want to take!"

Chen Guangliang stood up and led everyone down into the underground treasure vault.

He began collecting in the 1930s, and it can be said that Mr. Chen's collection is the largest and most expensive private collection in the world. It includes Chinese antiques, paintings, calligraphy, porcelain, jade, gemstones, diamonds, gold coins, and more, encompassing a wide range of items and being priceless.

He also has paintings by Van Gogh, but Chen Guangliang doesn't really like collecting famous paintings because they are inconvenient to store; however, he does have some, just in smaller quantities.

The Chan family's assets are scattered across several locations, including 79 Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay, Discovery Bay, and each branch also has its own treasure vault.

But without a doubt, Chen Guangliang owns all the treasures.

In a jewelry exhibition hall in the basement, if the jewels inside were to appear in the real world, each piece would likely cause a bloodbath in the jewelry world. Top-grade jade, top-grade gemstones, top-grade diamonds, and top-grade gold works.
The four wives and concubines were not vulgar people; they regarded jewelry as mere decorations and were not particularly infatuated with it.

But today everyone understands one thing—this isn't about jewelry, it's about flirting between husband and wife. They're dressed up in jewels, and they're about to be inspected by Chen Guangliang.

Even after they take off their clothes, they are still adorned with jewels.

When the real estate market collapses, land prices are naturally the first to be affected.

In 1982, land prices in Hong Kong generally fell by 40% to 60%, with the largest declines seen in industrial land and high-end residential land.

The price of industrial land in Kowloon Bay, calculated by floor area, fell from a peak of HK$420 per square foot in December 1980 to HK$30 per square foot in October 1982, a drop of 93%.

The price of high-end residential land in the South Bay Road area of ​​Hong Kong Island also fell from a peak of HK$1802 per square foot in September 1980 to HK$650 per square foot in May 1982, a drop of 60%.

The sharp drop in land prices led to a significant decrease in the Hong Kong government's fiscal revenue; the proportion of land sales revenue in government fiscal revenue also dropped from 35% in 1980/1981 to 29% in 1981/1982, and is expected to plummet by half in 1982/1983.

The sharp drop in land prices led to a significant decline in housing prices and rents.

In 1982, residential property prices generally fell by 30% to 40% from their peak. For example, residential property prices in North Point fell from HK$1,207 per square foot at the end of 1981 to HK$784 per square foot at the end of 1982, a drop of 38%.

The monthly rent for Grade A office space in Central District also dropped from its peak of HK$30 to HK$35 per square foot in 1981 to HK$22 to HK$25 per square foot at the end of 1982, a decrease of about 20% to 25%.

The sluggish market has led to a contraction in transactions and an increase in vacant buildings.

In 1982, the total number of registered contracts (including the sale and purchase of buildings and private land) was 16.5, with a total value of HK$994.7 billion, representing a decrease of 13% and 21% respectively compared to 1981.

At the end of 1982, there were 31,700 vacant private residential units in Hong Kong, with a vacancy rate of 6%, and the rate for large residential units was as high as 9.1%; the vacant area of ​​commercial buildings reached 586.6 million square feet, with a vacancy rate of 10.7%, and the vacancy rate for offices was as high as 17.6%; the vacant area of ​​industrial buildings reached 13.121 million square feet, with a vacancy rate of 10.5%, all of which were at the highest or very high levels in history.

According to a research team's investigation, the amount of capital tied up in Hong Kong's real estate industry at that time may have been as high as HK$600 billion.

With the collapse of the real estate market, the first to be hit were real estate companies that adopted aggressive investment strategies, including emerging real estate groups such as Hang Lung and Great Eagle, as well as established real estate companies such as Hongkong Land. Some even suffered catastrophic losses, such as Carnival Properties, Yik Tai Investment, and Carnival Holdings.

Conversely, those who had previously said that the second generation of the Chen family was inferior to Sir Chen Guangliang have now fallen silent.

Cheung Kong Holdings has once again emerged as a winner by cashing out heavily at its peak.

Of course, some people understand that Chen Guangliang is still alive and will inevitably guide his children from behind the scenes, which is the most formidable aspect. (End of Chapter)