Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 215 Land Grabbing

Afterwards, He Yuzhu visited Huo Sheng and gave him some New Year's gifts. He also gave some New Year's gifts to Orian Trench. They weren't anything too valuable, mostly food, and were prepared according to Orian Trench's tastes. Orian Trench was very happy.

He doesn't have many friends in Hong Kong, and he refuses to accept gifts from his subordinates. They call them gifts, but they're all laced with ulterior motives. It's not that he doesn't love money, but he dares not take it—that person in his family is watching him closely. (You can look up this guy's surname to find out.)

On the 29th of the lunar calendar, Old Master Chen was taken away by his two sons, who said that he couldn't stay at his daughter's house while his sons were there. Chen Lanxiang even complained to her two brothers. The old man didn't want to see the two girls arguing and said that he would definitely come back after the first day of the new year, and then they all stopped.

Early on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Grandpa Chen directly asked He Yuzhu to pick him up from the martial arts school, and He Yuzhu personally drove to pick him up.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, He Yuzhu invited Xu Damao's family to dinner. Instead of inviting Xu Damao and his family to his home, he set up several tables at his restaurant.

The reunion of the two families was quite lively. Xu Fugui and He Daqing got drunk, truly showing their respect by drinking first when meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

Lou Xiao'e is pregnant, and her pregnancy is just starting to show. She has a radiant maternal glow on her face and whispered to Xiaoman during the meal, asking her for advice on raising children.

Xiaoman, with He Yuzhu's consent, told Lou Xiao'e that she would pick her and Xu Xiaoman up to visit her home every week, and the two girls were very happy.

They don't have many friends here, and they live a monotonous life, going back and forth between home and work every day, so they're not very happy.

As for Xu Damao's mother, Chen Lanxiang also extended an invitation, which she accepted. However, she seemed a little embarrassed to go, given the previous unpleasantness between the two families.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, He Yuzhu invited Orian Trench and his family to dinner. It was a Chinese meal at a restaurant, and He Yuzhu even went to the back to cook two dishes himself.

Orion and his wife were astonished. Orion exclaimed, "What? Is there anything in this world that you can't do?"

He Yuzhu joked, "Having a baby."

"Hahahaha." Everyone burst into laughter.

The meal was a pleasant affair for both host and guests. Orian Trench was once again forced into the car, which his wife was driving—the Mercedes-Benz M100 that He Yuzhu had practically given away for free.

In March, Ho Yu-chu acquired a 20-acre (871200 square feet, approximately 87000 square meters) plot of land in Tsuen Wan and a 10-acre industrial plot in Kwun Tong at extremely low prices. It was practically a steal, costing a total of HK$13 million.

However, instead of starting to build a factory, he enclosed the area with walls and built several large warehouses.

In July, the English car production lines arrived. A total of five lines cost Ho Yu-chu HK$7 million (£625 million). They were temporarily stored in a warehouse in Tsuen Wan, where nearly fifty security guards were responsible for protecting the equipment.

Of course, He Yuzhu bought one that was 8-9% new. At that time, England's automobile industry was crippled by Japan and Germany. Otherwise, He Yuzhu would have been lucky to buy one with that amount of money.

(Specific price data is unavailable, but it's definitely more expensive than selling it as scrap metal.)
The optimization of the water dispenser was also completed in April. He Yuzhu entrusted someone to register the patent in England, and then returned to Hong Kong to file it. He then had the R&D staff start working on coffee machines and soda machines.

His first customer was the Kowloon Police Station. After trying and tasting the product, the Kowloon Police Station also ordered a year's supply of Qingquan bottled water.

As a result, the Kowloon Police Station's logistics were unanimously praised by the officers, many of whom even brought their own water bottles to the station to fill up their bottles and take home to drink. The police station then directly restricted this behavior because there wasn't enough water.

What if they couldn't get water? The police officers went directly to the logistics department to buy it, and that's how the water plant got its first batch of bottled water group-buying customers.

Qinquan's glass-bottled water has also been launched on the market at 3 cents a 500ml bottle, and advertising has been done, but the results so far are so-so. Bottled water is not yet available at this time, and it will take some time for the public to accept it.

Five tall tanks, each with a capacity of 100 cubic meters, were erected at the refrigerator factory. It took two whole days to fill them with water for the first time.

He Yuzhu's ecological space is equipped with five water pumps, and the static space is filled with ten-cubic-meter stainless steel tanks, which are filled with water day and night.

He Yuzhu went to great lengths to produce mineral water, filling his space with water whenever he had time, day or night.

Once full, the tanks are sent to a warehouse, where the empty tanks are then retrieved.

Apart from the water plant, no other work has commenced because this year has been even more chaotic than the last. (You can look up the details yourself; I can't list them all here.)
As time went on, the Kowloon Police Station's actions really had an advertising effect, and the remaining Hong Kong Police Stations successively ordered water dispensers and bottled water because it was so convenient. The water could be drunk directly and was even iced, and you could also get hot water if you wanted to drink coffee or tea.

Ice water is especially popular with patrol officers, as it's too hot outside, and the duty station even has thermos flasks filled with ice water for backup.

With more people ordering water, He Yuzhu couldn't keep up and started limiting the supply, but he didn't raise the price by 1 cents per liter.

However, the scarcity marketing strategy caused the price of water to rise outside, soaring from one yuan/L to five yuan/L. Who wouldn't want to drink better-tasting water?

By August, the water plant had sold 2500 tons of water at 500 yuan per ton (a brutal profit), earning 125 million yuan.

The people at the water plant were dumbfounded. Could water really be sold like this? Of course, they had to admit that the water did taste good, but the poorest people definitely couldn't afford it.

He Yuzhu kept his word and handed the water plant over to Xu Damao to manage after it went into operation. Xu Damao initially thought it was a small business, but later he was overwhelmed by the people who came to buy water.

But this kid is really something. Water is rationed, but the water dispenser is unlimited. He managed to come up with a sales strategy of giving away 100L of water when you buy a water dispenser. He Yu was very surprised when she heard this. Sure enough, people are forced to do things. He even came up with a buy-one-get-one-free bundled sales strategy. Nobody taught him this.

100L of water costs only 50 yuan, so the cost is negligible. However, a water dispenser costs 500 yuan, with a cost of 200 yuan. So, the profit margin is still huge.

He Yuzhu only needs to replenish the water at the water plant now. The coffee machine, beverage machine, and the later addition of a freezer with only refrigerators and bottled drinks have all been handed over to Xu Damao.

As for the original factory director Gu Yuanheng, He Yuzhu was directly transferred to the automobile department. Although construction has not yet started, planning has already begun.

Towards the end of the year, Ah Lang approached He Yuzhu and said that there was some activity at Cheung Kong Plastics Factory, which He Yuzhu had previously instructed him to keep an eye on. They were now mortgaging the factory and buying land in North Point, Kwun Tong, and other places.

He Yuzhu waved his hand and said, "I'll give you 50 million. You can bring people to buy as much as you can. If you need more, just ask me."

"Boss, why are we buying so much land? Land isn't worth much these days."

"The chaos in Hong Kong is almost over, and land prices should rise soon."

"Was this a message from the boss's British friend?"

"Don't you read newspapers or listen to the radio?"

"I really didn't notice, I've been with Gu Yuanheng all this time."

"You're interested in car factories?"

"I'm interested in building a factory."

“Perfect, you can be in charge of building it after we get the land.”

"Really?"

"Stop talking nonsense. When buying land, if you encounter those with bad conditions, don't pressure them too much. You have to let them survive, right?"

"Okay, boss. But it's not good to give me that much money all at once. How about I take 100 million to test the waters first?"

"Alright, you take a team of security personnel. Who knows if you'll run into some fools?"

"Yes, boss."

Ah Lang started to take action, while Li Ka-shing was frustrated. He had ruthlessly negotiated a low price when he bought the land, but if the other party didn't negotiate a low price, who would they sell it to?
At first, it wasn't a big deal, because Ah Lang's actions weren't significant, and he thought it was just following the trend.

As a result, Ah Lang caused a huge uproar. The land he had negotiated today was gone overnight. When he asked again, the people there had simply swept it all up with cash.

Helpless, he had to change locations. With his millions of dollars, he could have bought a lot of land, but in the end, he only bought small, inconspicuous plots that couldn't be connected. Moreover, the prices kept getting higher and higher because people knew that someone was buying up the land and started hoarding it.

When A Lang told He Yuzhu the news, He Yuzhu immediately told A Lang to stop buying land. Since he wasn't going to sell, he could just leave it in his hands. Anyway, it would take several years to develop it, so let's see who can wait that long. He doesn't lack funds right now.

However, He Yuzhu's big commotion did spur many businessmen to buy land, including Huo Sheng. Of course, no one would buy from just one place, so in the end, Li Ka-shing was really in a bind.

He dared to do this because Orian Trench and his backers had given him their endorsement. Previously, He Yuzhu didn't believe there wasn't a profit involved in purchasing the production line, so neither side mentioned it.

Orian Trench must have played a part in the police station buying water dispensers and water. All the police officers knew about 'Qingquan', and when Ah Lang encountered trouble outside, he directly reported that his boss was the owner of 'Qingquan'.

Although the business is not large, it is still very well-known in its own circle.

There are definitely some blind people out there. Someone who can buy so much land must be rich. In the eyes of the gangsters, this is a huge water pipe.

Some people thought of contacting He Yuzhu, but He Yuzhu had no interest in playing with them. They should be grateful if he didn't wipe them out.

As a result, those people thought He Yuzhu was ungrateful, and one night a group of people came to the He family villa and tried to kidnap the whole He family.

He Yuzhu pinned the man down and then made a phone call to Orian Trench.

“Orion, someone is trying to threaten the safety of me and my family. What do you think we should do?”

“Whoever tells me, I’ll send them all to Stanley.”

"They seem to be some kind of 'righteousness' group. My men subdued them all, and even killed a few in the process of defending themselves."

"several?"

"Five or six."

"It's not a big problem. You wait here, I'll bring people over right away."

Soon Orian Trench arrived at the Ho family home with his men. After his men arrested everyone, he left a few people at the Ho family home to take statements for the security guards, and then the police officers left.

"Hey, your men are pretty capable. Did you train them all?"

"I don't have time."

"Who is that? Could you introduce me to him?"

"how?"

"I'd like to ask him to help me train my subordinates." "That seems inconvenient; he's an elder of mine, a woman."

"Ms. Wang?"

"Correct."

"She's really hiding her true abilities. What did she do before?"

"It's similar to what you guys are doing. I can't say anything earlier."

"Could you ask her if she's interested in working at the police academy?"

"Huangzhukeng?"

"Correct."

"Female instructor, is this convenient?"

"We also recruit female police officers."

"Let me ask."

'It would be great if you could help us train people.'

"Dream on. You're police officers, not the military. I don't have the time for that."

“I knew it was just wishful thinking. Making money is the most important thing for you right now. By the way, I haven’t asked you why you’re doing so much land. It’s already attracted some people’s attention. I’ve asked someone to help you suppress it. If you make any big moves like this again, just let me know.”

"It's cheap, why not buy it? As for what you'll use it for, you don't know yet, we'll see. But thank you anyway, should I give you a big red envelope?"

"Once I get promoted, you can sell me a few Mercedes Z100s at a low price. It would be even better if you could upgrade the windows and seats."

"So you weren't without desires after all; you were just waiting here."

"Hahaha, I'm not accepting a bribe, this is a friendly price between friends, isn't it?"

"No problem, just don't wait until my factory is built and you're still an inspector."

"Probably not. I did some good work this time, so it should be at least the second half of next year."

"You've come prepared, haven't you? Let me see if you can upgrade it. The car is ready, but I'm wondering how much you're willing to pay?"

"One million per car?" Orian Trench probed.

How much will you resell it for?

"Hehe, I knew I couldn't hide it from you. The German cars are too expensive, yours are much cheaper."

"Alright, I won't ask you where or how much you'll sell them for. Five cars should be enough, right?"

"Enough, enough." This was already a bit beyond Orian Trench's expectations; he had originally thought he'd be lucky to get two cars at this price.

"Okay, that's good. By the way, those people you just sent back won't be released again in a few days, will they?"

"How could that be? You underestimate me. I'll make sure they rot in jail. How dare they try to harm the person who saved my life."

"And what about those behind them?"

"I will also send people to warn the various gangs. Of course, you should also be careful yourself, there will always be those who don't know their place."

"That's good. It's not that I'm afraid of them, it's just that they're too troublesome. This isn't a battlefield, and I can't just wipe them out myself."

"Hey, don't be impulsive. This place is indeed not a battlefield, just like you said. You have to trust us police officers."

"Hehe." He Yuzhu responded with a meaningful laugh.

"At least this time you have to believe me."

"Then I'll trust you this once. What if someone else is blind to your true nature?"

“You can’t do it yourself. You’re a businessman now, and you’re more likely to become a Justice of the Peace in the future. Just leave it to us. Of course, your men’s self-defense is a different matter.”

"I see. A Justice of the Peace, huh? You really dare to say that."

"I believe in your abilities."

"Hahaha, I have to treat you to a good meal today."

"Another day, I'm going back today to deal with those people and gangs. If you don't bring good wine next time, I'll be cursing you out."

"Okay, let me know in advance when you have time, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"gone."

When Orian Trench returned, he actually sent those people in, some of whom were charged with shooting a policeman outside the Ho family's house a year ago, though the timeline was changed to the present.

There's no death penalty here, so these guys are practically living in jail forever.

This tactic really intimidated those gangs. How powerful must their backing be to pin old cases on people who are committing crimes now?

Of course, the chief detective under Orion Trench also warned those people that some people were not to be touched.

However, He Yuzhu was not one to back down just because someone came to bully him. Especially after he got out, the leaders of that small gang were either missing arms or legs, and their belongings were all looted.

This can be considered a way to recover some of the losses He Yuzhu incurred recently. He had squandered 50 million and ended up spending 80 million (out of Superman's 9 million funds). You can imagine how much land he bought.

The following year, He Yuzhu registered a company called Yellow River Industry with a registered capital of ten million yuan. Its business scope included all real estate development projects, but now it's just an empty shell.

Construction of the car factory has already begun. He Yuzhu requested that the R&D building and R&D workshop be built first, followed by the engine workshop, and then the final assembly and so on.

Gu Yuanheng was puzzled. Wasn't this just throwing money away? If they only did research and development and didn't produce anything, how would they support the factory?

"Boss, do we have that much capital to go through with this?"

"Old Gu, even if everything is built and the production line is assembled, we still can't build a car."

Is it because of the raw materials?

"Yes, so there's no need to rush. There's no need to go all out and make it too big at once. Let's take it one step at a time and wait until I've secured the raw materials."

"I understand, boss. What's the main direction of the first phase of research and development? We have nothing, no manpower, no data."

"I'll tell you once it's built. You can hire the people, and I'll figure out how to get the data."

“Very few people in Hong Kong study this.”

"We need mechanical engineering, materials science, design, electrical engineering, and semiconductors. Those with previous R&D achievements would be even better. Salary is negotiable."

"So many categories, do we have to get involved in them all?"

"This is a system."

“I’d forgotten. Boss, you used to be the factory manager of a car factory. I’ll go down and get started.”

"If you need money, just tell Ah Lang to talk to me."

"Ok."

He Yuzhu, who originally planned to purchase from Australia, temporarily abandoned that idea. He first went to see Huo Sheng and asked him to use his channels to inquire whether the steel and other materials needed could be purchased domestically. Although he knew the chances were slim, he thought, "What if?" It was the closest possible route.

He Yuzhu also asked that this be kept secret, only that someone over there wanted to buy steel with US dollars/pounds.

Huo Sheng did not refuse. He knew that He Yuzhu had purchased the production line. After all, he was also in the shipping business and had access to such information. As for the broker keeping it a secret for both parties, that was perfectly normal.

He doesn't care where the money comes from, but he's not very optimistic about the prospects of car manufacturing, since geographical location limits many things.

Of course, out of concern for his friend, he kindly reminded He Yuzhu.

"Mr. He, this path you're on is very difficult."

"Yes, I know, but some people have to leave the national industry. If we don't leave now, we may fall behind for decades. You should know about the situation in China."

"I didn't expect that even after you've come out here, you're still thinking about China."

"I don't want to be living in a world where our neighbors are sucking our blood."

"Hiss, are you thinking that far ahead?"

"We'll see."

"It seems I should do something too."

　I fast-forwarded through it; there's a lot I can't write about in the middle!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)