Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

After seeing off the hopeful Little Ma to St. Teresa's Hospital for treatment of his leg ailment, Lu Chen did not rest.

The silver 930 Turbo, like an elegant cheetah, drove through Tsim Sha Tsui and into the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, heading straight for Central.

Although he had nearly 100 million yuan in cash, Lu Chen knew very well that money was just worthless paper if it didn't circulate. And Jiahe International was the biggest pump he used to create wealth.

The current Golden Harvest International is not located in the "Golden Gate Building" that will one day shock the whole of Hong Kong, but is instead crammed into an inconspicuous office building on Des Voeux Road Central.

Although the company has made a profit of one or two million in the past few months thanks to Lu Chen's intelligence and Cheng Yiyan's skillful maneuvering in the stock market, this is not even the foundation for a company that aspires to become a business empire.

Pushing open the company's somewhat flimsy glass door, a whiff of cheap coffee, cigarettes, and paper ink hit me.

In an office space of less than 100 square meters, seven or eight employees were busy as bees. The telephone rang incessantly, the teletype machine spewed out long strips of paper, some were shouting quotes into the phone, and others were buried in organizing documents.

This is a microcosm of Hong Kong Island in the early 80s—chaotic, crowded, but full of vitality.

"Hello, Chairman Lu!"

The receptionist, with her sharp eyes, immediately recognized this "big shot" who, although rarely seen, always commanded respect and deference from Chairman Cheng Yiyan whenever he visited.

Lu Chen put his index finger to his lips as a shushing gesture, then walked straight to the chairman's office at the very back.

Push the door open and enter.

Cheng Yiyan was sitting behind his desk, holding two receivers in his hands. He was looking at the several monitors on the desk that were flashing stock market information, while arguing with the person on the other end of the phone in fluent Cantonese.

When Cheng Yiyan saw Lu Chen come in, she was startled. She quickly covered the phone and hurriedly said to the other end of the line, "Do as I say, then hang up." She then jumped up from her chair like a spring.

"Boss! What brings you here? You didn't even give me a heads-up so my secretary could have come downstairs to meet you!"

As Cheng Yiyan spoke, she diligently walked around the desk, dismissed the secretary, and personally served tea and water to Lu Chen.

After two months apart, Cheng Yiyan's demeanor had undergone a dramatic change.

The sourness and eagerness for quick success that he used to have as a down-on-his-luck engineer have disappeared. In their place is a well-tailored bespoke suit, his hair is combed meticulously, and the black-rimmed glasses on his nose have been replaced with gold-rimmed ones. He exudes an air of shrewdness and competence.

"How's it going? How's the company doing?"

Lu Chen walked to the head seat and sat down, casually picking up a financial statement from the table and flipping through it while asking questions.

"To be honest... I feel a bit frustrated."

Cheng Yiyan gave a wry smile and spoke frankly, "Boss, although we made a profit before, it was just small-scale. Lately, I've been trying to get some loans to do something bigger, but the loans keep getting delayed. Those bank managers are all snobs; they see that our company doesn't have any real assets to pledge, so they're very strict about the loan amounts. If this continues, forget about mergers and acquisitions; we won't even be able to use borrowed resources to generate profits."

At this point, Cheng Yiyan paused, a troubled look on his face. "We've found the listed company you asked me to find before. It's called 'Yongfa Textile,' and all the conditions are very suitable. But the only problem is that we don't have enough money. Although it's about to go bankrupt, even a dying camel is bigger than a horse. To acquire a controlling stake, we'd need at least twenty or thirty million. Our money is just a drop in the bucket."

Cheng Yiyan is an ambitious person. Lu Chen's promises to him are too grand and tempting, making him lose all interest in the small amount of money he has now.

"Don't worry about the money."

Lu Chen calmly took out a brown paper envelope from his pocket and gently patted it on the table.

"Open it and take a look."

Cheng Yiyan paused for a moment, then carefully picked up the envelope, opened the seal, and took out the contents.

It wasn't cash, but a stack of HSBC bank drafts. Each one, with its string of zeros, struck Cheng Yiyan's heart like a hammer blow.

"This...this is..."

Cheng Yiyan's hands began to tremble, and her eyes widened like copper bells.

Thirty million.

Lu Chen picked up his teacup and gently blew on the floating leaves. "This is the first investment. Is it enough for you to acquire 'Yongfa Textile'?"

Thirty million!

Cheng Yiyan felt like she was about to stop breathing.

Although he knew Lu Chen was wealthy, he thought he could only come up with a few million to invest at most. But now, Lu Chen casually tossed out thirty million, and judging from his expression, it was as easy as throwing away three thousand.

"Enough! That's more than enough!"

Cheng Yiyan was so excited she was almost incoherent, "With this money, in three months... no! Two months! I can take control!"

While he was excited, a huge wave of emotions surged within him.

Just who exactly is this Young Master Lu?

In an instant, countless possibilities flashed through Cheng Yiyan's mind: the illegitimate son of a reclusive tycoon in Southeast Asia? An agent of a Southeast Asian warlord? Or the heir to a mysterious conglomerate?

He and Zeng Jianqiao had discussed this countless times in private, and their conclusions were surprisingly consistent: Don't ask.

For big shots like this, the more mysterious their background, the better. Asking too many questions might shorten your lifespan.

"This money will be injected into our company through a shell company."

Lu Chen said calmly, "Nominally, it's 'foreign investment' brought in from Southeast Asia. Lao Cheng, use this money to immediately acquire 'Yongfa Textile'. Remember, I want absolute control. After acquiring it, change the name to 'Jiahe Textile'."

"Understood!" Cheng Yiyan nodded emphatically, clutching the three promissory notes tightly in his hand.

"besides."

Lu Chen pulled another piece of paper from his pocket, on which several stock codes were densely written. These were the speculative stocks he had compiled, based on his Lv7 intelligence and memories from his previous life, that were expected to make big moves soon.

"I'll give you an extra ten million. You can use the company's name to build positions in these stocks. No need to hold them long-term. Just follow my instructions and buy and sell quickly."

Cheng Yiyan took the note as if it were a priceless treasure. He now blindly admired Lu Chen's business acumen.

Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction. Cheng Yiyan's attitude of "doing things without asking where they came from" was exactly what he valued most.

"Acquiring the textile mill is just the first step."

Lu Chen put down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly on the table. The sound made Cheng Yiyan immediately quiet down and pretend to listen attentively.

"Next, we need to reorganize and set up this textile factory again, but we will not make fabrics; instead, we will directly produce clothing."

"Making clothes?" Cheng Yiyan was somewhat stunned and hesitated. "This..."

In those days, although manufacturing still existed on Hong Kong Island, the focus had begun to shift towards finance and real estate. Making clothes was hard-earned money with thin profit margins and fierce competition; for those who played the capital game, it was a burden.

"Boss, the garment industry is tough these days," Cheng Yiyan couldn't help but advise. "Labor costs are rising, and with quota restrictions from Europe and America, many factories are moving north or south. If we enter the market now, we'll only make a meager living, and we might even lose money."

"Who said I was going to make ordinary clothes?"

Lu Chen stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the bustling Central district.

In 1981, Hong Kong Island was at the height of its economic boom. The stock market was booming and the property market was soaring.

"With the economy booming and the stock market soaring, everyone has spare money in their pockets. Once people have money, they become vain, want to be different, and want to outdo others. So what they lack is a 'label' that can prove their identity."

Lu Chen turned around, his gaze intense. "I did some market research. Although Hong Kong Island is full of foreign firms, the real high-end luxury market is still a blue ocean. Those big European and American brands, like LV and Gucci, are still very arrogant towards the Asian market. You can hardly find any stores in the entire island of Hong Kong, and their styles are all outdated."

"Since they're not seizing the opportunity, then we'll take it on."

"After acquiring the textile factory, don't think about continuing to make those cheap OEM shirts." Lu Chen held up one finger. "We need to clear out the production line and only keep the core tailors and pattern makers. We want to create a high-end clothing brand that belongs to Jiahe."

"Remember, we're not selling clothes, we're selling status, class, and dreams. A suit that costs 500 yuan to make, we'll sell for 50,000 yuan. And it will be limited edition, with people lining up to buy it, and if they can't get one, they'll have to pull strings."

"Fifty thousand?!" Cheng Yiyan's jaw nearly dropped. "Robbery? Who would buy that?"

"Those who want to prove they're not nouveau riche will buy it, and those who want to climb into high society will buy it."

Lu Chen walked back to the table, picked up a pen and paper, and wrote down a name on it—"Garreau".

"and……"

Lu Chen's voice suddenly lowered, and his eyes became somewhat meaningful, "There's another advantage to building a high-end brand."

He leaned closer to Cheng Yiyan and whispered:

"The cost of luxury goods is opaque. A fur coat priced at 50,000 might only cost 5,000 to produce. The 45,000 difference includes 'design fees,' 'brand premium,' 'overseas promotion fees,' and so on."

"These fees are very difficult to investigate and verify. If we have a large sum of 'unexplained' funds flowing into the company through these channels, turning into legitimate sales revenue and consulting fees..."

Lu Chen didn't spell it out, but left it at that.

Who is Cheng Yiyan? A future stock market swindler, now the chairman of Jiahe. Upon hearing this, every pore on his body seemed to explode.

Money laundering!

This is the most sophisticated money laundering method!

If you're just running a restaurant or casino, the cash flow might be large, but you're too easy to be targeted. But luxury goods are different; they're inherently a highly profitable industry. Even if the profit margins on paper are ridiculously high, people will only think it's because the brand is successful, and won't question the source of the funds!

"I understand! I understand everything!"

Cheng Yiyan was so excited her face turned red. She looked at Lu Chen as if he were a god of wealth. "Acquiring the textile factory and building a brand isn't just about making money, it's about building a 'highway' for our funds!"

"Boss, you've gone too far with this game!"

Lu Chen smiled and did not deny it.

"Now that you understand, let's get started."

Lu Chen stood up, straightened his suit, and said, "I'll give you two months. I want to see 'Yongfa Textile' become a subsidiary of Jiahe. As for the designers, I'll take care of that. You just need to get the basics up and running."

After all, good design is the soul of high-end clothing, so Lu Chen plans to continue to take advantage of his past life's resources and train new designers so that the clothes he designs will have a high-class feel.

"Remember, what we want to achieve is to become the top brand in Hong Kong Island, and even in all of Asia. Don't be afraid to spend money on our product line; the investment we make now will be returned a thousandfold in the future."

"Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!"

Cheng Yiyan stood at attention, his voice booming. At this moment, he held a huge sum of thirty million in his hands, his mind filled with a shocking plan, and he was brimming with fighting spirit.

Lu Chen walked out of the gate of Jiahe International and stood in the old elevator lobby to wait.

The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing his young and confident face.

Thirty million is just the beginning.

In the future, all the money that can't be made in the light of day will soon be transformed into clean and legitimate assets through the "Garreau" brand, flowing into the stock market and real estate, and eventually accumulating into a vast financial empire.

"bite--"

The elevator doors opened.

Lu Chen stepped inside.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, inside the iron bars of Stanley Prison.

Song Zihao was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a tattered Bible in his hand, but his mind had already flown outside the wall.

He looked at the marks on the wall, the marks he used to record his sentence.

"Acheng... Uncle Yao..."

Song Zihao closed the book, a cold glint flashing in his eyes that he had never seen before.

"One more week. What you owe me, I will take back with interest."