Siheyuan (courtyard house): My name is Shazhu!

Three of the four major trading companies were acquired, so why leave us as the only company? If you're not good enough, then sell Hutchison Whampoa to Dongda Group. It's not like we're not going to pay you.

Our company is losing money and has a lot of debt, and you can't manage it. You should just give up, take the money, and leave. We want to work for Dongda Group.

They earn more than HK$200 more a month than us, and they have many benefits. What do you have? All you do is lay off employees.

The workers at Hutchison Whampoa were outraged. They hadn't expected that it was Dongda Group that was acquiring them, and the company owners refused to sell!

I'm feeling down!

They've all colluded, all working together to fight for their own rights. They've calculated that we've lost too much, and we must change the board's attitude to fight for our own benefits.

The news spread like wildfire, eventually reaching tens of thousands who besieged the board's offices, triggering a major strike by Hutchison's workers.

What's the point of trying to appease them? Their already loss-making core business is going to be even worse, and now they'll be losing money along with other companies.

What should we do?!

Three days later, 90% of the board members decided to sell their shares, but not at the stock price of one dollar (the stock price was falling again after the strike), but at least two dollars and fifty cents per share.

Hutchison is still worth the price.

The only one who didn't want to sell his shares was Qi Dezun. He still wanted to try his best to resolve Hutchison Whampoa, but with few shares in hand, he had no choice but to admit defeat.

The conversation between the two parties at Dongda Group went very well. They only paused for a few minutes at the 2.5 yuan stock price before He Yuzhu and Zhao Youcai agreed after discussing it.

The acquisition of their 50.1% stake in Hutchison Holdings for HK$2.50 is effective immediately and will be reported to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

Hutchison Whampoa suspended trading, with Dongda Group holding 91.1% of the shares, and applied for delisting and restructuring.

The shares held by other shareholders will be bought back at 2 yuan per share, not at the price of 0.97 yuan when trading was suspended today!

Dongda Group gave these retail investors some face again and bought back double the shares.

They have realized the importance of a good reputation. Just like with Hutchison Whampoa this time, employee opinions influence the board of directors, and they want to work for Dongda Group.

It's worth spending a little more money on insignificant things to buy reputation.

When Hutchison employees heard that they had finally become part of the Tung Tai Group, they spontaneously began to celebrate.

Everyone in the port city was stunned. In just a few days, all four major trading companies had been acquired by the Dongda Group.

That's awesome! This time, all the big companies in Hong Kong are ours, and Niu Niu is no longer needed.

Three days later, Zhao Youcai announced that, effective immediately, all the acquired companies would receive salaries and benefits at the same rate as Dongda Group.

Because the company's finance department is short-staffed, payroll calculations are completed within three months. Employees who have not received their wages in the previous months will receive them retroactively within three months.

The salary will be paid retroactively, even if it's a month or two late. Nobody will care. The salary will go up, and Dongda Group won't break its promise. The company is extremely wealthy now.

Many bored reporters are researching how much money Dongda Group actually made last year, which is why they couldn't resist buying more products!

Let them be, I need to rest!

More and more people in the port city are getting to know He Yuzhu, but they only know him from television and newspapers.

Late July was rainy in Hong Kong, so I found a sunny, rainless day to accompany Martha and Lily, who had come to Hong Kong, on a shopping trip.

Hong Kong residents who recognized Ho Yu-chu did not approach or disturb them. Many reporters in Central took out their cameras, sighed, and put them back. They wanted to create some news about Ho Yu-chu but dared not!

"Not a single word may be reported if it is not true"—this is a rule known to everyone in every newspaper, from top to bottom.

The newspaper's owner and editor-in-chief all know that He Yuzhu follows the rules. If you don't follow the rules and report recklessly, someone even more unruly will come and show you what it means to be unruly!

Leave no one alive!

This is the rule when Sir Ho doesn't follow the rules.

"Hey, it seems like the reporters here are afraid of you. They don't dare to take pictures of the three of us in the tabloids and use 'celebrities' to create a sensation."

After you left, I bought Harrods for 220 million and became a celebrity. Reporters are always stalking me, making my life very inconvenient and annoying. I came here to hide from the limelight.

I gave Lily a 12% stake, nominally allowing her to manage Harold Department Store. The shares are something she owes me, and she'll pay me back gradually.

"This way, no one can say anything. I know that you Westerners are very clear about how to settle accounts with your parents. This is good, so there won't be any cases of helping for nothing."

I thought you came to Hong Kong because you missed me, but it turns out you're hiding from reporters and moved somewhere else to avoid them. If you want to see me, you should meet me openly and answer my questions.

"I came here partly to avoid them, and partly because I missed you but had nothing else to do. I bought four big hotels in China, which are well-known domestically, but they don't have any international chain stores."

Two in the capital, one in Manchester, and one in Birmingham—all five-star hotels in our best cities.

"Not bad. If you have the chance to buy a few more hotels in the future, and then buy a few more banks, you'll be a successful lady."

"No problem. Can we buy the bank shares in a few years? Will we make money opening a bank after that?"

"The banks are very good, especially since they should have completed their transformation by the 1980s. You don't need to buy the banks; you can buy their shares directly."

Your Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, and Royal Bank of Scotland are all good banks. Banks from large corporations like the US and Germany are also acceptable.

"Gold has already started selling, and we will earn hundreds of billions of NiuNiu coins. The amount of investment is too large, so buying more companies can help us avoid taxes."

Your company's selection isn't as comprehensive as Harrods'; many well-known brands aren't available. I'll help you contact them to get them in.

"If it's convenient, yes. The reputation here is still far less than your hometown, so some brands don't want to come. But things will be better in a few years."

"That's right. Our status may have declined, but we still have a reputation. They've been spending some time with us lately."

"become!"

"Hey, when do you have time to go to the US for a visit? I've never been before, but I've heard it's good."

"We'll go in October. It's a nice place; there are quite a few places to visit. What kind of places do you like to go?"

"You've been to Fifth Avenue in the US, what's it like? Are there still a lot of luxury brands? Someone's showing off to me."

"Haha, is this another competition between you women? The US economy is in a period of 'stagflation,' so Fifth Avenue is still doing quite well."

Fifth Avenue's status as the world's top luxury shopping street remains unshaken.

Iconic stores such as Tiffany, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman still operate here, attracting a large number of tourists and elites.

However, the Big Apple faces a high crime rate and economic recession, so we need to bring more people with us just in case, given the high crime rate.

"But it's not a big deal. I have a few friends in the Big Apple, people in high society, so I asked him to arrange for people to protect us."

"You're good at making friends; you have friends all over the Big Apple. They probably have a lot of museums there too."

"I've heard there are quite a few. I've been to Fifth Avenue to buy gifts for the kids. I haven't been to any museums, but I've heard of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the City Museum."

"We'll talk about it when we get there."

Martha and Lily spent a week going back to their hometown.