Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

October 20, 1987, the day after Black Monday, which will be recorded in the annals of global financial history.

The entire sky above Hong Kong seemed to be shrouded in a thick, impenetrable cloud.

Countless wealthy men who were cuddling young models and drinking Louis XIII in clubs last night are now lining up on the rooftops of major skyscrapers in Central this morning, staring blankly as they wait to experience the aerial tramway.

Newspapers, television, and radio were filled with desperate cries of despair from people who had lost everything due to the stock market crash.

However, on this morning when the whole world was bleeding, the presidential suite of the Peninsula Hotel was filled with an extremely irritating and infuriatingly dull atmosphere.

"Smack smack..."

Lin Yao, dressed in an extremely flashy cotton pajama set, crossed his legs and was intently devouring a top-quality abalone on his plate.

Across from him stood Thirteen Sister, with messy short hair, a fried dough stick dangling from her mouth, and a thick "List of Bankruptcy Liquidation Assets" that had been rushed to her door overnight by major banks. Her eyes lit up as she read it.

"Ah Yao, look!"

Thirteen Sister was so excited that she spat out half a fried dough stick and pointed at a building in the picture book.

"The Starlight Entertainment Building in Kowloon Tong was worth a billion yesterday, but today its owner went bankrupt speculating in stock index futures and jumped off the building. HSBC is forcibly taking it back and auctioning it off, with a starting price of only 300 million—that's a steal!"

"And this one, and this one too, a semiconductor electronics factory in the New Territories, covering several hundred acres."

"Including the imported production line and 300 skilled workers, all bundled together at a rock-bottom price, only 80 million! That's more than the price of a piece of land!"

Thirteen Sister flipped through the picture book, her heart aching with worry.

Yesterday she thought spending 60 million to rent an office building was a move by a super-rich person, but today, seeing all these high-quality assets at bargain prices, she suddenly realized that she had been narrow-minded before.

This isn't a financial crisis! This is a massive clearance sale with everything at 90% off!

"Calm down, sis, wipe your drool, it's dripping all over my abalone."

Lin Yao moved the plate away a little with extreme disgust, picked up the hot milk and took a sip.

"What do you call this? This is called the cyclical reshuffling of capital. When the tide goes out, you see who's been swimming naked. And we, not only are we wearing the best diving suits, we're also driving a nuclear submarine."

Lin Yao slowly wiped his mouth, stood up, and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

"Tell Lao Chen that he's on a month-long leave anyway, so have him bring a few actuaries to HSBC headquarters to wait for me."

"Today, I'm going out to buy some goods."

Lin Yao's eyes gleamed with an extremely simple and unpretentious light, like someone buying cabbage at the market.

……

At 10:00 AM, in Central, at the HSBC Asia Pacific headquarters building, an extremely flashy bulletproof luxury car, escorted by eight black Mercedes-Benzes, arrogantly parked at the building entrance.

As the car door opened, two rows of men in bespoke black suits and sunglasses quickly formed a human wall, separating the retail investors who had gathered and were wailing in front of the bank due to bankruptcy.

Lin Yao, chewing on Big Big bubble gum, led Thirteen Sister and Chen Zheng into HSBC's VVIP-only elevator with an air of nonchalance.

At this moment, in the luxurious office of the Asia Pacific President on the top floor of HSBC, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

William, the British president of HSBC Asia Pacific, was sweating profusely as he looked at a bald, middle-aged Chinese man sitting across from him.

This bald, middle-aged man is Liu Luan, a veteran real estate tycoon in Hong Kong. He perfectly avoided the stock market crash by selling his stocks in advance and now has billions of dollars in cash in hand, ready to take advantage of the chaos.

"President William, we're all old friends, let's not beat around the bush."

Liu Luan, puffing on a cigar, arrogantly tossed a document onto the table.

"That Starlight Entertainment Building in Kowloon Tong, and those two plots of land in the New Territories slated for industrial parks—your bank is currently burdened with these kinds of bad debts. I'll offer 500 million and take them all!"

"Five...five hundred million?!"

President William nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. "Chairman Liu, this is practically robbery! That building and the land were worth at least two billion before yesterday."

"If you now offer 500 million as a package deal, who will cover our bank's losses?!"

"Hehe, yesterday is yesterday, today is today!"

Liu Luan sneered and arrogantly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

"Right now, all the rich people in Hong Kong are lining up on rooftops. Besides me, Lau Luen, who the hell can come up with 500 million in cash to take over?"

"If you don't sell it to me, this pile of steel and cement will just rot in your bank's hands. I'll wait a week at most, and by then you'll probably have to beg me to buy it for 300 million."

"you--!"

President William was trembling with anger, but he knew that Liu Luan was telling the truth.

In the midst of a stock market crash, cash is king. Those who hold cash now are the lifeblood of all banks in Hong Kong!

Just when Liu Luan was extremely smug and President William was in despair.

"Bang!"

The extremely heavy double mahogany doors to the president's office were kicked open violently from the outside.

"Five hundred million to buy assets worth two billion? This bald man, your calculations are so shrewd, I could hear them all over Victoria Harbour."

Accompanied by an extremely lazy and mocking voice, Lin Yao swaggered in with his hands in his pockets, accompanied by Thirteen Sister, who had the air of a ruthless bandit, and Chen Zheng, a top actuary.

"Damn it, who the hell is so stupid as to kick down the door to HSBC's CEO's office?!"

Liu Luan was startled. He turned around and saw a young man in his early twenties. He immediately flew into a rage. "Where did this ill-mannered scoundrel come from? Where are the security guards? Are they all dead?"

However, the next second, something extremely terrifying happened to him.

The moment President William, who had been sitting in the boss's chair with a worried expression, saw Lin Yao's face, he was as if he had been electrocuted and jumped up from his chair.

"Oh my God, Mr. Lin!!!"

With an agility far beyond his sixty years, President William slid to his knees and rushed in front of Lin Yao, his face instantly plastered with an extremely fawning and fanatical smile, as if he had seen Jesus descend.

"Mr. Lin, it is truly an honor for HSBC to have you here in its 100-year history. Please take a seat—no, no, please take my place!"

The entire room fell silent.

Liu Luan's fingers, which were holding a cigar, suddenly trembled, and a large piece of hot ash fell onto his crotch before he even realized it.

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; this was the president of HSBC Asia Pacific!

Normally, the heads of those old Chinese wealthy families would respectfully address him as Mr. William. But now, this foreign devil was actually kneeling before a twenty-year-old.

"William, do you know me?"

Lin Yao chewed on his bubble gum and didn't sit in the boss's chair. Instead, he pulled over a chair and sat down casually.

"Yes, of course I know you! You're HSBC's highest-level Black Gold VVIP customer worldwide!"

President William was so excited that he was trembling all over, and tears were almost streaming down his face.

Of course I know it! This morning, top-secret information came from headquarters that an offshore account with the last six digits of its account had 30 billion yuan in cash poured in overnight.

Three hundred billion! It's all stored in HSBC's supreme vault!

This young man in front of us could boost their entire Asia-Pacific region's performance by the mere sight of a hair on his leg; he's a walking, living god of wealth.

"It's easy once we know each other."

Lin Yao spat out the bubble gum, wiped his hands with a silk handkerchief, and then pointed impatiently at Liu Luan next to him.

"Who's this old lamp? It's making such a racket, it's hurting my ears."

"You idiot, who are you calling Old Lamp?"

Although Liu Luan was shocked by William's attitude, he was a real estate tycoon with billions of dollars in cash at his disposal, and he could not stand such an insult. He was about to lose his temper on the spot.

"Shut up, Liu Luan! How dare you be so rude to Mr. Lin?"

Before Lin Yao could even speak, President William transformed into an extremely loyal and fiercely protective dog, pointing his finger at Liu Luan and launching into a tirade of abuse.

"You dare flaunt your paltry five hundred million in beggar's money in front of Mr. Lin? Mr. Lin's interest in a single day is more than your entire fortune!"

"You...you all!"

Liu Luan was so angry that his face turned ashen.

Lin Yao ignored the clown and turned to Chen Zheng, snapping his fingers: "Old Chen, bring out the list."

With remarkable professionalism, Chen Zheng pulled out the thick "List of Bankruptcy Liquidation Assets" from his briefcase and flipped to a page with a folded corner.

Lin Yao didn't even glance at them, and directly said to President William, "The Kowloon Tong Starlight Entertainment Building, those two 300-acre industrial park plots in the New Territories, and that semiconductor factory with three imported production lines..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Luan couldn't help but sneer, "What, young upstart, you want to snag a bargain too? I'll offer 500 million for the whole package, how much can you offer? Go ahead and offer 600 million if you dare!"

Lin Yao looked at Liu Luan with extreme sympathy, as if he were looking at a mentally challenged person who had never seen the world.

"William."

Lin Yao slowly raised a finger, his voice not loud, but like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into Liu Luan's heart.

"The market value of these assets before yesterday was approximately 2.5 billion, right?"

"I'm the kind of person who never haggles when buying things; I think it's beneath me."

"Three billion, full payment. Swipe your card now and pack all these things up. I want to see Yaosheng Capital's name on all the property certificates by this afternoon."

"boom--!!!"

Liu Luan felt as if a hundred atomic bombs were exploding in his mind at the same time. Thirty billion yuan, in full, without even looking at the market price, directly buying bankrupt assets at a premium?

Is this guy insane?! He's absolutely insane!

"Three...three billion?"

President William was also stunned. He originally thought Lin Yao would offer at most one or two hundred million, but he didn't expect this guy to buy it at the original price or even at a premium. Is he doing charity?

"What, you think it's not enough?"

Lin Yao raised an eyebrow and sighed in an extremely pretentious manner.

"Money is really worthless these days, Lao Chen, give him another 500 million."

"No, no, no, Mr. Lin, three billion is enough, it's too much!"

President William was so frightened that he immediately grabbed Lin Yao's leg.

"Deal! Deal immediately! You're HSBC's savior! I'll personally handle the paperwork for you right away. The entire legal department will work overtime to ensure everything is done by 2 PM!"

Standing to the side, Liu Luan was now completely questioning the meaning of life.

He glanced at the meager 500 million offer in his hand, then at Lin Yao's utterly indifferent expression, as if he were so poor he only had money left.

An extremely strong sense of being overwhelmed by a dimensional attack made his legs go weak, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Who...who are you...?"

Liu Luan's voice trembled as he looked at Lin Yao as if he were a monster.

"Me? Just an ordinary patriotic overseas Chinese."

Lin Yao stood up, straightened the hem of his Armani suit, and walked up to Liu Luan with an extremely kind expression, patting his bald head.

"Chairman Liu, right? Stop speculating on land, it's a dead end. From now on, the rules of Hong Kong's real estate, entertainment, and technology industries will be set by my Yaosheng Capital."

"You want some meat? Sure, get to the back of the line. If I'm in a good mood, I might give you a sip of soup."

Lin Yao straightened up, and with Thirteen Sister and Chen Zheng, amidst the extremely fawning farewell from President William, he swaggered out of the office like an invincible capitalist tyrant.

Liu Luan was left alone, slumped on the ground, watching Lin Yao's departing figure, her whole body trembling wildly.

He knew that from this day forward, the business landscape of Hong Kong was about to undergo a complete transformation!

Stepping out of the HSBC Building, the sun was shining brightly, but to Thirteen Sister, the sunlight seemed to be made of gold.

"Ah Yao, three billion! You just threw it all away with a single sentence? Even if that building and land have potential for appreciation, you can't be this wasteful!"

Thirteen Sister was so distressed that she kept clicking her tongue.

"Sister, you have a broad perspective."

Lin Yao put on sunglasses and looked intently toward the New Territories.

"The Starlight Entertainment Building is perfect as the headquarters of our Yaosheng Film Industry, connecting the entire industry chain of cinemas, production, and artist management."

"As for the 300 acres of land and the semiconductor factory in the New Territories..."

A terrifyingly ambitious smile curled at the corners of Lin Yao's lips.

"In this era where even mobile phones are as bulky as bricks, nobody knows how much money future technologies can make."

"I want to build the world's most advanced chip R&D center on that land. I want to turn Hong Kong into the Silicon Valley of Asia in the future."

"This 3 billion is just a stepping stone in my journey to building the ultimate business empire!"

Listening to Lin Yao's extremely grand and epic blueprint, Thirteen Sister and Chen Zhengquan were completely dumbfounded.

This is a true tycoon. The 30 billion in the stock market is just a cash machine; the real world lies in the technology empire.

"Let's go back to Repulse Bay Estate!"

Lin Yao climbed into his bulletproof luxury car and, exuding domineering arrogance, gave the order: "Tonight, open some champagne. Tomorrow, let's go and shove all the best tech teams and hottest movie stars in Hong Kong into Yaosheng Capital's pockets!"