Chapter 592 Lao Bao’s advice!
“Mr. Li, I really don’t know much about what happened between you and Ayang.”

“You know, I just came back from Europe. I haven’t seen him for more than two months.”

“But he is a junior after all. If he does something wrong, I, as his uncle, will apologize for him first!”

In the living room, Bao Yugang said with a smile while making tea for Li Jiacheng.

Of course, although this is what was said, to Li Jiacheng’s ears, every word was hurtful.

Saying that Bao Zeyang is a junior is actually saying that Li Jiacheng is such a senior in Hong Kong Island, but he always goes after young people, so how can he have the nerve to ask for peace now?

But Lao Li is Lao Li after all. Even if Bao Yugang said so, Lao Li remained calm.

With a light sigh, Lao Li said to Bao Yugang sincerely: “Don’t blame Ayang for this. To be honest, it’s my fault!”

“There are a lot of overlaps between Hutchison Whampoa and Hong Kong Land, and there is competition. After Weeley left, he was already dissatisfied with me.”

“Ma Shimin is also from the military and was a mercenary before. He doesn’t have the demeanor of a British gentleman, but is full of the wildness of a Viking pirate.”

“In fact, I was attracted to him because of his wild nature. I thought he could bring new changes to Hutchison Whampoa. But I didn’t expect that he would clash with Hong Kong Land as soon as he took office.”

“It was only when the matter became serious that I noticed it. But after all, he is the boss of Hutchison Whampoa, so I can only come forward on his behalf and personally apologize to Ayang.”

“I think the market in Hong Kong Island is actually large enough for Hong Kong Land and Hutchison Whampoa to develop together. There is no need to fight to the death.”

“It’s just that Ah Yang is not in Hong Kong Island right now, and I can’t find him here. I want to talk to him, but there’s no way to start.”

“After much thought, I finally found you, Brother Bao. I hope you can make peace with me.”

At this moment, Li Jiacheng put the blame on Ma Shimin without hesitation. Anyway, he didn’t believe that it was just a private conversation between the two of them. Could Bao Yugang go to Ma Shimin to verify it?
Moreover, even if Lao Li was asked to verify it, he was not afraid. After all, he had already discussed this statement with Ma Shimin.

During negotiations, there always has to be a good cop and a bad cop.

“Willie’s side.”

“How about this, I’ll contact Ayang first to see where he is, and then I’ll talk to him and see how to deal with this matter?”

“Mr. Li, to be honest, although Ayang calls me uncle, we are not real uncle and nephew after all. Moreover, even if we are real uncle and nephew, he now has his own independent career. I can only try my best to convey your message, but I can’t guarantee the result.”

Bao Yugang didn’t reject Li Jiacheng explicitly, but he didn’t agree to it either. In a word, there is only one word: delay!

In fact, this statement itself represents a tactful rejection.

Li Jiacheng is a smart man, so he naturally understood the hidden meaning of Bao Yugang’s words.

However, things in the business world are never black and white, and it does not mean that Bao Yugang will become their enemy just because she politely rejected them.

“I know that I’ve put my brother in a difficult position. I also know that asking my brother to speak like this is a bit too much for Ayang.”

“Brother, can you help me tell Ah Yang that this time, I am willing to give up Cheung Kong’s project in Shatin as an apology for this matter.”

“Cheung Kong’s share in Shatin can be transferred to Hong Kong Holdings!”

Li Jiacheng said decisively at this moment.

After listening to it, Bao Yugang was quite surprised.

“You mean, the one in Shatin First City?”

“Correct!”

Li Jiacheng nodded seriously.

Bao Yugang smiled and waved his hands: “Not really, not really. Let me call him first to see where he is. I’ll find him and ask about the situation first.”

“Then I’ll trouble you, Brother Bao!”

Seeing that Bao Yugang still refused to give in, Li Jiacheng had no choice but to agree.

After Li Jiacheng left, Li Changhe came down from upstairs.

“You heard what he just said, didn’t you?”

“He really spent a lot of money on the project of City One Shatin this time!”

Bao Yugang said to Li Changhe with emotion at this time.

“By the way, you know about the Shatin First City project, right?”

Bao Yugang was afraid that Li Changhe didn’t understand, so he asked Li Changhe again.

Li Changhe nodded: “I know about the real estate development project in Shatin.”

Li Changhe actually knew about the Shatin First City project. This was the proud work of one of the two Lis in Hong Kong Island, the other Old Li, Li Zhaoji.

From this real estate project alone, Li Zhaoji made a profit of nearly 40 billion, making him the fourth richest Chinese in the world at one time. This shows the rate of return of this project.

However, despite the huge profits, Li Changhe has no interest in it.

“Shatin First City is managed by Black & Decker Properties, which is a joint venture of four major real estate companies: Henderson Land Development, New World Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties and Cheung Kong Holdings.”

“In terms of scale, City One Shatin is indeed very large, with 52 residential buildings, plus an attached commercial centre and shops. Even if it is only in the Shatin New Town, the potential of this project is huge.”

“However, the entire project was led by Li Zhaoji’s Henderson Land Development, and he was also responsible for the operation. Li Ka Shing had little say in this project.”

“Henderson Land Development and Sun Hung Kai are originally one company. The combined share of the two companies accounts for more than half of the total. Zheng Yutong of New World Development may not be able to work in the same mind as Li Ka-shing, so Cheung Kong Holdings is in a passive position in the City One Shatin project!”

“And Li Zhaoji has a characteristic when selling houses, which is that he likes to hold back on the properties!”

“So I think in the short term, the project in City One Shatin will not be sold. I’m afraid he will keep it for five years or even longer. To me, it’s meaningless!”

Li Changhe said calmly.

He knew about this project because of the information he had researched when he was writing about Lee So Gi in his previous life.

In fact, Li Zhaoji held on to this project for not just five years, but for fifteen years. It was not until 96 that he released all the houses in Shatin First City.

It was also that year that housing prices in Hong Kong Island reached their peak, making him a fortune and becoming the richest man in Hong Kong Island that year.

In the long run, Shatin First City has great financial prospects. Even if Swire Properties only holds a small share, it will still bring billions of profits to Li Changhe.

But the account is not calculated in this way. After all, time is money to Li Changhe.

Over the past decade, the money he invested in Sha Tin would have earned him more than a few billion thanks to the major events that happened in the past decade.

So the share of Shatin First City that Li Jiacheng offered might be very tempting to others, but it was not attractive to Li Changhe. It was even worse than Whampoa Dockyard.

“Since you already know everything, I won’t say much. Since you are not interested, just do what you have to do.”

Bao Yugang was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Jiacheng’s repeated attacks on Li Changhe.

Just like what he said to Lao Li just now, no matter what, Bao Zeyang is the junior of their Bao family, and you, a veteran in the business world, have taken the initiative to attack Bao Zeyang time and time again.

After suffering a loss, you come to him for help. Do you really think that the Bao family is completely free of anger?

So this time it wasn’t just Li Changhe’s request, Bao Yugang himself actually wanted to teach Old Li a lesson.

“But Ayang, you have a problem now, have you discovered it?”

“question?”

“Uncle, you say!”

Li Changhe asked Bao Yugang curiously.

Bao Yugang looked at Li Changhe and said seriously, “Ayang, your social circle is too weak now.”

“Have you ever discovered that although your business is very big nowadays, in fact, your social circle is not that big?”

“In Hong Kong Island, your main circle is actually the Zhejiang businessmen group that I provided for you.”

“In the United States, your social circle is mainly expanded by the Rockefeller family.”

“Singapore is the same. You mainly rely on cooperation with Lee Kuan Yew.”

“On the surface, you have overlaps with these people, but in reality, you lack a core pillar that stabilizes the sea.”

“For me, shipping is my backbone, which is the basis for me to talk with major families and politicians around the world. On Hong Kong Island, real estate is just one of my additional investments.”

“But you don’t have this backbone now.”

“The lack of this backbone is a huge hidden danger for you. The hidden danger is that although your network of relationships appears to be huge, your local social circles in various places are actually relatively weak.”

“Take Hong Kong Island for example. If one day, Li Jiacheng really joins forces with the British to deal with you, and the British don’t give me face, do you think you have any other cards to fight them?”

Bao Yugang asked softly, and Li Changhe couldn’t help but frown when he heard it.

He knew that what Bao Yuguang said was right, and this was indeed the problem he was facing now.

In fact, all his networks in Hong Kong and the United States are dependent on the two core families: the Bao family and the Rockefeller family.

Simply put, most of his partners would first consider the face of these two families before having any interactions with him.

But what if one day they no longer give him respect?
This is Li Changhe’s weakness. He does not have a core industrial system to intimidate or influence his social circle.

Finance sounds powerful, but at present, it is too abstract, especially for some political forces.

“I know that sometimes you will deliberately reduce social interaction due to your status, but I think that at least now, your status problem is no longer a problem. You should consider expanding your social circle.”

“Especially on Hong Kong Island!”

“To be honest, your social circle in Hong Kong is far less extensive than the network you have built in the United States. In the United States, in addition to the Rockefeller Foundation, you are also closely connected with the California Foundation, which can also be regarded as your own network.”

“But here in Hong Kong Island, you hardly have any interactions with many family forces. I think this is actually wrong.”

“In fact, you should build Hong Kong Island as your family base, make it your core territory first, and then go to Europe and the United States.”

“Because in Europe and America, you are always an outsider, but here in Hong Kong Island, you can become the master.”

“Think about it, if you are in Hong Kong Island and have many partners, you don’t need to show up for something like what happened to Li Jiacheng. There will be many people who will speak up for you and stand up for you.”

“There are so many clan associations, local associations, and chambers of commerce in Hong Kong Island, which are essentially weaving various networks of relationships.”

“As for you, you haven’t even integrated into the Zhejiang business community on the surface. In my opinion, this is not a good thing.”

“Even if it’s for the mainland, the power of your investment alone is ultimately limited.”

“Even if you are very rich, you can invest billions or tens of billions of dollars, but what about the industry?”

“Can you invest in every industry? Can you be familiar with every industry?”

“In the final analysis, these all require a lot of people to complete with you. The power of one person is ultimately limited.”

“In fact, there are many social places in Hong Kong Island, such as the Jockey Club and the Yacht Club, but I see that you never go there.”

“You have to know that many people have a very good impression of you and even want to make friends with you. This is actually your advantage at the moment.”

“Don’t underestimate these people. They may not have much money or assets, but in many cases, they are the direction your company needs.”

“Let’s say you run an oil company in Singapore and you want to ship oil to Hong Kong Island. OK, we have ships, but what happens after shipping oil to Hong Kong Island?”

“You want to distribute? Do you want to build another gas station? Another oil company?”

“Or should we cooperate directly with local families?”

“It’s either cooperation or competition. I think most people choose cooperation. Even Exxon and Shell chose to cooperate with many distributors when they came to Hong Kong Island.”

“Then you can’t wait until you need to contact me?”

“In this regard, Li Jiacheng does better than you. He can put aside his prejudices and cooperate with anyone, and he can judge the situation. Therefore, he has a very good reputation in the Hong Kong business circle now.”

“Hang Seng Bank, the four major Chinese real estate developers, plus the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce behind him, and then the securities and financial groups that have spread out from it. Li Fook-shiu of the Far East Exchange is his good friend, and Fung King-hei of Sun Hung Kai Securities is now also his partner.”

“This is also the reason why I don’t recommend you to fight him to the death. If the business war really goes to the end, what you are competing for is no longer just money.”

“You may have a lot more money than him, but when he gathers everyone’s strength, do you think you can handle it?”

“If he really convinces a lot of people to join forces to divide up your business, then it will be like sharks smelling blood in the sea, rushing towards you. Even if you are rich at that time, you will still be no match for four people, right?”

Hearing Bao Yugang’s earnest persuasion, Li Changhe nodded gently.

“I know, uncle!”

In fact, Li Changhe was not unaware of this. He had a plan, but he had never had time to implement it. He also felt that there was no rush for this matter.

But now according to what Bao Yugang said, Li Changhe felt that, indeed, he should expand his network of relationships in Hong Kong Island.

(End of this chapter)