The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Two days later, Lin Zhichao officially accepted the Queen's investiture at Buckingham Palace. This investiture ceremony was more grand than the last time, and many nobles and dignitaries from London came.

Moreover, the only person who was awarded the honor that day was Lin Zhichao, which shows that Lin Zhichao's influence today is extraordinary.

He is the 'World Shipping King', 'Chairman of the International Tanker Association', 'Hong Kong Industrial King', 'Hong Kong Real Estate King', 'Founder of Oxfam Hong Kong', etc.; of course, those who are truly influential in the world may be He is the 'World Shipping King', a man who owns millions of tons of oil tankers and is closely related to the development of the world economy.

If you find out more carefully, Lin Zhichao is also the boss of invention companies such as trolley cases, instant noodles, Rubik's cubes, and plastic flowers. This is also a world-famous factor.

Although the 37-year-old Queen still retains her charm, as Mrs. Kennedy said - she is a boring middle-aged woman; of course, this is the Queen's duty, she needs to maintain the image of the monarch in the Commonwealth system, Naturally, you can't 'go out of line'.

The Queen put an oval medal with red and yellow edges on Lin Zhichao's neck, then arranged the medal, and then started a simple exchange.

"Sir Sir Lam, thank you for your contribution to Hong Kong's economy and your outstanding contributions in the field of public welfare!"

"Your Majesty, this is what I should do. We Chinese have an old saying - if you are poor, you can be alone, and if you are rich, you can help the world. It means that what I do is nothing, and I will continue to do it, and do it even better. good!"

The queen did not expect that Lin Zhichao was so talkative and had an unusual temperament!

"It has been more than seven years since I last awarded you a medal, and I found that you are still very young!"

The queen asked the question in her heart without changing her expression.

In fact, she was really curious about Lin Zhichao's appearance. As far as she understood, Lin Zhichao was 35 years old, but from a distance, Lin Zhichao looked like he was thirty years old. But when she got closer, she found that Lin Zhichao was very young, looking like he was in his twenties.

On the contrary, she is two years older than Lin Zhichao, but she no longer looks like she is in her twenties.

Lin Zhichao said seriously: "Maybe I don't have too many worries and maintain an optimistic attitude towards life. I think this is very important."

The queen asked again: "Are you not worried?"

Lin Zhichao said: "It seems not. I firmly believe that everything will be solved well. Worrying will not help. Maintaining a healthy attitude can better find solutions to problems."

The Queen showed a smile and said: "Very good remarks!"

"You flatter me!"

After a brief conversation, the investiture ceremony was over. The Queen was very busy with her work, so she left with Philip. Lin Zhichao also had official business and a cocktail party to attend, and he gradually started to enjoy his time in London.

Although it is a fundamental reason - money, it is at least a significant advantage.

The next day, Lin Zhichao and butler Ramsey participated in the Sotheby's special auction of London antique dealer H. R. Norton. The reason why he didn't bring Audrey Hepburn was, firstly, that she was still too ostentatious, and secondly, Audrey might be able to attend auctions for him in person in the future.

At this time, Lin Zhichao was already full of interest in collecting antiques and decided to auction Chinese treasures at major auction houses around the world. Of course, it was rare for him to attend the auction, after all, work was his absolute priority. Therefore, he could only find someone to auction it for him.

Letting Audrey Hepburn and Ramsey complete this task for him would be a good choice.

"Sir Lin, there are a few of your compatriots. It seems that there are a lot of Chinese antiques today, so everyone heard the news and came here!" Ramsey reminded in a low voice.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said nonchalantly: "Butler Ramsey, to be honest, I don't know much about antiques and collections, but I know about business. The more people bid for something, the more valuable it is in the eyes of experts; the more expensive it is. The higher the value, the greater the potential for appreciation. So, when I ask you to raise your sign later, you can do so without hesitation."

This old man is not a professional, but he has some experience. But Lin Zhichao doesn’t need much knowledge. Anyway, there are no fakes from Sotheby’s. Since there are no fakes, if Lin Zhichao doesn't need to worry about it, he can just sweep away.

At this time, the national treasure-level Chinese antiques (similar to Sanxi Tie) only cost a few hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars and would not exceed one million Hong Kong dollars. For Lin Zhichao, it was like buying cabbage.

"Okay, Sir Lin!"

Ramsey also understood Lin Zhichao's style at this time, which was that he was really rich.

After a while, the auction officially started.

As expected, Lin Zhichao saw Chinese porcelain, calligraphy and painting, and couldn't help but let Ramsay take pictures. Instead, he was not very interested in some Chinese jade articles. "The collection photographed below is a 15th-century Chinese blue and white plum vase with original cover. The starting price is 4,000 pounds, and the price will be increased by no less than 50 pounds each time!"

When the auctioneer finished speaking, Lin Zhichao couldn't help but look at the blue and white plum vase on the rostrum, and he immediately fell in love with it!

Although this thing is from the Ming Dynasty, the value of the Chenghua official kiln will definitely not be low in the future!

The starting price is 4,000 pounds, which is only 64,000 Hong Kong dollars!

Too cheap!

"I'll bid on this!" Lin Zhichao whispered to Ramsey.

He has already bought three collections for Lin Zhichao, which have become the target of public criticism at the auction house and should not be auctioned any more. Although Lin Zhichao doesn't care about tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars, he still doesn't want to be taken advantage of.

"Okay!" Ramsey said.

Afterwards, Lin Zhichao began to bid, and at the end he took turns bidding with a Chinese. The price of this 15th-century blue and white plum vase quickly soared to 8,000 pounds.

Even if Lin Zhichao doesn't understand the antique market, he knows that this price has broken the world record at this time (the world auction record for Huaxia porcelain).

However, he did not flinch at all, and calmly raised his hand to increase the price, which made the auctioneer overjoyed.

And Lin Zhichao's competitor was a bald middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, with a pair of sword eyebrows and a big mouth, he looked like a Chinese.

Of course, he doesn't care who his opponent is, he will definitely decide on this blue and white plum vase!

"8,600 pounds!" Lin Zhichao shouted out an astronomical figure.

Everyone present couldn't help applauding, which seemed to stimulate the two of them.

It's a pity that Lin Zhichao's competitors simply chose to give up.

In the end, this blue and white plum vase was bought by Lin Zhichao, and the price was almost HK$138,000.

It is indeed a bit expensive. In Lin Zhichao's opinion, the blue and white porcelain of the Ming Dynasty will only cost a few million or tens of millions in the future, and will only appreciate a hundred times. It does not seem to have as much potential for appreciation as a house in Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao just doesn't understand the market. This blue and white plum vase from the Ming Dynasty is well preserved and comes with the original cover. It is from the Chenghua official kiln. In its previous life, in 2006, it was auctioned for a sky-high price of 150 million Hong Kong dollars.

The appreciation is a thousand times, which is much greater than the appreciation of houses in Hong Kong (currently, it is almost 500 times).

After the auction, Lin Zhichao and Ramsey stood up to hand over the goods. The middle-aged man who had just competed with him walked towards them.

"Sir, are you Chinese?"

Lin Zhichao said doubtfully: "Yes, from Hong Kong! Are you?"

"A Hong Konger! I am also Chinese. My name is Dai Runzhai. My ancestral home is Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. I moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and then to the United States in 1950. I am now an antique dealer in New York."

Um, isn't this because he was scared away by the other side?

Of course, Lin Zhichao did not mean to look down on him. He said calmly: "It turns out that we are also compatriots. My surname is Lin and I am doing business in Hong Kong."

But he didn’t continue talking!

However, Dai Runzhai handed over his business card very politely and said: "I entered the antique world at a very young age. Now there is a New York art gallery, which is dedicated to building an unparalleled high-quality collection for people with sufficient financial resources and ambition to collect. Mr. Lin, if you are interested , you can come to New York to visit my gallery in the future. I think you must be an amazing businessman."

Nonsense, just like the way he held up his sign, even if the Queen of England came, she would have to raise her hands to surrender.

Lin Zhichao looked at the business card and suddenly became interested. It turned out that he was a collector. It would also be a good choice if I could have one more collector friend.

But beware of people like this, because they may use fake products to deceive "big water pipes" like Lin Zhichao. Therefore, Lin Zhichao still prefers the collections at Sotheby's and Christie's auctions. These must be appraised before they can be auctioned.

However, since Dai Runzhai serves rich people, does it mean that he also has some treasures in his hands?

If you have time, you can go to New York!

When Lin Zhichao left, Dai Runzhai muttered: "Could the Hong Kong businessman named Lin be Lin Zhichao?"

He has lived in Hong Kong for more than a year, and naturally knows that there is a businessman named Lin Zhichao in Hong Kong. At that time, he was an innovative "stratified" and "instalment" real estate businessman; now he has also learned from the American media that there is a world-renowned businessman in Hong Kong. The Ship King, also known as Lin Zhichao, is undoubtedly the same person.

Such wealthy people are potential high-quality customers!

In addition to collecting antiques, his current job is to serve people who have financial resources and are committed to collecting. Of course, they are usually foreign customers. He uses his knowledge of Chinese antiques to provide consulting services for foreigners to collect Chinese antiques, as well as directly Antiques for sale.

Lin Zhichao flew back to Hong Kong from London with four Chinese antiques.

At this time, the Hong Kong media had already widely reported the news that Lin Zhichao was knighted by the Queen.

Many people are amazed that Lin Zhichao has to be called "Sir Lin" when he is only thirty-five years old. This is obviously a very remarkable thing.

To give a simple example, Zhou Xinian served the Hong Kong government for so many years and was the highest Chinese position in the Hong Kong government - the chief councilor of the two councils. It was not until he was about to retire (1960) that he was knighted by the Queen of England.

Now Lin Zhichao is only 35 years old, and he has been promoted to "Sir Lin". He is still a young man, but he is already in a high position. It can be explained how high the status of jazz in Hong Kong is - the general governor of Hong Kong is also a jazz, even when he first took office, he is not a jazz. Of course, some important officials are jazz, such as the financial secretary Guo Bowei, the president of the University of Hong Kong, Lai Lianshi, etc. None of them are important figures in Hong Kong.

After Lin Zhichao was promoted to "Jazz", he could chat with the Governor of Hong Kong at any time about Hong Kong matters, and raise his own opinions;

At Villa No. 79 in Deep Water Bay, Lin Zhichao took the two women to the basement and then opened a door.

After entering the secret room, it suddenly became clear that it was a treasure room with an area of ​​about 2,000 square feet and various display cabinets inside.

Lin Zhichao carefully put the four antiques he brought back into the glass exhibition cabinet. Not surprisingly, these antiques will not appear on the market for at least 70 years.

"Husband, an antique costs tens of thousands and hundreds of Hong Kong dollars, and you are not a treasure connoisseur. Do you need to be so cautious?" Xu Caiying said with a smile.

She roughly knows how wealthy her husband is. The Global Shipping Group alone is worth US$400 million!

That's more than 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, so there's no need to be careful with antiques that only cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands!

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Although it is tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands now, in the future it may be millions or tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, or even over 100 million. What's more, the Lin family has a big business, so it is natural to invest fully. My level of appreciation It will also increase day by day, and in a few decades, I may become a master!"

"How can it appreciate so much?" Xu Caiying and Tang Caiyun asked at the same time.

The two girls come from merchant families, and their husbands are businessmen, so they are very sensitive to money.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "You can't say what will happen in the future! But antiques appreciate very quickly in value. Take this blue and white plum vase from the Ming Dynasty for example. Its auction price in the 1940s was 150 pounds. In the 1920s it only cost 25 pounds. So you calculate the appreciation price here. This is still an era when human economic development is slow. But now, human technology and economy have entered a stage of rapid development, and the value of antiques will definitely appreciate very quickly. In the future, the price of this bottle It may be tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. Of course, we are all old by then, so it can only be said to be a family wealth inheritance."

In fact, Lin Zhichao's investment in these is just because he has huge wealth, so it would be good to have investment.

"Wow, it turns out there is so much investment knowledge here!" Xu Caiying sighed: "But husband, why don't you keep it a secret from us? What if the treasure we gave you is sold?"

Lin Zhichao spread his hands and said: "If my wife needs to sell antiques to raise money, then what a failure I am! You can do whatever you want with the things here, what's mine is yours, and I don't need to keep any secrets from you! From now on! I will build a collection of gems, big diamonds, big gems, a lot of them, you can wear them and take them away anytime you like!"

He said very sincerely that if he was only a hundred billionaire in the future, he might care about these things; but obviously, his wealth starts and ends at hundreds of billions, even trillions are underestimated, and it is possible to have several trillions or even ten trillions. .

With such a huge wealth, why should you be stingy with your wife?

If his future daughter-in-law likes a piece of jewelry and just gives it away, how can it be like the Airship Tai family, which still needs to sign a loan agreement and repay it on time.

"Husband, you speak so nicely!"

The two women were immediately filled with happiness, followed by wealth, the trust of this man, and of course the man's domineering attitude.

The weather in Hong Kong was extremely hot in September this year, with the highest temperature reaching 35.2 degrees, setting a record since 1884. Therefore, although there were thunderstorms in July and August, the drought in Hong Kong did not ease, and Hong Kong still relied on fresh water from the mainland to tide over the difficulties.

All schools in Hong Kong have canceled physical education classes to avoid excessive sweating, lack of fresh water for bathing, and odor. Of course, there is still water for bathing, but you have to use the bath water to wash clothes, and the rice water to wash dishes. In short, everyone saves water in various ways.

When Lin Zhichao walked into Cheung Kong Holdings, many employees looked at him differently. Finally, one employee said: "Congratulations, Sir Lin!"

Lin Zhichao smiled and corrected: "Whatever you called me before, I will call you now!"

"Yes, boss!"

After Lin Zhichao walked into the office.

"Haha, let me flatter you! Sir Lin is majestic, but don't you know that our boss doesn't like people who are in the limelight!"

"The boss didn't say anything! What's so funny!"

"cut"

Someone whispered: "Flattery!"

Lin Zhichao didn't know what happened behind his back. In the company, he was absolutely not allowed to be called Sir Lin. The company was the company, and he was the biggest in the company. Why did he need a knight to highlight himself?

In the morning, the senior executives came to report their work one after another, but they did not 'make mistakes'. Everyone knew that the boss did not necessarily like doing these things in the company.

When it was time to eat, Lu Xiaopei, the deputy general manager of Poly Construction, came to Lin Zhichao’s office.

"Boss, I want to resign!"

Lin Zhichao raised his head and asked without much surprise: "What are your plans?"

Seeing Lin Zhichao's appearance, Lu Xiaopei breathed a sigh of relief. After all, his boss had shown him kindness and kindness, and he didn't want to have a grudge against his boss because of his resignation.

So, he said: "I didn't consider it at first, but I found that the number of projects developed by the company has decreased. In addition, the company has a lot of talents and General Manager Li is in charge, so I want to go out and set up a construction company by myself."

Lin Zhichao said: "The construction of the Telford Garden has not been completed yet, right?"

Seeing this, Lu Xiaopei said quickly: "I'll leave after finishing this project!"

Although there are only eight buildings in Telford Garden, each building is shaped like a diamond. There are nearly 400 households in one building, twice as many as a normal building. Because of this, the project will be constructed in phases and will be completed early next year.

Lin Zhichao also knew that people like Lu Xiaopei couldn't work all the time. Even if he didn't pay too high a salary, others could go out independently in the early 1960s; now, at least, they can take advantage of it for a few more years.

"Okay, I approve! It's a good time for everyone to work together, and we might be able to work together in the future!"

Lu Xiaopei was immediately moved. The boss seemed to understand him very well and had no intention of persuading him. There was no difficulty or dissatisfaction, which was something that touched him very much.

Afterwards, after chatting for a few words, Lu Xiaopei left.

Lin Zhichao was in the office, thinking about Poly Construction. This company originally had two architectural geniuses, but now one is gone. I don’t know if Paul Li can stick to it, but fortunately, from the beginning of Poly Construction, Lin Zhichao has focused on the backbone. Cultivate, so whoever does it won’t have much impact.

There is still a higher chance that Paul Li will stay. His experience is simpler than that of Lu Xiaopei.

night.

When Lu Xiaopei returned home, his wife immediately asked: "Have you talked to Boss Lin? I think I should resign, so I will follow Boss Lin's decision."

Lu Xiaopei was in a good mood and scolded with a smile: "Why are you so half-hearted? One moment you want to be the boss's wife, and the next moment you no longer want to be."

The wife said: "The main reason is that Boss Lin treats you very well, and his salary is so high. He even helped you invest in two real estate projects before. It took us so many years to save tens of thousands of yuan, but you followed Boss Lin for ten years and earned sixty thousand yuan." A net worth of 700,000 is enough."

After much thought recently, she decided that it would be better to work part-time!

Lu Xiaopei said: "We have agreed that we will resign when Telford Garden is completed at the beginning of next year. The boss is very open-minded and did not talk about anything else. Although I am very happy at Poly Construction and the salary is high, it is still second-rate. Handle. And now that Cheung Kong has fewer projects, I’m also worried about what to do if we have free time. We can go out and do it on our own, contract small projects, etc., and there will be no problem. If we develop slowly, we will definitely be able to make it big in the future.”

The wife was shocked for a moment, but was quickly attracted by her husband’s words!

Taking on a project worth less than 1 million yuan is not a problem at all given my husband's ability, but it may be more difficult. After all, if you do it yourself, you don't have much money to hire employees, so you have to worry about everything by yourself.

"Oh, that's good!"

With a feeling of apprehension, the couple was not in the mood that day.

Even Lu Xiaopei was a little anxious later. How could the boss reduce the project for no reason?

After all, he has been with the boss for nearly ten years and knows that the boss is very accurate in seeing the situation. Will there be a real estate downturn in Hong Kong?

Therefore, with such worries, Lu Xiaopei also became anxious later. After all, if the real estate situation fails, his project work will also be affected. The only good thing is that he already has enough financial resources to allow his family to live a good life.