The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Shangri-La Hotel.

Lin Zhichao invited some wealthy Shunde people to a gathering, mainly to discuss giving back to their hometown. Of course, everything is done on a voluntary basis. He himself donates a lot, and the reason why he invites everyone is more to show solidarity.

On the contrary, it would not be good if he did not invite everyone.

At the banquet, Hu Zhaochi said: "Lin Sheng, I heard that you went back to Shunde. How was your hometown?"

Lin Zhichao said with a solemn expression: "Mr. Hu, we are unimaginably poor in Shunde. Of course, although Shunde is poor, it has a good county magistrate who is enterprising and open-minded. The people in my hometown are very enthusiastic, and the feeling that blood is thicker than water is shocking."

He told about things in his hometown. Lin Zhichao was probably the first rich man from Shunde to go back, so everyone listened attentively.

After hearing this, Hu Zhaochi sighed and said: "I didn't expect that I, an old man, would have the chance to return to Shunde in my lifetime. After listening to Lin Sheng's words, I plan to go back this year to see if I can do anything."

He is from the same era as Lin Zhichao's father-in-law and others. They are both in their seventies, so they are among the older generation of Shunde rich people.

Lin Zhichao, Zheng Yutong, Li Shauji, Wu Baoxing, etc. were all born in the 1920s and are now considered to be in the prime of their careers.

Lin Zhichao said: "My team has been communicating with the Shunde government recently. I personally plan to donate basic primary and secondary school teaching buildings and basic facilities to Shunde for primary and secondary schools in the county. In addition, I also plan to donate a hospital and a middle school. Finally, I plan to donate basic primary and secondary school teaching buildings and basic facilities to Shunde. , and are planning to cooperate with the Shunde government to invest in a three-star hotel. I invite everyone to come. The first is that I hope you will come back to Shunde when you have time. The second is to see if you are willing to invest in this three-star hotel. Of course, this The hotel does not make money, it just recovers the cost and hands it over to the local government.”

Since he returned to Hong Kong from Shunde, he has invited several retired and semi-retired Shunde "veterans" to take care of this matter for him. All donation projects are entrusted to them to personally supervise. The ‘Lin Zhichao Teaching Building’ is all designed by the team, including hospitals, middle schools, and hotels. Lin Zhichao’s team will be responsible for the design, supervision, and other work.

Lee Shau Kee said: "This is a good thing. I am willing to invest 3 million Hong Kong dollars to invest in this hotel. Lin Sheng will make the decision for me. In addition, I also plan to return to Shunde later to have a look and consider donating to a middle school."

Zheng Yutong also said: "Lin Sheng has spoken. Of course I can't lag behind. It's time to get in touch with the mainland."

For a time, everyone expressed their intention to return to Shunde and make some contributions to their hometown. Hu Zhaochi even directly stated that he would start the journey next month and donate a vocational middle school.

Lin Zhichao finally said happily: "Okay, we always organize Shunde Friendship Association and Shunde Chamber of Commerce overseas. These are the thoughts and surrender to our hometown. Now the motherland opens its door to welcome us, and the people in our hometown are eagerly looking forward to our return. We really Don’t shrink back, do your best, abandon past prejudices, and give back to your hometown.”

Everyone nodded. Luo Dingbang, Wu Yisun, Liang Yaoju, etc. were also here today, and everyone was considered to have some wealth. Now that Lin Zhichao is taking the lead, how could everyone not give him face?

In fact, everyone also admires Lin Zhichao's generosity. In one fell swoop, he included all the primary and secondary school teaching buildings and related facilities, a county hospital, and a middle school in the county. It was simply many times more generous than theirs.

Of course, everyone also understands that Lin Zhichao is a super rich man integrating shipping, industry, and real estate, and they can only be "little brothers."

In fact, these people may not know that Lin Zhichao only made an initial donation this year.

In terms of follow-up, we will continue to support Shunde, and of course we will also bring support to Foshan.

For example, if he wanted to donate to a university, Foshan would be more suitable, after all, Shunde only covers a large area.

During this summer vacation, Lin Zhichao’s two sons and one daughter joined the family business at the same time. The youngest daughter Lin Huizhu (the seventh) joined the Shangri-La Hotel and worked with her aunt Lin Xiner; Lin Ruicheng (the eighth) joined the Universal Group and engaged in shipping-related work; Lin Ruinan (the eighth) Lao Jiu) joined Audrey Investments to temporarily engage in financial work and accumulate experience.

In fact, Lin Zhichao's nine children have never had a say in what careers they will pursue. Lin Zhichao makes all arrangements. Fortunately, everyone was united and no one had any complaints. After all, this was what their mother wanted.

Cheung Kong Group.

Lin Zhichao called "veteran" Zhou Fuzhao and said: "This Huo Jianning has a bachelor's degree in literature and a professional accountant qualification. He should have an advantage over others. You call him and ask him to come to work at Changshi Group. First, Work in the accounting department.”

He also did not expect that he would actually snare a 'big fish'. Huo Jianning actually applied for the job at Cheung Kong Group instead of Li Jiacheng's 'Cheung Hutchison Real Estate' at this time. You should know that although Huo Jianning is a returned overseas student, the school he graduated from is not a famous university. As a large group with a market value of nearly 10 billion, Changshi Group has no shortage of international students from famous universities, and of course it does not mind graduates from ordinary universities.

Zhou Fuzhao said with a smile: "The boss is really discerning. I personally applied for this young man. He has performed very well in all aspects. I also intend to recruit him."

The boss has said since May this year that he would recruit several accountants with experience in studying abroad. He also issued a recruitment call at that time. During this period, there were many applicants, and one person has been recruited. As a newly graduated international student, Huo Jianning was recruited by Changshi, and he was really lucky.

"The specific situation depends on the job, but academic qualifications can be regarded as a stepping stone. Changshi Group is undergoing transformation, and it will also require highly educated talents to join in the future. This is a trend."

"Yes, times have changed. In the past, not everyone had the money to go to college, but now everyone has the opportunity to go to college. So being able to go to college, first of all, depends on the person's willingness to work hard. Although academic qualifications are not absolute, but in the future They will all be given priority by large enterprises.”

Zhou Fuzhao and Zhou Huaian, father and son, were both sent overseas to study by Lin Zhichao. Zhou Fuzhao graduated from middle school, then joined a bank, and was recruited by Lin Zhichao from Yangtze Real Estate. In the early 1950s, Yangtze Real Estate had no real estate projects, so he was sponsored by Lin Zhichao to go to London, spent three years studying, and received Professional accountant qualification.

As for Zhou Fuzhao's son Zhou Huai'an, he was spotted by Lin Zhichao in middle school because he was a good scholar. Later, under Lin Zhichao's personal care, he went to Oxford to study. After completing his studies, he immediately joined the Cheung Kong Group.

After chatting for a while, Zhou Fuzhao went to inform Huo Jianning to come to work at Changshi Group.

Before he even left the office, he saw his son Zhou Huaian reporting to his boss's office, and he smiled happily. Being able to report to the boss means entering the core circle of Cheung Kong Group. Of course, his son is now also a core senior executive.

Zhou Huaian simply greeted "Manager Zhou" and walked towards the boss's office.

"Boss, the asset value of Midea Company has been calculated. The total value is HK$1 billion, with a total of nine redevelopment properties. All are expected to be sold next year."

Midea Company is a joint venture with Real Estate Trust and Jinxing Land. This company has acquired nine redevelopment properties from Wheelock Group and is being developed by Cheung Kong Holdings.

The contract was signed as early as April and has now entered the construction phase.

"We must have a good relationship with friends and businessmen and avoid conflicts. Secondly, it is right to act quickly. Now is the time when housing prices are rising. You can be safe and sell at a high price."

"I see"

Why should Lin Zhichao pay attention to cooperation with Wheelock?

The reason is very simple. The Wheelock Group still has many projects to be redeveloped, such as Wheelock Building and Marden Building in Central, which need to be rebuilt. There are also a large number of redevelopment properties with a total value of not less than 2 billion Hong Kong dollars.

This kind of cooperation does not require Changshi Group to consume its own land reserves and can reap considerable profits in a short period of time. Of course, it must be striven for.

In the industrial building in Kwun Tong, Lin Zhichao was visiting the fan production workshop, where a large number of workers were busy producing.

"Father, starting from April this year, the classical fans and ceiling fans we produce have become extremely popular in North America. This is all because of the impact of the oil crisis, and Europe and the United States are calling for energy conservation." Lin Ruijianghui reported.

He had to admire his father's vision. Midea began focusing on the North American market in February, and sales began to increase significantly in April, showing explosive growth. Midea has always produced fans, and this time it has adopted a strategy of focusing on sales in North America and designed classical fans. In addition, Midea has always had a wide range of sales channels in North America, so it is not possible to develop them even if they are not developed.

Lin Zhichao was also a little surprised. He originally thought it would not sell well so quickly, but the reality was somewhat different.

This year, Iran actually stopped producing oil in February. Last month (June), international oil supply dropped sharply and oil prices rose sharply. Lin Zhichao did not expect this because everything happened too fast.

Although Lin Zhichao knew about the 'first oil crisis', he thought it happened in the two years between 1979 and 1980, but he did not know that things were developing so rapidly. The current price of international crude oil is more than 30 US dollars a barrel.

"Can the production capacity keep up?" Lin Zhichao said casually.

This can be regarded as seizing the opportunity. After all, although there are many manufacturers of electric fans in Hong Kong, not all of them can seize the opportunity. First of all, they never thought that electric fans could be sold in the United States, because the United States is so developed, don't they all use air conditioners? This is their opinion; secondly, what style is more popular in the United States, as elements such as The Beatles fade away, classical music Traditional ways returned to American life.

"To keep up, our Yangtze River Industrial Group is definitely the fastest in Hong Kong in expanding production capacity. Now, we have two thousand workers specializing in producing fans for the North American market. However, there is also a fan company called Aimego in the market. They It is also focusing on the North American market, with a scale of several hundred employees, and it also produces classical fans." Lin Ruijianghui reported.

He is now the vice president of Midea and is actually in charge of all aspects of the business.

Lin Zhichao was slightly distracted, and then said: "It's normal. We are definitely not the only ones with discerning opinions, but not too many."

As long as Midea enters the market, the strength of Aimei in this life will be at least halved, or even reduced by 70%. After all, Aimeigao cannot compete with Midea in terms of financial strength and technical quality.

Lin Ruijiang asked: "How long does father think the impact of this oil crisis will be?"

Lin Zhichao said: "It will be difficult for oil prices to fall again for a long time, and Iran and Iraq will still have to go to war. However, countries around the world are dependent on oil. They have already thought of countermeasures during the first oil crisis (1973~1974). Therefore, the economic impact on various countries this time will be limited."

The reason why he did not retreat from US, Japanese and British stocks is that he understands that the oil crisis has not had such a big impact on the global economy. Although prices have increased a lot, they are still not as impactful as the first oil crisis.

"I see!"

Lin Zhichao nodded without thinking too much. Anyway, Midea's company was handed over to Lin Ruijiang. He only needed to give some instructions and he could sit back and relax.

At this time, Midea had many profitable products. The game software of "The9" alone earned HK$78 million a year. Among them, the representative games were of course "Hong Kong Cube", "Space War", "Pac-Man"; other money-making products include: Walkmans, electronic watches, arcade machines, and classical fans. The profit of the entire Midea company in the first half of this year has reached 100 million. If it is spun off, it will become a top manufacturing company in Hong Kong. .

The entire Yangtze River Industrial Group is a proper cash cow, with annual profits reaching more than 600 million Hong Kong dollars. Even in Central, there are two first-class commercial buildings, which can be said to be rich in assets.

The joint venture between Lin Zhichao's family and Li Gaofu's family became a hot topic in Hong Kong. The wedding of Lin Ruikai and Li Bingqian was held at the Shangri-La Hotel, and many media came to interview them. When Lin's four sons got married, they didn't hide from the media. They didn't take the initiative to make public, nor did they hide their heads and tail. Anyway, they were open and generous.

Regarding the security of his family, Lin Zhichao will not deliberately protect it and only arranges a driver and bodyguard. Whether you accept media interviews or not is entirely up to your own will.

"Lin Sheng, you have been blessed with many happy events in recent years!" A guest joked with a smile.

This is indeed the case. Since 1974, Lin Zhichao has held four wedding events in Hong Kong.

"Thank you, thank you. It just so happens that we can get together during our busy schedules!" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

At his level, he won't accept gifts, but his friends are very enthusiastic. If you don't accept gifts, they will give you various gifts, which makes it difficult for Lin Zhichao to refuse. If you don't call everyone, you will lose your etiquette. More importantly, everyone will know from various channels and will take the initiative to come to congratulate you.

Weddings in Hong Kong usually start officially after eight o'clock, preceded by performances, mahjong, games, etc. There are too many activities going on.

This also has some advantages. Some government officials and heads of large companies can finish their official business and then rush to the hotel, saving some of the previous activities.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the first appetizer was served, and there were also interactive activities on the podium.

Lin Zhichao's daughter-in-law did not attract Lin Ruikai because of her appearance. She can only be said to be pretty. However, the two have known each other since childhood and were childhood sweethearts. Even when they were in college, the two often contacted each other on the phone and their relationship never fell apart.

The two adults took the default attitude and allowed things to develop. Li Gaofu no longer needs to please Lin Zhichao, but he also knows that Lin Ruikai is definitely one of the best among people, so he is more supportive.

"Lin Sheng, I heard that all five of your sons are already working, so it's a lot easier for you now!" friends joked.

"That's true! And it's not much easier, it's much easier. I'm planning to retire and let them work hard. Haha!" Lin Zhichao laughed cheerfully.

He Shanheng said: "Lin Sheng is so young and wants to retire. This is embarrassing for us old bones!"

He envied Lin Zhichao's five sons, each joining a company. Isn't this the best successor?

On the contrary, his children are not interested in Hengchang Enterprises. One of his sons is in Hang Seng Bank, but HSBC does not like it, which means that he cannot take over.

Everyone laughed.

Only Lin Zhichao thought that he was serious. He planned to let his son gradually become the general manager of the company, and by then he would no longer need to worry about many things.

As the chairman of the board, he can point out the right path in key areas of the company.