“Buying an office right after arriving in Hong Kong – isn’t this too extravagant?”
Ji Jiangyuan couldn’t understand this move – spending over 20 million Hong Kong dollars before earning any money.
Xia Xiaolan was very satisfied. This was Hong Kong’s Central district, where every inch was worth its weight in gold. Getting this office floor for 26 million Hong Kong dollars was already a steal.
Hong Kong’s property prices were far from their peak. Until the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Hong Kong property prices would only rise, never fall!
In real estate, location is everything. As long as Central didn’t collapse, how could such an office building depreciate?
By the peak years of ”94-’95, this office was bought for 26 million Hong Kong dollars could potentially rise to 260 million Hong Kong dollars. From any angle, this business wouldn’t lose money.
Of course, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t explain it this way to Ji Jiangyuan. She put it more diplomatically:
“Since 1984, Hong Kong’s property market has been rising steadily. Qihang spending over 26 million Hong Kong dollars on an office shows our strength externally while ensuring no internal losses. We’re an investment company – we invest in whatever makes money, not just the stock market.”
Ji Jiangyuan had nothing to say.
He was hired by Xia Xiaolan to help manage, with a salary comparable to a senior bank advisor, and promised shares once the company turned profitable… Nobody opposed Xia Xiaolan’s decisions.
She held 50% of the shares, Du Zhaohui held 30%, and was her devoted follower who would never oppose her.
Huo Chenzhou represented Dongfeng Holdings with a 10 million investment, only 10% of shares.
The remaining 10% was split among four minor shareholders, all equally devoted to Xia Xiaolan.
When Xia Xiaolan said buying a property would be profitable, they all believed her!
Qihang Capital’s office was impressive. Though not in the same building as the Cheng Rong Group, their strong presence in Central’s small area still created buzz – when Xia Xiaolan took a stroll downstairs after work, she had a high chance of running into Xia Ziyun!
Though not in the same building, they were just across the street, very close in direct distance!
Qihang Capital quickly recruited talent. As Xia Xiaolan said, with money, finding people wasn’t difficult.
Buying an entire floor immediately showed they weren’t just a shell company, demonstrating their strength… Recruitment was always two-way – companies chose employees, and employees chose companies. Capable employees wanted to join promising companies.
Xia Xiaolan personally oversaw recruitment.
Those who talked big might be frauds, while the quiet ones might have impressive backgrounds.
Within days, Xia Xiaolan assembled her team.
No one disrespected her for being young and beautiful. Hong Kong was more practical than the mainland – age, gender, looks, and even ability were secondary. Those with money were bosses. Life in Hong Kong wasn’t easy; to live well, you had to bow before your boss!
Xia Xiaolan preferred Hong Kong’s atmosphere. Efficiency was extremely high, everyone racing against time – saving time meant making money.
Chinese Yuan and Hong Kong dollars had no direct exchange rate, but both were linked to the US dollar, so their rates could be calculated… While dollars to Yuan was warmly welcomed in China, converting Yuan to dollars required foreign exchange reserves, making it extremely difficult.
It was similar to Hong Kong dollars.
In the late 1980s, the Hong Kong dollar to Yuan rate was around 2:1, though it fluctuated on the black market.
Hong Kong dollars could easily be exchanged for Yuan on the black market, but the reverse was… Thanks to HSBC’s operations in both Hong Kong and mainland China, after a series of complex operations and Du Zhaohui’s guarantee, Xia Xiaolan exchanged 100 million Yuan for 150 million Hong Kong dollars through HSBC. Though not match the official rate, Xia Xiaolan had to accept it.
If she didn’t accept, no one would exchange with her.
If she wanted to leave Hong Kong, HSBC would exchange her money back to Yuan at the same rate.
Meanwhile, all Qihang’s funds had to be deposited with HSBC.
So Xia Xiaolan entered with 150 million Hong Kong dollars, spent 26 million on the office, and still had over 120 million in cash – many eyes were watching how this money would be used.
Xia Ziyun was watching too.
CR Investment could only use 30 million Hong Kong dollars – spending like Xia Xiaolan, buying one floor for an office would use it all.
Qihang Capital had four times more money than Xia Ziyun.
If Du Chengrong didn’t inject substantial investment, with so much money, if she couldn’t crush Xia Ziyun, Xia Xiaolan felt she should stay far away from Xia Ziyun for life – that woman must be blessed by heaven!
Xia Ziyun didn’t know how much money Qihang Capital had, but spending 26 million at once on an office still pained her heart.
How much had Du Zhaohui lent Xia Xiaolan?
Was Xia Xiaolan that good at seducing men?
Thankfully Du Zhaohui didn’t own the Du family yet, or he might give the entire Du family to Xia Xiaolan!
“Keep a close eye on Qihang Capital, see what they do next!” Xia Ziyun said through gritted teeth.
Du Zhaoqi gave almost the same order.
After returning to Hong Kong to take over the family’s smuggling business, Du Zhaoqi found it truly profitable, bringing a large cash flow to the Du family… Smuggling didn’t require taxes, just annual relationship maintenance costs, the rest was pure profit, naturally very lucrative!
Du Zhaoqi also wanted to know what “Qihang Capital” planned to do.
Not just Xia Ziyun and Du Zhaoqi, but also He Zhitong.
Xia Xiaolan spending 26 million Hong Kong dollars on property in Central was beyond even He Zhitong’s scale. Perhaps after officially becoming Tang’s wife, she could get such money from Tang Yuanyue. As He family’s daughter, He Zhitong lived luxuriously, buying ten-thousand-dollar handbags casually, but could only watch a 26-million-dollar office building.
Multi-million investments wouldn’t be left to her decision – His family’s money would go to He Shien.
He Zhitong’s friend Lu Yunshi knew her concerns and paid close attention to Xia Xiaolan.
Where did Xia Xiaolan get so much money?
“Zhitong, you even invited her to your wedding?”
Now Qihang Capital, worried about making their debut, was handed an opportunity by He Zhitong – Lu Yunshi was angry for her good friend!
He Zhitong wasn’t happy either: “I know Du Zhaohui borrowed money from Yuanyue, then gave it to Xia Xiaolan. She bought the building with that money.”
Through this transfer, wasn’t Xia Xiaolan using Tang Yuanyue’s money to buy property?
Xia Xiaolan was like a lingering ghost, and Tang Yuanyue couldn’t escape suspicion of lingering feelings!
Frustrating, a thousand times frustrating – He Zhitong wasn’t even happy trying on her wedding dress.
She also wanted to know how Xia Xiaolan would invest in Hong Kong.
Buying property was the first step. For Qihang Capital’s second move in Hong Kong, Xia Xiaolan selected several stocks and ordered long positions – Xia Ziyun was rather disappointed. The Hang Seng Index rose daily, even fools knew to go long. She had thought Xia Xiaolan might make some unexpected reverse moves.
Just following the crowd!
Or perhaps Xia Xiaolan saw her trading stocks and followed suit?
Xia Xiaolan knew many people were watching her moves. She wasn’t in a hurry, first lulling these people… It was only July, and slowly making small profits, sustaining Qihang Capital until the big battle in October!