The materials Tang Hongen provided were about South Sea Hotel’s investing companies.
Hong Kong Meihua, Hong Kong Shanghai HSBC Bank, Hong Kong Merchants Group, and Dongfeng Hotel Holdings.
Among the four shareholders, only one belonged to mainland capital. In ’85, this kind of situation could only occur in Special Economic Zones.
Liu Yong also leaned in to look. He wasn’t as perceptive about these things as Xia Xiaolan, only noting a string of company names beginning with “Hong Kong.” He found it very strange: South Sea Hotel had many Hong Kong shareholders, and it was being built with Hong Kong companies’ money – why had Liu Tianquan been so eager to get him involved? Liu Tianquan had the advantage himself.
Liu Yong couldn’t figure it out.
Tang Hongen hadn’t expected him to understand anyway.
Liu Yong still thought like a contractor. Though Yuanhui’s business volume wasn’t small, its scope was rather simple – just taking jobs, doing renovations, and collecting payments. Liu Yong hadn’t yet touched higher-level matters.
“Do you understand?”
Tang Hongen was asking Xia Xiaolan.
Xia Xiaolan wasn’t sure if what she understood was what Tang Hongen wanted to convey. “Do you mean Yuanhui has a chance? Because of Dongfeng Hotel Holdings?”
Tang Hongen pointed to Hong Kong Meihua, then to Dongfeng Hotel Holdings, “These two both want South Sea Hotel’s management rights. Hong Kong Meihua is backed by a major Hong Kong group and specializes in hotel management services. You don’t need to worry about their battle with Dongfeng Holdings – you can’t influence Meihua’s people anyway. You can only align with Dongfeng Holdings, that’s your opportunity.”
How could Dongfeng Holdings care about hotel renovation? They were using renovation as leverage to compete with Meihua for management rights, weren’t they?
“Does Dongfeng Holdings need Yuanhui’s design plans?”
Yuanhui definitely couldn’t handle this whole project, but picking up some work following Dongfeng Holdings wouldn’t be bad. Design renderings could be commissioned from anywhere, but if they used Yuanhui’s designs, they’d have to give some work to Yuanhui.
Xia Xiaolan had stayed there in her previous life, but not in its 1986 form – she had stayed after its 2007 renovation. Before its renovation, she hadn’t reached the level of staying in five-star hotels.
She tried hard to recall, but her impression of South Sea Hotel’s later renovation was vague. By then, she had stayed in many five-star hotels, and unless she particularly favored one, her impressions were generally blurred.
“But with Hong Kong companies as shareholders, shouldn’t this project have had matching renovation plans from the design stage?”
It wasn’t strange for a hotel opening in ’86 to start renovation in ’85, but it was very odd that by early May ’85, they didn’t even have design plans. Such a major project couldn’t operate like this.
Tang Hongen nodded, “Of course, there were already matching plans. Meihua’s plans were rejected by Dongfeng Holdings, and Dongfeng Holdings’ plans weren’t approved by the three Hong Kong shareholders. Now Dongfeng Holdings needs to modify their plans, that’s what Yuanhui would be doing.”
Modifying plans?
That was even harder than starting from scratch.
But if Xia Xiaolan had to do it alone, neither she nor Gong Yang had that capability.
Renovation wasn’t just about producing renderings. When designing, the designer needed to consider whether current technology could achieve the designs – these were things neither Gong Yang nor Xia Xiaolan knew about. The standards for a guesthouse were far different from those for a five-star hotel.
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t hide this from Tang Hongen. She honestly explained her limitations, adding another concern:
“Uncle Tang, I can only stay in Pengcheng for two days. I’m afraid I won’t have time to participate in this project.”
It was a good opportunity, but they needed the capability to secure it.
Gong Yang moving from part-time to full-time didn’t mean he could modify five-star hotel renovation designs. He was an art student – design work was fine, but with his experience, five-star hotel plans were clearly beyond his scope!
“Dongfeng Holdings has a branch in Beijing. Their representative surnamed Huo, is in Pengcheng now, waiting to meet potential partner companies, not just Yuanhui. You’re taking tomorrow evening’s flight back to Beijing, right? I’ve arranged lunch for you with him tomorrow.”
Tang Hongen settled the matter decisively.
Others actively sought cooperation with Dongfeng Holdings – would they really notice a small company like Yuanhui just because of the government guesthouse renovation?
Or had they heard rumors about Yuanhui’s close relationship with Tang Hongen and wanted his support in Pengcheng, thus showing interest in Yuanhui?
Xia Xiaolan hesitated: “Uncle Tang, wouldn’t this reflect poorly on you?”
“It’s not what you think. There are other factors involved. They want to find someone trustworthy. I don’t know about other companies, but though Yuanhui lacks qualifications, your completed projects have high customer satisfaction. Dongfeng Holdings investigated you before approaching me – this has nothing to do with me, I’m just fortunate to be able to make the connection for you.”
They approached Tang Hongen, not the city government.
Xia Xiaolan suddenly understood – this Dongfeng Holdings representative knew Tang Hongen.
That wasn’t strange – if Xia Xiaolan could know Tang Hongen, why couldn’t others have connections with him?
With Tang Hongen putting it this way, it would be inappropriate for Xia Xiaolan to keep declining. She had made her decision, but Liu Yong’s thoughts were still unclear.
“Uncle…”
Liu Yong desperately wanted to smoke a cigarette to clear his head. Yuanhui needed this project.
The company needed to become more professional, and couldn’t keep doing small jobs. Participating in South Sea Hotel’s renovation – aside from the project’s profit, having this credential would accelerate the company’s development, just like the government guesthouse had.
Mayor Tang’s help was still aimed at winning over his sister Fen, right?
Liu Yong was stuck on this point.
Only after Xia Xiaolan called “Uncle” again did Liu Yong snap back:
“Alright, we’ll follow Mayor Tang’s advice!”
If Mayor Tang wanted to pursue Liu Fen, having the South Sea Hotel renovation project wouldn’t change anything. If his sister ended up with Tang Hongen, Liu Yong didn’t want to be a burden – having strong in-laws was better than anything. Liu Yong had to fight hard now; originally he just wanted to support his wife and children and back up his niece, but now he had to add Liu Fen to that list. He could only grit his teeth and battle in the business world.
If he was going to fear wolves in front and tigers behind, why do business at all? Might as well go home and grow sweet potatoes!
Xia Xiaolan confirmed tomorrow’s lunch location and left with Liu Yong.
“Uncle, neither of us will sleep tonight. Let’s call Gong Yang and go check out South Sea Hotel’s site together. It’s not renovated yet, but the main building is already complete. Building floor plans aren’t as intuitive as seeing it in person.”
Xia Xiaolan’s ability to understand building floor plans was thanks to Ning Xue’s previous assignments. She had self-studied for a while before, but was still amateur – how could self-study compare to learning from Huaqing Architecture Department’s teachers?
Liu Yong nodded, “Tomorrow I’ll bring the company’s portfolio. We might not cooperate with Dongfeng Holdings, but we can’t let their people look down on us!”