Chapter 4: The Opportunity to Make Money Has Arrived
In the blink of an eye, another day had passed.
Early the next morning, Lin Haoran woke up as early as usual.
A few days earlier, he had already instructed Lin Si that every morning, when bringing him breakfast, he should also bring copies of several of Hong Kong's major newspapers.
These included newspapers such as *Oriental Daily*, *Ta Kung Pao*, *Hong Kong Economic Journal*, *Sing Tao Daily*, and *Hong Kong Commercial Daily*.
Naturally, he did this to better understand the current situation in Hong Kong.
At the same time, he hoped to find useful information from the newspapers.
A calendar hung prominently on the wall, clearly showing today's date: **September 5, 1978**.
After finishing breakfast, Lin Haoran reclined halfway on his bed and picked up a copy of the *Hong Kong Economic Journal* to read.
The headline on the front page immediately caught his attention.
**"Shipping King Pao Yue-kong Publicly Declares He Has Acquired 15%-20% of Wharf Holdings Shares, Becoming Wharf's Largest Shareholder!"**
The article also included Pao Yue-kong's detailed public statement as well as the background behind the acquisition.
Pao stated that he had no intention of purchasing additional shares in Wharf Holdings.
Seeing this news, Lin Haoran's heart stirred. In his previous life, he had studied the famous battle for control of Wharf Holdings, so he knew very well that Pao's public statement was nothing more than a smokescreen designed to create a false impression.
Everything was intended to mislead competitors and shareholders, causing Wharf's stock price to fall from its high levels back down.
Otherwise, it would be difficult for Pao to continue increasing his stake in the company.
Originally, it was Li Ka-shing who had first set his sights on Wharf Holdings. He had secretly acquired 18% of Wharf's shares, but eventually news of his purchases leaked out.
As the actual controlling party of Wharf Holdings, the Jardine Matheson Group naturally did not want to lose control of the company so easily. They therefore approached HSBC Chairman Michael Sandberg, hoping that HSBC could persuade Li Ka-shing to abandon his takeover attempt.
In the end, under Michael Sandberg's mediation, Li Ka-shing did indeed give up his bid for Wharf Holdings.
However, with HSBC's support, all the Wharf shares Li had secretly accumulated were sold to Pao Yue-kong. This was essentially a gesture of goodwill toward both Pao and HSBC, paving the way for HSBC to later agree to sell Hutchison Whampoa shares to Li Ka-shing.
As a result, Jardine Matheson merely exchanged one opponent for an even stronger one—a move that ultimately backfired.
This was also why Pao Yue-kong had suddenly become Wharf's largest shareholder.
During this period, after news leaked about Li Ka-shing's secret acquisitions and Jardine launched its countermeasures, Wharf's stock price had already risen to a high of **HK$49 per share**.
Although Pao was now the largest shareholder, he was still a long way from completely controlling Wharf Holdings.
After all, the company's major shareholders were primarily British-funded consortiums. While each individual shareholder held fewer shares than Pao, together they still possessed enough power to prevent him from seizing control.
Originally, Lin Haoran had been wondering how he could find an opportunity to make a fortune.
Now, wasn't this opportunity right in front of him?
The moment he realized this, Lin Haoran became extremely excited.
As long as he could capitalize on the battle for Wharf Holdings and make a huge profit, he would have enough startup capital.
Lin Haoran knew very well just how insanely high Wharf's stock price would soar in the coming months.
*"I never expected that after transmigrating, I'd immediately get to personally experience such a classic takeover battle. What a pity—if only I had transmigrated a few years earlier, I might even have had a chance to acquire Wharf myself,"* Lin Haoran thought with some regret.
If he had traveled back to **1970**, he would definitely have had enough time to make arrangements. He was confident Chinese-owned conglomerates had been gradually rising, there was still a substantial gap compared to British-funded corporations.
Thus, Pao Yue-kong becoming the largest shareholder of a powerful, established British company was truly historic.
As a result, it became a highly controversial and sensational news topic, and naturally, the media rushed to cover it.
After finishing all the newspapers, Lin Haoran finally left his room.
The sun was blazing fiercely that day.
Standing in the corridor on the third floor and gazing at the surging waters of Shenzhen Bay dozens of meters away, Lin Haoran felt exceptionally cheerful.
Downstairs, the workers were busy at work.
Although business was no longer as prosperous as before, there were still many clients that Lin Haoning could not interfere with.
Therefore, despite losing quite a few old customers, Huafeng Cement Factory still had plenty of business and would not suffer losses in the short term.
He went directly from the third floor to the second floor and arrived at the financial office of Huafeng Cement Factory.
.
His purpose was simple: he wanted to see how much money the factory currently had on its books.
When Lin Wan'an had handed Huafeng Cement Factory over to Lin Haoran in its entirety, knowing that Lin Haoran was at a disadvantage in the competition, he had deliberately left **HK$1 million** in the company's account.
This was something Lin Haoran's elder brother, Lin Haoning, did not know.
It was evident that Lin Wan'an truly doted on his youngest son, Lin Haoran.
"Miss Lin, please give me a copy of the company's financial statements."
Upon entering the financial office, Lin Haoran directly said to the person in charge of the factory's finances.
At the same time, he looked at the top of Miss Lin's head.
**Lin Xiya: [Loyalty: 75/100]**
Lin Haoran was somewhat surprised. He had not expected a financial manager to have such high loyalty toward him.
Miss Lin had also been assigned by his father to assist him.
Clearly, she was far more trustworthy. At the very least, she had not been infiltrated by Lin Haoning and appeared to be loyal to the company.
"Certainly, Boss. Please wait a moment."
Very soon, Lin Haoran received Huafeng Cement Factory's financial statement for August.
After obtaining the report, the first thing he checked was the balance of the company's accounts.
Next, he would need a sum of money in order to profit from the battle over Wharf Holdings. The more capital he had, the greater the profits he could make.
Therefore, Lin Haoran had come to the finance office specifically to determine the total amount of funds currently at his disposal.
(End of Chapter)
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