Chapter 54: What a Coincidence—We Meet Again
Inside the office of Pao Yue-kong, chairman of Global Shipping Group, at Prince's Building, Pao Yue-kong listened to his subordinate's report.
His brows furrowed at first, but a smile soon appeared on his face.
Over the weekend, he had skillfully leveraged his extensive network of connections, quietly approaching many of Hong Kong's most influential stock operators.
Not only had he earned their respect, but he had also successfully purchased a large quantity of Wharf Holdings shares from them.
Out of respect for his reputation—and because he was offering prices slightly above the market rate—many of these major operators willingly sold their holdings, allowing Pao Yue-kong's acquisition campaign to begin on a strong note.
Having dealt with these well-known market operators, the "King of Shipping" once again turned his attention toward the more elusive, anonymous players.
He knew these hidden operators were like ghosts.
Even his group's powerful intelligence network had no way of uncovering their true identities.
That left only one option—contact them through the senior securities traders at the stock exchange.
However, Pao Yue-kong also understood that this would not be easy.
Those traders possessed enormous amounts of market information, but because of professional ethics and legal obligations, they would never casually reveal confidential client information.
For that reason, he had specifically asked Sir Michael Sandberg of HSBC to intervene personally, maximizing the chances of success.
As the most influential figure in Hong Kong's financial industry, Sandberg carried tremendous weight.
Even the territory's four major stock exchanges were willing to give him face.
After private negotiations, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange agreed, in principle, to act as an intermediary by contacting mysterious major shareholders of Wharf Holdings on Pao Yue-kong's behalf.
However, they would never disclose any identifying information about those investors to either Sandberg or Pao Yue-kong.
Everyone understood why.
Doing so would be illegal.
Therefore, the stock exchange would serve only as a communication bridge, relaying messages between both parties without revealing anyone's identity.
If the other party agreed, the exchange would honor Sandberg's request by arranging direct contact.
As for whatever negotiations followed, that would no longer be the exchange's responsibility.
Moreover, the entire matter had to remain secret.
Jardine Matheson absolutely could not learn of it.
Otherwise, the exchange would end up offending Jardine as well.
Had Sandberg not personally stepped in, Pao Yue-kong alone would never have been able to persuade the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to assume such a risk.
Over the past two days, Pao Yue-kong had quietly instructed the exchange's senior trading supervisor to reach out to several powerful but anonymous market operators in hopes of establishing cooperation.
Although the supervisor could not disclose confidential information, he knew exactly which trading accounts belonged to major investors.
That was how they eventually contacted Universal Investment Company.
The mysterious investor suspected of controlling a significant portion of the Wharf Holdings market had finally agreed to negotiate with the Pao family.
There was only one condition.
Bao Yugang himself had to attend the meeting in person.
To Pao Yue-kong, this was unquestionably wonderful news.
"Reply immediately," he instructed without hesitation.
"Tell them I'll come personally. Ask them to confirm the time and location."
Although he still had no idea how many Wharf Holdings shares the other party possessed, judging from the attitude of the stock exchange's representative, it was undoubtedly a substantial amount.
If he could acquire those shares, his lead over Jardine Matheson would grow even larger.
That made this meeting critically important.
He had to persuade the other side to sell those shares to the Pao family.
Meanwhile, his team would continue competing with Jardine in the open market.
With these two approaches working simultaneously, their chances of victory would increase significantly.
Between the capital raised from Lung Fung International's new share offering and the financial backing provided by HSBC, Pao Yue-kong had little reason to worry about funding.
"Understood. I'll arrange everything immediately."
His subordinate quickly left the office to relay the message.
Earlier that morning, Pao Yue-kong's son-in-law, Wu Guangzheng, had officially assumed the position of chairman of Lung Fung International and was busy adapting to his new responsibilities.
As a result, Pao Yue-kong was personally overseeing the Wharf Holdings campaign to ensure everything proceeded according to plan.
Meanwhile, back at Universal Investment Company inside Hengfeng Tower, Su Zhixue once again entered Lin Haoran's office with good news.
"Mr. Lin, I've already informed the Pao family. Mr. Pao Yue-kong has clearly stated that he's willing to come personally and asked when we'd like to hold the meeting."
After thinking for only a moment, Lin Haoran made his decision.
"Excellent."
"Hold the meeting here at our company."
"Set the time for eight o'clock tonight."
"Understood, Mr. Lin."
Su Zhixue accepted the order and left.
Everything was progressing smoothly.
Now the only question was whether Pao Yue-kong could be persuaded to compromise during tonight's negotiations.
After Su Zhixue and the others got off work as usual at six in the evening, Lin Haoran took Li Weiguo and Li Weidong out for a lavish dinner.
They did not return until sometime after seven o'clock.
As eight o'clock approached, Lin Haoran prepared a complete tea set inside his office.
He was genuinely curious.
What kind of expression would Pao Yue-kong have when he saw him?
At the same time, Pao Yue-kong arrived at Hengfeng Tower accompanied by a single bodyguard.
Hengfeng Tower and Prince's Building were separated by only a few hundred meters.
It took only a short walk to travel between them.
Keeping his appointment, Pao Yue-kong arrived precisely as promised.
The elevator carried him to the nineteenth floor.
After stepping out, he quickly found today's destination—
Universal Investment Company.
To Pao Yue-kong, the company was completely unfamiliar.
He had never heard of it before.
He had even conducted a special investigation and discovered that the company had been registered only recently.
Because of that, he naturally assumed Universal Investment had entered the market only after the battle over Wharf Holdings had already begun.
When Pao Yue-kong reached the entrance of Universal Investment Company, Lin Haoran had already walked out of his office to greet him.
Smiling warmly, he stepped forward.
"Uncle Pao, what a coincidence."
"We meet again."
Pao Yue-kong stared at him in astonishment.
"Haoran?"
"What are you doing here?"
It was obvious that he had never expected to meet him in this place.
Their brief conversation during their previous meeting had left a deep impression on Pao Yue-kong.
He had even warmly invited Lin Haoran to visit his home someday, though they had never crossed paths again afterward.
At that moment, something suddenly clicked in Pao Yue-kong's mind.
He remembered Lin Haoran's identity.
He was the youngest son of Lin Wan'an, chairman of Wan'an Group.
Although Pao Yue-kong regarded Lin Wan'an as merely an ordinary billionaire whose status still fell well below his own, the two families both lived in Deep Water Bay, making them casual acquaintances at least.
His eyes swept across the sign reading Universal Investment Company.
Immediately, a ripple of speculation stirred within his heart.
Lin Haoran's appearance here inevitably made him wonder about the company's true background.
Could it be...
Was Lin Wan'an secretly backing Universal Investment Company?
Once the thought emerged, it spread through his mind like wildfire.
The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.
Yet another question quickly followed.
He knew the financial strength of Wan'an Group very well.
It simply wasn't powerful enough to provide the enormous amount of capital required to participate in the fierce battle over Wharf Holdings.
The contradiction left Pao Yue-kong increasingly curious about the true identity of Universal Investment Company.
(End of Chapter)
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