Chapter 92: I Want to Become the King of Bottom-Fishing
"Honey... what's going on?"
Cao Shaoling's voice trembled slightly.
Because she had been following the news from the beginning, she knew far more about the story than most people, and her emotions were a tangled mix of shock and disbelief.
"I don't have a clue either!"
Lin Haoning answered irritably, his expression filled with frustration and helplessness.
He had never imagined that his own younger brother would suddenly become the chairman of Qingzhou Yingni.
It was a crushing blow to the carefully laid plans he had made to compete for the family's inheritance.
"Haoran has become the man in charge of Qingzhou Yingni?"
"How am I supposed to keep competing now?"
Bitterness and unwillingness filled Lin Haoning's heart.
He had originally believed that, with the Cao family's support, he was getting closer and closer to securing the position of heir.
Yet this sudden turn of events had reduced all of his efforts to nothing.
Thinking back on everything he had planned, his emotions became even more complicated.
He had believed that Wanfeng Fan Factory's soaring performance, driven by Middle Eastern orders, would become one of his greatest advantages in the family competition.
But now...
Compared to Qingzhou Yingni's market value, Wanfeng Fan Factory's success seemed utterly insignificant.
Lin Haoran's net worth had already surpassed even their father, Lin Wan'an.
How could he possibly continue competing?
Seeing his dejected expression, Cao Shaoling forced herself to calm down.
She knew panic would solve nothing.
"Haoning, we need to think this through carefully."
"How did Lin Haoran manage to raise such an enormous amount of money to acquire Qingzhou Yingni?
"Even if your father and my Cao family joined forces, we probably couldn't pull it off.
"Call your father right away.
"Maybe he can give us some answers."
Ten minutes later, Lin Haoning finally learned the truth from his father.
Everything had been accomplished entirely through Lin Haoran's own efforts.
Even Lin Wan'an himself had only learned the truth within the past few days.
After hanging up, Lin Haoning sank into deep silence.
His father's words echoed over and over in his mind like heavy hammer blows.
Faced with such a monstrous younger brother...
He suddenly felt that all of his own hard work had been insignificant.
Perhaps...
I really should give up.
An unprecedented sense of defeat washed over him.
He knew that even with the Cao family's full support, he could never surpass Lin Haoran.
In this struggle for the family's future...
He had already lost before the final battle had even begun.
After the press conference ended, Lin Haoran completed the official handover with Harold Centurion.
It was a fitting conclusion for both of them.
Once everything concerning Qingzhou Yingni had been settled, Harold couldn't wait to leave the company.
He no longer wanted to remain there for even a single moment.
The next thing on his agenda was to dispose of all his remaining assets in Hong Kong as quickly as possible.
The city that had once seemed so prosperous no longer held any attraction for him.
Every street and every building had lost its former charm.
Naturally, Ziegler and the other four executives left Hong Kong with him and returned to Britain.
After all, Harold had been the one who originally brought them over.
Qingzhou Yingni operated on a two-shift production schedule.
Shift changes normally took place at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
However, that evening's shift change never occurred.
Instead, all of the company's supervisors and managers gathered in one of the large conference rooms inside Qingzhou Building.
Every level of management was present.
From the General Manager...
Down to team leaders and section chiefs...
Everyone sat together in the conference room.
Seated at the head of the table, Lin Haoran looked around at the managers on both sides and couldn't help feeling deeply moved.
"Chairman."
Burton respectfully placed a list before him.
"All management personnel are present.
"Twelve senior executives.
"Forty-eight middle managers.
"One hundred and eighty-six frontline supervisors.
"Not a single absentee."
Lin Haoran nodded.
After casually flipping through the list, he set it aside.
Among the twelve senior executives, eleven were British, while only one was Chinese.
That lone Chinese executive was someone Lin Haoran had promoted personally earlier that day.
It was Liu Zhenxing.
Previously, Liu had served merely as a Quality Department supervisor.
After taking office, Lin Haoran had promoted him directly to Quality Director.
Meanwhile, the former Quality Director had been demoted to Deputy Director.
Among the forty-eight middle managers, forty-one were British.
Only seven were local Hong Kong Chinese.
The imbalance clearly demonstrated just how difficult it was for Chinese employees to rise through the ranks inside British-owned corporations.
It was practically impossible.
Before making his decision, Lin Haoran had deliberately spoken with numerous lower-level employees.
All of them spoke highly of those seven Chinese middle managers.
If they had managed to rise to middle management despite the discrimination, then they unquestionably possessed the ability to become senior executives.
As for the frontline supervisors...
The British still occupied roughly half of those positions as well.
The purpose of today's meeting was simple.
He wanted everyone to understand one thing.
From this day forward...
Qingzhou Yingni belonged to him.
He was now the boss.
At the same time, he wanted to familiarize himself with the company's management structure.
After the meeting concluded, Lin Haoran asked Burton to remain behind.
"Mr. Burton."
He smiled.
"You've worked very hard today."
Burton replied sincerely,
"Not at all.
"It's simply my responsibility.
"I'm deeply honored that you've promoted me to General Manager of Qingzhou Yingni.
"I'm full of motivation."
Lin Haoran nodded.
"After tonight's meeting, I have a much clearer understanding of the company's management structure.
"And I've discovered a problem that can't be ignored.
"Hong Kong is, after all, a city where the majority of the population is Chinese.
"Many of our clients are also Chinese-owned property developers.
"Yet nearly all of our management consists of British personnel.
"Mr. Burton...
"Do you understand what I'm getting at?"
Burton smiled knowingly.
"I do, Boss.
"There are many outstanding Chinese management talents here in Hong Kong.
"I'll actively identify and promote them so we can achieve a better balance within the management team."
"Excellent."
Lin Haoran nodded approvingly.
"What we need is a diverse and highly capable management team.
"Those who are competent should naturally remain in their positions.
"But those who occupy key roles without possessing the necessary ability...
"They'll have to be replaced."
He continued,
"My goal is for the company's middle and senior management to be evenly divided between Chinese and British employees.
"Hong Kong's business community is filled with talented people.
"If we can't find enough talent internally, we'll recruit from outside.
"Do you understand?"
"I understand completely, Boss."
Burton nodded firmly.
Seeing Burton's exhausted face, Lin Haoran smiled.
"You barely slept last night, and you've been busy the entire day.
"Go home and get some rest.
"Starting tomorrow, the company will need a great deal of your hard work."
He patted Burton's shoulder before dismissing him.
Watching Burton leave, Lin Haoran remained seated alone at the head of the conference table.
He quietly began thinking.
Everything regarding Qingzhou Yingni had been resolved perfectly.
As for the company's future development...
There was no longer any urgency.
The company was now completely under his control.
He no longer had to worry about someone else taking it away.
So...
His next objective was obvious.
Make money.
Although he still had HK$63 million available, that amount felt far too small.
One Qingzhou Yingni was nowhere near enough to satisfy his ambitions.
Nor did he intend to spend years slowly growing businesses through conventional operations.
The fastest and simplest path...
Was acquiring more outstanding companies.
Why had Li Ka-shing remained the richest Chinese businessman for so many years in his previous life?
Because throughout his entire career...
He had repeatedly acquired outstanding companies at bargain prices.
Again and again.
Each acquisition multiplied his wealth.
Looking back on Li Ka-shing's legendary business journey, Lin Haoran felt there was only one appropriate description.
He was the King of Bottom-Fishing.
From purchasing land at rock-bottom prices during the 1967 riots...
To buying real estate at depressed prices in 1972...
To acquiring Yonggao Company in 1977...
To buying Wharf shares in 1978 before selling them to Pao Yue-kong...
To acquiring Qingzhou Yingni...
To purchasing Hutchison Whampoa in 1979, creating the legendary story of "an ant swallowing an elephant"...
Then later spending HK$8.4 billion to acquire the telecommunications company Orange in 1993, before selling "Orange" for over HK$100 billion in 1999...
And eventually investing in technology companies such as Facebook, earning returns exceeding one hundredfold...
Every one of those achievements told Lin Haoran the same thing.
If you wanted to surpass everyone else...
If you wanted to accumulate wealth at incredible speed...
If you wanted to stand at the very top of the business world...
Simply running a business honestly and steadily would never be enough.
If Li Ka-shing had merely continued operating his plastics factory...
He would have become nothing more than a moderately wealthy businessman.
If he had simply focused on developing Cheung Kong Holdings as a real estate company...
He might eventually have become one of Hong Kong's leading tycoons.
But never the very top.
To become one of the world's greatest fortunes, one needed keen market instincts...
The courage to take risks...
Exceptional investment judgment...
And the ability to seize opportunities when quality assets were selling at bargain prices.
Therefore...
The path Lin Haoran intended to follow was obvious.
He wanted to become a King of Bottom-Fishing, just like Li Ka-shing.
Of course...
Acquiring companies wasn't enough.
They also had to be managed properly.
Otherwise, even the greatest fortune could eventually be squandered.
For ordinary people, successfully buying at the market bottom was extraordinarily difficult.
Without exceptional foresight, they would likely lose their principal instead.
But Lin Haoran was different.
He possessed memories from several decades into the future.
Even though those memories were incomplete...
Even though he remembered only the general outlines...
That alone was more than enough.
Take the battle for control of Wharf Holdings as an example.
Had he not known how history would unfold, then after reading in the newspapers that Pao Yue-kong claimed he had no intention of purchasing more Wharf shares...
He would probably have believed him as well.
Any normal person would.
After all, Pao had already spent an enormous amount acquiring Li Ka-shing's Wharf shares.
It seemed only natural to assume that he had run short of funds.
But because Lin Haoran had traveled back from the future...
He already knew that Pao Yue-kong not only had abundant capital...
He had long since decided to abandon shipping and move fully into land-based industries.
So Lin Haoran had acted decisively.
Although his own financial strength wasn't enough to participate directly in Wharf Holdings takeover battle...
There was nothing stopping him from taking advantage of the conflict between Pao Yue-kong and the Jardine Group to claim a small share of the profits.
That single opportunity alone...
Had earned him HK$70 million.
Therefore...
He had to continue pursuing bottom-fishing opportunities.
Who knew?
If he kept buying bargains one after another...
Perhaps one day...
He might even become the richest man in the world.
Of course...
At present, he was still unimaginably far from that goal.
The journey ahead was long.
Reaching the finish line would take many years.
But...
Time was the one thing he didn't lack.
After all—
He was only twenty-four years old.
(End of Chapter)
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