Chapter 129: 742 Million Hong Kong Dollars in Hand
The three Japanese men had clearly come prepared before arriving.
As soon as Lin Haoran finished speaking, the oldest of the three replied in somewhat halting Hong Kong Cantonese, “Mr. Lin, we are very sincere and are willing to purchase your entire oil inventory at 28 US dollars per barrel.
At present, although the international benchmark price for crude oil is 27.86 US dollars per barrel, our offer exceeds the benchmark price, which demonstrates our sincerity.”
“28 dollars a barrel?” Lin Haoran shook his head lightly, looking unconvinced. “That price is obviously not attractive enough to me. A premium of only 14 cents is practically negligible. Compared with current international market fluctuations, it makes no real difference.”
He continued, “Gentlemen, allow me to be frank. I don't feel your sincerity. If this is your offer, I'm afraid there won't be much chance for us to cooperate.
As you all know, the oil market changes by the minute. Prices have risen repeatedly this month and may even approach the 30-dollar mark. If I simply wait until the end of the month, my oil may bring me much greater returns.
In fact, several major petrochemical companies have already approached me recently, but I've held off because I'm waiting for a better opportunity. However, since you are friends of Mr. Pao Yue-kong, I've made time to give you this opportunity for a detailed discussion out of respect for him. But your current offer clearly falls short of my expectations.”
The three Japanese men exchanged glances.
The oldest among them was obviously quite fluent in Hong Kong Cantonese. He carefully relayed Lin Haoran's words to the other two, and the three quietly discussed the matter in Japanese.
Afterward, the older man turned back to Lin Haoran and politely asked, “Mr. Lin, could you tell us what price you have in mind?”
“30 dollars per barrel,” Lin Haoran replied without hesitation, deliberately asking for an exorbitant price.
He knew such a price would never be accepted, but it would give him greater leverage in the negotiations that followed.
If they had been petrochemical companies from other countries, they would probably have stormed out immediately upon hearing such a price. But Japan was different. Their domestic situation forced them to seek more oil.
As expected, the older Japanese man immediately rejected the price.
He replied sincerely, “Mr. Lin, the oil market is indeed highly volatile, but as you yourself said, its rises and falls are difficult to predict. Reaching 30 dollars per barrel may take a very long time, or perhaps never happen at all.
We are willing to demonstrate our sincerity by proposing a more realistic plan. Based on the international oil price, we will add an extra 1 US dollar per barrel, making it 28.86 US dollars per barrel. This is the greatest concession we can make, and we hope for your understanding and support.”
Adding one dollar to the international oil price meant 28.86 dollars per barrel.
That was surprisingly easy to negotiate.
Lin Haoran couldn't help but be slightly stunned. He had expected a prolonged tug-of-war that would take at least one or two hours, if not longer.
Yet the other side had so quickly agreed to add one dollar per barrel above the international price, making him realize just how urgently they needed this shipment of oil.
And in truth, this was already close to his ideal price.
Lin Haoran knew very well that no matter how desperate they were, they would never allow the price to rise to an unreasonable level.
Japan was in the midst of building up its strategic petroleum reserves. Because it relied so heavily on imported oil, domestic supplies were tight, gas stations frequently ran out of fuel, and this had become a serious constraint on Japan's economic development.
Naturally, they wanted as much oil as possible, but that certainly didn't mean they would buy blindly at exorbitant prices.
Trying to treat them like suckers was beyond Lin Haoran's ability.
After weighing everything carefully, Lin Haoran straightforwardly proposed his own plan.
“How about this? Since we're all being direct, I won't beat around the bush.
I'm willing to sell my 4.8 million barrels of crude oil for a total price of 140 million US dollars. Compared with 28.86 dollars per barrel, the total isn't much higher. If your side can accept it, then we have a deal immediately!”
At 28.86 dollars per barrel, the shipment was actually worth about 138.5 million US dollars. Lin Haoran's asking price of 140 million dollars was only about 1.5 million dollars higher—a quotation that reflected both his negotiating strategy and left room for compromise.
After hearing this, the older Japanese man thought for a moment before politely asking, “Mr. Lin, may we borrow your telephone? We need to report this important matter to our company headquarters immediately.”
“Of course. Please feel free to use it,” Lin Haoran replied with a smile.
Judging from their reaction, the deal was essentially settled. All that remained was final confirmation and signing the contract.
It was obvious that the authority granted to them by their company allowed them to purchase at up to one dollar above the international oil price.
Lin Haoran's initial sky-high asking price had forced them to reveal their bottom line ahead of schedule—the maximum price approved internally.
Any higher offer would clearly require further instructions and approval from headquarters.
One hundred forty million US dollars, at the current exchange rate, amounted to 742 million Hong Kong dollars.
His original investment had only been 300 million Hong Kong dollars.
He had more than doubled his money!
From November of last year to June of this year, in just over half a year, such an investment return left Lin Haoran extremely satisfied.
He sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for them to finish reporting to headquarters.
About twenty minutes later, they seemed to have reached a decision and finally hung up the phone.
“Mr. Lin, we've reported everything to headquarters. After discussion, they have agreed to your request. However, we need this shipment as quickly as possible. Why don't we sign the contract right now?” the oldest Japanese man said.
The negotiations had gone so smoothly that even Lin Haoran found them surprising.
The entire process had taken less than an hour before they had agreed on the price.
“Certainly. I'd be happy to complete the transaction as soon as possible. However, there are several essential conditions that need to be made clear.
First, payment must be made before delivery to protect both parties' interests. Second, the transaction must be settled in US dollars and transferred directly into my designated Citibank account.
Finally, since this is our first cooperation, I need a mutually trusted intermediary to act as guarantor. I propose Mr. Pao Yue-kong for this role to ensure transparency and security.”
Lin Haoran had no intention of handing over the goods before receiving the money.
Since these people had been introduced by Pao Yue-kong, it was obvious that transporting the oil would be entrusted to him. They were all major enterprises, and there was no issue of trust when signing a standard commercial contract.
However, Lin Haoran wanted to receive the money as quickly as possible because he needed to prepare his next money-making plan. The longer the funds were delayed, the less he would earn from his next investment.
As for why he wanted the money transferred into a Citibank account instead of an HSBC account, it was because his next step was to speculate in gold futures in the United States.
Citibank's headquarters in Hong Kong was, after all, connected to the United States, and Citibank itself was one of the strongest banks in America.
Although HSBC was extremely powerful in Hong Kong, on the global stage during this era it was, at best, only a medium-sized bank.
Citibank was different. It had long since become one of the world's top international banks and had embarked on globalization many years earlier.
For example, Citibank's Hong Kong branch had already been established in 1902. Therefore, handling transactions through Citibank was obviously much more convenient than using the local HSBC.
“Mr. Lin, none of the conditions you've proposed are a problem at all,” the older Japanese man replied readily.
In his view, Lin Haoran's requirements were entirely reasonable. They protected both parties' interests without imposing any additional burden on them.
Having Mr. Pao Yue-kong serve as the intermediary guarantor gave them even greater confidence in the cooperation.
For many years, they had maintained a close and pleasant partnership with the Worldwide Shipping Group and held Mr. Pao Yue-kong's business reputation and personal integrity in the highest regard.
In fact, they had originally intended to invite Mr. Pao Yue-kong to witness the transaction together.
Once everything had been agreed upon, there was nothing more for Lin Haoran to do. The remaining arrangements were handled entirely by the other side.
At noon, they returned to the Wan’an Group Building.
This time, they were accompanied by the influential Pao Yue-kong, along with several unfamiliar faces.
After introductions, Lin Haoran learned that these people were legal advisers hired by their company to handle the contract signing.
“Haoran, you've made an absolute fortune this time!” Pao Yue-kong exclaimed upon seeing him.
Having been invited by the Japanese side to act as guarantor, he already knew about the transaction between Lin Haoran and them.
They were long-time major clients of Global Shipping Group, so it wasn't easy for Pao Yue-kong to refuse such a request.
At the same time, he knew both parties fairly well, which was why he agreed to serve as the intermediary guarantor.
One hundred forty million US dollars—more than 700 million Hong Kong dollars in cash.
Even Pao Yue-kong couldn't help feeling envious.
This was real cash, not some inflated stock market valuation.
“Uncle Pao, I was just lucky,” Lin Haoran said modestly.
Of course, everyone knew it wasn't simply luck.
Investing 60 million US dollars required tremendous courage.
Last year, many people had already suspected another global oil crisis might occur.
But would any of them have dared invest such an enormous sum in oil?
Pao Yue-kong was certain they wouldn't.
Even he himself wouldn't have dared.
Yet Lin Haoran had.
So he had earned every penny through his own ability.
Since everyone had arrived, they proceeded directly to the contract-signing process.
Lin Haoran called over the head lawyer of Wan’an Group and had him draft the contract together with the Japanese legal team.
After the contract was completed, Lin Haoran, the Japanese representative, and Pao Yue-kong all reviewed it carefully.
Once everyone confirmed there were no issues, both parties officially signed the agreement.
“Mr. Lin, we can transfer the money to you today. Once the funds arrive, please hand over your oil purchase contract with Saudi Aramco to Mr. Pao Yue-kong so they can collect the oil in Saudi Arabia. What do you think?” the older Japanese man asked eagerly after signing.
“Fine. Since you're being straightforward, I'll be straightforward too,” Lin Haoran agreed.
After all, he only had two things left to do: receive the money and hand over the contract he had previously signed with Saudi Aramco to Pao Yue-kong.
With the contract in hand, Global Shipping Group could naturally collect the shipment of oil in Saudi Arabia.
Everything else no longer required his attention. Pao Yue-kong had worked with Saudi Aramco for many years and naturally had established procedures for taking delivery.
These three petrochemical companies were all among Japan's leading energy enterprises.
They also had Citibank branches in Japan, and those branches were much larger than the one in Hong Kong.
So after settling everything, Lin Haoran accompanied the Japanese representatives to Citibank Hong Kong.
Upon learning the purpose of their visit, the matter even attracted the attention of the president of Citibank Hong Kong, who personally handled the transaction.
Citibank Hong Kong coordinated directly with Citibank Japan.
The enormous transfer of 140 million US dollars arrived in less than half an hour.
Lin Haoran also received Citibank Hong Kong's highest-tier VIP black card, which entitled him to the best service at Citibank branches worldwide.
Once the money had arrived, Lin Haoran immediately handed the contract over to Pao Yue-kong.
After that, there was nothing left for him to do.
With his pockets now full, Lin Haoran was in an exceptionally good mood.
This was the largest sum of money he had earned since transmigrating.
Even from the Wharf Holdings stock, he had only made several tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.
This time, after repaying the 300 million Hong Kong dollar loan principal and interest, he had earned more than 400 million Hong Kong dollars in profit.
With this capital, he could begin positioning himself in the upcoming gold futures market.
Next, it was time to make a trip to the United States.
(End of Chapter)
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