Chapter 137: I Hope the Battle for Control Doesn’t End Too Quickly
Previously, Lin Haoning had not paid much attention to Lin Haoran’s casual reminder. But later, after thinking about his younger brother’s performance in the competition for the heir position, he tried to use his connections to secure a North American distributor for cooperation. Unexpectedly, he was surprised to discover that the North American market not only had a considerable order volume, but the profits had directly multiplied several times over.
After that, he began shifting his focus to the North American market. Instead, he had started to look down somewhat on the small amount of profit from the Middle Eastern market.
Although he did not directly abandon the orders from the Middle Eastern market, he merely maintained his existing customers and stopped expanding further.
Of course, this kind of thing was certainly not suitable for widespread publicity. Keeping quiet and making a fortune was the hard truth.
However, even if he told others, probably no one would believe him.
Just like Lau Luen-hung’s family, they simply did not believe there was any place with a fan market larger than the Middle East.
Nowadays, Lin Haoning’s Wanfeng Fan Factory’s orders in North America were certainly incomparable to those of Aimeigao, but even so, they had increased his profits considerably.
Originally, through connections on his wife’s side of the family, he had taken quite a few orders in the Middle East, and his monthly profits had directly risen to around one million. He was already very satisfied.
But unexpectedly, after taking orders from North America, the number of orders had not increased by much, yet the profits had directly doubled.
Moreover, as long as he worked hard to develop the North American market going forward, his profits would continue to increase.
Lin Haoran suddenly understood. No wonder.
Lin Haoran did not regret telling Lin Haoning about the North American market.
The North American market was simply too large. The market that Aimeigao could take was only a small portion of it.
As for the remaining market, it made no difference who took it. At least Lin Haoning was his elder brother in name, and their assets had already been divided, so naturally there would be no disputes between them.
Moreover, the North American market would be saturated by 1981 at the latest. In other words, there was not much time left to make big money in the North American market.
Even when people gradually discovered later that the European and American markets seemed pretty good too, it would already be too late.
“Good, since Big Brother is so straightforward, let’s finalize this transaction tomorrow.” Lin Haoran said with a smile.
“Haoran, how did you know that the North American fan market would be better?” Lin Wan’an asked in surprise.
Lin Wan’an knew the fan market very well. After all, he had personally founded Wanfeng Fan Factory back then, and it had already been established for several years. It was only last year that he handed it over to his eldest son to manage.
“When there were signs of the oil crisis, I guessed that the North American fan market would experience explosive growth. When the weather was hot, many people would definitely avoid using air conditioners extensively in order to save electricity.
“And fans became the best substitute for saving electricity, so I directly invested in a fan company at the time. Nowadays, the fan company’s main business area is North America.
“Of course, it’s best for us to quietly make a fortune from this kind of thing. We absolutely must not let it out. No matter how large the market is, if too many competitors enter, it will become fiercely competitive.
“Just like the Middle Eastern market. Clearly, the demand for fans there has always been very high, but there are too many competitors. Everyone fights price wars with each other, so naturally the profits are low.” Lin Haoran did not hide anything.
The reason Aimeigao now had such a large order volume and such high profits was inseparable from Lau Luen-hung’s personal abilities, his understanding of the fan industry, and his connections in North America. Much of this was impossible to replicate.
Even if Lin Haoning entered the North American market, being able to capture a small portion of it would already be quite good.
Just like Mr. Liang Yingwei, Lau Luen-hung’s former partner. After selling 50% of Aimeigao to Lin Haoran for HK$200,000, he also used his previous understanding of the fan industry. According to Lau Luen-hung, he had already opened a small processing factory that was somewhat larger than a small workshop.
However, more than half a year had passed, and he was still only doing small-scale business. Knowing that the North American market was good did not mean he could make a name for himself there.
Aimeigao’s success was largely due to Lau Luen-hung.
Back then, all of the sales channels had been established personally by Lau Luen-hung. Mr. Liang Yingwei was clearly unfamiliar with developing sales channels, so even though he had set up independently with HK$200,000, it was difficult for him to achieve much.
As for how Lin Haoning had been able to secure some orders from the United States so quickly, it was clearly because he relied on his personal connections rather than his own abilities.
As for whose connections they were, it was obviously his wife’s family.
“Haoran, which fan company did you invest in?” Not only was Lin Wan’an curious, even Lin Haoning became curious.
Although it had already been more than half a year since he invested in Aimeigao, Lin Haoran had never mentioned this matter to anyone, so even his father did not know about it.
“Aimeigao in Kwun Tong.” Lin Haoran replied with a smile.
There was nothing to hide about this matter. Anyone with the intention to investigate could easily find it out.
As for the orders, all the orders from North America were handled personally by Lau Luen-hung. He understood that this matter should not be publicized, so in fact, apart from the finance department, no one in the company knew that the profits from the North American orders were actually so high.
As for Aimeigao’s orders, if you said there were many, they actually could not be considered the most numerous in Hong Kong. It was just that its profits were high. Aimeigao might only need an order for 20,000 or 30,000 fans to earn as much profit as someone else would make from taking 100,000 units of orders in the Middle East.
“Aimeigao?” When Lin Haoning repeated these words, his voice involuntarily rose considerably.
“Is Aimeigao very famous?” Lin Wan’an looked at Lin Haoning.
Ever since he handed Wanfeng Fan Factory over to Lin Haoning to manage, he had stopped paying attention to developments in this industry.
“Dad, you don’t know. Aimeigao Fan Company is now one of the fastest-growing enterprises in Hong Kong’s fan industry. It was originally just a small workshop, but unexpectedly, in only half a year, it has already become a first-tier fan manufacturing enterprise in the industry, with much greater strength than Wanfeng Fan Factory.
“I heard that this company received an injection of outside capital and also obtained a large number of orders, which was why it developed so quickly. I never expected that the person who invested in it would actually be Haoran.” Lin Haoning said in some shock.
“Oh? There was actually such a thing? Haoran, it seems I shouldn’t have had you manage Huafeng Cement Factory back then. Instead, I should have had you manage Wanfeng Fan Factory. If so, perhaps Wanfeng Fan Factory’s strength would have multiplied several times by now.” Lin Wan’an said with emotion.
However, Lin Haoran did not think that way at all. If he had not encountered Lau Luen-hung, he would never have thought of investing in the fan industry.
After all, there were so many industries developing in Hong Kong, and it was impossible for him to invest in every single one.
Moreover, if he had developed it himself, it certainly would not have been as easy as investing money with Lau Luen-hung and letting him develop it.
He knew nothing about the fan industry. He only knew that the North American market was very good. Perhaps by now he would also be doing small-scale business in the fan industry like Mr. Liang Yingwei, which would be completely useless.
“Dad, you can’t put it that way either. If Haoran had taken over Wanfeng Fan Factory and devoted himself wholeheartedly to developing the fan business, wouldn’t that mean he would have missed the acquisition of Qingzhou Yingni Company? Wasn’t it precisely because Haoran managed Huafeng Cement Factory that he came up with the idea of acquiring Qingzhou Yingni Company?” Lin Haoning said with a smile.
“That’s true. Compared with the money earned in the fan industry, acquiring Qingzhou Yingni Company is far more impressive. Dad really has become senile.” Lin Wan’an shook his head and laughed.
“Big Brother, then it’s settled. I’ll wait for you at the Wan'an Group Building tomorrow morning.” Lin Haoran could not stand his family’s praise and directly decided to end the topic.
“Good. Tomorrow I’ll bring the Wan'an Group stock certificates with me. Dad, Haoran, it’s getting late now. Since everything has been made clear, I’ll head back first.” Lin Haoning looked at the time on the wall clock and said.
“Mm, be careful when driving and take care on the road.” Lin Wan’an reminded him.
“Don’t worry, Dad, I know.” Lin Haoning waved his hand, said goodbye to the two of them, and left the study first.
Only Lin Wan’an and Lin Haoran, father and son, remained in the study.
“Haoran, I really understand you less and less. Originally, I thought I already knew your talents, but I never expected you to surprise me more and more. I think the thing I, Lin Wan’an, may be most proud of in this life is having a son like you with such a talent for business!” Lin Wan’an said emotionally, his words filled with gratification.
If he knew everything about Lin Haoran, he would only be even more surprised. By now, there were already quite a few things Lin Haoran was hiding from him.
For example, his investments in oil and gold. Those were the real big ones.
“Dad, after all, I studied at London Business School for four years. How could those four years have been spent doing nothing?” Lin Haoran said with a smile.
After chatting with Lin Wan’an in the study for quite some time, Lin Haoran finally left the study and returned to his bedroom.
The night gradually deepened, and the entire world had already fallen silent, with only the sound of waves occasionally beating in the distance.
……
The next morning, Lin Haoran leisurely ate breakfast at home as usual while reading the newspaper.
As expected, the price of gold had risen again, and in just one day, it had actually risen by $5.3.
Lin Haoran was not surprised by this. After all, in half a year, it had risen directly from a low of $250 to a high of $850, equivalent to an average daily increase of $3 to $4.
For him, as long as gold did not fall, that was enough. Even if it fell, it would only be a slight and temporary decline, and it would rise back the next day.
The business newspaper was still focusing on the booming stock market. The prices of many stocks had begun to surge.
Lin Haoran also noticed that the final transaction price of Wharf’s stock yesterday had actually reached HK$87.9 per share. Clearly, the battle between Pao Yue-kong and Jardine was becoming increasingly fierce.
However, Lin Haoran did not regret selling his Wharf shares too early back then.
If he had not sold the Wharf shares early that time and obtained his first real pot of gold, he would not have been able to acquire Qingzhou Yingni Company.
Moreover, the price at which he sold had already reached more than seventy dollars per share, which was actually not that far from the current price of more than eighty dollars per share.
Lin Haoran even knew that Wharf’s final share price would accept this competition at HK$105 per share, ultimately with Pao Yue-kong emerging victorious, while Wharf would be sold at a high price for a profit.
It could be said that there was actually no loser in this competition.
Pao Yue-kong won control of Wharf, while Jardine won a huge amount of capital.
Lin Haoran only hoped that their battle for control would not end too quickly, thereby keeping Jardine constrained.
Because he knew that once Jardine lost the competition, it would use the huge amount of capital obtained from this to begin investing everywhere.
And Hongkong Electric Group would be one of Jardine’s targets.
(End of Chapter)
✨ Love this novel?
Visit my Patreon for fast access and advanced chapters! patreon.com/BbingTranslations Thank you for your support.❤️
Comments
Post a Comment