Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 926

He looked like he was burdened with worries, and his steps were as heavy as if he was dragging a heavy burden.

Sitting at his desk, he subconsciously picked up the pen, but his thoughts had already drifted away.

The pen in his hand moved uncontrollably across the document, leaving behind a series of crooked, disorganized ink marks.

The task assigned by his superiors this time, to find the American Intelligence Agency staff, was like a cold and heavy rock, weighing heavily on his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe, as if every breath carried endless pressure.

Just as He Yuzhu frowned, staring blankly at the busy street outside the window, his brain working rapidly, racking his brains to think of countermeasures to the current complicated situation, the black phone on the desk suddenly rang.

The sharp and rapid ringing of the bell, like a sharp blade, instantly shattered the solemn silence in the office.

He suddenly came to his senses, a hint of alertness flashed in his eyes, and he quickly reached out and grabbed the phone receiver.

In an instant, Huo Yingdong's voice, with heavy breathing and a hint of anxiety, came clearly from the other end of the receiver: "Old He, it's bad, something happened!"

He Yuzhu's heart suddenly tightened, as if it was grabbed by an invisible big hand, and he felt like he was facing a great enemy.

His fingers subconsciously clenched the receiver, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force, and his voice unconsciously rose a few notes: "What happened?"

Huo Yingdong was extremely anxious on the other end of the phone, his words pouring out like a rapid-fire cannon: "Those people on the boat are fighting!"

His voice in the receiver was trembling with anxiety, and the background sound was mixed with noisy voices and the roar of passing vehicles, as if he was in the center of a chaotic vortex.

He Yuzhu's hand holding the telephone receiver tightened unconsciously, his brows furrowed, and he tried hard to make sense of the whole story from Huo Yingdong's breathless narration.

For a long time, this golden route between Hong Kong and Macau has been firmly controlled by the old Yu Ren Water Boat Company.

Relying on the personal connections, dock bases, and large fleet accumulated over the years, Yu Ren Water Boat Company has the final say on this route and has made a fortune.

Its ships travel back and forth in an orderly manner, from ordinary passenger ships to cargo ships, arranging the trade and personnel exchanges between the two places properly, and have built an insurmountable commercial barrier on this route.

However, the market is always unpredictable.

Recently, Aocheng Entertainment Company has entered the market with great strength and spent a staggering amount of money to purchase two extremely advanced hydrofoil boats.

These two hydrofoil vessels are like steel monsters on the sea, with speed and comfort far exceeding that of ordinary ships.

Their appearance instantly became a favorite of travelers traveling between the two places.

The thunderous advance of Aocheng Entertainment Company was like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly breaking the original market structure.

Yu Ren Water Boat Company's business has suffered an unprecedented huge impact. The once bustling wharf now has a sharp drop in the number of passengers and a sharp decline in revenue. The former glory seems to be crumbling overnight.

Today, the long-suppressed anger of the employees of Yu Ren Water Boat Company finally erupted. They came to the door in groups and in a mighty force, demanding an explanation.

As soon as the two sides met, they started a fierce verbal confrontation, neither side gave in, the contradiction intensified instantly, the conflict was like dry wood meeting fire, ready to break out, and in the blink of an eye it escalated into a fierce physical conflict.

The scene instantly fell into chaos, with angry shouts, fierce fighting sounds, and the collision of objects intertwined together, like a noisy and violent piece of music.

Everyone was fighting in a group, the situation was completely out of control, and the situation was becoming increasingly unmanageable.

By the time the police arrived after receiving the alarm, the scene was already in a mess. Several employees had been beaten and seriously injured and had to be rushed to the hospital for treatment.

After listening to Huo Yingdong's thunderous story, He Yuzhu felt a buzzing in his head. He was so shocked that he stood there in shock, his lips slightly open, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

The hand holding the receiver trembled unconsciously due to excessive shock. The receiver seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and almost slipped from his fingertips.

He raised his hand with difficulty to hang up the phone, as if his soul had left his body. He stood there in a daze for a long time, his eyes full of disbelief.

Then, he seemed to come back to his senses suddenly, his eyes instantly focused, he quickly walked to the office door, pushed it open with force, and shouted loudly to the outside: "Zhirou, come in."

He Yuzhu has a unique vision. With his keen business sense, he made forward-looking plans and arranged staff to set up an information center.

This information center is like the nerve center of the company and is of vital importance.

Every day, the staff are like hardworking bees, shuttling between various media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to collect massive amounts of public information.

They carefully classify and organize the information according to multi-dimensional standards such as industry and time, and then store them in specially customized filing cabinets.

These filing cabinets are neatly arranged, like a treasure trove of knowledge, with every piece of information properly placed for easy retrieval at any time.

In this way, in the turbulent, complex and ever-changing waves of business competition, the company can quickly access the required intelligence with ease, provide solid and powerful support for decision-making, find the right direction in the waves of the business world, and move forward through the waves.

Not long after, the office door was hurriedly pushed open. Huang Zhirou looked a little anxious and walked in quickly, holding a thick document firmly in her hands.

Seeing this, He Yuzhu quickly stood up and reached out to take the information.

He flipped open the folder, and as soon as his eyes touched the contents, his brows, which had been furrowed due to thinking about the difficult problem, seemed to be instantly smoothed by an invisible force. Instead, his eyebrows raised and his eyes were filled with surprise. He couldn't help but blurt out: "Wow, this Yu Ren Airship is actually a listed company? This is really..."

Huang Zhirou has an elegant posture and is calm and composed in every move.

She gently tucked a strand of silky hair behind her ear with a soft and gentle gesture, then nodded and said in a clear and articulate voice, "That's right, Hong Kong currently includes more than 50 listed companies."

After she finished speaking, she picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, moistened her throat, and began to review the history of the Xiangjiang Club.

Even before liberation, Hong Kong had a strong commercial atmosphere and stock trading was extremely lively.

On the streets and alleys, financial practitioners gathered in groups of two or three, discussing the rise and fall of the stock market. At that time, the Hong Kong stock market was like a bright new star, emerging in the economic wave.

But who could have expected that more than four years of brutal war would sweep in like a storm, ruthlessly destroying everything.

In the flames of war, many archival materials carrying the development trajectory of the stock market were either burned or lost in the displacement, turning into historical dust. It is extremely difficult to fully restore them.

Before that turbulent period, Hong Kong had two companies that played an important role in the securities field - the Hong Kong Shares Association and the Hong Kong Stock Association.

The former has accumulated a deep foundation in Hong Kong's business community with its stable operating model, and many large enterprises have cooperated with it to conduct stock-related businesses; the latter is known for its keen market insight and is always the first to capture the investment potential of emerging industries, attracting a large number of discerning investors.

In March 1947, as the tide of the times surged forward, market demands also quietly changed.

After several rounds of discussions and weighing the pros and cons, the two companies decided to follow the trend and announced a merger.

The new organization after the merger is today's Xiangjiang Club.

Although the English name has not been changed and the previous logo has been continued, the Chinese name has been officially changed to Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

However, in the Hong Kong business community, people pronounce it with ease and intimacy, and are more accustomed to calling it the "Hong Kong Club".

He Yuzhu leaned comfortably on the back of the old-fashioned leather chair, leaning back slightly, with his hands casually folded in front of his lower abdomen.

He listened to Huang Zhirou's story quietly with a focused gaze, nodding thoughtfully from time to time, his expression revealing a bit of concentration and curiosity.

He had heard of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange a long time ago, and the few words that came from the business world made this place shrouded in mystery in his mind.

But in fact, he really knows very little about the intricate and specific operating mechanisms.

In that special era when technology was not yet fully popularized, the stock trading process was extremely cumbersome and complicated.

Every transaction is like a carefully planned ceremony, requiring many procedures and links.

Ordinary people are shut out by the numerous procedures and complicated rules and have no chance to participate directly.

The level of technology at that time was limited and there was a lack of computer networking technology, so investors could not operate remotely through the Internet as conveniently as they do today.

They can't even go directly to the trading site to operate, and can only pin their hopes on professional brokerage companies, and use the brokerage company's channels to carefully complete the buying and selling of stocks.

The Hong Kong Club, a prominent entity in Hong Kong's securities trading sector, is firmly established in the Duke's Bank Building.

The building has a unique style and stands out on the busy street.

It is worth mentioning that the Duke's Building is not far from the bank, only a few minutes' walk away, which makes the flow of funds relatively convenient to a certain extent.

Because He Yuzhu had limited funds on hand, he had to calculate every penny carefully and did not dare to take risks easily.

In addition, I heard that the trading process was too complicated and would take up a lot of energy and time, so I kept the idea of ​​getting involved in the stock market deep in my heart and never took any actual action.

When He Yuzhu's gaze fell upon Yu Ren's airship, whose total market value was only HK$200 million, a look of disbelief and surprise flashed across his face.

In his past business understanding, listed companies are like business giants, often with huge assets, diversified industries, business scope spanning all over the world, and they can make waves in the capital market.

Whether it is the cases seen in the financial pages of newspapers or the casual conversations heard at drinking parties in business circles, the market capitalizations of listed companies that often reach tens of billions or even hundreds of billions are always topics that everyone talks about.

At this moment, the insignificant HK$200 million in front of him formed a stark contrast to the deeply ingrained image of a listed company in his mind. This figure was far below his expectations, which made him suspicious and wonder what kind of unknown secrets the company might have.

Huang Zhirou seemed to sense his confusion. She picked up her exquisite bone china teacup, took a small sip, and slowly put it down before calmly explaining, "In this extremely prosperous yet fiercely competitive Hong Kong, there are very few companies that can be called giants. Companies with total assets exceeding 1 million yuan are even rarer. For example, HSBC, which dominates the financial world, controls Hong Kong's financial lifeline with its strong capital and extensive business network; Hongkong Land has deep roots in the real estate sector, with properties scattered throughout prime locations in Hong Kong, including numerous landmark buildings; Hongkong Trust is a leader in wealth management and trust business, managing assets for many wealthy individuals; CLP Power and Hongkong Electric, as two pillars of energy supply, ensure the city's bright lights and power; and then there's Wheelock, with diversified businesses spanning shipping, real estate, trade, and other fields, all of which are well-known giants in the industry, and their every move can stir up market waves."

Chapter 683

He Yuzhu's eyes were burning as he immediately pressed on, "Then among all these listed companies, Yuren Airship's total market capitalization should be at the bottom, right?"

Huang Zhirou gently shook her head, her slender fingers quickly rummaging through a stack of documents on the table. She quickly locked onto her target, opened the document, leaned forward slightly, and said earnestly, word by word, "Yu Ren Airship's current market capitalization is indeed not high, only 200 million. But among the listed companies in the Hong Kong Club, there are those with even lower market capitalizations. Everyone knows Guang Sheng Hang; its total market capitalization is only 180 million, which is already quite low. But unexpectedly, Ou De Li Film Company is the 'most inconspicuous,' with a market capitalization of just 150 million, definitely the listed company with the lowest total market capitalization in the Hong Kong Club right now."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu's pupils suddenly shrank, and an imperceptible strange light flashed in his eyes for an instant. The light was like a meteor across the night sky, short but dazzling.

He leaned forward slightly, his tone tinged with disbelief, and asked urgently, "You mean, you can acquire a listed company for just over a million Hong Kong dollars?"

Seeing this, Huang Zhirou shook her head helplessly, a bitter smile appearing on her lips, and explained, "From a theoretical perspective, such a possibility does exist. But reality is far more complex than theory. Acquiring a listed company is by no means a simple numbers game. In addition to having the funds in place, it also depends on whether the major shareholder is willing to relinquish their crucial shares. If the major shareholder insists on holding the shares, no amount of money can move them even a fraction."

He Yuzhu has been in the business world for many years and is naturally well aware of the complexities behind acquiring a listed company.

Acquisition is not something that can be achieved simply by spending money.

First of all, strong capital is the foundation, which is the key lever to leverage this capital drama.

But funds alone are far from enough. A thorough investigation of the target company's operating conditions is required, from the minutiae of previous years' financial statements to the actual smooth operation of each business line. Everything must be clearly understood.

It is also crucial to analyze the market prospects. It is necessary to have insight into industry trends and predict the company's ups and downs in the future wave of competition.

Legal compliance is even more of a minefield. Any hidden legal loophole may trigger a fatal crisis after the acquisition. From the rigor of the contract terms to whether the company structure complies with regulations, every detail needs to be evaluated comprehensively and carefully.

Such a complicated project is destined to be not a simple deal that can be completed overnight.

He Yuzhu fell into deep thought, his mind quickly reviewing the business stories and stock market turmoil he had heard over the years.

After a while, he frowned slightly and asked a question: "How difficult is it to apply for a listed company nowadays?"

Although he was just an ordinary worker in the past, he has experienced the ups and downs of life and witnessed countless ups and downs in the business world. He has long been familiar with the twists and turns of the stock market.