Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 625 Li Changxi plots to spy, Hu Shao accepts invitation to group meeting

Xue Meiyi said into the phone, "Hello, Anna, is there any new information on your end? It's about the land reclamation proposal submitted by Tenglong Island. After Speaker Hua's meeting, did he give any specific statements or instructions?"

"Okay, I'm listening. Go ahead, it's convenient for me here."

Li Changxi was leisurely sipping his cold coffee.

He didn't care that the coffee was cold; a little bitterness meant nothing to him.

Just as Li Changxi was occasionally glancing up to admire Xue Meiyi's focused profile while she worked, clear voices came from the other end of the phone.

It must be said that Xue Meiyi has a unique and charming temperament when she is working.

Li Changxi secretly regretted that this beautiful young woman was exceptionally capable, but unfortunately, her personality was too strong and independent, making it impossible to subdue her using conventional methods.

However, as she listened, Xue Meiyi's originally calm expression gradually changed.

Her brows furrowed slightly, her eyes revealing surprise and confusion, and her expression turned serious.

"What? Are you sure? Speaker Hua has agreed in principle? What's going on? Anna, is this source reliable? Land reclamation is no small matter!"

She listened carefully to the explanation on the other end of the phone and continued to press, "Oh, so you only agree in principle to endorse Hu Jiangshan's project and support the feasibility study? But even so, that's already quite remarkable! Speaker Hua almost never publicly expresses support for this kind of project, let alone personally endorses it!"

"They say they have a legitimate reason? What legitimate reason? Is it just the need to expand the space launch site? While that reason sounds reasonable, it doesn't seem sufficient enough to warrant Speaker Hua making an exception, does it?"

Li Changxi, who was sitting opposite him, paused, his hand, which had been leisurely holding a coffee cup, in mid-air.

He keenly caught the key words and changes in tone in Xue Meiyi's words, and the relaxed look on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of solemnity and disbelief.

He slowly put down his coffee cup, his gaze fixed on Xue Meiyi's face.

Does this mean that Speaker Hua not only did not refuse, but actually agreed to Hu Jiangshan's request?

They were even willing to endorse and support that outlandish land reclamation plan?
How is this possible? !

This is completely inconsistent with Hua Junfeng's consistent work style and principles!

Li Changxi's heart was filled with enormous questions and bewilderment.

How could Speaker Hua make such a decision?

In his view, this was simply too unwise and too illogical!

A moment later, Xue Meiyi ended the call, gently placed the phone back on the table, and her face showed a hint of undisguised seriousness.

She turned to Li Changxi and said, "Boss, I've received some bad news."

Li Changxi waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to elaborate further. His expression had darkened, clearly having guessed the gist of the conversation from Xue Meiyi's earlier words.

"I understand. Did Speaker Hua really agree to Hu Jiangshan's request?"

Xue Meiyi nodded, confirming the unexpected result: "Yes, boss. My friend in the parliament office revealed that Speaker Hua expressed clear support for Hu Jiangshan's plan to reclaim land on Tenglong Island and expand the launch site during an internal meeting. Boss, this matter is probably unusual."

Li Changxi's brows were tightly furrowed, and his fingers unconsciously tapped on the smooth tabletop, making a dull sound.

"Unusual? What's so unusual about it? Does Hu Jiangshan intend to build something extraordinary?"

Xue Meiyi carefully chose her words and cautiously replied, "Although what you said is a bit of an exaggeration, from a certain perspective, it might actually be close to that meaning."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself! What kind of facility is he going to build? It's just a rocket launch pad, what new tricks can he come up with?"

Li Changxi pressed on, his tone becoming somewhat impatient.

Xue Meiyi took a deep breath and revealed the key information she had gathered: "According to what's circulating internally, Hu Jiangshan plans to build a new rocket launch tower, not a traditional one, but a brand-new rocket launch tower that uses electromagnetic catapult technology. It's said that if this technology can be realized, its sophistication will be enough to shock the entire aerospace industry on Earth."

"Electromagnetic catapult? What electromagnetic catapult launcher?"

Li Changxi looked bewildered; he indeed lacked a deep understanding of the advanced aerospace technology.

Although he had come into contact with some related technical terms and common knowledge because the group needed to keep track of the progress of its own rocket launch site project, he had never heard of anything that used electromagnetic catapults to launch rockets.

This sounds more like a concept from science fiction.

Li Changxi frowned: "This...this sounds like a hobby? No, it's even more outrageous than a hobby, it's downright fanciful! How could Speaker Hua support such a pipe dream?"

Xue Meiyi asked, "Boss, what should we do next?"

Li Changxi leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, his fingers still rhythmically tapping on the table.

After a while, Li Changxi opened his eyes and looked sharply at Xue Meiyi: "Meiyi, think of a way to see if you can get in touch with people inside Jiangshan Group, preferably people in the core projects, and find out what they're up to. Is this electromagnetic catapult really real, or just a gimmick?"

Xue Meiyi paused, looking at Li Changxi with some surprise: "Boss, do you mean to try to contact someone inside Jiangshan Group to get some inside information?"

“Yes, that’s right! That’s exactly what I mean.” Li Changxi nodded firmly, a resolute glint in his eyes.

Xue Meiyi was somewhat surprised.

She never expected Li Changxi to resort to such methods that were almost like corporate espionage.

It's important to know that while Li Changxi can be quite ruthless in business competition and may even occasionally do things that skirt the edges of the rules, he rarely personally orders actions like sending people to steal intelligence from competitors.

Firstly, such actions are high-risk, while the returns are not necessarily controllable, and the benefits are limited.

Secondly, and more importantly, once the other party has a solid handle against you, it could bring you great trouble and reputational damage.

Even though the Li family in Hong Kong is recognized as the most powerful and influential family in the island, it is not so easy to deal with if they are caught with solid evidence of engaging in commercial espionage.

After all, the Hong Kong judiciary is not a mere formality; it possesses a certain degree of independence and authority, and the pressure from public opinion is immense.

But at this moment, facing Hu Jiangshan, an opponent who doesn't play by the rules and always seems to get unexpected support, Li Changxi clearly felt that conventional methods of business intelligence gathering were no longer enough; he needed more direct and in-depth sources of information.

What could Xue Meiyi say?

As a subordinate, she could only nod in agreement.

"Okay, I'll leave this to you. I have high hopes for your abilities."

Li Changxi has always been confident in Xue Meiyi's competence.

Xue Meiyi nodded, and after briefly discussing and confirming a few other routine tasks with Li Changxi, she turned and left Li Changxi's spacious but somber office.

In fact, Xue Meiyi felt somewhat lost as she left the office. She didn't know where to begin investigating Jiangshan Group's core secrets.

But her professionalism and abilities are quite strong, and she quickly sorted out her thoughts.

Xue Meiyi had many ways to try to reach out to the employees of Jiangshan Group, and even some mid- to high-level managers.

For example, through relatively discreet channels such as industry salons, technology forums, alumni associations, or headhunting firms.

However, contacting the target is only the first step. The most difficult part is extracting valuable information from them without arousing their suspicion.

According to Xue Meiyi, the employees of Jiangshan Group, especially those in core projects, generally have a high degree of loyalty to the company and strong cohesion.

If it involves highly confidential information, it is generally difficult to get them to talk, unless it is information that they consider insignificant or that has already been partially disclosed.

A helpless, bitter smile appeared on Xue Meiyi's face.

Xue Meiyi felt a certain aversion to this behavior deep down, always feeling that it was a bit strange. Even if it might not constitute a crime strictly speaking, it was at least immoral and did not conform to business ethics.

But there was nothing she could do; she was an employee of Cheung Kong Group, and her job was provided by Li Changxi.

The boss gave the order, and she could only do her best to carry it out. As for how well she could do it, she could only wait and see.

Li Changxi, who was in the office, did not remain idle after Xue Meiyi left.

He put Xue Meiyi in charge of investigating the movements of Jiangshan Group, while he himself had other moves to make.

He thought for a moment, then turned on his computer and began composing an email.

He remembered that his grandfather had given him an encrypted email address and told him that if he had any important information about Hu Jiangshan, he could send the message to this designated email address.

Li Changxi didn't know who or what large organization was behind this email address, but he knew that his grandfather would never give him a useless contact information for no reason.

This is clearly a channel that can be used to leverage external forces.

Therefore, Li Changxi concisely summarized the important information about Hu Jiangshan's plan to apply for land reclamation to expand the space launch site and intend to build a very advanced electromagnetic catapult launch facility, and sent it to that mysterious email address via encrypted email.

Li Changxi had no idea what would happen after the email was sent, nor could he predict what actions the other side would take.

But he was convinced that this would do him no harm and might even bring unexpected benefits.

For example, it could cause Hu Jiangshan a lot of trouble, or even bring him great misfortune.

The thought that Hu Jiangshan might be in a lot of trouble because of this made Li Changxi feel much better.

Meanwhile, on the other side, at Victoria Harbour Apartments.

Early that morning, Hu Jiangshan woke up from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes, grabbed his phone from the bedside table, and checked the time. It was almost 9:30 a.m.

He touched his slightly messy hair, but didn't feel embarrassed about sleeping in late.

He has indeed been quite busy lately, often staying up late to handle company affairs and technical solutions. It's understandable that he occasionally takes a nap to catch up on sleep.

Moreover, in Hu Jiangshan's view, he was, after all, a rich second-generation, and if he didn't occasionally enjoy the leisure of sleeping in until he naturally woke up, it would be a waste of the benefits that came with his status.

Although he lived a somewhat unconventional life as a rich second-generation, his mind was entirely focused on money-intensive businesses like aerospace.

After getting up, Hu Jiangshan leisurely washed up, changed into a clean and refreshing casual outfit, and then, as usual, went downstairs to the tea restaurant near his apartment that he frequented for breakfast.

Hu Jiangshan sat in his usual window seat and ordered his usual breakfast items.

An iced coffee, a pineapple bun, and a serving of ham and macaroni.

On the other hand, Hu Jiangshan gradually realized that this seat seemed to be empty at this time of day, with very few other guests sitting there.

It wasn't until one day, when he inadvertently saw the shop assistants exchanging glances and sharing knowing smiles, that he finally understood.

It turns out that this was a special seat reserved for him by the staff after they got to know him.

They probably thought that Mr. Hu was easygoing, a regular customer, and a handsome guy, so they made this request.

As Hu Jiangshan was leisurely eating breakfast and gazing blankly at the street scene outside the window, his cell phone on the table suddenly rang.

He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Zhou Yuezhu.

Hu Jiangshan quickly swallowed the food in his mouth, answered the phone, and said in a relaxed tone, "Hello, Yuezhu?"

Zhou Yuezhu's clear voice came from the other end of the phone: "Boss, are you in Hong Kong Island?"

"Yes, I'm on Hong Kong Island. I just woke up and am having breakfast at a tea restaurant downstairs," Hu Jiangshan replied.

Zhou Yuezhu smiled and said with a hint of apology, "I'm sorry, boss, did I disturb your meal?"

"What's the disturbance? We're eating right now, Yuezhu, would you like to come and have some with us?"

Hu Jiangshan and Zhou Yuezhu are now quite familiar with each other.

There's no way around it; it's hard not to be familiar with it, and the level of familiarity is already very deep.

Zhou Yuezhu quickly said, "Boss, I won't go. I have things to do and don't have time to go. I called you to inform you of something. The headquarters of Hezhong Group sent a message inviting you to attend an important meeting."

Hu Jiangshan was taken aback upon hearing this, somewhat surprised: "A meeting? You invited me? Why? I'm not a member of Hezhong Group, much less a member of management."

Zhou Yuezhu reminded her, "But you are General Manager Hu, the boss. That identity is enough."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Hu Jiangshan still didn't quite understand.

Zhou Yuezhu then patiently explained.

It turns out that this group meeting held by Hezhong Group was of a very high level and very important.

The meeting required all senior management personnel to be present.

Even some major shareholders who do not participate in day-to-day management but hold a large number of shares are required to attend the meetings.

The meeting was naturally chaired by core members of the group's board of directors, and Hu Jiangshan's father, Hu Wenxin, as the group's chairman, was naturally one of the main figures at the meeting.

(End of this chapter)