Manhattan Reborn 1978

Hong Kong.

Evening~

On the south side of Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, next to Causeway Road.

Carnes held a soda bottle in his hand and sat on a bench by the roadside. He tilted his head and looked at the direction of the setting sun in the distance, and asked Bill Gutherland who was squatting next to him.

"The Huangpu Company, a subsidiary of Hutchison Company, had an overall profit of only 600 million yuan last year?"

"Well..." Bill understood what Kanes wanted to ask and explained patiently.

"Huangpu Company's main business is shipping terminals and cargo warehousing. Due to the sharp decline in maritime trade volume last year, the entire Hong Kong shipping industry is in decline, so it is more reasonable for its revenue to be lower."

"However, when Whampoa Company was spun off from Hutchison, it also took out several pieces of land in very good locations."

"These pieces of undeveloped land appreciated by about 27% last year alone, and it is expected that there will be a lot of room for appreciation this year."

"Oh.."

"So you want to ask HSBC to come forward and negotiate with Hutchison Bank on our behalf to acquire Whampoa Company?"

"Yes!"

"Any more?"

"Uh... yes!" Bill heard Karnes ask this question, and suddenly felt a very familiar feeling.

He glanced at the soda bottle in Karnes' hand, licked his lips and continued.

"I went to meet with Shen Bi from HSBC today, and the biggest gain was that I confirmed that two of the four major foreign banks, Jardine Matheson and Hutchison, are planning to gradually sell off their assets in Xiangjiang!"

"Do they want to completely withdraw their investment in Xiangjiang?" Kanes asked slightly surprised, shaking the soda bottle in his hand.

"Yes!"

Bill raised his finger to the east and said with a smile: "The four major foreign banks, as the locals in Xiangjiang call them, have often cooperated with each other for many years, but they are just acting on occasion, and they have been at odds with each other for a long time."

"Hutchison Bank, controlled by Qi Dezun, had its capital chain broken due to blind expansion in the past few years. It had to pay a huge price to accept financial assistance from HSBC and managed to survive the difficulties."

"And the people behind that crisis were the Keswick family and the Jardine Matheson Company they control!"

"It was precisely because of Jardine Matheson's accurate attack on Qi Dezun in the stock market that it had enough funds to grab the landmark building over there, the Golden Gate Building."

"The name of the Golden Gate Tower comes from the construction of Jinmen Construction, a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson, which cost more than 100 million yuan."

"However, in recent years, the Keswick family has focused more attention on the British mainland and has lost interest and confidence in the business in Hong Kong and the future of Hong Kong."

"When the Keswick family proposed a plan to gradually sell off Xiangjiang assets on the board of directors of Jardine Matheson and return to the UK and Europe to find better investment targets, most of the directors agreed and acquiesced."

Bill turned his head and looked at Karnes, his eyes flashing a little, and asked with a smile.

"A few years ago, we met George Sassoon of the Sassoon family by chance at a party. Do you still remember?"

"Ah... I remember." After recalling it for a few seconds, Karnes nodded.

"He is the most active radical member of the Sassoon family in recent years. He advocates withdrawing part of the investment in Hong Kong and focusing more attention on European countries that are about to undergo huge changes to look for investment opportunities."

"The most successful investment made by the Sassoon family in Hong Kong for a century is HSBC!"

"During the stock market crash in Hong Kong a few years ago, HSBC's revenue and profit increased sevenfold in just 10 months."

"That's why Shen Bi, as the head of HSBC Bank, has actively contacted the well-known local wealthy people in Hong Kong in recent years, hoping that they can take over some assets that the two central banks and the Sassoon family want to sell off at a price lower than the market price. It can also be regarded as a kind of comfort and disguised investment..."

"A local rich man in Xiangjiang?" Kanes looked around curiously and nodded slowly.

"Will this place become like India in the future?"

"Haha~ Maybe, who knows?" Bill felt his legs were a little numb, so he simply sat on the ground and spread his hands.

"The armed riots that broke out more than ten years ago + the stock market crash that broke out a few years ago + the anti-corruption storm that swept through all law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong forced the Queen from as far away as the UK to make a special trip to help the Governor of Hong Kong, Lord MacLehose Stabilize the chaotic situation and restless public sentiment..."

"And all this is because Britain is no longer the world's most powerful country a hundred years ago!"

"..." Karnes raised his head and drank all the soda in his hand, glanced at the smiling Bill, looked at the sunset slowly setting in the distance, and sneered.

"After you feel that you know this place better, do you think that David is a little too optimistic and too optimistic about the future here?"

"Yeah!" Bill nodded without any hesitation.

"Haha~" Karnes put the soda bottle in his hand next to him, turned his gaze to the four people in the distance, gestured to Bill, and asked.

"Those few are a bit unfamiliar. Where did you find them?"

"They~ they are all from Pioneer Security Company, a subsidiary of HSBC Bank."

"Most of the security guards in this security company are Gurkhas who came from the Malay Peninsula more than ten years ago. Their main duties are armed escort and providing security for customers."

"The local man's name is Zhou Liwen. He was once a senior police officer in the police force. After the establishment of ICAC, he left the police force and joined the Pioneer Security Company."

When Bill said this, he raised his eyebrows in an interesting way and watched Karnes pretend to be mysterious.

"He has been in the Xiangjiang Police Force for twenty years. He can be promoted to a senior police officer who is only two steps away from Inspector Zonghua. He should not be short of money..."

"But because he married three wives and kept several lovers, all the women and children depended on him to support him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to work."

"Three wives + lovers?"

"Wow!"

"He's so awesome~" Kanes also felt very amused and laughed.

However, he quickly put away his smile, looked at Bill seriously and asked, "Are you sure about the news that Jardine and Hutchison are going to evacuate Xiangjiang?"

"Yes!"

"Then our plans have to be changed."

Kanes frowned and thought for a moment, then asked: "How much money has been transferred so far?"

"There are 240 million yuan, which has been transferred to HSBC." Bill replied very simply.

"Where's the rest?" Karnes stared at Bill closely, as if he wanted to see through him, and asked.

Bill pursed his lips and looked at Kanes. After hesitating for a few seconds, he asked: "Your uncle Schroth also decided to invest a sum of money after learning about your plan to find projects for investment in Xiangjiang."

"specific number!"

"Well...he said he would let us have 400 million yuan in hand as a bargaining chip."

"Four hundred million?"

"He wants to take out more than 100 million yuan... for me?" After hearing Bill's answer, Karnes frowned deeper, exhaled a long breath, and said.

"He never does business at a loss!"

"What do I have to pay?"

Bill carefully observed Karnes's expression and smiled after a moment: "He wants to charge monthly interest + 10% of the total income!"

"so tall?"

"Can we talk?"

"You can try calling him~"

"..." Karnes was silent.

Bill opened his arms very relaxedly, supported his body backwards, turned his head to look at the sunset, and waited patiently.

Karnes subconsciously crossed his legs, rubbed his chin with his right hand and thought for more than ten minutes. He gritted his teeth and made up his mind before speaking to Bill.

"Contact Zina in New York and ask her to dispose of the artwork I entrusted for auction as soon as possible."

"When the money is transferred, I will talk to Uncle Schrott."

"ok~"

Bill looked at Karnes with clear eyes, feeling that he seemed to have grown a lot mentally at this moment, and smiled.

"Actually, if we only purchase more than 50% of the shares of the target company, we won't spend million yuan at all."

"Shen Bi and I have discussed that if we are willing to purchase more than half of the equity in several high-quality assets such as Huangpu Company and Golden Gate Tower, we only need to invest 200 million yuan in advance, which will be enough~"

"Twenty million?"

Kanes licked his lips, with a self-deprecating and cold smile on his lips, and shrugged: "The only 200 million yuan we have on hand was temporarily lent to me by David who wanted to invest in crude oil spot. "

"Shen Bi, he is really good at scheming!"

"Haha~" Bill smiled, patted his butt, stood up from the ground, and asked.

"Is this your final decision?"

"If there is no problem, I will make arrangements as soon as possible and get them done."

"...Okay!" Kanes thought again and nodded slowly.

"But you'd better contact the British side to understand their true intention and psychological price of selling assets."

"Understood~" Bill smiled and waved to a few people in the distance, pointed at the short and fat Zhou Liwen, and whispered.

"I may not be able to take care of you in the next few days..."

"His oral communication skills in English are relatively poor, but his listening skills are fairly good and he is very familiar with Xiangjiang."

"If you encounter a little trouble, just ask him to come forward and solve it."

"I know~ you should go quickly!" Kanes looked at Zhou Liwen who was walking with a smile, and waved to Bill impatiently.

Bill had long been accustomed to his character. He pulled Zhou Liwen indifferently and whispered instructions for a while before turning around and leaving.

Zhou Liwen, who was over middle-aged and had a greasy appearance, looked at Bill walking away with an apologetic smile on his face, and then he focused on the young ghost in front of him. It was inevitable that he would feel some slander in his heart~

This is. . Let Shen Bi, the senior manager of HSBC Bank, personally instruct the ghost boy to be careful?

Why is he dressed in all the street clothes?

Karnes stared at Bill's back silently for a while, then turned to look at Zhou Liwen with an apologetic smile on his face, thought for a while, and tried to ask.

"I only have $27 with me. Can you send me across the sea to Sham Shui Po?"

"Um...of course!" Zhou Liwen said in less than fluent English, unable to understand why Carnes mentioned how much money he had.

"Sham Shui Po is a bit chaotic at night. Are you sure you want to go?"

"Ok!"

Karnes took out a note from his pocket, pointed to the address on it and said.

"Just send me here."

"Okay!" Zhou Liwen glanced at the address, remembered it in his mind, nodded and smiled.

"Our car is parked over there, shall we leave now?"

"YES!"

"Go~" Kanes followed the direction of Zhou Liwen's finger and strode forward.

"..." Zhou Liwen stood there and opened his mouth, waved his hands to several fellow ghost colleagues who were also confused, and quickly followed him.

. . .

More than half an hour later.

Sham Shui Po.

Cui Yingying stood on the side of the street, looking at the smiling Kanes with a worried look on her face. She walked up and looked at him carefully and asked.

"I've already had dinner, are you hungry?"

"I'm hungry." Kanes smiled and took Cui Yingying's arm, turned to Zhou Liwen and said.

"You all go back and come back tomorrow."

"Hey... Okay!" Zhou Liwen stood by the car and watched Kanes and Cui Yingying walk into an old apartment building talking and laughing. He couldn't help but scratch his head and muttered.

"This crazy little guy actually secretly kept a lover?"

"But how could he find a... such an old woman?"

"Strange~"

----

new York.

Early morning~

Manhattan, upstairs at Wildfire Bar on 42nd Street.

The maid Chasida had just finished getting dressed and was about to wash up when she suddenly heard slight footsteps coming from outside the door.

She stood there in surprise and listened for a while, then she quickly thought of something, ran into the bathroom to tidy herself up, and then ran out of the room.

in the living room.

David, who had not slept all night, was sitting on the sofa with a cup of hot milk in his hand. He lowered his head to write and draw on some documents with a pen, frowning and saying nothing.

The footsteps of the maid Chasida made him "awake" from his deep thinking ~

"Hi~morning, Chasida!"

"Morning...!" Chasida walked up to David, looked at his face, and asked in surprise.

"You didn't sleep last night?"

"Yeah." David put down his pen, drank up the milk, handed the cup to Chasida and smiled.

"I'm hungry and want to eat your paella."

"..." Chasida took the milk cup, looked at David who was lowering his head to write and draw again, slowly walked forward and squatted next to him, and asked in a low voice.

"You'd better go and rest for a while first!"

"Oh..." David wrote the last line on the paper, exhaled, tilted his head to look at Chasida who was full of concern, tapped her forehead with his hand, and said with a smile.

"Our Chasida has finally grown up!"

"..." Chasida wiped her forehead with her hand and sat on the carpet feeling soft under her feet. She leaned half of her body against David's legs and raised her head and said.

"Don't you want me to grow up?"

"Hahaha~" David put down his pen, patted Chasida's shoulder with his hand, looked at the little lights in her eyes, and smiled.

"It's great that you have grown up!"

"What follows... is that you will also feel more and more growing pains~"

"But don't be anxious about these things, don't care too much about the past, and don't think about things that will only increase your worries."

"Doing that can do a lot of harm to you physically and mentally."

"You just need to enjoy the moment and slowly learn to look at all the people and things around you from a calm and independent perspective~"

David looked at the "pain" that flashed across Chasida's face for a moment, knowing that she might not have forgotten the nightmare of being trafficked, abused and kept in captivity, and sighed.

"Many people want to work a little bit and start looking forward to the harvest..."

"But no one can lose weight immediately after starting to exercise..."

"No one can just open a book and immediately improve themselves..."

"Everything in the world requires a process."

"Give yourself some time and take your time!"

David picked up the pen he had just used, held it in front of Chasida's eyes, and smiled.

"There are too many things we can't control."

"There are too many things we can't get and people we can't keep..."

"But you have to understand that everything that has happened...has its reason and cause and effect!"

"You're our family now!"

"So there is no need for you to spend your time and energy on unnecessary people and things."

"You need to be a cheerful, optimistic, independent girl who likes children and loves to laugh."

"You need to make your life more meaningful!"

"You should spend your time on books, sports, beautiful nature and things that make you feel good."

“Many things we see everywhere every day can help us get rid of anxiety and stress~”

"For example, you can use it to draw a picture and doodle casually. It will make you feel much better."

David put the pen in Chasida's palm, pinched her crimson cheeks with his fingers a few more times, and smiled.

"Do you understand? My little Chasida!"

"Um.."

"Then why don't you go cook quickly?"

"My stomach is already growling~"

"...Okay!" Chasida squeezed the pen in her hand hard and tried to calm down. She stood up and was about to run into the kitchen when she suddenly looked back at David and asked timidly.

"Can I...can stay by your side forever?"

"Hahaha~" David smiled and shook his head when he heard Chasida, who was only 19 years old, say such childish words.

"How far do you mean forever?"

"Don't you want to find someone who loves you and start a family?"

"..." Chasida froze on the spot. She instantly felt that she had said the wrong thing, turned around and ran away with a red face.

"Haha~"

David rubbed his chin with his hand. From Chasida's performance just now, he was surprised to find that this strong girl who had experienced misfortune actually regarded herself as an important spiritual sustenance. . ?