1novels Chapter 40: First Signs of Reputation, Production Line in Place
Chapter 40: First Signs of Reputation, Production Line in Place
Early the next morning.
Before the morning light had even touched the Victoria Harbour skyline, Hong Kong's major newspapers had already unleashed a silent storm of words.
Newspapers with still-wet ink were hastily distributed to various office buildings, teahouses, and other venues.
The headlines on the front pages of various newspapers exploded like thunder, instantly igniting the nerves of the entire city's business community.
Ming Pao wrote in bold boldface: "The new chairman of HK Electric is only in his early twenties. He is a rising star among the Chinese business community and a young talent has emerged in Hong Kong's business world!" The article was accompanied by a profile of Li Jiagang speaking calmly at the press conference, with his eyes piercing and the huge HK Electric logo behind him.
Ta Kung Pao, however, adopted a cautious yet sharp tone: "With Hong Kong Electric changing hands, is the young leader's radical reform a breakthrough or a reckless and chaotic move? A century-old public utility cannot afford to make mistakes."
The text conveys a sense of skepticism and wariness towards young upstarts, particularly highlighting their "lack of experience in the power industry," in an attempt to spark widespread discussion within the industry.
At one time, Ta Kung Pao was the only newspaper in Hong Kong designated by the British government to report on Hong Kong affairs.
It has great authority in Hong Kong.
As it belongs to a British-owned newspaper group, its reporting on Lijiagang is highly questionable.
The Hong Kong Commercial Daily even devoted a full page to reporting: "Shocking Hong Kong! HK Electric's new chairman, Li Jiagang, announces his foray into real estate, deeply integrating electricity and infrastructure; a cross-industry storm is about to hit!"
The report details its plans to develop former power station sites in North Point, Causeway Bay, and other areas, and its registration of a "Real Estate Project Development Department," suggesting that its ambitions extend far beyond power supply.
Xinhua News Agency, in a spirited tone, declared: "The giant ship of Hong Kong Electric has changed its leadership; young talents are taking the helm, driving innovation, and igniting new hope for Chinese capital!"
The article emphasizes that Li Jiagang "came from a middle-class family and rose to prominence through his own abilities," portraying him as a symbol of Chinese entrepreneurs in the new era.
Unlike other newspapers, the Hong Kong Economic Journal was not sharp in its language, but it described Li Jiagang's lofty aspirations in a different way.
"The new chairman of HK Electric has dabbled in the real estate industry and intends to take control of the Qingzhou Yingni Cement Plant, aiming to monopolize the infrastructure industry."
The articles almost all analyze what will happen after Li Jiagang enters the real estate industry and takes control of the "Qingzhou Yingni" cement plant.
However, the article did not deliberately smear Li Jiagang or use his terminology in a sarcastic or derogatory way.
Other newspapers reported similar content.
Almost all of the discussions revolve around whether Li Jiagang, at his age, can manage HK Electric well, HK Electric's involvement in the real estate sector, and its five-year billion-dollar plan.
For a time, teahouses, restaurants, meat and vegetable markets, parks, streets and alleys were filled with discussions about "Hong Kong Electric" and Lijiagang.
"In his twenties? At the helm of Hong Kong Electric? Isn't that younger than our son?" A stall owner at a vegetable and meat market exclaimed in shock as he looked at the newspaper.
"What do you know?" a customer who was picking out vegetables sneered. "These days, capital values courage, not age. If he dares to take the risk, it means someone else is willing to bet on it."
The other guests nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, on the top floor of HSBC's headquarters in Central, Sir Michael Sandberg stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, his cup of tea untouched. His gaze fell on the young face on the front page of Ming Pao, and a slight smile played on his lips: "Good lad, I hope you can bring HSBC a different kind of surprise."
At Jardine Matheson headquarters.
Newbijian stared intently at Li Jiagang in the newspaper, his face looking extremely grim.
"Sham Bi, oh Sam Bi..." Newbijian kept muttering Sam Bi's name: "Do you really think Hong Kong will be a Chinese-owned country?" His eyes revealed a sharp glint.
As the tycoon of Jardine Matheson, Newbikini certainly had the strength to challenge Sir Michael Sandberg, but as a large British-owned conglomerate in Hong Kong, their struggle had always been a covert, minor skirmish, and had never resulted in a major open business battle.
And they wouldn't dare to do that.
After all, the Governor of Hong Kong and the various factions within the British Hong Kong government would not allow such a thing to happen.
"Let's see who has the last laugh," Newbridge muttered to himself.
same time.
Other British business tycoons in Hong Kong.
He's a business tycoon from the Chinese business community.
Gradually, everyone saw this report.
Many people marveled at Li Jiagang's courage and ability to manage a controversial power company at such a young age, and admired him greatly.
Many people are also curious about his identity.
Li Jiagang, the person involved.
Despite the numerous reports circulating about him, he paid no attention to them.
This is the new Sham Shui Po pier.
"Junhua, you've worked hard," Li Jiagang stepped forward and hugged the young man who had just stepped off the cargo ship. "You've lost weight in over a month."
The young man was Li Junhua, whom Lijiagang had sent to Japan to order production lines.
Li Jiagang knew that the brothers Li Junhua and Li Junjie were people he could absolutely entrust his back to, people he could completely trust.
It's just that the original owner was a good-for-nothing who didn't know how to make good use of the two brothers.
Otherwise, given the skills of Li Junhua and his brother, he wouldn't have been bullied so badly.
"Young Master, why have you changed so much?"
Li Junhua was very pleased with the young master's concern, and when he saw that Li Jiagang seemed to have changed, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Boss, young master, this is called molting...molting what the hell?" Li Junjie stammered for a long time, unable to express the words he wanted to say.
"A transformation, is it?"
"Yes, yes, it's a transformation."
"I told you to study hard but you never listened. Now look what's happened, you can't even read a single word."
"Hahaha……."
Li Jiagang couldn't help but laugh.
"Let's go, Junhua," Li Jiagang said, pulling Li Junhua toward the car. "We can leave this to them. Let's go have some morning tea first."
"Yes! I'll do as you say, young master."
Before long, they arrived at the Dragon and Phoenix Tea House.
Longfeng Tea House is a long-established tea house in Kowloon, carrying the memories of several generations. When Li Jiagang was a child, his parents often brought him here for morning tea.
We entered the reserved private room.
Mr. and Mrs. Fu have arrived.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back." Li Junhua ran over and hugged Uncle Fu and his wife.
"It's good that you're back," Uncle Fu said with relief, looking at his eldest son before asking seriously, "You didn't cause any trouble or make any mistakes for the young master, did you?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jiagang smiled wryly and said, "Uncle Fu, Junhua did nothing wrong." As he spoke, he poured tea for Uncle Fu.
"Young Master, you mustn't do this, you mustn't do this." Seeing that Li Jiagang was actually personally pouring tea for him, Uncle Fu quickly waved his hand to refuse and removed his own teacup from the table.
"Uncle Fu, put down your cup," Li Jiagang said, feigning displeasure. Uncle Fu could only gently put down his teacup. "You deserve the tea I poured for you."
"Thank you, young master." Li Jiagang's gesture brought tears to Uncle Fu's eyes.
People in the old society were very stubborn in their thinking.
In their minds, a servant is a servant, and no matter how good the employer is to them, they still need to be careful at all times, and there are certain rules that cannot be broken.
For example, Li Jiagang's gesture of pouring him tea.
Since ancient times, there has never been a case of a master serving tea to a servant. This is why Uncle Fu's eyes welled up with tears.
But Li Jiagang, as a person who traveled from the future and received modern higher education, had a simple mind and didn't care about so many rules.
He truly regarded Uncle Fu's family as his own, no different from his own uncle.
Uncle Fu is now like an elder to him, and the Li Junhua brothers are also his brothers.
"Uncle Fu, from now on, there won't be so many rules in the house. You are all my family now," Li Jiagang said calmly, picking up a char siu bao.
His words filled the Fu family with mixed emotions, and they looked at Li Jiagang with eyes full of gratitude.
"Junhua, Junjie," Uncle Fu said sharply, looking at his two sons, "from now on, you must protect the young master well, do you hear me?"
"Okay, Dad."
The Li brothers responded in unison.
Li Jiagang didn't leave the teahouse until 10 o'clock. Li Junhua had originally wanted to go with him.
But Li Jiagang told him to go back and rest for a few days. After drifting at sea for so many days, he must not have been sleeping or eating well. How could he be asked to work immediately?