Volume 1: Rebirth Chapter 46: The Merchant of Hong Kong

  It's said that when people encounter happy events, their spirits are lifted. These past few days, Wang Peiyuan's mood has been great. When there were no outsiders around, his face would often be covered with an uncontrollable smile. Sometimes he'd even hum a few lines of songs. Even his secretary could tell that the mayor was in a fantastic mood and sometimes dared to crack jokes with him.

  Now Wang Peiyuan's secretary is no longer the original Zheng Lei, Zheng Lei followed him for three years and was promoted to be the deputy mayor of Anning Town last year.

  Secretaries and drivers are called the two most trusted people around leaders, regarded as the leader's confidants. Drivers are fine, mainly just driving, as long as they know how to control their hands and mouths. Secretaries follow the leader day and night, busy running back and forth, and also have to handle various matters that the leader is not suitable to deal with in person. Isn't it all for the sake of rapid promotion? With a promising future, they will only have motivation to help leaders get things done.

  Wu Qi took over as Zheng Wei's secretary after the new year. He is nearly thirty years old and has been working in the municipal government office for five years. Due to his cleverness, meticulous work, good writing skills, and connections with the secretary-general of the municipal government, he was recommended to Wang Peiyuan and smoothly promoted from deputy director to full director. If he stabilizes in this position and gains the mayor's satisfaction, there is also a possibility that he will be promoted to vice director of the municipal government office, which is at the deputy department level. This leap may seem insignificant, but some people struggle to achieve it throughout their lives. Moreover, being the secretary to the mayor is not just any ordinary full director position; it's a close minister to the mayor, and even bureau chiefs dare not underestimate him.

  Wu Qinan got such an opportunity, as others in the secretariat said, was like a green smoke rising from his ancestors' tombs; otherwise, with so many secretaries in the municipal government office, when would it be his turn?

  What delights Wang Peiyuan is not only that the municipal party secretary, Huang Hua, will soon retire, but also that the province has indicated that he will take over as the new municipal party secretary. Although he hasn't been the municipal party secretary for the past two years, in reality, he has already exercised the powers of the municipal party secretary, even if it wasn't official. Being able to become the actual secretary is naturally what he has always hoped for. Xichang is just an ordinary prefecture-level city, but after his many years of management, he has become like a local emperor here, with everyone under him accustomed to following orders and his instructions being highly effective. If he were to go to another city, even if he were still the secretary, it wouldn't be as comfortable and easy-going as it is in Xichang.

  What made him even happier was that a powerful Hong Kong company was planning to come to Xichang for investigation and investment, which is great news.

  Since the reform and opening up, attracting investment has been a major political achievement in various regions. Xichang is located in the southwestern border, and most of its land is also hilly and mountainous, with almost no other projects available for development except mineral resources. Over the years, Wang Peiyuan has also been worried about this matter, if he had good economic achievements himself, plus the help of his later forces, would his own development be a problem? It must be like adding wings to a tiger, soaring to great heights, but in recent years, there has been no good opportunity to find a breakthrough.

  Two days ago, Leng Yunying mentioned that a Hong Kong company would be coming to Xichang for an inspection soon. He was quite skeptical, after all, Leng Yunying rarely even goes to Chengdu, the provincial capital, so how could he possibly know a company from Hong Kong? But today, the province clearly sent out a notice stating that in three days' time, personnel from the Sichuan Provincial Foreign Affairs Office and the Bureau of Economic and Trade would be accompanying guests from Hong Kong for an inspection in Xichang. Only then did he believe what Leng Yunying had said, and he hastily called him to understand the situation.

  Leng Yun Yi didn't quite understand the situation either, everything originated from Leng Bing Han.

  Leng Bing Han's excuse was quite ordinary, at that time it was very popular to have pen pals, just like netizens in later generations. Perhaps they would never meet in their lifetime, but they could communicate with each other through letters and share various emotions. Leng Bing Han said that he had described the situation in Xichang to his pen pal in a letter, and coincidentally, this pen pal's relatives in Hong Kong wanted to come to the mainland to invest. They learned about the situation in Xichang from their pen pal and were very interested, so they decided to come and inspect the place in person. If it was satisfactory, they would consider investing. Of course, as for those letters that went back and forth, due to various reasons, they could no longer be found.

  Although Leng Yun was not very convinced, under Leng Bing Han's repeated guarantees, he still believed that the Hong Kong company would come to inspect. After all, in such a big matter, he believed that Leng Bing Han would not deceive himself. Even if this matter came somewhat suddenly, it was still a good thing, wasn't it? What was the point of pursuing the reason behind it?

  After listening to the whole story, Wang Peiyuan was also deeply moved. He never thought that his adopted son would be his lucky star, and even finding a pen pal could bring a Hong Kong company to visit him for inspection. Like Leng Yunyi, he didn't care much about the origin of things, as long as there was a company coming to inspect, it was a good thing that came knocking on the door. Moreover, according to the province, after verification, this company had strong strength, with registered capital exceeding 70 million Hong Kong dollars, and the planned investment in the mainland this time reached 30 million Hong Kong dollars.

  Even if the company doesn't invest a single penny, just coming to take a look is a good thing politically, it shows that Xichang has already entered the eyes of foreign companies, and it's an important achievement for oneself. Moreover, since the Sino-British Joint Declaration was issued in 1984, the British side has been constantly undermining and hurting mainland China out of political necessity, making China very passive internationally. Now, a Hong Kong company is willing to come to Xichang, located in southwestern inland China, to investigate and invest, which is a rare opportunity and a necessary propaganda from a political perspective, with a significance far greater than the 300 million Hong Kong dollars.

  Thinking of this, Wang Peiyuan couldn't help but feel overjoyed and thought that in the past two years, Leng Yunqiao's work performance had been quite good and effective, and he was very supportive of his own work. Now at 43 years old, it was even more rare to have a relationship like this between them, where they would rise and fall together, without having to worry about any cracks forming in the future. It seemed that after this matter was settled, he should give him more responsibilities.

  One day at the end of May, with fine weather and sunshine, Wang Peiyuan led a large welcoming team to Xichang Airport to greet guests from Hong Kong and their provincial escorts. By rights, such a scene should have been hosted by the top leader, but Huang Hua had long since made an excuse that he was not feeling well and gone to Chengdu for a rest, so Wang Peiyuan naturally took on the leading role.

  At 11 o'clock sharp, the guests finally walked out of the airport under the accompaniment of relevant personnel from the province. Wang Peiyuan and a series of officials went to greet them, while the media behind raised their long guns and short cannons, creating a flurry of flashing lights.

  There were three representatives from Hong Kong, two men and one woman. Of course, this company was naturally the Hong Kong Far Away Investment Company founded by Zhu Jianjun, otherwise which company in Hong Kong would know about this small place Xi Chang? Even if they wanted to invest, they would choose Shenzhen, Shanghai or Beijing, why would they choose Xi Chang?

  After Zhu Jianjun arrived in Hong Kong, he quickly established the Hong Kong Fei Yuan Investment Co., Ltd. according to the instructions of Leng Bingxuan, with a registered capital of HK$70 million. At that time, the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar was higher than that of the Renminbi, with approximately 1 Hong Kong dollar exchanging for 1.1 Renminbi, making it a relatively powerful investment company in Hong Kong as well.

  The company's office is located on the 26th floor of Xinyong Building in Central, renting over 3,000 square feet (about 300 square meters) of office space, with an annual rent of over HK$10 million. It also recruited more than a dozen employees locally in Hong Kong, mainly focusing on financial investment.

  The company's chairman is Leng Bingxian, who holds 95% of the shares. The executive director and general manager is Zhu Jianjun, who holds 5% of the company's shares. As a result, within less than half a year, Zhu Jianjun transformed from an unknown poor boy to a golden bachelor worth HK$35 million, whose wealth will continue to increase with the development of the company.

  Due to age reasons, Leng Bingchuan did not directly appear in Hong Kong Fei Yuan Investment Co., Ltd. Instead, he registered a company called Huayue Investment Co., Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands, which was solely owned by him. This company then held 95% of the shares of Hong Kong Fei Yuan Investment Co., Ltd., making it the largest shareholder of the Hong Kong company.

  The British Virgin Islands, also known as the British Virgin Islands (BVI), are located about 60 miles east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of more than 40 islands with a total area of only 155 square kilometers and a population of only 15,000 people. It is one of the most popular offshore financial centers in the world.

  As one of the most popular offshore company registration destinations, the British Virgin Islands have the following advantages: The island is a very stable place in terms of politics, economy and trade, with good financial legal facilities, convenient for establishing various financial institutions or foundations, government protection of shareholder interests, no need to disclose beneficiary identity, local government encourages economic development, attracts foreign investment, one person can fully own a limited company, the government provides private protection for each enterprise, director information is absolutely confidential, low tax rate, the island's international companies are subject to very little tax control, no auditor report is required, only retaining documents reflecting the economic situation is possible, profits earned from operating abroad do not need to pay income tax, and reasonable tax avoidance can be achieved through triangular trade. Therefore, many companies around the world register offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands.

  Since the company is an investment company, its business naturally focuses on investment. From the moment the company was established, Zhu Jianjun arranged for personnel to gradually purchase stocks and futures worth HK$400 million according to Leng Binghan's instructions beforehand. Another HK$300 million, Leng Binghan planned to invest in mainland China to build his hometown. Of course, he had already thought of what projects to invest in.

  Hong Kong Feiyuan Company's trip naturally centered around Zhu Jianjun, but in order to strengthen the company's persuasive power, they also sent Liu Fusheng and Zhao Yaxin, two local Hongkongers who were recruited, to come together. To the outside world, it was announced that Liu Fusheng was the main person in charge of this trip. The reason for this was to create a diversion, secretly investigate the situation, and have Liu Fusheng deal with the government openly, while Zhu Jianjun could observe and understand the local real situation in secret.

  As for Zhu Jianjun being a local, he and Zhu himself didn't worry about it at all. He wasn't well-known in Licheng, let alone now that he was dealing with some of the upper echelons of Xichang. Even if someone thought he looked familiar, they wouldn't dare to recognize him, after all, the difference in status between the two people was too great. Moreover, Zhu Jianjun was now wearing a bright and eye-catching outfit, having spent several months outside, his horizons had broadened, and his image and temperament had also improved. Who would have thought that just a few months ago he was still a poor young man from Licheng?

  The boss has given the order, and naturally Liu Fusheng and his fellow workers will not have any objections. Now that Hong Kong's economy is in a downturn and unemployment rates are high, they're lucky to have found this job, which was selected from among thousands of applicants. Moreover, Fei Yuan Investment Company adheres to a cold and ruthless philosophy, with salaries and benefits that are quite good, almost 5-10% higher than the industry average. How could they not cherish such an opportunity?

  Under such misleading circumstances, the personnel of the Provincial Government and Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade naturally took Liu Fusheng as the main person in charge of this trip, and they were more enthusiastic and thoughtful to him. They had no idea that he was completely unable to make decisions on his own.

  The provincial team is not small, with a deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office and a director of the Economic and Trade Commission leading the team, accompanied by four working staff members. The Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Economy and Trade also sent a delegation led by a director, with several people attending.

  Of course, there are also many media reporters from provincial TV stations and newspapers. For the province, no matter where Hong Kong's investment is in the province, they cannot do without their achievements, and reporting and publicity must be strengthened.