Chapter 160: A New Opportunity in Shipping
The process of purchasing music and cover rights, of course, was bound to take time.
Once the plan was settled, Zhang Hui borrowed a Japanese-speaking translator from Changxing Industrial and assigned a trusted assistant to travel with him to Japan to begin negotiations.
December 23rd, Christmas Eve:
Hennessy Road, one of the most bustling streets in Hong Kong, was buzzing with activity.
Yang Wendong strolled alongside Bai Yushan, snacking on various local street foods—candied hawthorn, grilled skewers, Hong Kong-style fish balls, stuffed tofu… everything you could ask for.
After taking a bite of her candied hawthorn, Bai Yushan smiled and said, "Dong-ge, your idea really works. Skipping staple meals and just snacking like this makes it easy to eat well without gaining weight."
Yang Wendong chuckled. "It's not a big deal to gain a bit of weight. People shouldn't be too skinny, either."
"So do you like curvier girls or slender ones?" Bai Yushan shot back.
"Somewhere in between," Yang replied. "Remember what I taught you about BMI? 21 is the ideal range."
"Oh, I'm about 21-something now. Might need to lose a bit," she calculated quickly.
"A little up or down is fine," Yang said casually.
As the two walked down the main road, a young girl, about seven or eight years old, approached and said, "Sir, would you like to buy a flower? One dollar each."
"Sure." Seeing the little girl, Yang readily agreed and pulled out a five-dollar note to buy five.
When he received the flowers, he realized they were made of plastic. Still, he handed them to Bai Yushan with a smile. "Didn't notice they were plastic. Here, for you."
"They're better this way—they'll last forever," Bai Yushan laughed, holding the flower up to her nose. She sniffed it and said in surprise, "It smells like perfume!"
Yang leaned in to smell it too. "Probably sprayed some fragrance on it. Clever little trick for business."
Anyone selling flowers on a street as busy as this likely wasn't working alone. Especially not a child. There was always someone behind the scenes. Still, if they could earn money and get fed, that was better than some other street children begging with broken limbs.
"Five bucks for these flowers…" Bai Yushan mused. "That's about what I make for a day of interning at HSBC."
Yang grinned. "That's already a decent wage. In my factories, a regular worker makes only two dollars a day—and even that's considered good."
As 1960 approached, Hong Kong's average wage had gone up slightly, but even so, the average monthly salary hovered around 100 HKD. And as everyone knew, "average" was often far above the median.
Bai Yushan nodded. "Yeah, now that I've started working, I've realized how different the lives of the rich and poor are. The wealthy live in luxury, while so many others are struggling just to eat."
Yang said, "Exactly. The glamorous parts of Hong Kong are like cities in the West, but the poorer areas aren't much different from the rest of Asia.
When I invest in industry, it's not just for myself. I want to create more jobs too. I've been hungry before—I don't want others, especially children, to go through the same."
"Really?" Bai Yushan looked at him with a mixture of admiration and disbelief.
"Of course," Yang replied. "And if someday I have tens of thousands of people working because of me, don't be surprised. That's my goal."
"Tens of thousands?" she exclaimed. "Hong Kong's population is only about three million!"
Yang shrugged. "That number includes indirect workers too—like those employed by our suppliers."
"Oh, that makes more sense." Bai Yushan smiled. "Well, I hope you reach that goal soon."
Yang nodded. "It might happen sooner than you think. But one thing is bothering me—transport. Shipping, specifically. It could seriously affect my factories."
"Shipping? As in ocean freight?" she asked. "But there's no way Hong Kong doesn't have enough ships."
"There are enough ships. The problem is the cost. Maritime shipping is expensive. Some of our products just aren't profitable to send to Europe or the U.S.," Yang explained.
Once the spin mop, adhesive hooks, and the soon-to-be blockbuster rolling suitcase hit the market, if these products could all be manufactured in Hong Kong and exported globally, even a workforce of tens of thousands might not be enough.
But to make that happen, international shipping costs had to drop significantly. The suitcase, for instance, was bulky but lightweight. Even with the advent of container shipping, it was still costly to transport.
Bai Yushan thought for a moment and said, "I remember what my economics professor said in university—if you want to export something profitably, it needs to be small and high-value. Weight doesn't matter as much, unless it's solid metal or something.
Your Post-it notes and hooks fit that model. Spin mops… not so much."
"I never planned to sell spin mops to the West," Yang laughed. "I meant future products."
The rolling suitcase was still in the concept phase. Only a handful of people inside the company even knew about it. Even within the R&D team, tasks were split up in such a way that most employees didn't even realize what they were working on. They were designing components, not the final product.
As for the outside world? No one knew. Not even close colleagues like Su Yiyi or Zhao Liming. The risk was small, but if another company got wind of the idea, they might beat him to market.
Until the product was complete and patents were filed, Yang wasn't planning to tell anyone outside the company.
"Will the production and sales be steady?" Bai Yushan asked.
"They should be," Yang nodded. The market for rolling suitcases was massive—far bigger than Post-it notes.
She thought for a moment and said, "There is one solution. But it's a big investment."
"What's the solution?" Yang asked.
She said, "Some large companies in Europe and America also worry about shipping costs. So to control expenses, they buy their own ships to transport their export goods.
For example, American car companies—do you think they ship cars to Europe alongside random cargo? No, they use their own vessels."
"Good point," Yang Wendong nodded thoughtfully. It reminded him of something from his past life—BYD purchasing ro-ro ships specifically for exporting their vehicles.
If the vessel could be consistently utilized, owning a ship would be the most cost-effective option.
Bai Yushan continued, "And it's not just about saving money. The real advantage is being able to control scheduling. Plus, when you have your own shipping, you can plan cargo space more efficiently—maximize load per trip and bring the per-unit shipping cost way down.
But of course, that only makes sense if there's enough cargo volume to justify it."
"You know quite a bit, huh?" Yang Wendong smiled.
"My university professor taught us that," Bai Yushan said with a laugh. "But buying a ship isn't cheap. Even a second-hand small freighter costs tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars."
"That's actually the easy part," Yang shook his head. "The real challenge is how to run it."
"You're thinking of doing it then?" she asked.
Yang shook his head again. "Not for now. Maybe later. Right now, my products are still mainly serving the Hong Kong and broader Asian markets. Standard shipping options will do for the time being."
Truthfully, if he had surplus funds in the future, shipping would be an excellent sector to invest in—not only would it align with his logistical needs, but it also offered significant long-term influence.
Unlike real estate, which he planned to exit by the end of 1964—before the massive crash of '65—shipping was a sustainable and global business.
He recalled how, in his past life, shipping magnate Bao Yugang had built friendships with world presidents. A single ship order could prompt a meeting with a French minister. That level of international influence—Li Ka-shing only reached in old age.
Bai Yushan nodded. "If your products really become hot sellers in Europe and the U.S., then yeah, it would definitely be worth it."
"Exactly." Yang Wendong smiled but didn't say more.
They walked for a while until they reached a movie theater, which happened to be showing a Shaw Brothers martial arts film. On impulse, they went inside.
It was a kung fu flick, and Yang thought it was quite decent.
Martial arts films had already been popular in Hong Kong for decades, but the genre was stuck in a creative rut—until Bruce Lee eventually burst onto the scene and changed everything.
When the movie ended, night had fallen.
They headed to Victoria Harbour, where they boarded a "floating restaurant"—a hotel-turned-dining-ship. In Hong Kong, many restaurateurs had bought old vessels, retrofitted them, and turned them into unique dining experiences.
They took a VIP booth on the top deck. Looking out at the city's sparkling neon skyline, Bai Yushan said, "The night view of Hong Kong is really something else. One side is the sea, the other looks like stars hanging in the sky."
"Huh?" Yang didn't quite catch what she meant.
She laughed. "Look, if you took a photo from here and flipped it upside down, wouldn't the city lights look like stars in the summer sky?"
Yang visualized it in his mind. "You're right. That's actually a beautiful image."
"I used to come here with my dad and my sister when I was little," she said with a soft smile. "We loved watching the night scenery."
"That's nice." Yang smiled. "The boat we're on tonight actually sets sail later. We'll be eating dinner while watching the view shift."
Most floating restaurants stayed docked, but some, if they had the right connections, were allowed to move. Of course, those came with a higher price tag.
"Even better," Bai Yushan said, nodding.
The sea breeze swept in from the shore, rustling through the night. The water shimmered like wrinkled banana leaves, reflecting the myriad lights of Central.
Soon, the food was served. Yang smiled and said, "The chef here is great at Cantonese dishes. A friend recommended this place."
"Really?" Bai Yushan rolled up her sleeves and took a small bite. "Mm, not bad at all."
"Haha." Yang chuckled, then picked up a wine bottle. "I also brought some red wine from Britain. Supposedly it was cellared before World War II."
"Sounds fancy," she said. "Though I don't know much about wine."
"Neither do I," Yang replied bluntly. "No one's born knowing this stuff. Those old guys in their 40s and 50s only learned after drinking for decades.
Now that we're doing business, we've got to learn at least a little."
"True." She nodded.
Yang poured them each a glass. The wine was light in alcohol, and they sipped it like a soft drink as they chatted.
After the meal, Yang took a small box out of his coat pocket and smiled. "Here, your Christmas gift."
"Christmas gift? You're Santa Claus now?" she joked playfully, but still took the red box. "What's inside?"
"Open it and see," Yang replied.
She carefully opened it and found a green gem. "Is this… jade?"
"Yes," Yang nodded.
Gold was too flashy. Diamonds were an overpriced trend. Jade, with its deep roots in Chinese tradition, had always been a symbol of elegance.
"It's beautiful," she said softly, smiling.
Yang stood up, took out the necklace, and said, "Let me put it on you."
"Okay." She blushed, but agreed.
Yang gently fastened the jade necklace around her neck and complimented, "Very beautiful."
"The jade you picked really is lovely," she replied.
Yang smiled faintly. "I wasn't talking about the jade."
She instantly understood and blushed even more.
From this close, Yang could smell the natural scent of her skin—it wasn't perfume, just her.
Then, without warning, he leaned in and kissed her.
"Ah!" Bai Yushan was startled, but she didn't resist.
(20,000 words omitted here)
An hour later, just as Bai Yushan tried to lift her head, she winced slightly.
"You're lying on my hair," she said softly. "Get up."
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