Chapter 194: Stealing the Foreigners' Business
[Changxing Real Estate's Debut Success: HK$4.6 Million in Sales by Midday — The Post-it King Successfully Transitions into Real Estate]
The front-page headline of Ming Pao instantly caught the attention of nearly everyone. HK$4.6 million in sales by midday? What a staggering figure. There were plenty of people in Hong Kong who didn't even have HK$460 to their names.
…
Inside a luxurious office in Central, legendary property tycoon Horace Fok looked over the paper and called in his assistant.
"A Yun, have you heard of this Changxing Real Estate?" he asked.
"Yes," A Yun replied. "Changxing Real Estate and Changxing Industrial both belong to the Post-it King, Yang Wendong."
"The Post-it King? I've heard of him," Fok nodded. "Last year, I read about how he built his empire from scratch. Very impressive. Reminds me of when I started out.
Though I think it was even harder for him—at least I had a bit of money when I began."
A Yun smiled. "Mr. Fok, your first pot of gold was earned entirely on your own too. In that sense, you and Mr. Yang are very similar."
"That's true," Fok chuckled. "But it took me several years to accumulate that first pot of gold. I looked into Yang Wendong last year—his strength lies in inventing clever little industrial products.
But I didn't expect him to step into real estate… and even create a whole new concept with luxury pre-furnished homes."
A Yun thought for a moment. "It's definitely an innovation, but its practicality doesn't compare to your invention of pre-sale housing.
These days, which Hong Kong developer isn't using your method? Honestly, at least half of the city's real estate boom can be credited to you."
"Haha!" Fok laughed. "You're not wrong. His concept probably won't go mainstream, but it does introduce a new business model.
And Yang Wendong is so young—being able to come up with this idea and pull it off successfully shows that his potential in the property market is enormous."
A Yun frowned. "But isn't Mr. Yang mainly focused on manufacturing? Maybe he's just dabbling in real estate for fun."
"That's not important. Maybe he was only testing the waters," Fok said with a smile. "But once someone gets a taste of success in real estate, who would walk away from that?
Besides, factory profits and real estate profits aren't mutually exclusive, right?"
"True," A Yun nodded. "But Hong Kong's property market is so vast—it won't affect us much."
"Mm." Fok nodded in agreement, then added, "Still, maybe we should consider doing something similar. Launch a boutique development inspired by this Ti Xiang Shijia. What do you think?"
"I think that's a great idea," A Yun said. "With higher-end finishing, we can definitely price it higher too."
"Good. Do some market research—especially on the Ti Xiang Shijia project. I want numbers."
"Yes, I'll get started right away," A Yun replied.
…
Top Floor of Ganghua Tower.
Yang Wendong finished reading the Ming Pao article and chuckled. "Well, I guess this media buzz benefits Ming Pao the most."
Opposite him, Qin Zhiye smiled. "Our Ganghua Daily already ran extensive ads on Ti Xiang Shijia. Most of our readership has seen them.
Besides, Jin Yong agreed to plug Xiong Sheng's new novel in Ming Pao, so we gave them this news scoop as a return favor. Plus, Ming Pao has a wider reach. A little extra exposure doesn't hurt."
"It's fine," Yang replied with a grin. "If it helps boost Xiong Yaohua's readership, that's a small price to pay.
The more people read his books, the more they'll buy our newspaper."
The current Gu Long was no longer the same as in recorded history. Yang had rented him an apartment near Ganghua Tower and encouraged him to settle down and build a family in Hong Kong. That had helped him focus on his writing. After completing his first novel, he had immediately started working on the second.
His serialized stories were one of the main tools Ganghua Daily used to attract and retain subscribers. Unlike viral news, good fiction created long-term loyalty—a single reader might stick around and buy every issue for months.
Having Jin Yong endorse Gu Long's latest book was part of that strategy. With Jin Yong's towering status in the martial arts genre, his recommendation could be more effective than a thousand advertisements.
"Sales have definitely picked up since Jin Yong's recommendation," Qin Zhiye confirmed. "The new book is doing very well."
Yang nodded. "How many papers are we selling daily now?"
"Around 6,000. Still slowly climbing," Qin replied. "And Xiong Sheng's story is about to reach a dramatic arc, so we expect another bump in sales soon."
Yang nodded again. "And the news side?"
"I've already built up reporting teams in Hong Kong and Macau. We're focusing on entertainment and economic news.
As for international coverage, we're mainly aggregating hot local headlines."
"Good," Yang said. "Keep the focus on entertainment and especially economics—real estate and the stock market."
In the newspaper business, there was no shortcut to overnight success. Even Ming Pao and the future Oriental Daily took years to build up their readerships.
High-end papers didn't need to dominate right away. As long as they steadily grew their audience and earned trust, the brand would eventually speak for itself.
"Understood," Qin replied.
…
After Qin left, Zheng Zhijie returned from outside and came to see Yang.
Yang handed him the newspaper. "Look at this. Our Changxing Real Estate is famous now."
"In this business, the more famous, the better," Zheng laughed, taking the paper. "That's how we attract more buyers."
He flipped through the article. "The HK$4.6 million number isn't false. But claiming we did it in half a day is a bit much. We've been preparing for months, and we'll still be building for over half a year."
"True," Yang said. "But all of that can be handed off to a professional construction firm. We can focus on the next project. Pre-sales really are magical."
In his previous life, Yang had never been involved in property development, but thanks to the internet, he'd gained a decent understanding of how real estate worked.
Buy land. Start pre-sales. Use the revenue to fund construction and project services. Reinvest the rest into the next cycle. Profit compounds rapidly.
"That's how every Hong Kong developer operates now," Zheng said. "By the way, I've got my eye on two plots—one near North Point, the other near Causeway Bay. Similar in size to Ti Xiang Shijia. I'm planning to attend the next auction. Do you want to come?"
"Two plots?" Yang thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I'll go check them out."
Each plot could cost millions. While his net worth was now substantial, he wasn't yet ready to hand that kind of capital over entirely to his managers—not yet, anyway.
Zheng Zhijie continued, "Mr. Yang, based on my calculations, the Ti Xiang Shijia project should yield us a net profit of between HK$1.2 to 1.5 million. Adding that to the HK$1 million you initially allocated to the project... we're still short on funds for the next two developments. So we'll need another round of bank loans."
"No problem. That's how real estate projects are supposed to work," Yang Wendong agreed. "Let's go back to Liu Chong Hing Bank. Work with them as much as possible."
The capital Yang initially gave to Changxing Real Estate was HK$1 million, while the land purchase alone for Ti Xiang Shijia had cost HK$2.6 million. The deal had only gone through thanks to financing from Liu Chong Hing Bank.
In the early stages of development, additional tens of thousands in loans had also come from them. The project's debt load was incredibly high. If not for Yang's personal credibility and growing reputation, even a risk-tolerant bank like Liu Chong Hing wouldn't have continued to support it so freely.
Fortunately, once the first batch of pre-sales was completed, cash flow improved rapidly. Although they couldn't immediately repay the full loan, the bank now saw far less risk. Not only were they not rushing Yang for repayment—they were likely preparing to offer even more funding.
"Alright, I'll get started on the paperwork," Zheng said before heading out.
In his spacious office, Yang Wendong looked down at the financial reports on his desk and smiled. "One real estate project has netted us nearly the same profit as an entire month of Changxing Industrial's operations. No wonder people go crazy for this industry."
Even though a development cycle could take a year or more, pre-sales allowed for capital and profits to be recovered within months. With enough courage and multiple simultaneous projects, the profits could far exceed most manufacturing industries—Changxing Industrial being an exception only due to its unique strength.
Of course, this was only possible because Yang, as a time traveler, understood the risks and dared to go all in. Most people couldn't and wouldn't take such bold steps. And even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to borrow that much—the banks themselves had their own limits on risk.
The success of his first real estate project had breathed new life into Changxing Real Estate. Zheng Zhijie had already begun hiring aggressively and building out the company's full organizational structure while preparing for future ventures.
Yang, meanwhile, could finally relax. As long as the real estate arm was functioning properly, he could focus on big-picture investments and spend more time with family.
These days, Yiyi's belly was already beginning to show. In the absence of ultrasound technology, Yang had turned to traditional Chinese medicine. He brought in several old TCM practitioners to feel her pulse and determine the baby's gender—but some said it was a boy, while others said it was a girl.
…
By December, the weather had finally cooled after months of heat.
A cargo ship slowly entered the Kowloon Wharf from Victoria Harbour—it was the Shun An, the first freighter owned by Changxing Shipping Company.
It had delivered a shipment of luggage to the United States and was now returning with a load of goods from America.
Yang Wendong, Wei Zetao, and Changxing Shipping's new general manager Zheng Yuhua were all at the dock to greet it. Also present was their long-time partner, An Yongqiang.
"Mr. Yang," An greeted with a smile, "I've got 120 workers ready. As soon as your ship's docked, we'll start unloading."
"Good. But this shipment is full of heavy plastic pellets. Make sure your guys are careful—not just for the goods, but for themselves too," Yang nodded.
Recently, a few Hong Kong importers had conspired to hike the price of plastic pellets. By investing in Wang Yongqing, Yang had set up a long-term solution, but that factory wouldn't be ready for at least another year. In the meantime, he was directly importing pellets from the U.S.
Shipping costs were high, but at least he wasn't at anyone's mercy anymore.
"Don't worry, Mr. Yang," An replied. "We've got heavy-lifting equipment on site. This is nothing."
Yang gave a slight nod and said no more.
Soon, the ship docked at the pier. Under the direction of the crew, dockworkers began unloading the cargo. Workers could be seen carrying sacks out of the ship one after another.
On the other side of the ship, a group of over a dozen Chinese men disembarked. Leading them was the Shun An's captain, Sun Zhiwei—the first captain of Changxing Shipping.
The group walked forward, and Yang greeted them with a smile. "Good work, everyone."
Sun Zhiwei politely replied, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Wei, thank you."
"Captain Sun, this is Zheng Yuhua, the future general manager of Changxing Shipping. She previously worked at Wheelock for over twenty years," Yang introduced.
During the Shun An's trip to the U.S., the company hadn't had much else to manage, but the organizational structure still needed to be put in place. Yang had personally interviewed several senior staff from top shipping companies and ultimately recruited Zheng from Wheelock Shipping.
Though she was a woman, she had extensive management experience and had reached the highest position a Chinese employee could attain at Wheelock. Since there was no further room for advancement in a British firm, she had chosen to join Changxing.
"Ms. Zheng, hello," Sun Zhiwei greeted respectfully.
"Hello," Zheng replied.
"You've just returned from a long voyage, so take two days off," Yang said. "On the 10th, we'll hold a company meeting to discuss our future plans."
"Understood," Sun responded.
The dockworkers were now hauling out sack after sack of plastic pellets, loading them onto trucks that soon drove off toward the warehouse.
Yang turned to Wei Zetao. "Old Wei, once all the pellets are in the warehouse, have our team reach out not just to our partners, but also to other plastic manufacturers.
I want to start talks about cutting out the middlemen. From now on, we Chinese should source our own materials."
The cost of bringing these pellets from the U.S. was roughly the same as buying from the local traders, but Yang needed to secure the market. By mid-next year, the new factory in Taiwan would be producing, and at that point, Hong Kong could start being supplied directly.
While Changxing Industrial's demand was already considerable, it was nothing compared to the hundreds, even thousands, of small to mid-sized plastic manufacturers in Hong Kong.
Having already invested in Wang Yongqing, Yang saw no reason not to help him—soon to be Taiwan's richest man—grow even faster.
The larger the scale, the lower the cost. The goal wasn't just to dominate the Hong Kong market, but to eventually see both Formosa Plastics (future Taiwan Plastics) and Changxing Industrial thrive on an international scale.
Wei smiled. "Alright. Our warehouse has been waiting for this moment."
"Then let's head back," Yang said. There wasn't much else to see here. He turned to An Yongqiang and added, "Mr. An, same as always—make sure the workers get some extra food and bonuses."
"No problem," An nodded.
Not far from the dock, a group of British men stood watching with sour expressions. One of them swore under his breath, "Fuck. These Chinese actually shipped plastic pellets all the way from overseas."
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10