-Chapter 301: Fame in Hong Kong and a New Strategic Layout
The next day, Yang Wendong summoned Qin Zhiye and shared with him his new idea—"Mass Participation in Drought Relief."
After hearing the concept, Qin Zhiye's eyes lit up. He said, "Mr. Yang, this is an excellent idea. There are actually many people out there who are willing to do charity and help others, but they often don't know how to go about it—or sometimes they're just too lazy.
"But if they could be made aware that simply by making a purchase, they're contributing to a charitable cause, I'm sure they would feel very fulfilled."
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Right, then in the promotional work for this initiative, you need to scale it up. Make sure the entire city of Hong Kong knows that when they shop at Carrefour, or buy beverages from Watsons, they're essentially donating money to buy water from the mainland, thereby helping to alleviate Hong Kong's drought."
"Understood. I'll have an editor polish up the article right away," Qin Zhiye replied. "With this kind of publicity, I'm sure both Carrefour and Watsons will see a huge boost in sales."
"Let's hope so." Yang Wendong chuckled.
In his previous life, these commercial marketing strategies had long been played out, but in this era, they still packed quite a punch.
At this point in time, the spirit of mutual aid among Chinese people was still very strong. For instance, when people on Mount Wu Tong lacked food, many climbed mountains and crossed rivers just to bring them supplies.
Even if the actual impact turned out to be modest, the act itself would send a strong signal—associating these companies with a sense of social responsibility—and the reputational boost alone would be substantial.
On October 6, both the Hong Kong China Daily and Oriental Daily launched a campaign under the slogan: "Overcoming Hardship Together, Fighting the Drought as One."
"'Overcoming Hardship Together, Fighting the Drought as One'?" A man, upon seeing the headline on the Oriental Daily, immediately bought a copy and began reading.
The article was divided into several parts:
The first section detailed the current state of the drought in Hong Kong. Many areas had already lost access to tap water. Even on Hong Kong Island, water supply had become sporadic, forcing many people to take leave from work just to search for water.
The second part covered how the drought was affecting Hong Kong's economy. Many industries depended heavily on water. While the water shortage hadn't yet led to complete shutdowns, it was significantly impacting production efficiency. Every factory needed electricity, and due to the drought, even the city's two power plants had started to reduce output. This had a major impact on the overall economy.
As the economy suffered, numerous factories began cutting back operations, affecting ordinary workers the most. Faced with such circumstances, factories would either reduce wages or lay off employees, which would make life even harder for the common people.
The third part introduced the efforts being made by the Hong Kong government and civil society in response to the drought. Given the severity of the drought across South China, the Guangdong East Reservoir could barely spare any water for Hong Kong. As a result, the Hong Kong government had commissioned various shipping companies to transport water from the eastern regions of mainland China.
However, most shipping companies lacked sufficient surplus capacity and did not actively participate. Currently, the company transporting the most water was Changxing Shipping Group, which had over 20 freighters shuttling between Hong Kong and the mainland. In addition, five large oil tankers were being used to transport water with high efficiency—bringing in nearly a million tons of water in just one month.
The fourth section focused on social contributions beyond the government's efforts. The most significant contributor, naturally, was the Changxing Charity Foundation. Other major donors included several wealthy Chinese businessmen. In contrast, British capital groups had largely opted out, as they were not affected by the water shortage.
The fifth section, which was the core of the article, introduced the new collaborative initiative launched by Carrefour and Watsons called "Weathering the Storm Together." Under this program, 0.2% of any purchase made at Carrefour would be donated to the Changxing Charity Foundation, and 0.5% from any Watsons beverage purchase would also go toward buying water from the mainland.
The sixth and final section was a call to action, encouraging more people to get involved. Readers could donate directly to the Changxing Charity Foundation or to certain government institutions as part of the drought relief effort.
"Shopping and doing charity at the same time? That's kind of interesting," the man muttered as he glanced up at the scorching sun. He turned to the newsstand vendor nearby and asked, "Hey, do you have any Watsons beverages here?"
"Sure, we've got their ginger tea drinks—great for beating the heat and staying alert. Want one?" the vendor replied with a grin.
The man nodded. "Alright, I'll take a bottle."
Inside an office building in Central, Huo Yingdong was also reading the newspaper. He handed it over to the man sitting across from him and said, "Mr. Ding, looks like Yang Wendong's come up with another one of his clever tricks. Take a look."
"A new trick?" Ding Kejian, head of China Resources, looked a bit puzzled. He opened the paper and read for a while before commenting, "It really is clever. It not only boosts his own business but also helps a lot of Hong Kong citizens deal with the water shortage."
Huo Yingdong chuckled. "Told you—Yang Wendong is a natural-born business genius. Who else could think up something like this?"
Ding Kejian nodded. "True. This drought has been tough. While the mainland is earning some foreign exchange by supplying water, the damage in South China is also significant."
Huo Yingdong asked, "Isn't South China a vast area with many large rivers? Shouldn't it be better off than Hong Kong?"
Ding Kejian responded, "If we're just comparing the severity of the drought, then yes, Hong Kong is worse off. But economically, Hong Kong is far stronger. When hit by a drought, it can afford to buy water by ship.
"But in the inland regions, where there's no water, you can't just truck it in—there's no such infrastructure. People have to rely on groundwater. And even if you can find enough water for drinking, what about the crops? No matter how bad things get in Hong Kong, at least no one has to worry about going hungry."
"Yeah, true enough." Huo Yingdong sighed. "In the face of something like this, there's not much we can do."
"Not much, indeed," Ding Kejian agreed. "As long as we can secure enough imported grain to make sure people have food, that'll do for now."
"Right." Huo Yingdong added, "What's the latest on the Hong Kong government's negotiations with the mainland about diverting Dongjiang River water into the city?"
"Still no agreement," Ding Kejian said. "I don't know the details, but I've heard there's been a lot of disagreement."
"So in the short term, Hong Kong's drought won't be solved anytime soon," Huo Yingdong concluded.
"Even if they signed the agreement today, a water diversion project of that scale would take at least a year to complete. For now, Hong Kong still has to rely on large vessels to bring in water," said Ding Kejian.
Huo Yingdong nodded. "Exactly. Looks like Yang Wendong's earlier decision to bulk purchase second-hand ships was truly visionary. Otherwise, today's Hong Kong would be in much worse shape."
"Yeah, though I don't understand how he dared to take that gamble. If South China hadn't experienced a drought, all his investments would've been for nothing," Ding Kejian said, still puzzled.
Huo Yingdong laughed. "Even if the gamble failed, he'd only have made less money. He bought so many second-hand freighters—if not for transporting water, there are still plenty of other business uses. Hong Kong's maritime shipping demand has been rising steadily over the past few years. He wouldn't lose out."
"True. Like you said, everything Yang Wendong does aims for a win-win outcome," Ding Kejian agreed.
"Well, not everything," Huo Yingdong mused. "Those five large second-hand oil tankers he bought—I checked—they're practically scrap. They can't be used for oil transport at all.
"So the only reason he bought them was to carry water. Otherwise, he'd be taking a loss. But even then, it likely wouldn't be a big one."
Ding Kejian nodded approvingly. "Right, that's probably the highest form of altruism. Willing to risk losses for the chance to do some real good. Those five massive tankers transport water much more efficiently than regular cargo ships."
"Exactly." Huo Yingdong smiled again, his eyes full of admiration.
"I'm planning to report this up the chain," Ding Kejian added. "Let the central leadership see what Yang Wendong has done. Regardless of his political alignment, it shows he's a principled, people-oriented entrepreneur."
Huo Yingdong laughed. "Even better. I bet if this were the 1930s or 40s, he'd still be one of those businesspeople who stepped up to help the country."
"Mm." Ding Kejian nodded and said, "Yes, if there had been such successful entrepreneurs back then, a lot of things might have turned out much better."
Huo Yingdong smiled and replied, "Too bad history doesn't allow for 'what ifs.'"
In a modest office in Admiralty, Bao Yugang finished reading the newspaper and said with a touch of emotion, "This really is quite something."
Huang Xiuying chimed in, "Yes, this way, a lot of people in Hong Kong can take part in doing good deeds together. Plus, it's going to make Carrefour even more popular. I'm guessing Jardine's new supermarket might not even be able to compete with Carrefour."
Bao Yugang laughed and said, "That would be even better. At least in one sector, we Chinese-funded companies will finally surpass the British ones."
"Mm." Huang Xiuying then asked, "Can any of your ships be pulled from their current operations to transport water?"
Bao Yugang shook his head and said, "I wish I could, but all my ships are already under contract, leased out to others. I can't get them back unless I buy more vessels now."
Huang Xiuying frowned slightly and said, "That probably won't work. Right now HSBC is already a major shareholder in our company. Even though they don't have veto power, we can't go doing things that would harm their interests."
"Exactly, there's no way around it." Bao Yugang nodded, then added, "I'll donate 200,000 Hong Kong dollars instead. At least that's a token of my goodwill. And going forward, all the supplies my ships need, we'll buy from Carrefour. I'll also grab some drinks from Watsons."
Having a major bank as a shareholder had its benefits—plenty of support, for one—but the downside was that he no longer had the freedom he used to. The constraints were even greater than being listed on the stock exchange.
"That works too." Huang Xiuying nodded.
Buying the things you need and at the same time contributing to charity?
Once more people learned about this, they found it quite intriguing. After all, these were items they were going to buy anyway, and the initiative hadn't caused any price increases—everything remained the same as before. Because of that, more people started going to Carrefour willingly.
As for Watsons' beverages, many people decided to give them a try, thinking they'd be buying drinks anyway. That said, quite a few didn't like the taste of the ginger-based drinks.
On October 10, Yang Wendong once again visited the Carrefour supermarket downstairs.
Liu Huayu hurried over and greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Yang, over the past few days, our customer traffic has gone up by about 10%, and our order volume has increased by 8%."
"Not bad at all. Looks like the 0.2% charity donation didn't cost us—it actually helped us make more money." Yang Wendong smiled.
Liu Huayu nodded and said, "Yes, and it's mainly thanks to the publicity from Oriental Daily and Hong Kong China Daily. The fact that they covered us in connection with the drought saved us the cost of running ads."
"This is even better than direct advertising," Yang Wendong added. "From now on, whether it's in the mainland or overseas—whether it's our own media or someone else's—when we promote something, we need to consider native advertising. Mix it into content that's interesting or trending news. It'll be more effective."
At this time, the concept of native advertising was still rare, even in Hollywood or American television.
"Understood." Liu Huayu nodded.
Yang Wendong then asked, "Is Jardine's ParknShop preparing to open new stores again?"
"Yes. That's their biggest advantage—they're going all in," Liu Huayu replied.
Yang Wendong nodded, "Alright. Then speak with Zheng Zhijie and have him speed up the property acquisition and leasing process."
Liu Huayu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay. But right now, property prices and rents in Hong Kong are skyrocketing. That's making our costs rise sharply, especially since now even Hongkong Land has entered the fray. Their competition is pushing up rental prices even further."
Yang Wendong wasn't surprised. "Have Zheng Zhijie come over as well."
It was already the second half of 1962, and property prices in Hong Kong were very high. In places like Central and Causeway Bay, land auction prices had surpassed HKD 1,000 per square foot (about HKD 10,000 per square meter).
With real estate prices surging, rent naturally followed. More and more people had blind faith in the future of Hong Kong's property market and economy.
"Alright." After Liu Huayu agreed, he made a quick phone call.
Before long, Zheng Zhijie arrived. "Mr. Yang, Mr. Liu."
Yang Wendong asked, "Old Liu just told me about the situation with property prices and rents. Tell me more."
"Sure. Here's the situation," Zheng Zhijie began. "Over the past few months, due to the spike in property prices, our rent costs have also shot up. It's also become increasingly difficult to purchase properties. Many owners aren't willing to sell at all. On top of that, sometimes Hongkong Land jumps in to compete, which is driving the cost of opening Carrefour stores much higher."
Yang Wendong asked, "Doesn't Hongkong Land already own a lot of premium properties? Do they still need to lease?"
"They do own a lot, especially in Central and Admiralty," Zheng Zhijie replied. "But outside of those areas, while they do have properties, not all of them are suitable for supermarkets. So they still need to lease—or outright buy—other properties. But in Hong Kong's current environment, even if they want to buy, many owners won't sell. Lots of people are banking on a single property supporting three generations."
"Mm, that's typical. Chinese people have always had a deep love for real estate," Yang Wendong said with a shake of his head and a smile.
In ancient times, Chinese people loved land. Many dynasties collapsed partly because of rampant land annexation.
In the industrial age, that obsession shifted to housing. The property markets in Hong Kong and, later on, the mainland were hot for most of the time—this was why. It wouldn't be until the population started truly shrinking that problems would finally surface.
Zheng Zhijie continued, "That said, over the past couple of years, I've already acquired quite a few suitable properties—41 in total. They're either operational or under renovation right now and cover a lot of densely populated areas.
"The real question now is whether we should increase efforts to acquire or lease more properties."
Yang Wendong replied, "We should. Carrefour's expansion must not stop. Even if property prices are a bit high, we can find ways to reduce costs elsewhere. We can't allow high real estate prices to halt the growth of our retail business."
While it was true that the real estate sector would encounter problems in a few years, the development of the retail industry couldn't be paused. If Jardine gained the upper hand now, they might have to spend even more to compete later.
Besides, property prices in 1962 and 1963 were still lower than they would be in 1964 and 1965. Even if they needed to scale back acquisitions, it was better to wait a couple more years.
Zheng Zhijie agreed. "Understood. I'll continue acquiring suitable properties. Regarding pricing, I'll consult with both Mr. Liu and you in advance."
"Alright." Yang Wendong nodded.
He knew Zheng Zhijie meant well. After all, he didn't know the future. For a service-oriented enterprise, caution during times like these was the norm.
Liu Huayu said, "Actually, there's another option. It would require more upfront investment, but in the long run, it might be more cost-effective."
"Let's hear it," Yang Wendong said.
Liu Huayu explained, "We could buy old buildings ourselves, demolish them, and build supermarkets. The downside is that the costs would be extremely high, since it's basically like buying land outright.
"But the advantages are significant. First, we'd avoid direct conflict with Hongkong Land. There are lots of old buildings out there—they can't compete with us for every location. Second, we'd also be investing in long-term real estate returns."
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10