Chapter 405: Another Child and the Title of Justice of the Peace
Yang Wendong said, "Starting with sugar makes things relatively easier. At least we'll have a decent amount of internal demand, and the competition in this field isn't nearly as intense as in staple grains."
Staple crops were the backbone of any country, and thus the key target of both governments and international conglomerates. While they didn't outright bar others from entering the sector, the barriers were certainly high. In contrast, sugar was a bit more accessible.
Historically, Robert Kuok (Guo Henian) had successfully controlled Asia's sugar industry, proving that others could follow a similar path. Even if Yang Wendong couldn't become a "Sugar King" due to geographical limitations, there was still a slice of the pie worth fighting for.
Moreover, with the Middle East war looming, sugar would once again be considered a strategic material. Yang Wendong would not involve himself directly, but he knew full well that the price would skyrocket during that period. Early positioning in this industry would yield strong profits—not just in the short term, but by establishing a presence in the sugar trade long-term.
"Alright, I'll start researching which regions around the world have sugar demand," said Zhang Zefei.
Wei Zetao added, "Mr. Zhang, during yesterday's internal meeting, we discussed how the mainland is still facing a sugar shortage. You can work with China Resources, but to avoid complications, we should add an intermediary company between us and them. Then, gradually scale up the trade.
According to our estimates, domestic agriculture is improving, but their main focus remains on staple grain production. Sugar capacity is still limited."
"Understood," Zhang Zefei replied.
Yang Wendong then said, "If you run into any funding issues, you have my permission to contact me directly. As long as it's reasonable, I'll support you.
In the early stages, all of our first-tier subsidiaries have relied on group capital to grow rapidly before developing their own cash flow capabilities."
Changxing Industrial was the group's first subsidiary, but all the others that came after it grew through capital infusions from Changxing itself. That early support allowed them to scale fast and become self-sufficient.
"Thank you, Mr. Yang," Zhang Zefei said, clearly excited.
He knew better than anyone how powerful Changxing Group's resources were. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it Hong Kong's leading Chinese conglomerate. While its overall size might not yet match Jardine Matheson, all of its industries were emerging sectors, each with solid growth and interconnectivity.
"Good, that's settled," Yang Wendong said. "Spend the next month researching the global sugar market. Which countries are exporters, which are importers, their respective market shares, and who the big players are in this industry."
If Yang Wendong could establish a strong foothold in the sugar trade, it wouldn't just support his beverage and snack industries—it was also a high-margin business in itself. Plus, it could indirectly help ordinary people on the mainland. By ensuring a stable external sugar supply, it might allow the government to focus more on staple grain cultivation.
From that angle, it was a far better choice than investing in staple crops directly.
A win-win situation—perhaps even more. If this helped relieve the mainland's sugar shortages for a decade or so, Yang Wendong might even receive invisible benefits when reform and opening-up came.
In the original timeline, Robert Kuok helped mainland China resolve multiple sugar crises, and was later granted priority access to projects like the Yanjing International Trade Center and the Yanjing Oriental Plaza. Though due to financial limitations and family matters, he only invested in the former.
If Yang Wendong didn't lack capital, perhaps he could obtain even more premium projects in the future. Mainland real estate would become so cost-effective that only a few top internet stocks could compare. And yet, with Yang Wendong's existence, the very course of human business history might already be rewritten. Who's to say if Microsoft or Google would even emerge?
He might not know which overseas stocks to pick in this timeline—but real estate in the mainland? That would never go wrong.
"I'll have the full report ready within the month," Zhang Zefei promised.
"One more thing," Yang Wendong continued. "I've invested in a few supermarkets overseas. They're not large yet—similar in scale to Carrefour in the early days.
But I see potential. You should reach out to them, explore direct cooperation, and try to cut out the middlemen. Old Wei, give Mr. Zhang the list of those supermarkets."
As a trading company, working directly with retailers wasn't the norm. Usually, you relied on local distributors, who would then connect with local retail chains. That was the core model of global trade before the internet age.
However, if you already knew which supermarket giants would dominate the future, then it made perfect sense to build direct relationships early, even if that meant starting small. Of course, these collaborations were limited by the supermarkets' own logistics systems. They needed their own warehousing first. But it was still worth establishing contact.
"Understood," said Wei Zetao.
After leaving the meeting room, Wei Zetao brought Zhang Zefei to a Maxim's Café in the ground floor of Changxing Plaza. They both ordered a coffee. Wei Zetao smiled and said, "Zhang, did you know Maxim's Group is also one of our boss's investments?"
"Really? I had no idea," Zhang Zefei said, surprised. "That explains how Maxim's has been expanding so rapidly. There are even Maxim's bakeries inside Carrefour. Now it makes sense—it's because we're shareholders."
Wei Zetao said, "Only Maxim's senior management and a few of us in the group know about that. But starting today, you'll be exposed to more of this kind of information. You'll soon see just how deeply strategic Mr. Yang's layout really is.
We may not have as many sectors as Jardine or Swire, but whenever we enter an industry, we go all in. Once we gain a foothold, we aim to control the entire supply and sales chain—or at least have significant influence over it."
Zhang Zefei paused and said, "So Mr. Yang is planning to go big in sugar, then?"
"Exactly. The group has long planned to enter the beverage sector," said Wei Zetao. "But beverages are expensive to ship. Even though we have our own vessels, it's still not cost-effective.
And even Pepsi and Coca-Cola are cautious when it comes to foreign investment. It's not easy—even for them. So for us, it's even harder."
He added, "That's why starting with sugar makes perfect sense. It's lightweight, core to beverage production, and highly profitable once scaled. Plus, it carries a lot of market influence."
"Got it," Zhang Zefei said with understanding.
He now knew that sugar was destined to become one of the future focal points of Changxing Trading.
Wei Zetao added, "But there's no need to worry too much—Mr. Yang will fully support this. And honestly, with his foresight, he hasn't made a single mistake over the years."
"Exactly. Mr. Yang built everything from scratch in just six years, and now he's already made such an impact in Hong Kong," Zhang Zefei said with admiration. "I can't even imagine what Changxing Group will look like in another six or twelve years."
Although Changxing Group was still a young company, its long-term planning had given it extremely solid foundations. Anyone with even a basic understanding of the market could see that many of its sectors were already firmly established in Hong Kong. The export-focused industries, in particular, were expanding into full vertical integration. This model was unfamiliar to the average Hongkonger, but insiders knew just how formidable it was.
Wei Zetao smiled. "Haha, Mr. Yang's ambitions have been overseas for a while now. It's only because we're a Hong Kong-based company that our current scale seems modest. If we were American, I bet Changxing's size would already be several times bigger."
"That's true," Zhang Zefei nodded.
"Oh, by the way," Wei Zetao continued, "I'm working on an investment project to build a factory in the UK. We're still negotiating. Honestly, the project won't be profitable on its own, but if we want to make money off Westerners, we'll have to give something in return. The upside is that we'll finally have a European base.
Once it's established, you can send a few staff over for long-term assignments, which will help us lower costs and explore the European and American markets more directly."
"Sounds good," Zhang Zefei said. "Building a factory in the West is part of global expansion. We can't just stay in Hong Kong and Taiwan and expect to keep profiting off Europe and the U.S. indefinitely. That kind of model is bound to run into problems sooner or later."
"Haha, smart thinking," Wei Zetao said with a chuckle.
By early August, Zhang Zefei returned to Yang Wendong's office, bringing with him all the data he had compiled.
After going through the report, Yang Wendong said, "Looks like the global sugar trade is indeed dominated by Western capital."
"Yes," Zhang Zefei replied. "Over 60% is controlled by European and American capital. Another 10–20% is held by Japanese, South American, and Southeast Asian interests. As for the remaining 20–30%, it's hard to trace, but it's highly likely that Western investors are behind most of it.
This doesn't include sugar deals within the Soviet bloc or mainland China. We couldn't get accurate numbers there."
"That's enough to work with," Yang Wendong said. "Asia is one of the centers of sugar production, yet it has no major capital influence in pricing. We're basically working as laborers for the Western capitalists."
Zhang Zefei nodded. "Back in the day it was the British. Now it's the Americans. The methods differ, but the result is the same. That said, I think the U.S. approach is slightly better."
Yang Wendong laughed. "That's not because the Americans are more generous—it's because they needed to undo British influence. To replace the old empire, they had to act better than it.
Over the years, the U.S. has championed decolonization, not out of goodwill, but because they couldn't colonize. So they used the banner of freedom to tear down the old guard."
"Well said, Mr. Yang," Zhang Zefei agreed. "By the way, last year a Malaysian Chinese businessman named Robert Kuok made a bold move—he went long on sugar futures and made several million dollars in six months. He's quite gutsy."
"Robert Kuok?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment, then said, "Alright. Start monitoring him closely. Study what he does, how he thinks. Then report back to me. We'll evaluate whether it makes sense to follow his lead."
Everyone in Changxing Group was still new to the sugar trade. But if they could follow in the footsteps of a future sugar magnate, they wouldn't need to understand every little fluctuation. Getting the big picture right was enough—and maybe even better than running the business themselves.
Of course, they would still do internal research. This was about learning and imitation.
"You really think Robert Kuok is that important?" Zhang Zefei asked, puzzled.
"I'm not saying he's the only one worth following," Yang Wendong replied. "You can look into other major sugar traders too. Once we have enough data, we'll analyze it together."
"Understood, Mr. Yang," Zhang Zefei nodded.
August 3, Yang Wendong arrived at Government House. The place was bustling—dozens of reporters were gathered outside.
"Mr. Yang, how does it feel to be appointed a Justice of the Peace?"
"Mr. Yang, what do you plan to do for the people of Hong Kong in your new role?"
"Mr. Yang, what's your opinion on Hong Kong's current economy?"
The moment reporters saw Yang Wendong, they swarmed him with questions.
But his bodyguards were more than capable. Alongside government security, they quickly formed a perimeter and pushed the reporters back.
Soon, Yang Wendong was inside Government House. David Trench, the Governor, was already waiting in the main hall. Upon seeing Yang Wendong, he stepped forward with a smile.
"Mr. Yang, congratulations," he said.
"Thank you, Governor, for your support," Yang Wendong replied politely.
Today was the official Justice of the Peace medal ceremony. There were a total of eight recipients. The other seven were government officials or elderly community leaders. Yang Wendong was the only one who stood out—young and already a legend in Hong Kong's business world. That's why the media turned out in such numbers. On most years, this event would barely attract a few reporters.
David Trench said, "This is something I was proud to support. I hope Mr. Yang will use your new position to help the British Empire manage Hong Kong well."
"Of course," Yang Wendong replied with practiced ease. He had no choice but to go along with the current political climate.
The medal ceremony was held with journalists present. Afterward, all eight recipients took a photo with the Governor.
With that, Yang Wendong's semi-official status was sealed.
By mid-August, the two pregnant women in the Yang family were admitted to Canossa Hospital.
With business matters relatively stable, Yang Wendong began spending more time at the hospital. After all, this was a private facility, complete with VIP lounges for non-patient guests.
The pregnancies were fairly close in timing. In the end, the children were born on August 18 and August 21—one boy and one girl.
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