The 77th chapter is not considered a chapter.
So it will be 4 chapter for the day, and an additional one if we reach 20 Power Sones today.
This is Chapter 2 of 4 for the day.
Peace Out!
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Lin Baicheng originally thought that once he decided to spend 120 million HKD to acquire 61% of Rediffusion Television's shares, the television station would soon become his. Unexpectedly, just as the transaction was about to proceed, Huo Yaohua informed him that there was a problem.
The Hong Kong government had stepped in and objected to Rediffusion selling the station to Lin Baicheng. They wanted Rediffusion to sell it to another British-funded organization or individual instead.
Television stations are a highly important medium for public messaging. At this time in Hong Kong, there were three major television stations: TVB (Wireless Television), owned by Chinese; CTV (佳艺电视), also Chinese-owned; and only Rediffusion Television was controlled by British capital.
The colonial government did not want such an important propaganda channel to fall into Chinese hands. When CTV was established, they imposed many restrictive conditions, which ultimately caused the station to go bankrupt within a few years.
It wasn't that CTV lacked capability; it was simply handicapped from the start. People preferred entertainment-oriented shows rather than educational programming, so no matter how hard CTV tried, it couldn't escape its fate.
Now, Rediffusion wanted to sell the station, and worse—sell it to a Chinese entrepreneur like Lin Baicheng. Naturally, the government intervened.
When Lin heard this from Huo Yaohua, he thought the acquisition had fallen through, and he might have to wait a few more years to buy it from the Australian consortium. But unexpectedly, Huo told him to wait—there was still hope.
After all, Britain was a capitalist country. Unless a transaction involved national-level strategic technology, the government could not outright block business deals. In this case, the Hong Kong government could pressure or advise Rediffusion, but if the company insisted on selling, they could not legally stop it.
Rediffusion had no other major businesses in Hong Kong except the television station, so they didn't worry too much about offending the Hong Kong government. What they did care about was the opinion of Downing Street in London, so they needed to show some respect.
Therefore, Rediffusion stated that if a British-funded buyer was willing to offer at least 100 million HKD for the 61% stake, they would sell to them instead. Otherwise, they would proceed with Lin's 120 million HKD offer.
In short, they knew Chinese buyers like Lin were rare, and missing this chance meant losing tens of millions. Still, for the government's and London's sake, they were willing to sell to British buyers—at a discounted 100 million HKD, but not a cent lower.
According to Huo Yaohua, Rediffusion's stance was firm: either the government finds a British buyer willing to pay at least 100 million within two weeks, or they stop intervening and let Rediffusion sell to Lin for 120 million HKD.
If possible, Rediffusion preferred selling to Lin—after all, it would earn them an extra 20 million.
The government requested Rediffusion to pause the deal for half a month to look for a British buyer.
Huo reassured Lin that it was unlikely any British consortium would agree to such a deal. Most thought Rediffusion Television was only worth slightly over 100 million—certainly not worth paying a premium for a 61% share.
Once the government couldn't find a buyer, they would have to allow the sale to Lin. Huo advised Lin to sit tight and wait for good news.
Though frustrated by the sudden interference, Lin had no choice but to leave it to fate and pray no British buyer appeared.
Putting the TV station matter aside, Lin received news from the headhunting firm he'd hired. Several candidates, having learned about the scale and nature of his businesses, were willing to attend interviews.
Of course, Lin had reviewed their profiles beforehand and was satisfied. Only after that did the headhunters approach them with interview invitations.
This time, Lin planned to hire three people—enough for his current business size. More could be recruited in future expansions.
He intended to assign one to assist with his operations in Hong Kong, one for Japan, and one for the United States.
After two days of interviews, Lin hired three individuals who mutually agreed to join him:
Haruko Mori (毛利晴子) — Female, 24, half Japanese and half American. Graduated from Kyoto University, then studied in the U.S. for two years. Though she had good prospects in Japan, corporate culture made it difficult for her to enter upper management. So when a decent-sized company offered her a personal assistant role to the boss, she accepted.
Cheng Yufeng (成宇峰) — Male, 27, Hong Kong native. Studied locally, then spent three years at the University of Cambridge. He was working in London, but returned to Hong Kong to care for his ill mother.
Isabella Kent (伊莎贝拉·肯特) — Female, 25, American-German mixed heritage. Graduated from UCLA. She accepted simply because Lin offered better pay than she could get elsewhere. Coming from a modest family with student debt, she needed money to support her family.
Among the three, Haruko and Isabella were beautiful women, but Lin valued their capabilities, not their looks. If he wanted beauty, he would go to the entertainment industry—what he needed were competent assistants, not vases.