Chapter 14: Lin Haoran's Acquisition Target

Companionship is always fleeting.

The next morning, after having breakfast with his parents, Lin Haoran left the Lin family villa and drove alone toward Causeway Bay.

In Causeway Bay, Lin Haoran picked up the two brothers, Li Weiguo and Li Weidong, before heading to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Central.

It is worth mentioning that in the 1970s, the landscape of the Hong Kong securities market was quite complex and somewhat chaotic. The Far East Exchange, the Gold and Silver Securities Exchange, the Kowloon Stock Exchange, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange formed a four-way standoff, each occupying its own niche.

Among these four, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as one of the oldest and most powerful exchanges at the time, became the preferred destination for many British-funded enterprises to list, providing them with vital financing platforms and market opportunities.

The target companies Lin Haoran had his eye on were all listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

At 8:30 AM, Lin Haoran arrived outside the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and met Su Zhixue, who was already waiting.

Su Zhixue had actually arrived as early as 8:00 AM. As soon as he returned home yesterday, unable to contain his excitement, he immediately told his wife the good news that the medical expenses were covered.

Upon hearing this, his wife's joy was beyond words; she was so moved that she even shed tears. She urged Su Zhixue repeatedly to do his absolute best in every task assigned by Lin Haoran.

To their family, Lin Haoran was a lifesaver for lending them the money for the medical bills.

"Director Lin, you're here," Su Zhixue greeted him, his voice tinged with nervousness.

"Mm. You can just call me Mr. Lin from now on."

"Mr. Lin, what should I do?"

"Follow me first. Regarding the money you urgently need, I will arrange it for you after work this afternoon."

"Yes, Mr. Lin. Thank you very much."

Lin Haoran did not rush into the exchange immediately; instead, he went to a commercial building next to it.

This building specialized in renting out small offices, with each floor partitioned into many small units.

"How much does it cost to rent an office?" Lin Haoran asked the staff at the leasing office.

"Sir, we have offices ranging from 100 to 2,000 square feet. The price is per square foot..."

Ultimately, Lin Haoran rented a small 200-square-foot office, which was less than 20 square meters.

He had no intention of renting a large office; there was no need. This small space would suffice.

As for the most important thing—the landline—the building already had them; they were simply disconnected and only needed a renewal of the service to be usable again.

The office came equipped with basic desks and chairs, so there was no need to purchase extra furniture.

"Zhixue, you will work in this office from now on. Your responsibilities are very clear. As my private stock trader, your daily work will revolve around collecting market information, analyzing data, and executing stock trades. To put it simply, I will tell you which stocks to buy, when to buy, and when to sell. You only need to execute my instructions with absolute precision," Lin Haoran said to Su Zhixue with a steady gaze as he sat in the office chair.

"Understood, Mr. Lin."

Hearing this, a weight lifted from Su Zhixue's heart, and a look of relief appeared on his face. This work was not unfamiliar to him; he had extensive experience and sufficient confidence to handle it.

"One more important thing: all the work you do here must be kept strictly confidential. You must not disclose anything to anyone, including your closest people—not even your wife, and not even my father. Not a single word can be leaked," Mr. Lin added with an unmistakable air of seriousness.

This was the most crucial point. He did not want news of his secret stock acquisitions to be leaked.

"Please rest assured, Mr. Lin. I will never disclose any information. This is the rule of our industry; if we leak information carelessly, it will be very difficult to survive in this business," Su Zhixue promised.

Lin Haoran naturally believed him. After all, the man's loyalty rating was 100. If he couldn't trust him, Lin Haoran wouldn't know who to trust.

"Alright, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is about to open for business. Let's head out." After handing him the office keys, Lin Haoran stood up and walked out.

It was now 9:30 AM. The trading hours for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

After leaving the commercial building, the group headed straight for the trading floor of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Since the 50-million-dollar loan had not yet been approved, he was in no hurry to conduct large-scale trades.

His primary task now was to understand the state of the Hong Kong stock market and his specific targets.

Lin Haoran currently had nearly 2 million HKD in disposable funds. In addition to the 1.2 million HKD transferred by the Huafeng Cement Plant's finance department, he also had several hundred thousand HKD in his personal bank account.

2 million HKD was quite a significant amount. If a good entry opportunity arose, he could use it to bridge the gap before the loan arrived.

Lin Haoran led Su Zhixue into the trading hall. At this time, the hall was not very crowded; the number of retail investors was not much higher than the number of traders in uniform red vests.

The existence of the four major exchanges in Hong Kong undoubtedly dispersed the foot traffic.

Furthermore, major investors tended to maintain a low profile and prioritize efficiency. They often did not appear in person but instead directed trades remotely via telephone, calmly controlling the overall market situation.

After walking around the trading hall, Lin Haoran lost interest.

Large-scale transactions did not need to be conducted on the trading floor at all.

Subsequently, Lin Haoran quickly and meticulously registered several brokerage accounts in his own name. These accounts would facilitate his personal investment activities in the stock market.

Once finished, Lin Haoran took Su Zhixue out of the trading hall and back to their newly rented office.

"Zhixue, first collect stock market information on Wharcoa and Tsing Yuen Cement. I have a use for it—especially for Tsing Yuen Cement; I need detailed data on them," Lin Haoran instructed immediately upon returning to the office.

That was right. Besides Wharcoa, his other target was Tsing Yuen Cement.

In his memory, Li Jia Cheng began acquiring Tsing Yuen Cement after giving up on Wharcoa, likely in 1978—this very year. He was currently unsure if Li Jia Cheng had already initiated the takeover plan for Tsing Yuen Cement.

If the takeover had not yet begun, it would undoubtedly be an opportunity he could not afford to miss.

Lin Haoran was quite certain that Li Jia Cheng had not yet moved on Tsing Yuen Cement, as Cheung Kong Holdings had only recently abandoned its bid for Wharcoa, and not much time had passed.

For him at this stage, Tsing Yuen Cement was the perfect investment target.

Buying Wharcoa stock was merely to profit from the price difference. With his current capabilities, he was not yet able to acquire a behemoth like Wharcoa, which had a market capitalization of billions of HKD.

But by buying Tsing Yuen Cement stock, he was aiming for an actual takeover.

Like the Huafeng Cement Plant, this company primarily focused on the production and sale of cement.

The difference was that Tsing Yuen Cement was the oldest and largest cement plant in Hong Kong.

Since he intended to compete with his elder brother for the inheritance of the Wan An Group, if he could take over the largest cement plant in Hong Kong and become the controlling shareholder of this listed company, he wanted to see what his brother, Lin Haoning, could possibly use to compete with him.

Moreover, competition was secondary; the land held by Tsing Yuen Cement was what he valued most.

As far as Lin Haoran knew, Tsing Yuen Cement not only had a strong business foundation but also appeared to hold a significant amount of coastal urban land. It was precisely because of this that Li Jia Cheng would later set his sights on them.

The largest source of income for the Wan An Group was real estate, meaning the group was primarily a real estate company.

If he controlled Tsing Yuen Cement, then after he became the heir to the Wan An Group, the group could collaborate with Tsing Yuen Cement to jointly develop real estate.