Chapter 26: Daddy, you actually invested in a movie?

Lin Haoran's experience with this loan was undoubtedly much smoother than his previous encounter with Yumin Finance Company.

This time, he had not only brought collateral of equal value but had also demonstrated profound deliberation and thorough preparation regarding the loan matters, leaving He Shanheng with almost no flaws to find when assessing the risks.

Consequently, the entire loan process proceeded exceptionally smoothly, and the funds were deployed rapidly, far exceeding Lin Haoran's expectations.

Just before leaving, Lin Haoran once again made a request for confidentiality to He Shanheng. His tone was sincere and firm, hoping that He Shanheng would strictly guard this secret, especially from his father, Lin Wan'an.

Upon hearing this, He Shanheng gave a solemn promise. He stated that he fully understood and respected Lin Haoran's wishes and would never leak news of this transaction to anyone, including Lin Wan'an.

The tacit understanding and trust between the two men were further deepened at this moment.

Settling into the Mercedes-Benz, Lin Haoran leisurely instructed Li Weiguo to drive toward the Deep Water Bay villa area. His heart was impatient to return to that quiet and comfortable home to enjoy the upcoming pleasant weekend holiday.

As his driver, Li Weiguo was already intimately familiar with the roads to Deep Water Bay. Without needing further instruction from Lin Haoran, he gripped the steering wheel steadily, and the vehicle shuttled smoothly and swiftly through the veins of the city.

On the way, Lin Haoran's attention was not drawn by the scenery outside the window; instead, his mind was deeply immersed in the planning of his capital operations.

Currently, his original operational funds of 10.07 million HKD, after the injection of the new 30 million HKD loan, had climbed to a total of 40.07 million HKD. This undoubtedly provided solid support for his subsequent investment plans.

He mused to himself that with these more than 40 million HKD, he had enough to support his ambition of investing in two stocks simultaneously.

Specifically regarding his positioning in Wharf Holdings, based on his previous investment of over 8 million HKD, he expected the total investment to be controlled within 30 million HKD.

He knew well that with market fluctuations—especially the intervention of giants like Swire and Hongkong Land—the share price of Wharf Holdings would inevitably rise.

Therefore, he had long set an upper limit on his investment to avoid the risks brought by blindly chasing high prices.

In his view, as long as he could snatch up more than 30 million HKD worth of Wharf Holdings stock at a low price in this capital game, it would already be a rare achievement.

A more long-term consideration was his plan to use these funds to achieve a doubling of returns through his investment in Wharf Holdings.

Once successful, he would easily handle the repayment pressure when the Yumin Finance Company loan matured a year later, and might even be able to make early arrangements to further optimize his capital structure.

As for the remaining funds, Lin Haoran already had a clear destination in mind—to continue increasing his investment in Tsing Wah Tin Lung.

The 12.9% stake he currently held was not yet enough to control the fate of the company.

The potential entry of Cheung Kong Holdings at any time made him feel an even greater sense of urgency.

To take the initiative in future competition, he had to further increase his shareholding to ensure he controlled more of Tsing Wah Tin Lung's shares.

Thus, he had locked the remaining funds for additional investment in Tsing Wah Tin Lung, vowing to take an even larger slice of the pie in this capital feast of Chinese enterprises swallowing British ones.

Upon returning home, Lin Haoran was surprised to find that his father, Lin Wan'an, had actually returned early today.

"Daddy, why are you back so early today?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.

On ordinary days, if Lin Wan'an had no business engagements, he would usually step through the door around seven in the evening.

And if he did have engagements, he might not be seen until after nine or even ten o'clock.

But at this moment, the clock on the wall had only just pointed to 5:30 PM. Such a time was truly rare for Lin Wan'an.

This anomaly naturally left Lin Haoran feeling both surprised and curious, and many conjectures arose in his mind.

"I have a movie wrap party to attend tonight starting at seven. I was planning to come back and change into more decent clothes. Haoran, why don't you come along? Interacting more with friends in the business world will always be beneficial to your future," Lin Wan'an replied gently.

"A movie wrap party? Daddy, you actually invested in a movie?" Lin Haoran asked back in surprise, clearly not having expected this.

"Haha, it's just playing around. I invested 200,000 HKD in my own name for a small 30% stake. It's been exactly one month since the movie was released, and the box office has already exceeded 2.5 million HKD. It's not much profit; I mainly wanted to show support for old friends and also find some fun for myself," Lin Wan'an explained with a smile, his words revealing his deep affection for old friends and his relaxed attitude toward film investment.

Lin Wan'an was indeed telling the truth; the profit situation he described was quite realistic.

A box office of 2.5 million HKD might not seem much, but in this era, it was actually quite good.

However, according to industry practice, a 15% entertainment tax must be paid, and cinema chains take 47%. Investors usually only receive less than 40% of the box office revenue. Even if one calculated it at a full 40%, the actual amount received would only be around 1 million HKD.

And calculating based on Lin Wan'an's 30% stake, the amount he could ultimately share would only be about 300,000 HKD.

Investing 200,000 HKD to recover 100,000 HKD might look like a decent profit margin on the surface. However, considering the relatively small box office base, such returns were clearly insufficient to support the dream of "getting rich overnight" in the face of massive film production and operating costs.

Low-budget films could indeed, through their unique reputation and creative sparks, potentially break through many obstacles and win unexpected box office success.

However, behind such success stories lay countless works that faded into obscurity for various reasons, struggling in the torrent of the market and ultimately failing to escape the fate of loss.

Crucially, the scale of the Hong Kong film market was relatively limited, a reality that greatly constrained the profit margins of film projects.

For example, this year's Hong Kong annual box office champion had a total box office of only about 7 million HKD. For those who longed to realize their wealth dreams through movies, this was undoubtedly a severe challenge that had to be faced.

As for industry giants like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, despite their immense strength and abundant resources, their annual profits in the fiercely competitive film market were often limited.

Therefore, since his rebirth into this world, Lin Haoran had understood this well and never intended to pour too much energy into the turbulent waters of the entertainment industry.

In his view, the unpredictability of the stock market, the stable appreciation of real estate, the prosperity of import-export trade, and the solid foundation of manufacturing were the broad roads leading to the peak of wealth.

As for making movies? That was merely a way to test his skills during his leisure time—a series of magnificent interludes. While they could bring moments of applause and cheers, they could hardly carry his grand blueprint for a commercial empire.

"Alright, Daddy, I'll go change into something suitable and join you later. This wrap party sounds quite interesting; I'd like to see it for myself," Lin Haoran said, having developed a keen interest in the party as well.