Chapter 54: What a coincidence, we meet again

Prince's Building, headquarters of Global Shipping Group, in Bao Yugang's office.

After hearing the report from his subordinate, Bao Yugang frowned deeply, but a smile soon returned to his face.

Last weekend, leveraging his profound network of connections, he had skillfully maneuvered among many illustrious stock market manipulators. Not only did he win their respect, but he also successfully absorbed a large amount of Wharf Holdings stock.

Many manipulators, deterred by his prestige and the fact that the prices he offered were slightly above market value, chose to let go, allowing Bao Yugang's acquisition plan to achieve an initial victory.

After dealing with these well-known stock manipulators, "King Bao" turned his gaze toward the lesser-known ones.

Bao Yugang knew that these manipulators were as elusive as ghosts; even the group's powerful intelligence system struggled to uncover their true identities.

Therefore, he could only contact them through the heads of the stock exchange's trading desks.

However, Bao Yugang was also clearly aware that this path would not be easy.

While stock traders held vast amounts of information, they were not necessarily willing to disclose it easily due to professional ethics or considerations of self-interest.

To this end, he had specifically commissioned Mr. Shen Bi of Huifeng Bank to personally step in, in order to maximize the chances of success.

As the top tycoon in Hong Kong's financial industry, Shen Bi carried immense weight; even the four major stock exchanges had to show him respect.

After private negotiations, it was agreed in principle that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange could help them contact those mysterious Wharf Holdings major shareholders, but they would not disclose any information about the parties involved to Shen Bi or Bao Yugang.

Because everyone knew that doing so would be illegal.

Thus, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would only act as a bridge for communication, passing messages to them without leaking any information to the Bao family.

If the other party was willing, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would also grant Mr. Shen Bi the courtesy of allowing them to contact each other directly; as for how they negotiated, that was none of the exchange's business.

Furthermore, this matter could not be known by Jardine Matheson, otherwise, they would offend Jardine; everything had to be conducted in secret.

Had it not been for Shen Bi's intervention, Bao Yugang's personal prestige alone would not have been enough to make the Hong Kong Stock Exchange take such a risk.

Over the past two days, he had secretly bribed the head of the trading desk to contact some of the more powerful mysterious manipulators, seeking to reach a cooperation agreement with them.

Although the head of the trading desk could not disclose intelligence data to Bao Yugang, he used the information at his disposal to clearly identify who the major players were.

Consequently, they managed to establish contact with Universal Investment Company.

The suspected key player controlling the Wharf Holdings stock market had finally relented and agreed to formal negotiations with the Bao family, on the condition that Bao Yugang himself must come to negotiate.

This news was undoubtedly a welcome surprise to Bao Yugang.

"Reply to them immediately. Tell them I will come in person, and ask them to confirm the specific time and location," Bao Yugang commanded his subordinate without hesitation.

Although he was unsure how much Wharf Holdings stock the other party held, judging by the attitude of the stock exchange's head trader, it was bound to be a significant amount.

If they could secure the Wharf Holdings stock held by the other party, it would allow them to pull even further ahead of Jardine Matheson.

Therefore, meeting the party and persuading them to sell their shares to the Bao family was of utmost importance.

As for the absorption in the stock market, he would continue to compete with Jardine.

With this double insurance, their chances of winning would be even greater.

With the capital raised from the new stock issuance of Longfeng International, plus the support from Huifeng Bank, Bao Yugang had essentially no worries regarding funds.

"Yes, I will arrange it immediately!" Upon hearing this, the subordinate acted quickly and left Bao Yugang's office to deliver the message.

This morning, Bao Yugang's son-in-law, Wu Guangzheng, had officially assumed the position of Chairman of Longfeng International and was busy adapting to his new role and handling various affairs.

Therefore, the affairs regarding Wharf Holdings were temporarily overseen by Bao Yugang himself to ensure every step proceeded according to plan.

Meanwhile, inside Universal Investment Company in Hengfeng Building, Su Zhixue once again entered Lin Haoran's office, bringing the positive response from the Bao family.

"President Lin, I have replied to the Bao family. Mr. Bao Yugang has explicitly stated his willingness to come personally for negotiations and has inquired about our meeting arrangements," Su Zhixue reported.

After hearing this, Lin Haoran thought for a moment and then decided decisively, "Very well. Then let's set the meeting location at our company, and schedule the time for eight o'clock tonight."

"Understood, President Lin." Su Zhixue took his orders and left.

Everything was going very smoothly; it all depended on whether they could make Bao Yugang compromise tonight.

After Su Zhixue and the others finished work at their usual time of six o'clock, Lin Haoran took the brothers Li Weiguo and Li Weidong out for a grand feast, only returning leisurely after seven o'clock in the evening.

As eight o'clock approached, Lin Haoran prepared the tea-making tools in his office.

He was very curious to see how Bao Yugang would react when he saw him.

At the same time, Bao Yugang arrived at Hengfeng Building accompanied by a bodyguard.

Hengfeng Building was actually only a few hundred meters away from Prince's Building; it was a very short walk.

Thus, Bao Yugang arrived as scheduled.

The elevator reached the 19th floor, and upon stepping out, Bao Yugang quickly located his target for the day—Universal Investment Company.

This company was very unfamiliar to Bao Yugang; he had never heard of it before.

He had even specifically investigated and found that the company had only been registered recently.

Therefore, he had mistakenly assumed that Universal Investment Company had only entered the market after the Wharf Holdings stock had already exploded.

By the time Bao Yugang reached the entrance of Universal Investment Company, Lin Haoran had already come out of his office to greet him.

He smiled as he met Bao Yugang: "Uncle Bao, what a coincidence. We meet again."

"Haoran? Why are you here?" Bao Yugang looked astonished, clearly not expecting to run into him here.

The brief interaction with Lin Haoran last time had left a deep impression on him; he had even warmly invited Lin Haoran to his home, though they had not met since.

At this moment, as if pulled by some thought, Bao Yugang suddenly remembered Lin Haoran's identity—the young son of Lin Wan'an of the Wan'an Group.

Although in his eyes Lin Wan'an was merely an ordinary billionaire with a significant gap in status compared to his own, since the two lived in the same area of Deep Water Bay, they were considered acquaintances.

As his gaze swept over the Universal Investment Company before him, ripples of thought stirred in Bao Yugang's heart.

Lin Haoran's appearance made him speculate about the background of this company.

Could it be that Lin Wan'an truly stood behind Universal Investment Company?

Once this thought arose, it grew like wild grass, making him feel that this possibility was extremely high.

However, he was immediately plunged into doubt.

He knew very well that the Wan'an Group's strength was not that substantial; how could they have such massive funds to involve themselves in the battle for Wharf Holdings stock?

This question swirled in his mind, making him even more curious about Universal Investment Company.

(End of Chapter)