Chapter 949: Huge Dividends!

Hong Kong. Victoria Peak!

With the return of Li Yi and his crew, Cloud Peak No. 1—which had been quiet for nearly two months—was bustling once again.

Of course, this so-called bustle was only relative.

In fact, Li Yi kept a particularly low profile during this trip to Hong Kong—he didn’t even enter through an official port, but was instead picked up by a boat sent by Huang Lixing.

To put it bluntly, he had snuck in!

As a result, not many people currently know that Li Yi has returned to Hong Kong Island.

The main reason for this low profile was that the British bastards had remained quiet since their return, and Li Yi wanted to see what they intended to do.

He wasn’t afraid of the British Hong Kong government—a colonial regime stripped of its military power posed little threat to him.

Most importantly, Li Yi didn’t believe London would dare to directly use the British Hong Kong government’s power to suppress him—that would be tantamount to slapping the authorities in Beijing in the face!

Given the tough stance of those in the Forbidden City, they might just order warships to circle Hong Kong Island the very next day—after all, such things had happened before.

And the Iron Lady at 10 Downing Street was no fool either; she knew full well that the British Empire of today had fallen into complete decline—neither “Great” nor an “Empire.”

They might have defeated Argentina in the Falklands War, but they were absolutely no match for China, and with their current national strength, they certainly couldn’t bring China to its knees. Therefore, as long as negotiations hadn’t reached a complete deadlock, she wouldn’t risk a full-scale confrontation with Beijing.

What Li Yi truly feared was Dalson and the British-owned conglomerate under his control. Don’t be fooled by how badly he’d beaten them down over the past two years—a starving camel is still bigger than a horse, and even a rotten ship has three thousand nails.

After all, the British-owned conglomerate currently controls the most profitable industries on Hong Kong Island—such as the financial sector, as well as the Kowloon-Canton Railway, the MTR trains, electrical equipment, and other industries vital to people’s livelihoods.

With so many companies and industries under its control, if the British-owned Group were to harbor any malicious intentions, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Most importantly, Li Yi didn’t quite trust Dolsen.

If Gusta were a hot-tempered brown bear, then Dolsen would be a combination of a cunning fox and a vicious snake.

A man capable of betraying his own family for profit is certainly no good sort.

On top of that, he is extremely capable and already possesses the potential to become a warlord.

Not only does he currently control over a hundred companies and families within the British-owned conglomerate, but he is also doing everything in his power to foster cooperation within the group and strengthen its cohesion—a clear sign of his considerable ambition.

Therefore, as expected, London will undoubtedly throw its full weight behind the British-owned Group in an effort to curb the influence of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

The only question is how much leverage London can offer, and whether that leverage will be enough to sway Dowson.

Until Dowson makes a decision, Li Yi has no intention of revealing his whereabouts.

Rather than being in the open while the enemy is in the dark and getting shot in the back, it’s better to be in the dark while the enemy is in the open and play the double agent…

……….

After settling his luggage, Li Yi went upstairs to take a hot shower to ease the fatigue in his body.

Just as he finished his shower and was thinking about what to eat for dinner, a soft knock came from the door.

He opened the door to find Zhang Ziqiang standing there.

“Brother Yi, Mr. Huang is here and waiting for you downstairs!”

Li Yi ran his fingers through his wet hair and said, “Please show him to the reception room on the second floor. I’ll be right there!”

“Yes, sir!”

Soon, Li Yi had changed into a fresh, dry outfit and came downstairs.

When he arrived at the second-floor reception room, Huang Lixing was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, and sitting next to him was none other than his older sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang.

Whether it was because his old ailment had been completely cured or not, Li Yi noticed that Yang Wenguang looked much stronger and healthier than before, and his complexion was much better as well.

Seeing Li Yi push open the door and enter, the two immediately stopped talking and stood up simultaneously to greet him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the three of them sat down again around the coffee table.

Then, Li Yi looked at Huang Lixing and said, “Old Huang, you rushed me back to Hong Kong. What exactly happened?”

Huang Lixing smiled and said, “Well, a while back, our company settled the principal and returns with our clients and distributed dividends to the shareholders. According to the company’s financial calculations, as the major shareholder, you’re entitled to a total of 67.2 billion Hong Kong dollars in principal and interest.”

“It’s not a good idea to leave such a large sum of money sitting in the company’s accounts. You’d better come back in person to handle it.”

Upon hearing Huang Lixing’s reply, Li Yi nodded immediately. Just as he had suspected, it was indeed because of this matter.

However, upon hearing that his share of principal and interest for this year would amount to 67.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, Li Yi was still slightly surprised.

After all, he had already received over 30 billion Hong Kong dollars in commission income, as well as controlling stakes in companies like Sheffield Steel and Hang Seng Bank. He hadn’t expected to receive such a large sum on top of that.

If he included his investment returns from New York, he had already earned tens of billions of US dollars before the year was even over—he couldn’t have made that kind of money even if he’d been robbing people.

“Alright, I’ll make time to handle this matter!”

Li Yi then added, “By the way, after the company settled principal and interest with clients and shareholders, is there sufficient capital in the accounts? Has this affected the company’s normal operations?”

“Sufficient. Although the company disbursed over 100 billion Hong Kong dollars on the settlement day, leaving very little in our accounts, a large portion of our clients re-entrusted their funds to us immediately after the settlement. Currently, our account balance has reached over 20 billion Hong Kong dollars again,” Huang Lixing replied.

“That’s good!”

Li Yi wasn’t particularly surprised by this situation.

The entire Hong Kong economy is currently in a slump. Neither the real estate market nor the stock market is particularly suitable for ordinary citizens to invest in; retail investors who put their money in face an 80% chance of losing it.

Even the vast majority of venture capital firms have been hesitant to make moves in the past two years. Only Star Investment, leveraging its foresight, has managed to soar against the trend.

Although Star Investment’s commission rates were exorbitantly high, after annual settlements, the overall return on investment still ranged between 100% and 150%—a feat unmatched anywhere else in Hong Kong at the moment.

Any investor with a shred of sense knows exactly who to entrust their money to for their own benefit.

With that in mind, Li Yi spoke again: “Old Huang, has there been any movement lately from Dolsons or the British Investment Group?”

“I was just about to mention that. Dolsen came to see me a couple of days ago; he wants to meet with you.”

“He wants to see me?”

“Yeah. I asked him what it was about—I could’ve relayed the details to you—but the guy wouldn’t say. He just told me to let you know he has something very important to discuss with you. I had no choice but to have you return to Hong Kong Island!” Huang Lixing said.

Li Yi fell silent for a moment. If he agreed to meet him, his whereabouts would be exposed, and everything he’d done so far would be for nothing.

But after thinking it over, Li Yi finally said, “Alright, set up a meeting with him for me later!”

Although he didn’t know why the guy suddenly wanted to see him, it must be something serious.

Besides, he’d already established a firm foothold on Hong Kong Island; even if he had to go in head-on, he wasn’t afraid of anyone.

“Alright, I’ll give him a call tomorrow!”

Then Huang Lixing added, “Brother Wenguang just mentioned he has something to discuss with you, so I won’t keep you any longer.”

With that, Huang Lixing immediately stood up and left the reception room.

Soon, only Li Yi and Yang Wenguang remained in the room…

…………