Chapter 651: Another Deal?
The next day, early morning!
When Li Yi woke up from his hangover, it was already past nine in the morning.
The company had held a celebratory banquet the night before, and as the company’s boss, Li Yi naturally couldn’t miss it.
Although Li Yi knew his own limits, he had tried to drink as little as possible throughout the celebration. Even when he did drink, he stuck to red wine and refused to touch any baijiu.
But the company employees were simply too enthusiastic; everyone came over with a glass in hand to toast him. Unsurprisingly, he once again lost all memory of the night in spectacular fashion.
Feeling the throbbing pain in his head and the nauseating smell of alcohol all over his body, Li Yi couldn’t help but feel a tickle in his throat.
Knowing exactly what was going on, Li Yi immediately climbed out of bed and rushed straight into the bathroom.
After showering and changing into clean clothes, Li Yi went downstairs!
As soon as he stepped out, Li Yi saw Li Yunbao, Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others in the living room. They were huddled together, whispering to each other, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
However, judging by the unhidden smiles on their faces, it must be something joyful!
Li Yi cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention, then turned to Li Yunbao and asked, “Why did you come over so early? Is something up?”
“Yes. Last night I got a message from Brother Xinghua in New York—the Fed raised interest rates again, and by an even larger margin than before!”
Hearing this, Zhou Yang’s eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly asked, “Has the international gold price changed at all?”
“It’s a total disaster—the price has plummeted. According to Brother Xinghua, by the close of trading yesterday, gold prices on the New York futures market had already dropped below $500 an ounce!” Li Yunbao said, sounding somewhat excited.
Although he didn’t know much about investing, he knew they’d hit the jackpot this time!
According to the telegram Zhou Xinghua sent back yesterday, as of now, they had already made nearly 1.7 billion… US dollars in the gold futures market!
That’s 1.7 billion US dollars—at the current exchange rate, that’s 13 billion Hong Kong dollars!
This achievement surprised not only Li Yunbao himself, but even his father—a man who had weathered many storms—fell silent after reading the telegram.
However, Li Yi’s reaction left Li Yunbao somewhat baffled. He merely nodded slightly and said nothing more, instead turning to Zhang Ziqiang to ask about breakfast!
“Brother Yi, we’ve already made over 10 billion Hong Kong dollars. Aren’t you excited?” Li Yunbao asked curiously.
“I am excited. That’s why I’ve decided to have an extra fried egg for breakfast this morning!”
Li Yunbao: &……%￥
It took him a while to snap out of it before he asked again, “Brother Yi, when are we heading back to New York? I can’t wait to see the settlement and handover in person!”
“We’ll set off once we’ve taken over the New Territories warehouse…”
Just then, the phone in the living room suddenly rang.
Zhang Ziqiang immediately stepped forward and picked up the receiver.
After exchanging just a few words, he handed the phone to Li Yi and whispered, “It’s Manager Lan calling from dxmbang!”
Li Yi grabbed the receiver and said immediately, “Xinming, this is Li Yi!”
Lan Xinming’s voice came through the receiver immediately: “Boss, the representatives from Jardine Matheson are already on their way. When will you be coming over?”
“I’ll leave right away. If Powell and the others arrive, please go out and greet them first. I’ll be there shortly!” Li Yi said.
“Okay…”
After hanging up, Li Yi immediately turned to Zhang Ziqiang and said, “Get the car ready. We’re heading to the company now!”
“Yes…”
Soon, the car pulled out of the gated community and headed straight for Starry Sky Company.
……..
Stellar Corporation!
When Powell arrived, he didn’t see Li Yi, but he didn’t get upset. Instead, he asked Lan Xinming if he could take a look around the company’s facilities.
Lan Xinming didn’t refuse; he agreed right away.
After all, their company was quite small—just three rooms totaling a little over 2,000 square feet—so there really wasn’t much to see.
Just as Lan Xinming had anticipated, it took less than five minutes for him to show Powell around the entire company.
Honestly, such a cramped, crowded, and cramped little place really wasn’t worth seeing.
However, after seeing Starry Sky’s office environment, Powell fell deep into thought.
He simply couldn’t imagine that an investment firm capable of single-handedly shaking up the entire Hong Kong stock market—and one that managed tens of billions in assets—could have such a makeshift, even shabby, office environment.
He also found it hard to fathom that the entire British-owned conglomerate—including the Jardine Matheson Group and the HSBC Group—had repeatedly suffered crushing defeats at the hands of such a small firm, incurring massive losses.
Just as he was lost in thought, a series of sharp, rhythmic “thud-thud” sounds suddenly rang out in his ears.
Hearing the sound, Powell and the others immediately looked up toward the company entrance and saw Li Yi walking in, flanked by several bodyguards in black.
Seeing this, Powell immediately strode forward to greet him!
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group made their way to the conference room.
Once the door closed, the two groups took their seats across the conference table.
Li Yi spoke first: “Mr. Powell, since both sides are sincere about cooperation, let’s be open and honest now. How many shares does the Jardine Group hold in total?”
Powell was equally straightforward, replying, “We hold a total of 21.8 million shares in New Territories Warehouse, of which 12.6 million are publicly traded shares, and the remainder are all non-tradable shares!”
“If you have no objection to the price of 110 Hong Kong dollars per share, then we can proceed to draft the share transfer agreement based on this consensus,” Li Yi said.
“I’m very satisfied with this price and have no objections, but…”
“But what?”
“I’m just a bit concerned—does your company actually have enough capital to acquire all these shares we hold?”
Powell continued, “As far as I know, your company’s own funds combined with raised capital definitely won’t exceed 5 billion Hong Kong dollars. And during the earlier bidding war, your company has already purchased over 55 million shares of New World Warehouse, with an average purchase price of at least 90 Hong Kong dollars per share. If I’m not mistaken, you shouldn’t have much capital left!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “That’s right, we don’t have much cash on hand right now, but don’t forget that we hold 53% of New World Warehouse’s shares—we can pledge those at any time!”
At that moment, Powell suddenly said, “Mr. Li Yi, how about we make another deal?”
“What kind of deal?”
“We can transfer these 21.8 million shares to you first. As for the payment, you can settle up with us in three months—by then, I imagine your investment in New York will have wrapped up…”
Before Powell could finish, Li Yi cut him off and asked, “What do we have to give in return?”
“I only want a promise!” Powell said, making a startling statement.
“What kind of promise?”
“All I ask is that you and Starry Sky no longer treat the Jardine Group as a hostile target and cease any attacks against them—that’s all!” Powell said.
Li Yi didn’t answer immediately; instead, he looked at him with interest.
From Powell’s words, he could tell he was serious—which meant he had truly backed down.
“Mr. Powell, am I to understand that you at the Jardine Group are afraid? Though it may be rude to say so, that is my honest opinion!”
It wasn’t that Li Yi intended to humiliate Powell; rather, he simply found it hard to believe that the head of the prestigious Jardine Group would actually back down to him of his own accord—it just wasn’t their style.
Don’t get me wrong—the Jardine Group has indeed been on the decline in recent years, giving off a sense of being past its prime.
But even a starving camel is bigger than a horse. As a Hong Kong superpower spanning finance, real estate, telecommunications, and port shipping, Jardine Matheson was merely facing developmental challenges—it wasn’t on the brink of collapse.
In short, even if he had lost control of New Territories Warehouse, Powell really had no reason to back down and admit defeat to him!
So, Li Yi had to figure out what he was really thinking!
In fact, it wasn’t just Li Yi who felt this way; everyone else present was thinking the same thing. They all wanted to know what Powell was thinking.
For a moment, all eyes were fixed on him!